I'm thinking about that today as I take 90 seconds to type what I've written so far - words that would normally take me about 15 seconds.
Years of typing and Blackberrying and Iphoning have finally taken a toll - and I've been waking up in the morning with my hand on fire and no feeling in the tips of my fingers. I've tried everything - physical therapy, rest, medicine. Today, I succumbed to the last resort, as they sliced my hand and opened up the ligaments and tendons in my wrists - which had been pressing against nerves in my carpal tunnel.
I don't pretend to know exactly what happened, except that my hand hurts, but not nearly as much as it did before the operation.
One pain would have gotten worse had I not had the operation - the doctor assures me - and the pain from surgery will soon start dissipating.
All of which might be TMI, but I want to explain why these columns might be shorter this week.
We'll have the latest on the terror attack investigation. Three men arrested - after the raids of last week. And now there are questions about how real the "terror plot" was. No one is saying that plans were in place for any attack. But were these guys the real things? Or were they the gang that couldn't shoot straight, like the guys busted earlier this year for "plotting" to blow up two Jewish facilities in the Bronx? Perhaps closer to the former, experts say. Did the NYPD conduct the raid faster than the feds wanted? That seems clear - partly because of the different orientation of the two jurisdictions. Local cops want to protect the citizenry; federal authorities want to prosecute - to use a gross generalization.
Were we at risk? How advanced were the plans? Notice the men - two in Denver, one in New York - were charged with lying to federal authorities, not plotting terrorist acts. Sort of like Al Capone getting hit with tax evasion.
We'll have the latest, tonight at 11.
We'll also take a look at the busy week at the United Nations, with the General Assembly meeting, and the role of President Obama is making Manhattan a place to avoid this week, traffic wise. He's also kicking up political dust with the apparent pressure from the White House on New York Governor David Paterson to not run for election next year.
We'll also have any breaking news of the night, plus Lee Goldberg's AccuWeather forecast for the first week of fall, and Scott Clark with the night's sports. I hope you can join Liz Cho and me, tonight at 11.
BILL RITTER BILL RITTER
