I turned out that my "sprained wrist" was a bit more than that. Some obscure piece of bone connecting the thumb and the arm had suffered a crack, and the emergency room people were quick to equip me with a cast. Well, "quick" is 2½ hours, two of which I spent waiting. Not that I mind - I'm sure the lady with the broken wrist and the guy with heart problems needed attention more than I (afterall, it did take me 12 days to finally go to the hospital). But when you're sitting there from 6 to 8.30 - having not eaten since lunch - it sure feels like a long time.

Anyway, now my right thumb is perfectly aligned with my lower arm and thus totally useless. I keep thinking about a Gary Larson strip: Two cows sitting on a sofa, watching a ringing phone. One cow goes: "There it goes again. And we just sit here without opposable thumbs". I would have brought the strip here, but Mr. Larson is very particular with his copyrights.

The time frame, I'm told, is 6-8 weeks and since I already went almost two weeks - luckily the bone hadn't cracked all the way through and/or dislocated so it's already healing - it should be healed sometime mid January - with a few weeks to spare before going skiing (phew!). Downside of course is that Christmas and New Years will be left handed this year.