Alpha Centauri 2

Community => Recreation Commons => Topic started by: Rusty Edge on March 12, 2016, 05:58:38 AM

Title: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on March 12, 2016, 05:58:38 AM
My travels took me to South Carolina this year. I'd never set foot there before, only rolled through on the train, some of that during the night.  Flew to Jacksonville, FL, drove to Hilton Head Island, SC, stayed a few nights, drove to Charleston, SC, stayed a week, then back to Hilton Head for Valentine's Day, drove to Orlando, hit the parks and flew home.

Sure the polar vortex sort of followed us, but it was refreshingly milder than Wisconsin. Spring-like to us.

Anyway, this is about South Carolina and Charleston. I would say the number of American flags and battle flags were about equal.

Took a city tour/ Fort Sumter tour / went to the slave market museum. Shopped and dined, mostly. Learned something, or maybe re-learned something I forgot. Carolina is Latin for Charles  ( just as Charlemagne's empire was called the Carolinian which I did know). The Carolinas were a land grant in gratitude to the nobles who helped to re-instate Charles as king of England after Cromwell's heir bungled the governance. It wasn't named for some queen, as I previously thought. So there were some nobles living there. Charleston was a good harbor which could be defended against Indians, Spanish, slave revolts, etc. Sort of a combined sense of class privilege, militarism and siege mentality. The Citadel military academy grew out of that. They were a walled city. They kept slaves shackled in their homes at night, to keep other slaves from setting them alight while they slept.

The costal plains are marshy, and excellent for producing rice, while the tidal flats were great for shellfish. This productivity supported a high population. They brought in a lot of slaves to produce rice. It made the plantations rich. The richest city in America, and of the plantations holding 500 slaves or more, the majority were in SC.

When slave imports were banned, they made money breeding and auctioning slaves.

Modern day Charleston has beautiful mansions, delicious fresh seafood, and charming people. But based on my interactions with the locals, reading plaques at the historical sites, and the tour guide slipping up and saying "when our nation seceded from the United States..Oops. ", I was picking up what I thought of as a "Texas vibe", as if they thought themselves superior to, and apart from, the USA on some level. 

Yeah, I know, SC is patriotic, with a high participation in the armed services, and a home to many retired veterans.

Is it just me, or do Charlestonians give off a "Texas vibe" ?

Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Buster's Uncle on March 13, 2016, 03:09:58 PM
You don't want to get me started again on South Carolina...
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on March 16, 2016, 06:37:18 AM
CONTEXT-
These days I'm suffering from a sort of Domino effect. My mother -in-law moved into an assisted living facility. Which means stuff has to get removed from her house, and some of it stuffed in my car and hauled home, or to good will, or to assisted living. My house is already full and in need of cleaning, but my wife needs to make most of the determinations on the stuff in our home. She's busy doing taxes for the extended family, which tends to add to the sprawl and clutter.

Many times, before I can unload my car, or put something away, I have to clear space somewhere else, such as  a closet or basement, or in the garage. The downside to this is that cleared space is a sort of vacuum. I have plans for shifting and re-organizing and consolidating stuff, but other stuff fills the void. Example- I'm trying to make space to move a freezer into my basement. That not only means space, but a pathway wide enough to get furniture out, and a freezer in.  But My wife and resident niece develop grander plans for a basement beauty salon and now a sewing area. Make room for more furniture!

POINT-
The tasks seem rather daunting. So I wishing that I could either be restored to my youth, able to work faster, with better balance, more stamina, and a back that holds up under a move, OR That I could clone myself and have an extra set of arms and legs for moving furniture, boxes, and big stuff. etc.

When I explained this to my wife she said that if I were younger I wouldn't have the time, I'd be working until dark every night, and then some. You're retired. You've got time that's your advantage. Use it.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Unorthodox on March 16, 2016, 12:31:53 PM
You have a local boy scouts troop?  They're always looking for 'service projects', and helping a fellow move crap around is an easy one.  Couple pizzas and an army of teenagers can move a lot of stuff. 

We're in the same kind of pattern right now, though.  Need to move megacraptons of stuff to make room for demolition but I need to make room for the stuff before I can move it.  My resignation to packing away all the Halloween stuff was just the start.  More coming this weekend. 
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on March 16, 2016, 06:23:13 PM
I'm so glad you said that!
I forgot about the Food Drive on Saturday. I need to prioritize cleaning our pantry. Which will make space for the kitchen table and chairs swap my wife wanted to do with her mother...

I'll have to contemplate the use of a scout troop, or 2 men and a truck as I work on this stuff. I need to do more organization before I need more help.

I have a trip to the home to see about setting up a DVR and getting the phone working right today.

Today I am suffering from dust overload.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Buster's Uncle on March 16, 2016, 06:27:32 PM
I automatically get sick as a dog doing any housework but completely dust-free tasks like some of the kitchen stuff.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Unorthodox on March 16, 2016, 07:10:21 PM
If it were Utah, I'd suggest asking who the elder's quorum leader is... 

The local 2 men and a truck moved a safe and piano from hEt's parents to our place and did an admirable job of it, though I was forced to lend assistance with the safe.   Scouts would be cheaper, though, if you don't need the vehicle.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on March 18, 2016, 03:50:17 AM
I'm sitting down because I'm worn out, but it's coming together.

While I was working I was thinking about the organization I'd need before I could even apply help. Cleared the ledge on the stairs, so that crap wouldn't avalanche  on them while bigger stuff was being moved out.  Shifted a file cabinet on a hand truck  from the living room to the kitchen. Broadened the path in the basement and carried up an overstuffed chair to the living room. Then a plan started to come together....

Arranged for my nephew and his pick-up truck for a day this weekend.  I used a sawzall and a leatherman to bisect the matching couch and stacked the pieces. That will save moving the freezer at the bottom of the stairs. That gave me more room to sort.

We'll get the couch out and disposed of. Then there is the freezer from my MiL's basement to move to mine, and a dresser with vanity to move from my Brother-in-law's basement to mine. And the dinette set swap between my house and MiL's. I need to check my straps and bungees. Moved the portable greenhouse to my bedroom, it will go to the balcony when it's warmer and less windy.

Had the resident niece in the space deciding where stuff will go... I just gotta keep putting in the time with the paper and small stuff, sorting into trash, recycle and keep. It's not that most of it can't go, it's that there are the odd items that are valuable or sentimental/irreplaceable, and I'm not sure where in the basement they are any more.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on March 18, 2016, 04:05:58 AM
TOPIC-
This was one of the reasons I decided to start this thread. What do you think happens to stuff that disappears in a move. Broken? Mislabeled? Consolidated?
Accidentally disposed of? I lost a handful of uncut garnets once.

I should have a handbook and a set of spurs ( acquired in different decades ) which belonged to my grandfather who was once a professional gamecock fighter. Apparently he was pretty good, because he was invited to the nationals in Tampa before he found Jesus and became a preacher. But that  stuff goes back 4 residences or so.

DO you have anything odd that got displaced in a move, or an attic or something?

Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Buster's Uncle on March 18, 2016, 03:04:13 PM
I'm still waiting for some key mask-making supplies to turn up.  It's really irritating, though I haven't actually needed them yet.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on March 19, 2016, 08:49:07 PM
The nephew brought his pick-up and a friend over.  My wife negotiated pizza and pumpkin pie as payment. 

We got the bisected couch out of the basement and onto the back porch, I moved the chair to join it ( to be removed later), completed the dinette set swap, got the freezer and contents moved to my house and freezing again. Turns out the vanity was neither empty nor accessible, so that's a move for another day.

Now I have a little more room to sort and shift stuff.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Buster's Uncle on March 19, 2016, 09:14:49 PM
;b;
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Valka on March 19, 2016, 11:09:34 PM
TOPIC-
This was one of the reasons I decided to start this thread. What do you think happens to stuff that disappears in a move. Broken? Mislabeled? Consolidated?
Accidentally disposed of? I lost a handful of uncut garnets once.

I should have a handbook and a set of spurs ( acquired in different decades ) which belonged to my grandfather who was once a professional gamecock fighter. Apparently he was pretty good, because he was invited to the nationals in Tampa before he found Jesus and became a preacher. But that  stuff goes back 4 residences or so.

DO you have anything odd that got displaced in a move, or an attic or something?

I know some stuff got thrown out, because I found the evidence. For some reason they decided I didn't really need that brand new, still in the box DVD shelf, so threw it out - where it got warped from being out in the rain (discovered when I retrieved it and tried to put it together). I also found a suitcase of convention costumes, some of which were ruined. I managed to salvage the money I'd tucked away as an emergency stash (I always kept an emergency fund in case the hotel expenses ran higher than planned or I needed to take the Greyhound home).

And then there's the matter of the stuff that was stolen. I'm really not happy that my "Five Doctors" painting and another fantasy-themed painting were stolen, and I can't fathom why anyone would want my Amiga monitor but not the rest of it. Maybe because the rest of it needed a special screwdriver to remove it from the desk...

In this last move I'm just lucky I got my purse back intact. One of the movers put my purse on the moving truck - at the very back, which led to all kinds of <fuddle-duddling drama> when I tried to move in here. The manager wouldn't let me have the keys until I paid for the early move ($300) and I couldn't pay until I got my purse. The head of the movers took cash out of his wallet, but the manager wouldn't take cash. So I told her I had no other way to pay her besides plastic - and my cards were in my purse, which was in the truck, so she'd have to allow them to unload.

She "graciously" let them unload in the hallway between the elevator and my suite and finally the purse was found. All this added a couple of hours to the bill, of course. That's one moving company I will never use again, and in fact I warn people away from them.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Buster's Uncle on March 19, 2016, 11:12:50 PM
You have ALL the luck, don't you?
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Valka on March 19, 2016, 11:21:46 PM
I hope I'll never have to move again. When we have a decent manager here (the current one treats me pretty well), things are okay. But I still have most of my packing boxes (the kind that fold up) just in case. I also have the business card for the last company I used, to bring my stuff here from the storage place where I'd had some of it... now they did a good job. They were prompt, careful, and put everything where I told them to.

Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on March 24, 2016, 12:37:57 AM
As pleased as I am with last week's productivity, there is more to be done, and most of it needs doing by me. Sorting, mostly. The downside is that I am wiped out. I haven't done any work on the basement since Saturday, feeling the strain on my back, my balance, and my stamina. I'm merely keeping up with homemaking ( best all inclusive term ). The ibuprofen resulted in nosebleeds, so I had to knock it off. We had a winter relapse today.

My nightly newsfeed is normally NBC, because we feel the local affiliate has the best weather coverage. It's been a long political campaign, and I find it ironic that NBC dropped [Sleezebag]'s tv show because he called Mexicans rapists, but they don't hesitate to feature him as the lead story night after night, week after week, on the Nightly News.

Well that might mean something if [Sleezebag] were saying NEWsworthy things. But he didn't really. "The country is a disaster! It's all the Clintons/Bush's/Obama's fault! Believe me, I have all of the answers. My popularity proves I'm right!"

WHAT IF?

What if instead of leading with the same old same old, they tried to interview the candidates? What if they fact checked them? Compared experience and records? Reported on who makes up their demographic support and financial backers? Asked them their top 3 priorities?

Maybe we'd have a better-informed electorate, Maybe the news team could get back to reporting politics instead of trying to shape it. 

Boring? Maybe. But so is the same schtick from The Leader night after night. I generally don't consider Tweets to be newsworthy, but that's the top political story tonight- [Sleezebag]'s Tweet!
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Valka on March 24, 2016, 02:31:46 AM
You'd hate the CBC's website, then (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation). Our national broadcaster has a lot of "articles" that consist of nothing but content lifted from Twitter, with a few sentences stringing them together. And of course they don't allow regular comments on those pages anymore, since many of the comments were complaints about the plagiarism from Twitter in place of real articles.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on March 24, 2016, 03:49:43 AM
You'd hate the CBC's website, then (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation). Our national broadcaster has a lot of "articles" that consist of nothing but content lifted from Twitter, with a few sentences stringing them together. And of course they don't allow regular comments on those pages anymore, since many of the comments were complaints about the plagiarism from Twitter in place of real articles.

That is horrific!
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Unorthodox on March 24, 2016, 12:39:06 PM
But so is the same schtick from The Leader night after night.

I don't know where you come up with "the Leader" name as I avoid the politics thread usually, but it reminds me of the Simpsons cult.

! No longer available (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPpv9lAtr8M#)
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on March 24, 2016, 02:48:32 PM
Well, rather than use his name on the internet, and risk getting get fed more [Sleezebag] "news", I chose to use the term "Frontrunner", and not "The Pig." He started exhibiting more and more fascist and autocratic tendencies. When he re-tweeted a Mussolini quote,( that was newsworthy, I thought ) it was too much and I made the switch to "The Leader." 

In a strange coincidence, Amazon continually suggests I buy the game "UNO" !
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Unorthodox on March 24, 2016, 04:07:11 PM
Did you know they sell coffins at walmart?  I'm constantly reminded. 
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on March 25, 2016, 03:54:55 AM
Did you know they sell coffins at walmart?  I'm constantly reminded.

This is probably the biggest laugh of the day.

I know that the hardware in Haines Alaska sells them. In Alaska, your burial might wait until spring. There were a lot of regulations in Pennsylvania, I don't know if you could get or be buried in one that wasn't from a licensed funeral home.

TOPIC- Online Advertising

It might be my nature to protect my privacy, but somewhere along the way I decided I rather see tailored ads about computer games or whatever I recently googled, than suffer through a lifetime of erectile dysfunction and sub-prime mortgage ads.

But my opinion really hasn't changed since I first subscribed to dial-up. The most effective advertising would simply be to remind me with banners or spot ads or  whatever, about brand products I already know. A simple "Drink Ice Cold Coca Cola" "Pizza Hut Pizza to Go" "Skittles- Taste the rainbow" shown every 10 minutes would likely increase my consumption. Any number of familiar brands and slogans, just by reminding me about them, might make me think I'd like it again.

Travel destinations would probably have the same affect.

What sort of internet advertising in general do you think would be effective?
OR, What sort of internet advertising really annoys you?
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Buster's Uncle on March 25, 2016, 12:16:43 PM
Video ads, for the last - they take forever to load and really bork my browsing.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Unorthodox on March 25, 2016, 01:09:48 PM
Did you know they sell coffins at walmart?  I'm constantly reminded.

This is probably the biggest laugh of the day.

I know that the hardware in Haines Alaska sells them. In Alaska, your burial might wait until spring. There were a lot of regulations in Pennsylvania, I don't know if you could get or be buried in one that wasn't from a licensed funeral home.

The really funny part is if you click on the ad.  There's a whole "Funeral" section to WalMart online.  Where they sell caskets, urns,  AND VACUUMS. 

Quote
TOPIC- Online Advertising

It might be my nature to protect my privacy, but somewhere along the way I decided I rather see tailored ads about computer games or whatever I recently googled, than suffer through a lifetime of erectile dysfunction and sub-prime mortgage ads.

But my opinion really hasn't changed since I first subscribed to dial-up. The most effective advertising would simply be to remind me with banners or spot ads or  whatever, about brand products I already know. A simple "Drink Ice Cold Coca Cola" "Pizza Hut Pizza to Go" "Skittles- Taste the rainbow" shown every 10 minutes would likely increase my consumption. Any number of familiar brands and slogans, just by reminding me about them, might make me think I'd like it again.

Travel destinations would probably have the same affect.

What sort of internet advertising in general do you think would be effective?
OR, What sort of internet advertising really annoys you?

Define effective. 

You want me to click the ad?  Give me something I didn't know about.  It happens most often on the Halloween sites, which aren't based on your browsing history. 

Oh, Frightprops is having a spring sale?  Yeah, I'm gonna click that.  (brand you know type thing)
Never heard of that store before that sells things I'm interested in?  good chance I'll go look. 
Spirit Halloween reminding me they sell Easter bunny costumes?  Move along.  (brand you know/don't care)

Video game sites can get a similar effect.  I'm looking at, say, Xcom, and they advertise another strategy game, I'm likely to click and look if it seems interesting.

I have to agree on the videos that block the page and often can't be skipped.  Decent chance I'll leave the page and find what I was looking for elsewhere.   
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Valka on March 25, 2016, 01:27:32 PM
Quote from: Rusty Edge
What sort of internet advertising really annoys you?
Just about anything unless I've specifically signed up to receive it. For example, I want to know what Star Trek fanzines are available on eBay.

I don't give a damn about what women's fashions are on sale at various department stores.

I want to know what special online offers are available from my favorite pizza restaurant. Amazon trying to sell me electronic gadgets? Shut up.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Buster's Uncle on March 25, 2016, 01:29:31 PM
Just NO politics, either.  Boiling anything down to a banner makes it stupid, if not outright offensive.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Valka on March 25, 2016, 02:35:26 PM
I got two identical emails from Avaaz yesterday. It's not enough that I signed the petition; now they want me to donate $$ to promote the thing? No.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Unorthodox on March 25, 2016, 03:20:14 PM
I got two identical emails from Avaaz yesterday. It's not enough that I signed the petition; now they want me to donate $$ to promote the thing? No.

I should put you on the Monarch Watch mailing list, I'm sure they need help in Canada...
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Valka on March 25, 2016, 03:28:22 PM
The butterflies or the Royal Family?
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Unorthodox on March 25, 2016, 03:43:49 PM
Butterflies
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on April 02, 2016, 07:37:41 PM
TOPIC- Flashbacks.

I was trying to shave for Easter. Didn't have time to do the shaving mug thing. My can of shaving gel was empty, but I knew my travel size was in the bathroom, so I grabbed that. There was some rust on the top of the can...

When I was about 10 ( based on the house we were in ) my brother and I were goofing around with Christmas gifts. Don't remember why, but we had this new tin toy train. Molded black plastic steam engine with a wind up key, painted metal tender, box car, and caboose. Oval track.  Maybe it was a secret santa or grab bag kind of gift from the extended family party. We were into trains, but Lionel 027, or HO scale models. This was something for younger kids.

So we set it up and tried it anyway, one night. The gears in the mechanism must have been misaligned, because the engine only worked in fits and starts when nudged. We figured that we needed some kind of grease to lubricate the mechanism. There was a tube of hair grease that was on the desk, a gift from the barber. What else were we gonna do with either one?

We greased the mechanism. Better. More grease, more attempts. Working well now. Getting faster every time we released the spring. Pretty soon it was jumping the rails. Then it was doing burnouts in place, and practically releasing all of the energy in an instant! Well, it was fun. We went to bed.
The next day when we picked up the engine to wind it, the mechanism was covered in rust and completely seized up. Amazing. We had a laugh and threw it out.

We learned never to put grease in our hair!

It was the corrosion on the shaving gel  can that triggered the flashback.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Did you ever have a funny flashback?
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Dio on April 03, 2016, 04:19:54 PM

TOPIC- Online Advertising

What sort of internet advertising in general do you think would be effective?
OR, What sort of internet advertising really annoys you?
I see many advertisments, both print and video, for online universities. I cannot fathom the reason people that people pay thousand, or tens of thousand, of dollars for paltry education from online universities like University of Phoneix. I can receive educational opportunties for education from universities that do not have a known history of causing debt defaults.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on April 03, 2016, 09:08:05 PM
I don't know. I figure somebody realizes that their life isn't working, or that they will be out of a job sooner or later, and they see the ads, find it convenient and affordable, and make the decision.
They don't research the school. The fact that they've heard the name a lot is enough. These "commercial schools" have room to operate because the cost of the institutional ones spirals without regard to the economy.

TOPIC- College Education. What baffles is me is people who go to college for 5 years and haven't learned a marketable skill. I totally understand studying art, philosophy, or history, but isn't that what minors are for? There is a lot of time and money invested, shouldn't that train you for a career, or get you married to somebody with one?

Some examples from my extended family, different sides and generations.

1) Sociology major. Work study in the college cafeteria, practicum in the soup kitchen. No jobs in field at the time. Worked in restaurants and butcher departments until becoming very successful as an independent caterer for corporations.

2) Nursing major. Hated college science. Couldn't decide on a major for years. Became a criminal justice major by default, although they are too small and frail for any kind of law enforcement work ( too weak to be a waiter/waitress ). The only job they ever had was college work study as computer lab manager.

3)  Video tape editor. Met some celebrities during the practicum, but there were no jobs. Fortunately, retail was in their blood. Worked in a mall chain store and became a manager, I think before graduation. It was a fast growing chain, and they became a specialist in opening new stores and fixing underperforming ones. Married one of the execs at HQ.

4) Art major with a big scholarship at a small private school. To begin with. Switched  schools regularly, adding loans and losing credits every time. 4 schools, 5 years, and a cosmetology degree.
Well, to be fair, they'd probably be doing that full time if the Affordable Care Act didn't keep them under 30 hours. Instead, they are juggling that and wait staff job they had in high school, and a retail job. So far, the cash flow works. The debt load my preclude future installment purchases.

5) Majors in Theater and Psychology, minor in French with honors.  Graduated on time. Knew they didn't want to push pills, pursued Theater in the Real World with the intent of directing plays. Mostly worked as a stage manager, directed sometimes,  supplementing income in factories, promoted to front office. Moved to finally be a part of the dream theater. Determined it wasn't really living their dream, and dropped that career. ( Perhaps it was more fundraising than creating. Don't know, it's a closed subject) Got a job as an office manager for a new company converting court proceedings to searchable disks. Went from there to various tech companies in Seattle. Mostly liaison work- helping the management, tech, marketing and customer service people communicate and get along. Well, I guess it's the perfect application of Drama/Psychology/language translation, now that I think of it.

So there's two in five doing what they studied in college. Three in five working extensions/progressions of the work they did during college.

What's your anecdotal evidence?
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 04, 2016, 12:33:02 AM
I don't know if I have the energy to go into it, but a college education -any good program not overspecialized to where there's no freshman bonehead courses- offers intangibles difficult to articulate.  I didn't squeeze out an entire year of employment in my major field, but I can walk into any job interview with a degree and little need to prove I have it and earned it other than talking.  It made me a profoundly more well-rounded person intellectually.  There are jobs -almost all the ones in the entire world that anyone would want- were they won't even talk to you without a college degree.

Separates me from the trailer-trash, after all.

Check this -you'll recognize that I'm right as soon as I point it out- a college education confers social status.  If, like either of my siblings, I had the right to make people address me as Doctor fill-in-the-blank, it would definitely be part of my username.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Dio on April 04, 2016, 12:41:30 AM
I don't know if I have the energy to go into it, but a college education -any good program not overspecialized to where there's no freshman bonehead courses- offers intangibles difficult to articulate.  I didn't squeeze out an entire year of employment in my major field, but I can walk into any job interview with a degree and little need to prove I have it and earned it other than talking.  It made me a profoundly more well-rounded person intellectually.  There are jobs -almost all the ones in the entire world that anyone would want- were they won't even talk to you without a college degree.

Separates me from the trailer-trash, after all.

