{"id":33920,"date":"2025-10-10T18:51:08","date_gmt":"2025-10-10T22:51:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ianchadwick.com\/blog\/?p=33920"},"modified":"2025-10-10T18:51:08","modified_gmt":"2025-10-10T22:51:08","slug":"knee-replacement-recovery-23","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ianchadwick.com\/blog\/knee-replacement-recovery-23\/","title":{"rendered":"Knee Replacement Recovery, 23"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

<\/g><\/svg><\/i> \"Loading\"<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

\"Stephen<\/a>
\nG<\/span>ot up to another unseasonably warm October day here: 29C, the third hot day in a row.<\/strong> But tomorrow it’s predicted to fall to 16! I dropped by the local bookshop today (after my session with our dental hygienist) to pick up a used copy of Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall<\/em>. I had read the book a few years ago and even seen the superb BBC mini-series, plus I’ve read the two sequels. I had an urge to read the books again (and maybe re-watch the series), but I remembered I had lent the first in the trilogy to a friend some time ago, who, it seems, never returned it. So I finally gave in and bought another. I highly recommend these books if you have not already read them. And watching the series, too.\u00a0 As John Milton wrote in his Aeropagitica<\/em><\/a> (Nov. 1644),\u00a0 “Books are not absolutely dead things, but do contain a potency of life in them to be as active as that soul was whose progeny they are; nay, they do preserve as in a vial the purest efficacy and extraction of that living intellect that bred them.” But I digress…<\/p>\n

Doomscrolling:<\/strong> A Gallup poll in 2024<\/a> found “the largest segment of Americans, 37%, are creationist purists, saying God created humans in their present form within the past 10,000 years,” and that only 24% “of U.S. adults accept the scientific theory of evolution.” While creationism scored lower than a similar poll from 2000, the revelation that almost 40% of Americans are still creationists is both sad and frightening. And worse: roughly 10% of Americans are “young earth” creationists<\/a> who believe the world and all its creatures were created about 6,000 years ago. That’s approximately 31 million Americans! And they both breed and vote! Little wonder that so many Americans have become anti-vaxxers and MAGA voters.<\/p>\n

We’re doomed. When even basic science is both ignored and challenged by so many people, we are simply doomed as a species because we will never be able to solve our problems or advance our civilization.<\/p>\n

Part of my online time is spent posting comments and responses on social media posts about science, especially evolution and paleontology (interest groups that appear frequently on my Facebook timeline, and in my Bluesky feeds). Mostly to mock creationists and Talibangelists on Facebook. For example, under a post by the Houston Museum of Natural Science about the female Australopithecus afarensis known as “Lucy”,\u00a0 where the creationists were trolling, I wrote as a general comment,<\/p>\n

You realize, of course, that anything about anthropology or evolution will trigger the snowflake Talibangelists and creationists who will spout their Bronze-Age mythology about how their Magic Invisible Sky Man made everything a few millennia after Sumeria became a civilization.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

To which Steven Johnson, who I presume is a creationist, responded, “The angst you display does not diminish the love Jesus the Creator has for you.” And, of course, I could not resist responding:<\/p>\n

Thanks, but I don’t have any angst, and, to paraphrase Inigo Montoya in The Princess Bride, “You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.” Perhaps you mean “scorn,” of which I have plenty.
\nHowever, I do worry about your obsession with the Invisible Magic Sky Man. Have you seen a doctor about your hallucinations? There are drugs that can help.*<\/strong><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Monday:<\/strong> Began with a 20-minute pedal, followed by the rest of the exercises. Did a 15-minute pedal later in the afternoon. Some of the exercises really push the bend and cause my knee to throb and ache for a bit afterward. Then the endorphins kick in. Or so I expect them to. Sometimes they seem too lazy to come to the rescue. We went for an 800m walk with Bella, but again it was too hot for her in the afternoon. I’ve been thinking about walking outdoors without my cane, but am still not sure about how confident I am on our potholed and rough streets. I certainly want it for any time I have to walk on grass or a boulevard.<\/p>\n

Doomscrolling:<\/strong> PM Mark Carney flew to Washington today to meet with the fascist dictator Trump to discuss reducing some of his tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum. And the rage-farming Trump mimic, Pierre PoiLIEvre, chose to send an open letter to Carney<\/a> whining, bitching, and insulting the intelligence of everyone who read it. Never one to recommend something positive, never one to miss a chance to raise grievances, gaslight, insult, and trash both the Liberals and Canada, PoiLIEvre’s letter was just as we all expected from him. What’s disappointing is that CBC decided to treat this letter as if it was the most important issue to cover, calling it a “scathing letter” rather than just another whiny ideological screed from a small, angry man.<\/p>\n

