09.04.04 - 10:30 p.m.

And then, karma decided to show me who's really boss in this world and take me off my shiny ring-induced high by hitting me with a bus.

Actually, it was one of those airport shuttle-type vans, and it was really only the van mirror, but it was enough. Nothing like major flip-your-car-upside-down trauma, but still. It was enough. I don't know why the cops were calling it a bus. If it were truly one, I think I'd be in worse shape.

What happened was this: Monday's commute was pretty bad, slow trains, massive numbers of people wondering what time do I come into work and do I change my schedule due to the FUCKING CONVENTION, me being one of those people. So Tuesday I decide not to take any NYC transportation other than my own two feet and walk from the Port Authority to work. A mere 28 blocks.

I don't get further than the corner of 42nd and 8th when I run into a traffic snarl, with the orange cones and the cops directing traffic while the lights are still running like normal. We pushy pedestrians start crossing against the light, like the cops are telling us to, when I guess the cops realized, hey, traffic's still moving!, and direct us back to the sidewalk.

And you know how sometimes you're standing a little off the sidewalk in front of a parked car, or, say, a shuttle van thing, while waiting for the light to change?

Well, the shuttle van wasn't so much parked. And it didn't so much see me trying to get back on the curb.

I don't really have any desire to tell the rest of the story in detail. It's sufficient to say that four cops took care of me, I was checked out at the hospital and found to be just fine, if a little sore, and Pierre le Pod and my ring are also just fine. I have scratches on my favorite Kenneth Cole watch, a loooong scratch on my left forearm, and a tribal armband-tattoo-style bruise on my left upper arm. That, of course, is where the mirror whanged me and knocked me to the ground.

I took the day off work, obviously.

Oh, and Bassett? It should go without saying, but don't tell the parents about this one.