Bonus post: Things I learned while making the slipper socks

Ah yes, another learning moment. First thing I learned is it takes a lot of silicone-based adhesive to attach things to open-cell foam rubber. Second thing I learned was that when you stack a bunch of flip flop soles together they squish rather than bend when you walk. Third thing I learned is when thing number 2 happens you need something to hold your foot in the slipper. The fourth thing I learned was that when making slipper socks it’s Not A Good Idea to start with tall socks, ankle or just-over-the-ankle socks are much easier to put on with flip flop soles glued to the bottom, and also much easier to slide over a second pair of socks when it gets cold. Add to that that the shorter socks are cooler in summer and well, it’s just a much better idea to start with ankle socks.

The fifth thing I learned is that flip flop soles make warmer slippers than the soles of the commercially sold slipper socks I got from the VA when my Dad got out of the hospital last year. Those were just thin pieces of rubber with a little tread to them and no insulation or protection from pokey things on the walkway, like acorns or gravel which makes the sixth thing I learned. And I still don’t know why they gave me a pair of slippers when Dad got out of the hospital last spring.

So, second pair I’m making for Mrs. the Poet, from a pair of her ankle socks (that she hates with a passion, I don’t know why) so that when things get chilly around Casa de El Poeta she can throw on another pair of regular socks to keep a little warmer. I think I will get lavender color flip flops to make the soles for hers because she has already said she likes the slippers but hates the neon green soles I have.

Something else I learned while checking to see if I had too much or little lift on the bad leg is that nothing from the waist down is symmetrical on me. My right tibia is about a half an inch shorter than the left one, while the left femur is about an inch shorter than the right one. Seriously, it’s a wonder I can even walk. And I figured out where I lost the length in my left leg after the wreck. The tibia was broken and not set because it didn’t displace during the wreck (or got set during the flipping and flopping) and then was held in place long enough to fuse because all the swelling acted as a splint to keep the ends from wandering away from each other. So before the wreck I was even more catty wampus than I am now, but it balanced out better. It’s no wonder my drill sergeant went bonkers watching me marching in formation. I was going every which way when I walked/marched.

And that’s what I learned from making a pair of slippers. Amazing isn’t it?

PSA, Opus

Stream of consciousness time again for Wreck-Free Sunday

I have absolutely no idea what I should be writing about today. The riots and assaults of Black Friday are vanishing into the mists of memory (but not the stores that stayed open on Thanksgiving), all the leftovers are likewise vanishing, and there are some nice pictures of Black Friday Rides on many community bike blogs like Bike Friendly Richardson . About the only thing interesting to report is Mrs. the Poet decided that she wanted leftovers, too, so we are having a second Thanksgiving dinner this afternoon because we didn’t get any of the leftovers from the dinner with our daughter and her husband, and our grandson. Then tonight we are taking some of those “fresh” leftovers to church for a potluck dinner/evening service. Which reminds me I didn’t write the elemental calls yet. BRB. OK I wrote calls and dismissals appropriate for the service.

Something amusing that happened this week was about one of my favorite web comic artists announcing a get-together over where my other daughter lives in Scotland. I got involved in discussing the gathering and mentioned that it was quite a haul from the Beautiful Suburbs of Hell in Texas, so someone replied that maybe I should add a motor to my bike and I shot back that we would just install a paddle wheel on the bakfiets, and because this person lives someplace where such cargo bikes are commonplace they ran with it and suggested a mast and sail to go with the paddle wheel as a visual pun.

Speaking of visual things, I will be putting the blog logo on the box of the bakfiets and would request some input from my readers. The current blog logo is almost as old as this blog and has a bike that is two bikes behind what is current as part of the logo, plus the whole thing just will not blow up to be intelligible when placed on the side of the box. If I leave the logo small enough that the pictures make sense then the whole thing will be like 3″ tall and not very noticeable, but if I blow up the logo enough to make it stand out against the box the pictures will get pixelated beyond recognition. So the question I ask is should I do a new logo for the blog?

Question for any of my Dutch-speaking readers, what are the singular and plural forms for the bakfiets? I don’t want to look like a rube using the wrong form for my bike.

Also this week I got a kind of dodgy job offer from some guy in Alberta to act as his mail forwarder so that he could have a stable mailing address while he galavanted about on his business. I politely declined the offer. It just seemed too much like the Nigerian Prince scam. Or I would end up forwarding a bunch of contraband someplace and get busted for smuggling.

