Little Details

During an early morning raid with everyone in TAC gear, the force of an explosion caused by some type of bomb, sends a sniper flying sideways and backwards into the others of the team he is with. His body is overwhelmed with pain, especially along his right side.  When all is said and done, the sniper is blind in his right eye, walks with a limp and is unable to use a rifle with his right arm (at the very least).

 

What do I need to know?  What should I research?  What type of injuries would these be – that didn’t affect any other brain function or cause anything else significant?  I want this person, after due grief for what he has lost (and such), to have a rather full life.

 

 

Considering I do a lot of things with medical/psychological consequences, are there any *GOOD* places out there for researching these types of things?

 

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Setting: September 2010
Search Terms: On YouTube, London ambulance sirens, London fire truck siren, London police siren. Google "Difference between London and New York" (got a lot of results for the time difference)

In a fan fiction I am writing, a character is suddenly transported from a bedroom in America to a flat in London through magical means. In canon, he lived there as a boy and went to Cambridge before moving to the States. Originally, I was going to have him hear the far off sound of sirens because I was under the impression that the sirens were different but when I listened to them on youtube, they sounded identical to my American ears.

So what I looking for is something that I can put in the flat or a sound that would instantly/quickly tell the character they are not in the States anymore, rather then have them think they are in a NYC or another large American city apartment. The neighborhood isn't going to be that great of one so I rather avoid the cliche of the character looking out the window and seeing Big Ben or the Thames.


Thanks in advance.

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Setting: Modern day New York City

Brief description of situation: Character is a famous musician who causes a car accident, including major property damage, while driving under the influence of alcohol and cocaine. First offense. He and passenger are injured, but no one else is involved. In addition to his other legal penalties (community service, fines, suspension of license), the courts order him into rehab. I’m just looking for what a realistic amount of time would be in this scenario.

Used Google to search for “court ordered rehab”, “maximum length of court ordered rehab in New York”. Directed to sites such as http://www.soberrecovery.com (looked around in the forums), http://www.peele.net/lib/court.html, and http://www.thegooddrugsguide.com/drug-and-alcohol-treatment/types-treatment-centers/group-setting/court-ordered-rehab.htm, and various other sites that talked about court ordered rehab in general terms. I found one article stating an individual had been ordered to enter rehab for 20 weeks and another for 13 weeks, but I couldn’t find anything stating whether or not there was a standard length of time assigned or a maximum.

While I have a very basic grasp on the history of India, my Eurocentric public library has been less than helpful on the details. Everything they have seems to fall into the one subcontinent, three millennia, myriad cultures... one badly written volume variety of textbook. Either that or "Here, have some religions" with no real mention of the rest of the culture. Frankly, I learned more from the PBS history series.

I'm trying to research India in the first century C.E. for both a story and my personal curiosity - who was in power where, who was trading what with who, general level of technology and other such meaty details. Also, their trade with the Roman empire at the time.

Can anyone give me a good place to start that's more in-depth than Wikipedia? Book recs eagerly accepted, but in-depth websites are great too.