Persistence

About a year ago Schmap.com asked if they could use one of my photos on their Monterey Calif. page for the Aquarium(because it was a photo taken at the Monterey Bay Aquarium)

I agreed, and they posted it. I am pleased to report that it is still up. I had figured it would be rotated out. It seems to be permanent.

So, if you need to know where the Monterey Bay Aquarium Schmap will be happy to let you know.

You can take the boy out of the Army

I've spent the past two days being interrogated... about interrogation. If there are any interrogators out there who would like to be done the same, drop me a line; the study group is still working.

It's unclassified, but at the moment I don't want to talk about it much, save to say this wasn't a casual chat on torture, it was a a couple of formal works on the nuts and bolts, in an attempt to get a grasp on technique, in the interest of shaping policy and forming doctrine.

Once again, I was lucky enough to be in the right sort of places, at the right time.

Body issues

I am free of the cast, and have been for about a week. Life, in a lot of ways, is no different than it was a week ago. I still need crutches to get around the house, and the kneelchair to get around the rest of the world. People are either kind to me, or look at me as if I am intentionally making their life harder. Greenpeace solicitors ignore me.

Sleeping is different. I no longer have a rigid lump from the knee down (in the TMI category... znxvat ybir jvgu n pnfg ba vf abg sbe gur gvzvq). I still use a box at the bottom of the bed, so the weight of my blankets doesn't cause me discomfort. Before the boot, and my subsequent permission to sleep without my foot being encased, the box was to keep the cast from being really restricted by the blankets. I would, actually, move my legs out from inside it. Now I don't. The empty space means I need to put a warming pan, of some sort near the bottom of the bed; because the airspace (about a cubic foot, all told) needs some heating up. I've been putting socks with barley around my feet.

The boot is more closely fitted, but it also allows more motion. I can soak in the hot tub, or languish in the shower (without worry the seal on the "big blue sock" will fail, or I will sweat into the cotton bandages lining the cast). I was really pleased/amazed to find out the cast liner (layers of cotton lint bandages) wasn't hideous looking. Apart from directly under my heel,and some right near the ball of my foot, it was still a brilliant white. It was also much thicker than I recalled.

Cutting the cast of was one of those moments where I had to let my faith overcome my mind. The saw looked pretty vicious, but it never had a chance to cut me. In the first place it was a reciprocating blade, so the arc was small. In the second it was very small teeth. In the third it had a stop, so it couldn't get very deep. In the fourth the teeth would get fouled in the bandages. Finally, the doctor was very Good and used his thumb as an index to keep the blade from being able to get much past the depth of the cast, on the occasions it went through quickly.

The bandages had to be cut off with scissors.

I would say I can stand on it... but I'd be wrong. I am allowed to,but I can't really do it.

In the first place, the sole of my foot feels odd when I put weight on it. More to the point, I have so thoroughly absorbed the fact of not putting weight on my right leg, that I don't. I hop, skip, crutch, or wheel. When I am in the shower I make a point of standing on both legs (it makes washing my hair a lot easier. Then I notice that I have, when I stopped thinking about it... removed the weight.

I am, finally, starting to use the booted foot for some sorts of balancing, but my default body position is one of one-legged balance. I am quite good at it. On the occasions I seem to be losing it, and my body tries to put my right foot down to actually carry some of my weight, so I don't fall... there is a sense of panic.

And my right calf... is smaller than my left. There is a lot less muscle ton too. Three more weeks, and I can start to walk again. I don't know how long until I am once again, basically, as I was.