The CBC’s story even had this slavishly sycophantic subhead: “Conservative leader says he’s willing to meet with the Americans to help move trade talks along.” As if Canada or Carney would want this petty, toxic man to interfere in important trade talks with the man PoiLIEre follows and emulates every day. “No more losing. It is time for you to deliver the promised wins,” PoiLIEvre said, which is ironic coming from the man who cost his party the election and even lost his own seat in the process. he also demanded \u2014 demanded! \u2014 Carney “get Trump to lift tariffs off softwood lumber, steel, aluminum and autos and “get rid of Buy American rules that discriminate against Canadian builders.” As if these were not the whole point of the meeting, but that only PoiLIEvre could see the whole picture. CBC, it appears from the story, was too lazy or incompetent to challenge PoiLIEvre or ask him any difficult questions about his presumptions or adequacy. But then, CBC has fallen from its role and become as flaccid and impotent as local media in holding politicians to account. There’s a good commentary on this from podcaster Bill Kelly<\/a> that’s worth watching (and also here<\/a>: another good point made, as are most of his podcasts).<\/p>\n

Tuesday:<\/strong> A morning 20-minute pedal but only 10 minutes in the afternoon, because we had been out shopping and were running late to get Bella walked. It was much colder today, too. It was 17C when I got up, but fell to 15 quickly, with cold rain. Quite a change from the heat of the previous three days, and much more like fall. We only did two 600m walks today. Since progress is now in small amounts, I can’t tell if my exercises are improving anything, although I like to tell myself they are and that the pain and strain are worth it.<\/p>\n

I continue to be unpleasantly surprised at the cost of basic items, groceries, and toiletries these days. And trying to avoid buying American-made products or foods just increases the weekly cost. It will only get more expensive in the winter when we can’t get Ontario-grown produce. We are fortunate that we don’t eat red meat (mammals) because items like steak are at astronomical prices. And Thanksgiving turkey can cost $50-$60 or more for a large one. We also don’t eat a lot of processed food, and try to avoid items with high salt content. But now and then we like a ready meal so we can avoid cooking. But what once cost us $15-$20 for a meal that usually gave us two days’ worth of meals, now costs $30 or more. We sometimes end up having beans-on-toast instead. But not tonight: Susan made a wonderful minestrone soup that will last us three nights.<\/p>\n

Wednesday:\u00a0<\/strong>Today marks seven weeks since my surgery, and I am considerably more mobile than I was back then. Started with my exercises and a 20-minute pedal, and watching news and commentary on YouTube, to fuel my doomscrolling. Last night, I didn’t complete my third set of exercises. I was tired and simply ran out of oomph, although I did most of them. I’ll try to make up for it today by doing a bit more to compensate. And I have my first physio session for this week today.<\/p>\n

At physio, I did 10 minutes on their bike and was measured for my knee bend after my session: 110\u00b0 with only 111\u00b0 assisted. An improvement from last week (102), but still shy of the goal of 120\u00b0. More effort is required. We did two 800m walks today and it was damned cold.<\/p>\n

We finally brought our avocado tree indoors, too. Hope it survived the low temperatures. Winter is tough for it, because it doesn’t get the warmth and light it needs indoors. It sheds many leaves until we can get it outside again, in late spring 2026.<\/p>\n

This week, I started again to read A\u00a0Splendour of Letters: The Permanence of Books in an Impermanent World<\/em>,<\/a> by Nicholas Basbanes (Harper-Collins, 2003). I picked it up as a hardcover, remainder book some years back, and read the first 20-30 pages. I put it back on the shelf and forgot it until this week, when I came across it. I am now reading it from the start again. It has been described as,<\/p>\n

…a comprehensive exploration of the enduring nature of books and their role in preserving knowledge and culture.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

As a bibliophile, I have a soft spot for books about books. Books like this are confirmation bias for me.<\/p>\n

Doomscrolling:<\/strong> The dictator Trump has threatened to use the Insurrection Act to declare martial law and launch his civil war against Americans. I went to CBC.Ca<\/a> to look for the story but was again reminded of how poor CBC has become and how increasingly irrelevant they are (much like local media). At the time I looked (about 3:30 p.m. Wednesday), the front page of CBC did not even have<\/em> the story \u2014 arguably the most important and most frightening news of this week, one that continues to grow \u2014 but did have stories with these headlines:<\/p>\n