The Knee Fiasco
So I get my X-ray and go to the Dr.
He twists and bends my leg various ways. Asks a bunch of questions. Reviews the X-ray and says he has no idea.
He offers a cortisone shot and reluctantly suggests an MRI. Apparently because of the screw in my knee, the MRI is not likely to be clear enough. He also thinks it's simply arthritis set in.
Not wanting to just treat the symptoms, but actually figure out what's wrong, I skip the shot and go for the MRI.
I call to make the appointment.
Because I've "worked with metal" (i.e. welded and/or grinded it) in my past. I have to get an orbital (an X-ray of my eyes, the photos you see so far).
The orbitals are negative so I'm ready for the MRI.
Now it's time to go back to the Dr. I've got two appointments this week. One with the original Dr. and another for a second opinion.
If this really is arthritis, I have a completely new (and negative) outlook on life - not to mention our health care system.
At least I've got cool X-rays of my head. I like the way you can almost see the skin profile and then the bones within. It's like morphing a picture of me now with one 500 years from now.
- b
Weeeee!
Went paddling on the West Brandywine yesterday with some friends. It was a lot of fun.
Pictures and brief comments here.
- b
Party Time
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The Dump is Awesome!
Made it to the county landfill this morning. Never thought I'd have such a nice time.
It's real convenient - only 10 miles or so up the road.
They're also real friendly. The woman offered to sweep up my mess when I was through unloading.
I took 780lbs of crap from my deck, bathroom and misc. piles about the property.
Took me a half hour to unload it all and only cost $28 - $20 is the minimum fee.
They also recycle.
And recycle anything (fluorescent tubes, batteries, cell phones, #4 plastic bags - all the tricky stuff). If you have a question about something, there's even someone there to help you out.
The best part? The Recycling's free.
I almost can't wait to go back.
- b
Ouch
Jen hit a rock heading to work Thursday morning.
Tore the sidewall and bent the rim.
Dealer said $400 for a new rim.
Salvage man said $150 for a used one.
Tire guy said rim was fine and sold me $500 worth of new tires.
Hmmmmm.
- b
Makes Sense to Me
Without even trying I can easily average 46 - 48 mpg in our Prius.
Jen's a bit of a hypermiler and pushes herself to average 54+ mpg.
So pushing the fuel economy standards to a measly 35 mpg sounds good to me.
Just think how cheap gas would get. It's simple economics folks.
New deck pictures are up here.
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Still At It
Didn't we just put those studs in there?
Ah! There's always something else to do.
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Icky Work
In order to continue with the deck railing project (what about the bathroom, outdoor speakers, dimmers, garage opening, pool skimmer and so on and so forth?), I had to sure up the sagging deck joists. This required crawling under the deck - after it rained half the week.
It was a bit icky under there. No poison ivy this time, but definitely icky.
I've also managed to update the pool skimmer project. Hopefully I'll get to the deck pictures too soon.
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Two and a Half Tons Done
We easily used two and a half tons of wood pellets this year.
I even threw in a bag over the weekend as the temps got down to the forties at night.
I'm too lazy to do the heating cost math now, but I could add the $100 bill I got from Suburban Propane for not using any this year.
Something about a minimum payment, blah, blah, blah.
Pain in the ass they are.
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Another Dumbass Move
When my Dad and I were working on the deck, I had to crawl underneath to tighten the nuts on the carriage bolts through the posts. It wasn't until later that I realized one of the places I was laying had poison ivy.
Scanning back through the photos my Dad took, I found this.
The tell-tale three leaf demon. Though you only see leaves on the outside of the lattice, the vines, which also carry the oil of doom, ran under the deck where my head is.
Being under the deck I had a bunch of crap falling into my eyes. My worst fear was I had the oil on my fingers when I was trying to rub out the crap from my eyes. Luckily the only breakout so far has been the entire length of my right arm.
Needless to say, I'm hoping it stays that way.
- b
Bu-Bye
Finally got the Mazda donated.
Part of me was hoping it would take me longer to do it, so the tires would go flat and I could set it up on concrete blocks in the yard.
Luckily the Mazda has a better destiny then my redneck trophy fantasies.
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Vacation from Vacation
I need a vacation from my vacation.
I'm exhausted. Trying to be productive at work is counter-productive.
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Last of the Projects
Finished installing the recessed lights in the kitchen I started a couple of months ago.
They turn on and off (in more ways then they should), and I need to add the dimmer.
In the afternoon we tackled the posts for the deck.
We didn't finish, but we did get a lot accomplished.
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Hey Mister
Can I get a ride?
Jen looking up into the cab of Yarnall's 1974 International.
More pictures of the bathroom work can be seen here. Comments are limited.
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Change of Plans
The other big project for this week was cutting out our master bathroom fiberglass shower.
It's ridiculous. It's only a 30" x 30" shower.
Totally useless. I may have tried once or twice, but that was it.
The plan was to tear it out and move the shower head plumbing to the far wall. Sometime in the future, we'd get a custom tiled shower put in that would at least give us 30" x 36".
Then we got to thinking (my Dad actually did all the thinking), talking, measuring and researching.
