the analyst

I am an analyst. No, I don't work as an analyst, say for an investment company or an IT firm, Rather, I am an analyst. It's what I am, and it's what I do. All the time. Everything around me is the subject of constant analysis - what is going on and why. Cause and effect. How things work and why.

Had a swimming lesson the other day (it's a long story). Not enough to just take the instructor's word regarding the correct way to do things, but I had to understand why they are correct - the physics or dynamics of the swimming form, and why it works. Once I did, the learning stuck much better, because I knew why I had to keep my head down; why my head movements to come up for breath had to be a certain way.

I enjoyed simultaneous equations in school. N variables and N equations. Didn't matter how many there were; as long as there the number of variables equalled the number of equations, exactly one solution could be found. That's what I like. Determinism. That's why I enjoyed the sciences, and despised the humanities. The latter were so wishy-washy, and there was no way you could know your answers were correct. That's probably why my main business runs computer systems that perform millions of complex billing calculations every month on behalf of our clients.

Now, I am living in a world of non-deterministic MMN. There is no direct or simple cause and effect. There is only fuzzyness.

Yesterday, for the first time in at least a year, the pain in my right wrist subsided, and I was able to put pressure on it (like when doing a push-up). So, a full month after starting treatment, it does seem to have helped, with significant restoration of strength in both the hand and wrist. I look forward to my next appointment where some objective tests will be applied. Also keen to see if my leg spin bowling is any better.

The side effect issue still sits there. Having returned from my holiday, it seems the absence of headaches may be related to being in a calm and relaxed environment (pity I can't stay there all the time). Will pick up another large box of nurofen and panadol before we go away again for another week tomorrow.