I was going to use this space to talk about some of the upcoming plans and schedules here at Dork Tower for 2004. However, my good friend Rich Koslowski has some important (if regrettable) news of his own, so for now, the column is his. I'm sure I speak for the entire Army of Dorkness in wishing Rich a speedy and full recovery - John

Hello friends of THE 3 GEEKS and DORK TOWER,

It is with a very heavy heart that I am writing this thank you to you and John Kovalic. Unfortunately I will not be able to continue contributing 3 GEEKS backup stories in DORK TOWER for the foreseeable future. On November 9th I suffered a severe eye injury while playing basketball and as a result have been left with a horrible case of double-vision. It is so severe that I am having difficulty working and suffer terrible headaches. As a result I am forced to cut back drastically on my work schedule. This saddens me deeply because I really enjoyed contributing to DORK TOWER and working with John is a real treat. He's one of the nicest guys in this business. Thanks again, John, for inviting me on board for these past months.

In a nutshell, here's what happened to me: I went up for an uncontested rebound, no one else near the ball. An opposing player attempted to swat the ball from my hands while I was up in the air. He reached up from behind me - so I was unable to see him and protect myself - and then swatted up at the ball, missing completely, and raking his fingers up my face and into my left eye socket. When it happened I thought I was shot in the eye by a stray bullet through a window. My eye exploded with intense pain. I was rushed to the hospital and spent the next four hours there. The doctor's hope was that it would pass on its own in a short amount of time. It hasn't.

Since then I have seen six different eye specialists with no good news and no improvement with my sight. I am scheduled for another appointment on February 9th, 2004 with the top eye surgeon in the state to go over my surgical options.

I remain hopeful and have had incredible support from my many friends. Sadly, I have been told to prepare for the possibility that this condition may be permanent, as the damaged muscles are very intricate and difficult to repair. I was also informed that this is a "freak accident" and they just don't come across this type of injury very often. Therefore they do not have much experience repairing it. (If any of you have suffered a similar injury, or know someone who has, I would certainly appreciate any information you can provide).

Thank you all again for your support of DORK TOWER and THE 3 GEEKS. Hopefully we'll be talking again soon!

Rich Koslowski
the3geeks@aol.com