Not-Gout Strikes Back. And the Winner is...

For those of you who have been poking around my blog (stop it! it tickles!) as far back as August of 2009 may remember when I had the battle with something that followed textbook gout.

Quick summary: within 24 hours my left big toe joint went from stiff to immobile and excruciating just to touch and I was a limping, whiny mess. I toughed it out for a couple days, resorted to using the broke-foot boot I still have from college, and when I got to the doc and the labs came back: not gout because my uric acid wasn't high enough, it was lasting too long, and the swelling wasn't huge.

That was my GP.

FF to yesterday where that thing I just said happened again to my right big toe. This time I went right away to a Orthopedic surgeon with a podiatry focus. And what did he say? Um, totally gout. Blood uric acid levels can be misleading and swelling varies by person.

And he stuck a needle in the joint and filled it with cortisone. That sucked.

So, we're going to revise my 2009 experience to say: WAS gout. And now I've got it again. Hopefully for less time, and hopefully with the clear memory of holding my head in a pain that bent my sanity at 3am as impetus to make some dietary and lifestyle changes.

Yay gout!

Jesus Babies: The Real Conservative Crusade

You've heard conservatives lament the horror of Anchor Babies: children born on American soil, making them American citizens, to the parents of illegal immigrants. It's the theme, purpose, and strategy of the immigrants and it must be stopped!

You may have also heard the paranoid rantings of some elected officials blathering on about Terror Babies. These are the Taliban counterparts to their Hispanic compatriots and should completely scare the crap out of us because, um, terrorists, duh!

(Your mission: draw cute, cartoon-y versions of stereotypical illegal immigrants and terrorists - as babies. Awwww...watcha watcha intafada taco? Brrth?)

But the real point of this post is that the sometime raving and ranting on the right over the Anchor and Terror Babies betrays the real reason for their perplexing focus of women's health care and Planned Parenthood: Jesus Babies.

It's the same reason (in my opinion) Christianity and other religions encoded into their doctrines the need to consummate a marriage and avoid birth control: more babies means more Christians. Some estimates have white people as a minority in the USA by 2042, and that scares the shit out of the rich, white right wing. More babies, more Whites, more babies, more Christians.

And yet they're wrong again. The growing secular population in America paired with the growing liberal - moving forward - crowd will actually mean less Christians, less 100% white people. It will mean more abortions - legal or not - and more deaths and more illness and more orphaned children.

In their heads, the brown people are winning the population race. And they don't know what to do about it. So? Apply Christian doctrine to law!

This is just me, but:

"Liberals look back at the last 50 years, figure we've done pretty well moving forward in the rights of women and minorities, but know there's much yet to do. Conservatives look back 50 years and are horrified that it still doesn't look like that now."

-Ricky Shambles


Sorry conservatives, but "Where's Mammy with my mint julep?" is never coming back.

In Short: Insurance is STILL Winning

Here's a quick review of how health insurance is kicking your ass:

• Insurance companies will raise your rates every year, no matter what.
• Insurance companies have HUGE holdings.
• Insurance companies take those holdings and put them into the stock market to make even more money.
• Insurance companies took a hit when the tech bubble burst.
• That's when they decided it was time to bring out the monster of Frivolous Lawsuits.
• They convinced the doctors, who pushed for tort reform.
• Insurance companies kept on that steeper climb even though the false spectre faded.
• Affordable Care Act passed.
• The increase in rates is even higher, even though most of the costs will not manifest for years.
• The Insurance Industry as a whole has NEVER had a loss and regularly pops their CEOs with millions or billions for NOT providing care.

When the fuck are we going to learn these people are NOT working for our best interest in what is a human rights issue?

Michelle Obama is Killing More People than Obesity

Your first reaction: Are you fucking serious? Yes. Yes I am. Here's the article insinuating that Michelle Obama's Let's Move program is to blame for an increase in pedestrian deaths. Because when you get out there and are active, that means more people can hit you with their cars while they're not getting fit.

(Personally, I'd maybe, just perhaps, posit a secondary source: a shitty economy & jobs situation. No money for gas = walky-walky when you'd normally drivey-drivey.)


No, but there's more!


First off, I don't think she should've been talking about Barack like that in front of kids.


So before I even read the article about car accidents, I keyed into this:




Do you see it? Perhaps this will help:



Yes, the original logo looks like it's plowing into someone upside-down. And if I can see that in .5 seconds, how did everyone on the graphics team miss it?

