Almost everyone can get Shingles later in life from the chicken pox virus, and shingles is far more debilitating.

See, and that could also be how CV works.

That is interesting because some viruses get you sicker the next time through. Like chicken pox.

They are illegal as pets in California. I don’t know why.

It’s probably a good idea regardless. You wouldn’t want, say, the equity in your house to become the ‘deep pockets’ for a stupid lawsuit. This is one of the reasons I never took money for teaching homeschooling classes. Too much risk for too little reward. Instead, I did it entirely my own way, for free. I do have business liability insurance for my main business, through State Farm. We also have an umbrella liability policy, but my understanding (which I will check on) is that that is for personal liability and could not be extended to business except rental property. BTW, in the ‘gig’ economy it is important to check on what voids your insurance. For instance, standard auto insurance is voided during use of that vehicle for, say, driving for Uber. Ditto homeowners insurance for VRBO use.

I didn’t even know that they have power lights. Live and learn.

What appeals to me about the idea of it is that my muscles would already be warm and stretchy, and so maybe less risk of injury. Not sure how that actually works though.

Newer ones die much faster than old ones. We have one that is 23 years old that sounds like a dying garbage truck that I just paid someone to repair because I think we will get another 10 years out of it, and way less from a brand new one. The repair guy walked us through which used part to buy on eBay because the thing is so old the manufacturer doesn’t make spare parts for it anymore. Now the soap dispenser doesn’t open, so I have switched to liquid detergent, but still, I’d do it again tomorrow. The new ones just don’t last, the cycles take forever, and they are not as self-cleaning as the old ones because they use so little water.

I find that the absolute easiest way for me to eat a ton of veggies, which I go in and out of, is to buy those bags of cleaned greens and eat them absent mindedly right out of the bag, like chips. I don't miss the salad dressing when I do this, although it makes me very thirsty so I drink a lot of water along with it. Pre-covid I would do this in the car while I was driving around, and it would be super easy to scarf down 5 cups of greens without any effort to speak of. But now I've fallen out of the habit, since I'm home most of the time. At the office I like to eat red cabbage or raddicchio -- I peel the next 'few' leaves off the head and eat them while I'm working. Right now it's apricot season, so I'm eating tons of those off of our tree. I think I am the only person I know who can gain weight on apricots, I love them so much. Once I'm more or less done with those, I'll be trying to get back to those salad bags again. I also drink a ton of steeped ginger, and cook asparagus or artichokes as my preferred warm veggies. I do like salads, and this time of the year a fairly frequent one is cherry tomatoes, fresh mozzerrella balls, chiffonaded basil, and drizzled olive oil, tossed together to be my light meal.

I'm not sure whether they still sell this at Costco--it was a demo special and I haven't seen it in a long time. What I have is the foot one on this page: https://www.medmassager.com/our-massagers/ I would put my bare heel on the top of the slope of it and crank it up. It would vibrate pretty hard. I actually had partial numbness from it. But somehow it jumpstarted my recovery from 15 months of intractible PF.

PSA: Folks are hiking the Pacific Crest Trail in trail running shoes, specifically non-waterproof ones to cut down on foot sweat, more so than in traditional hiking boots. The last time I talked with a through hiker was a few years back (maybe 3? 4?) and at the time Brooks Cascadia was by far the most common choice for through hiking. I bought a pair and wore them pretty happily until I discovered Altra. The Brooks ones squeeze in my little toes a bit, and although they have a lower drop than the Salomon's I used to wear, they are not true zero drop shoes. They are great, but now I think that Altra is greater. The Brooks ones do have a very good rock plate, suitable for my hiking in the Sierra on sometimes sharp granite. I have not tried the Altra's rock plates yet as they are insertable and my first pair didn't have them (was supposed to), so I'm hopeful but not sure that the Altra Superior 4's with the rock plates are just as good at terrain, while knowing that they are better at being zero drop, cushy, and with room for my toes to spread on out.

OK, voodoo weird--PF was soft tissue, and it was a bear to get rid of but I finally did so. However, ALSO, I had a bump down into one arch for a while that I was told was a bone protrusion that would need surgery, and a chiro fixed it with light, feathery touches as she was trying to just diagnose it. Cue Twilight Zone music. I had been icing and massaging it for over a month. Still not sure how she did it. Also, I used to have bad hammer toes that I was told would need to be surgically removed as they were bone spurs, but they kind of resolved themselves down to nothing once I started wearing shoes with wide toe boxes, which was supposed to be impossible. Re the Altras--seems like most people who want cushy running shoes end up with either Altras or Hokas. And they are fiercely loyal to one or the other. For me Altras are the best, and Hokas don't fit me right. I encourage you to try both on before you decide what to buy. Also, the non-trail runner Altras I have (Torins), although they are extremely high in cushioning, are unbearable on honeycombed asphalt roadway. Fine on smooth cement, roads or sidewalks, fine on tile, fine on packed dirt, but any more topography than that and not all that wearable. I wear the Superior 4 trail runners when I go on the highly broken asphalt, and am going to try them with their removal rock plate in for granite hiking.

Don't know the answer to your question, but I would be leery of ordering those without trying on your actual pair. For one thing, those therapeutic brands often don't match exactly from one pair to another. I have tried on lots of Dansko sandals, and have found that two of the same model from the same year might have slightly different arch support locations, which makes all the difference in whether they help or hurt me. Also, you might need a different size than normal to be able to have the arch hit properly. I normally wear an 8 - 8 1/2, but have to get a 7 1/2 in Abeo's to get the arch to hit the right spot. Because of this, my Abeo's cause hammer toes, so I can't wear them all the time, but when I need them, I REALLY need them. Lastly, you might find as I did that your feet heel themselves once you have treated them with a Medic Massager daily for a while. I got mine after a demo at Costco, and it has reduced my need for arch support almost completely. I mostly wear cushy running shoes these days, with Altra being my preferred brand.

I have only done this once, and it was a great need situation, where I thought that the recipient might be embarrassed. AFAIK the family never found out it was from me, and that was good for everyone.

OK, it’s funny. The dream that I did not dare to dream was being able to continue working professionally without having to wear a bra. Bonus round—dropping pantyhose as well. Mission accomplished!