Check this -you'll recognize that I'm right as soon as I point it out- a college education confers social status.  If, like either of my siblings, I had the right to make people address me as Doctor fill-in-the-blank, it would definitely be part of my username.
I despise the fact that a simply social institution grants the very social status that people seek. The whole concept reeks of internal power struggles that originate from the Protestant work ethic of our society. I do not despise the education itself, but I despise the institution that continues to maintain its grasp on the whole process that grants recognition of the education.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 04, 2016, 12:47:51 AM
MONEY is the real social status, of course.

College made me a better-rounded person.  Fer realz.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Dio on April 04, 2016, 01:06:29 AM
MONEY is the real social status, of course.

College made me a better-rounded person.  Fer realz.
I concur with the above statement that the education and skills from the institution help to create better people. I also realize that the whole process remains less about education from the adminstration's perspective and more about money from the government (Money does make the world go round).
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 04, 2016, 01:11:57 AM
Lacking money, if you're not college-educated, you're not real people (for the most part; Uno and his GED beat it being far more competent than the other aerospace engineers he works with) in our society.

College fails badly as vocational training, for the most part, yes - but it's still a prereq for most of the better things in life these days.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Dio on April 04, 2016, 01:17:02 AM
Lacking money, if you're not college-educated, you're not real people (for the most part; Uno and his GED beat it being far more competent than the other aerospace engineers he works with) in our society.

College fails badly as vocational training, for the most part, yes - but it's still a prereq for most of the better things in life these days.
The whole process involves the movement of goal posts as people continue to claim that the only good things in life involve extensive creature comforts. I would much rather have fewer material comforts, but more time, than more material comforts and less time. I reason in the above manner because I can work with less material, but I cannot create more time. My opinion reflects that I do not value extensive material possessions.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 04, 2016, 01:21:14 AM
Neither do I - but ohmygod, do I ever value respect.

(Why do you waste time signing out when you leave the boards, only to waste time signing back in later?)
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on April 05, 2016, 02:07:06 AM
I don't know if I have the energy to go into it, but a college education -any good program not overspecialized to where there's no freshman bonehead courses- offers intangibles difficult to articulate.  I didn't squeeze out an entire year of employment in my major field, but I can walk into any job interview with a degree and little need to prove I have it and earned it other than talking.  It made me a profoundly more well-rounded person intellectually.  There are jobs -almost all the ones in the entire world that anyone would want- were they won't even talk to you without a college degree.

Separates me from the trailer-trash, after all.

Check this -you'll recognize that I'm right as soon as I point it out- a college education confers social status.  If, like either of my siblings, I had the right to make people address me as Doctor fill-in-the-blank, it would definitely be part of my username.

Yes, you're right.
But like Dio, It kind of makes me resent the whole college as a social institution thing system.

Do you think that if Bernie waved his magic wand and gave it away for free that It wouldn't matter so much any more?
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 05, 2016, 02:13:48 AM
[shrugs]  You still have to show up for classes and do the work.  College isn't for everyone.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Dio on April 05, 2016, 03:33:26 AM
Neither do I - but ohmygod, do I ever value respect.

(Why do you waste time signing out when you leave the boards, only to waste time signing back in later?)
I can value respect that comes from actual accomplishments rather than the regurgitation of information that occurs at all levels below the Phd. The fact remains that those in the upper echelons desire to hold onto power through social control of the expeditious variety. The whole concept shares many paralles with former practices seen to remove African Americans in the south during Jim Crow and Black Code periods. The first parallel it shares includes the principle that it excludes the people that do not match specific requirements that it establishes for itself with sancations from the government. The second parallel it shares with the policies of the pase involve the fact that it often excludes the impoverished individuals that differ from the people around them. How many people actually hold a Phd that come from minorities in the United States of America? The ultimate fact in this case involves the reality that the cost of attendance at universities continues to increase and to exceed the growth in demand for many fields.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 05, 2016, 03:34:46 AM
Oh, just do your homework and get the degree.  You can fight city hall when you're done someday.
Title: Dio's Ramblings and Rantings
Post by: Dio on April 05, 2016, 03:45:10 AM
Oh, just do your homework and get the degree.  You can fight city hall when you're done someday.
What do you think I have been doing the whole time that I have been a member of this board? I continue to work towards a resolution that provides the opportunity to create a socialist community that does not raise money beyond that required to coexist with the behemoth of a government. I believe small scale communities that exist on gift economies could operate well within specific circumstances because the presence of money remains a liability in the future.
Title: Re: Dio's Ramblings and Rantings
Post by: Rusty Edge on April 06, 2016, 12:48:29 AM

What do you think I have been doing the whole time that I have been a member of this board? I continue to work towards a resolution that provides the opportunity to create a socialist community that does not raise money beyond that required to coexist with the behemoth of a government. I believe small scale communities that exist on gift economies could operate well within specific circumstances because the presence of money remains a liability in the future.
[/quote]

What do you figure is the practical upper population limit is on your small scale community? Or if not a number per se, what do you think is the limiting factor?
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Dio on April 06, 2016, 01:10:37 AM
I suspect, based upon research I have seen, the upper limit remains around 40 people before hierarchial concerns began to force the formation of nonegalitarian governance. I believe around 40 people remains the limit because it becomes difficult to know more people than that on a regular basis. I would also need to create a system of legal customs that forces people to work towards pressing issues in the community through a consesus method. The screening of applications for participants remains another concern for community to eliminate the potential abuse by people that do not care for the community. A decent example of the egalitartian lifestyle appears at Twin Oaks Community, Virginia.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 06, 2016, 04:03:41 AM
Since when are you a commie pinko, D?  This is new by me.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Dio on April 06, 2016, 05:48:42 AM
Since when are you a commie pinko, D?  This is new by me.
     I believe the exploration of extremes allows for the understanding of boundaries on both sides of an issue. I have seen the depreciations that occur inside a individualistic society such as our own, and I know the evils of a collective society such as China. I believe extremes on either side remain undesirable, but the potential to investigate the gray areas remains possible only after a person establishes the boundaries around an issue. The example I gave above simply illustrates a theoretical idea that receives a practical application in our society. I do not necessarily support it, but I believe certain aspects contain merits worthy of further investigation. I do not inherently support Communism beyond the fact it highlights the importance of a group over the individual, and I think my reaction of support towards these ideas stems from the individualistic psychology of many people in our society.   
    The single belief I hold above all others remains that our society wastes the talents and potential of many people it labels as undesirable. The label of undesirable may come from personal decisions that the individual makes (I believe in personal responsibility), or it stems from personality or mental traits that make a person unable to function fully in our society. The stigma that other people attach towards the unintentional "undesirable" people in our society remains unacceptable. The above stigma ties back into the individualistic attitude of our society that states any person unable to support themselves remains unworthy of respect as a human. Many people hold the opinion that the person deserves whatever misfortunes might befall the individual without any respite or decent aid from society as a whole. Hence my belief in basic universal income or support that addresses the fact that no person should have to live in poverty regardless of marriage, child, or disability status.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 06, 2016, 09:12:50 PM
So it's about a kinder, better world.

You know, that's only going to work with a change in the hearts of the populace - there's a lot government can do, but almost nothing it can do efficiently...
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on April 07, 2016, 12:14:06 AM
I'm reminded of an anecdote by journalist Linda Ellerbe - She was living on a commune in Alaska. She had just come in from the sub-zero after working long and hard to chop through the ice with an axe to get a bucket of fresh water. One of the stoners on the coach looked up at her and said- OH! I'm sooo into what you're doing. It was then that she realized that she wasn't into the communal lifestyle.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 07, 2016, 01:07:32 AM
So it Goes is a great read.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on April 07, 2016, 05:28:27 AM
Don't know if Buster would be interested, but I understand she wrote a series of books about a girl investigative reporter.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 07, 2016, 12:18:35 PM
I don't know either, alas.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Dio on April 07, 2016, 04:41:15 PM
I suppose very few people would consider works of economists interesting on the board.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 07, 2016, 04:42:24 PM
?  Does not compute.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Dio on April 07, 2016, 04:45:22 PM
?  Does not compute.
Oh. I suppose works like Capital: Critique of Political Economy and An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations. The titles do not sound like material you would find interesting (or myself beyond the need to read them for certain reasons).
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 07, 2016, 04:45:59 PM
Why do you mention this?
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Dio on April 07, 2016, 04:49:04 PM
Why do you mention this?
Since Rusty brought up books that he thought might interest you, I brought up books that I find mildly interesting. I then thought better it better to avoid controversial subjects that might inflame the delicate minds of other people on a board because I do not want to start a flame war.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 07, 2016, 05:09:52 PM
A flame war over economics books?
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Dio on April 07, 2016, 05:11:45 PM
A flame war over economics books?
Communism. I read in the California education code that schools cannot promote the postive aspects of Communism because it could undermine the federal government's authority.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 07, 2016, 05:16:30 PM
I'm guessing that's a very old rule...
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Dio on April 07, 2016, 05:51:09 PM
The people in California also enjoy the liberty to engage in drug overdoses in our homes without fear of arrest. The rules applies as we can call for help as long as we hide the drug paraphenalia outside of plain sight. We also enjoy the unalienable right to fish on state property (with a fishing license).
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 07, 2016, 06:01:43 PM
So why is a stupid rule from the fifties still in the books in the great state of HippiesnFreaks?
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on April 07, 2016, 07:06:51 PM
I had no idea about the drug overdose regs. As for the anti-commie propaganda law, they probably forgot about t.


As for books, we probably should take that discussion to the book thread, on the outside chance that somebody remembers reading about one, but can't find the discussion and therefore the book.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 07, 2016, 07:25:33 PM
Good thinking.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Dio on April 07, 2016, 08:37:06 PM
So why is a stupid rule from the fifties still in the books in the great state of HippiesnFreaks?
I realize you have a joking tone in the above post. The phrase "HippiesnFreaks," however, reveals a prejudice on your part about people from other states. The phrase reminds me of your comments about the time you spent in Texas and the desire to live in North Carolina(a.k.a. "America.") Why do you have such a distaste for different cultures in the country? I feel as though that presents an unfair fair stereotype of people in a state or country and denies the diversity of viewpoints that exist within a region. An example of conservative viewpoints in California appear in locations like Orange County, California and other rural locations in the state. I can understand the desire to resist any attempts of a people that force a particular viewpoint on a person, but a stereotypical view of the people often clouds the actual composition and motivations of groups that comprise a society.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 07, 2016, 09:16:11 PM
This is California for you-
Communism. I read in the California education code that schools cannot promote the postive aspects of Communism because it could undermine the federal government's authority.
The people in California also enjoy the liberty to engage in drug overdoses in our homes without fear of arrest. The rules applies as we can call for help as long as we hide the drug paraphenalia outside of plain sight.
Reactionary up north, not at all reactionary in the south.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Dio on April 11, 2016, 03:00:36 AM
This is California for you-
Communism. I read in the California education code that schools cannot promote the postive aspects of Communism because it could undermine the federal government's authority.
The people in California also enjoy the liberty to engage in drug overdoses in our homes without fear of arrest. The rules applies as we can call for help as long as we hide the drug paraphenalia outside of plain sight.
Reactionary up north, not at all reactionary in the south.
Why do you think the south does not have reactionary policies? I see plenty of reactionary policies in the form of legislation that attempts to ban abortions and to outlaw the activities of lesbian, gay, transgender, bisexual, and queer people in the south. I see it especially after the federal government made it legal for couples to engage in same sex legal unions.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 11, 2016, 03:50:22 AM
ExSQUEESE me, sir -"This is California for you-" and "Reactionary up north, not at all reactionary in the south" are supposed to be read together- they pretty much Nazis in Sacramento and points north, right?  And pretty much left of Lenin down in your part?

You see [poop] on TV - DO learn not to believe in the basic competence of the mass media to give you the whole story about ANYthing, son.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Dio on April 11, 2016, 04:00:55 AM
ExSQUEESE me, sir -"This is California for you-" and "Reactionary up north, not at all reactionary in the south" are supposed to be read together- they pretty much Nazis in Sacramento and points north, right?  And pretty much left of Lenin down in your part?

You see [poop] on TV - DO learn not to believe in the basic competence of the mass media to give you the whole story about ANYthing, son.
I find the whole area of Los Angeles reeks of incompetence among politicians that work towards any sane legislation. The current governor of California, Governor Edmund "Jerry" Brown Jr., was also a governor from 1975 - 1983 and could serve another two terms because of a grandfather clause on the term limit restrictions. I would also like to mention that his father, Edmund Brown Sr., was our governor from 1959 through 1967. I smell career politicians everyone in the state, and I believe the diversity of my region results from its location at the intersection with Eastern Asia and Central America. I would call less the southern area as less Lenin and more like the region has larger income disparities than many other areas in the United States of America. The region tends to concentrate the poor in certain urban areas and rural areas while the politicians ignore the suburban areas where the majority of median income people live.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Dio on April 11, 2016, 04:09:24 AM
ExSQUEESE me, sir -"This is California for you-" and "Reactionary up north, not at all reactionary in the south" are supposed to be read together- they pretty much Nazis in Sacramento and points north, right?  And pretty much left of Lenin down in your part?

You see [poop] on TV - DO learn not to believe in the basic competence of the mass media to give you the whole story about ANYthing, son.
The northern portions of the state hold a vast array of Asian Americans and Hispanics until you approach areas north of San Francisco (Sacramento remains north-east of the most liberal city in California). The area around the Oregon border tends to trend back towards the predominantly Caucasian populations that dominate in your local area. I also doubt that the "Nazis" would tolerate the marijuana problems that regions in Northern California face.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Dio on April 11, 2016, 04:21:44 AM
ExSQUEESE me, sir -"This is California for you-" and "Reactionary up north, not at all reactionary in the south" are supposed to be read together- they pretty much Nazis in Sacramento and points north, right?  And pretty much left of Lenin down in your part?

You see [poop] on TV - DO learn not to believe in the basic competence of the mass media to give you the whole story about ANYthing, son.
For that matter, I doubt you would even recognize the ethnic composition of Los Angeles as reflecting the America that you remain accustomed to see in your home town. The whole state of California subsidizes the majority of states that have Republican forms of government. I know that we receive 78 cents back for every 1 dollar we send in federal tax dollars. States like South Carolina receive approximately 2 dollars in federal aid for every 1 dollar they send in federal taxes. I think you need to learn more about a diverse state before your myopic perspective becomes apparent.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 11, 2016, 04:27:44 AM
For that matter, I doubt you would even recognize the ethnic composition of Los Angeles as reflecting the America that you remain accustomed to see in your home town. The whole state of California subsidizes the majority of states that have Republican forms of government. I know that we receive 78 cents back for every 1 dollar we send in federal tax dollars. States like South Carolina receive approximately 2 dollars in federal aid for every 1 dollar they send in federal taxes. I think you need to learn more about a diverse state before your myopic perspective becomes apparent.
You know very close to zero about my home town - you didn't even bother to get the state right.

We're not having this argument anymore.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on November 06, 2016, 07:12:12 PM
I'm still waiting for some key mask-making supplies to turn up.  It's really irritating, though I haven't actually needed them yet.

So things are turning up for you? Cool!
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on November 06, 2016, 07:23:30 PM
Also, since I stumbled on this, my catch-all thread, while in a fruitless search for the Lazy Gourmet thread-

I grilled burgers for lunch today. I haven't grilled for lunch in at least ten years. Particularly delicious. Probable reasons- pretzel rolls! , Dubliner cheese, and my grill and charcoal was on the damp side due to recent weather, and seemed smokier than usual.

Has anybody grilled burgers, then used them to make chilli ?
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Buster's Uncle on November 06, 2016, 11:15:55 PM
I'm still waiting for some key mask-making supplies to turn up.  It's really irritating, though I haven't actually needed them yet.

So things are turning up for you? Cool!
Actually, the key things I was waiting for -castings of my and Mylochka's faces that every nose and snout and what-not I ever made (which had turned up) that fit over our noses- I've given up, and are casting new ones...
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on November 07, 2016, 02:55:48 AM
We took niece #4 and her boyfriend to a hibachi place she likes as repayment for cat sitting. The streets are laid out on cardinal grids, but I had to go SouthWest. I couldn't believe my luck, I hit 7 consecutive green lights. Then the scallops we had were the best I've ever eaten in my life.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on December 22, 2016, 07:46:55 PM
What's the gift that keeps on giving? The stomach flu! it's been making the rounds among the in-laws as they concentrate for Christmas. I had something the beginning of the week which may have been a mild case due to flu shots or previous exposure to a similar virus, or just a coincidental food poisoning/allergies/sinus complications- Don't know. What I do know is I'm better, but one of the nieces is in urgent care getting IVs. Things being what they are with incubation, etc. The plan is to open gifts here on Sunday afternoon. 


*****

At the end of our fall season/beginning of winter I cleaned the gutters and installed a heat tape with a thermostat.  I raked the snow from the lower portion of the roof before the sub-zero, but it snowed again and I didn't venture out to rake it ( that cold dry air is hard on my lungs ). I saw some ice dams last night on other homes, so I went out to inspect today. It's around freezing today, rather than 10 degrees bellow zero. I have an ice dam started in the gutter below the skylight. I raked the bottom few feet of the roof again and then went up the ladder to take a look. Things were actually pretty good. The heat tape kept the bottom of the gutter open, so water could drain away. I broke some of the ice, which is much easier when it doesn't fill the gutter, and scattered some ice melter there abouts. I'll check it again later this afternoon.

******
Well, I guess I need to get meat out to thaw for dinner, and start shifting some stuff to the second floor to make room for Christmas.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: E_T on December 23, 2016, 12:16:51 AM
I was wondering how everyone up north was doing....  Well wishes from Central Florida, hope all is well...
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on January 26, 2017, 06:00:11 AM
 Uh.... just so we're clear. I was appalled at Hillary's ethics. [Sleezebag] is taking things to a new low. Oh, and today I learn that he refuses to get a new phone now that he's POTUS! Granted, if I were his age I wouldn't  want to learn a new phone, either.  But from a security standpoint...

***********

Normally the wife and I go out to dinner on Wednesdays and Fridays. Except tonight she had a really bad migraine & sinus headache simultaneously. She said her hair hurt. Rather disrupted things, but on the way home from the pharmacy to restock, drugs she'd taken earlier were kicking in and we decided to stop at an independent fast food place on main street. I had the special combo- a NY strip steak sandwich with mushrooms, and a bowl of mushroom soup. It was delicious and the steak was very tender. Got a quart of mint brownie custard to take home. She had an enjoyable oriental chicken salad. Had a discussion about a new mattress.     The evening turned out pretty well after all.

It's the most important night of the week in the suburbs- Garbage Day Eve. Time for me to go celebrate by collecting and positioning our offerings....
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Spacy on January 26, 2017, 11:20:51 AM
THe offerings and how you present them are very important. 
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Unorthodox on January 26, 2017, 01:32:09 PM
Uh.... just so we're clear. I was appalled at Hillary's ethics. [Sleezebag] is taking things to a new low. Oh, and today I learn that he refuses to get a new phone now that he's POTUS! Granted, if I were his age I wouldn't  want to learn a new phone, either.  But from a security standpoint...


Not a big deal, honestly.  Secure calls are made on special land lines people.  I don't know why the cell phones become an issue. 

Quote

***********

Normally the wife and I go out to dinner on Wednesdays and Fridays. Except tonight she had a really bad migraine & sinus headache simultaneously. She said her hair hurt. Rather disrupted things, but on the way home from the pharmacy to restock, drugs she'd taken earlier were kicking in and we decided to stop at an independent fast food place on main street. I had the special combo- a NY strip steak sandwich with mushrooms, and a bowl of mushroom soup. It was delicious and the steak was very tender. Got a quart of mint brownie custard to take home. She had an enjoyable oriental chicken salad. Had a discussion about a new mattress.     The evening turned out pretty well after all.

Sounds like a hell of a 'fast food' joint. 
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on January 26, 2017, 08:56:44 PM
Hah! It is quite a fast food joint. We are usually dining out for seafood or some specialty cuisine, and bypass the fried food places.

Before I moved here it had been a Hardees. While that is one of my personal favorite chains, they are disappearing from this side of the state.

Then a local custard and burger place bought it and remodeled it. They did an expensive renovation inside and out, and closed this location after only about a year of operations. They leased it out to some ex-athlete from U of Michigan, who employed his family.

He had this dream of offering paninis and stuff, too. Did all of the cooking himself. The food was good .The trouble was it was really slow service.  The drive-through was pointless, unless you wanted custard only. He never had much business. He must have had deep pockets, but he still closed.

Then the current bunch took over. They have a big menu, but they are organized and fast. I used to get a comedic kick out of reading the roadside sign, which would proclaim the custard flavor of the day and the sandwich special. One time it said "Butterscotch Brownie Tuna melts" . "Grasshopper burgers" was another.   They must be doing well, because they've been in business for years and they have upgraded to a color computerized sign that doesn't confuse people about the specials. They still offer a few paninis, and I think there are some gyros.

I think the manager last night was a Greek. There are several successful Greek family places on all sides of the city, with big menus. If it's one of those families behind it now, it would explain a lot.

Here's a menu and a picture of the building- http://www.kraverzcustard.com/menu/ (http://www.kraverzcustard.com/menu/)
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Unorthodox on January 26, 2017, 09:43:28 PM
Utah equivalent if you're ever around.  Yeah, that's a ribeye steak on the menu of the 'fast food' joint:

http://www.crown-burgers.com/ (http://www.crown-burgers.com/)


Chain that's blowing up quickly, when a few years ago they were only in Arizona.  Simple menu, but it's a damn good 'steakburger'.  50's diner ambiance.  Never forget my first time in their Flagstaff store one of the owners was actually there.  Sweeping the floors.  Chain OWNER.  Sweeping the floors at one of his stores.  Respect.   

https://freddysusa.com/locations/ (https://freddysusa.com/locations/)
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on January 27, 2017, 08:24:36 PM
Uh.... just so we're clear. I was appalled at Hillary's ethics. [Sleezebag] is taking things to a new low. Oh, and today I learn that he refuses to get a new phone now that he's POTUS! Granted, if I were his age I wouldn't  want to learn a new phone, either.  But from a security standpoint...


Not a big deal, honestly.  Secure calls are made on special land lines people.  I don't know why the cell phones become an issue. 

Stumbled across this today. https://www.lawfareblog.com/president-trumps-insecure-android (https://www.lawfareblog.com/president-trumps-insecure-android)

I'm neither an expert in security, nor an expert in technology.

Could [Sleezebag]'s phone be used to track his location, record his calls, log his texts, or bug his meetings? Heck if I know. As much as I think that the [Sleezebag] administration is too opaque, those sound like bad things to happen to the POTUS. Even if all he uses the phone for is tweets, tracking and eves dropping  are potential problems.

Well, maybe jamming and Homeland Security are such that they can monitor or selectively block every bit his phone transmits and to whom.  Maybe nothing to worry about. Again, heck if I know what's going on, but because I'm not confident that he knows what he's doing with regard to all of this tech, his use of his own phone makes me nervous.


Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Unorthodox on January 27, 2017, 09:44:25 PM
It should be a non issue. 

Yes, in theory, even the best phone can be hacked. 

No, it's not a problem.  Any sensitive conversation he has, there will be NO devices allowed anywhere near it.   

