Discharged From Home Care!

 The home care Nurse was here this morning for my "Final Exam" and discharge. I'm ahead of what The Numbers say in terms of repetitions for my exercises, and in the "Timed Events", like standing/sitting so many times in 30 seconds, various balance tests, and some cognitive tests. So it's another hurdle passed, even though I still have some weakness in my right leg.

All the bits and pieces to install the drip irrigation system in the front garden arrived today, so I can get started once I figure out how to neatly plumb it in to the faucet. I bought a solar-powered timer for it, but seeing as that requires you to leave the faucet open, and considering my record of making leak-free garden hose connections, I think I'll pass on it.

And there's some more rain coming in, but as usual, I think the heavy rains will miss us.

Beautiful Day!

 78*, sunny, light breezes, what a wonderful day. The apple tree picture is from before all the rain started, which knocked all the petals off. It was already starting to drop them when I finally grabbed a picture of it.

They don't seem to be particularly fragrant, and nowhere near what the lilac and lavender are, which you can smell all over the front and side yards when they're blooming.

 And being such a beautious day, my son and I went to the NOCO Record Show at one of the local breweries to see what's out there in new and used vinyl.

Also found out we have some really good record stores here that charge fair prices, and carry re-releases along with used records.

So, I bought a few. It's a good thing I had limited ca$h with me, or I would have come home with a truckload. Ca$h was King, resulted in discounted prices and some fun haggling, and no receipts.

The Foreigner 4 and Bob Seeger albums are used, but very close to "pristine". No visible scratches or scuffs, and play great. The King Crimson album is scratched and scuffed on both sides, and one of the tracks I like has a big, nasty scratch through it. I should have pulled it out to inspect it, but it was sealed, so I didn't open it. Caveat Emptor! The two albums peeking out from behind Foreigner and KC are two new re-releases from the Eagles, pressed on 180 gram virgin vinyl. One says "Made in the Netherlands", and the other just says "Made in the EU".

So vinyl has quite a strong following here, both as used items (Caveat Emptor!) and as new releases. I was talking to the young guy who was the DJ, and noticed he was using Technics SL-1200 turntables. I commented I had an SL-1210 MK5, and he about wet his pants. Yes, it's that good a turntable, and damn near unbreakable. Several people noticed the tee-shirt I was wearing and asked about Reel-To-Reel machines. Pretty soon I was talking to several of them, and while many have considered a Reel-To-Reel deck, the lack of anybody around here willing to work on them makes them a bit gun-shy. So I might hear back from one of them, I might not.

And I've gathered up all the bits and pieces to install SLW's drip irrigation system for her front garden area. Made a crude (for me) sketch of where the 1/2" Main Line will run, and how much I'll need, and counted plants. After that it gelled, I realized I'd need a whole bunch more stuff than came in the "Starter Kit" I bought last year. Took about another $175 @ Home Depot to square that away. Parts should be here (FREE Delivery!) by Wednesday. Now that I know all the bits and pieces that make up a system, it should be easy install. I ordered enough "extra" stuff so that SLW can expand it with parts-on-hand, while leaving plenty of spares. The stuff is plastic. It ages, gets brittle, and breaks. Better to have the stuff in stock to fix it immediately. I'll also have to fab a blow-out adapter so I can winterize the system, but that's easy-peasy. I even splurged and bought the solar-powered, programmable timer to control the water coming out of that spigot.

SLW has a history of turning on the water and forgetting about it.......

Discharged From PT!

 YAY! The PT gal was here today for the last time, and she said I was doing very well. Passed my "Final Exam", and she told me (again) that I was doing better than I felt I was, and to just keep doing the exercises "As Needed" to help strengthen the muscles in my right leg.

Next week the nurse will come by to check some things, and then my PT/OT In-Home Therapy is finished.

Picked up another1/2" of rain overnight and today. The new grass we planted in the backyard hasn't come up yet. I think we need some warmer weather, and then it should pop up out of the new dirt we covered it with.

The speaker project is rolling along nicely. I rebuilt the crossovers after deciding I just didn't like the circuit board I bought to build them on. Even though it's sold as a "Universal Two-Way Crossover Board" it still required some modification, and the parts weren't held down. So I rebuilt them as separate crossovers, one for the woofers, and one for the tweeters. It just looks neater, and will be easier to mount them in the speaker cabinet. I still have to "foam" the inside of the enclosures with some of this stuff to deaden any internal reflections. Then I have to wire them, mount the crossovers, check things again, and glue/screw the remaining cabinet side on. Then off to the garage to sand, fill, and paint them.

