https://www.morningstar.com/articles/715686/dos-and-donts-for-mutual-fund-capital-gains-season.html

Keeping your white gis clean and white

I train at an academy that only allows white gis, and as as aesthetics are important to a lot of folks, here are some things I picked up along the way on keeping your gi white and clean.


Never hang dry them on wire hangers or metal chairs, metal railings etc. These things rust and will leave rust stains that are near impossible to remove.

Deodorant will leave yellow arm pit stains in your gi. Wear a rash guard underneath OR use a deodorant that doesn't contain aluminum chlorohydrates, aluminum zirconium chlorohydrates, and aluminum chloride. or go Au natural and try no to offend.

Keep a spray bottle of peroxide handy. When I come home with a gi that's got blood all over it, I spray peroxide on it and scrub, a little shout doesn't hurt either. Then throw it in the washer to get everything out. Bleach is a very, very, very last resort.

Your neck will leave oils (and dirt) your collar, I always try and spray shout on the collar before washing, it seems to keep the neck around the collar from getting too dingy.

At our academy, they keep handy wipes next to the mat for people wipe their dirty feet and require shoes/sandals on around the academy. We have white mats and it's amazing how much dirt shows from dusty feet. What you track in on the mat WILL end up on your gi.

Don't let your gi fester after you roll. When it dries with crud on it, it tends to set in. I know it's tough but, I try to wash or at least pre-wash my gi when I get home.

Don't let your gi fester, bacteria will set in and even after wash, the stink will come out again when it gets wet. A few hour soak in vinegar/water (50/50) will help get rid of this if you smell funk on your gi.

Washing - I always cold wash and air dry my gis (unless I'm shrinking to fit). I have a front loader (no agitator) which is a bit gentler on the gi and prevents fraying. Hot washing will shrink your gi.

NEVER use bleach, you will turn your embroidery orange or brown and your patches will fade. Bleach will also weaken the fibers of your gi fabric. I use oxyclean as a detergent.

Hot air dryer can bacon (warp) your lapel (it's rubber foam inside), also the additional friction caused by tumble dry can wear out the fibers and lapel (look how much fabric ends up in your lint screen). Hot dryer will also shrink your gi.

What ever happened to...?

Okay an odd post, haven't touched google blogger (formerly blogspot) in about a year (or two) with facebook around. I digress... Every once in a while, I'll think of a former classmate anywhere before college. Out of pure curiosity and to see how far the internet has come as far as information gathering goes, I'll see what information I can track down. Why a person comes to my mind, I'm not quite sure... I'll have a random moment or situation where maybe someone made a comment, had some sort of positive influence, remembering a cool time or someone that said something that changed the way I think or behave today... even though we were just kids. The person that came to mind was Frank Mamone. I recall him being of smaller stature in elementary school, having some physical condition, part of the -in- crowd (I wasn't) but pretty studious. Then meeting up with him again in high school the one year that I went to public school. I was part of the *anti* crowd that year, but I'm a different person today and curious to see how the -in- crowd fared as adults. What I was able to find was a distant memory of some of who he was and what he became during his short life -

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Frank L. Mamone 1970-1994 was a life long student of the San Bernardino City Unified School District. He attended K-6th grade at Marshall Elementary. While at Arrowview Middle School he won the American Legion award for outstanding student and served as school president. He
graduated with honors from Cajon High School. While attending Cal State University San Bernardino he worked as an Instructional Aide at Newmark Elementary. He did his student teaching in a kindergarten class at North Verdemont Elementary. Upon his graduation from Cal State University, he was hired to teach fourth grade at North Verdemont Elementary.
Though Frank had cystic fibrosis, he pursued his dreams and lived his life fully. He was an inspiration to his family, students, and friends. Cystic fibrosis took his life during his first year of teaching but his students and co-workers said it best when they placed a stone bench with shade trees on the lawn outside of his classroom at North Verdemont Elementary with an inscription that reads, “He touched our lives, he touched our hearts.”

>>

RIP Frankie, someone thought of you today.

8 weeks post op. Video, booted the boot, life marches forward.

Sorry this update was over due. I met the doc last week at the 8 week post op mark. I gave the official Dr. approved “good riddance” to the boot (although I actually did this just prior to 7 weeks). Officially - no hard exercise (running) for another month or so, but I’m working hard at least every other day. PT is now working on more strength exercises now.

The daily usual: Stretching, Theraband, ABC’s, Icing, raised foot.
Added in PT this week: double heel lifts, more stretching, core exercises, balancing on one foot (which works other foot and leg muscles).
Added on my own: Squats, 10-15 mile bike rides (almost ready to clip-in, but common sense is getting the better of me).

The good: ROM is about 90% all around. I mostly don’t feel the tightness at the back of the leg on Achilles and calf. There’s still some swelling, but it’s to be expected, it’s not debilitating.

The bad: I feel tightness when the toes are pulled toward me - not at the back of the ankle, but at the front as if the “arch” between the top of the foot and shin is pinched at the end of the range. However, the ROM is the same as the non ATR’d foot.

The ugly: I know I’m making improvements everyday, but I’m struggling with calf weakness. The flexibility is there, the strength ISN’T. My stride looks almost normal and I’m moving pretty fast when I walk. Heheh, I’ll grudgingly say “frustrating plateau” although I won’t give in to it.

