Good morning!!!!

[buckeyefarmer]

Buppies, hope healing goes well.

Still no rain here. Everything is brown. Been watering garden every night.

 

[m7040]

Good morning, no rain still but hoping. Did some watering yesterday.

Going for appointment at the "foot doctor" early this morning.
Not sure what I will get into when back home. Maybe some pressure washing is on the agenda.
Planted a bunch of plants and bulbs yesterday under wife supervision.

Mostly, I am aware of medical concerns with surgery in older people but does not mean I like it.

 

[m7040]

The TV gave up yesterday with all vertical stripes on the screen. Reset the cable box and remote reset of TV did not fix it. Ordered a new one from Costco for delivery Friday. It is a 55 inch OLED type of TV. Costco has extended warranty included

 

[m7040]

A very good day. All 5 walls painted.

All 16 walls painted about 4900 sf. I didn’t subtract the doors and windows precisely. 15 gals of Balcony Rose.

The wood beams and columns about 400sf and about 6.5 gallons of White.

About 72 manhours paint time over 12 days. Didn’t accurately time breaks. Doesn’t include daily prep or cleanup.

I continue to be impressed with your energy and dedication to the painting project

 

[KilroyJC]

Well, it was a long, but thorough exam. Results:

Hardware good in the knee, no abnormalities. Good alignment.
No obvious signs of rejection or infection.
Obvious swelling (twice the size of good knee).
Obvious pain with movement or palpitation.
Localized numbness.
Decreased reflexes.

All said and done: CRPS II (complex regional pain disorder type 2) diagnosis that has no specific treatment, only active movement and light PT (such as swimming) MAY help.....
But it can affect other body functions over the long term......
Some medications MAY help, but could cause other side effects.

The Dr. was highly accredited, a trauma surgeon specializing in joints. He told me something that nobody else has...... about 25-30% of knee replacements end up with CRPS because of all the nerves in the knee joint.
He stated he goes to 2+ international symposiums and the first thing always discussed is the occurrences of CRPS in knee surgeries.

so, to sum it up..... I'm F'd......
Just learn to live with it.....

You can always try RUM.

It still hurts, but you don’t care

 

[KilroyJC]

Good Morning!

God has given us another chance to get it right (or at least not screw up too badly…).

64.4F, going to low 80s, rained intermittently through the night, intermittent drippings forecast for today.

Taking mom & Mrs to hairdresser today, then lunch out.

replaced the bark collar collar with a nylon fasted-type nylon collar. The belt-buckle-type it came with was a PITA to put on Harry and get the right adjustment, since he is such a fidget. I had to cut the stitching on the nylon collar, thread it through, then rest itch it with the hand stitch awl, which is a little-used tool in my kit, but very handy to have when you really need it!

Weather will dictate afternoon activities.

I hope everyone has a happy healthy safe blessed day!!!!

 

[m7040]

We have been following the TV news from Denmark lately which is something we have not done in the past much.

For all the money they are investing in elder care and medical care we are not impressed. Delays in cancer surgeries that results in deaths before treatment is the current big story. And then there is sending elders on vacation out of country to save on care while gone on charter trips

 

[Buppies]

The baby boomers are putting a huge challenge to our medicinal system afraid this will be happening here too

 

[RedNeckGeek]

Good Morning!!!! 56F @ 5:00AM. Sunny. High 88F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph.

Hopelessly behind, but from the post count, you folks have been busy as usual!

Purchased a RAM ProMaster yesterday, and got the wire transfer going. The bank required a long interview with their fraud section before the transfer was approved, though. First to verify I was the actual account holder, and then to verify that the dealership was legitimate. The agent I worked with was obviously Indian, and I'm not talking Native American. Ironic, since so many fraud schemes seem to come out of that country.

Anyway, depending on when the wire clears, I'll be headed to the Portland area tomorrow or Friday to pick up the van. The plan is to ride up there on a motorcycle, load the bike into the van, and take a leisurely back roads trip home, stopping by a friend's place for a day or two along the way. No droning along on the freeway on cruise control, but constantly varying throttle to give the engine a good break in. Then change the oil and filter once I get back.

Very nice trip to Lompoc. Mechanically uneventful, as the Camry just purred along as usual. Still not happy with the radar cruise control surging on curves, and hoping a firmware update will someday fix that. Otherwise, I'm pretty happy with it, especially the 45MPG highway mileage. It's actually better than the motorcycles.

My friend down there is going in for cataract surgery next month, so we spent some time at a pre-op appointment, and in lining up medications for post op care. We were both struck by the price differences depending on just which medication was chosen, and where it was purchased from. Surprisingly, the Medicare Part D benefit was the most expensive option. GoodRX was half of that, but the surgeon's office offered a combo eye drop that beat every other option.

Lompoc is called "The City of Arts and Flowers", and we got a sample of it on the way out to the coast when we passed by huge fields of sweet peas being grown for their seeds.

We also saw sweet pea blooms on a hike in the foothills, but nothing like these fields. And who knew sweet peas bloomed in so many different colors?

Happy Hump Day!

