It's astounding how many things in your day-to-day life require the use of two hands. Since breaking my arm two weeks ago, I've had to adapt to this bi-handed (what's the equivalent of "bipedal" for arms/hands?) world. Here are a few things that become very difficult with one hand:

Typing is an obvious one. The stickler to this is keyboard shortcuts, though. A command I use pretty often is cmd-opt-shift-s in Photoshop to "Save for web." Hitting all four keys at once takes some manual contortionism.

Zip-Loc bags are another toughie. Try it. Some bags aren't so bad, but the name-brand ones with crazy quadruple-seal tops require some creativity -- also known as teeth.

Opening a sealed envelope can be a pain. It takes many times as long if you're only using one hand.

Even if you've got your dominant hand free, writing can pose some difficulties. On a big enough piece of paper, you can use your forearm to keep it in place, and paper on a pad is held steady by the weight of the pad. Writing on small pieces, like credit card receipts or checks, is an order of magnitude more difficult.

Speaking of credit cards, getting them out of and into a wallet requires some extra dexterity. And then carrying your wallet, keys, etc. becomes harder because you can't use half the pockets on your pants. It's really hard to get into the left-side hip pocket on a pair of jeans with your right hand.

Can't write too much... it's tough typing with one hand.

Update, March 16: I still can't type very fast. One would think that I would be able to type half as fast with half as many fingers, but that's not the case.

Anyway, it all started on a beautiful Sunday evening. I was playing an innocent game of ultimate frisbee. We had a good-sized group of people and the field almost to ourselves. After some warm up tosses of the disc, we split into teams and began to play.

There was a quick turn, and I bolted toward the end zone to catch a long pass. The disc was coming directly from behind, so I had to turn around to see it. I jumped up to try to grab it, but it was just out of reach. It bounced off the top of my fingers. I returned to the ground and fell backwards. My outstretched arm broke my fall, but not without breaking itself.

Fortunately, several people present were trained in first-aid and/or medicine, so I was able to get some stabilizing support right away, then it was off to the ER.

The diagnosis was that I broke the ulna and the radius, and might need surgery. Tuesday morning I went to see the orthopedic specialist who took another set of x-rays. He said that the bones were in alignment and that as long as they stayed that way for a few days, I wouldn't need surgery -- a relief. I'm going back next week to get a proper cast, which I will wear for at least another five weeks. Then I can return to the field.

Cafe 458 is part of Samaritan House. During the week, the cafe serves meals to Atlanta's homeless, but on Saturdays and Sundays Cafe 458 serves brunch to the public, with the proceeds going toward the Samaritan House programs. The kitchen and wait staff are all volunteers (A few friends were volunteering today, so we went to see what it was all about).

Aside from being served by our friends, it felt like any good breakfast place. The food was excellent (I had the biscuits and gravy, pictured), and though it wasn't uncomfortably crowded there was a steady flow of people in and out.

I would certainly recommend it to anyone looking for a good weekend brunch.