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If you need a good giggle about some of the silliest (and, yes, documented by science) ways dogs prove their love for us in every day life, check out our book review! You Know Your Dog Loves You Because ... by writer Jeff Parks and illustrator Mark Sean Wilson might make a good gift for your loved ones of all ages. Here's why. [Also, news about our Mr. Stix at the bottom of the page.]
100 Dogs and Counting is the latest book by Cara Sue Achterberg about her adventures fostering dogs and about the efforts of so many to save more dogs from places where they face little hope of being adopted. If you're looking for something new to read as the COVID-19 pandemic rages on and you feel strong enough to learn some tough things about the reality of animal sheltering and rescues, I recommend reading this book -- with a few caveats (at the bottom of the page).
Last summer I doubled the miles and time spent walking the dogs while recovering from major surgery. My sore feet paid the price. Dreaded plantar fasciitis.
I'd struggled with plantar fasciitis before, and custom orthotics from the podiatrist fixed my problem with super sore feet. This time, it did not work. My VERY expensive custom orthotics did sort of help the plantar fasciitis pain, but they caused me insane other kinds of sore feet issues. It was like walking with huge river rocks taped to my feet.
It was so bad, even just around the house, that I would try to figure out how to do things like put new sheets on the bed by taking the fewest steps possible. I never could get farther than a few houses down the road before the foot pain from the orthotics flared up.
I went back to see the podiatrist about 8 weeks later, and he made some adjustments to the orthotics that helped a tiny bit. But, I still hated them and stopped using them entirely.
Thankfully, the owner of a local running store gave me a better idea. Recovery shoes from OOFOS! [Yes, I have a new affiliate relationship with OOFOS and will get a % of any sales made from my links. Remember, I only have such relationships with companies / products I actually use ... though, to be honest, they almost NEVER pay off. For example, I've had these links here for a few months now and NOTHING. I've earned exactly ZERO, so I deleted the adds from other places they were appearing on the site. I'll keep these here, just in case, but you know, likely nothing will come of it.]
Air Filters Delivered asked me to become an affiliate for their home furnace / home air conditioner filters. We only have a furnace at our house because at our high altitude it just doesn't get hot enough in our very short summer to justify having air conditioning. Air Filters Delivered sent some filters to try, and here is our air filter review, after about a month of using one of their MERV 11 filters. Whether you need a good air filter to help deal with allergies or you want one with more oomph during the ongoing pandemic, I hope this info helps.
Now that so many of us are under stay-at-home orders during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, I'm making time to read even more than normal. To help you make reading selections, here is our book review Who Killed the Dog Lady -- a murder mystery from author Kathy Cohen.