FOOT X-RAYED, NOTHING BROKEN SO GOT ME SOME NEW SHOES:))

TONIGHT’S PHOTOS ARE FROM SUNDAY’S DRIVE…JUDGING BY THE HOUSE I THINK THIS MAY BE A MENNONITE LOGGING OPERATION

Had an appointment with my Nurse Practitioner this morning so told her about my foot injury 9 days ago. A sore point was detected on the side of my foot & she sent me for X-rays. Nothing broken & it is termed a 'soft tissue' injury. Nothing I can do but suck it up & do the best I can with a very sore foot for as long as it takes to heal.  Meanwhile I will just shuffle around like Quasimodo from the Hunch Back of Notre Dame.  Nothing like an illness or an injury to make one feel about 30 years older than they actually are!!  My NP did tell me the foot should be supported by good footwear though & I didn’t tell her I’m not in the habit of wearing shoes in the house.  I always walk around in sock feet & it seems that is the worst possible thing I could have been doing for my foot this past week & a half.

NOTHING TO FANCY SCHMANCY, JUST COMFORTABLE

Upon leaving the Medical Center I went straight away to Wuerth’s Shoe Store in downtown Goderich, un-cheapskated myself & bought me a spanking brand new pair of comfortable ‘NEW BALANCE’ walking/hiking/running shoes.  We’ll see if that helps my foot.  I’m just using the ‘walking’ part of that triple combo for starters right now:))

 

FOR SOME IT WAS A WORKING SUNDAY, BUT NOT ALL

'Hotshot' over in the Shout Box is correct about me repeating myself by copying & pasting some of the paragraphs in Sunday night's post. Had written half a dozen paragraphs on my laptop Saturday. Sat down at the desk top Sunday night & started out writing in my Live Writer program. About half way through I remembered the paragraphs on my laptop. Copy & pasted some of them to Live Writer & of course muddled myself up as I tried to integrate Saturday's thoughts with Sunday's thoughts. In doing so I repeated one of the paragraphs which I since have removed. Thanks to keen eyed readers for keeping me on the straight & narrow:))

Commenter Phil had some questions about the Sifto Salt Mine in Goderich.  This operation is the largest Salt Mine in the world with tunnels stretching for miles out underneath Lake Huron.  Kelly & were fortunate enough to have been on one of the last public tours of this mine about 18 years ago.  A small crowded work elevator took us down into the mine that day & when the doors opened we were looking at a world unlike anything we had ever seen before. Large trucks laden with salt chunks driving by, huge noisy ventilation fans whirring away & the sounds of a heavy crusher shaking & breaking those large salt boulders into smaller pieces. I remember we walked & also rode on some kind of shuttle through the cavernous tunnels & large ‘rooms’. Easy for one to become lost at any one of the roadway intersections. Everything looked the same & had been carved through a large salt vein which runs from Ontario all the way under the lake down into Michigan & Ohio somewhere. One would think the cavern walls would be white but I remember them as a dirty gray with the ceilings looking black. We were told that was diesel residue from trucks traveling these subterranean roads for years. The shuttle took us far out under the lake to the leading edge where the actual digging was taking place. Loaders were busy loading trucks as digging equipment kept chipping away at the solid wall of salt in front of them. Explosives are also used.  Salt is loaded into trucks which are driven all those many underground miles back to a main underground crusher machine. Huge blocks of salt are broken down before being transferred to the surface via conveyors where it is milled to various sizes.  Once on the surface it is bulk stored in huge huts while much of it is bagged as well. It is commonly called Rock Salt & the majority of it is used on icy winter roads. A steady stream of big 18 wheel trucks will soon begin arriving to haul that rock salt to points all over Ontario & maybe even Quebec. Those trucks will be rolling all winter. I should add here that I am relating this from a sometimes unreliable memory & 18 years ago was a very long time. In an attempt at trying to lend some accuracy to my paragraph I have included THIS LINK about the mine. 
 

 

SUNDAY WAS A NICE DAY FOR SOME CANOE FOLKS ON THE MAITLAND RIVER
TOM from up there in that Alaska place also had a comment question. Tom asks, {I do wonder how you afford all that gas by the liter for those wonderful jeep rides} Jeeps are not known for their terrific gas mileage so my answer Tom is that we drive very slowly. Must admit I do have some guilt feelings at times especially when Kelly is working & Pheebs & I are out driving around in the Jeep. We do justify some of those types of expenses at times by telling ourselves, we don't drink, we don't smoke or do drugs, we seldom eat out, we're not fancy dressers, & we don't entertain or spend much money on social stuff.  Sometimes we just gotta justify things eh:))

ANOTHER ONE OF THE DAY’S SCENIC PIT STOPS FOR PHEEBS & I

IVAN is still having himself a great working summer in southern Alberta fuelling helicopters when called upon & being choppered around from mountain top to mountain top helping out with things where & whenever needed. What a great environment to spend one's summers in & then what a great environment to spend one's winter in when he gets to freely wander his way around the entire American South West. What a life, what a life:))

First thing in the morning I am off to the Maitland Medical Center (the Vampire clinic) again. More blood tests this time concerning cholesterol levels. I will be soooooooo glad when at some point Kelly & I hopefully reach a point where we can put all this medical stuff behind us, load up the rig, & hit the road for the South West once again. Something new to blog about & I know readers will be sooooooo glad when that happens as well............10-4:))

 

Thanks to Commenters & Shout Boxers for understanding my Sunday post.  Sometimes I forget to thank the folks on my Facebook page for their comments & ‘likes’ as well so a special nod to readers over there for your long time interest & support.  I hope to write more on the subject of depression now that I have brought it out of the closet.  Let me just start by saying there are times at the end of some days where I hover my cursor over the 'Publish' button on my Live Writer program. My mind thinks, have I said something I'm going to regret. Is there something I wrote I should rethink, rewrite, or remove. Some posts roll off my keyboard light & easy. They have a good feeling to them & I have little to be concerned about. Other times, not so much. This is not by design, this is due in part to mood swings. Mood swings are related to Depression…………………………………. 

CAN YOU TELL PHEEBS & I WERE DRIVING ALONG SUNDAY EATING A VERY JUICY & DRIPPY HAMBURGER WITH THE WORKS:((

GROANER'S CORNER:(( A wife, being the romantic sort, sent her husband a text: “If you are sleeping, send me your dreams. If you are laughing, send me your smile. If you are eating, send me a bite. If you are drinking send me a sip. If you are crying, send me your tears. I love you! The husband, typically nonromantic, replied, “I am on the toilet. Please advise!”

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- Tourists see the world, travelers experience it.
- Home is where your pet is:))
- "If having a soul means being able to feel
love and loyalty and gratitude, then animals
are better off than a lot of humans."
(James Herriot)
- The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails -William Arthur Ward
- The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...AL.
- It is not so much having nothing to do as it is not having the interest to do something....AL.