Facebook Marijuana - I Like Weed!

I'm conflicted.

I got an email in my inbox from Firedoglake saying the following:

Marijuana legalization has been censored by Facebook.
Facebook just banned our ads that support marijuana legalization. The social networking site says we can no longer advertise our campaign for marijuana legalization using our logo, which has a pot leaf.

We need to fight back against Facebook's censorship. Can you sign our petition protesting Facebook's unfair policy against legalization ads? We'll send the petition to Facebook and tell the media about the site's censorship of a popular political issue.

I'm as liberal as they get. I love Firedoglake. While I hardly ever smoke anymore, I love me some marijuana. And I am wholeheartedly, 100% behind any legalization efforts. Legalize it already!

But Firedoglake, I'm going to have to pass on this one. See, I've got Irish Dancer here at home. She's 14. And her and all her friends and kids much younger than her use Facebook every day.

She knows that marijuana is not addictive and not the devil because we're open as parents about the effects of drugs. She's also aware that marijuana use during teen years can negatively affect developing cognition. But that's a discussion for us to have with her as parents, and there are many more kids out there without that talk, without that openness, who are ignorant on the topic.

Our ads show marijuana leaves as part of a political campaign to change public policy. It's like telling a political candidate for office that it's unacceptable to show the candidate's face in advertising.

Hold the fucking bus, Gus. Irish Dancer could tell you that's a really shitty analogy. Here's a better one: Popping a marijuana leaf up on Facebook is like popping a leaf up in a loud, crowded theater before the premiere of Eclipse; it will go unnoticed by many, but subconsciously it'll be there. And that theater's full of kids.

And the point of the campaign is to change the fact that it's still illegal. I fully support legalization, but not with ads on Facebook. And when we're successful and we get it legalized, give me a call and we'll smoke a j and laugh about that time I was a dick 'cause I've got a kid. :)

Milk is Like Oil Cause Obama's Stupid n Stuff!

If you've missed some of the recent goofy "Obama it the Devil" blasts over the past week or so, might want to take a look at this one talking about how the EPA has classified storage of large amounts of milk as something to be handled carefully, like storage of oil.

Obviously, this post and subsequent re-posts and stories about Milk=Oil were a lovely and timely right-wing sensationalism meant to paint Obama as a killer of industry, ignorer of the Gulf, having priorities wrong, etc.

So let's review a couple facts concerning the supposed slam:

• The EPA rule changes equating animal fat (and by extension, milk) storage to that of oil are part of the EPA Emergency Management Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure (SPCC) Rule.


• The SPCC Rule was enacted in 2002 (under Bush), with implementation deadlines for facilities (including farms) by November 2009.


• Since Obama took office, in June 2009 an extension was added to give facilities until November 2010 to comply.


• Also, November 2009 amendments made to the rule currently under consideration include exemption of milk storage.

If we're going to sully an administration' s reputation on an absurdity of government handling, let's get the right administration.

If you care to dig more, feel free to start here: http://www.epa. gov/oem/content/spcc/

Christian Children's Fund

Is it epidemic? Here's an older version of the Christian Children's Fund commercial starring actor Alan Sader:




I can't find a version of the new commercial online right now, but Mr. Sader's put on about 30 lbs. Isn't that a bad thing when it comes to pitching how badly kids are starving? Why not give them some of your food, Mr. Sader?

Warning to Mr. Sader: Diet time. Remember Sally Struthers?

Breaking Bad (Cleanses)

This is a follow up to This is Stupid: Cleanse post from yesterday.

As of this morning, 48 hours in, I'd eaten nothing except for the stupid juice and water and the oral enema. In 48 hours I went from feeling okay to being drained, grumpy, tired, lethargic, apathetic, all with a headache. Surprisingly, not all that physically hungry. They say it's only the first 3 or 4 days that suck. I have better ways to lose weight.

So I did my saltwater this morning and when that process was finished, P90X. And officially broke the fast with a sample pack of the Orange Julius -tasting recovery drink and a few saltines. See, after not eating for 48 hours, you need to start slow (10 days? you start with broth). I'm thinking a good vegetable soup for lunch here in a little bit and by dinner I'm at the bar to celebrate my joy with some beer and wings (per Lemmy's delicious suggestion)!

I'll update this post with actual food choices as well as any unforeseen side effects of jumping too fast into solid foods. What could go wrong? It's only been 2 days...


