Many concerned readers are emailing and writing asking me about the state of my injured finger. There is a growing concern that my nearly-severed right finger will stop me from keeping a finger on the pulse of America. Not to worry, even with nine working fingers, Merle Wayne Sneed is up to the job. So, here's the latest, finger-wise. I went to the doctor yesterday morning and he took my stitches out. Then, the doctor decided that taking them out might not have been his best idea ever, seeing as how the wound wasn't fully healed, I cannot bend my finger and it hurts like hell. His solution was to give me a referral to a hand specialist. He evidently thought it was important that I get there asap, because he called and made me an appointment for today. The hand specialist x-rayed my hand again to confirm that there was no bone damage. He applied some kind of strips to close the remaining wound, splinted my finger and told me to come back next week. He also said I 'nicked' my tendon, which may be why the finger won't bend much. Of course this has really cut into my recreational activities, which is the big downside. Things in this blog represented to be fact, may or may not actually be true. The writer is frequently wrong, sometimes just full of it, but always judgmental and cranky