It turns out there was actually six extra inches to spare in the other bathroom. If we pulled out the vanity in the other bathroom and moved it forward (as well as the wall between the two bathrooms), we could afford a shower sized 37" x 37".
So that's what we did.
In this picture I'm standing in our main bathroom, while my Dad holds the vanity standing in the old shower stall of our master bathroom.
So far we've completed most of the deconstruction and re-plumbed the sink in the main bathroom. Tomorrow should be recreating the wall six inches over from where it used to be.
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Progress and Play
On Saturday we finished the skimmer installation.
Took some naps - Dad in the pool lounger, Jen on the couch, me in the yard.
Weeded.
Spread some more mulch.
Finished wiring the double garage door opener switches.
Then went to a party.
The party was at Yarnall's. He has a 60'x100' garage full of trucks he and his Dad own.
We drank and wandered all over the place climbing into cabs, crawling underneath and exploring the history.
Today it's demolition. Stay tuned.
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More Progress
We mixed and poured concrete.
Jen continued to weed and spread mulch.
And Gretchen did what Gretchen does.
And the gable fan works.
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Knee X-Ray
Something's a little funny with me knee, so the Dr. ordered an X-Ray.
The bright white line in the end of my femur under my knee cap is a screw (maybe even two). In college I had a bone chip screwed back in place.
I'm pretty sure my current issues aren't related to that.
- b
Progress Report
Spent most of yesterday running errands and collecting supplies.
Went to three different pool stores and got five different opinions on how to reconnect the skimmer to the pool. The one thing we did learn for sure was the guy that did it last year didn't do it right, hence digging it up in the first place.
Hopefully by the end of today we'll have it in place. Basically we're going to concrete the crap out of it.
Jen spread some more mulch yesterday. There's nothing like the sight of new mulch in the flower beds. Too bad it has to be done every year and takes so much mind numbing weeding.
Also threw in some wiring projects yesterday. I'm in the process of putting garage door switches at both ends of the garage. This way you don't have to walk clear across the garage and back for whatever to open the door. (we're so lazy). Actually it should help keep me from backing into the damn thing.
Maybe I'll play in the breaker box today. Nothing like the risk of 200amps at your fingertips!
- b
Skimmer's Out
I don't think my Dad was here an hour before he wanted to "take a look" at the skimmer project.
An hour later the old skimmer was out.
From what we can tell, that was the easy part. Getting it back in looks tricky.
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Watching Buzzards Dry
Backed into the garage door again.
This time it was halfway up before I crashed into it.
Still fixable.
Gotta slow down.
- b
Rain Ride
Either a show of solidarity or just stubborn, I decided during the Sunday drizzle Gretchen and I would ride Monday morning if the weather was the same.
It was.
At 6am we were poised and ready to go.
Jen had to get to work early Monday, so it was just me and the dog.
It had been a while since I'd done a rain ride. I couldn't quite remember what to expect.
Would it be too muddy?
Would I get too cold?
Would Gretchen like it?
There was a time, such questions were silly. Regardless of weather, you just rode.
I planned a route that would stick to the solid double track areas. Not as exciting as slick and twisty single track, but we were riding in the rain. How much more excitement do you need? My biggest concern was the railroad bed as it usually has some sloppy spots when really wet.
Miraculously (it's been raining for days) the trails were mostly fine. Either the route or just lucky, but we hardly encountered a trail that I'd call muddy.
The railroad bed and the road around the quarry had some small lakes, but I'm not too worried about the impact on those features.
Gretchen appeared to love it. All the little woodland creatures were out for her to chase. I guess they figured humans and their dogs would stay in that morning. At one point she even ran out across the rapids in the creek chasing who knows what. Unfortunately she wouldn't stay still for her after shot.
Her nose isn't normally black.
You have to fight to get CJ to even go outside to use the bathroom in this kind of weather. Gretchen was impervious.
Can't say I'm looking forward to the next rain ride, but it was nice to at least get out when we most needed it.
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Todays Project
Gable fan.
After the little research I've done and helpful suggestions from a friend, I feel like a numbnut for not doing this sooner.
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That's a shot from our bouldering heyday back in 2003 (I think) at Haycock Mountain. If you look close you can see Jen carrying our little crash pad that we since sold to Buddy thinking we'd never boulder outdoors again.
Jen did well too for completely not liking outdoor climbing and being upside down.
Me? I fell a bunch of times (even got a gasp out of Jen). Got the scrapes to prove it, but figured not picture worthy.
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Jen did well too for completely not liking outdoor climbing and being upside down.
Me? I fell a bunch of times (even got a gasp out of Jen). Got the scrapes to prove it, but figured not picture worthy.
- b
At least now we're back to two bathrooms.
before I moved these.
Meanwhile, Jen continued to spread mulch.
And Gretchen feigned illness because no one played with her all weekend.
The most expensive part about this remodeling so far...
is the $90 box of 2,000 nails I bought for the nail gun.
And with some help.
with a primo version
Now I can stop worrying about someone messing with my precious junk.
It rained last night, so this morning was cloudy. Nothing really worth taking pictures of.
But what we brought back was this
Took three towels to get her back to this.
- b