I’ve had problems over the last several years with my feet. The first thing was a very sore instep in my right foot. I took some anti-inflamatory and had a cortisone injection. After a few months it got better, then flared up again.

At that time they put me in orthopedic inserts which helped both feet. Everything was OK until July of this year when the right foot really started bothering me. At that time they put me in a soft walking cast for about 2 months. Things got better until the other night when I woke up from pains shooting up my right ankle. I couldn’t put any weight on my leg and was not able to walk.

I took a strong anti-inflamatory and pain pill and saw the doctor about 5 PM yesterday. At first I thought the achilles tendon had ruptured and that I would need surgery. Towards the afternoon the shooting pain stopped but I still could not apply any pressure to the ankle.

The doctor put me back on medicine and gave me another cordosone shot directly into the right achilles heel. I am able to now walk, but fine that I am still unsteady on my feet. I’ll probably put the walking cast back on for a few days or weeks. I’ve even considered getting a cane to help me with my balance. At least I wasn’t put into a hard cast. I’m lucky that the achilles tendon didn’t rupture or I would be in the hospital facing surgery and a long recovery.

Things can always be worse than they are. Nora and I are leaving on Christmas Eve and going to West Virginia for 11 days. We really don’t have muched planned during that time. On the Monday after Christmas I have to go into Martinsburg to meet with the Editoral Page Editor and the Editor of The Journal to discuss my columnist position for 2004. That is really the only thing we have to do. I’m be able to pretty much stay off my feet and take it easy.

What’s the difference between a Blog, Journal, or Diary? Good question.

There really isn’t that much difference between a Journal or Diary. They are basically the same thing. Some people prefer to use the term diary, others prefer journal.

When many people think of a diary, they envision a teenage girl sitting on her bed starting off each entry with ‘Dear Diary’. For that reason the term journal is probably preferred among males.

Many people refer to the term ‘Personal Journal’. It is a way of transcribing your ‘personal journey’ though life.

The terms diary and journal also tend to imply the task of handwriting onto paper, although there are several computer software programs out there that work very well. I have used one called Life Journal, which sells for about $40. The program offers security in the form of passwords and has some nice features. When you are finished a posting you can then go back and highlight various sections and apply them to certain groups (i.e. work, school, family, etc). You also have the ability to create your own groups. The program does have a built in spell checker and some other nice features like ‘prompts’ for writing.

A ‘blog’ is something new. It is really a shortened form of the term ‘web log’. It implies an entry that is placed on the internet for everyone to see. Certainly, this is a different concept than used in a diary or journal.

Not only can everyone see your blog entry or posting; you also have the ability to allow others to comment on your entry.

Most ‘blogs’ reside on the web servers, allowing the user to make their entry from anywhere they have an internet connection.

There are many commercial blog sites on the internet. None are that expensive, maybe $30 – $50 per year.