Obama was using a blackberry...talk about outdated. 
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Buster's Uncle on January 27, 2017, 09:49:26 PM
...One would tend to assume that cell phones and various wireless devices simply don't work inside the White House.  Lots of faraday cages or something.  I can think of more than one reason to build them in...
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on January 27, 2017, 09:52:44 PM
It should be a non issue. 

Yes, in theory, even the best phone can be hacked. 

No, it's not a problem.  Any sensitive conversation he has, there will be NO devices allowed anywhere near it.   

Obama was using a blackberry...talk about outdated.

Okay. Thanks, Uno.

**************

I seem to be getting another cold, OR I'm having bad allergic reactions. Worst winter in memory.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on March 10, 2017, 07:09:57 AM
When [Sleezebag] promised an "Amazing" health care plan, I suspected he didn't really have one.

What does amaze me is that the GOP doesn't have one. All those years of complaining, and they didn't hash anything out in committee in the house, that they could dust off, and send to the senate in February.

I really need to dig up and re-read Ross Perot's plan. I bought the book back in the day.

*******
Meanwhile, under the theory that the simplest explanation is the best, I now find a certain logic in believing that [Sleezebag] really colluded with the Russians to facilitate his election. Outrageous as that seems. But I don't want to dwell on that. Truth will come out in time.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Spacy on March 13, 2017, 10:15:37 AM
The thing about the Republicans is that the fractures between the different groups within the party are greater than within the Dem's.  They all understand that this "is it", basically, and that this will likely be their one major shot to change ObamaCare.  Sure, they will get to tweak it forevermore, but those are just tweaks and don't really count.  So, each group has a list of wants, and needs, and why do work ahead of time; particularly if you might not ever get the change to do something about it.  Who, after all, predicted a [Sleezebag] win 1-2 years ago?
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on March 13, 2017, 04:16:55 PM
Nobody. But they might have had plans for  a Jeb Bush or Ted Cruz or Scott Walker win 2 years ago. IF they were good managers.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: E_T on March 15, 2017, 06:42:00 AM
And he looks even worse after the wiretapping BS...
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Spacy on March 15, 2017, 08:47:29 PM
Just remember, at least 50%, probably more, of what comes out of his mouth is done just to cause distractions away from other things. 
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on August 27, 2017, 11:24:37 PM
[RANT] Two things on TV are giving me fits lately, and they aren't even political. 

1) I've been seeing a lot of bull riding on the bar tvs when we've been dining lately. Some of it is obviously highlights. As a former cattleman, I understand that rodeo is essentially a skills contest turned sport, sort of like a lumberjack competition or Moonshiners turned stock car racers. Most of rodeo makes sense in that regard, but bull riding? That's just foolish. Every time I see it my mind screams " Why are you even going into the same pen as a bull without your heeler ( cattle dog ) for protection? "

2) Hurricane Harvey. It's hurricane season. People should have been paying attention. As Buncle can tell you ( because every northbound hurricane/tropical storm visits N. Carolina ), It's the slow ones you have to fear the most. 76_+{

I just got PussKeyFooted and computer crashed again, this time by the black cat.

Everyone is taking Harvey seriously now. They expect to get between half a year and a year's worth of rain in one weather event. My wife said she hopes she never experiences anything like that. I told her not to worry, we would have packed up the pets and headed for Oklahoma on Friday while we still could. Yes, I know they can't evacuate a city the size of Houston or LA, but every family that leaves the area early takes pressure off of those that remain behind, without power, or water, or transportation, and food supply problems. [ /RANT ]
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 27, 2017, 11:43:46 PM
The storms make the Outer Banks uninhabitable, and people who live there have chosen poorly, to put it tactfully - but they don't make it to the foot of the mountains much, not in any condition to be troublesome...
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Geo on August 28, 2017, 10:37:28 AM
So, the Southeast is best avoided from mid-August onwards?
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on August 28, 2017, 06:45:32 PM
So, the Southeast is best avoided from mid-August onwards?

You might want to do that on account of the humidity, anyway.  I wouldn't take a cruise in the Gulf of Mexico or the Caribbean during hurricane season. What I am saying is you should pay attention to the tropical storms on the weather reports if you go there.

Hurricanes are powered by warm oceans, and if the oceans are a little warmer these days, they have potential to grow stronger as they approach.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on August 29, 2017, 03:41:22 AM
How the heck does [Sleezebag] expect to replace all of the soon to be moldy drywall in Texas without Mexican labor?
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Geo on August 29, 2017, 08:37:56 AM
How the heck does [Sleezebag] expect to replace all of the soon to be moldy drywall in Texas without Mexican labor?

Afro labor?
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: E_T on September 02, 2017, 07:17:06 PM
How the heck does [Sleezebag] expect to replace all of the soon to be moldy drywall in Texas without Mexican labor?

Not his problem, as he would expect the monies to be properly spent...whom is at the bottom of the food chain is not really his concern, as long as his bigoted business buddies get the lion share of the loot...  and he gets the praise....
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on September 04, 2017, 11:39:49 PM
How the heck does [Sleezebag] expect to replace all of the soon to be moldy drywall in Texas without Mexican labor?

Not his problem, as he would expect the monies to be properly spent...whom is at the bottom of the food chain is not really his concern, as long as his bigoted business buddies get the lion share of the loot...  and he gets the praise....

Probably true.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on September 05, 2017, 12:00:25 AM
SO.........

As I've mentioned on this board this weekend, Labor Day isn't a holiday where we have particular plans. We usually stay home, unless her brother invites us to his lake cottage for a boat ride and burgers.

It's been a customer service kind of weekend. The wife got an e-mail about an account change from ATT&T . We have the whole bundle, TV cable, land lines, internet, & cell phones.    Somebody in the Bronx added themselves to our account,  bought some new iPhones, charged them to our account  on a payment plan and disabled our SIM cards.

It's handy to have a landline and e-mail when this crap happens. It took a lot of time and calls to straighten this out. Response time is slower because of the holiday.

Finally sorted it out after 16 hours or so.

A few hours later, it has  happened again! Now wife is locked out of her e-mail and the phones are disabled, gotta go.

Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Geo on September 05, 2017, 03:10:23 PM
Someone added him/herself to your ATT&T account? How is that even possible without an ATT&T employee (or affiliate) doing that?

Besides hacking of course.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Spacy on September 06, 2017, 11:26:44 AM
If they have the account number and SSN, ATT has no idea who you or they are - and they have the right credentials to prove that they are a part of the account.

When it happened to me, I ended up closing the account and opening up a new one. 
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Geo on September 06, 2017, 11:34:34 AM
If they have the account number and SSN, ATT has no idea who you or they are - and they have the right credentials to prove that they are a part of the account.

When it happened to me, I ended up closing the account and opening up a new one.

Okay, I can see someone getting a hold of an account number or just trying a random one and getting lucky. What's SSN? Password?
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Buster's Uncle on September 06, 2017, 01:20:19 PM
Social Security Number
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Unorthodox on September 06, 2017, 01:42:08 PM
If they have the account number and SSN, ATT has no idea who you or they are - and they have the right credentials to prove that they are a part of the account.

When it happened to me, I ended up closing the account and opening up a new one. 

All someone needed was hEt's name and a hospital automatically registered her as my wife.  Ironically the discharge forms thus gave the imposter all hEt's info. 

We had to prove she was no the person pregnant with a broken arm in a hospital in salt lake after the bill come, and had several credit cards in her name.  Clearing that was a process that ended up freezing all accounts everywhere and starting over with no warning.  Literally all accounts froze with no chance to pull out cash overnight. 

First time I've requested a physical check and had to go to the bank for ages. 
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Geo on September 06, 2017, 02:14:20 PM
Djeez. Is imposting a national sport or something in the US? And this hEt imposter even already had credit cards on her name? So it follows that this imposter had your address data as well before she even set foot in the hospital?

On the healthcare department here it is pretty standard nothing gets done if you can't show an ID card. Since a couple years the SSN card functions have been replaced with ones ID card.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on September 06, 2017, 06:25:13 PM
I'll tell the story when I find the time. In short, a subcontinental Indian who could barely speak English was able to solve the problem without closing the accounts and starting over. The two previous techs essentially changed the locks on the house without making sure there were no burglars still in the closets.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Geo on September 06, 2017, 07:29:41 PM
 ;brainhurts
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on September 07, 2017, 12:48:40 AM
Someone added him/herself to your ATT&T account? How is that even possible without an ATT&T employee (or affiliate) doing that?

Besides hacking of course.

I don't know how it was done. They went to a store ( I don't really know which. The first customer service person said it was done at an Apple Store. Don't know if that is the truth, that person was better at being nice than knowledgable/credible ) and bought iphones. I don't know what form of I.D. they presented, who they claimed to be or what story they told. 

Any time we tried to change anything at the local ATT store in past years, we had to do things like produce driver's licenses, phones with numbers of record for the account, and they had to talk to my wife, who is authorized to make changes to the account. I am not.

Maybe they hacked AT&T, or maybe it was an inside job/collusion, or just a sales rep more intent on getting a commission.

At any rate, people with first and last names of another ethnicity than myself and my wife added their names to our account, and got a phone with my phone number, de-activating my SIM card in the process. I haven't bought a new phone for years, so I'm eligible for a new one on credit/contract.

( to be continued..)
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on September 07, 2017, 02:13:21 AM
I was particularly happy that we had retained our land line. It would have been hard to straighten this out otherwise when both of our cell phones were disabled. I don't know how somebody who only was a cell phone would deal with this, especially if they used iPay. They would probably be stressed out.

That's not to say that my wife wasn't stressed. She was. She has no patience for being on hold. Probably comes from being a Chief Accounting Officer. Anyway, the other cause for stress was worrying about whether the intruders could access her email, which was AT&T going back before the turn of the century. Because from there, people could figure out banking and brokerage and PayPal, etc. etc.

Essentially there were 3 episodes and 3 iPhones. The people used addresses in the Bronx and Yonkers, but maybe those were red herrings. We live near Milwaukee. The timing was good on the part of the thieves because holiday hours were curtailed, and we had to deal with customer service/tech/ fraud division each episode. The thieves could apparently type as fast as the techs, making changes difficult to institute. One of the AT&T people locked down my wife's e-mail and other accounts, and knowing that one of the thieves was still named on the AT&T  account last she saw it, made her nervous when she couldn't see her e-mail to know if anybody was in it.

As it happens, her Surface Pro system had an auto access to her e-mail, and she was able to get in that way because it was on to tell her what number to call at AT&T. But essentially it was the same issue. She had access because she was already in when they changed the locks.

At least she's been changing passwords to various accounts and did a scan of her computer. We've been using PC Pit stop/ PC Matic  for years, and the white list approach seems to work well, although sometimes it warns me about safe sites.

The first night we were assured the tech people would take care of everything over night. The second night we were waiting for a designated corporate store to open at 10AM, as it turned out that was so we could present a photo I. D. to proceed. If only AT&T had access to caller ID.

It did not help the stress level that at one point that two departments were insisting we needed to deal with the other instead.

But everything has been working well for about 30 hours so far.

Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on September 07, 2017, 02:29:29 AM
Djeez. Is imposting a national sport or something in the US?

It's a problem.

I think there are a few explanations, and I'll try to avoid political solutions here.

* We have an estimated 12 million illegal immigrants. If they go to work or school, they need an SSN. So that creates demand for identities.

*Also, there is an opiate epidemic, so people are desperate to get their hands on anything of value so they can buy it, or a new identity so that they can get another prescription.

* This kind of crime has a risk/reward ratio that is favorable for the criminal compared to other types.

Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Geo on September 07, 2017, 03:19:55 PM
With it solved for you and your wife, will those thieves still be able to use their phones after a fashion? Like getting a contract with another communication company?
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: E_T on September 07, 2017, 07:11:34 PM
If they have the account number and SSN, ATT has no idea who you or they are - and they have the right credentials to prove that they are a part of the account.

When it happened to me, I ended up closing the account and opening up a new one.

Also, possible Social Engineering for things like Security Questions.

I, almost always, use fake answers for my security questions, thus no amount of Social Engineering is going to even come close to guessing them...

Other things are Strong Passwords.... and different passwords, with different levels of "strength", for different things that are not too important if they crack the password to 'you bet they aren't getting this one' ...   
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: E_T on September 07, 2017, 07:19:57 PM
With it solved for you and your wife, will those thieves still be able to use their phones after a fashion? Like getting a contract with another communication company?

They likely sold the phones for some drugs...
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Geo on September 07, 2017, 07:23:04 PM
With it solved for you and your wife, will those thieves still be able to use their phones after a fashion? Like getting a contract with another communication company?

They likely sold the phones for some drugs...

Ah yes, profit... ;morganercise
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on September 07, 2017, 07:50:43 PM
Our phones are still working. ET knows more about iPhones than I do. I'll assume he's right about the drugs. It seems all they were after were free phones, or maybe all they knew how to get.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on September 11, 2017, 05:58:51 AM
We have to go back to the corporate store tomorrow with my mother-in-law's phone to get it re-activated.

Came across this tonight-
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/21/business/dealbook/phone-hack-bitcoin-virtual-currency.html?mcubz=0 (https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/21/business/dealbook/phone-hack-bitcoin-virtual-currency.html?mcubz=0)


[ Mr. Perklin and other people who have investigated recent hacks said the assailants generally succeeded by delivering sob stories about an emergency that required the phone number to be moved to a new device — and by trying multiple times until a gullible agent was found.
“These guys will sit and call 600 times before they get through and get an agent on the line that’s an idiot,” Mr. Weeks said.]
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on September 15, 2017, 09:41:57 PM
So, it ain't over till it's over. My wife got notices from ATT threatening to cut off her service for non-payment. One of the iPhone purchases was still charged against our account. A few folks and hours later...  It may be fixed. Might have happened sooner today, except that she got cut off at one point.

Meanwhile with this Equifax breech, we're looking at credit security services. Leaning towards IdentityForce. LifeLock would be 2nd choice. The trouble with the #3 rated IDShield is that they are only a notification service. They will help you recover your identity, but not your assets. The other two have guarantees/insurance and help you get back your identity and hold your hand with the fraud asset recovery, but the cost is based per person/SS# , not per couple or household.  Needless to say, these services are getting slammed with new business right now, and the ques are long according to online complaints.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Geo on September 16, 2017, 02:42:49 PM
Wow. :o Just read up a bit on this Equifax business.
It's good to live in Europe now. For as long as there's no central databank of all EU residents financial and personal stuff of course.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on November 24, 2017, 06:20:38 AM
My niece got hacked. Somebody bought some men's athletic shoes with one of her charge cards.

Sure enough, I got a notice from Identity Force about recent company database breaches which indicated how her identity was compromised. Damn impressive to know the likely source of her problem the same day it occurred. I stand by our decision to go with them.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on December 13, 2017, 04:39:14 AM

  At the end of our fall season/beginning of winter I cleaned the gutters and installed a heat tape with a thermostat.  I raked the snow from the lower portion of the roof before the sub-zero, but it snowed again and I didn't venture out to rake it ( that cold dry air is hard on my lungs ). I saw some ice dams last night on other homes, so I went out to inspect today. It's around freezing today, rather than 10 degrees bellow zero. I have an ice dam started in the gutter below the skylight. I raked the bottom few feet of the roof again and then went up the ladder to take a look. Things were actually pretty good. The heat tape kept the bottom of the gutter open, so water could drain away. I broke some of the ice, which is much easier when it doesn't fill the gutter, and scattered some ice melter there abouts. I'll check it again later this afternoon.

******
Well

This year I installed some permanent heat cable on the eaves of the roof and up around the skylights. It would have been easier with one person on the roof, and another one on a ladder.  I guess I'll get a chance to see how it works tomorrow.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on December 13, 2017, 10:16:03 PM
It's working, but it doesn't seem nearly as warm as when I tested it during installation. I guess that means the snow and ice are drawing away the heat.

---------------------------------------------
Political parody from The Onion.

https://politics.theonion.com/baffled-dnc-plant-roy-moore-not-sure-what-else-he-could-1821234868

Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on January 01, 2018, 04:46:11 AM
*Right now it's too cold to use the heat cable on the roof, but then again, it's also too cold for much snow and ice to further accumulate.

*Went to see Trans Siberian Orchestra on Friday afternoon. It was a pain getting there. Traffic in that part of town was gridlocked. Parking was inadequate because they demolished a parking garage to make room to build a new civic arena. This had to be done because the NBA basketball team changed hands, and the new owners had some demands to keep the team in town. Yes, there are taxpayer subsidies. Anyway...

We got seated late, but the opening opera was about the lost child returning home for Christmas, so we weren't exactly lost. The stage now takes 18 trailer trucks to transport and 100 people to assemble. It does snow and dry ice fog, smoke and flame, sparkler type fireworks, lasers, lights, videoscreens, several elevating platforms and a moving catwalk. It was a loud show, but mot excessively so like previous times. Almost 3 hours and no intermission, kind of an endurance test on those folding floor seats. Encore was sort of built into the finale. This was the early show.  Glad we went.

I didn't realize founder Paul O'Niel was dead from drug abuse this year.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Unorthodox on January 01, 2018, 07:20:53 AM
TSO was a good show.  Not necessarily one I want to repeat, mind you.  Especially since I find their stuff way too overdone these days.  Hell, it's in a car commercial this year.  As cliche as I'm dreaming of a white christmas. 

Which one are they touring now?  Or is it a jumble of all the albums?

I've always thought they should make the albums with the narration in them as well.  Anywho, my brother did a mini TSO show last year.  He knows a hell of an artist that can pretty much do anything you give him.  The other parts were more hit and miss like you expect from local acts, but the one guy probably should be a lot better known than he is. 
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on January 02, 2018, 01:10:18 AM
I'd call it a jumble. The Lost Child had some of the same songs and story, and some different. She was sheltering in an old theater, didn't call from a bar.

They did Hall of the Mountain King, Joy to the World/Nutcracker Suite. The lead vocalists had solo songs that didn't seem so Christmassy. I'm probably forgetting something. I was thinking at the time that it was medley stuff, your brother's kind of music.

I was thinking during the show that they had sort of reached a Pink Floyd/ Led Zeppelin point where crowds and expectations are such that they can't play all of the venues they want anymore. They can't play all of the songs in 3 hours, either. Ultimately the Rolling Stones solved the same problem in the late 70s by losing the baggage, playing the current album and Whatever they felt like that night for encores.


Speaking of Paul O'Neil, at the first TSO show I saw ,maybe 2003, he was working from the control panels  in the mid-court area. At intermission he happened to be standing close to me when he saw a boy about 8 or 10. There were few kids at that concert, it may have been a night show. O'Niel was  touched, asked him if he was enjoying the show, if he were here with his parents, if he had any siblings at home. Then he gave him two $100 bills, and said "Here, buy something nice for yourself for Christmas, and for your brother, too

----------------------------------------------------
A lot of New Year's traditions feature eating something that isn't really that good ( like pork backbone and sauer kraut ) for luck. Sort of the idea that everything will improve from there.

I finally got the family flu about 1 AM today. It's sort of like a combination endless colonoscopy prep, and dry heaves. If that's any indication, this is going to be my lucky year, because things can only get better!
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Unorthodox on January 02, 2018, 02:15:50 AM
I'd call it a jumble. The Lost Child had some of the same songs and story, and some different. She was sheltering in an old theater, didn't call from a bar.

They did Hall of the Mountain King, Joy to the World/Nutcracker Suite. The lead vocalists had solo songs that didn't seem so Christmassy. I'm probably forgetting something. I was thinking at the time that it was medley stuff, your brother's kind of music.

I was thinking during the show that they had sort of reached a Pink Floyd/ Led Zeppelin point where crowds and expectations are such that they can't play all of the venues they want anymore. They can't play all of the songs in 3 hours, either. Ultimately the Rolling Stones solved the same problem in the late 70s by losing the baggage, playing the current album and Whatever they felt like that night for encores.

I think where they are struggling is they are a CHRISTMAS tradition, that quit making CHRISTMAS albums in 2004. 

Their non-Christmas stuff is decidedly hit and miss IMO as well. 

Quote
A lot of New Year's traditions feature eating something that isn't really that good ( like pork backbone and sauer kraut ) for luck. Sort of the idea that everything will improve from there.

I finally got the family flu about 1 AM today. It's sort of like a combination endless colonoscopy prep, and dry heaves. If that's any indication, this is going to be my lucky year, because things can only get better!

Never heard of eating the crappy stuff, but life has taught me it can ALWAYS get worse. 
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Buster's Uncle on January 02, 2018, 02:42:14 AM
Fatback, cooked cabbage and black-eyed peas.  Healthy, wealthy and wise.

-It A.) doesn't work, and B.) indeed tastes horrible, aside from the extra-fatty bacon.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Unorthodox on January 02, 2018, 01:28:33 PM
Why on earth is that a thing?  LOL. 

My family was primarily Welsh and Germanic with a sprinkling of Norse in the familial traditions, so I'm guessing it's not from those regions. 
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Buster's Uncle on January 02, 2018, 02:14:53 PM
Mostly German, with a smattering around the rest of western Europe.  It's probably a regional thing, though.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Unorthodox on January 02, 2018, 03:42:17 PM
http://www.star-telegram.com/opinion/opn-columns-blogs/bud-kennedy/article192309964.html (http://www.star-telegram.com/opinion/opn-columns-blogs/bud-kennedy/article192309964.html)

Sounds like it is/was mostly a south thing.  Which would explain Utah's insulation from it as well. 
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on January 02, 2018, 09:21:27 PM
The sauer kraut and backbone was a PA Dutch thing, although it was often re-interpreted by the younger people as hot dogs and kraut, but still from the same pot. Everybody assumed it was a German tradition, but maybe it didn't go back that far.

We knew that some regions of Germany ate carp for luck on New Year's, so we always assumed lucky New Year's foods were about starting slow and getting better and better through the year. Not that we participated in those traditions, we weren't superstitious, and as farmers we were used to eating well. I guess I did manage to choke down some hot dogs at New Year's Eve parties, to be polite, but kraut was something I never ate.

Looking into it last night, eating lucky foods seems to be a popular custom, but the rationale varies quite a bit. A lot of it has to do with prosperity, but the focus isn't on humble food so much as eating things that symbolize coins. Fish, because of the scales. Hence carp and herring. Various lentils because they are round also symbolize coins. The more you eat, the more prosperous you shall become.

As I recall, in France the idea for celebrating New Year's is to set a new standard for living in luxury, but I didn't read up on it last night. Perhaps Geo could speak to that.


--------------------------

Personally, the only thing I like about New Year's Eve  is that it is a holiday geared towards night owls. Christmas is my favorite because of the Christmas spirit. Most wonderful time of the year. The rest of the year I want to be an introvert. Whenever somebody asks why we can't keep the Christmas spirit all through the year, my answer is because we always celebrate NYE a week later, and shift the focus to selfish decadence. Beyond that, NYE and Valentine's Day are the worst for single people. /RANT.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on January 11, 2018, 10:35:25 PM
! No longer available (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7RopOgsh5c#)

This song makes me happy, but it makes the guest cat growl.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on March 10, 2018, 08:16:47 PM
Started the Diet Evolution program 3/8/18, 278.6 lbs.