Rainy Days, Up Days, and Down Days

 Still getting some showers and sprinkles. The new rain gauge indicates a bit over 3", while the one on the weather station indicates about half that. It might be the software I'm using to log the wx data, so I'll have top address that. The little PC it's running on is running an out-of-date version of Ubuntu, my screw up as I wasn't watching for updates, and missed the chance to update it to a newer version. SO......I'll have to nuke the drive on it, and do a clean installation of a current version. This will also allow me to update the software package for the weather station to a much newer, easier to use version. I'm also going to fill the new rain gauge to a known amount, and dump it into the rain bucket on the weather station. I'll check the station's console to see if it reports the correct amount, and that will confirm if the problem is the weather station hardware, or the software I'm running. Just don't feel like dragging a ladder out in the rain, and climbing up to pour the water into the collector. I don't think SLW would want me out there in the rain, teetering on a ladder, either!

Yesterday (Mother's Day) was a Good Day. We had the kids, grandkids, and my son over for dinner, some game playing, some Lego building, and a nice, warm fire in the fireplace. Drives the chill out of the house, and when it's 45* and raining, it gets chilly here. But, after chasing kids around all day, crawling around on the floor to load the fireplace and light it, and going up and down the stairs numerous times, I'm paying for it today.

Yes, today is NOT a Good Day. It's a crummy day; rainy, overcast, and only about 50*. And my right leg is screaming at me. Well, not actually screaming, but more like "Hey, Blockhead! You're not even 7 weeks out of surgery. Knock. It. Off.....!" Two Ibuprofen should calm things down, but it was a chore to get up today, stumble around in the shower, swap out the day/night bags for the catheter, get dressed, and get down the stairs. DEFINITELY a "Plateau Day" in my healing, and hopefully tomorrow will be not so trying.

Or so we hope......

Definitely Spring!

 Grass has greened up, the trees are leafing out, and TLG put his little "Fairy garden" back together today. It's the first time he's been here since The Great Hip Incident.

Hope you have a Happy and Blessed Sunday, and remember to be thankful for the little things....like a child's laugh.,....

Rain....and Lots of It

 Heard on the radio this is the most rain in a single storm we've had in 2 years. It's been a pretty steady, but mostly light, drizzle for 24 hours now. My Davis weather station shows about 1/2" of rain, but my new rain gauge shows over an inch.....hmmmm...gotta figure out the discrepancy there!

But the yard is greening up nicely, and we had just finished scratching up, re-seeding, and putting an inch of dirt on all the bare spots in the backyard. Hopefully the new grass will come in and choke out the weeds. We used some Scott's grass seed, as it works really well here, and judging from the areas I did a couple of years ago, it seems pretty tough. These yards were originally sodded, and you'd think the local sods farms would have something especially suited for here, BUT...it's a business, and they'd probably consider that a "premium" product. I wanted to use Buffalo Grass, something native to this area and very stout, but the seed is hard to get, and I missed the window to order some from this year's crop.

The hip continues to improve, but I'm at another plateau, and it can bum me out at times. Stairs and getting down on / up from the floor are the current hurdles.

Two Months Not Smoking

 I'm still using a little "e-Cigarette" thing for a nicotine dose when I need it, but my sinuses have cleared up, my allergies are noticeably diminished, and I don't cough and hack all the time.

Yes, the jury is still out over the long-term effects of "vaping", but at least I'm not inhaling smoke, tar, and various other toxic cruddies.

The hip has quieted down quite a bit, along with the knee, and I'm pretty mobile once I'm up and moving. I was even crawling around on the floor a bit yesterday to get some cables neatened up and in place so I could roll a filing cabinet back to where it belongs. SLW was there spotting me, and it took a bit to get up off the floor, but it was doable. I'm still working on the stairs, and it's getting easier, but some of my muscles still squawk when I go up. Going down is no problem other than I still hesitate to take the first step.

The crab apple tree in the back yard exploded in bloom today, so I'll grab some pix when the light hits it right. The maple tree has leafed out, flowers are blooming, and it's time to get the deep-watering feeder spikes out so I can feed the trees and a few other plants that respond very well to a late Spring feeding. And then there's the drip system to install, some cable access holes to be drilled so I can pull a couple of cables into the basement, and I *still* have some big ash logs to cut and split. Should easily be enough wood for two more winters when that gets cut, split, and racked. They've been outside "seasoning" for a couple of years, but they're up off the ground, and they were covered. I know, watch out for nasty insects, and wear good gloves when I work on it.

