I was doing pretty well before the plantar fasciitis, two-month cold and the dislocated rib. I'm tired of my body falling apart in innovative and painful ways.

There was a bit in a recent Outside that claimed that the new research on plantar fasciitis is that you should walk around barefoot and do lots of stretching of your heels & feet to address it. This... doesn't seem to be helping me. But I would really like to get at least a little into barefoot/minimalist running, and I can't if my feet hurt too much.

David mentioned something last night about cartilege breaking down as you age, but there are some recent studies contradicting that. They studied a bunch of moderate runners (10-20 miles weekly) over a course of years, and found that the regular, moderate exercise actually helped their knees stay in good condition: it keeps the joints elastic and lubricated. I suspect that marathoners would have a different result, but it's enough to keep me pounding the pavement three or four times/week.

I do hope Matilda's UTI clears up. Poor kidling.

The more I am achy, the less I want to exercise. The less I exercise, the achier I get.

Oh, so much is this me.

I still look young for my age, but I expect that to flip at some point.

Retinol. Never too early, never too late. I use retinol cream on my hands and forearms, too. Oddly, while Retin-A (the prescription version) doesn't bother my face, it makes my hands itch.

Is there an academic misconduct committee at your school? At the School of Nursing I work at, the procedure is that the professor does a formal complaint of academic misconduct, and then it goes to a three person committee. The other (Arts and Sciences, Engineering) seem to leave it more in the hands of the professors, although I think there is an eventual committee. I think the formality here is that because these people are eventually licensed health care professionals, any form of cheating is seen as a potential black mark to the profession and the school does not want to graduate students who have the potential for professional misconduct.

David mentioned something last night about cartilege breaking down as you age, but there are some recent studies contradicting that. They studied a bunch of moderate runners (10-20 miles weekly) over a course of years, and found that the regular, moderate exercise actually helped their knees stay in good condition: it keeps the joints elastic and lubricated. I suspect that marathoners would have a different result, but it's enough to keep me pounding the pavement three or four times/week.

So why is my knee feeling so grindy? Just lack of use? Probably makes sense that building up the muscle supporting the joint would help.

Okay, yeah, exercise. I did okay being bossed around by Noom for a bit, but then I have not done so well since. The SO & the (rapidly healing!) Biscuit went out for a walk on the people trail today, but I slept. Boo me.

We've declared today a work day in the middle of our furlough to do pesky things like give the government money and make deposits and stuff. But all I want to do is drive the hour and a half up to the north side of town and look at makeup. Which I can't buy if I don't give the government money thus ensuring our continued organizational existence and make deposits and so forth. But still. Makeup. It comes in stores here.

My god. My work phone was redirected to my home phone, so when the networking guy called me at 6am I was screwed for the morning.

He called me and had me repeat to him the content of the ticket, and for all that...I get an email this morning where he has done jackshit (I asked for new IP addresses, and instead he gave me old IP addresses. Like, looked up IP addresses already assigned to that server and retold them to me). For something that was supposed to have been done yesterday.

I finally come into the office (not that I feel well enough to do it--I just did it anyway), and this bullshit?

God, today is going to be pissy.

Well, do you give it regular, moderate exercise?

And I'm sure there are other reasons a knee might have trouble other than the cartilege breaking down, as well. But certainly building up the muscle would help.

Hec, it could be the beginnings of arthritis. Also there's of course a genetic component - some people's cartilage breaks down sooner, some people's doesn't at all. You can help your cartilage with - of course - moderate regular exercise. Certain supplements have been shown to help, but I think that's very individual - some supplements help some people, some don't. I've found a combo of glucosamine, MSM, and hyaluronic acid makes a notable difference in both how my joints and my backbone feel, and how my skin looks. This might or might not work for anyone else.

Well, do you give it regular, moderate exercise?

A fair amount of walking but that's it.

I've found a combo of glucosamine, MSM, and hyaluronic acid makes a notable difference in both how my joints and my backbone feel, and how my skin looks.

I feel like I really should start doing something to look and feel better. Clearly I need to get on the Retin-A/Glucosamine/Exercise train and ride it out of the West before I diminish like some used up ol' Galadriel.

now we also have an elaborate peeing process (while pouring warm water over her)

Does that work at all for her? Is it worth the trouble/mess? (I'm a grown-ass adult, and trying to pour water over my ladybits when peeing is really a tribulation. But it did help with the pain, so I called it worth it.)