---------------------------------

My step-dad (my dad's younger brother)  has cancer. He's had it for years, multiple surgeries, chemo cycles, & radiation. He's been in the hospital for about a month this time. 3 surgeries, and each seems to make him worse. In a week it's going to be my turn to stay with Mom. By then the last resort drug should be helping, or we're out of options.   

So.... I got that on my mind. I'd prefer not to talk about it, because I want to avoid obsessing over it. Rec Commons is an escape.  I may be away from the net in the course of things. But if you see less of me, that's what's going on in my life.

----------------------------------------

On the political front I can't help but wonder why [Sleezebag]'s injunction against Stormy Daniels specifically forbids her discussion of paternity. Presumably the press would know of a child she was raising, and why no child support? Did [Sleezebag] pay for an abortion? Was there a miscarriage? Was his baby put up for adoption? Regardless of the underlying truth of that, it seems like there's a campaign finance violation worthy of investigation.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Buster's Uncle on March 10, 2018, 08:52:47 PM
Uncle Dad?  Whoa.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: E_T on March 10, 2018, 09:33:45 PM
Started the Diet Evolution program 3/8/18, 278.6 lbs.

What is your Target Weight? (or weigh point towards that goal... )

Quote
My step-dad (my dad's younger brother)  has cancer. He's had it for years, multiple surgeries, chemo cycles, & radiation. He's been in the hospital for about a month this time. 3 surgeries, and each seems to make him worse. In a week it's going to be my turn to stay with Mom. By then the last resort drug should be helping, or we're out of options.   

So.... I got that on my mind. I'd prefer not to talk about it, because I want to avoid obsessing over it. Rec Commons is an escape.  I may be away from the net in the course of things. But if you see less of me, that's what's going on in my life.

Hope hope the news about my situation isn't a factor due to this.  My heartfelt support for your step dad.

Quote
On the political front I can't help but wonder why [Sleezebag]'s injunction against Stormy Daniels specifically forbids her discussion of paternity. Presumably the press would know of a child she was raising, and why no child support? Did [Sleezebag] pay for an abortion? Was there a miscarriage? Was his baby put up for adoption? Regardless of the underlying truth of that, it seems like there's a campaign finance violation worthy of investigation.

Does anything he does really surprise you these days?

I'm still trying to get around his wanting the Military Parade...  I also am behind in my Daily Show and Steven Colbert and have really not been paying much attention at all to news (except through them).
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Buster's Uncle on March 10, 2018, 09:40:35 PM
Honestly, he's immune to the dirtbag issues, because SO way out front on the openly being a dirtbag in the first place that he makes Reagan look like Clinton for stuff sticking.  -Legal issues associated, well, one can only hope.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on March 11, 2018, 12:39:57 AM
Uncle Dad?  Whoa.

Yeah. Kinda biblical.
They were very much alike and came from her hometown, so when you look at it that way, it's not so surprising. From my perspective, it simplified family relations. No new people to get used to. Except my little sister/cousin.

I originally typed Dad for simplicity, but then I remembered explaining about my Dad before, ( Buncle described him as a buzzsaw)  he died of non-Hodgkins lymphoma caused lung cancer the week I turned twelve. So there's that.


 
E T- what's the Jeff Foxworthy term for multiple relationships?
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Buster's Uncle on March 11, 2018, 01:00:54 AM
My mother's mother's brother -English is useless about precise terms of slightly complex relationships- married sisters, waiting for one to die first.  ISTR there being some bad feelings, maybe all his daughter, the (Mom's first) cousin I've mentioned being an energetic ball of chaos who wears me out every summer when she stays with us for family reunions.  As far as I know, adverse reaction burned out quick and completely, as they lasted about two decades before either died.

A character, Uncle Carl.  Fat, bald, a little spectacularly ugly, with his huge ears sticking out and stinking cigars - and he was the big storyteller in the family, and when he was doing that, which was a great deal of time I was ever around him, at family gatherings, his eyes would light up and his whole face smiled, and he turned into a very beautiful man whom everyone just loved.

I know you will like that description.

A couple of the very best family stories have Carl in them, as guess how they got preserved and spread?
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on March 11, 2018, 01:30:51 AM
Started the Diet Evolution program 3/8/18, 278.6 lbs.

What is your Target Weight? (or weigh point towards that goal... )

We'll see what my body wants to do. I know that when you put on this much weight, your bones get dense to support it, so when you return to your former size you still weigh much more.  My idea is to stop being clinincally obese, more importantly to reverse the course towards diabetes. If that happens ( like it did to my grandfather ) I'll be forced to give up sugar and starch anyway. 

I'd rather do it on my own terms. So I've decided to stop procrastinating.



Hope hope the news about my situation isn't a factor due to this.  My heartfelt support for your step dad.

It kinda is. To get into it a little more, he has bone cancer in his skull. Treating the cancer traumatizes his brain. Life isn't in immediate peril now so much as cognitive and motor functions. So it's scary to think about and the C-word takes me there.
I like a break from that sometimes.

So, how about you and I agree to interact here and in other threads and PMs and we'll put this topic aside. Thanks for your thoughts. I'm here for you.

Does anything he does really surprise you these days?

I'm still trying to get around his wanting the Military Parade...  I also am behind in my Daily Show and Steven Colbert and have really not been paying much attention at all to news (except through them).
.

He likes and admires dictators- Sadam, Kim, Mussolini, Putin, Duarte. They know how to handle the press, drug dealers, and terrorists. Military parades is what they do while they live. It's a show of strength, and it glorifies The Leader what with all of the salutes.

Me, I'm all for the idea if it's a welcome home parade from several of the undeclared wars we are currently in. I'd love to bring the troops home for Christmas with their families.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on March 11, 2018, 01:34:33 AM


A character, Uncle Carl.  Fat, bald, a little spectacularly ugly, with his huge ears sticking out and stinking cigars - and he was the big storyteller in the family, and when he was doing that, which was a great deal of time I was ever around him, at family gatherings, his eyes would light up and his whole face smiled, and he turned into a very beautiful man whom everyone just loved.

I know you will like that description.

A couple of the very best family stories have Carl in them, as guess how they got preserved and spread?

I truly do like that description.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Geo on March 11, 2018, 09:05:44 AM
Fat, bald, a little spectacularly ugly, with his huge ears sticking out...

A troll? :D
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: E_T on March 11, 2018, 02:00:27 PM
Uncle Dad?  Whoa.

E T- what's the Jeff Foxworthy term for multiple relationships?

Not sure, but "A Family Gathering" sounds about right...  I'd have to do a more detailed research into his stuff to be more exact...
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on March 11, 2018, 03:40:39 PM
----------------------------------------

On the political front I can't help but wonder why [Sleezebag]'s injunction against Stormy Daniels specifically forbids her discussion of paternity. Presumably the press would know of a child she was raising, and why no child support? Did [Sleezebag] pay for an abortion? Was there a miscarriage? Was his baby put up for adoption? Regardless of the underlying truth of that, it seems like there's a campaign finance violation worthy of investigation.

From Stormy Daniels' lawyer, Michael Avenatti, early this morning on Twitter -
"To be clear and dispel the rumors, the “paternity” language in the NDA is boilerplate. There are no paternity issues here. We want to ensure the truth and only the truth - on ALL issues - is always reported. "

Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Buster's Uncle on March 11, 2018, 03:43:01 PM
...Just because she's what she is doesn't mean her attorney is a dirtbag - that statement sounds like doing it right...
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on March 11, 2018, 03:53:57 PM
He's impressed me whenever I've seen him. I immediately asked myself why [Sleezebag] doesn't have a lawyer like this.

DUH! [Sleezebag] can't get a great lawyer because-

1) He doesn't listen to instructions
2) He doesn't pay
3) Narcissists clients are a lawyer's nightmare because they feel the world is about them, and entitled to the attorney's time day or night at no extra charge.
4)Then there's the matter of ethical issues with [Sleezebag].

So, I imagine cheapskate [Sleezebag] simply didn't want his penis pics getting out, and that's why the muzzle money.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Buster's Uncle on March 11, 2018, 04:01:03 PM
We've seen his hands, and know he was lying about the rest because his lips were moving.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on March 21, 2018, 03:09:58 AM
Brief update- When I arrived I thought my step-dad was in grave peril of pneumonia, but that has passed. I think he'll survive now, and I think he will mostly recover given enough time and therapy. They took out the feeding tube, he is able to feed himself when the food is in small pieces. The hard part is seeing how much concentration, time, and effort simple things require.
Using arms and legs, as examples. Yesterday's major victory was peeling an orange in half an hour.

On the diet front, I'm without a scale. My last weigh-in was 261.2 ! I have less dietary control on the road, I'm eating more meat and less vegetables and salad than the plan calls for, but I continue to exclude the sugars, carbs, lentils, and artificial sweets. So hopefully I will at least hold steady.

So, even though it's not fun,  things are exceeding expectations.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Buster's Uncle on March 21, 2018, 03:14:38 AM
Roughly 5'9" or a hair more?
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: E_T on March 21, 2018, 03:29:15 AM
Hope you at least don't gain any.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Green1 on March 21, 2018, 03:41:14 AM
I hope I'll never have to move again. When we have a decent manager here (the current one treats me pretty well), things are okay. But I still have most of my packing boxes (the kind that fold up) just in case. I also have the business card for the last company I used, to bring my stuff here from the storage place where I'd had some of it... now they did a good job. They were prompt, careful, and put everything where I told them to.



I had to move three times in a year around three years ago. Moved from a one bedroom to a townhouse because my daughter wanted to live with me. Was in the townhouse maybe two months when I get a letter from Bank of America saying my landlord was in foreclosure for not paying the mortgage. The bank gave me 10K to get out in 3 weeks time. Then I moved into a townhouse right around the corner that was in a bit worse shape but cheaper. Been here ever since.

Was going to move to Chattanooga this year, but the deal on the house there fell through. Of course, due to drama between people ranging from mistresses, low life relatives, and others arguing over the house then turning around and wanting 4x more than what they originally said. Kind of glad I don't have to do it now, as much as I have outgrown my place.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on March 22, 2018, 12:44:52 AM
Roughly 5'9" or a hair more?

I'm still an even six. Thing is, I graduated high school at 170 lbs, 40" chest, 32" waist and maintained that weight into my 40s- basically until I got married. I don't expect to get back to that before I'm old and feeble, but I plan to make a serious push for sub 200. Long term I'd like to lose about a pound/week, just so that my skin can shrink-fit.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Buster's Uncle on March 22, 2018, 02:57:27 AM
I've been wrestling with a bit extra weight my whole life.  Sympathies.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on March 22, 2018, 03:12:13 AM
I never fully adjusted my calorie consumption from being a farmer. Gotta go.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on April 04, 2018, 07:06:48 PM
Brief update before I get back to responsibilities-

My dad had a dr. visit, no surgery scheduled, more appointments in 3 and 8 weeks. He did 60 ft.  in a walker, so if nothing else, his brain is getting better control of his feet, and his legs are stronger.
Haven't talked to my Mom yet, just e-mail.

Today's weigh in is 256.6, exactly 22 lbs less than when I started. My wife says I look better from the front and back, that is I seem to have lost my love handles/side belly. Also, my wedding ring came lose in the shower. I'm more convinced I can do this.

I have to get stuff done, because my mom may need a support person again soon. Later.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 04, 2018, 07:44:16 PM
You might try weight lifting as supplementary effort - you seen me talk about my two-exercise routine, surely.  I'm roughly overweight the same as you've gotten down to, and going heavy on careful bent-over rows, has never strained my lower back, and I look FANTASIC from behind, for my weight, from the upper back muscles and broad shoulders I've built up - those are still with me when I haven't touched a weight in years...
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 04, 2018, 08:18:00 PM
.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Geo on April 04, 2018, 08:50:40 PM
How old is that pic? :P
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 04, 2018, 09:12:30 PM
From 2010, IIRC, and I do.  I believe the view hasn't changed worth mentioning, though.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: E_T on April 04, 2018, 09:40:29 PM
don't mention it then...  :P
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 04, 2018, 09:43:57 PM
You love it.  I'm a bear.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: E_T on April 04, 2018, 09:47:38 PM
You love it.  I'm a bear.

I have found that MOST bears are too fat and too small (where it counts... ).
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 04, 2018, 09:49:58 PM
Fair enough.  Tastes differ, and I don't understand the bearhuggers, though I've MET plenty.  (And had to turn too many down...)
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: E_T on April 04, 2018, 09:51:14 PM
There are ALL different types.... 
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 04, 2018, 09:53:51 PM
It TAKES all types...
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on April 05, 2018, 02:24:25 AM
You might try weight lifting as supplementary effort - you seen me talk about my two-exercise routine, surely.  I'm roughly overweight the same as you've gotten down to, and going heavy on careful bent-over rows, has never strained my lower back, and I look FANTASIC from behind, for my weight, from the upper back muscles and broad shoulders I've built up - those are still with me when I haven't touched a weight in years...

You know, as it happens the doctor who wrote the book(s) I'm trying to follow is a supporter of strength training rather than cardio, and he was a nationally renowned cardiac surgeon. He says marathoners lab  test similar to cancer patients, and more muscles mean more customers for your calories. He says if you are going to run, sprint. If you're going a long distance, walk. That's how the long-lived bushmen do it.  He notes that sprinters are muscular, rather than emaciated. At the stage I'm in, strength training makes statistically no difference in weight loss. But eventually it will matter.

He says as we age, our genetics value our efficiency once we're past reproduction age. If you spend all of your time running, then chowing down to refuel, your genes think you are an inefficient animal, unable to fend off predators, and a drain on the herd food supply. That's a candidate for a stroke or heart attack, cancer, etc. On the other hand, the ideal is more like a silverback gorilla, who need only expend energy briefly to defend the herd, or a little old lady who consumes very little.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 05, 2018, 02:27:50 AM
I'd say weights AND a little cardio is best - and I've had best results, for sure for keeping it up, with bench-press one day, rows the next, maybe Sunday off, maybe not.  That hits all the muscles a Man needs most for appearance, and keeps it simple and low in time investment...
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on April 08, 2018, 06:01:12 AM
"Saw" my ribs in the bathroom mirror today. That was a surprise. I don't really recall when they disappeared.

I bought a bundle of collard greens tonight. They look nice, and I haven't found greens I don't like yet. Have you southerners ever eaten them?  What is a "collard" anyway?
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 08, 2018, 06:32:04 AM
Satan's toilet paper, judging by the smell and taste, cooked.  I'd judge it way too tough/gritty for a salad.  -Turnip greens share all the same bad properties, but you can eat them.

Daddy loved the stuff, of course, and it don't get more 'Southern' than a man who got an actual red neck working in his daddy's sharecrop tobacco fields as a boy in single digits during the Great Depression.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collard_greens
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on April 12, 2018, 04:08:56 AM
Satan's toilet paper, judging by the smell and taste, cooked.  I'd judge it way too tough/gritty for a salad.  -Turnip greens share all the same bad properties, but you can eat them.

Daddy loved the stuff, of course, and it don't get more 'Southern' than a man who got an actual red neck working in his daddy's sharecrop tobacco fields as a boy in single digits during the Great Depression.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collard_greens

I ate half a leaf raw. Somewhere between Kale and cabbage, I guess. Edible.  However, there may be a Satanic connection as you suggest.

  The first time I cooked them I just  about had dinner ready to plate when I smelled smoke. The stainless steel  lid of my skillet hid another pot lid and a plastic cover from view. The plastic touched a burner and ignited. I had a fire extinguisher under the sink. I got the fire out, but worked from dinner time until a little after 3 AM cleaning soot, fire extinguisher powder, and removing melted plastic. The only thing I lost was the hidden lid, which  had a lot of plastic adhered to it, as well as it's bakelite knob burned/melted. I threw it out.  The stove top I was able to  take apart and clean by scraping carefully and using Barkeep's Friend, an extremely fine cleansing powder. Never did get to eat.

So the next time I try to cook the last of the collards 2 nights later I had another fire, while trying to pop some sorghum like pop-corn. No mess that time.

I think these are the first fires I've had since I moved here in 2003.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: E_T on April 12, 2018, 04:31:15 AM
Must be the greens...
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 12, 2018, 09:23:53 AM
Greens is teh Devil.  ;nod
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on April 12, 2018, 07:20:00 PM
My weight is essentially steady this week. I'm still encouraged, because last night I dreamed of greens instead of forbidden foods. I don't dislike greens, but apart from spinach I wouldn't say I actually like any of them. I'm not craving bread anymore. According to diet theory, this means that I am succeeding in changing my gut biome. Apparently certain bacteria and yeasts actually produce hormones and chemicals that make you hungry for starchy/sweet foods which they specialize upon.

Regardless, while I have been sticking to the program pretty well, life will be easier when I'm not focused on what I can't have.

It's a beautiful day, our snow is almost gone, and I promised myself I'd take down the last of the Christmas lights from the roof and chimney. Later.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Green1 on April 12, 2018, 07:44:14 PM
Greens is teh Devil.  ;nod

Why, thank you :D
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 12, 2018, 08:52:06 PM
:mad:
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Geo on April 12, 2018, 10:46:38 PM
Willpower permitting, I might drop below seventy five next week (kilo's that is, not your yankee pounds).
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 12, 2018, 11:31:05 PM
Yankee everything is bad. ;nod
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on April 17, 2018, 02:45:53 AM
So while I'm up there taking down and storing the lights, I disconnected the plugs for the heat cables on the roof, took down the cord, figuring it was done for the season, and leaving it up would only degrade the vinyl in the sunlight, and let water in. Besides, I can put the cords  to other use as needed.

So this weekend we got 5-7" inches of dense snow-sleet mix.  It's on the roof and gutters, too. I'm expecting seasonal weather to come along and cause a small flood or something. If it doesn't, I may have to hook up and defrost. Part of today was wasted partially clearing the walks while waiting for the service to do it, and dealing with ice on the driveway created by the plow.   Also, I got my gaming laptop back from Geek Squad. I'm getting re-adjusted to the screen size after using a tablet for the last month or so.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on April 17, 2018, 05:36:02 PM
Aha!

Finally broke the 250lb. barrier. I noticed my ribs in the mirror again today, felt veins in my forearm this weekend. I guess my body is still in there. :danc:

The roof seems to be melting off without creating any ice dams, but it still looks like winter.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 17, 2018, 06:34:25 PM
I thought that last was a metaphor on the rest for a split second...
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: E_T on April 17, 2018, 10:45:54 PM
:stupid
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 17, 2018, 10:48:11 PM
 :doh  -Will that do?
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: E_T on April 17, 2018, 10:50:35 PM
No, I wanted the "I'm with Stupid" sign that points up (to the previous poster's comment), that is over at WPC...
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 17, 2018, 10:52:18 PM
I modded --- no, that was the worthless w/o pics cut down to size. 

Hmm.  Request granted anyway.  Gimme a few minutes to steal it and install...
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: E_T on April 17, 2018, 10:55:47 PM
make sure you post how to do it (i.e. if needing starting and stopping Colons or just single colon before it)
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 17, 2018, 11:12:08 PM
Yessir.  Now to install...
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 17, 2018, 11:17:28 PM
That's stupid with a SEMIcolon in front, so you never have to shift to type it.  Efficient, and not stupid at all...

;stupid -Found in the popup zoo...
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: E_T on April 17, 2018, 11:41:55 PM
;stupid
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 18, 2018, 12:22:49 AM
...Customizing it was ten times as much work, but worth it...
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on April 18, 2018, 04:53:33 AM
I thought that last was a metaphor on the rest for a split second...

Oh. Now I get it. No, not that time. Yes, I usually separate that stuff by a dashed line, or something.

My hair is rather snowy, but it's hanging in there, and judging by my maternal grandfather, probably will stay there.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 18, 2018, 11:30:41 AM
We're all going bald as eggs if we live long enough.  I think I've posted the hillbilly afro shot, circa late 80's when I could brush my hair straight out about six inches -no chance of that now, even if my hair was that short- I've really noticed, having handled so many old pics lately for the cousins group, that five years ago, I still looked 30, but now I look too much like old Luke Skywalker, and Mark Hamil's roughly ten years older than me.  -That's the way Daddy aged, too...
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 18, 2018, 07:00:34 PM
;stupid
I just noticed that in multiple uninstalls/reinstalls to be able to upload further tweaks to fix up the sign better, E_T; I let your personal smiley onto the Reply page lineup - as long as it appears to not start a new line, I'm tempted to leave it there, not at the bottom of the zoo...
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on April 18, 2018, 08:13:18 PM
Oh I remember that one. Glorious.

I suppose Mylochka went through a hair straightening phase if hers was even half like that.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Syn on April 18, 2018, 08:40:19 PM
Got any pics of you cruising in a lowrider with that 'fro, BU?
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 18, 2018, 09:14:39 PM
Oh I remember that one. Glorious.

I suppose Mylochka went through a hair straightening phase if hers was even half like that.
When she was 15, there were boys at school who called her "bushwoman" (but she was too young to know that there was an element of little boys kicking a pretty girl to it) - and she didn't have half as thick a head of hair as I.

Daddy's red crew cut was pretty nappy if you looked close.  So many pale, high-tempered redheads on that side you'd think we were Irish, not mostly German.  The convict was a glorious strawberry blonde in her youth, and pretty enough to model, though she didn't.  Buster's Daddy answers to a cleaner-cut version of my general description, not even general; same build, same colors, close in size, sound alike on the phone so much we used to mess with people until our church youth director stopped calling the house for anything - but straight hair, go figure.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 18, 2018, 10:16:12 PM
Got any pics of you cruising in a lowrider with that 'fro, BU?
Yes.  The price for sharing is $5,000 -or arrange for RoxxyX to be my girlfriend for at least a weekend.

-My overalls and Southeastern US accent went over quite well wit' teh homies - (black folks think I'm "phat stupid", and THAT part, I didn't make up; it's an actual quote from a brother I worked a temp assignment alongside in 1991).
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Syn on April 18, 2018, 10:27:11 PM
Best I can do is a handful of dimes and nickels.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 18, 2018, 10:30:20 PM
Well phooey.

-And here I am so cool I had to ask the brother whether that was "good-stupid, or bad-stupid?"  I DID know "phat" was a superlative...
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 19, 2018, 05:29:02 AM
Hey, enjoy this, Rusty, since I scanned it yesterday.  1988... 
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on April 19, 2018, 06:12:16 AM
I believe 1988, it's rugby stripe! :danc:

My dad and brother had curls like that, although they both went bald young. Lookin' good!


In those days I had well curled handlebars and a goatee in the spring/summer, with full beard in the winter, similar color. That and a couple of rugby shirts, only with collars.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 19, 2018, 12:21:22 PM
Imagining your face with a beard, it suits, I think.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: E_T on April 19, 2018, 11:02:31 PM
I have a summer beard...

[E_T points to one part of chin/jaw]
sum'er here...

[E_T points to different part of chin/jaw]
sum'er here...