UPDATE: I was sated with the P90X drink for a couple hours and hooked up a mild lunch with a delicious Amy's No Chicken Noodle Soup with a little flax seed. Heaven.

And a couple things have happened in the last couple days kind of all at once. First off, I lost 7 lbs from this 48 hour fast. Then this video showed up in my inbox, so now sugar scares the hell out of me...



...and a video associate with it shows a 4 year old McD's cheeseburger that looks new:



So I think this past couple of days has been overall positive as an experience. I'm much more conscious of food in general, hyper-sensitive about high fructose corn syrup, and will probably never touch fast food (or at least McD's) ever again; Super Size Me did not do for me what that above video did.

Now, let the beer and video games commence!

Cleansing: This is Stupid

This is stupid. This is a glass and gallon jug of stupid juice. In order to make stupid juice, you add 1 t of cayenne, 1 1/4 C each of fresh-squeezed lemon juice and real (expensive!) maple syrup to 1 gal of spring water.

Okay, it's not stupid juice, it's a lemon cleanse. Yay! Not really. What's in that jug? I'm supposed to have 10 12 oz glasses during the day. And that's all. No food. And as a prize at the end of the day? A mild laxative herbal tea. Yum. In the morning I take 1 L lukewarm water with 2 t uniodized sea salt. That's called an oral enema. Seriously. Just about the whole liter comes straight out the other end, and it's brought some friends.

Last weekend, my mother mentioned that my cousin does this cleanse once or twice a year, loses 10-20 lbs. Mrs. Shambles thought "we" should try it. I'm going along to support her for now.

A day and a half into it and I'm cranky - actually get a bit angry when I drive by a place where I smell food - I have a headache (I never get headaches), I'm tired, and feeling slightly emotionally fragile. Great. Clean out your body, wreck your soul. Thanks Mom.

And this is supposed to last at least 10 days.

But it's okay. Mrs. Shambles is heading out of town tomorrow and I've already figured I'd probably drop the cleanse tomorrow afternoon. I just can't do it. Every time I take down another glass of gross, a louder and louder voice somewhere inside me shouts "Hey, this is stupid!" generally paired with a mild gagging reflex. I'm already exercising. How about giving that a chance to work first?

So any of you ever go through a cleanse? Did it work? Was it worth it?

Mutant Skeeters or Crazy Allergies?

So I was out in Cali 2 weeks ago, checking out the view of the Valley from Mulholland Drive near dusk, and while the sight was spectacular, I was spending some of my precious attention batting a few pesky (and rather large) mosquitoes. The next day, a half dozen requisite bites appeared and were just slightly itchy. My brother got some too.

Yesterday morning I awoke to find the mosquito bites I had all but forgot about were now flared, red, perfectly round, and about the size of a quarter each. This is the bugger between the pinky and ring knuckles of my left hand:



The curious spread I figure is from the the fact that I use my hands typing all day, so whatever my body doesn't like is getting to spread out a bit there. My brother does not have the same symptoms.

SO WTF? I understand that a toxin in the mosquito saliva causes the original bump, redness, and itching and affects different people different ways. But I got these bites 14 days ago. And they reacted like always: itch for a couple days, then go away. They hadn't bothered me in a week. What would make them all go nuclear 12 days after being bit?

Don't worry, I'm not being a typical stupid man about it either. I've already been to see the doctor if for no other reason than Cortizone10 was doing dick for the itch and I was either going to scratch them all until bloody or go absolutely mad thinking about scratching them all until bloody.

The doc said things like "weird," "I've never seen anything like it," and "Thanks for being my freak of the day" (we have a pretty casual relationship). And so it's antibiotics because of the timeline and off-chance of infection, topical steroid for immediate relief (knocks that itch down about 60%), and an oral steroid for overall inflammation control.

But it's all generalized guesswork, so I turn to you, my dear readers: Have you ever heard anything like this? Bites following a natural fade then BAM! 12 days later they get as big as quarters and itch 3 times as badly?

Health Care: It's a GO!

Kinda. You may recall last week's lethargic cheerleading about the issue, a slight disappointment in Kooch for folding, and a general disappointment with the Democratic Party in letting the destruct-all Republicans run so much of the show.

Right now, behind me, Obama is signing the bill on television. (And yes, I have every belief that Nancy Pelosi will masturbate with the signing pen she just received.) Not one Republican showed up.