Thanks to the Pagan Fellowship Night, and Drum Jam at church I now an swimming in bottle caps to make Beer View Mirrors and Shield Amulets, and I found a steady source of the mirror blanks to glue into them. So that source of income is now secure for the moment.

The slipper socks are comfy, but I still need to come up with something to keep my foot on the lifted slipper as I still keep walking out of that one. The straps from the old pair of sandals I’m replacing are not long for this world either, so I’m going to have to find something else to keep my foot in close proximity to my slipper. This isn’t something I could sell, but I could see a group getting together to make them for a nursing home with colorful socks and flip flop soles, because they are quite warm. The flip flop soles keep the cold out of the bottom of the foot, and depending on the choice of sock for the upper part that can be warm also.

I have been terribly frustrated because so many of the web comics I read to decompress after I do the blog post have been on hiatus because of the holiday. I just hope the artists and writers are in good shape after they get back. I’m serious about that, I had one web comic go on break for Christmas a few years back and never resumed and I have no idea what happened to the artist. It was like he fell off the face of the Earth. And speaking of artists that have fallen off the face of the Earth, has anyone heard from the creator of “Venus Envy”?

And the second turkey is done and the sides are starting to come from the oven, so I’m going to end this here and go eat.

PSA, Opus

Slippers are built but problems are found, and the Feed

Gluing socks to flip flops to make slippers works without further modifications, but making the resulting combination lifted to accommodate my short leg requires additions. To wit while the right side flexes as I walk and stays comfortably in place the left side tries to pull my foot out of the sock because it does not flex much when I walk. So I have to cobble up (shoe making pun!) a strap from the heel to the front of the ankle to keep the slipper from wandering away from my foot. Can I tell you that this is the part of making things that I love? Because it is, I love facing problems and finding solutions to those problems. To be totally honest I was slightly disappointed that the right slipper worked so well right out of the box. I mean what fun is that having the initial design working with no modifications needed? So anyway I think I will need to find some Velcro straps to glue to the left slipper to keep the heel in place, the arch and toe areas are not having any problems with the lift or the lack of flexibility in the lifted sole. And I just went to the mailbox to check if the mail had run and I need to place one strap around the back to keep the slipper from sliding off the front, and a second strap over the front of the ankle to keep from pulling away from the back of the slipper when I flex my foot and lift my heel as I stride. I will have to research where I can get these locally, I might just salvage them from the sandals I was using before their soles crumbled…

Up first is more on the cyclist killed on I35 in OK. Bicyclist struck and killed on Interstate 35 Looking at the Street View of the scene reveals a rest area between mile markers 46 and 45 which could explain where the cyclist started from, with a possible disabled vehicle as the reason why someone would be riding a bicycle on an Interstate highway. Anywho, hit-from-behind protocols to avoid or to mitigate damages, if you ever find yourself having to ride on an Interstate highway. From the street view it does not look like there is a rideable shoulder there either.

Moving to CA a cyclist is hurt in a SWCC wreck. Cyclist seriously injured in collision If the report is accurate then intersection protocols to avoid or to mitigate damages, or hit-from-behind protocols if the cyclist wasn’t really “crossing”, but either way get the infrastructure right to prevent.

Still in CA but a little south is another link to the kid that got hit in Long Beach. Teen cyclist critically injured by hit-and-run driver in Long Beach Same thing as it was yesterday, limited sight lines create a condition that only by severely restricting the speed limit (20 km/hr or 10 MPH for the US) could this be made safe for people not encased in light armored vehicles.

Another cyclist is killed in the most deadliest (grammatical error on purpose to emphasize how deadly it is) state in the US to walk or ride a bike since before I started writing this blog. Deputies looking for suspect involved in fatal hit and run on 21st Avenue Hit-from-behind protocols to avoid or to mitigate damages, and get the infrastructure right to prevent. Keep the crazies away from the cyclists and this won’t happen.

Still in that most deadliest state, another notch in the steering wheel… Bicyclist killed in crash on US Hwy 301 near Florida State Fairgrounds OK slightly confusing here, the cyclist was in the right turn lane when hit while crossing the road? That sounds like there may have been some deliberate action on the part of the driver of the weapon vehicle to “not avoid” the cyclist. Anyway, intersection protocols to avoid and get the freaking infrastructure right to prevent.

