Friday, January 29, 2016

Jim is Wearing Two Shoes

Greetings Earthlings!  Long time, no post.  Jim has transitioned out of the boot.  Here we have the indoor boot and the outdoor boot.  We saw the surgeon Wednesday, he was his usual laconic self.  He said Jim could transition out of the boot over the next one day to three weeks.  We got home and Jim put on his other shoe - transition done!  The down side of the visit was the surgeon telling us no road bike until May. Apparently it's not the stress of pedaling, but the possible disaster of having to put the foot down hard in a crash.  So, there is no biking for him. 


 We've talked about getting a recumbent trike (difficult to fall off), but it would have to live outside.  Our neighbors to the north are once again scaling the fences and stealing bikes, so one wonders how long until it would be gone.  They're actually quite expensive.  I think we'll probably troll a few pawn shops and maybe the Tanque Verde swap meet; maybe we'll find something cheap.

Here is Jim hugging Don the day after the boot came off.  We were out on Jims' first walk.


Don is quite the accomplished wood worker.  He made this for me in the wood shop.  It's spalted maple and it is just lovely. 


Today we had an outing.  We drove by this ghost bike.  It's not a great picture, moving car and shooting into the sun, but you can see how his family still tends to his memorial.  The gentleman killed here was on his way to work a couple of years ago.


We went over to Lazy Days to look at RVs.  It was good walking for Jim, with a few stairs thrown in. Jim is pointing at an Entegra Anthem.  It's about a half million dollars.  For that sum of money you get a huge bathroom.  What you do not get is very much storage, anywhere to put groceries, and decent furniture.  The couches are just intolerably uncomfortable.  It's really depressing.  One wonders how long we can drive our current RV, and I have to tell you we are not seeing anything out there that approaches the amount of storage we currently have.  Despite our home's idiosyncracies, it's still better than what we're seeing on the market.  I do not understand the current need for a gigantic full bath in the back, and a mid-ship half bath.  How much time are we spending in the bathroom?  I'd rather have that space for storage and living.


They're very tall and slightly sinister looking from the back.


We've signed up for a few months at LA Fitness.  Jim can treadmill and stationary bike and I can stair master and we can both lift some weights.  I'm riding some, there was a group ride today of about 24 miles.  I'm so out of shape, it's just sad.  It's not just the lack of quads, it's all the supporting structure that one loses, like the back and the triceps and all of that.  Jim's return to riding will be way worse when the day comes.
That's what's happening in the Old Pueblo for us.

6 comments:

  1. Big day to be back in two shoes! We looked at several of those Entegras in Quartzsite, and were not impressed. You'd think we would have been, given the price.

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    1. I know! You have to wonder who is designing these things. Apparently they are for people with few clothes who don't cook.

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  2. I guess it's progress, but I can feel the impatience growing. May? Lord. We could all be dead by then :(

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  3. I was just reading a thread today on IRV2 (I think it was) about how crappy a lot of the new model motorhomes look. Many folks with 10+ year old rigs just wouldn't trade theirs for anything currently on the market. It shouldn't be that way, particularly with the prices for new ones, so that is a shame. I guess the trend towards huge master baths in sticks & bricks houses is driving what you are seeing. But then at the same time the trend for tiny houses is really picking up too. That's what I consider our Bay Star, and I am happy with its limitations.

    Enjoy the gym -- you'll both get your cycling fitness back in time! I thought I never would after spending 18 months in Belize riding only a cruiser bike a few miles here or there on sandy, unpaved roads, but after returning to the US, I had my biggest cycling year ever of 7500 miles, much to my surprise. Never give up!

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    1. I still can't get over how many miles you two rode that year. That was just phenomenal. We're getting a personal trainer for a few months, I intend to be an uber gym rat. Hopefully if I paid for it, I'll show up!

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  4. We have a ghost bike close to our home. The bicyclist was also killed on the way to work. Sad. And a good reminder to be very careful.
    Enjoyed our chat. David woke up still in rhythm and we are now on day 5!

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