But in the words of our president, let me be clear. I do support this bill. I stayed up until 1am on Monday morning watching all the drama and venom and, in the end, success. Here's why:

1. Stupak, in the rebuttal of the motion to recommit, nailed it down: this bill will save lives, and anyone who says they are "for" life should be voting for it. And it will. And all the sanctimony the Republicans can muster for any words spilling out their gobs about helping people will fall flat for years to come because of their absolute staunch anti-support of this bill. It will save lives in both a figurative and literal sense.

2. Nancy Pelosi, on Sunday night, mentioned that a woman getting beaten by her husband is a pre-existing condition. It's true in 8 states and DC. And Glenn Beck was just on the radio making fun of her, making fun of her statement, and calling it all bullshit, "2 + 2 is 5!" he shouted. But it's not. And the Republicans and the talk show hosts are just going to continue to LIE about everything so their awful myrmidon army will continue to believe and re-spout the vomit they ingested. So Glenn Beck? He can suck it. Hannity? Suck it. Limbaugh? Suck it. Neidermeyer? Suck it!


The right will continue to fight against Obama tooth and nail but his win here made him stronger. And the more the right lies and whines and just screams "NO!" like a kid curled up in the candy aisle of Kroger, the more they hurt their own credibility and slowly some of their base will begin to crumble. The rest will stay ignorant, suckling at the teat for the milk of falsehood from the speakers of their pickup trucks.

Health Care: Caring Too Much or Not Enough?

Just let me work through this. We'll all be better off for it.

First of all, let me be plain that this is a futile exercise because it is based upon a premise that will never be: that I will get a shot at putting down a vote for or against the health care bill as it stands.

The Right Wrong Machine

I listen to the right. A lot more than I should. I know it's "more" because all the idiocy and lies and bullshit and fear-fear-fear makes me numb, makes me reluctant to get in the pool and when I do I tire quickly and leave early. And it makes the next dive all the more painful.

These people - if I may be so bold to address the Rightist Wingist as such - have no idea that their blind rage and hate and diametric opposition to anything at all Democratic or Liberal (or Black) is actually hurting the country.

They keep their listeners ignorant and therefore keep listeners (see following post on Rush and Net Neutrality). They say they support reform but when asked how present straw man arguments like state line expansion. They have no desire to help so long as helping means turning off the fat insurance CEOs that line their pockets. Because that's Capitalism!

And in the meantime Glenn Beck tells CPAC that he learned socialism was bad by going to the library because "books are free."

I'm tired. I'm numb. I'm tired.


The Left Wrong Wing

I respect the fact that we have the first female Speaker evar, but for fuck's sake, did it have to be Pelosi? She's twitchy, inattentive, and a little too close to what someone would consider coked-up. We should ask Bush on this one. She is not a viable, solid, staunch leader. Leaders need to be staunch. She is not staunch. No staunchness. Staunchless.

And what do we as the left wing come up with? Health Care Reform all in caps! Kinda. No, not really.

Wait, how'd that happen?

We started with a robust, dream-filled jelly roll of wonder: Single payer marmalade, public option buttercream, and fuck-the-insurance-companies fudge sauce. But then the Right said "You do that and we're going to take our ball and go home!"

So we said "Okay, we'll play a little your way."

"NO! I said NO!"

"Okay, here's a little more..."

And on and on until someone on the left woke up and realized that the jelly roll of wonder had turned into a cold crepe that fell behind the stove three weeks ago and these douchebags weren't going to play ball with us. Ever. They were just going to bitch away the time to scare the shit out of America to make sure the left couldn't get anything done.

No one realized we were the ones holding the ball the whole time.


About That Crepe

So now we get tough and everyone's shopping up reasons we can - and should - still eat. I'm not talking about reconciliation. Reagan passed his whole econ drama with it. I'm talking about some of the "deeming" shit that's come down the pike the past few days.

And the crepe? It kind of sucks. I don't care how much you knock out your spices and skills. It fell behind the stove three weeks ago. It's going to be not so nice.

But then, you're not just talking to regular folks who've had the snot beat out of them by the insurance companies like most of us; we're discussing the starving kids too.

We're left with, well, let's look at Obama's push in Ohio and the tale of Natoma Canfield. I understand and agree that Natoma got screwed by the system. But the bill Obama's pushing in her name still lets insurance companies use the pre-existing condition for 4 years - 4 years! And that's a death sentence for any number of hundreds of thousands of Americans even if this mess gets passed.

I hope Natoma can live on dog food for 4 years.

And that's where I'm on the fence.