What next: I meet the doc at 12 weeks (1 more month). PT continues at twice a week. I plan on riding on dirt tomorrow night (just easy fire roads) with very light climbs. I think I’ll paddle my kayak over the weekend. I’m going to try to do some very light Karate beginning October (stretching, forms, no contact)

Calf measurements are: Non-ATR’d 18.5 inches, ATR’d is back at 18 inches (plus two inches in circumference since the cast came off).

Here are the clips utilizing a tripod - I’m getting better at this:
(side view, front/back, heel lifts, squats, stairs).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IVZzSpsUmlA

Kaleo's Green Belt Testing

A lot of practice, falls, and yes, tears we've got a green belt. Sensei Wayne runs no McDojo.

All of Heian Yondan Mastered.




For a beginning martial artist, check out this student karate uniform which is $14.95 - $24.95.

Cast-rophobia - My cast didn’t make it to 6 weeks post-op and died a horrible death.

Cast-rophobia (cast anxiety) was very real (to me anyways) . I don’t know what caused it or maybe it was just the power of suggestion. (Stop reading if I’m going to jinx any cast worry on you!). I generally have a high tolerance for pain and uncomfortability, but I never experienced anything like this before.

We were posting in another thread comparing time lines about how long our casts would be on. Someone mentioned "castrophobia" and I didn’t think anything of it because my first 5 weeks in a splint/cast were uneventful. However the 2nd and last cast was put on a little tighter, but I thought it’d loosen a bit as my leg atrophied more and the compress underneath the fiberglass would "break in" like in the first cast.

At this point, I believe the catalyst for the behavior was when I rode the stationary bike last weekend. I’m thinking the activity "woke" my foot up. Now, subconsciously, I’m wanting move my foot around, rotate my ankle, crack / flex the toes, scratch - the usual things you do with your foot that you take for granted. I’m not a jittery person (like those types that do the nervous leg shaking), so this comes as a surprise to me.

I’ve been unusually busy, work stressed and somewhat sleep deprived this week which made the symptoms worse.

Oh the symptoms - where do I start… I think the feeling of inescapable confinement was the worse. My ATR’d foot also felt hot, stuffy and started to itch inside the cast. No amount of ice packs would make it go away. This lead to restlessness and irritability - you can ask my wife… I started feeling this on Tuesday night 8/24, so I decided to move my cast removal appointment on 8/31 up to Thursday (8/26 soonest appointment) knowing I would be demanding for my cast to be removed early. The symptoms got worse on Wednesday night. I tried a lot of things to get my mind off the uncomfortableness - went to the grocery store, bank and gas station at midnight, chewed gum. I was hoping to tire myself out so that I could crash quickly, but when I got home the anxiety got worse and I couldn’t sleep. 12 hours to the appointment seemed like an eternity. I reckon some Xanax or left over pain pills might have helped but I needed to be awake and alert for the next day.

As a lot of you guys stated here, I own my leg and it’s well being. This reminder gave me the push to do the needful. Mr. cast didn’t make it past 2 a.m. The Dremel tool would have made too much noise that time of night so off it came with tin snips and into the trash in two pieces. I slept like a baby.

Woke up rested, put my boot on NWB, got to work, gave a presentation to my V.P. and went to the Dr’s office.

The Aftermath: I go into the Dr’s office, and told the medical aid what happened and why. She was not happy and gave me the evil stink eye. They put me on a patient bed, leg raised on a pillow, boot off waiting for the Dr. to chew me out. Might I add, the amount of hard, dry, flaking skin is incredible. I need to grab a pumice stone when I get home tonight and start grinding away… The Dr. comes by, and I give him my explanation. He checks my leg for healing and asks about what kind of pain I’m in and I say "none, my leg feels great other than the episode". He says he’s seen crazier and worse things and totally understood my reasons. I ask a few more questions about PT, washing the wound, weight bearing and my next appointment.

What next: NWB boot for 5 days, then WB and PT. But I’m already PWB/FWB much sooner than that. I come back and see the same Dr. in three weeks.

Back to work, I can scratch and shower, life is good.

4 weeks post op.

Post Op Status:
2 weeks splint - done
2 weeks cast 20 deg plantar flexion - done
2 weeks cast Neutral/0 deg - in progress

I got my 1st cast off today and was able to really move the foot around a bit. I was asked to really dorsi-flex the ankle position so they could put me in a neutral position cast. I did so and took the 10-15 minutes to massage, stretch, wriggle, rub, repeat on the leg. It was nice to get some sensation back, but stretching the tendon and calf was a lot tougher than I ever imagined. The swelling had gone down so much more than the last visit so I felt better about the tingles - nerve damage was a concern for me, but I was told that was normal due to swelling and lack of sensation in the cast.

My ROM was pretty good (not sure how scientific this is),but in a sitting position I put both feet together toes pointed forward and they were equal. Pulled both toes backwards towards the my body, and the ATR’d foot was about 1-2 inches less than the good one. There’s just no strength behind it and now locked in neutral…

When it came time for the PA to see me, I was not successful in convincing him into putting me into my boot (NWB) instead of the cast. Apparently they did this for two people last week who pleaded and begged, got their way, and ended up falling (for whatever reason) and re-ruptured. Of course, I could have absolutely demanded it, but by the way my stretching went and the two "cases" that went wrong I opted to just wait it out and follow their program.

So I’ve got 13 more days ( I tried to up my appt.) in this cast and again I hope it loosens up a bit so I can do more flexing in there. Then it’s on to rehab.

The scar still looks like @$$, but overall I think I’m doing well.