what really happened...

So, as I mentioned the other day, I had an unscheduled vacation.

It seems that I managed to pull a muscle in my back. This is neither important nor exceptional for the most part. What happened is that it occurred during an exceptionally busy time, and with a VERY busy schedule. I worked a long and hard day on deck, and there was some frustration- a Russian ship with an untrained, stupid (or belligerent) and lazy crew... making extra work for me, as well as a narrow window of opportunity to get a berth at the oil loading dock we needed to... anyhow, end result is that I started my day with a moderate backache, had no anti-inflammatory drugs aboard, and, 12 hours later I could barely walk.
I discovered my employer's system for dealing with such things, and I'll say this: it was impressive and fast-acting.
Now, mistake #1 on my part. Being hurt near the port of Camden NJ. Sitting in a world-class trauma center with a very sore back is misery, and it's also an invitation to sit and wait. A menagerie of misery bypassed me at triage- gunshots, overdoses and knife wounds and such. Every time the doc or a nurse stopped by my bed, another damn bloody mess showed up and made the doc go away. I wanted to complain, loudly, but considering that I had no holes, tears or psychotic hallucinations, I had to wait my turn.
Anyhow, I was eventually treated, and released, and sent to recover ashore at a well-situated motel. And by well-situated, I mean with a diner on one side and a Denny's on the other.
Now, fast forward three days. My back feels better, but I probably ate my way into a triple bypass, at least in comparison to the somewhat stark vittles I have been eating of late.
I am heartily impressed by the system that my employer has in place for treating sick crewmen. That being said, I felt like a total dong in being part of a safety incident.