[E_T points to third part of chin/jaw]
sum'er here...
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Syn on April 19, 2018, 11:19:11 PM
Your chin has a lot of parts. Are you a Lego set?
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: E_T on April 20, 2018, 03:23:58 AM
just plug me in...   ;)
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Geo on April 20, 2018, 01:24:27 PM
Consent require, amigo!
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on April 24, 2018, 04:45:34 AM
Human ineptitude has caused us to forfeit a doctor's appointment that would have given us a surgery schedule and something to plan around. So we'll be in uncertainty for yet another week. This stress, curtailed sleep and the built-in driving today leaves me pretty tired.

Goodnight.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on April 27, 2018, 05:21:11 AM
Today was a day trip to the nursing home, about 3 hours or so each way. My dad is there as resident rehab patient. The news is all good. He can now lift 55lbs with the left hand, and 10 with the right. The doctors and rehab people are impressed with his progress so much that they have gotten an extra week of therapy approved with medicare, if I understand correctly. ( which I may not have, my hearing is suspect. ) This means that he will be there as long as I am here in PA, unless they want to move him to the hospital for the next surgery. He is almost feeding himself entire meals. He wants to go to the bathroom by himself, but he's not allowed because of the danger of falling and no top on his skull. He can walk over 100 feet with the aid of a walker.
He doesn't need speech therapy any more.

So even though I did double the driving of Monday, I'm less stressed and tired.

------------------------

It occurs to me that as heroic as his struggles for recovery have been, and those of another friend I have paralyzed in a car accident, and as amazing as those partial recoveries have been, that's not who I am.

I would have tried to learn to eat and do other things with my left hand, with the goal of getting good enough to go home. I'm a roll with the punches kind of guy. I dwell on what is left rather than what is lost and try to adapt. Try to get back to living, rather than try to deny the diagnosis.  Try to recover quickly rather than completely.

----------------------------

On the diet front, my weight is oscillationg around 250. Had to put some tape on my wedding ring to keep it on. Also, people noticed that the dimples in my cheeks when I smile have re-appeared. My recent pictures look like myself from years ago.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: E_T on April 28, 2018, 12:35:45 AM
On the diet front, my weight is oscillationg around 250. Had to put some tape on my wedding ring to keep it on. Also, people noticed that the dimples in my cheeks when I smile have re-appeared. My recent pictures look like myself from years ago.
It might be at a redistribution phase, before it starts to go down more.  Sometimes happens.  Might need some walking off to help with it...  Won't hurt...
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on April 28, 2018, 06:10:22 AM
That's my suspicion. I've walked a little, but it keeps raining. I tried to do pushups, but my spine was hurting. I think I need to lose more weight before I try that again. I did some yard work for my mom today between rains. My wife tells me I'm losing the belly, but I don't see it yet.

If I'm not able to increase my activity, I may reduce my protein portions to reduce my calories. As my body shrinks, so does my daily need for calories and nutrients, if not my appetite for them.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on May 07, 2018, 06:03:55 AM
Dad update- The therapists think that they have basically peaked on recovery of nerve function. He won't fully recover from the complications of the series of surgeries. So, there will be half as many therapy sessions/week. He can still rebuild muscle. He's happy in the home where he is. But, things are going to shift from Medicare to supplemental insurance, and the allowance will decrease. My parents will shoulder some of the financial burden. He will move to a different wing and a semi-private room on Tues.

To that end we're working on financial paperwork. We plan to keep him there for a month, until the next doctor visit ( when they make determinations about fitting for a helmet, since reconstructing the skull - or any other further surgery is too risky.)
Then we intend to bring him back to the county where they live, to make things easier on my mom, who never did like driving a half hour or more, and he's currently 3 hours away, still close to his specialists. My sister in Florida has offered to come up and be with mom after Memorial Day, and go with her to the brain surgeon appointment. The trouble is my sister had eye surgery complications, which required more surgery, and she still won't be fit to drive then. So my brother will probably take them.

My Dad is also acting stubborn, twice he has fallen while trying to get into bed by himself from his wheelchair. That's really dangerous for a guy missing the top of his skull. He lacks the balance and strength to get up and down by himself, and my 80 something mom can't handle him herself, so he can't come home. Mentally, he's not himself when he's tired, and he tires more easily because it takes a lot of concentration to balance and use his hands. At present he is getting cards and visits from his side of the family, and his busy with therapy. We're pretty sure that when those things slack off, he'll be unhappy with his situation. Bringing him to the home county should put him in easier range of his immediate family and congregation, and more importantly, my Mom.

We'll see how it goes. I may be flying back in July.  To quote Forrest Gump,"that's all I have to say about that."

--------------------------------

Diet-wise, I've passed the 6-8 week mark were a lot of diets are overridden by cravings and reverse course. The book promised it would continue to work. So far, it's been right. I'm still waiting to see some of it's other claims come true, such as skin tags being reabsorbed. Summer is supposed to be the hardest time to lose weight, because your body normally stores fat for the next winter. It's considered okay just to hold steady. Also, while my initial losses were about half a pound/day, from here on I should expect a pound/ per week as a healthy rate. It should allow my skin to shrink-fit, and not stress me with too much heavy metals being released from my shrinking fat cells.

-------------------------------------

Returning home will mean getting back to organizing my basement, preparing equipment for the fishing trip, and going to visit the chosen kitten, among other things. Maybe I'll even get a chance to use my remote control sailboat on the pond before it's choked with weeds. It should also mean going for regular walks after lunch for the exercise, although I enjoy it as much for the chance to think. I should also make time to donate blood after the holiday. I also want to get back to my kitchen and try a couple experiments I have in mind, one soup, the other pizza.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: E_T on May 07, 2018, 01:29:53 PM
Sounds like things are starting to settle out a bit for you, good to hear...
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on May 07, 2018, 05:00:11 PM
Sounds like things are starting to settle out a bit for you, good to hear...

It feels stressful because it's less than ideal, but I guess that's the healthy way to look at it, thanks!
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on May 11, 2018, 12:53:13 AM
Made it home, almost unpacked. It was funny to see the snow shovel at our front door, but when we left home last month there was still snow cover. My dad tried to go to the bathroom by himself, and fell again. He's still progressing, and is capable of standing up by himself sometimes now. Last I heard, he hadn't moved to the assisted living wing from the rehab wing, and it didn't sound like his therapy sessions have been reduced. We'll have to see who pays for that....

Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Geo on May 14, 2018, 01:18:59 PM
We'll have to see who pays for that....

The health insurance company I hope?
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on May 15, 2018, 03:35:16 AM
We'll have to see who pays for that....

The health insurance company I hope?

It's kinda complicated. Even Medicare ( gov. insurance for old people) has it's limits. The three brain surgeries cost about $900,000. He's been in the hospital and rehabilitation facilities for over 90 days, which is sort of a cut-off point, but it's been covered. My parents have supplemental insurance, and have filed a claim. It should kick in at the 90 day mark, but won't cover the full amount/day. My mother has contacted an attorney who specializes in elderly law. Now some people would likely go on Medicaid , which is for poor people. In my parents' case, they live in a university town, so their home has appreciated in value, so they don't qualify for that.

Anyway, my remarks were about the differences in daily rates between the rehabilitation wing where he has a single room, and the assisted living wing where he shares. They were a few days late moving him from the 90 day mark when doctors had prescribed the full rehab.  In assisted living his rehab is supposed to be limited to practicing what he's already learned to do, and about 3 times/week instead of 6. So he was getting the full treatment for longer than prescribed, but he was still responding and improving.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on May 15, 2018, 03:50:54 AM
Let's see... the dog and I went on a mile walk each of the last two days. Before that we were busy with moving my mother-in-law into a single room in her nursing home, instead of a suite. She's running low on money, but the home will keep her for life.

Weighed myself today. 243.6 pounds, so I've lost exactly 35 so far. I'm going to need smaller pants, but I'm in no hurry to buy. On the bright side, I won't be buying a new suit to wear to my niece's wedding this fall.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on May 20, 2018, 09:22:08 PM
Sunday, which I intend to be my regular weigh-in from now on. 241.1 lbs.

Yesterday I was at the airport and had my driver's license out.  It said 255lbs.  I've never weighed this much less than my license, and my picture is looking less like the current me.  Tried a few pushups again today, but I could hear bones crunching, * and I'm hearing impaired ) I think I'll put that off for a couple months. I have been walking regularly, and my dog is getting to expect it.
-------

My dad is plateaued on walking with the walker at 100-120 feet. He has been working at propelling himself in a wheelchair using both feet and legs. The problem is that his right knee is bad, and his right hand is the weak one with poor motor control, so he tends to turn to the right . On the bright side, he has been working on steps, something he needs to be able to do to return home.

----------------

I'm going to try to set up the Skybell doorbell/intercom/camera today.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on May 23, 2018, 06:03:04 PM
The door bell thing didn't quite go well. It was working, but wouldn't quite close with the wires connected. In the process of taking it apart and putting it together again I lost a miniscule, but critical screw. I had to abort until I can go to the hardware.

I was really tired yesterday for no apparent reason, and today I appear to have a cold.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: E_T on May 23, 2018, 07:58:15 PM
sorry to hear, hope you get better soon...
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on May 23, 2018, 08:44:58 PM
sorry to hear, hope you get better soon...

Thanks. Seems more and more like a cold. I took Dayquill, and that seemed to help. We were in the airport for a couple of hours on Saturday to see my mother-in-law off, so that seems the like point of contagion.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on May 27, 2018, 07:22:24 PM
Yesterday we led the nation in pollen count. I don't know if it was that or the after affects of my cold, but my sinuses were bad. Today is supposed to be record heat for the date. Our only plans are to pick up my MiL from the airport in late afternoon, and take her to dinner before taking her back to the nursing home. So I figured it was safe to take Nyquil and sleep in. WRONG.

Family needed our portable air conditioners which we take to the cabin on the fishing trip. They were suffering, and their fish were dying in their aquarium early this morning. 

----------- ------------
Diet wise, I remain on pace. Surprising, considering that I'm retaining water because my fingers are swelling up like they do when it gets into the eighties in Florida. I can tell by my rings. I checked, I've lost 5 points of body mass index so far. I'm still interested to see what my fasting blood tests look like this fall. I'm expecting a big difference in cholesterols and triglycerides. 

------------------
I gotta give credit to the therapists at the rehab center, as well as my step dad for his determination. I believe I've mentioned that he was moved to the nursing home wing from the rehab wing, because he was peaked out on the Medicare for rehab, and the evaluation was that he had peaked out on his neurological recovery, too. So he's getting half the occupational and physical therapy he did in the rehab wing.

But he's been doing "push-ups" on the arms of his wheelchair in his room, my cousin has been working with him on his days off, and the therapists apparently decided that since his right knee was bad, and the fingers of his right hand are weak
( seriously limiting his ability to steer himself in a wheelchair ), that it was better to teach him to use a cane in his left hand. Granted, it's a cane with 4 or 5 feet, and his current distance is only half that of using a walker, but it's looking like he'll be able to come home some day, once he has a helmet. Probably need some hand rails, too. At this time my mother wants to keep him where he is, simply because he's making progress now, and she's afraid he could go backwards without the motivation to return home, and the rehab sessions.

He was able to "dial" a large key track phone we bought him for the first time, so his dexterity is improving, too.

================

Tomorrow's plan is to get my MiL, and grill burgers.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on June 03, 2018, 07:18:59 PM
I lost another 2.3 pounds this week, even though I did violate the diet for one meal with a second glass of wine and a serving of pasta. I have been taking my dog on a mile long walk daily, except for when it rained and we reversed course. According to Dr. Gundry, an overhanging belly, skin tags near the armpits, and rosacea, are all signs of pre-diabetic syndrome and insulin resistance. He promised that stuff would reverse.  Well, it's been just about 3 months since I started. My belly is now a big bulge, rather than an overhang. I can only see one vein in my nose, even though my veins are reappearing on my limbs. While the skin tags haven't dried up and fallen off as he predicted, they are getting smaller, as if they are being re-absorbed. Rather than conspicuous, I have to turn just the right way to see one at all, and the other is definitely shorter.

I ordered some protein bars to simplify breakfast on the fishing trip. Reviews said they taste like fudge brownies. They arrived today, and I think they taste like chocolate Space Food Sticks. That's great because I always liked S.F.S., but I can't get them any more.

----------------------------------------

My dad has been using the walker, cane, and practicing stairs and transfers into and out of the car. One of my sisters arrives today to support my mom. They are going to see the brain surgeon tomorrow. Hopefully that will result in being fitted for a helmet. After hearing the results of that, I'll probably make arrangements to fly to PA in July and do another shift with my mom.

---------------------------

I seem to be recovered from cold and allergies.

Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: E_T on June 03, 2018, 08:44:17 PM
Progress, not perfection...
Sounds great...
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on June 04, 2018, 05:36:45 PM
Progress, not perfection...
Sounds great...

You always have a nice way of getting to the crux of the matter. Yes, it does feel great.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: E_T on June 05, 2018, 12:59:37 AM
You might want to try a few sit-up's now, just to help tighten up that belly some...  Go easy at first, but see if you can do a few every few days...
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on June 10, 2018, 06:56:48 PM
Sunday weigh-in 235.2, which brings my BMI down to 32 ! I may have to track down some old driver's licenses to figure out how far I've turned back the clock on my weight. I feel like a different person, but I haven't decided if I'm a "new me" or an "old me". I've started stretching before my daily walk, and I've raised it to 1.75 miles. I tried sit ups a couple of times, but got very light headed. While it interferes with the exercising, it's not all bad. It reminds me that most of my life I had some low blood pressure issues, common to my mother's side of the family. I haven't had that problem for many years, so it makes me suspect that my veins and arteries are returning to "normal" ( at least for me ), too. The belly is still pretty big. It was the first to fatten up, and will probably be the last to lose completely, the way things are going. I think I'm even starting to lose chest fat.

---------

As for my dad, the brain surgeon says that he's healing nicely, and see him again in 6 months. The plastic surgeon appointment is coming up, so if all is well the helmet should follow that visit. He reached another determination/classification in physical therapy, now that he has been concentrating on the walker and the cane only. That means that the sessions are fewer now but he trains pretty hard on his own. We're thinking return home at the end of the month.


-------------------


I'd like to put a word in for my cousin. He had a great idea. You know how sometimes when there's an illness friends or family offer to help, but nobody knows exactly how they can? Some people live too far away, some people have no free time, etc. Usually the immediate family  says "Thanks, I really appreciate the offer, but I don't know what you can do." Well, my cousin who is some kind of a HVAC project manager offered his sky miles and Hilton points. When he's not working, he'd rather be home relaxing anyway. This has made it possible for my Mom to afford being close to my Dad, and one of my sisters, who is more flexible on time to fly in from Florida to support my Mom. My sister had eye surgery complications, so she can't drive. This generosity has made more people able to contribute, and makes everybody feel better. It's a great idea.


-----------------------------

I got the car out of the garage this morning to make room for the boat. Loading this year should be a breeze, as I have all of the boxes numbered, inventoried, spread-sheeted, and sealed in clear plastic trash bags to keep out dust and insects. It should be a simple matter of opening he bag, pulling the box off of the shelf, and placing them in the boat. Then adding the fishing gear. Well, we'd have to get two suitcases from my mother-in law, too, but then it would be ready to tarp.


----------------------------------
Well, I 've goat a beef roast to get started. That's all for now.

Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on June 11, 2018, 03:01:47 AM
Got some driver's licenses.


As recently as 2003, I was still in the mid 170s.

2006 was "200"

2007 was "210"


2014 was 255lbs. I know that was realistic. Well, even conservative by a pound and a fraction. But I also know that I was being fanciful on the previous two licenses, wishing and hoping that I could reverse the trend and back into those weights at the time. By how much, I don't recall.


Just got the fishing license today, so I got to enter an accurate weight on that. Yay! Life's little victories.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on June 13, 2018, 10:50:16 PM
I just re-read this thread.

1) I really miss Valka on this board.

2) I said that this should be a lucky year for me, because I started it with a bad case of flu/dry heaves/diahrrea so it could only get better. Well, it certainly hasn't been easy, but I do feel lucky based on eventual outcomes.

3) Early on I was lamenting my challenges in organizing the clutter in my basement. I wished I was younger or multiple people. It occurs to me that my diet is making me "younger" so that I can accomplish more. I will have to resume the battle of the basement when I return from fishing.


4) As for exercise, I've been walking a mile and 3/4ths every day so far this week and all of last. I stretch before I put on my shoes. I think I'm ready for more, but my dog is not, unless it gets cooler. Maybe I can carry some extra weight on my walk instead. I'm doing neck stretching exercises while she "checks her messages," to overcome the stiffness that comes from computers and other e-devices.  My back and knee joints feel much better. My wife credits my weight loss, I credit the COSTCO Triple Action Joint Health, but it could just as easily be the diet, which is high in anti-inflamatory Omega-3s. As for strength, I've started curling and pressing using a boat anchor in each hand.  I think push-ups and situps are going to wait, but I can try some trunk twisters.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on July 01, 2018, 04:57:51 AM
Home safely after the annual fishing trip.  It was unusual. Some of the best and worst weather, some of the best and worst fishing ( I caught the most fish I ever have in one session, 8, and my niece caught a 17" bass, the largest fish I've heard of in the extended family since I started going on the trip in 2003. ) and I got the outboard motor running the best it ever has since I've been operating it... until the water pump failed.

As for my favorite part - I saw a few Sand hill Cranes, a beaver, a muskrat, some loons, black squirrels, woodpeckers , orioles, several herons, but only one eagle that I know of. Yeah, there were mallards and Canada geese and deer, too, but I don't think of them as remarkable.


I experimented with some new fish cleaning and filleting techniques. I unloaded the two cars, but the boat remains. More later.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on July 02, 2018, 05:23:49 AM
Got the boat unloaded and the stuff stored. All I need to do is take the boat and motor to my brother-in-law for modifications, repairs, and storage. I spread it out over the course of the day, but between that and searching for the new kitten a few times, it taxed my balance. I hit my head on a doorway once, and my shin on a coffee table corner.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on July 03, 2018, 04:26:38 AM
I had trouble with the page locking last night. Anyway...

Went to Illinois and brought Winchester II home. I'll try to get some pictures this week. He's a little nervous around the dog (who wants to be friends ), and doesn't back down from the big kitties ( who hiss and glare at him ).  We put a collar on him, trimmed his nails, no problem.


---------

Diet wise, I've moved beyond the 45lbs. lost mark. That's not bad to continue with my pound per week goal while on vacation, and making exceptions to my regimen almost daily. fffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffc   <= pusskeyfooting brought to you by Chester.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: E_T on July 03, 2018, 06:28:20 AM
hehe, one of the things that one my Ex's cats used to do all of the time was to lounge around on the Computer Keyboard (it was His Most Immense Tunage, Tiberius, Lord of the Lard - a very Big Maine Coon).  The keyboard was also walked across when going from point A to B (window near computer desk that was a favorite hang out spot for all of the cats- we had three at one point)

One time, we had come home from somewhere and had found that the cat had somehow hit the right keys and he had opened up a few IE browser windows and even had gotten to a few sites...  Needless to say, we had to put in a screensaver password with the screen saver set to come on fairly quickly after being idle for short time periods (say we get up to go to other room and cat follows and crosses keyboard, saver has to kick in fairly quickly...).

We always joked that Tiberius was on the web, looking for "kitty porn"...
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Spacy on July 03, 2018, 09:43:01 PM
Glad the fishing trip went well!
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on July 07, 2018, 10:03:39 PM
Glad the fishing trip went well!

Thanks! Since the outboard was working so well this year, I mounted my electric trolling motor on my sister-in-law's boat, because the relative with whom they normally fish isn't there. When the water pump failed, I switched to oars. It was educational. That elliptical motion of rowing is akin to twirling spaghetti on a fork. I figured this out when I rowed through a patch of loose weed floating on the surface. I had to remove them from the locks and hold them more vertical to shake off the the wads of weed every so often. That stuff was heavy.


Today I got the Sky Bell working on my wife's phone, too. Now she can answer the door. I need to get new hearing aids, the tech is better, my hearing is worse, and volume adjustments aren't solving the problem for more than a week to 10 days at best. I think I'm going out to do some yard work. Well, plant care rather than lawn care ( which is provided ).
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Spacy on July 09, 2018, 09:53:50 PM
Ya, I had to go to the doc earlier as I was loosing some hearing.  Doc blamed it on me going shooting, but I haven't been to the range in over a year, and when I was I always used hearing protection.  When I tossed that back in his face, he got all huffy and virtually kicked me out of his office.  On the way out, I saw his incoming mail and right on top was a pamphlet asking for money (I guess) from "The Coalition of Stopping Guns" or something like that.  Time to find a new doc that will actually look at getting me help for my hearing instead of preaching at me. 
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on July 10, 2018, 02:17:07 AM
Ya, I had to go to the doc earlier as I was loosing some hearing.  Doc blamed it on me going shooting, but I haven't been to the range in over a year, and when I was I always used hearing protection.  When I tossed that back in his face, he got all huffy and virtually kicked me out of his office.  On the way out, I saw his incoming mail and right on top was a pamphlet asking for money (I guess) from "The Coalition of Stopping Guns" or something like that.  Time to find a new doc that will actually look at getting me help for my hearing instead of preaching at me.

True. I didn't know how much hearing I'd lost to noise damage in the left ear until I got a disease in my right one. If you know you're losing it, you need to see an Ear Nose Throat specialist to figure out what's happening to your hearing and what can be done about it. That might require a referral from a doc. 
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: E_T on July 10, 2018, 02:49:28 AM
Yeah, if anything, they should get a baseline for where your hearing is now, so that if it gets worse, they can compare to that baseline...

Nice thing about some of the newer Hearing Aids is that they can tailor the sensitivity for what your needing to have increased.  That and I love the Bluetooth connection that I get for my phone (total hands free as well as outside noise cancelling).  I can also play music with through the Bluetooth...  I love them...
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on July 16, 2018, 07:24:12 AM
The SkyBell is pretty awesome...when it's working. I am always amazed at how great our flowers look at night in color 1080HD.
The speaker in the doorbell is kind of marginal on volume for a hearing impaired guy like me. Fortunately our street is usually quiet. The motion sensor is hit or miss. Sometimes it notices the guy delivering the package and notifies us in timely fashion, sometimes it doesn't. So, it seems to me that it would be no better if we had somebody removing packages. The green glow is pretty cool looking at night.


It has sold me on the concept of a smart doorbell, and probably a smart home. If I went that route I'm leaning towards Nest. I like the idea of combination smoke/CO2 detectors that aren't fooled by steam, can be silenced by phone, and can integrate with each other as well as the heating and cooling system.

 
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on July 19, 2018, 12:58:04 AM
If anybody is interested in smart home stuff-

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/842479032/olarm-the-smartest-home-security-system?ref=email (https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/842479032/olarm-the-smartest-home-security-system?ref=email)

This seems like a good value for Americans, and it's Nest compatible.

