Pain In The

…feet. I warn you that the photo to be shown is somewhat disturbing and it’s not even of my ugly mug.

 

 

 

Those are my feet the day of or the day after my most recent cortisone injections. If you can’t see the large bump on my left foot, then you need (stronger) glasses.

As I have mentioned I have bunions and bone spurs on both feet. The left foot is worse than the right. Most days virtually every step is painful.

I am in pain virtually every minute I’m awake. If it’s not my feet, it’s my left knee or left thumb or neck or shoulders. I will never take my health for granted because my lack thereof will never leave me alone.

My latest medical situation is yet another in a long line of maladies. I fully understand why physical illness can lead to depression because it’s a trigger for me.

David Banner (not his real name, but a real physician) and I believe I suffer from systemic inflammation. This condition does not usually show up on blood work (my latest blood results were very good) and many doctors have been slow in acknowledging it. Whether my lifelong allergies are the main trigger, no one knows. I have only had a couple of physicians acknowledge that I may be right about inflammation.

Doctors won’t prescribe a steroid like Prednisone because I am diabetic, even though my sugars are well-controlled. Ibuprofen helps, but I can’t take it every day because of the potential GI and kidney effects. Basically, I just have to live with it like I have to live with diabetes.

“Don’t judge a man until you’ve walked a mile in his shoes.” That’s especially true when almost every step hurts.

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Sorry, but I am relying on the unreliable and unsecured site 365 Days Of Motoring for this section of today’s post. From auctioneers historics.co.uk is a picture of a car that, on paper at least, sounds very interesting to me: an MG RV8. According to 365 Days Of Motoring, the last RV8 was produced on this day in 1995. From the website:

 

“The MG RV8 was a hugely important step in the 1990s rebirth of its maker after more than a decade of saloon and hatchback-only production. Since Abingdon’s closure in 1980, MG had been reserved for the Metro, Maestro and Montego – and although these cars were worthy, what enthusiasts really wanted was a new MG roadster. In creating the RV8, Rover very cleverly used a combination of off-the-shelf parts, such as the Range Rover’s V8 engine and British Motor Heritage MGB bodyshell. So, in this incarnation of the MGB, the rubber bumper specification body was taken and modified to accept a new set of beautifully curvaceous outer panels. The 3.9-litre Range Rover EFI V8 engine developed 185bhp [and 235 LB-FT of torque, my note], and gave the RV8 enough power to crack 6.0 seconds for the 0-60mph run. A five-speed gearbox, derived from the Rover SD1, was used along with a new Salisbury axle. Very significant modifications were made to the suspension and brakes to bring the car up to date. The interior featured magnolia leather and burr elm.”

 

Most of the roughly 2,000 RV8s built from 1993 to 1995 were sold in Japan. Maybe you can’t tell from the photograph, but like all of the MG roadsters, the RV8 was very small: just 158 inches (13.2 feet) long with a 91-inch (7.6 feet) wheelbase. Say what you want about the size, but it will fit in any garage.

I think the RV8 is a great update of the styling of earlier MG roadsters. However, these were not originally sold in the US. Since even the newest ones are more than 25 years old they can now be legally imported into the US. When this Hemmings article was written (2006) that was not the case. The sub-head for the piece is, “What do you do when you want an MG RV8 in America? You pull out your credit card and build it yourself.”

In recent days I have come to the sad realization that, barring a lottery win, I will never own one of those garage spaces that seem to be everywhere in the Phoenix area (not at $300,000-$550,000). Still, an MG RV8 would be a great addition to such a space and would leave room for more “toys.”

 

#PainInThe

#MGRV8

#somanycarsjustonelife

#disaffectedmusings

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PS, it is not my intent to show any disrespect for the memory of John Kennedy, who was–of course–killed on this day in 1963. I have previously revealed my belief that while Lee Harvey Oswald did shoot at Kennedy with the intent of killing him, the fatal bullet was almost certainly from an accidental discharge of a weapon from a Secret Service agent in the motorcade.