Christmas in the Boot

Happy/Merry Christmas to all.

In an historically unprecedented move, I'm writing a second Christmas blog. There's a few reasons for this. First, it's been a really busy month for me at work- this will be the first week out of three where I'll have less than eight hours of overtime. Mind you, I don't mind the overtime at all- it really helps with bills and such, but it does cut into time that could be used for other things- blogging, for example. Second, I've only penned (typed) a few blogs this month, so I figured I'd write one. Lastly, I had a thought that made me smile, something of a pun which would require a bit of explanation- a teaser title.

Stay with me now.

Every so often, I like to remind my kind readers that the unifying theme of this blog is data. Now, to be fair, I don't always get around to "real" data, and often the data is somewhat forced. The past few weeks, though, have seen an interesting trend: I've seen a very large rise in Chinese readers. So, before I forget, thanks to all of you Chinese folks who are visiting my blog!

So, what's with the boot? Intentional (international) confusion, punning I suppose.

We've had an extremely mild autumn and winter in the Chicago area so far this year. In fact, there was a blizzard warning for Hawai'i's big island, and the forecast high temperature for Chicago was 43F (5C). That's normally pretty good news (our high temperature, that is)-after all, we can get some pretty serious snowfalls. It had been much cooler a few weeks ago, but then suddenly the temperature rose. This is bad for me. I don't know for certain, but when there is a sudden rise in temperature in winter, I get this pain and inflammation in my foot which I attribute to arthritis.

I do have an interesting device, though, that helps me out with this. And here's the explanation of the pun and the additional Chinese connection.

In any version of the English language, a "boot" is a piece of footwear. Like many words, though, it has several other meanings. For example, in American English, a boot can be a person entering basic military training, also known as boot camp. One can also be given "the boot"; that is, thrown out of an establishment.  The meaning I was aiming to make a bit of a pun out of, though, is found in the Queen's (or British) English, which I believe is what is normally taught outside of the United States. In the Queen's English, "the boot" refers to the part of the car we Americans refer to as the "trunk". So, the joke ended up being this: I didn't really spend Christmas in the back of a car, but rather by wearing my orthopedic device- a boot made in China. See? Full circle!

The idea of the boot is to immobilize the wearer's foot. The entire top and front of the boot is open, as is the toe area. My boot is one of the short variety designed primarily for the foot- there are taller ones designed to support the entire lower leg. The boot has two major subassemblies- an inner soft "shoe" and an outer rigid frame. The shoe has two fabric flaps- one at the toe and one at the calf- which are secured by velcro after you place your foot in the boot. These primarily function to keep the boot in place as the three straps are secured. Two of the straps are visible in the photo- these go across the top of the foot and provide bit of compression- wearing an extra or thicker sock, or adding a bit of padding, can also augment compression. The strap at the top is probably the most important one: while the lower ones provide a bit of compression, the top one secures the boot to the wearer's leg. I always tuck my pant leg into the boot.

The outer rigid frame of the boot is simultaneously brilliant and simple. The sole has a rubberized, weather resistant finish, and and has a slight arc which promotes a natural gait whilst the wearer is walking. The sole is rigid, and has a metal riser which parallels the wearer's leg. The most important effects here are that the foot and ankle are totally immobilized: in fact, as I write this, my legs are crossed under my desk, and my ankle and heel don't really sense this position.

Lastly... Christmas!

We've simplified and downsized our Christmas celebration over the years. When the kids were little and there were no cats, we did lights and the tree and ornaments (we have some beautiful handmade ornaments we got in Germany). Lately, though... our youngest is legally an adult, and we have four cats. The high point of our Christmas celebration is dinner. This year we had a wonderful turkey accompanied by broccoli, potatoes, sweet potatoes, mushrooms and rolls.  As far as gifts go, we don't really exchange gifts like one might see in the movies. Generally, if someone needs something or really wants something, we'll get it. Christmas has become more of a time of gathering for us. This year was a lot of fun, as we swapped a good number of "was stories".

War stories are closely related to fairy tales. The main difference is how they are told. A fairy tale starts out with, "Once upon a time,..." while a war story starts out with, "There I was, ..."

After all of the stories that were passed around the table on Christmas, I've gotta wonder how the U.S. won the Cold War.

As always, I am hochspeyer, blogging data analysis and management so you don't have to.