______________

Finished grubbing out the tree and shrub roots on the surface of my lawn from my uphill neighbor. The homes here are sort of built on 3'-4' terraces on this side of the street. More roots than I expected. I drank some wine to neutralize my back pain by relaxing the muscles. Bent my cutter mattock, but I got almost bent back into shape. Actually, the most useful tool was my Milwaukee Electric 18 volt sawzall. I rarely need the thing, but the big coarse blades come in handy for cutting an old couch in half , and cutting through roots and dirt. I'm impressed with the way the batteries seem to deliver full power up to the point where they suddenly stop, rather than fade away.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: E_T on July 19, 2018, 02:30:54 AM
Good Voltage Regulation...
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on August 02, 2018, 03:53:49 AM
1) My wife told me that the fishing trip stuff got packed wherever for the way home, so I got all of the boxes out and inventoried, and did some redistribution.


2) My Mom needs me again. So, I have a flight booked. I guess that means freezing corn for use here soon, because my window is small, and I have a lot of people preferring it for meals. I'll have to get some tomorrow and see how it is in terms of maturity, tenderness, sweetness, etc. It means that my Summer is mostly over. I will have to start getting stuff done, simply because I will be out of state, or busy. Same goes for rescheduling stuff.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on August 29, 2018, 08:02:14 PM
Things got complicated here with another hospitalization . I extended my stay. He's okay and back in the nursing home. I got to do some pruning, stump grubbing, and other yard work. Froze corn for my Mom here. Yesterday dealt with some legal stuff about separating the parents assets.     Mostly I am her driver. My brother deserves a break from this stuff, he hasn't been able to take a vacation this year because of it.
                             
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 29, 2018, 08:35:12 PM
Looking after family like that = the right thing to do.  ;b;
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on August 30, 2018, 04:44:56 PM
Thanks. I think of you while I'm doing it. Oh yeah, I also cook when we are home and buy dinners on the road. The difference is that all of us are doing what we can. This is my third tour. My youngest sister burnt through all of her vacation and family leave, and my other sister has filled in so that I didn't feel guilty taking a spring vacation that was already paid for. She did another shift, too. I plan to fly home Sunday, stay about a week, then drive back here with my wife for 3 more weeks. My October is pretty full. My cousin will likely take up the slack visiting my dad again. After appointments with the doctors in early November, we hope to move him to this county, so that church people can help over the winter. We will have to wait and see.

SKYBELL allowed my wife to document that the 3 housecleaning were only there for 45 minutes, and it is a 4 person-hour job. She's happy, because she noticed they were cutting corners this week, and she feels validated.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: E_T on August 30, 2018, 07:12:13 PM
Let your Brother get out and away for a bit...

My sister was always very picky as to what and if anyone that cleaned for her, cleaned and how...
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on October 09, 2018, 05:00:44 PM
I should update this thread. Completed the weeding, sapling removal and stump grubbing at my Mom's. My wife and I got my Mom through the nursing home selection/approval process. There's a nice one 5 minutes away. We got the lift/recliner chair, tv, mini-fridge-freezer, lamp, phone, etc. purchased.  My brother got a chance to go to a party on the west coast, he was very appreciative.


Meanwhile my Mom got things moving in the rehab place. My dad now has a helmet. They measured him and ordered a wheelchair. He has been working hard on transfers. My youngest sister is coming in from Seattle for two weeks the beginning of next month to attend the follow-up appointments with the brain and plastic surgeons, and to facilitate the move from the physical rehab facility to the new nursing home. So things are going great.


Here at home, we just had a wedding and seemed to distribute a cold. Being a procrastinator, I didn't get it until today.


Meanwhile my Alzheimer's Mother-in-law couldn't tell if one of her hearing aids was working, so she proceeded to burn through an entire package of zinc air batteries, and go to the standby of take it apart herself. Now a part is missing. The original issue? She needed to clean the wax off of the dome that fits in her ear. The model is old ( in terms of generations of tech, rather than years ), we may not be able to get the part. She doesn't have money for new ones that are grandma -proof.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on October 16, 2018, 05:18:12 AM
I should explain that my youngest sister in Seattle used up her personal and vacation time early this year, but has now been granted a couple weeks of family leave.


I was able to get the hearing aid part from my audiologist. I put it in, but it still isn't working. There's a reason why electronics have covers. Oh well, I have an audiogram scheduled for myself on Thursday, so I'll see about it then.


I'm recovered from my cold. I have a bag of mixed crocus to plant. I guess it's time for outdoor winterization.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on October 19, 2018, 04:34:42 AM
I've been focused on hydration, but I think I need to pay more attention to caffeine consumption, or else the timing of it, because last night I couldn't fall asleep until 5 AM, for no apparent reason. I'm pretty tired now, so I expect that to self-correct. Soon.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Geo on October 19, 2018, 05:39:46 PM
SKYBELL allowed my wife to document that the 3 housecleaning were only there for 45 minutes, and it is a 4 person-hour job. She's happy, because she noticed they were cutting corners this week, and she feels validated.

So, did the cutting corners part stop?
At least, I assume your wife took it up with the cleaning company?
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on October 19, 2018, 05:47:34 PM
The next time they did the same thing again, even though the boss docked their pay. My wife complained again.

Now we have a different cleaning crew from the same agency. They stayed the full time and did a better job. We'll see if they continue to do that or not.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on October 26, 2018, 02:21:16 AM
As for the cleaners, this time we got a crew chief who was competent in English, and the owner of the service showed up, too. I should explain that the owner is a religious Costa Rican, and hires mostly other Costa Ricans. Most of them only pretend to understand English, and don't seem to good at following instructions written in Spanish. This crew chief is supposed to explain what we want to the other crew chiefs.


They asked about the kitchen and bathrooms, we assured them we were satisfied with those. Then we showed them the dust on some of the cabinets and under the edges of the furniture. Judging from their re-actions and the name of the previous crew chief, we must have got a problem slacker. Cats make a lot of dust, whether it's litter sand, hair, or dander. Right now we have six of them in the house.


They put in some overtime, and we're satisfied with the house now.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Geo on October 27, 2018, 09:50:45 AM
I assume it is hard to find English-speaking cleaners in your region?
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on October 27, 2018, 06:06:33 PM
I assume it is hard to find English-speaking cleaners in your region?


The workers for landscaping and cleaning services in this city are mostly Spanish speakers. I can think of one of each service that is English speaking.


The greatest concern isn't how well they clean, but can we trust people with keys to our home and opportunities to remove mail, jewelry, electronics, antiques, etc. I trust the woman who owns the service to screen them. She seems to be religious and hires church people who wish to become citizens, two factors that make them less likely to steal information or property from us.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: E_T on October 28, 2018, 01:20:24 AM
Ah, but they can still be good church goers and still steal you blind...  They just absolve themselves in Confession...
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Geo on October 28, 2018, 04:32:15 AM
Ah, but they can still be good church goers and still steal you blind...  They just absolve themselves in Confession...

Confession won't help you when you're laid off. Doubly so if the parish won't help out because a certain former boss puts in a bad word in the local church's charity department.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on November 15, 2018, 06:10:16 AM
I returned from Florida to snow cover and temps in the 20s. I think I was gone 13 days, and for the first time in years I didn't get sick. Considering the amount of children in Disney, touching handrails, elevator buttons, sinks, etc. I feel lucky.

Well, healthy too. I had a visit with a urologist regarding my PSA test. The increase was more than usual, but I'm still below avg. for my age. He thinks my MD was overreacting, no cancer concerns whatsoever, and I'm fine for another year. I saw him before for kidney stone surgery, and he congratulated me on the diet. I saw the optometrist today, he took pictures inside my pupils and my eyes are healthy, too. There's some eye disease issues in my family.

I cleaned out the front coat closet. It is what I call a flying closet- the box protrudes out the corner of the house ( but still under the roof eaves. ), kinda like those pop-outs on expensive campig trailers.  No foundation under it, and maybe less insulation. I knew there was some mold, that's the main reason I wanted to clean it out. It turns out that the tiled floor of this closet has sagged and gapped about a 1/4 inch in both outside corners, letting in air/causing condensation. Anyway, I got the closet bleached, stuff in it washed, thrown out, or put into storage in the case of shoes that are too loose because of my weight loss. Then I re-organized it. I still intend to caulk it, but I have to buy some.

My Dad moved to the assisted living near his house. It really tired him out, but he is rested up now. So my Mom can drive herself to see him everyday, even in the winter. It's like going to the post office. Now neighbors and church people can come to see him too. The meals there don't have as many desserts, and they aren't serving cookies or ice cream or donoughts every afternoon. That's a good thing, he doesn't need to gain any more weight.


After all of the dining, I'm eager to cook. Well, I'll probably put other updates and comments in the Lazy Gourmet, Diet Crap, and political threads.


Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on December 02, 2018, 06:30:04 PM
We've had 3 guest cats above our 3 resident cats and one long term guest cat, for a total of seven since Thursday night. Only sneezed twice since then and that was when I was moving boxes and likely liberating dust. This immunotherapy continues to work, even though I'm not taking it any more. I'm a guy that could feel my head closing up in a matter of minutes whenever there were more than two cats in the house, before the immunotherapy.

Gave blood, the least activity I've ever seen at the donation center with the exception of a weather event once. Essentially people are busy near any holiday, which means that the blood is more in need, and if you make the time, you can get in and out faster.

Cleaners are coming tomorrow, they have been doing a good job.

My other sister should be staying with my Mom now. My dad's getting acclimated, and recovering from the move. My brother took a trip to Portugal for a vacation. Even though this aging parent stuff has consumed my year, I appreciate that this works so much better with the four of us working as a team, taking turns, using our individual talents. I'm grateful for that. So are the parents. The downside is that there are only a pair of children between us. The example isn't being shared very far. 

The Mrs. has been happy with my cooking, mostly. There have been some healthy substitutions to make things acceptable to my diet. Cauliflower "rice" was one. She actually prefered it in a stew to brocolli and cauliflower floretts, where it could take on the other flavors in the pot. As a rice substitute, not so much. Oh well, that just means that I'll be making basamati rice in the Instapot, and controling my portion of it.


Smartification of the home and rsearch continues. As for other projects, I want to replace some lights and a bathroom fan/light that have been in place since the home was built in the 1980s, and only work sometimes.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Geo on December 02, 2018, 09:38:45 PM
Cauliflower and broccoli mixed up?
That's too much of similar ingredients in a dish for me.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on December 03, 2018, 12:31:13 AM
Cauliflower and broccoli mixed up?
That's too much of similar ingredients in a dish for me.

Normandy mix- frozen carrots, cauliflower and broccoli, which I normally put in a stew with beef, potatoes, and a couple shallots for flavor and for her. I think shallots are a seasoning, she thinks they are vegetables. She like carrots as long as they're cooked until they are soft.


I substituted carrots and cauliflower rice for the Normandy mix, because I was out of it.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on January 27, 2019, 08:08:56 PM
Today is relatively mild for polar vortex. High of 6F and low of 0. The problem is tomorrow is going to warm into the 20s, drop 7-12 inches of snow. Then Tues high 0, low -25. Wed, high -14, low of -23. It is predicted to break into the positive temps again of Friday followed by snow on the weekend.

It means that I need to do some roof raking on Monday.

What really concerns me is a potential power outage. We had one earlier this winter. I've got a fireplace, some wood and some charcoal. I can crack the faucets. I can buy some time.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Geo on January 27, 2019, 11:09:21 PM
What really concerns me is a potential power outage. We had one earlier this winter. I've got a fireplace, some wood and some charcoal. I can crack the faucets. I can buy some time.

The funny thing on my side of the Atlantic is all kind of doomsday scenarios regarding power outages were spread in the news midfall because most of our nuclear plants were offline due to delays in maintenance.
Admittedly we mostly had a mild winter here sofar, but none of it came true. Not a single power outage I know of.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on January 28, 2019, 02:50:24 AM
What really concerns me is a potential power outage. We had one earlier this winter. I've got a fireplace, some wood and some charcoal. I can crack the faucets. I can buy some time.

The funny thing on my side of the Atlantic is all kind of doomsday scenarios regarding power outages were spread in the news midfall because most of our nuclear plants were offline due to delays in maintenance.
Admittedly we mostly had a mild winter here sofar, but none of it came true. Not a single power outage I know of.


They aren't talking about power outages. A lot of the lines are buried underground here, and there's no freezing rain forecast. It's just my pessimistic nature to worry about worst cases. Then when something finally happens, like our subdivision not getting plowed out tomorrow, I shrug it off and say "could be worse," and deal with it. But while I'm waiting with little to do, my imagination gets traction.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on January 30, 2019, 09:25:34 PM
Well, the last couple of days I have been rousted out of bed to get ready to help family members whose cars wouldn't start. As it happened, there work was called off or other arrangements were made before I had to go, but I got shorted on sleep and fed coffee anyway.


As for the roof raking, it revealed that there was some ice damming going on beneath the snow. While I thought it was too cold for the heat cables to work, apparently there was enough snow to insulate the roof enough for some of it to melt against the roof. So, more trips on the ladder than I expected. Live and learn.


Today it happened. My wife woke me up early. -24, the power is out and they don't know when they can restore it. It also meant no coffee or tea for me this morning. Got the fire going. Opened an upstairs faucet, but since I wasn't awake yet I turned on hot rather than cold water. Drank a coke today. Prepped some soup but forgot a key component. The power returned later than they eventually estimated, but at least the garage didn't freeze. Recently the power went off again, but returned. So, we're coping.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Geo on January 31, 2019, 10:16:38 AM
Well, the last couple of days I have been rousted out of bed to get ready to help family members whose cars wouldn't start. As it happened, there work was called off or other arrangements were made before I had to go, but I got shorted on sleep and fed coffee anyway.

I hope that doesn't mean YOU need a functioning car for that? ;)
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Unorthodox on January 31, 2019, 02:23:24 PM
You don't have an oldschool coffee pot for making it by the fire? 
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on January 31, 2019, 05:50:52 PM
I was always a tea drinker. I only ever drank coffee for medicinal purposes when no other caffeine was available. Budget meetings or late night drives. My wife never touches the stuff. So no coffee pots.

I took it up last year as part of my diet. I have quit drinking sweet beverages, and coffee is often the only alternative, depending upon where I go. Also, according to diet theory there are health benefits- so I start the day with two Keurig cups of Kirkland light roast. Then usually follow up with green tea. I don't like the taste of either, but I do believe I'm better off without the sweet tooth.

My wife is not a camper. She likes bathrooms, so I got rid of such practical gear to reduce clutter. I more likely would have boiled water and made tea because I have all manner of paraphenalia, bags and leaves. But as you know, a can of soda sure is a quick and convenient fix.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Unorthodox on January 31, 2019, 09:43:45 PM
Been trying to switch to the green tea myself, but afternoon not morning.  It's not bad, and can keep me off the soda in the evening. 

I used to do soda every meal.  Now it's one of those yogurt drinks in the morning.  A V-8 at lunch, and a green tea when I get home.  Water for dinner.  But there are days when I just can't put aside that evening sugar fix. 

And K-cup?  shame. 
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Geo on January 31, 2019, 10:11:18 PM
I'm already happy I managed to decrease my sugar intake when drinking tea; one spoon instead of two goes in the cup these days. :bot:
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on February 01, 2019, 12:42:50 AM

I hope that doesn't mean YOU need a functioning car for that? ;)

Sorry, I missed this post before.


I have an electric heater in the garage to moderate the temp. It managed to keep things above zero every time I checked. I'm sure our cars would start. Not  lot of gas in mine at the moment. What I don't know is what the anti-freeze rating is this year, I didn't remember to test it, and I didn't have it flushed out this year. My guess is that it's only good to about -20, and that if it sits in a parking lot all day at somebody's workplace, it could be a problem.   


At the moment we're back up to about -5 or -6, and the wind is minimal.  I will have to put the trash out tonight.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Geo on February 01, 2019, 11:24:37 AM
At the moment we're back up to about -5 or -6, and the wind is minimal.  I will have to put the trash out tonight.

The trash pickup services go out when conditions are good? There's no regular pickup day in your county?
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on February 01, 2019, 06:41:18 PM
At the moment we're back up to about -5 or -6, and the wind is minimal.  I will have to put the trash out tonight.

The trash pickup services go out when conditions are good? There's no regular pickup day in your county?


To answer your question- Our normal trash pick-up is early Thursday mornings. That can be delayed a day when there is a holiday. Recycling is always the same day, but only on alternate weeks.

In this case pickups were suspended for two days and it got complicated for people who were supposed to be picked up on late Tuesday, with some being canceled for this week. Wednesday pick-ups being re-scheduled. It's not like the  garbage is going to stink at these temperatures.

People here pride themselves on cold tolerance. A week of subzero weather is normal this time of year. But this was record breaking. I'm glad that people realized that this was dangerous and tried to allow people to simply stay home and wait it out. If the kids were home because school was canceled, or power outages and car problems were complicating things, and if business was so slow that it didn't pay to open... It just made sense for everybody to stay home and take care of things and wait it out. Why risk an extremity to frostbite just to prove "the cold never bothered me anyway?" There were actually a lot of people asking the post office to just suspend delivery for the safety of the mail carriers and the people walking to their mailboxes. We survive without mail deliveries and trash pick-ups on Sundays and holidays, why not suspend them now for safety's sake?

As it was when things warmed up to a more normal -5 or so yesterday, they started finding a few dead people outside and in their homes. One indoor case was blamed on a failed thermostat, but I suspect there were narcotics or some other complication. Somebody died shoveling snow, so heart attack was probably a complicating factor. They tried to bring all of the homeless indoors beforehand. I haven't heard frostbite numbers.  I know there big backlogs with tow trucks, garages, and furnace repair places.


It's back up to +12 degrees F and no wind. The garage will take a while to warm back up, since the concrete was almost freezing. The power interruptions were limited to that one day. When it gets just a little warmer, I will probably divert power from the garage to the roof cables and see about digging out the mailboxes. There is so much snow plowed around them that you have to approach on foot.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Geo on February 01, 2019, 10:09:02 PM
I can't imagine going through a winter like that.
If there's a couple inches of snow for a couple days, or subzero temperatures for a couple days in a row its called a cold winter in my region.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on February 02, 2019, 02:48:14 AM
I can't imagine going through a winter like that.
If there's a couple inches of snow for a couple days, or subzero temperatures for a couple days in a row its called a cold winter in my region.

I should tell you that I grew up thinking that the winters in Belgium and Germany were always cold and damp with deep snow. It was because that was the experience of all of the WWII vets riding in the back of an unheated truck, marching in the snow, or sleeping in a two man tent with a thin blanket. They usually didn't talk about the fighting, but when the subject came up they were always quick to [complaint or disagreeable woman] about the weather there.


----------------------------
It's too bad I don't have kids. The snow I shoveled was ideal for cutting into blocks and building forts and igloos. It's 8:40 PM quite dark and we just got a UPS delivery. I guess they are intent on clearing their backlog.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: E_T on February 02, 2019, 05:24:08 AM
Way too cold for me, which is why I stay in Florida
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: E_T on February 02, 2019, 05:26:00 AM
And good to know that ya'll didn't have any Major problems
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Geo on February 02, 2019, 09:14:37 AM
I can't imagine going through a winter like that.
If there's a couple inches of snow for a couple days, or subzero temperatures for a couple days in a row its called a cold winter in my region.

I should tell you that I grew up thinking that the winters in Belgium and Germany were always cold and damp with deep snow. It was because that was the experience of all of the WWII vets riding in the back of an unheated truck, marching in the snow, or sleeping in a two man tent with a thin blanket. They usually didn't talk about the fighting, but when the subject came up they were always quick to [complaint or disagreeable woman] about the weather there.

Yeah, the winter of '44-45 was exceptionally cold and snowy in the Ardennes, the area were the heaviest fighting went on that winter.
But I'm living closer to Flanders Fields, so usually there's way less snow and temperatures are a couple degrees °C warmer then in the hilly Ardennes.

And, after all, we're a lifetime closer to climate change now. ;cute
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: E_T on February 02, 2019, 05:36:56 PM
You know, I wonder what the Upper Midwest area temps were during the Little Ice Age?  Do we know if things like older tree ring growth patterns (just to name one possible way of providing this date) might be able to show us?

Granted, as I've always stated, give us a few 1000 years of data and we can better predict longer term climate trends.

There is just as much evidence for global cooling as there is for global warming, but which one do you think is a better sell by the Media?  The only thing all of the current evidence agrees on is that there is ongoing climate change, just not on where that change will finally end up at...
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on February 02, 2019, 09:34:49 PM
I have no idea. While Wisconsin was mostly forested, most of that was clearcut a hundred years ago with steam powered sawmills and railroads. There aren't many older trees, or a virgin forest preserve, as in Pennsylvania.


Sadly, there's been a male cardinal frozen to a bush outside our living room window. Today it's mate came to see it. Otherwise the wildlife is returning. The squirrels are in the trees. The birds are in the bushes, the deer are passing through, the feral cat is making the rounds. On the bright side, we have a fox now. It seems to appreciate the heated water bowl we put out for the cats years ago.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Geo on February 02, 2019, 09:56:15 PM
You know, I wonder what the Upper Midwest area temps were during the Little Ice Age?  Do we know if things like older tree ring growth patterns (just to name one possible way of providing this date) might be able to show us?

Granted, as I've always stated, give us a few 1000 years of data and we can better predict longer term climate trends.

As coincidence goes, I just read an article about a proposed paper stating that temperatures dropped a bit during the 15-16th century due to the massive die-off of the native population in the America's. Main reasons for the massive die-off are said to be imported diseases and war.
The article said the native population was estimated to decrease from 60 million to just 6 million, resulting in human agricultural lands not being tended anymore. Following that forests took over the land again, and so taking more carbon dioxide out of the sky. Estimation was a 7-10 ppm drop of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

There's climate data from millions of years ago, but that's of course spotty. 😉

Quote
There is just as much evidence for global cooling as there is for global warming, but which one do you think is a better sell by the Media?  The only thing all of the current evidence agrees on is that there is ongoing climate change, just not on where that change will finally end up at...

Basically, the climate change involves more extreme weather and temperature swings as well. But the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere rises all the time, and its not the only greenhouse gas humanity is releasing in the atmosphere. Methane for instance is a more dangerous one...
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on February 07, 2019, 02:06:19 AM
Had another power outage. It was warmer, so it was an ice storm. About 3 AM I heard the printer chirp, the ceiling fan lights flickered as the power tried to come back, and then everything went dark and quiet. My wife was asleep, I figured to let her get her rest. Chances were that power would be back before we had to worry about it, maybe two hours. I had just fallen asleep, and knew I wouldn't stay awake long enough to start and tend a fire. So I rolled over.


Next thing I know ( 4;30?) she' waking me up with a flashlight, grouching about the chill, and saying that they don't know what's wrong or when it will be restored. So I get up and find emergency lights and cell phone chargers. By then they have an estimate. We decided I could go back to bed and I'd start a fire if they didn't meet their estimate. They got it going, although that woke me up when the house came to life at once again. I fell asleep in the chair tonight.

Now we're getting more ice....guess I'll make some preparations.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Geo on February 07, 2019, 07:51:18 AM
Now we're getting more ice....guess I'll make some preparations.

