On occasion, I need to fax something to someone, which is a challenge since I have neither a fax machine nor a phone line. I went to FedEx Kinkos, but they wanted nearly $5 to fax a three-page document to Dallas. Um, no thanks! Finally, I found a free Internet service called FaxZero. It allows you two free faxes per day, up to three pages each. You upload a PDF or Word doc, enter the address, and click Send. It’s that easy. They email you once your fax goes through. Obviously, this service won’t work for all documents, but for simple things, it’s great.
Hope
Most of you have read about my love of running and my struggles to do it without pain. The last few years have been tough in that part of my life, full of pain, both literal and emotional, and much frustration. I repeatedly gave up on running, decided I couldn’t stand not running, figured out some new thing to try, tried again until it hurt too much, and gave up again. Seeing people running in the park or neighborhood always tweaked my heart and made me sad. I asked God over and over to fix it, asked Him why I couldn’t do the one type of exercise I most wanted to do, but never got an answer.
This week I decided to try something else and scheduled a visit with a podiatrist (foot and ankle doctor) who also runs marathons and is an expert in biomechanics. My appointment is scheduled for March 22. But as I did research and thought about my problem, I suddenly realized something, as if a veil had been lifted from my eyes.
A few years back, a guy at the running shoe store said I have a neutral gait, which means my foot rolls correctly as it hits the ground and absorbs the impact as designed. He based this assessment on the wear patterns on the bottom of my old running shoes and recommended a particular model for my foot type. I never questioned his assessment. Although my flat feet and the gradual increase in my knee pain with the new shoes should have raised red flags, I figured I just had a bad knee and had to live with it. My “sports medicine” doctor from about a year ago never bothered to look at my feet. He diagnosed me with ITBS based on my symptoms and assumed he knew the cause.
I think the running store guy was wrong.
If you actually look at my feet (which is hard to do to yourself), you can see that they badly overpronate, or roll inward too far, largely because my feet are so flat. Jenny confirmed this for me. I don’t know why I never asked her to check it before. With the shoes I’ve been wearing, my leg doesn’t line up properly and my feet don’t absorb shock properly, which can lead to pain and injury.
I think I’ve been wearing the completely wrong type of shoe for years now.
While I could be very bitter, instead I am filled with hope. The cure to my misery and answer to my prayers might be as simple as a different kind of shoe.
I’m trying not to get too excited in case I’m wrong. We’ll see what Dr. Crane says in a few weeks. I might also need special shoe inserts called orthotics or something else. In the meantime, I’m going to start strengthening my legs.
Hope is a good thing.
Chess
Lately I’ve been on a chess kick. Ever play chess? I found it intimidating before I tried it because I didn’t understand the rules. Some pieces could move certain ways but not others, so surely it was a very complicated game that was difficult to learn. Then I learned the basics and realized that chess is like checkers on steroids. It’s fairly easy to learn but very difficult to master.
However, I’m slowly getting better. The iPhone has an app called Chess with Friends that lets you play…chess with your friends. I make a move, the iPhone sends it to my friends, and they move whenever they feel like it. The games generally take quite a while as a result, but it’s lots of fun. Then last night I discovered another app that lets me play against a computer instead, which is much faster but lacks the human element. It offers variable difficulty and hints to help you learn and improve.
Any of you play (besides Mad Bomber)?
Bathtime for Jonathan
Here are some bath pictures we took the other night. He greatly prefers bathing in a real tub versus the countertop. Warm water is his friend. As you can see, he is filling out nicely and doing great!
Health Care Reform – Issues and Impact
I’m growing tired of the health care debate. Perhaps you are, too. I’m tired of it for two main reasons:
- As with so many issues, many people fear and oppose the current reform bill without understanding it, often based on false information. Some say it allows the government to take over our health care system, which is not the case. Some oppose it simply because they are Republicans and blindly oppose anything supported by the Democrats, which is a cop-out. If you actually understand the bill and have specific, grounded objections to it, I can respect your position. You might be right. But lemminglike rejection or acceptance of any proposal based on party affiliation or unfounded assumptions does not serve anyone well.
- They still haven’t reformed health care. A bill might pass sometime soon, but it hasn’t happened yet, and the problems with our health care system go on.
The Dallas Morning News wrote a nice summary of Obama’s latest proposal. It’s toward the bottom of the page.
In my view, although it doesn’t solve every problem and is extremely expensive, I like Obama’s plan because it helps address some of the biggest problems with our current system:
- When you start a new policy due to a job change or other reason, insurance companies can deny you coverage for a preexisting condition, such as cancer or even pregnancy. That should be criminal.
- At least 30 million people are uninsured, including millions of children, due largely to the high cost of coverage. We have friends who don’t have insurance and have to pay out-of-pocket for any health expenses. We hope they never get into a car wreck, get sick, or get pregnant unexpectedly because it might destroy them financially.
- There are limited ways to get decent insurance coverage: work for a large company or organization, serve in the military, live long enough to get Medicare, pay ridiculous amounts of money for it, or serve in Congress. Jenny and I are blessed with great insurance through Southwest. My parents, on the other hand, are self-employed. Their premiums and deductible are huge, but their coverage is lousy. People who choose to work for themselves or for small businesses should have access to good coverage at an affordable price. People shouldn’t be afraid to go to the doctor when they are sick or injured.
I believe everyone deserves quality health care.
If you trust them (don’t laugh, it’s worth a look), the White House put together a webpage that tries to explain the Obama proposal’s impact on you based on your situation. The bill will have little impact on me and Jenny, but I believe it will help some of you.
If the Republicans can work up a plan that will fix health care, I’d love to hear it. I hate all political parties and have no particular affiliation with the Democrats, despite my support for Obama. But I haven’t seen a comprehensive counter-proposal from the Republicans, mainly lots of objections instead. I do like their goal of limiting medical malpractice liability as a way to cut health-care costs. Let’s put the best ideas together from all sides and get this thing done.
Diaper Study
Jenny has been selected to participate in a market research study about diapers through a firm called Delve. She has applied for several studies but never gotten picked until now. She’ll attend an orientation on Thursday and receive a 12-day supply of diapers. She’s supposed to use them exclusively, save and return them all (seriously?? YUCK!), and report how she likes them. They’re paying her $130 plus giving her all the diapers for free. Not bad, eh? A friend of ours participates in research for the same group and told Jenny about it. I decided it sounded interested and signed up online myself. Visit their website if you’d like to join their pool.