Shoes, Issa, Paul, and Blooming Socks

LIFE

Old husband has never liked new shoes. He much prefers shoes someone else has broken in. He also prefers his shoes not touch his feet, but rather just hang on his feet.  Once he locks into a favorite pair it is quite a battle to introduce another pair.

Recently Daughter took him shoe shopping for some Skechers which he really likes. 

He insisted on a size 13 wide. He has them tied loose enough he can step into them, and there's about an inch of space between his heel and the back of the shoe.

His radar is not as sharp as it once was so he spends a lot of time walking on my feet! When I see him coming I begin tucking my feet under my chair, otherwise he just walks right up on my feet. I'm thinking I may need to invest in a playpen for me. Perhaps that would keep him off my feet.

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POLITICS

I can think of no one in the House of Representatives I dislike as much as Darrell Issa. I've already promised myself I will donate to the campaign of anybody who opposes him in 2018.

Darrell Issa (R-CA)

Rep Darrell Issa Suggests Trump-Russia Inquiry Needs Special Prosecutor, Not Jeff Sessions

Now he's up and done something I support. Is it enough to change my mind, no?

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Rand Paul (R-KY)

Rand Paul on Flynn: 'Makes No Sense' to investigate fellow Republicans

I've always considered Senator Paul to be a loose cannon in the Senate. He always bounces off the wall you least expect. In my opinion, this man does not serve us well.

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KNITTING

I finished the 50% mohair socks. I love knitting hand spun yarns but I don't often get the chance with sock yarn. I don't spin, and most hand spun yarns do not contain nylon, and often are too thick for socks.

I soaked these for a bit in a Eucalan wash, squeezed them out good, patted them out to shape on the bathroom counter and threw them over the shower rod to dry. It's amazing what that does for hand spun yarn. The Eucalan softens the toughest of yarns. The blocking process causes the yarn to 'bloom' and fill in the space between stitches, and the mohair added a little halo. Makes my heart sing to block hand spun yarn.

Yesterday and Today

I started the day in total innocence, not a bad thought in sight. As usual I read blogs, Facebook, and Twitter first thing. All was well until I got to Twitter where I came across a message from our soon to be president saying "Happy New Year to all, including to my many enemies and those who have fought me and lost so badly they just don't know what to do. Love!"

I immediately Googled to see how many of our presidents have suffered mental illness. According to an article in Psychology Today, that would be half our presidents.

Some 24% met the diagnostic criteria for depression, including James Madison, John Quincy Adams,  Franklin Pierce, Abraham Lincoln, and Calvin Coolidge.

Anxiety disorders ( social phobia, generalized anxiety disorder) came in at 8%, including Thomas Jefferson, Ulysses S. Grant, Coolidge, and Woodrow Wilson.

Bipolar disorder was also 8%, including Lyndon Johnson and Theodore Roosevelt.

Another 8% exhibited evidence of alcohol abuse or dependence. Pierce died of cirrhosis of the liver; Grant was once allegedly so drunk he fell off his horse during a military parade in New Orleans; and Nixon was once unable to take a rather important phone call from the British Prime Minister because he was "loaded."

"Numerous other presidents had physical conditions that can have a severe impact on psychological functioning. Taft, for example, had sleep apnea, which is associated with declines in cognitive functioning across the board, and most famously, some scholars now believe that Ronald Reagan showed early signs of Alzheimer's while still in office." 

Somewhere in this list I think we could include JFK who suffered from Addison's disease as well as a severe back injury that necessitated a lot of drugs.

While we ask candidates for the presidency to disclose their medical histories we have no mechanism to evaluate their past and present mental health. Should we?

I had these socks on the needles for months but did get enough knitting mojo going to finish them while daughter was here knitting.