Dry Martini?  ;cute
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on February 07, 2019, 06:22:49 PM
Now we're getting more ice....guess I'll make some preparations.

Dry Martini?  ;cute

Actually I opened some Claret, after I charged batteries, positioned lights, discussed plans with my wife, etc. I never liked Gin or Scotch.


The power stayed on. Today is freezing rain. It took my dog 3 separate attempts to go outside because even she couldn't stand up on the wet ice. I now have the sidewalk and part of the driveway ( about half of the width ) scraped to the street, but the street itself is rather treacherous. Time to go back out to retrieve the mail.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on February 12, 2019, 08:18:45 AM
YET AGAIN...
We have a multi-hour winter power outage. Our 4th by my count.  Only about 2 inches of snow so far, and the winds aren't that strong. Should be another 4 inches, but temps are in the 20s. Normal winter weather. Apparently it was a downed tree where our subdivision meets the old highway.  I prepared a fire in the fireplace, but we decided not to light it this time.


At this point, I'm losing confidence in the utility company. They had attracted a lot of interest in their stock about a year and a half ago because of their profitability for the sector. Now I'm questioning whether maintenance and upgrade costs were scrimped in order for VPs to meet their goals and gain their bonuses. Cynicism that comes from having a corporate officer wife.

What do we do about it, though?

1) Nothing. It uses some batteries, but otherwise it probably saves energy.
2) Convert the fireplace to gas. We use gas for the HVAC and hot water, it's been reliable.  That way we'd have heat and good cook bratwursts or something.
3)Get a power supply. Basically a battery/ inverter.
4)Get a good inverter wired into a vehicle.
5) Get a portable generator.
6) Get a permanent generator.

I'm sure that my wife could manage a gas fireplace, a power supply, or a fully automatic permanent generator hardwired into our electrical system without me.

It's those intermediate solutions I'm not too sure about. I've got plenty of cords because of my Christmas decorations. But I doubt her ability to carry a generator outside & start it. Or for that matter get the garage door open during a winter storm to get either a car or a generator outside. But, those are workable options for me. I could switch between refrigerator and freezers, (or furnace with some wiring).


I gotta go resynch the Ecobee with Alexa because of the power outage.



Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Geo on February 12, 2019, 11:01:41 AM
1) Nothing. It uses some batteries, but otherwise it probably saves energy.
2) Convert the fireplace to gas. We use gas for the HVAC and hot water, it's been reliable.  That way we'd have heat and good cook bratwursts or something.
3)Get a power supply. Basically a battery/ inverter.
4)Get a good inverter wired into a vehicle.
5) Get a portable generator.
6) Get a permanent generator.

I'm sure that my wife could manage a gas fireplace, a power supply, or a fully automatic permanent generator hardwired into our electrical system without me.

It's those intermediate solutions I'm not too sure about. I've got plenty of cords because of my Christmas decorations. But I doubt her ability to carry a generator outside & start it. Or for that matter get the garage door open during a winter storm to get either a car or a generator outside. But, those are workable options for me. I could switch between refrigerator and freezers, (or furnace with some wiring).


I gotta go resynch the Ecobee with Alexa because of the power outage.

How much property do you have available? Perhaps get some kind of wind-driven power device (not necessarily a windturbine), enough to get at least the basic powered items working?
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Unorthodox on February 12, 2019, 12:27:26 PM
You're limited in size on the wind things by most city ordinances.  There's a couple vertical turbines you can get to fly under ordinances, but they generally don't generate much at all. 

A building power supply can get you a good 8 hours or more if you have room for it, but those little suitcase things won't run a fridge for long if that's what you're thinking. 

Go with the gas fireplace.  It's one of the things we had to give up in the expansion (would no longer be center and way too much money to move the chimney), but I'll add one to the basement in the future. 

Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on February 12, 2019, 07:15:34 PM
How much property do you have available? Perhaps get some kind of wind-driven power device (not necessarily a windturbine), enough to get at least the basic powered items working?


I wish.

Our subdivision is really into conformity. All of the mailboxes must be identical. All of the units  are condominium duplexes, and they are supposed to look like large single family homes. The garage doors and main entrances are on different sides so that each unit looks like a big house with one garage. You have to go through a comittee to plant a tree. They sued a guy for having a basketball hoop.


Solar panels and wind turbines are out of the question. There are, however, one or two permanent generators next to the airconditioners in this development. It was put in by a board member, so I'm sure that's allowed.






Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Unorthodox on February 12, 2019, 08:45:39 PM
Ah, the HOA hell my neighbors keep trying to enforce on me though I didn't sign on.  (they are now slighted by the circle that they can't even see)
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Geo on February 12, 2019, 11:06:08 PM
Our subdivision is really into conformity. All of the mailboxes must be identical. All of the units  are condominium duplexes, and they are supposed to look like large single family homes. The garage doors and main entrances are on different sides so that each unit looks like a big house with one garage. You have to go through a comittee to plant a tree. They sued a guy for having a basketball hoop.

I assume all changes have to be proposed to a meeting of all co-owners in your subdivision. And that you and your wife are owners as well?
Or is it simply a committee of senior 'members' that once in the past has been elected and they manage to 'cling' to their committee seat?
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on February 13, 2019, 01:51:00 AM
It takes years to amend the bylaws. Usually somebody gets elected to the board or a subcommittee, then they go about having meetings and resolutions, and maybe it could come to a vote the following year. I'm one of the youngest people at 59&1/2. I tried a subcommittee for a while. All we ever did was meet and worry and dither and schedule more meetings. We became better informed, but we never made a decision or assumed responsibility or accomplished anything.

My wife describes this as the French management style.


More often it takes years or a court decision to change something. I really don't want to move again, so I'll live with it.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on February 14, 2019, 06:59:38 AM
Thanks for the input, everyone. Well, the utility called to say that they were sorry and would be replacing and upgrading the equipment that serves us over the next two weeks to prevent further episodes, although there will be outages in the transition.


So, presumably things will be reliable again. We had a discussion. She's concerned that she wouldn't be able to do a lot of things if I weren't around and the power went out again. ( I'll be going to PA to support my mom again next month because my step-dad took a turn for the worse again.  My brother handled the hospital trip, my youngest sister is flying in tonight from the west coast, my other sister will cover the Feb-March transition, then I'll do my first multi-week stretch. It could be another one of those years...)

We decided not to do any capital projects. She figures she can start and feed a fire by herself. She'll just carry less wood at a time. Well, one is ready to light. Hopefully she won't needmore than that. We realized that the boardmember who put in the electrical generator did it because he wore an oxygen generator, and those things have limited hours without plugging in.  I suppose that the gas is reliable because the pumping station that pressurizes the line probably has it's own gas powered generator. The same utility supplies both gas and electric here.  The gas fireplace conversion and the automatic generator seem to be our only real options here if and when we decide to do something some year.  My wife doesn't think she could open the garage door manually, lug a lesser generator outside, start it and hook it up.  Not in this weather. This snow was officially 9&1/2 ".



Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Geo on February 14, 2019, 11:10:33 PM
Imagine that. This weekend we'll already have Springtime temperatures. And its only February.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on February 15, 2019, 06:24:52 AM
In short, my step-dad was hospitalized again last Friday, released, returned to the hospital.... and it looks like another long year.   I am adding travel to my calendar again. I'll be missing my wife's birthday. I guess I spent mine without her last year because I was in PA.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: E_T on February 15, 2019, 09:09:58 AM
Sorry to hear this.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Geo on February 15, 2019, 10:39:12 AM
Take care, Rusty.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on February 15, 2019, 03:58:28 PM
Thanks, guys. I appreciate it.

On the weather topic- Garbage wasn't picked up yesterday, I guess they were running behind on account of weather, so the can sat out. Last night we had a lot of wind. Not Uno class winds. Maybe 30-40 mph. This morning my wife says that the truck came through and so did the wind. It's 7 degrees. She can't see our can our anybody else's. When I went out to look. The wheels of our can were imbedded in solid ice. Apparently the garbage man simply popped the can  off of the axle, emptied it, and left it on the other side of the snow pile. I took it back to the garage. I"ll get the wheels later. But at least I still have a can.

As for the neighbors, they may have to search the next block, or wait for another neighbor to return them. We lost a recycling bin once when the wind swept the street, so that isn't unusual. Today the weather worked in my favor!
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: E_T on February 15, 2019, 11:11:03 PM
Modern Day Garbage Trucks...  Almost as bad as Mechanical Rice Pickers (lets see if anyone gets the reference... no googling or such)
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Buster's Uncle on February 15, 2019, 11:23:55 PM
Spock's ears.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on March 09, 2019, 05:25:00 AM
I'm preparing to go to PA, washing, packing, squaring away roof gutters and fire wood, because it's still winter here, with more on the way in the forecast. That and other stuff the Mrs. might need done in the next few weeks crammed into Friday ad saturday. My Dad is maxed out on 3 different anti-seizure meds, but he seems to be adjusting. Down to about one seizure a day. He is Happy to be doing physical and occupational therapy again. So, things are better than they were a few weeks ago, but it's still about as bad as a year ago. Well, we can hope for a faster recovery this year.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Geo on March 10, 2019, 09:38:46 AM
Hae a safe journey.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: E_T on March 10, 2019, 06:51:07 PM
+1
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on April 03, 2019, 03:44:13 AM
Got back Sunday, well Monday because a delay for an international flight that was connecting to my second plane put us into the wee hours of the morning. The trip out was on brand new Max 8s. The trip home was on older planes. All of the actual flights were fine. 

There's a lot of catch-up work to do, laundry, taking down Christmas decorations, moving heavier stuff to different floors, restocking with greens and vegetables, and so on. 

As far as the parents go, my Dad didn't have any seizures that I know of while I was there, so that's an improvement. He's stuck in a wheel chair, doesn't have the strength and dexterity to stand, transfer, feed himself or use a portable urinal. I can't say I noticed any progress in the three weeks that I was there, although some days are better than others. He can barely lift one of his legs ( forget which one)  onto the footrest of his wheelchair. He can't propel it with his arms and feet. He can converse if you ask leading questions ( What have you been watching on TV? Which Big Ten teams are still in the tournament? ) , but mostly he's partial to one word responses such as "yes" and "true." So, he has a long way to go, but he's been there before.  Hopefully no more seizures turn the recovery clock back.

My Mom is doing better. She has realized that there is no point to spending every day with him, because he gets tired and needs to sleep. An hour and a half or so will suffice. We decided she'd drive as long as it was daylight and in county to keep her practiced. She did fine. She thinks she can get along now without one of us being there with her, just my regular spring and fall visits of about 2 weeks each.

My youngest sister re-organized the kitchen and family rooms while she was there. I was mostly doing yard and basement stuff. When I return I expect to be doing yard and garage stuff. I had Mom eating like me. She'd taken it up on my visits last year. She's still shopping and eating like me ( regular servings of greens, mushrooms and calciferous vegetables, meat as more of a garnish than an entrée).
I made a lot of soups while I was there and topped off her freezers.  So, she's in good shape. 

I had a fun time cooking for my Mom and other family while I was there, renewing acquaintances at church and the farmer's market. The down side was that I had some kidney stones migrating while I was there. They weren't too big and were tolerable with some Aleve, and without a trip to the Emergency Room. I passed another this morning, and now I feel like singing Jimmy Cliff's "I Can See Clearly Now." My healthy diet had almonds and spinach too often, and from an oxalate standpoint I shouldn't have any. Hopefully that change corrects the problem.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on May 26, 2019, 07:15:46 AM
Drove to PA for a couple weeks after Easter. More of the same, although I had my wife and dog along. Better that way.

Now that I'm home in WI again, it's time to get stuff done before fishing season. Getting work done on my car, pruning and weeding my nephew's red raspberry patch, planting a dwarf tree, re-arranging my basement to make room for the sauna. Pickling some carrots, planting some greens and flowers, taking longer walks.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: E_T on May 26, 2019, 03:04:21 PM
Busy...Busy...Busy...
Sounds like your getting to do some of the things that you really like to do.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on May 27, 2019, 02:29:35 AM
Busy...Busy...Busy...
Sounds like your getting to do some of the things that you really like to do.

With the exception of the car, yes. I kinda like them to be reliable , and not have mystery problems. Thanks E_T, for reminding me that I'm mostly doing things I like to do and out-sourcing the stuff I don't!
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on June 09, 2019, 06:41:23 AM
Now that I'm home in WI again, it's time to get stuff done before fishing season. Getting work done on my car, pruning and weeding my nephew's red raspberry patch, planting a dwarf tree, re-arranging my basement to make room for the sauna. Pickling some carrots, planting some greens and flowers, taking longer walks.

All of that ended well. The car runs better than it has for a couple of years because of a replaced fuel/air sensor. Finished the raspberries ( everbearing reds), the tree is doing well, I'm enjoying the sauna, and the carrots turned out well, although I want to add horseradish next time. I'm  consistently walking 1.75 miles. Got the worms picked for the fishing trip.

As for the sauna, put it together by myself. I'd studied enough that I didn't have to refer to the manual during assembly.  I've been gradually increasing the temperature and duration. Meanwhile, I'm sweating more easily in there. I can't say that I'm losing weight, but the fat is getting thinner over the pelvic part of my lower back. That's been pretty stubborn. The real objective was relief of back pain and stiffness, and it's helping with that, not only while I'm in it. I sleep better, too. I hope it will help me fight colds, but I only had one last year anyway, so maybe that's a moot point.

Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on June 09, 2019, 07:57:06 AM
Then there's the matter of the genetic testing.

The good news is that there aren't any genetic disease surprises waiting to pounce. What few are there I knew were in the family, and not so serious with modern medical science.

As for the nationalities, they are all European. That's actually a surprise. Based on what I knew of conversations with my grandparents and records I've since lost in multiple moves, I believed myself to be German/English/Scotch/Irish/French/Iroquois. I took a genetic test years ago, and it said there was a fraction of genes shared with people now living on the western coast of Latin America. I assumed that was the native American trace. However, this recent test, ( and it pinpoints cities and names provinces or counties ) says Southern Germany, Rhine Valley, London, Glasgow, Dublin, and Belfast, various counties in England, and southern and other Irish counties. Then there's a broadly northwestern European group, from the same countries plus the low countries and Scandinavia, and that sounds like Viking to me, but it might be Germanic. Then there's a broadly southern European that might be Roman or something. Anyway, no native American, or  Highlanders in particular. That Latin American connection in the earlier test is more likely from a 1.6% Spanish and Portugese faction of the Southern Euro. No signs of Mongol invasion.

Of course some of this is prefaced with "in the last 200 years". Well, if that's the case there's a significant faction of Pennsylvanian that's colonial, not represented in the data. So I guess it's a hedge term instead.

It also pointed out my Neanderthal heritage. Makes sense, in that they were discovered in the Rhine valley. Me and everyone on my father's side of the family have heavy brow ridges. Apparently the main expression is a gene for straight hair.

Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: E_T on June 09, 2019, 05:30:46 PM
hehe, ape man??
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on June 09, 2019, 09:16:00 PM
hehe, ape man??

Not exactly glamourous or expected, but I wanted to find out the truth. More Neanderthal than Italian or Spanish. I wonder if the Spanish is a relic of the survivors of the Spanish Armada that washed up in Ireland?

At any rate, it's probably more accurate to describe myself simply as German-Celtic.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Geo on June 10, 2019, 09:25:50 AM
hehe, ape man??

Not exactly glamourous or expected, but I wanted to find out the truth. More Neanderthal than Italian or Spanish. I wonder if the Spanish is a relic of the survivors of the Spanish Armada that washed up in Ireland?

There've been plenty of Iberian fisherman passing the Irish coasts on their way to Newfoundland's fishing banks.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on June 11, 2019, 01:28:12 AM
hehe, ape man??

Not exactly glamourous or expected, but I wanted to find out the truth. More Neanderthal than Italian or Spanish. I wonder if the Spanish is a relic of the survivors of the Spanish Armada that washed up in Ireland?

There've been plenty of Iberian fisherman passing the Irish coasts on their way to Newfoundland's fishing banks.

Makes sense. Hadn't thought about that, thanks.   Do you have any other insights? 
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 11, 2019, 01:34:32 AM
Geo's about a quarter Neanderthal himself.  ;nod
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Geo on June 11, 2019, 06:29:41 PM
Geo's about a quarter Neanderthal himself.  ;nod

At least I'm not half Denisovan, eh BUncle? ;nod

hehe, ape man??

Not exactly glamourous or expected, but I wanted to find out the truth. More Neanderthal than Italian or Spanish. I wonder if the Spanish is a relic of the survivors of the Spanish Armada that washed up in Ireland?

There've been plenty of Iberian fisherman passing the Irish coasts on their way to Newfoundland's fishing banks.

Makes sense. Hadn't thought about that, thanks.   Do you have any other insights?

Found the page in my sailing vessels book where I had the thought from. According to it, it were the Basque who were already hunting whales near Newfoundland from the second half of the 16th century. So not exactly your typical mainstream Spaniard or Portugese.
In any case, cod fishing in the area started not too long after too, with more nationalities involved. And a quick view of a trade winds map makes it likely the fishermen on their return journey kinda passed the British Isles.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 11, 2019, 06:33:17 PM
Geo's about a quarter Neanderthal himself.  ;nod

At least I'm not half Denisovan, eh BUncle? ;nod
I wish I'd gotten you to lay down for a face mold when I had the chance.  You've got a great face.

-Those jutting brow ridges are a thing of beauty to a mask artist...
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on June 11, 2019, 07:32:44 PM
In my explorations of the 23 and me  website last night I tried to take a look at other customers in the database who shared in my Iberian genes, and it indicated an Azores connection. As I recall, that was a common way to sail to the West Indies from Europe. So I'm going to assume Portugeese seafarers.

Also there was a 0.1% Far East Asian/Native American hit, where I swear there was "none detected" before.  Well, they said it would take longer to get results than it did, so maybe they didn't have all my data processed or entered when they notified me that I could see it. So, maybe there's some validity to the family oral history after all.

Also, they say that some of these areas they may be able to shade in as their data base grows.

Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on June 19, 2019, 03:29:50 AM
Today was a great day.  I'm more interested in the solitude and such than I am catching the most fish. In fact, if I'm catching the most fish, it's because I'm not busy extracting hooks and stowing fish, and instead I'm actually watching my line. In other words- if I'm catching the most fish, others are bitching, which is harsh on my solitude and meditation. Besides, I like the eating better than the catching, and I always eat the most fish.

This morning it was just my niece and I. Her husband was frustrated at not being able to catch fish and a little surly. He stayed in. My wife was ashore fighting the medical bureaucracy on behalf of her mother. Just me and my niece and the wind. Anchors dragged. I caught one fish before she did, and she's better than I am. Then she suddenly pulled in the largest yellow perch I've ever seen, except for TV fishing shows. 11&3/4" . Largest my wife has seen, and this is her 60th anniversary of fishing here. I'm told I'm really good with a landing net ( probably true because I used one for years to catch pigs, so I'm a pro), but she didn't need me. Same with the under regulation bass the day before. She was really happy, and we got rare pictures of her smiling. I caught a 2nd fish, and that was it for the morning.

This evening ( we don't fish during the heat of the afternoon ) we took her husband along again. Except that my wife diagnosed him as needing to learn the techniques with a shorter pole. I don't know if he liked the idea, but he was sporting enough to try. He caught the most fish for the first time ever, and he caught some perch which are the craftiest ones to catch. So his attitude has changed. As for me, I only caught one fish tonight, but there was another landmark. There weren't many boats roaring up and down the lake, the air and water were calm and quiet. So were the fishermen in my boat. We always see bald eagles, but tonight one flew by so close I ( with hearing aids in ) could actually hear it's wings flap. It sounds a lot like a large ceiling fan, or a windmill.

So, today was a great day!  See you guys around.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: E_T on June 19, 2019, 04:05:38 AM
I, on the other hand, was subjected to a tonne of Hot Air, in the form of The first [Sleezebag] 2020 Rally that was at the Amway Center in Orlando.  Gods, I think my ears are bleeding sh*t....
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on June 20, 2019, 04:06:46 AM
I, on the other hand, was subjected to a tonne of Hot Air, in the form of The first [Sleezebag] 2020 Rally that was at the Amway Center in Orlando.  Gods, I think my ears are bleeding sh*t....

My sympathies.
Can you guesstimate the crowd size or % occupied?
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: E_T on June 21, 2019, 01:14:30 AM
less than full
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on June 21, 2019, 05:30:12 AM
You need some eagles or sharks. He's afraid of them.

For that matter, somebody tell him that the Great Lakes are full of sharks so that he doesn't fly here next year and close the airports and expressways again. And the skies are full of eagles. They're an aviation hazard, ask any Alaskan.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: E_T on June 21, 2019, 06:35:54 AM
You have about 500 days until the election, so expect him at least once...

He'd also likely say that Eagles also love him, as they are True Americans...  He'd also say something like, "If they could vote, they would also vote for me"
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Geo on June 21, 2019, 10:37:16 AM
In my explorations of the 23 and me  website last night I tried to take a look at other customers in the database who shared in my Iberian genes, and it indicated an Azores connection. As I recall, that was a common way to sail to the West Indies from Europe. So I'm going to assume Portugeese seafarers.

You can find 'foreign genes' in the weirdest places. For instance, the current population of the Canarian Isles (also a sailing stepstone on the way to the Indies) had a huge influx of Flemish genes a couple centuries ago. This while the Isles already were decidedly Spanish then. ;)
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on July 04, 2019, 12:33:51 AM
Lotsa stuff going on. Good News and Bad.

Bad- My Dad slid out of his wheel chair. Good- but no harm done. They are ordering him a different one.

Bad- On the last night of our fishing trip my Mother in Law fell getting into my wife's car and broke both bones in her lower right leg and crushed an ankle bone or two. Good- The hospital there was able to put her leg back together with nuts, bolts, and cadaver bone.

Good- The medical people were great human beings. Bad- The hospital still runs on paper.

Bad - I had two cars and a boat to pack (a lot of light bulky stuff is carried in the boat beneath the tarp.) without the help of my wife, because she was busy dealing with her Mom and medical records. Worse, we had extra stuff to haul because 4 people who left early forgot stuff.
Good- My in-laws are aware that it's terribly challenging for me to do tasks like packing/moving/unpacking due to my inner ear disorder and the endless series of balance corrections involved with searching high and low, bending and lifting things of various weights, etc. which that entails. Some years I get motion sickness packing, even when my wife and mother-in-law are gathering and boxing the stuff in the cabin up for me. So one of my sister-in-laws offered to help.
Bad- she asked me for instructions, yet she completely disregarded them, and tended to come and go.
Good- My health has improved since I started the diet and supplementation. I was able to get most everything packed by myself, including the extra gear. I just took breaks as needed. Same with unpacking.

Good- my wife was able to arrange transport to bring her mom home to the nursing home complex. Bad- shortly after we got her moved into the room in the physical rehab section and returned home, they called to tell us they were sending her to the hospital. Worse- she had a heart attack. Worse Yet- her grandson was in the ER at the same time because of a concussion. Good- Things are stable now.

