It's hot in Washington, DC right now. I can't even describe how hot, but since this heat wave has spread over much of the country, I probably don't have to.

My left foot is particularly hot because it's in this weird shoe/cast thing, where it will remain for 7 1/2 more weeks give or take a few hours. Not that I'm counting -- the pain killers make that kinda hard, anyway.

It's nothing serious. I had foot surgery and it will get better and I should be able to hobble my way to any future concerts. If Clay does show up on GMA on September 1, I might even roll my way there.

How, you ask?

Why using this -- the handy Roll-A-Bout, a device for people like me who are too clumsy and inept to use crutches.

Sweet, eh? It comes fully loaded with a hand brake that doubles as a parking brake. Here's a shot of one in action.

That's just how I look on mine, too, except that I'm not a man in a suit and it's my left leg that's injured, not my right, and I haven't taken mine outside yet because it's so hot. But you get the idea.

Now steering one of these babies is a bit trickier than it looks, especially if you're dodging furniture, dogs, skeins of yarn, things that have fallen to the floor that you can't pick up because if you tried you'd fall over, laptops, headphones, and power cords.

I'm getting the hang of it, though. I did have one mishap in which I almost drove off a cliff (and by cliff I mean the step down to my "sunken" library). Oh! -- and I pantsed myself by running over the pajama bottoms on my "good" leg, which pulled said pajama bottoms halfway down my ass. Film at eleven. g

Other than that -- I'm a pro.