Another cyclist is shot, this time outside NYC. Man Killed While Riding Bike Home… I honestly can’t say how to avoid something like this, I can’t even say for sure the cyclist was shot because he was riding a bicycle, it might have been something else entirely.

An update on a cyclist killed in OH. Lost in a tragedy, Route 101 needs a bicycle lane

Mass protest in the UK for better infrastructure. More than 1,000 cyclists stage a mass ‘die-in’ safety protest after six riders are killed in London in the space of just a month

Lifestyle in NM. Park now honors girl killed in 2012

And those were all the links about bicycles that gave me fits.

Billed @€0.02, Opus

Actively building new slippers, and the Feed

As I type this I am between steps of building my new slippers. If it wasn’t for the added lift on the left foot I would be describing this as “making” new slippers, but with the added lift “building” is a more accurate description of the process. I purchased two pair of lime green flip flops because the craft store was sold out of the white ones, and I wanted to be able to find my slippers easily… 😉

There weren’t many wreck reports today, which I see as good for what few shreds of sanity I still cling to. Seriously I think it’s amazing I haven’t gone down to the cop shop with an axe handle to beat some sense into some car-head cops…

Up first is a “comedy” post… HOW TO DRIVE HOME DRUNK! I suggest riding a bicycle instead. First you present much less of a hazard to others when guiding a 35 pound BSO than a 3500 pound Crossover or a 4000 pound SUV. Second it has been proven that the physical exertion of propelling a bicycle will burn of the alcohol at an accelerated rate making you less drunk by the mile. Also if you force yourself to wait until you are sober enough to keep a bicycle upright you aren’t that drunk when you leave. So if you must travel drunk leave the car at home and ride a bicycle to and from your drinking.

I don’t know how to classify this report. Tennessee Town Cites Grandmother for Letting Grandkids Bike in the Street The street in question is the one in front of said Grandma’s house. Grandma was watching the kids she was supposedly allowing to play “unsupervised” in the street. And as Mrs. the Poet expressed so elegantly, “Where are kids supposed to ride bikes when there’s no sidewalk?”

More on the El Tour de Tucson fatality. Possibility of medical condition investigated in collision that killed Tucson bike racer

A wreck report on a hit-and-run in Oz. Cyclist severely injured in hit-and-run crash on Nepean Highway, Brighton East Hit-from-behind so protocols to avoid and get the freaking infrastructure right to prevent.

Infrastructure! news from OR. City of Bend wants input to improve road user safety My suggestion is to take a hard look at what is causing deaths and crippling people on the roads, then figure out how to stop it, so control the cars.

More infrastructure news from OR as ODOT hits a social networks clinker. After another fatality on Barbur Blvd, ODOT tweet hits a nerve and the raw Twitter feed at @oregondot

And suggestions for changes to the legal infrastructure in UT. Letter: Drivers who hit cyclists should be punished

Infrastructure from the Great White North. Op-Ed: Cars don’t own Main Street Damn Straight they don’t!

Infratructure from the UK. Mother of Northumberland cyclist killed by HGV horrified at new bike deaths and London cyclist deaths: Officers at dangerous junctions also London cyclist deaths: 150 fined in road safety scheme

A bike wreck saved a guy in UT. Cancer survivor counts getting hit by car as blessing

Last link, something that’s near and dear to my heart. COOL NEW CARGO BIKES

And those are all the bicycle links that gave me fits, or not as the case may be, today. BTW those slippers are about 2/3 done right now, if I can keep from gluing my feet inside them.

Billed @€0.02, Opus

Thinking about making slippers, and the Feed

The headline needs explaining, which is the point of this opening paragraph. I have a sandal that was given to me years ago by a woman who died in 2007 (this was the woman who I used to ride my bicycle for 120 miles in a day so I could have lunch with her (and make all the other residents of the nursing home angry at their children)). So I have had this sandal for a very long time that I was using as a lifted slipper so I didn’t get back pains on the days I stayed at home. Well the sole of that sandal has crumbled and now the toe is hanging by a scrap of leather that used to be the insole. This makes the sandal painful to walk in and eventually it will fall completely apart.

