Yes, for those of us in the northern climes, we all may not have snow, but we do have small patches of frost especially on steps. I learned the hard way this morning on my way up to my car.

I navigated the steps okay from the house to the walk, but still had to go up to the street to my car. (My house is in a valley with the road above). As I stepped up on the first of many steps I slipped, twisted my right foot, and smashed the big toe. The nail is in shreds, and the toe is really sore. This doesn't count the pulled muscle in my left leg as well. This adds insult to injury because I woke up in the wee hours this morning with a dysonia spasm in the left leg!

Ouch!

So again please be careful out there.

John

John,
Sorry to hear that you got injured. Yes it's that time once again. Cold weather, icy steps and PD just don't mix. Come to think of it, nothing mixes well with cold weather. There is only one solution to the problem. Move someplace warm!

GregD

Greg,

After the quick fall, my first thought was that there has to be a better place than this. I agree, moving to a warm climate would solve this problem!

I've just got to be more careful now with the slippery surfaces.

isn't there a little device available, that fits on your shoe and provides non-slip traction??
wasn't there a post about it either here or in Braintalk?

Charlie

http://www.sportsimportsltd.com/traccleatans.html

The second ones work great for $15. I kept a pair on our coat rack at work until someone walked off with them. Before getting cleats I fell once on a fairly steep slope, hit the back of my head on the concrete, and slid under a parked car. Luckily I was on my way to my neuro and he checked me out and said I was okay.

Yes, winter catches one off guard. John , that injury sounds like it really HURTS!!! Make sure your transportation vehichles are also weather ready, just sit down and think about all the things that you need to do. Things like wiper blades, antifreeze in both the radiator and the window washer reservoir, a couple of good window scrapers, extra chlothing and a blanket in case you get caught out in feezing rain, a "survival candle", a flashlight and a set of new extra batteries, a membership in a "car club" such as AAA, in case you blow a tire, you can just use your cell phone to call for quick fix-it help and not have to put yourself in harms way trying to muscle with it by yourself. Make sure there is no oxidation gunk on your battery terminals, and buy a home battery charger. Buy extra long "booster cables". Keep "de-icer" for locks, and to put in the gas tank to dry up any water that gets in there. Always keep a roll of paper towels to thoroughly dry windows, see that you can see all around well before you go anywhere, and maybe a spare pair of glasses, if you ned to wear glasses. Maybe a set of chains you can just lie down in front of your tires to get you out of an icy ditch. An extra pair of warm gloves.
Remember, winter creeps up on us fast and we often aren't prepared. Then you have twenty minutes to get to a doctors appointment and your car is frozen solid, and the battery is dead. But more important, if you can't walk well at the best of times, how are you going to do slipping around in the ice and snow? cs

Dale and Charlie,

I have some of those slip-on things for the bottoms of my shoes/boots, and they do work. I live on the side of a hill, and without them I'd slide down the driveway to the bottom. Think "Princess on the Glass Hill" from Grimm's Fairy Tales. I park up on the street so I can have traction to get around otherwise my car would be driveway bound for the winter season.

ol'cs,

I agree this cold weather has come upon us way too quickly, and we have to have our wits about us when we're outside.

I always make sure my care is in working order, and I just bought new tires (ouch!) because I put about 69,000 miles on them in the past three years. I've been lucky as far as being out in the bad weather. I have an agreement with my boss. When it's bad out, I take a vacation day, or I work from home. I got stuck once, and I was so stressed by the time I got home I couldn't move. I sat in stalled traffic due to a snowstorm. It took close to 5 hours to travel 37 miles. I told him that I would never do that again, so whenever the bad weather comes, I'm home under the covers with the cats and a good book to read.

Unfortunately I don't have a cell phone though because they don't work well where I live, and don't want to spend money on something that doesn't work. They bounce off to voicemail and the signal breaks up unless the user goes up on the hill and stands with their back to the sun and twists their head sideways to get the signal to come in.


John

Winter...yes, take care. Here I am tonight on top of an Appliachian foothill in south central NYS, where is wind is wicked...incrediable!

I made my daughter buy salt tonight, since it is snowing outside and I am fearful of the three steps up to the porch.

Maybe I should be glad I moved out of this part of the north. This year I would have to buy a special grip for my cane to more carefully walk on ice and snow.