The Appointment, the Doom Scroll, and One Good Foot

I went to the podiatrist today. My foot is fine, and somehow I didn't have a copay. So I have to ask: why does seeing a doctor for one foot cost a full copay, but apparently seeing a doctor for both feet costs nothing? The healthcare system remains a mystery—at least my toes are doing well.

My father had asked me several times to make an appointment for him while I was booking mine. So I did. After the recent malay with my mom, and after he used my “deficiency” against me, I still helped. I told him the appointment time, and the doctor texted him a reminder.

When it was time to leave, he was still in his chair, doomscrolling amid the boxes, papers, and other stuff that had gathered around the place he hardly gets up from.

As I was heading out, he asked, “Did you get my message?”

“No,” I said.

“I canceled the appointment.”

“As long as you called them.”

I’m not playing messenger.

This has become a pattern. He asks for help setting up an appointment or task, then cancels when the time comes because he’s “not feeling well.” Maybe there’s more going on—perhaps even agoraphobia. But whatever the reason, the result is the same: plans get made, plans get dropped, and I’m left rearranging my day around them.

It happened with a necessary trip to Verizon to fix his cellphone. We finally went about six months after he first asked. It happened with an in-person bank deposit, at least two months after he asked me to help. There have been other examples.

I don’t mind driving him. He isn’t in shape to drive himself, and I like being behind the wheel. Honestly, the world is probably safer with him off the road.

What I do mind is changing my own plans to help—like moving a pain appointment I’d arranged for that morning in Downtown Charleston—only for him to cancel at the last minute without telling me directly.

That’s not cool.

So, lesson learned: I’m happy to drive when there’s a real plan, and he’s ready to go. But I’m not rearranging my day around appointments he may cancel from his chair.

At least one of us made it to the podiatrist. And one of us left with a good foot and no copay.

Stay Cool: A Summer Tip Every Amputee Should Know

Sometimes the smallest tips can make the biggest difference.

If you're an amputee and summer heat leaves you battling sweat, socket fit, and comfort issues, I have one simple change that made a noticeable difference for me. It's not what I expected, but it's worked surprisingly well.

Curious what it is?

Head over to https://NielFlamm.com/videos to watch this video, along with my movie reviews, leadership commentary, technology observations, and plenty of other Junk Cast internet garbage designed to help fuel your doom scrolling.

See you over there!

I Thought I'd Seen Every Violent Sport... Then I Discovered CarJitsu

There was a time when I thought I had seen every possible way humans could legally beat each other up for entertainment.

I was wrong.

Let's take a trip down memory lane.

🥊 Boxing – The Original "Hold My Beer"

Boxing has been around for centuries. Two people climb into a ring, politely touch gloves, and then spend the next twelve rounds trying to rearrange each other's facial features.

Someone once looked at getting punched in the head repeatedly and said, "You know what would make this better? Let's sell tickets."

Millions still tune in, and somehow every heavyweight champion eventually promises they're "bringing boxing back."

🤼 Professional Wrestling – Where Logic Goes to Die

Professional wrestling wasn't just a sport growing up—it was Saturday morning religion.

Back in the days of Mean Gene Okerlund holding the microphone while trying to keep a straight face, the Junkyard Dog dancing to the ring, "Rowdy" Roddy Piper talking trash to anyone with ears, and Hulk Hogan reminding us to say our prayers and eat our vitamins, life was simple.

The villains cheated.

The heroes flexed.

Someone got hit with a folding chair.

The referee somehow missed everything.

Fast forward to today and there are fireworks, cinematic entrances, drones, LED floors, and enough pyrotechnics to invade a small country. The storylines somehow make even less sense than they did in the 1980s, and yet I still stop channel surfing when I hear someone yell, "OH MY GAWD!"

🦵 Kickboxing – The Cool Cousin

Kickboxing exploded in popularity during the 1980s and 1990s thanks to martial arts movies and action heroes that somehow defeated twenty bad guys without getting a scratch.

It combined punches and kicks into one package and made everyone believe they could become Jean-Claude Van Damme after taking six classes at the local strip mall dojo.

Reality usually involved sore hamstrings and a pulled groin.

🥋 MMA – "What If We Didn't Have Rules?"

Mixed Martial Arts started with one simple question:

"What happens if we throw every fighting style into a cage and lock the door?"

The early days looked like someone accidentally scheduled a karate class against a sumo wrestler and forgot to tell security.

Today it's a worldwide phenomenon with elite athletes who train year-round and make things that should be impossible somehow look routine.

It's also the only sport where hearing someone say, "He only got choked unconscious once," is somehow considered encouraging.

👋 Power Slap – Humanity Has Officially Run Out of Ideas

Then came Power Slap.

Apparently someone watched people slap each other in a bar and thought, "This deserves a television contract."

The rules are simple:

Stand there.

Don't move.

Get slapped by another grown adult with the force of a pickup truck hitting a mailbox.

Then try not to fall into next Tuesday.

I'm convinced doctors watch this with both hands covering their faces.

🚗 CarJitsu – Now I've Officially Seen Everything

Then, while doom scrolling through social media, I stumbled onto something called CarJitsu.

At first I thought it was a parody.

It wasn't.

It's literally Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu...

inside a car.

Two competitors climb into a compact vehicle and proceed to grapple, twist, choke, and fold themselves into positions that would make a chiropractor retire on the spot.

The steering wheel becomes a weapon.

The seatbelt becomes strategy.

The headrest somehow becomes defense.

I watched one clip.

Then another.

Then another.

Because I couldn't believe this was an actual thing.

Somewhere, a guy pitched this idea and another person replied, "Brilliant! Let's film it."

What's next?

Competitive Fighting in an Elevator?

Ultimate Thumb Wrestling?

Extreme Musical Chairs?

If history has taught us anything, someone is already working on it.

The internet remains undefeated at finding new ways for humans to ask, "What if we did this... but dumber?"

And apparently I'll keep watching every ridiculous second of it.