Then there was my surprise going-away party on Saturday. Olga put it together. It was awesome. A whole bunch of people I know and 2 I didn’t know came over from all over the country to say bye to me before I left for Russia on Monday (October 23rd). The only problem was that so many people were there at once that I didn’t get to hang out with anyone as much as I would have liked to. Lindsay was staying over Friday through Monday, and I ended up spending most of my time with her. We didn’t sleep much at all.

All depressed about a whole bunch of things including Lindsay leaving, and having to leave the country that day, I drove Lindsay to the airport at about 4:30 am on Monday morning (October 23rd). We hadn’t slept that night at all, and after saying our goodbyes at the airport I got in the car and headed back home. I talked to Lindsay for a little bit on the phone as I was driving, so that kept me up for a little bit. After I was off the phone with her, I gradually started dozing off, I then woke up barely avoiding an accident. I then considered pulling over to take a nap, but ruled that out, as I was flying to Russia later that day and I still had to finish packing, so I had limited time. That was a bad decision. Barely avoiding an accident also woke me up a bit making me feel like I’d be able to make it home alright. I started dozing off again gradually... so gradually that I didn’t even notice I was dozing off, until I woke up from the feeling of the car being airborne instinctively pushing the break pedal. Next thing I knew the car flipped over and landed on its roof and hit something. I was shocked. Fortunately I didn’t hit anyone. I was hanging upside down on my seatbelt for some reason thinking I had to get out of the car quick. I wasn’t thinking straight as I unbuckled my seatbelt, broke the driver’s window with my left arm and crawled out of the car. I felt no pain. I looked at the car – it was totaled. The Buick I used for the past 6 months, and we jokingly referred to as chickmobile was dead. I then saw a bunch of blood on myself and the pavement. I wasn’t sure exactly what part of me it was coming from, but the sight of blood made me sick, so I sat down. A whole bunch of people stopped to help me out. The lady that drove behind me called 911 and Barry and Sue. Some other guy had a first aid kit with him, and was able to make me feel a little less sick and made the blood stop flowing from my forearm. The ambulance and the police showed up. They strapped me down to this board. I couldn’t move any part of my body. That made me start thinking I must have hurt myself pretty bad. I tried asking where they were taking me and what was wrong with me, to which they said they weren’t sure, but regardless of what’s wrong with me they aren’t supposed to let me move due to “the mechanics of the accident”. I later found out they strap pretty much everyone who gets into an accident to a board, just in case their spine or neck is hurt. I fell asleep in the ambulance car. I woke up still strapped to the board as I realized I was being rolled across a hospital floor. They put me and my board on the bed, where a doctor did some tests to make sure it was ok to let me move a little bit. Turned out I was pretty much ok except for my left arm. They took me off of the board, and put me a little lower on their priority list. Barry and Olga showed up. They saw my wound on the left arm. They indicated that it looked pretty horrible. I didn’t look. Olga started crying and hugging me. I started crying too. The doctor assigned me some nurses and they made 5-7 injections right into my wound to numb it. That freaked me out some more. Now to understand the full extent of how freaked out I was at the moment you need to know that before this incident, I would faint at the sight of blood at a blood test. I’ve always been bad with blood and any kind of needles. Olga and Mark left and Barry and Sue stayed with me. That helped a great deal. A few hours later, I ended up walking out of the hospital with about 20 stitches in my arm and a badly bruised elbow and hand. We’re assuming I acquired those injuries when I broke the drivers window and crawled out of it. Here are some pictures and a video of the car after it’s been towed away from the accident site:

http://www.galchenko.com/images/IMG_3984.jpg
http://www.galchenko.com/images/IMG_3982.jpg
http://www.galchenko.com/images/IMG_3981.jpg
http://www.galchenko.com/images/IMG_3980.jpg
http://www.galchenko.com/images/IMG_3979.jpg
http://www.galchenko.com/images/IMG_3978.jpg
http://www.galchenko.com/images/IMG_3977.jpg
http://www.galchenko.com/images/IMG_3976.jpg
http://www.galchenko.com/images/IMG_3975.jpg
http://www.galchenko.com/images/IMG_3974.jpg
http://www.galchenko.com/images/MVI_3983.avi

We’re still puzzled as to where the dent on the front of the car came from. I must have hit a tree or a pole or something.

I got home at about 1 pm that day. My flight to Russia was at 6. Mark, Olga, and Barry helped me pack, and I took a one handed shower (which is way more complicated than one might think). It was one crazy day. I had thought of how I wanted to say goodbye to Mark, Barry, Sue and Olga many times, but when the time came, I was so thrown off that I forgot everything I wanted to say. But oh well, I’ll see everyone soon enough. Probably as soon as January-February. I’m now at my parents apartment in Penza, Russia, seeing my parents for the first time in over three years. It feels good. Can’t wait for my arm to heal, so I can start practicing big time.

Later.