Category: FYI

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Unsolicited, Unpaid Endorsement

As regular readers may recall, back in March I injured my right knee’s ACL. It’s been a decent recovery so far, but I’ve continued to use a cane, in addition to two elastic bandages and one knee brace, to support myself when walking.

And it is support, not merely for stability and balance which is why I’ve been using the cane on my right side: to take weight off the knee when walking, in order to abate the pain, and use fewer pain meds.

But today, I bought a pair of these:

and for the first time in months I could walk without a cane, without pain. Yes, walk. Without pain. Full weight on the leg. Immediately. I simply set the cane aside and walked to give it a try (well, “set the cane aside”=”held the cane just in case” but there was an immediate difference). And yes, I had tried doing w/o the cane’s support earlier, and it was like stabbing my knee with an ice pick.

Of course, I’m still wearing the elastic supports and knee brace for stability (balance is fine, TYVM), but walking. Without pain.

Wonderful.

I like these Skechers Shape Ups. Lots! Time will tell if the claims made by the manufacturer pan out for me, but the simple fact that I can walk, without the cane supporting a large part of my weight, without pain is a BIG DEAL to me.

Good Stuff, Maynard.

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Free At Last!

“Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!”*

(*twc central mortgage is paid off)

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More Locusts

Well, posting is going to be sparse again for the next couple of weeks. Booked to the gills, so don’t think I’ve simply stopped blogging.

More: totally waxed, right now, so this is all there is to this post. Check out my blogroll for some good reads.

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In the Heat of the Night

OK, so it’s not really night here, but at 6:10p.m., it’s hot. At the local high school, which supplies NOAA readings:

Current: 97°F
Hi: 101°F
Heat Index: 111°F
Humidity: 48%

Little wonder our AC has been struggling a tad this afternoon.

No, I did not do any yard work today. I’m not that stupid. Yet. 🙂

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Week Eaten By Locusts

Locusts die by thousands… *heh*

This hasn’t been an exactly toxic week, but it’s been… interesting. The proverbial one-armed paper hanger is a slacker. Heck, I’ve not even had time to find Mass Media Podpeople Hivemind “news” to mock. Did make time to wind down a bit with the season opener of Burn Notice last night (a little disappointing, but then maybe my week colored my viewpoint).

Off to the “races” again today. 7:30. Getting a slow start today.

Say “Hi” to life for me. I don’t have time for it right now. 🙂

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“…doubt’s anodyne and care’s surcease… “

The snippet that is this post’s title? A Bartholomew Gill character speaking of fishing in Death On a Cold, Wild River. While I don’t find fishing to be “doubt’s anodyne and care’s surcease,” I do find some comfort in the volunteers of Spring to combat the barbaric nature of contemporary “civilization”. Notably,

Oh, I very much appreciate the delicious mint and wild garlic and even the “possum grapes” that thrust themselves to prominence in Spring, but the dandelion, one of God’s most beautiful flowers, delicious and nutritious, useful in all its parts*, is my favorite.

So, while wearing two knee braces on the same knee *heh* this a.m. (after dealing with some folks’ computer issues), I took a bucket out to sit on while “weeding” and gathered some mint and wild garlic and–for now–just appreciated my lovely crop of dandelions.

Our local cable service tech was out at our Good Neighbors’ place, and we exchanged uses for the dandelion. He told me of grandkids coming over and asking for “yard food”–he and his wife also harvest “volunteer crops” from their yard, and that gave me a foreshadowing of feeds for future grandkids of our own.

A nice lil interlude in the day.

* Continue reading ““…doubt’s anodyne and care’s surcease… “”

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Energy Star Award: Gasoline-Powered Alarm Clock

Seriously.

As Jerry Pournelle says (at the link),

“Now the government that approves an Energy Star Certificate for a gasoline powered alarm clock will now in essence take over administering the Health Care System in the United States. Good luck, America.”

Be sure to follow the link to the NYT article from the comments at Pournelle’s site.

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One of those minor disappointments in life…

…compounded by another, even more minor, but nearly as irritating. While reading along in a book by an author I have come to expect to be fairly literate, published by a company that has usually competent editors, I read, “Here, here” in a context that called for “Hear, hear.”

Now, I know that sort of phrase is subject to one of the common classes of typos, and I have even–momentarily–typed “Hear, here” before *heh-heh* 🙂 But really. *sigh* The author, one of the proof readers or the editor ought to have caught that.

(Sadly, this video, which ought to be a brief introduction to the differences between “here” and “hear”–as a way of leading into the etymology of the expression “Hear, hear”– contains a comma splice in the introduction to “here” that is inexcusable in a video purporting to be English instruction. *sigh*

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5xDvkk-qxA)

A decent explanation of “Hear, hear!” is here, hear?

Of course, there is one small problem in the explanation linked above. It introduces another expression that most folks have just not bothered to understand: “exception that proves the rule”–;-) Perhaps a slightly better–for not having “exception that proves the rule”–explanation is here-here.

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This Is NOT JUST “Being PIcky”!

I utterly abhor the illiterate construction, “12:00 p.m.” used to refer to Noon. “P.M.” means “Post Meridian” and Noon IS the Meridian; it cannot be after itself. Now, there may be some weak argument for referring to Midnight as “12:00 a.m.” because in one sense it is “ante meridian” but since it is both the beginning of one day while also serving as the end of the previous day, Midnight is simply better. But there is no excuse under the Sun for “12:00 p.m.” to be used to refer to Noon. None. Anyone who uses it deserves 50 lashes with a sharp second hand.