Eight feet hell! Trying to hang on to the two which are hard enough for one to handle

Trips to StatCounter are rather infrequent for me nowadays. Since my blog is a writer’s exercise I am not always cognizant of those who might pass by and, God forbid, even read my work. I should be more thoughtful. A frog should have wings.

StatCounter, in case you didn’t know, is a site that tracks Web traffic. All one has to do is copy a little code and paste it into your site’s inner sanctum — sounds like rectum but it’s really more like a brain, strange — and there you go. The counter reveals all sorts of cool numbers and can map where traffic comes in and out of a blog or Web site. I’ve always thought the coolest trick StatCounter does is compile the nations where all the traffic comes from and it even lets you look at page visits beside the flag of a visitor’s nation. I checked it out recently and saw that I had visitors from 30 different countries. Most were one-hit wonders, ranging from a single page view from Brazil to Croatia to Saudi Arabia. The most views, 397 at that particular point in time, were from the U.S. of A. That’s not many but quite a few more than I used to get on my old Blogger site. Thanks for that Tokyo Paul!

A keyword analysis the Counter performs is a slight source of amazement, to me at least, and quite entertaining. For instance, when I recently checked there were eight different visitors searching for the keywords “excited smiley face.” I have no idea what the searchers thought they would find. Scrolling on down, there were four page visits for “Leroy farted.” That one I knew.

It isn’t surprising when I find keyword searches for “feet” or something to do with feet given the name of the blog. I really don’t know what people expect when they see the blog’s name. If I didn’t know the reason behind the name — I’m not really sure that I remember the back story anyway — I would surmise it has some connection to a grave due to “six feet under” is or was a popular euphemism for death or buried. Of course, the Aughts HBO series “Six Feet Under” also comes to mind for some. It was a very dark drama although I would personally categorize it as a comedy-drama because it was pretty darn funny in its own black-humored way.

Thus I am buried in the irony that someone is possibly searching my blog for feet information while I am searching elsewhere on the Web for a cheap pedicure. How crazy is that? It’s not?

Now I’ve never had a pedicure before. I’m not a pedicure kind’a guy. But only in the last year or two have I developed wicked — in the bad sense — looking toes due to diabetic neuropathy. Along with that condition, my toenails seem to each have its own idea as to which direction to grow.  The best I can tell, my left first toe may have a condition called “onychogryphosis,” which is a.k.a. “ram’s toe.” (Warning: Graphic toenail photographs!)

I really need to see a podiatrist  but my medical “team” at the VA said they can only refer patients to the Houston VA hospital podiatry department for conditions such as those requiring amputation. Maybe if I just wait and do nothing … That is kind of the way the Department of  Veterans Affairs can be.

My nurse suggested I get a pedicure but I figured that might be somewhat costly. Looking around at local nail sites it seems the going rate is about $25-plus. But the nurse also suggested a cosmetology school as a place to find cheaper pedicures. Sure enough, I found one, and they said that they would do the nails for $8. Although, I admit I am somewhat leery after reading of encounters with even licensed nail technicians and I am still unsure a pedicure is a good idea for a diabetic foot. I have to do something though. My feet are a mess. I also don’t want my big toe to end up as its own freak show.

Decisions decisions. Diabetes really blows. This I knows. Peace, Yo Rapper Feets!