(Note: I know the Cleveland Clinic has come forward about charity and said they'd never place a lien on her home. No shit. You'd put her into collections and they'd do that dirty work for you. That's how it happens and saying otherwise is counting every American as ignorant.)


So Say You're Dennis Kucinich

I'm a fan. I was a 35-percenter in the last election. Hell, I grew up in Parma, OH. Do you vote it down because the bill still gives insurance companies the upper hand? Because it literally mandates everyone get health care with the evil conglomerates that this bill is supposed to phase out or at least rein in?

Do you vote up just to get something passed? Do you vote up in hopes that eventually we'll make it work? Do you vote up because the bullshit statement of the corporate-hungry right wing to start from a blank piece of paper is, well, bullshit?

Who wins?

The Republicans, even if we pass it, have already done their duty of stripping it down enough to say it's worthless. The Democrats have already sat on their hands long enough that it's only a little better than what we have now.

So I ask again: who wins? Do you win? Is there a winner? Is there ever a winner in politics? Is there ever a winner in politics when the right and the left have it out so much for each other that no one remembers what we're fighting for?

I abstain. And self-prescribe Miller Time.

Short News: G-Spot, Have a (Secret) Smoke

Um...Gee...

Do you have a G-spot? If you're British, you may not.

A bunch of British scientists did some sexy science and decided that the G-Spot does not really exist. And then the French scientists were like "Oh non, tu fais pas!" because they're the masters of their own baters and their own sexual destinies. Best quote:

The angry French gynecologists said they’d found the real problem with their British counterparts: that they're British.

Ah, those Brits and Frenchies. Always scrappin'.


Put That Out, Drew!

Oh, no. Not in Parma, Ohio! On March 1st, Parma Community General Hospital will begin a new policy: They will not hire smokers.

Okay, so we knew this was coming. No one is surprised.

But the reality of the situation is now wildly apparent. We are heading towards a society where you punch in to your job by standing on a scale and taking a quick blood test to check your cholesterol, drug content, triglycerides, and stress hormones.

Is that okay?

Just wondering.

Dr. Oz on Reiki

Dr. Oz likes Reiki. I like Reiki. Cool.

Public Option - Keep Fighting!

Sign this petition to keep pushing for the public option. I apparently don't have the logic circuits to decipher Obama's waffling on the topic, but we need to declare in a united voice that a public option is not optional; it is necessary.

Call Out That Nutbag Bachmann

Call out Michele here.

In Short: Beck and Obamacare

I heard Glenn Beck today have a sanctimonious come-to-jesus moment about the video of a gang killing in Chicago and how our culture and politics and morals and society is corrupt and then crossed it with the "indoctrination" video and tossed in that Democrats and Republicans are good, but astray, just before launching into a tirade comparing killing a kid with a railroad tie and national corruption to all the ills of Obama like the olympics and health care - and indoctrination.

That man needs help. And a minute of research to know that a railroad tie is over 8 feet long, and 7 by 9 inches. It's a heavy fucking piece of wood and one person would have a hard time picking it up, let alone swinging it over and over again. If it was successfully swung at one person, they would be dead immediately. That's why they use railroad ties for what they do: to ANCHOR or TIE steel rails - they're f'ing heavy! If they weren't, trains would be crashing all over the world.

Not so coincidentally, Glenn Beck is a goddamned train wreck.


...oh, and about Obamacare. While the word itself is being used to connote negativity, I think that the majority of people who voted for Obama were voting for him to take care of things. Therefore, the term "Obamacare" works as sort of a warm blanket of contentment. Now let's get him to bring down a fucking hammer on this insurance-hawt bill-writing in the Senate and call it a day.

I want my fucking blanket.

Why Republican "Solution" to Health Care is Bullshit

If you listen to as much right-wing nuttery as I do, you cannot have missed the argument that emerged a couple weeks ago. The Republican party has no interest in health care reform because while the insurance companies violate us by not covering us or dropping us in the name of the Holy Dollar, it's Republicans (and some Democrats) who are getting the reach-around to chubby up their wallet. But in the light of Democratic pressure to do something to reform the system and include a public option, saying NO just seems heartless and uncaring. So in order to appear as though they give a shit, here is the new conservative offering: Drop all state border restrictions and allow insurance companies to compete in a nationwide free market! Yay!

This is an explanation of why that suggestion is bullshit.

