Monday 3: On the way home from wherever I was, decided to drop into the car park of the apartment block next door. Given that are lower than the ground level of their carpark, we only see a few headlights, but we sometimes hear much more than we would prefer. This is the view from there looking back towards us.
I shared with the folks on the BoneSmart forum a series of pictures and a narrative, describing the process I go through every to get my left leg into a state where I can walk effectively. This is the short version.
The issue with my floppy foot will NOT go away. Ever! It appears that once a nerve is damaged like that, it does not recover, so I’m stuck with it for the duration. At age 70, it’s probably just as well that I only have a few more decades to go!
The worst part is the “zingers”. A zinger is like a 30,000 volt spike originating in the foot and blasting out via somewhere else in the foot, or even sometimes if I happen to have both feet together, it shoots from floppy left foot through the right foot, or the foot will threaten to generate a zinger, which is almost as bad. During a session with an orthopedic specialist, she told me that her husband has the same issue. They can be walking through the mall and suddenly he lets out a yelp and grabs for the nearest solid object! “Yep, that’s it!” That was the moment I knew for certain that it wouldn’t go away.
Combine that with the daily struggle to get the left shoe on over the brace. I just happen to have some metal shoehorns about 10” long, which provide enough leverage. It also helps that the shoe has softened a bit, but it can still be a battle leaning over to get to the shoe on the floor, while still holding the brace! I have even allocated myself a space in the living room, where the couch is lower, which makes it easier to get down to floor level.
I bought a batch of socks in different colors. The small ones are used overnight so that the feet are not quite so “free” for generating zingers.
Socks are on, plus a brace for right knee so that it doesn’t ache quite so badly during the day.
Brace in position, shoes ready (wide open), let the battle begin!
Hold the brace against the leg and stuff the whole thing into the shoe, sometimes as easy as it looks, and sometimes a real pain.
Attack it with the shoehorn.
Dig around the heel to seat the logo on the back of the shoe, (shoehorn or fingers) then cover the mess with the jeans.
Ready to meet the day with the shiny new red Rollator, complete with bag of stuff & warm jacket.
There’s a long strap in there, holding the bag in place. Very handy.
Nasty prang on the freeway, with traffic backed up for a couple of miles. This picture is courtesy of our new DashCam.
A milestone for the Corolla.
I did some research here. That mountain is Mt Baker, identified by the dollops on the left of the mean peak. It’s located not far from the Canadian border!
This year we celebrated Thanksgiving at April’s place with her, Duncan and our friend Jim.
For some time now, Julie has been using her TSA training as part of her job at Staples. TSA is Transportation Security Administration – gather up the relevant documents, make an appointment, submit those documents, get your picture and fingerprints taken and end up several weeks later with a KTN (Known Traveller Number), which makes it so much easier when you fly, as you get to go straight past the search area. The system is great when it works ….. hmm. There are nights when she comes home totally exhausted, partly from the breakdowns and partly from constantly working for a full shift, anywhere from 6 to 9 hours, usually without a break.
For a while now, I have been looking for work, focusing on work that I can do from home. Then Julie suggested that I could re-apply at Staples. I did and I start the formal training (again) this week. The boss said that he would try very hard to put us on the same shifts, so that we’re not having her wanting to go home and me just arriving.
You’ve probably read about the “swap area” here at the apartment block. Most of it is on the mailboxes, but for the larger items, they go into the covered pickup/dropoff area. We came across a rather nice-looking painting and decided to snap it up. After I got some help from April to hang it, we were able to do some research on it. It’s a print, one of only 995 copies.
Apparently, the hidden wildlife is the trademark of this artist. Look carefully at the red rings, and there may be more that I haven’t found.
Monday 5: On the way home from wherever I was, I decided to drop into the car park of the apartment block next door. Given that are lower than the ground level of their carpark, we only see a few headlights, but we sometimes hear much more than we would prefer. This is the view from there looking back towards us.
Monday 26: Hmm, it looks like Autumn was here. You can tell the deciduous ones!. That’s salt on the pathway, with snow on the way.
Tuesday 29: Yep, it’s here.
The bamboo doesn’t take kindly to having snow leaning on it.
Wednesday 30: It really kicked in overnight.
I went out there early.
… And then a little later in the day. The guy down the bottom is almost certainly stuck.
IF (a very big IF) we go out, it will be straight ahead …
… And out this way.
