What did you do today? 2018 version

[W2R]

I went to the gym today by myself, DW is still suffering with myositis, inflammation of her leg muscles. She sees her PCP tomorrow, hopefully more steroids and perhaps she can grovel for some hydrocodone(please, may I have more?)

How awful to be in that much pain! I have the opposite problem. Doctors are always shoving hydrocodone at me that I don't need or want. Sometimes I wish that they would listen to their patients a little more and not treat us like replaceable cogs in a machine. I told my oral surgeon that I never need hydrocodone after dental implant surgery, and he insists that I simply MUST have it. It's not expensive but gee.

Since she's unable to join me I've been starting to jog on the treadmill and have been enjoying it. Normally the treadmill was a warm up before weights. I started trying to jog a mile and now doing 2.5. My BP has started to improve, leading less medication.

Great progress! Wow, 2.5 miles is simply terrific, and better BP is too.

 

[Mr._Graybeard]

I spent the entire day transplanting rooted tomato clones and a few short season melons into huge planters. I watered myself with the garden hose pointed skyward to keep my body cooled down. I had a few cold brewskis on ice with lime juice for hydration, nourishment, and inspiration.
My passion about container gardening has really grown in the past few years. I'm in upstate NY, so I have to stick with dwarf or short season veggies. I've built 3 homemade A frame greenhouses out of common wood studs and 6 mil VisQueen plastic. They are not permanent structures, but work really well as season extenders.
I'm not going vegetarian or vegan, however I am making every effort to eat more good stuff in my diet. I grow a mean container of leaf lettuce and Chinese cabbage !

Are you familiar with straw bale gardening? It might be a good option for you. https://www.gardeners.com/how-to/straw-bale-gardens/8882.html

 

[freebird5825]

Are you familiar with straw bale gardening? It might be a good option for you. https://www.gardeners.com/how-to/straw-bale-gardens/8882.html

Yes, I have heard of it. I am a member of several gardening groups on Facebook. It may be the next method I attempt, but for now I will stick with my 5 gallon buckets, 7 gallon grow bags, and various sized large planters bought off season (on sale) over 11 years since I did the ER thing in 2007.
Thank you for the link

 

[aja8888]

How awful to be in that much pain! I have the opposite problem. Doctors are always shoving hydrocodone at me that I don't need or want. Sometimes I wish that they would listen to their patients a little more and not treat us like replaceable cogs in a machine. I told my oral surgeon that I never need hydrocodone after dental implant surgery, and he insists that I simply MUST have it. It's not expensive but gee.

Interesting perspective here as my oral surgeon would not prescribe hydrocodone for me after the implant surgery. He said I would be OK with a non addictive pain med. I can't remember what he prescribed, but I believe it was like Tylenol 3. I never had any significant pain after the surgeries (I had two).

 

[Walt34]

I told my oral surgeon that I never need hydrocodone after dental implant surgery, and he insists that I simply MUST have it. It's not expensive but gee.

I do hope the day never comes for you (or anyone else) that you need it but I always accept and fill those prescriptions on the theory that it is far better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it. And yes, they're so cheap (at least with my insurance plan) that I think I'd be foolish to not fill it. At least a few times I was very glad to have made that choice.

Pouring down rain for most of the day here so we had no inclination to go out. New washing machine delivered as promised and seems to work fine. DW informs me that since I made most of the buying decisions on this that if this washing machine ever, ever, breaks down in the future of the world it is my fault. I pointed out that she was there and had no objections. She says that doesn't matter, this is how those things work. It is apparent that I do not understand the true nature of the universe.

 

[braumeister]

DW informs me that since I made most of the buying decisions on this that if this washing machine ever, ever, breaks down in the future of the world it is my fault. I pointed out that she was there and had no objections. She says that doesn't matter, this is how those things work

Please allow me to offer a compromise. Many years ago when we had been married only a few years, a situation arose where we were each attempting to fix blame on the other. Each of us was completely certain that the problem (I have no recollection of what it was) was not our fault.

We simultaneously declared that if it was the fault of neither of us, then obviously the only remaining possibility was that it was Puffin's fault. Puffin was the cat. And Puffin couldn't have cared less.

For several decades now, ever since that day, when some mysterious calamity occurs, we look at each other and say "Clearly Puffin's fault." Of course, Puffin is long gone and only a fond memory, but she remains responsible.