So, I will need to replace this sandal with “something else”. The problem is “something else” has to be 17mm thicker on the bottom of the left one than the right one, and I have never seen a slipper that had that as an option. That leaves me with two choices, pay someone else to make me a pair of slippers with the left sole 17mm thicker than the right sole, or make my own pair of slippers. Now the thing is for a pair of shoes I don’t walk very much in the thickness difference doesn’t need to be exactly 17mm, anything from 12 to 20 would work just fine.

Something I have been wearing on the right foot has been a pair of slipper socks (well, half a pair) that was very comfortable at all the normal temperatures for my house. So the idea is to build some slipper socks with the left one having the extra thickness I need to get my pelvis level. The local craft store to the rescue! Slipper socks like the one I was using are nothing more than a thin rubber sole bonded to a knit sock so that the sole is held more or less in place under the foot. I have lots of socks, and also glue that will bond the socks to a rubber sole, but until I saw this one item in the local craft store I didn’t have a sole that I could use and also have significant differences in thickness between the two. The item in question is the decorate a shower shoe refill kit, which consisted of two pairs of white flip flops at a reasonable price and is sold year-round as a gift suggestion. The idea I had is to use both pairs of flip flops without the toe thong-thingy that makes flip flops flip flop when you walk in them, take one pair and glue them together with the wear face out and then glue that to the bottom of the left flip flop and then glue the whole mess to a pair of socks sitting in my sock drawer. Add some straps and velcro strips to the left foot (OK the right one too to make it symmetrical) so I don’t roll the sole over and end up turning an ankle and call it done.

Up first is a wreck that shows nobody is “safe” in the bike lane no matter what non-car mode of transport they are using. 1 injured as car hits wheelchair in Shoreline bike lane The problem is not the cyclists if anyone gets hit in the bike lane, it’s the crappy drivers who seem unable to keep their killing machines away from fragile skin and bones.

More on that El Tour de Tucson wreck. Driver in deadly El Tour crash says it’s all a blur OK as I read it the driver’s blood sugar crashed after the game, and then he did the same. Also Driver ID’d in El Tour de Tucson collision that killed a cyclist.

A CA driver talking on a cell phone could be facing charges in the death of a cyclist. PD: Woman may face charges after hitting, killing bicyclist As this wreck took place in September and this is late November I hope you’ll forgive me for not remembering exactly how this wreck happened…

Update on a more recent wreck in CA. Santa Barbara Woman Jailed in Cyclist Hit-and-Run This was a hit-from-behind wreck that could have been much worse. The weapon vehicle just grazed the cyclist at highway speed rather than the full impact that a few more inches would have brought. Kudos on the LEO for tracking and arresting the driver. Protocols to avoid or to mitigate damages, and get the infrastructure right to prevent.

Moving to the Emerald Isle of Ireland we find a totally clueless driver behind 3 cyclists. Three cyclists struck by car in Co Clare Not one, not two, but all 3 cyclists hit by the same car in the same wreck. Hit-from-behind protocols to avoid or to mitigate damages, and get the stupid blind driver off the roads to prevent… I mean infrastructure, get the infrastructure right to prevent (after they get rid of the stupid, blind, driver).

News from the cycling scientist that brought us the news that drivers pass closer to cyclists when they wear helmets comes another study with a bit more depth to it. University of Bath research shows that cyclists’ outfits do not stop dangerous overtaking Notice that two of the outfits are patterned off of local constabulary bike cops uniforms and that had no effect on the passing distances of drivers.

Infrastructure! news from the UK. RE-Tech launches cyclist detection system for vehicles Additional “eyes” for drivers who can’t see out of their trucks.

More infrastructure news. Britain failing to protect cyclist but should they share the blame for accidents? Well the UK statistics show that even with a police force that has demonstrated a strong anti-cyclist bias their own reporting system determined that motor vehicle operators are at least partly to blame in 93% of all bike wrecks. That says that the cyclists are not the problem, they are already mostly doing whatever it takes to not get hit. The real culprits are bad infrastructure and bad drivers.

A Ghost Bike for a MO cyclist. ‘Ghost bike’ memoralizes killed cyclist Now we know the driver of the weapon vehicle was being chased by her ex, and both are in jail on unrelated charges but not charged in the cyclist’s death because it’s OK to kill a cyclist…

And those were all the bicycle links that gave me fits today.

Billed @€0.02, Opus