Thursday, October 3, 2013

Tasty Cookies

Today, I received an email.   It was an email devoid of words and only included this photo


Of course I smiled when I saw it.   Later in the day I spoke to the sender and he said to me " I know how much you like feet "   All that was missing was the pink toe nails


Many years ago (about 1996) when we had our first Corvette, I was backing it out of our garage and into our carport.   The sides are open with posts that are secured to metal holders which are cemented into a square block.  I was very close to one side.   Anyway I backed it up and then I got out of the car to close the garage door.   I thought that I put it into PARK.  Of course the engine was also running.

 
I shut and secured the garage door and then as I was walking back to the car, it started rolling backwards.  The first thing I did was jump head first into the driver's window to try and put the gear shift lever from neutral into park but I think because it was rolling it would not go into park so I tried to pull the emergency brake lever.  By now it was rolling backwards a bit faster and was gaining speed.

Before we started our construction project we had a double garage with an 18 ft door which had to be special ordered.  I had visions of my Corvette smashing through this metal roll up door except by luck our Mazda Miata was parked in the left space and my Corvette smashed into that instead.  So now both cars had damaged rear bumpers.  You may not know that if you own both cars that damage each other and you are covered by the same insurance company (ICBC Government insurance in our case), then neither car is covered .

While I was hanging half out of the Driver's window, my left foot got wedged between the front wheel and one of those cement blocks.  I was wearing a flimsy running shoe and it ripped the toe nail completely off my left big toe and stretched my achilles tendon.  I could barely walk for weeks.  Your achilles tendon will never heal if it gets detached so I have never recovered from this mishap.   Once in a while when I am moving my bike around I have to be careful not to put too much pressure onto my left foot or it will stress it again and will cause a couple of weeks of pain.

I also have to be careful to wear loose fitting shoes and if I walk any distance it will start to hurt.  It is the same with riding boots.  This is why I try not to walk in riding boots very long.  Once it starts to hurt then it will hurt for a couple of weeks.

Now I am not prone to accidents but during the same time, during the mid 1990's I was helping a friend move his dad from Vancouver to Abbotsford.   I borrowed a truck to move the heavy stuff like chesterfields and other large pieces of furniture which included a very heavy, solid wood shuffleboard table.   We got it out to Abbotsford (about an hour+ east of Vancouver) .  We were trying to bring it downstairs into the basement.

My fingers slipped and it fell directly onto my right foot.  Needless to say I was in pain for a while.  Now I cannot be sure if this is what caused my recurring pain or not, but it certainly didn't help

Ever since these two incidents I have found that I cannot wear closed shoes for very long before they start to hurt.  Riding boots are okay when I am actually riding but when I stop I cannot walk very far in them so my solution is to change into sandals at the first opportunity or slip ons like Crocs©, or during the summer just go shoeless


This week my right foot started to hurt again so I am limping around.  It is a recurring problem that has never healed.   Maybe it's just a sign of old age . . .  and we have only just started shoe season


12 comments:

  1. Bob, now I realize I pushed your poor feet way too far that Saturday night in Montreal, for which I apologize. Let the record show however that you suffered in silence, never letting on that I was (unwittingly) making your feet pay a dear price.

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    1. David:

      I was nearing my endurance limit but I made it back to your car. It makes a difference wearing walking sandals. If they were shoes I would have been crippled in the first few blocks.

      All was well until someone said they wanted to show me the Montreal night skyline from the other side of he hill and we had to park in the dark and use our flashlights to walk the 3 miles to the lookout. It felt like 3 miles . . . Anyway, I managed to make it there and back

      thank you again for the tour

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  2. Maybe with the injuries you have a touch of arthritis in your feet and the cold and rain has made them ache too. I too have had to put on shoes and socks. I'd much rather be in my sandals but I hate cold feet more than I hate shoes and socks.

    I like the cookie cutter. I think you need one.

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    1. Trobairitz:

      I can endure open sandals down to 10°c (50°F) and sometimes in the snow to encourage circulation. Shoes are confining and they make my feet sweat.

      I have had less problems since I discovered barefoot walking, or those barefoot type shoes which have a zero lift. I think that walking the natural way makes you use muscles that don't get used when you wear shoes that don't allow your toes to splay.

      I just have to be careful, especially when duck walking my bike when I park it so that I don't put too much pressure on my left foot. As for rain, I love wearing sandals in the rain

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  3. I injured my ankle 33 years ago and it still bothers me. If I don't move around, such as sitting at my desk for more than 30 minutes, it'll take walking ~100m before I stop limping. The standing desk has pretty much resolved that problem at least while I'm at the University.

    If you ordered your Corvettes with a proper transmission, you wouldn't have injured your foot! ;-)

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    1. Richard:

      I think with all your walking you have strengthened your ankle muscles. I am trying to do the same thing by wearing those zero lift sandals which allow your foot muscles to work as nature intended, rather than be cooped up in tight shoes. But my problem is recurring and they don't know what is causing it. I went for many tests a while back and nothing could be found so I just live with it. Every so often it hurts so bad I can barely walk, but not so much during the past year or so. I probably need orthotic shoes, or inserts. but I am frugal and going barefoot seems like the least expensive option and seems to work

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  4. Bob, I think that you guys can toss out any other cookie cutters you might have! The foot is YOU. I can see pictures of Christmas cookies with all kinds of decorations being posted on your blog in a couple of months.... next to your bare feet....

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    1. Erik:

      Unfortunately I am not a cookie baker. I can make cakes and cream puffs and perhaps pudding but I gave up on pies because I cannot make the flaky, no fail, shortening pie crust as I gave up. If you want to see the no-fail receipe fail then watch me. I can't stand mushy pie crust

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  5. Well that explains a lot. Quite the unfortunate accident with the cars....though now I wonder if the same rules apply to my vehicles.

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    1. Dom:

      I am generally very careful when it comes to cars. I thought I put the transmission into Park, but I guess it was in Neutral and on automatics I don't usually set the emergency brake.

      I have a problem finding loose fitting shoes and most are too tight, which causes me problems. I have found it more comfortable to just wear sandals as they are less confining and cooler

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  6. Bob,

    I have many of the same pain issues, only mine are from Fibromyalgia. I'm in chronic pain, daily, dealing with one weird thing after the other. I finally found boots that don't hurt, so that's a blessing. But for years now my neck and shoulders hurt so much I'm often in tears by bedtime. But like most things in life, it doesn't last. It has times when it is greater than others, just like joy, sunshine, money and friends. I try to take it all as it comes these days.

    When we see bare feet, we think of you, and often mention you and those Crocs to one another, laughing. Please see this article where we posted a special photo for you when we were in Ocean City MD.

    My father was in a critical accident when I was 4 years old on his chopper. His left ankle was shattered and he limped in pain for the rest of his life. He would have loved a push button starter rather than a kickstart, but he kicked it with his right foot. :) Many of those old timers would do that after a few wrecks. Anyway, when I'm in pain I think of my Dad and the way he limped out to his bike and started it, throttling with his right hand, kicking with his right foot, standing to the left of the bike, holding the clutch with his left hand. He looked like a contortionist really. He was a tough man. I'm proud to push through some pain to be tough too. :)

    Smooches,
    Sash
    www.SashMouth.com

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    1. Tina:

      I think you endure more pain than me. My problem recurs for no reason and then I can barely walk but I am very careful now to take extra care not to stress my foot. It is good to walk in bare feet and let your muscles work as they were designed. Much has been written and you can find many articles on the "net.

      thank you for thinking about me. Maybe Steve should get a pair of Crocs© too

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