 

[daugen]

when you are sick, waiting for treatment is awful.
particularly for cancer, when you know it is spreading every day and you are weeks out
for your appointment.

I am very thankful for Blue Cross/Blue Shield. Have been with them most of my life.
have paid a lot of money to them over all that time, but sure believe I got every penny back.
I have never had an important procedure contested. they have nitpicked plenty of my arthritis drugs but
I understand that, drug makers ripping us all off.
Have never paid a penny out of out pocket once I've gone on Medicare.
Folks here seem to get paid enough by BC/BS that supply is keeping up with demand.
But a lot of voluntary surgery (like my back) got pushed back due to covid.

When I got admitted to the hospital in NC, they were doing chemo on me within days.
When I complained of belly pains in my last GI upset, I was hustled into a CT scan the very next day.
Having "good" insurance sometimes helps.

The hospitals can't complain about covid any more.
So now the question is what is the new normal.

RNG, wonderful news, congrats. You now have two new nice reliable vehicles.
We won't have to worry about you being stranded somewhere in that Combi.
beautiful pic, keep them coming

 

[Rich B1]

Congrats on finding a van RNG.

 

[kenmbz]

Morning all, 62 going up to 71 and cloudy.
Did some watering and general cleanup.
Wife, dog and I went to town later to pick up so from work and take a walk first.

Lou-nice ride, congratulations

Buppies - heal fast

LS - sorry to hear, maybe the nerves will adjust over time, hope that happens for you.

RNG - nice van, hope you get many trouble free years of use

Back to the day job,
Be well,

First blackberries almost ready.

On the Delaware in town waiting for son to finish work

 

[daugen]

ken, my blackberries just started to turn red too.
I tried digging out two runners and replanting them, well
due to inadequate roots on rhyzome, by cutting off the main stem,
they could not continue by themselves. But gosh do they propagate, guess I'll just
have to snip them back.

blackberries generally have seeds and some folks don't like them but home grown blackberries, if
you can wait until they are truly ripe, have a flavor like a sweet wine.
Very different from store bought. But if they don't pull off easily, leave them be to ripen a little more.
I rush them constantly and have to chide myself to be patient.
Full size blackberry isn't always ripe.
blackberries and blueberries are wonderful antioxidants.
my blueberries are doing poorly.
they've been watered, they've had acidifier put on them, they've been weeded and loved.
Deer munching them did not help.

last dry day in a while. time to head outside, always bird feeders to fill.
And lately they are getting a treat.
Unshelled raw peanuts. I got a four pound bag and throw out a handful
Disappears within hours. Squirrels getting fatter I'm sure

 

[buckeyefarmer]

Just dropped son off for an MRI , and it’s starting to sprinkle in town. Hope it makes it to my house.

 

[Buppies]

Nice van RNG what options does it have?

 

[Buppies]

Drew I had to wait 2 months to get surgery this time longest one I’ve had to date 2.5 hours in the chair and I’m sore

 

[LS Tractor Owner]

Good morning! Low of 60°, going up to 89°.... I will wager that it goes over 90°.....
Still no precip in the 10 day forecast... not one slight chance. Going to get really dry, really fast.

Buppies, sorry to hear you're having so much pain this time. Hope you heal quickly. Prayers sent.

Dennis, prayers sent for your son, hope all reports come back good.

RNG, congratulations on the van! Nice color.

Today's agenda: fill out some paperwork, then get to changing out the mower blades. The deck needs to be scraped off too. Possibly get to do the trailer sides which didn't happen the other day.....
But --- I have to find some motivation today.....

Everyone have a great day!

 

[daugen]

buppies, that sounds like insult to injury...sorry

spent several hours weeding the gardens, back hurts from that, but got all the dead bulb tops cut off, and I was reminded how many
I planted when it seemed like I'd never get done. Then watered the veggies waiting for natural rain tonight.
And lo and behold, on the 21st of June, my first tomatoes.
they were good, darker type, sweeter, not much of a bite.
All the way down at the bottom. I start my daily search at the bottom of the green mass.

one strawberry and four tomatoes. A fine start. Had my first green pepper on a dinner salad with friend.

 

[m7040]

Before covid VW were selling 40 percent of their production in China made in more than 30 factories. After Covid VW is discovering that there are now more than 100 brands of electric cars being made in China that are up to standards in quality and performance and they are losing market share. New models are being introduced at a very high rate into the market.
These new brands did not have to change from combustion engines but designed from scratch to be electric.
German car industry is now under pressure from China.
Hoping our car industry is more proactive?

Daughter is still waiting to be scheduled for biopsy!

 

[pennwalk]

RNG, I like the looks of that van. I wish I had one.

Speaking of tying down motorcycles in the back of vans, I just bought a pair of Rhino motorcycle straps. Nice looking quality straps but the reviews say they slip till broken in. Mine slipped too. I could hang them up and put my weight on them and pull the strap all the way through. I felt like I was feeling something slightly oily on my fingers when I worked with them. I threw them in a bucket of hot water and dawn dishwashing soap. They seem to be much improved. I'm surprised the company sends them out like that. Too bad I can't find M&R straps anymore.

Today is cool with a chance of rain.

Chris