my foot does not feel as awesome as i'd like it to, but it feels pretty good.  the foot gets fatigued, and i am not accustomed to that.  i suppose i'll have to wait even longer until my full foot strength is back.  

i rode my bike to work today.  it's been a long time since i rode out.  by the time i was three quarters of the way here i was so tired i wanted to stop.  i didn't stop, but i did go slower.  i felt like someone's grandma, that's how slow i felt i was going.  i'm not sure how fast your grandma is, but mine is wicked slow.  

i want to take a nap.  

sincerely, 

jim 

good news! i didn't kill the doctor, and i don't have to wear my cast anymore. he tells me that i'm not out of the woods yet though. i can't go crazy with super long walks, and i certainly can't run. he did however say that i can ride my bike, and he actually prescribed stationary bike riding to get my leg/ankle/foot back into normal shape. he also gave me a thera-band which is a long rubber band that you do exercises with. most of the exercises are insanely easy, but i must admit that calf raises are not easy. they almost hurt. it's a strange feeling. i'm surei'll be doing fine ina few weeks, but today is my first full day minus the robo-boot.

here are some diagrams of the exercises i have to do with my thera-band. they are super-intense:

thins one is called platarflexion with band. i think the model in the picture was a woman, but marleen thinks it's a man. you be the judge,


these are toe raises, standing. this is by far the hardest one to do. i am ashamed to admit that.


this one should be called awesome stance, but i's really called achilles stretch, soleus. there's another one called achilles stretch, gastroc, but i decided to only picture this one. both of them look like the awesome stance.


this last one looks totally crazy, but it's not. the doctors call it eversion, elastic resistance, but i call it the rotate one.

there are a few others, but i'll spare you the agony. i need some food. i'm going to go get some.

best,
jim

this is a small post to exclaim my anticipation of the removal of my foot restraints. i have a doctor appointment this afternoon, and i expect him to tell me that it's okay to walk on my foot as a normal person would. it is going to be glorious. there will be cheers and a celebration after the good news is released. if the doctor tells me that i cannot walk on my foot as a normal person would (ie. in shoes instead of a giant plastic robo-boot) i will kill him. if that happens i will most likely go to jail, and i'm not sure i can post to this weblog from jail, so there is a chance, be it small, that this is my last goodbye.

goodbye,
jim turbert

the other day i was in the grocery store, and i saw a lady spit her gum on the floor.  she didn't really spit it, but kind of pushed it over the edge of her weak lips and let it dribble to the floor so she could put something else in her mouth.  i was disgusted.  i wanted to rub her nose in it, or throw a fruit at her (this happened in the produce section.).  she left the gum on the floor.  i guess her attitude is that if people are paid to clean it's okay to spit things on the floor.  if i'm lucky, maybe i'll get to see her taking a shit in the aisle next week.  i can't wait.

that lady is part of the problem.  her kids are probably assholes too.    

with warmest regards, 

jim turbert

july is passing me by very quickly.  it's half over already, and i don't know how to cope.  i haven't done nearly as much personal work as i had planned to.  i never do.  every summer is supposed to be a period of unbridled creativity and productivity.  every summer ends up a being a period of average creativity and productivity.  what can i do to change this?  well, i suppose i can do more work.  that would be a good start.  i could come up with some more ideas, or execute some of the ideas i've been sitting on.  okay, i'll do those things.  i'll execute at least one of the ideas idling in my head this week.  i will need some help though.   i guess i need to make some phone calls.  it's terrible to need the help of others, but sometimes it's necessary.  

last night someone called me a nigger while i was walking to the bus stop.  that man was full of blind hatred.  he was also really drunk.  i think his goal was to scare me.  he didn't scare me.  he disgusted me.  i was hoping he would touch me so i would have an excuse to punch him in his stupid face, or kick his nut sack with my robo-boot.  does that make me a bad person?  i honestly believe some people need to get punched in the face sometimes.  he didn't touch me, so i didn't punch him.  i walked past him and wished him good luck.  

i've started watching a tv show called flight of the conchords.  shit is funny.  it's about these two guys from new zealand who are in a band - a two person band.  every time something happens on the show they break into these great songs with casio drum beats in the background and funny lyrics.  it's wicked gimmicky, but entertaining.  marleen is in holland right now, so she hasn't seen them yet, and i think she'll want to.  i don't have a problem watching the episodes again.  you should watch them too. 

earlier today i played tetris for a little while.  i did much better than i ever remember myself doing, but once i got to the really fast level i couldn't cope and my game self-destructed.  it was bad.  i tried again, and the same thing happened.  i won't be practicing or anything, but i think if i played more, i could get really good.  that would be a worthwhile endeavor, now wouldn't it?

before playing tetris i went to a mini car show.  it was awesome.  there were all kinds of little cars, like original mini copers and citroens, and nashs, and all manner of little cars.  lots of weird and wild stuff.  i liked it.  i think you would have liked it too.  i should have brought a camera with me.  well, i did bring one, but i opted for my super 8 instead of a still camera.  i can post a movie of it here once i get the film processed and transferred, but for now you will have to imagine lots of tiny cars with full sized people in them.    

i think i need to go to bed.  

yours truly, 

jim turbert   

i'm back and i'm broken.  it's been a long long time, but i promise that i will be more diligent in writing in my blog, because i know that it's hard for you when you don't have fresh jim turbert weblogs to read.

in case you were wondering, this summer is a shitty one.  i can't say it's the shittiest, because good things have been happening as well, but i broke my foot, and i haven't been able to run or ride my bike since may 25.  that shit is fucked.  i sat around on my ass all winter, and as soon as the weather broke, i was treated to a few days of glorious spring/summer weather, and-whammo-my shit gets busted up.  the picture on the right is me with my storm trooper boot.  i've only been wearing it for a few weeks.  before that i had crutches.  after 4 (or 5) weeks on crutches the doctor told me that she showed my x-rays to an orthopedic guy, and he said that i should be in one of these boots.  as much as the boot sucks, it is way better than crutches.  crutches are the lamest.  anyway,  i'm going on 7 weeks of broken foot, and i cannot wait to be free of this apparatus.  as awesome as it looks, i insist that normal shoes are better.

someone told me that driving with one of these crazy boots is illegal if it's on your right foot.  i have a left foot problem, but i drive a manual transmission, so i'm not sure if wearing the boot while driving is breaking the law.  until recently i was taking it off while i drive, but yesterday i discovered that it's actually way easier to do it with the boot on.  i was wearing this black super flat soled post-surgical boot (that's what the doctor called it) before, and i'd tilt my foot to the left and press the clutch in with my heel.  with the giant storm trooper boot i don't have to tilt my foot, and the angle of the sole allows me to easily press the clutch all the way to the floor.  pressing the clutch to the floor was difficult with the black post-0p boot.  i wasn't able to do it most of the time, and i'm sure i did much damage to my clutch as there was a lot of grinding at times.  if i have to replace the clutch, so be it.  sometimes the clutch must be sacrificed so a guy can get to work.

if you look carefully you can see little b in the background of the picture.  she's wicked cute.  

yours truly, 

jim turbert