Mike

An ankle update

I fractured the cuboid bone in my foot.  Oddly, it's my ankle that hurts not the top of my foot.  Anyway it's stable and doesn't need a cast.  I'm wearing one of those elastic sleeves over my foot and ankle for support and compression.  The doctor gave me a shot of an anti-inflammatory, told me to take it easy, take Alieve, and come back next Friday.

I'm possibly the only one capable of crippling himself while vacuuming the living room

In our family it’s called doing a “Courtney” - a) injuring yourself while doing something simple or b) injuring yourself while doing something that common sense said that you shouldn’t have tried in the first place.  In this case, I did both.

My living room has a cathedral ceiling and, for whatever reason, spiders like to spin webs at the very top above the big window overlooking the golf course, which is also above the love seat.  Common sense said “Find something solid to stand on while you vacuum them”.  Instead I climbed up on the love seat because I knew that I could reach the cobwebs from there.  I put my left foot on the back of the love seat but when I put my right foot on the cushion, the cushion gave way.  My body and left leg went one way.  My left ankle went the other way.

Not wanting to go to an emergency room, I phoned my sister because she’s done more Courtneys than Allan and I have put together.  “Ice first, then heat” she said, speaking from experience.  Since I didn’t have enough ice in the freezer to make iced tea I made my second mistake and drove to the Bi-Lo to get a bag.  I thought a senior citizen would have to help me get back to the truck since I could barely walk at that point.

Back home again, I dumped ice in the bucket I normally use for moping the kitchen floor, added water, and stuck my foot in it.  I’m not sure which hurts worse.  A twisted ankle or a twisted ankle in ice water.  Champ evidently thought that all of this was fun.  He kept drinking water from the bucket.  (It’s OK.  My foot and the bucket were clean.)

At the moment my left ankle is much larger than my right one and it has an impressive purple bruise circling it.  Next up is the heating pad.

Crap!

Just when I'm in the mood to leave comments on hundreds of blogs I get this:  "TypePad is currently unavailable. We apologize for the inconvenience, and we're working hard to bring the service back online as soon as possible."

Please work fast TypePad.  These moods don't last long.

Subway

I got distracted and never sorted through the photos from New York but I love this one my sister took as we waited for the 6 train to take us back to our hotel.

This is as exciting as it gets when Champ and I go on a walk

Joan, the curator of downtown sidewalk art, has lots to work with.

Here, West of the Ashley, all I have are raccoon prints:

Oh, and Bo Bo:

Why are these people laughing?

Photo credit: Joan

4:55

That's what the clock said this morning when Psycho screeched like the hounds from Hell were chasing him.  I bolted out of the bed and stumbled down the stairs only to discover that he was trying to pick a fight with his reflection in the kitchen door.

By then the adrenaline was pumping so there was no way I could go back to bed to sleep. Instead I showered, dressed, and went to Walmart.  I love shopping at Walmart before the sun rises.  I get to park near the door and meet women shoppers who have less of a life than I have.  Unfortunately, so far, they've all been married which may explain why they are in Walmart at 5:30.

I evened the score with Psycho later this morning.  I took him to the vet for his final kitty AIDS booster shot.  When we returned home I made him wait in his carrier until I could take his photo and post it on the internet.

He's currently sitting on the deck plotting how to get back at me.

Mmmm. Cherries!

The season is short and they don't stay in the produce section for long, so I grab them when I can.  I have visions of Jack Nicholson dancing in my head.

Score two for the new guy

There’s no denying that Tubby Smith was a great coach.  There’s also no denying that he was a terrible recruiter.  Billy Gillispie has been the coach for about six weeks now and he’s already signed two of the country’s top prep players.  Tubby may have laid the foundation for what might have been his best recruiting class ever but he got on a plane for Minnesota and it took Gillispie to close the deals.

Top recruits don’t make a team.  That’s what coaches get paid big bucks to do but the Big Blue Nation is smiling for the first time in years.

Lexington sportswriter John Clay said it best.  “The mojo is back.”

Look out Billy D.  The Cats are back and they’re hungry.

Before I forget, Duke still sucks.

A look from above

I'm not sure if this is the reason Charleston is enveloped in smoke but on my flight back home Tuesday evening I saw a fire smoldering in the woods in Berkeley County.