I've told this story to several friends and they have joyously adopted the habit. There are problems occurring all over the area to this day that are obviously Puffin's fault.

You are welcome to ascribe any future breakdown of your appliances (or anything else) to our late, lamented pussycat.

 

[Walt34]

You are welcome to ascribe any future breakdown of your appliances (or anything else) to our late, lamented pussycat.

That's a wonderful idea that we will adopt immediately!

 

[Dtail]

Played Pickleball for the first time today. Had a great time. Not tennis, but still a good workout in 90 degrees and humid.
We will try to get a group to play regularly in our complex.

 

[braumeister]

Installed a new 240V 40 amp circuit in the garage for my car charger.
DW gets very nervous when I do things like that, but it's pretty simple stuff as long as you're careful. So I waited until she left town for a few days.

Interesting thing about putting the circuit in. I wanted it done a month ago so I gave in and called an electrician. It was the same guy who did the original wiring for the condo when it was built nearly 20 years ago, and he came highly recommended by the neighbors.

When I told him what I wanted, he said he couldn't do it because the specs I gave him were wrong. I showed him the specs that came from the car manufacturer and he said they didn't know what they were talking about.

"I've put in a bunch of these things for Tesla owners and that's not the way it's done."

"But this is a Volvo, not a Tesla, and here are the specs."

"Nope, not gonna do it. You need to get me the phone number of Volvo's head engineer and I'll set them straight."

[Sigh]
I thanked him for his time and did it myself. Funny, but it's working just as designed.

 

[GalaxyBoy]

Interesting perspective here as my oral surgeon would not prescribe hydrocodone for me after the implant surgery. He said I would be OK with a non addictive pain med. I can't remember what he prescribed, but I believe it was like Tylenol 3. I never had any significant pain after the surgeries (I had two).

I took hydrocodone several years ago, once, and felt the urge to take more. When the oral surgeon prescribed it for me last year after an implant, I said "No way!" Maybe I have addictive tendencies? Anyway, like you, there really wasn't any significant pain and in my case regular Ibuprofen was just fine.

 

[Walt34]

I took hydrocodone several years ago, once, and felt the urge to take more. When the oral surgeon prescribed it for me last year after an implant, I said "No way!" Maybe I have addictive tendencies?

That's interesting. I know the stuff can be addictive if taken for long periods of time, but I've only taken it continuously for perhaps a week and when the pain was gone I had no difficulty setting the remainder aside. And I don't really like it, it makes me feel stupid, as if my normal high intelligence and sharp wit were dialed back to half. (Someone will be unable to resist that straight line...) It also makes me sleepy so I tend to take overlong naps and waste a lot of time that way. So to me it's better than being in a lot of pain but I don't want to live in that "fuzzy cloud" state for longer than needed.

I can sympathize with someone who is in long-term pain such as a back injury that will never heal and opioids are their only relief. I just hope I never get caught between that rock and hard place.

 

[MRG]

Yesterday I went to the gym by myself again as DW is still unable to go. I've been working on cardio and have been going several days straight. Yesterday I did an elliptical for the first time in a while. It was so easy. I had a harder time getting my heart rate up. It was so easy. I did it for 40 minutes and felt great. This morning I couldn't move, my calves locked up, despite it being so easy.[emoji23] Despite the ease DOMS won. Ouch.

When I took DW to her doc they gave her another batch of steroids and a handful(10) hydrocodone. She's slightly better and has walked a little, a mile, for the past two days. Hopefully her body will heal itself.

We took our two dogs for a walk today. Our 12 year old Maltese is not doing well walking. Poor guy used to be obese and has joint pain. When he hurts he won't walk and just wants to hike his leg and pretend pee(it's OK we're on a mag calc road). I eventually pick him up and carry him most of the way. When we were almost home, he went to lift his leg and fell down into a ditch. Poor little guy gets up and holds up his left front paw! It's hurting.... I guess Monday is a vet appointment.

 

[Gumby]

Met with the house painter and floor re-finisher this morning. Spent much of the day trying to be agreeable with the young wife as she looked at a million paint chips to discover the perfect trim color, bought four different test cans and painted various and sundry door frames and window frames so she could see how in looked on the house. We may actually decide on the color tomorrow. Or not - I don't know. Harvested some peas and beets from our garden.

