A night without Espon Salt

A few weeks ago, my podiatrist called me, and left a long message explaining that my insurance does not cover Orthotics, but that I can purchase something called Spencos and that might help that pain in the ball of my feet. Ever since I started running this summer, and then sprinted to get a triple playing softball, it's pretty much been in pain non-stop. It's not a sharp pain, but a long slow stupid pain that, at this point, feels like it can be described as chronic. According to the podiatrist, I have no cartilage in that area between the bones, and, according to some internet searches, this is pretty much another word for arthritis. Anyhow, I finally made my way up to Charm City Run today, and bought the $30 Spenco orthotic pads. And, believe it or not, my foot is actually feeling better. It feels fine even now, after a 90-minute workout at the gym, and six hours of waiting tables. No Espon Salt tonight!

*****

I have to admit that things are feeling not that great lately. The week was bad, and the city of Baltimore decided to add an exclamation point to it last night, when, at the second job, I got a $42 parking ticket. I was parked in an area that I circled around the block several times to find a good spot at, because it's always the "safe" block - the block where I don't have to worry about feeding meters or anything else. I could not believe that I got the ticket, but the owner of the restaurant said they added a sign about two-hour parking except for residents in the last week. I checked, and the brand new sign was there, about thirty or forty feet from where I parked, way at the beginning of the block. To add insult to injury, my car was (according to the ticket) marked at 9:30, and I received the ticket at 11:30. I punched out at exactly 11:31, meaning I literally missed a ticket by less than five minutes. It all just made me really hate this city.

*****

Today, I feel much better somehow. It was my "day off," meaning I only worked six hours in a week that saw me log 91 hours of work/commitment between my two jobs and two courses. It was a busy week, and a big downer, a bit of a valley in my time in Baltimore, to be honest. But last night I bought a plane ticket to spend a weekend in Michigan in a couple of weeks, and all my grading over the last few days makes me pretty excited to start the week with my students next week. And I'm hoping I'll get out of this funk soon.

The Red Sox leading after six isn't helping matters any.