How It Works Now

When a doctor wants to negotiate with an insurance provider, it goes something like this:

Doc: I'm going to charge $200 for an office visit.
Ins: Woah, there. When the patient insured by us comes through your doors, we'll gladly pay you $30
Doc: Hells no! How about $50?
Ins: We can work with that.

Every doctor has to do that with every insurance company they work with every year for every service they offer. That's why you see a small practice with 2 docs and 2 nurses and 3-5 office people: insurance companies are a pain in the ass to work with.


Let's Say It Happens

For the sake of argument, let's say we travel to an alternate future where everyone lauded the Republican non-solution and it miraculously passed into law. What would change? Not a damn thing.

But now insurance companies who have set up shop in one or more states can technically insure anyone in America. Companies can compete on the national stage. Yay capitalism!

And businesses can shop all over the nation for their pick and doctors can decide who they want to do business with.

Yes? Not so fast.


The Players

The system solidly in place right now is a state border one. And removing those borders isn't going to let loose a rampant sprawl.

The Insurance Companies

Insurance companies might be willing to spread out a little, but in order to do that, I'm guessing there would be some sort of fee or tax for each state in which they operate. Then they have to actively sell themselves to businesses, individuals, and doctors. All over the country. That sounds like a lack of direction and a whole lot of money. And we know how much insurance companies love their money.

The Doctors

Doctors already have enough overhead from the insurance companies they do deal with. What would drive doctors to increase that overhead and haggle with even more companies? Especially when there would be little guarantee that they would end up finding patients who carry that insurance and, again, waste money?

The People

About 60% of all Americans - insured or not - get insurance through an employer. So they are at the mercy of whatever plan their employer has on tap. And why would individuals or businesses that, say, live or operate in Ohio go fishing for a cheaper company in some other state with no guarantee they could find any local practitioner who might accept that insurance?


Location, Location, Money

It's a localized system for a reason: you need a person or business to purchase insurance coverage from a company that will be accepted by a doctor. A borderless system will basically remain unchanged.

If it were so easy for doctors to deal with insurance companies, wouldn't you think they'd do that now, within one state, in order to draw as many patients as possible? If it were so easy, then every doctor could accept every insurance and every Ohioan could go to any doctor or hospital in the state.

But that ain't so, now is it? And multiplying that potentiality by 50 isn't going to be more efficient or cost-effective, just more confusing.


The Real Problem

The real problem is the insurance companies. They keep hiking up rates by leaps and bounds and blow out mad profits in a recession. They blame their rate hikes on those evil lawyers and frivolous lawsuits and absurd awards to the point where they've got doctors blaming the lawyers and joining the lobby for tort reform. But the truth is that there has been no explosion of frivolous lawsuits or huge court awards. The insurance companies just want more money so they charge more; they push for tort reform because capping everything - even obvious wrongful death - would raise their profits.

The people of this country are being lied to over and over and over and until health insurance is instituted in a not-for-profit manner, we the people will suffer because of greed and shady politics.

And while the Republicans have found their health care "we care" rally cry, it's really just a facade, just some wisps of smoke with the lingering odor of bullshit.

Will Ferrell, Others, Stand Up for Insurance Companies

Protect Insurance Companies PSA from Will Ferrell

One More Not-Gout Update

After I blasted out that last post, I got a lot of advice, but no real answers as to what the hell might be wrong with my foot.

For those of you just joining us: Labs and longevity (as of today 4 1/2 weeks) says "not gout," x-ray guy says "not broken."

At this point, I still limp some because my left big toe still hurts, but only when I flex it or bump it, and it's more uncomfortable than seriously painful at this point. Wednesday I was able to deal with regular shoes, but driving with a clutch still aches.

No answers yet? As the pain at the top and side of the joint is subsiding, I'm discovering a new pain in the ball of the foot. Again, we're not talking the stabbing 9/10 pain I was originally experiencing - we're down to 0.5 - 1.0 - but a distinctive ache under the joint.

So, for the record, I'll go an suggest Sesamoiditis (goodness does the Wikipedia entry suck ass on the human version - I'm really not a horse).

And that's where it lies. Or lays. Or lied. I'm a huge grammar guy but that whole track never layed right with me.

So I have fading pain, and that's great. I've implemented some changes in my life that will be wonderful for my body and health - tomorrow on the bike perhaps?

But I'm still left with the mystery of why this happened in the first place. And why did it manifest the way it did?

Thank you for listening to the ramble of real life.

Oh, and I've got an infected eyelash duct! Boo!