 

[freebird5825]

I checked my ROTH IRA account balance today. I was very pleasantly surprised. I passed the 59 1/2 age a few months ago.

Now what shall I spend that on ?

I have always wanted to have a small cozy camp in the Adirondacks or near a small lake or stream in the great wilderness of northern NY. An "electricity optional" type of place. I have a very sharp minded buddy keeping an eye out on the local market in Redfield NY, and other Tug Hill towns nearby. Foreclosures happen a lot up there. I'm not in any rush to buy, in fact I would prefer to rent to see if I really want something like this as a 3 season vacation getaway. It snows a LOT up there, in feet. During the winter, it could be rented to well behaved snowmobilers he knows personally, on a very limited basis.

 

[Sue J]

Freebird5825! Nice to see you here again.

 

[6miths]

Cleaned the garage! Such a mess. Need to purge and downsize. Depressing to have so much room and yet still have it full of 'stuff'. I painted it in the winter and needed to put all the hooks and brackets back up so I could hang things again. But still alot of accumulated junk. Getting there but still another day's work.

 

[6miths]

Met with the house painter and floor re-finisher this morning. Spent much of the day trying to be agreeable with the young wife as she looked at a million paint chips to discover the perfect trim color, bought four different test cans and painted various and sundry door frames and window frames so she could see how in looked on the house. We may actually decide on the color tomorrow. Or not - I don't know. Harvested some peas and beets from our garden.

The perfect trim color? Isn't that white? Or are you speaking of exterior?

 

[daylatedollarshort]

We went to a Tom Petty tribute band concert in a park with a with a group of friends and had a picnic dinner.

 

[freebird5825]

Freebird5825! Nice to see you here again.

Thanks ! It's good to be back

 

[Gumby]

The perfect trim color? Isn't that white? Or are you speaking of exterior?

Yes, exterior. The inside is bone white.

 

[Nemo2]

Thank you...she has subsequently been informed that the brain tumor is inoperable, so they are investigating the possibility of chemo/radiation; but from my own sad experience, and from the sad experiences of other friends, the odds aren't good.

Just got off the phone to my buddy......it's, as I thought, terminal.

He was off to the hospital....told him, and he agreed, that better she goes sooner than later...(BTDT..it's horrible to hang on with no hope while suffering and getting regressively worse).........he said that he didn't want to discourage her, but he had to leave before I had the opportunity, (I'll tell him later), to say that I (after the fact) came to the realization that my late wife was trying not to discourage me.

 

[Ronstar]

^ Sorry to here this, Nemo2 - Nothing worse than hearing "inoperable". Hope for a miracle. Or at least minimal suffering. Take care of yourself through this ordeal.

 

[Ronstar]

Today worked on a toy box for the new upcoming grand niece. Also built some stands to hold my kayak up off my dock. Took DW and MIL to lunch. Mowed the grass and related yard work.

 

[Nemo2]

^ Sorry to here this, Nemo2 - Nothing worse than hearing "inoperable". Hope for a miracle. Or at least minimal suffering. Take care of yourself through this ordeal.

Thank you.....was talking to my buddy before he went to the hospital today....told him (since she's in a lot of pain and now cannot walk) that I hoped she'd go sooner than later....don't want her to experience what my late wife went through before she died.

 

[Just_Steve]

Installed a new 240V 40 amp circuit in the garage for my car charger.
DW gets very nervous when I do things like that, but it's pretty simple stuff as long as you're careful. So I waited until she left town for a few days.

Interesting thing about putting the circuit in. I wanted it done a month ago so I gave in and called an electrician. It was the same guy who did the original wiring for the condo when it was built nearly 20 years ago, and he came highly recommended by the neighbors.

When I told him what I wanted, he said he couldn't do it because the specs I gave him were wrong. I showed him the specs that came from the car manufacturer and he said they didn't know what they were talking about.

"I've put in a bunch of these things for Tesla owners and that's not the way it's done."

"But this is a Volvo, not a Tesla, and here are the specs."

"Nope, not gonna do it. You need to get me the phone number of Volvo's head engineer and I'll set them straight."

[Sigh]
I thanked him for his time and did it myself. Funny, but it's working just as designed.

I'm not an electrician but running a "home run" 240v circuit as you obviously know is not rocket science, what spec could he have possibly objected to?
I'm just curious.