Feb 25 - waste of time ?

What I really wanted was for this doctor to give me some advice, tackle the orthotics, but no, he wants to do surgery.  He may be 100% correct but I don't have time for surgery right now. I've got bicycle rides to do, mountains to climb (literally !), and surgery would interfere with those plans.

I'd never really understood what a bunion is before but it's the enlargement of the knuckle and the deflection of the toe, usually the big toe, towards the others.  This doctor says that there's not much cartilage left and surgery must be done before it's gone.  I don't buy that or at least I don't buy doing it now.  I do favor it but it's not that painful.  Will it get painful soon ?  I don't know but surely proper orthotics would help for now. 

I'm glad that I started out with the second opinion !  I've got another appointment with him next week ... perhaps he thinks that is surgical prep ...

Windy windy, from the west, time for something completely different.  I did bridge repeats for an hour.  Eastbound was easy, motor up the hill; westbound into the wind was not so easy.  The 7% grade is quite manageable, especially when I'm fresh. 

Cassie got another boat ride, this time simply going to the sandbar under the south causeway.  It gave us some ball-catching room. She's now right into swimming for the ball. The ripping current didn't even bother her.

Cassie got a treat after dinner ... I left the top open on her food container and we could hear these sounds coming from the laundry room, didn't get it at first but then yikes, she was stuffing herself.  At least it was her food; she didn't get sick.  We could tell that she was uncomfortable in the evening though.  As much as I was tempted to short her food this morning, she got a full breakfast.

And ... it's time to start booking flights and cars.  Four trips are in the works -- Philly to/from Seattle (Cascade 1200k in June); Toronto to/from Denver (High Country 1200k in July); Montreal to/from Switzerland ??? Italy ??? for me, and Italy for Sandy.  We're sorting out the rental car issues as CDW cannot be waived in Italy, making flying into Switzerland an option for me.  Sandy won't come over until the end of the ride, so she'll fly right into Milan.  Another question is whether I need the car right away for it to sit in Milan ... I need to make a spreadsheet of options to sort it all out.  Different airlines will fly to different airports as well, depending on dates of flights.

And ... then there's Kilimanjaro ...

This morning I knocked one off - flight to/from Seattle via AA. 

Hopefully today I can get in a regular ride; looks like that will be northbound.

Onward !