More Ideas And Advertisements About Foot Pain And Fatigue

Problems
Your feet or ankles ache, or swell. What 's the problem? What's the answer?

Possible Answers
One series of ads tells me all the bad news about potential causes of pain in ankles and feet. Some causes are internal organs, signs of danger of more trouble.

Bubblemat
On a lighter note, though heavier on the wallet, the same day I receive a catalogue through the post from bigdug. They supply equipment and furniture for offices and warehouses. One product caught my eye. Bubblemat anti-fatigue mats. They are popular, says the catalogue, in packing areas and retail checkout environments.  From £13 for one six 0.6 x 0.9m. The price is reduced to £11 each if you buy 3, and £8 each for more than eight, "from only £9 ex VAT.

I put floormats and bathmats on synthetic imitation wood floors in Singapore. That was in case I fell out of bed (again). But the mats served to cushion my footsteps. (White bathmats also enabled me to see I was stepping on visibly clean white surfaces.) You might need to anchor your bathmats, for example by running them under the edge of a piece of furniture, to ensure they don't slip on shiny tiled floors or wet floors. 14 mm.

They also sell non-slip anti-fatigue mat. The surface is the reverse of the other mat. Instead of a raised bubble surface, these mats have circular holes, drainage holes, for spilt liquids, debris and waste to fall through. 13 mm.

The bubblemats are black. What most interested me was the idea that raised bubble mats are anti-fatigue.

Websites
http://www.buzznoble.com/9-problems-legs-signal-serious-illness/?
www.bigdug.co.uk Tel: 0800 161 56 56.

I Spy A Spider - What Next - A Cockroach on Camera?

Problem
A spider.

Answer
It's not a problem if you have a camera. In fact, far from trying to get away, or moving it, your main aim is to get as close as possible.

Mobile Phone Cameras
I took this picture with a mobile phone. My phone is the one I bought after trying out three mobiles of different sizes (and prices) in the shop, taking something at a distance, comparing results to see if the extra money made a difference.

Our other more recent experiment was to see whether two phones, one for the UK, one for overseas, had the same results, or if one was better. The phone with the larger screen did not have the best camera. So, with a choice of two mobile phones, you might gain best results using the large screen mobile as a phone, but the one with the better camera on days when you expected to take photos.

Story
When I saw the spider, I called the family photographer with the tripod and the patience, (the introvert) to take a close up picture.

Looking at the spider on a big screen, I am amazed how colourful is our spider. What looks like black and white from a distance, close up the legs are oblongs of orange and brown as well as black and white. And so many hairs on the legs!

Where are the face, the eyes?

On a day when you are stuck at home working, still a chance to get great photos, in Singapore birds on the aloe vera on the balcony, geckos.

Maybe next time I shall try to treat 'my' visiting cockroach like my spider.

I can send somebody else in with a spray and a tripod, and view it at a safe distance, on the screen.

PS
I have tried to identify this spider. It looks a bit like a Garden Centre Spider.

This is a British spider.

http://www.uksafari.com/garden_centre_spiders.htm
Their first page shows you several spiders to help you identify yours.

If you prefer a bigger spider for your photographs, go to Australia. We had a spider the size of a tulip in the bathroom at Margaret River, Australia.

As for cockroaches, in Singapore, when I called an Texan American to see what I thought was a shockingly large cockroach, she shrugged. She commented:
We've got bigger ones in Texas.

AUSTRALIA office tourist board site:
https://www.australia.com/en-us

SINGAPORE
http://www.visitsingapore.com/en/

UK
visitbritain.com

USA
visittheusa.com
https://www.visittheusa.com/state/texas

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. Teacher of English and other languages.  Please read my other posts about Singapore, the UK, photography, destinations and languages. Share links to your favourite posts.

Travel Tripod from Manfrotto - do you need it?

A handy travel tripod from Manfrotto. First, why does a photographer need a tripod? Because otherwise you get camera shake.

Even if you know to hold a camera steady, you may want somebody in the audience to photograph you. For example, when you are with a friend on holiday. Or on business if you meet a VIP colleague, to record shaking hands on a contract, for the company newsletter or local newspaper.

You might be performing on stage, prearranged. Or you might volunteer from the audience suddenly. A bystander might not hold the camera as steadily as you would.

So you need a tripod. There are plenty. Smaller ones with thinner legs are inclined to tip over. You may already have one. I do, somewhere. But I don't use mine because it tips over and risks damaging my camera, delaying me, unnerving me, fails to take the picture.

What's good about the new Manfrotto model?
1This one is good for placing on tables and other flat surfaces. It has fat curved legs you can grip.
2 The legs are curved designed to be gripped so you can hold the camera in the air by the tripod.
3 You can rest the base of the legs against your chest.

Price? About £20. The postage might vary depending on where you are located.

http://www.manfrotto.co.uk

Angela Lansbury, author, speaker, poet, trainer