The speaker project is going full-bore again after being stalled a few days waiting for some materials to arrive.  I didn't have any "Right Size" wire for inside the enclosures, and all my sound deadening foam was used up on something else, so those items had to be ordered. Finished building the cross-over networks, and might have the enclosures  ready to go back upstairs this week so I can get them out in the garage to sand, fill, and paint.

Still only running about 75~80% of what I was before the Great Hip Breakage, not to mention wearing a Foley catheter. I go in next week to get it swapped out while I await an open OR for the Cystoscopic Examination. I have a pre-op session a few days before during which we'll go over the procedure, and the various options for "While You're In There". This is listed as a more of an exploratory procedure, but I'd like to know his options if he finds anything correctable at the time.

And yes, I'm itching to get back in this thing and go CRUISE!

WHOOPIE!! Went For A Drive Today!

 It's the little things that count, like being able to get in and out of my truck and drive it comfortably.

Which I did today, and even had SLW stamp my Medical Certificate as "OK To Drive".

Had my next-to-the-last visit from the PT gal today, and she's very happy with my progress. The Visiting Nurse will make her last call later this week for her Medical Evaluation, and I expect to be released from their care in the next week.

Hey, I got stuff to do!

And while you're at it, swing by "Bustednuckles" and drop a little cheer in Phil's bucket. He's having some med issues, too, and needs a bit of cheer.

Or maybe a double bourbon.....

Something my son posted on my Fakebook page:

Keeping Busy While Healing.....

Is important, at least to me. Just getting back to my regular activities, like hanging out in the garage and listening to the radio felt good, and now that I'm mobile enough to readily get up and down the basement stairs, I've been tinkering away down there. I keep walking away from my hiking staff without missing it, so I guess that's a good sign, too. 

I'm not quite ready to start wrestling 40+ pound audio/radio gear around, but this is a great time to catch up on smaller projects, like the speaker kit I received right before The Great Hip Incident. It's also a time to look at how other customers put their kits together and get some ideas on how to do it solidly.

So let's get started!

The front baffle and one of the side panels go together first:

This first step is important, as you need to get the two panels square, and lined up:

Then the top and bottom panels go together:

Glued AND screwed together:

 Add a few more pieces, and the cabinets are almost glued together:

And I get some of the light weight items put back on the shelves:

And we just got back from my follow-up visit with the Orthopedic Surgeon. He said it was an easy surgery, and things went together in a "text book" fashion. I'm now cleared to drive, and be by myself for extended periods. And next week they might give me sharp utensils.....!

Well, That Didin't Work As Planned.....

 Wednesday was OK after the cat came out, but still no acceptable results. After moping around Thursday, and getting up every 60~90 minutes Thursday night, I called the Urology office and went in.

I was up to about 750mL, well over my "Fill Line", so they put a new catheter in, and what a difference! Since I'm in the Urology Clinic, they're much more familiar with the finer points of doing this, as in the size of the cat (one size does NOT fit all!), the different materials they're made from, and how to insert it. You'd think the Hospital and the Rehab Facility would be a bit more on top of this, but I'm sure they have their own reasons for doing things they was they do.

I also got fitted and instructed on a myriad of things like collection bags, securing the line (SAILOR! Belay That Line!), etc, but that's all too arcane to go into.

So, we're back to where we were as far as that issue goes. Meanwhile, the hip continues to improve and strengthen, and the pain is tolerable with a minimum of medication.

Battlespace Report For the Week - We're stalled on the "Retention Front" until reinforcements arrive, and we continue to make significant gains in "Operation Right Hip".

Cystoscopy Procedure A Scrub for Today

 But I did have the catheter removed, and that's a relief. After discussing the procedure with the Doctor who will perform it, we both agreed it would be better to have me completely out. They were prepared today for the "Bite-A-Bullet" version, but it'll take a week or so to get everything scheduled. This also allows things to proceed at a more relaxed pace for the Doctor, and he can collect the samples he needs, and document anything else that's abnormal. And then we'll go from there. He said he saw nothing in the Cytology report or the CT scans to cause any concern, and considering this only got "bad" in the hospital, he sees no hurry to rush. The Cytology report noted some "Atypical Cells", so this exam will help determine what they are, and where they're coming from.

And I haven't used the walker in over two days, and man, I'm feeling it. I never knew I had muscles in the some of these areas!