Two-Wheeling Around on a Sunday morning

Last Sunday saw us, minus Edward, cycling at the East Coast. It was fun and we enjoyed it tremendously. We have not hired bicycles since Nixon was in office I think; and paying $7 per hour came as a surprise. The shop owner looked at us like we had just landed because we went"7 dollars ?". Well, the second hour was free we but did not quite use it all up, as bellies were rumbling and breakfast was in order. We came across a canal and of course, we had to stop for Caitlin and Grampa to throw twigs in. Having done canal duty, we hopped back on our bikes, with a few body parts a little worse for wear, and headed for breakfast.

A Ragamuffin Weekend

My second post this week is of a delightful weekend spent in the company of one Caitlin Rose. While her parents enjoyed the tranquility of Mayang Sari, we got the Read and Repeat Miss Caitlin who asked her questions over and over again. She delighted us with her stories, inadvertently terrorising Dolce, clambered on our bed and insisted we cover her with the blanket, played with our bedside table's contents - Grampa could not find his comb after that - sang her songs, counted to 10 in Mandarin and Malay and learnt how to count to 3 in French in 3 easy lessons. We took her to the beach where she frolicked, and to the park where her botany skills came in handy. She licked the bark though the taste of grass, she discovered, was not that good. We delivered her home on Sunday evening, and surprised her parents with food and one very tired child. And we took home one Grampa who was rather quiet, for once!

And you only thought spurs were the things behind cowboy boots

Well, they are also heel bone extensions which grow to fill the space at the heel where the under-foot ligament has been stretched or torn, usually from prolonged standing (teachers are prone) or from wear and tear. I discovered on 16 June that I had spurs on both feet; the symptoms manifested themselves quite painfully during my standing marathon for my ministerial forum. The X-ray below shows my right foot with the spur clearly shown at the base of the heel bone. I have finished 2 sessions of $320 per pop shock therapy which involves 8 minutes of deep-tissue healing which sounds less painful than it is. It is working - my ligament was swollen to 5.9 mm and now it's 4.5 mm (normal is 3.8) and I am now able to walk most of the day without heel pain; I feel it when I get out of bed and before the end of the day. I am thankful for that; it used to hurt much more before this. Prior to being fitted with arches, I walked on tip toe all day or limped and it was quite uncomfortable. Those with high arches, watch out because standing and walking all day puts your feet squarely on the ground - with your weight on them - and this causes the ligament to stretch with weight on it, hence the inflammation and then them spurs. I am now equipped with high-arch supports, custom made, which cost $350! Walking all day with them is also helping my inflammation to ease. The saddest part of all this is of course that I cannot wear my strappy sandals and open-toed slippers and shoes, at last count about 50 pairs. Even my court shoes can't take my supports. Orthotic shoes which will take my arch supports cost $300 and worst of all, they are damn ugly. Sigh. I am going to persist wearing my supports as often as I can and for as long as I have to, and then hopefully be able to wear my lovely non-court shoes once again; if not all day, then at least for a small part of it. When you look around you and see people who cannot walk, you feel thankful that it's just spurs.

(The spur is in the shadowed area, like a little hook)