That's the way things have been going since Friday around here. There are more complications, but you get the idea. Fortunately the vacation had me cleared of stress when this started, and I was able to hold my tongue around my SiL.  I may have to do a SiL rant when there is time.  But it seems like the crises are over and it's more a matter of long haul to get back to normal.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on July 09, 2019, 07:26:48 PM
The Mother in Law medical drama is getting managed. There may be some improved procedures in the physical rehab section of the nursing home as a result. Ever since I've known my wife I've often wished that she would become a hospital administrator or consultant, and insert some Fortune 500 logic and efficiency into these places. My wife has been considerate enough to give me other tasks ( mostly errands), because I don't really like hanging around hospitals. They have blood and pain and they're haunted with bad memories.

Guess What? You Know Who is coming to a city near me Friday. At least we have time to plan around it.

I'm planning a mixed grill tonight. The nieces should be over, and some of them will not have eaten.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on July 14, 2019, 08:18:37 PM
[Sleezebag] and I managed to stay out of each other's way.
Box of Rocks has mostly made herself scarce and quiet.
I got sick for the first time this calendar year ( drinking broth and soup, mostly) then  grilled on consecutive nights, and dined out 3 times last week. Did some repairs and gardening, cleared the new growth from the foot path to the pond where I take my walks. A great week.

Today's plan is cooking and laundry. Cleaners are coming tomorrow.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: E_T on July 17, 2019, 01:50:45 PM
Lotsa stuff going on. Good News and Bad.

Bad- My Dad slid out of his wheel chair. Good- but no harm done. They are ordering him a different one.

Bad- On the last night of our fishing trip my Mother in Law fell getting into my wife's car and broke both bones in her lower right leg and crushed an ankle bone or two. Good- The hospital there was able to put her leg back together with nuts, bolts, and cadaver bone.

Good- The medical people were great human beings. Bad- The hospital still runs on paper.

Bad - I had two cars and a boat to pack (a lot of light bulky stuff is carried in the boat beneath the tarp.) without the help of my wife, because she was busy dealing with her Mom and medical records. Worse, we had extra stuff to haul because 4 people who left early forgot stuff.
Good- My in-laws are aware that it's terribly challenging for me to do tasks like packing/moving/unpacking due to my inner ear disorder and the endless series of balance corrections involved with searching high and low, bending and lifting things of various weights, etc. which that entails. Some years I get motion sickness packing, even when my wife and mother-in-law are gathering and boxing the stuff in the cabin up for me. So one of my sister-in-laws offered to help.
Bad- she asked me for instructions, yet she completely disregarded them, and tended to come and go.
Good- My health has improved since I started the diet and supplementation. I was able to get most everything packed by myself, including the extra gear. I just took breaks as needed. Same with unpacking.

Good- my wife was able to arrange transport to bring her mom home to the nursing home complex. Bad- shortly after we got her moved into the room in the physical rehab section and returned home, they called to tell us they were sending her to the hospital. Worse- she had a heart attack. Worse Yet- her grandson was in the ER at the same time because of a concussion. Good- Things are stable now.

That's the way things have been going since Friday around here. There are more complications, but you get the idea. Fortunately the vacation had me cleared of stress when this started, and I was able to hold my tongue around my SiL.  I may have to do a SiL rant when there is time.  But it seems like the crises are over and it's more a matter of long haul to get back to normal.
All I can say is WOW!!
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on July 17, 2019, 08:16:51 PM
Things are better with my MiL now after some meds/timing adjustments. She wants to get better and is working towards recovery. My nephew is apparently back to normal.

In the meanwhile a 2nd cousin was run over as a pedestrian by a FedEx truck. She died. Her parents lost her older brother perhaps 5 years ago, under mysterious circumstances. I suspect that was a suicide or OD, but don't know. He was depressed over a failed relationship and living alone. There is one son left, the youngest. I've been procrastinating on a sympathy card because I don't know what to
say to the parents. Well, it's a reminder to tell your loved ones how much they mean to you while you still can.

Some of the nieces are camping in the UP. That's the upper peninsula of Michigan, and it's pronounced as "you pee." So we've got guest cats. There's a lot of noise/stuff getting knocked over at all hours. 

Got my teeth cleaned yesterday. I'm fine from a cavity standpoint for another consecutive checkup. I credit the diet. I may get leaves stuck between my teeth, but I don't get them coated with sugar and starch. The downside is that one of my molars that has a lot of fillings has cracked and is temp sensitive. So it's time for a crown.

Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: E_T on July 20, 2019, 06:42:50 PM
or an extraction, depending on how cracked.

The UP must be really nice, this time of year.  GK/Spacy would likely know...

Man, sorry to hear about your cuz, do you know what the circumstances of the accident are and if the immediate family is going to seek some form of legal recourse?

If anything, send two cards, one to the family and another to the remaining sibling, as there are likely things to say that would mean more to him than anyone else.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on July 20, 2019, 07:49:33 PM
Thanks, E_T.

As for my second cousin, part of the tragedy is that her parents heard about it on the news, instead of being notified by a professional or family member that she wasn't alive any more. She was married to the Melon family's game keeper, and lived on the preserve. My understanding is that she delivered some of the Melon kids to bible school every day. I just now got up the nerve to look up the news story.

https://www.pennlive.com/daily-buzz/2019/07/fedex-truck-hits-kills-pa-woman-moments-after-she-drops-off-kids.html (https://www.pennlive.com/daily-buzz/2019/07/fedex-truck-hits-kills-pa-woman-moments-after-she-drops-off-kids.html)

I suspect she was in the cross walk at the time, judging by the photo. I don't know what her parents and husband are going to do, but I'm sure the ambulance chasers have contacted them by now. Or maybe the Melons have a law firm on retainer and want to help. That wouldn't surprise me.

She was kind, she was good, she was responsible. I wish we had a country full of Pams. Uh... Another time.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Geo on July 21, 2019, 11:01:04 PM
Thanks, E_T.

As for my second cousin, part of the tragedy is that her parents heard about it on the news, instead of being notified by a professional or family member that she wasn't alive any more. She was married to the Melon family's game keeper, and lived on the preserve. My understanding is that she delivered some of the Melon kids to bible school every day. I just now got up the nerve to look up the news story.

https://www.pennlive.com/daily-buzz/2019/07/fedex-truck-hits-kills-pa-woman-moments-after-she-drops-off-kids.html (https://www.pennlive.com/daily-buzz/2019/07/fedex-truck-hits-kills-pa-woman-moments-after-she-drops-off-kids.html)

I suspect she was in the cross walk at the time, judging by the photo. I don't know what her parents and husband are going to do, but I'm sure the ambulance chasers have contacted them by now. Or maybe the Melons have a law firm on retainer and want to help. That wouldn't surprise me.

She was kind, she was good, she was responsible. I wish we had a country full of Pams. Uh... Another time.

And I'm supposed to have a FedEx delivery tomorrow...
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on July 21, 2019, 11:22:19 PM
Thanks, E_T.

As for my second cousin, part of the tragedy is that her parents heard about it on the news, instead of being notified by a professional or family member that she wasn't alive any more. She was married to the Melon family's game keeper, and lived on the preserve. My understanding is that she delivered some of the Melon kids to bible school every day. I just now got up the nerve to look up the news story.

https://www.pennlive.com/daily-buzz/2019/07/fedex-truck-hits-kills-pa-woman-moments-after-she-drops-off-kids.html (https://www.pennlive.com/daily-buzz/2019/07/fedex-truck-hits-kills-pa-woman-moments-after-she-drops-off-kids.html)

I suspect she was in the cross walk at the time, judging by the photo. I don't know what her parents and husband are going to do, but I'm sure the ambulance chasers have contacted them by now. Or maybe the Melons have a law firm on retainer and want to help. That wouldn't surprise me.

She was kind, she was good, she was responsible. I wish we had a country full of Pams. Uh... Another time.

And I'm supposed to have a FedEx delivery tomorrow...

I assume you were attempting to lighten the mood. I quit writing about it because my outlook was getting pretty dark, and I had a birthday party to go to when I typed that.

So, thanks for trying, Geo.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on July 29, 2019, 03:04:58 AM
Now that I'm home in WI again, it's time to get stuff done before fishing season. Getting work done on my car, pruning and weeding my nephew's red raspberry patch, planting a dwarf tree, re-arranging my basement to make room for the sauna. Pickling some carrots, planting some greens and flowers, taking longer walks.

All of that ended well. The car runs better than it has for a couple of years because of a replaced fuel/air sensor. Finished the raspberries ( everbearing reds), the tree is doing well, I'm enjoying the sauna, and the carrots turned out well, although I want to add horseradish next time. I'm  consistently walking 1.75 miles. Got the worms picked for the fishing trip.

As for the sauna, put it together by myself. I'd studied enough that I didn't have to refer to the manual during assembly.  I've been gradually increasing the temperature and duration. Meanwhile, I'm sweating more easily in there. I can't say that I'm losing weight, but the fat is getting thinner over the pelvic part of my lower back. That's been pretty stubborn. The real objective was relief of back pain and stiffness, and it's helping with that, not only while I'm in it. I sleep better, too. I hope it will help me fight colds, but I only had one last year anyway, so maybe that's a moot point.

To follow up on this post- My car is still running well. Revisited the red raspberries and weeded again. There were a few ripe berries, but I didn't bother picking them. My nephew can have at them. I think the bulk of the crop will ripen in August-September.

SAUNA- Still sleeping better. Actually, my back is better in general, and I don't notice any pain while in the sauna any more. It's not because the wood seating is comfortable. I did get sick once since I posted this, and seemed to get over it quickly with the aid of an afternoon sauna session in addition to the usual one before bed.

In think I started out with 10 minute/115 degree sessions, and worked up to 30 minutes/130 degrees. My body is sweating more easily, so I have recently switched to 40minutes/120 degrees. That's a little misleading, because I set the time and temperature for an hour, and it may be closer to 115 when I enter than the target temp, because it takes a while to warm up, about a degree/min. So 30/130 was less accurate than the other settings, with only about half of the session at target temp.

I do think my skin is looking better. Flushing my pores out seems to get rid of blackheads. I think the heat is inhospitable for warts and skin fungi. I think my wrinkles are fewer and shallower after I use it, too, if only temporarily. When I did my sauna research, I figured the benefits derived from improved circulation and stress reduction. My hands and feet were always cold/ cool to the touch, but they don't seem to be any more, even when I'm in bed. To me, that is proof of long term improvement in circulation. We went to visit my MiL in the rehab wing of the nursing home. It's a very warm place year  round. More so compared to home, which my wife likes near 66 year round. I noticed I was sweating almost immediately, rather than suffering. I figure that's sauna conditioning also.

The various carrot pickling went well, I've got plans for kombucha, sour dough, kimchi, more on that later.

I'm thinking about installing the salon sink in the basement myself. But rather than trying to replace the laundry utility tub as originally planned, put it beside it on the same wall. Why? Because essentially the nieces need a utility sink for mad scientist hair dye experiments. Probably better to have a clean one for washing heads and another for mixing/dumping handwashing towel rinsing, wringing, and whatever. Otherwise the hair perm/ dye stuff will get stacked around the area waiting to be spilled. I figure working in a cool basement is a good August project. To do that I'll need to shift some stuff, get out the laser level, start measuring and marking to get the sink level, the drain sloped, and room for a towel hamper or something. There's a column to work around. It will be involved, and plumbing's not my favorite, but should be doable if I take my time.

Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on July 30, 2019, 11:16:02 PM
Lotsa stuff going on. Good News and Bad.

Bad- My Dad slid out of his wheel chair. Good- but no harm done. They are ordering him a different one.

Bad- On the last night of our fishing trip my Mother in Law fell getting into my wife's car and broke both bones in her lower right leg and crushed an ankle bone or two. Good- The hospital there was able to put her leg back together with nuts, bolts, and cadaver bone.

Good- The medical people were great human beings. Bad- The hospital still runs on paper.

Bad - I had two cars and a boat to pack (a lot of light bulky stuff is carried in the boat beneath the tarp.) without the help of my wife, because she was busy dealing with her Mom and medical records. Worse, we had extra stuff to haul because 4 people who left early forgot stuff.
Good- My in-laws are aware that it's terribly challenging for me to do tasks like packing/moving/unpacking due to my inner ear disorder and the endless series of balance corrections involved with searching high and low, bending and lifting things of various weights, etc. which that entails. Some years I get motion sickness packing, even when my wife and mother-in-law are gathering and boxing the stuff in the cabin up for me. So one of my sister-in-laws offered to help.
Bad- she asked me for instructions, yet she completely disregarded them, and tended to come and go.
Good- My health has improved since I started the diet and supplementation. I was able to get most everything packed by myself, including the extra gear. I just took breaks as needed. Same with unpacking.

Good- my wife was able to arrange transport to bring her mom home to the nursing home complex. Bad- shortly after we got her moved into the room in the physical rehab section and returned home, they called to tell us they were sending her to the hospital. Worse- she had a heart attack. Worse Yet- her grandson was in the ER at the same time because of a concussion. Good- Things are stable now.

That's the way things have been going since Friday around here. There are more complications, but you get the idea. Fortunately the vacation had me cleared of stress when this started, and I was able to hold my tongue around my SiL.  I may have to do a SiL rant when there is time.  But it seems like the crises are over and it's more a matter of long haul to get back to normal.

I thought I'd share an x-ray, because it illustrates the tale and because Uno likes to see bones. She can take the boot off and put weight on it for therapy and showers now. Supposedly one of the screws is loose. If it breaks the skin they will turn it out, rather than risk an infection.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Unorthodox on July 31, 2019, 02:42:49 PM
Are they trying to fuse the ankle?  That looks like they might be, likely reduced mobility once healed.  Specifically side to side rotation, which will make uneven surfaces difficult. 


Also looks like considerable swelling on the foot, but might be goofy angle.   

Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on August 01, 2019, 06:23:40 AM
Are they trying to fuse the ankle?  That looks like they might be, likely reduced mobility once healed.  Specifically side to side rotation, which will make uneven surfaces difficult. 


Also looks like considerable swelling on the foot, but might be goofy angle.   

I don't know.

What I do know- 1) She has congenital bone deformities which cause her bones to twist as she ages. 2) Probably part of the problem with the fall was that foot was 30-40 degrees out of alignment before the accident. 3) We wanted to take her to a Mayo Clinic affiliated hospital. What we settled for was the one bone Dr. on duty in the county when the accident happened about 5PM on a Friday when the golfing was good, and ambulance drivers who weren't allowed to go outside the county. 4) they said some of the bone was crushed, and added cadaver bone as well as the hardware. I don't which it is. 5) We don't know if she'll be setting foot on uneven ground again. She fell getting into our car in a gravel parking lot . She may be limited to the nursing home and places they transport her from now on, depending how well she recovers. 6) There is still a lot of swelling, but it's way better than it was. She's a slow healer.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Unorthodox on August 01, 2019, 01:37:32 PM
So, I did the crushing bit to my ankle back in the day stepping out of a yard jockey (semi spotter) onto gravel.  One of the 2 injuries that still give me nightmares, and possibly the worst pain I've ever been in.  Wearing good boots probably prevented the breaking of the bones, and your MIL probably has a bit of osteoporosis involved.  Pagets disease maybe on the 'twisting'?   

This is a long, slow recovery even for a 20 year old kid.  Ankles just are that critical of an area.  Incidentally this healing wrong is most likely why my knee has issues now.   
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: E_T on August 02, 2019, 03:13:17 AM
Ouch and ouch!!
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on August 09, 2019, 05:00:01 AM
So, I did the crushing bit to my ankle back in the day stepping out of a yard jockey (semi spotter) onto gravel.  One of the 2 injuries that still give me nightmares, and possibly the worst pain I've ever been in.  Wearing good boots probably prevented the breaking of the bones, and your MIL probably has a bit of osteoporosis involved.  Pagets disease maybe on the 'twisting'?   

This is a long, slow recovery even for a 20 year old kid.  Ankles just are that critical of an area.  Incidentally this healing wrong is most likely why my knee has issues now.   
Osteoporosis & stenosis, as far as I know.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: E_T on August 12, 2019, 08:32:43 PM
Ostiopeania(sp) for me...
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on August 24, 2019, 09:06:27 PM
It's been a weird, outta control kinda week.

My MiL is better. Either because of that or because of my wife pointing out the rehab wing staff's lies and the failure to follow the
treatment plan- my MiL is being returned to her assisted living apartment, maybe next week. Only she's still in a wheelchair rather than a walker. So we need to remove the loveseat from her apartment unit to make room. Maybe rent a lift chair. The problem is that because of the dementia, she calls about it all of the time, and is giving us wrong dates. I have to make space for her loveseat, and my wife wants it in the basement. Doable, but...

One of the nieces called begging us to have her sister move in with us. Without divulging details, one feared for the other's life. So of course we agreed, and I started shifting stuff to make it work, moving stuff from bathroom to bathroom, learning more about what she likes and eats on her diet, etc. Started shifting furniture in the guest room, etc. So that was in full swing when she reached an agreement on a condo. Now I don't know if she'll be here temporarily or not at all because neither does she.

We were on standby to support a in-law who had surgery and can't drive or lift more than 10 lbs. , although they haven't needed us very much.

Oh, my dog blew out her ACL playing tag with one of the cats, and I spent my birthday hanging out at the doggie ER. Surgery to follow. Meanwhile extra care and meds here at home.

ANYWAY, the last week or so has been out of control. I'm not stressing much. I'm better at surprise problems than I am at idle anticipation. While plans had a way of getting canceled, we did manage to go to a Kenny Wayne Shepherd and Buddy Guy concert. We had a great time. But, if I'm not paying attention or following up here at AC2 and elsewhere, that's what's going on.


Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Geo on August 25, 2019, 10:18:16 AM
You make me fear the day I'm allowed to go in retirement, Rusty. It sounds so busy. ;)
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on August 26, 2019, 11:19:44 PM
You make me fear the day I'm allowed to go in retirement, Rusty. It sounds so busy. ;)

Part of that is I refuse to be a slave to a daily schedule any more. It's my great freedom. But that means that if I sleep in, I get less done in a day, and the rest of it is busier. Same if I drop everything and go for an afternoon walk, as another example.

HOWEVER, the spare time is filled with e-readers and books! Also, I can re-read stuff I enjoyed 40 or 50 years ago. Time spent helping family is more meaningful than making money. If it gets too busy, it's time to travel.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: E_T on August 27, 2019, 05:03:26 PM
It's been a weird, outta control kinda week.

My MiL is better. Either because of that or because of my wife pointing out the rehab wing staff's lies and the failure to follow the
treatment plan- my MiL is being returned to her assisted living apartment, maybe next week. Only she's still in a wheelchair rather than a walker. So we need to remove the loveseat from her apartment unit to make room. Maybe rent a lift chair. The problem is that because of the dementia, she calls about it all of the time, and is giving us wrong dates. I have to make space for her loveseat, and my wife wants it in the basement. Doable, but...

One of the nieces called begging us to have her sister move in with us. Without divulging details, one feared for the other's life. So of course we agreed, and I started shifting stuff to make it work, moving stuff from bathroom to bathroom, learning more about what she likes and eats on her diet, etc. Started shifting furniture in the guest room, etc. So that was in full swing when she reached an agreement on a condo. Now I don't know if she'll be here temporarily or not at all because neither does she.

We were on standby to support a in-law who had surgery and can't drive or lift more than 10 lbs. , although they haven't needed us very much.

Oh, my dog blew out her ACL playing tag with one of the cats, and I spent my birthday hanging out at the doggie ER. Surgery to follow. Meanwhile extra care and meds here at home.
How big is the dog, compared to the Savanna's (or one of those lager cat types, that you had gotten, IIRC)? They might be out of his league, as they get bigger.  I hope the cats learn to step down the roughness of the play for the smaller folk...
Umm, ACL is what again, a hip thing??

Quote
ANYWAY, the last week or so has been out of control. I'm not stressing much. I'm better at surprise problems than I am at idle anticipation. While plans had a way of getting canceled, we did manage to go to a Kenny Wayne Shepherd and Buddy Guy concert. We had a great time. But, if I'm not paying attention or following up here at AC2 and elsewhere, that's what's going on.
Yeah, being able to get out to do a few things to help with the distribution of the overall load of RL really does help.  I got to work the Gators v Hurricanes game, was posted on the 42 yardline near the field on the Gator side (Go Gators!).  Not only did I have a great time, but I got paid for it, too
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on August 30, 2019, 12:17:47 AM
The dog is a Schipperke. Bred for catching rats and being an alarm system on barges and in shops. Overweight at 27lbs. Still pretty athletic, as most of that is chest and haunches, and the feet are daintier than the cats. Normally she corners and jumps like a rabbit. The cats are Pixie Bobs and still growing.  Normally they are well matched and keep things playful without biting each other. The Pixies have better things to do, like use their thumbs to open the treat jar.

The drugs are keeping her napping more. The ACL are ligaments that give the knee lateral support. It's called something different in dogs, but it's the same idea. It's a career threatening injury for athletes. Losing one knee puts more stress and risk on the other. We saw the surgeon today. We opted for nylon sutures inside the knee to stabilize the joint. Not the bone and plate surgery they wanted to do ( pricier, greater risk of complications including eventual bone cancer ), but smaller dogs have better recovery on the less invasive approaches than the retriever sized dogs that often get the injury. So we take her in tomorrow morning and we're rigging for post op recovery ( rugs, step modifications, restricting access to parts of the house, etc.)
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Geo on August 30, 2019, 03:46:32 PM
A 'schipperke' (dutch word btw)? Shepherd dog?
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on August 31, 2019, 08:11:34 AM
A 'schipperke' (dutch word btw)? Shepherd dog?

It's a spitz type dog, but it's smaller/ shorter body length than a corgi.

It's supposed to mean " little skipper" or "little captain." The breed originated in Belgium IIRC, but as for language origins, you'd be a better judge than I am.

The surgery went well. When they opened her knee up they found that the ligaments were completely torn apart. So, I think we made the right choice about what to do. I built some ramps today because she should avoid steps for a couple of months. We pick her up tomorrow after lunch.

----------

More drama. The niece's boyfriend has decided/announced he can't see himself with a cat. She's a cat person. Had pets all of her life, has names picked out for various other animals. Her cat has been staying with us and our cats. Looks like it will be here another year. It remains to be seen whether they break up over this impass, and if she moves in here.
----------
My MiL has moved from the physical rehab buildings back to the assisted living complex. This should make her happier. I don't know if she'll get the care she needs for a full recovery. Time will tell.
---------
Change in plans. While I was shifting stuff in the basement to accommodate my Mil's love seat and chair, and shifting some of our stuff downstairs, I re-discovered another drain port in the basement. It serves the kitchen sink and dishwasher. I consulted one of the hairdresser nieces, and she agreed that it would be better to keep the utility sink and add the hair washing sink, rather than swap sinks.  We discussed orientation at the "new drain" location. This should be easier as far as plumbing, once I'm able to consolidate more stuff in the basement and create a little more space.

-----

Meanwhile we're trying to get things squared away before we drive to PA in September. One of my hearing aids quit working and I had to trouble shoot it and send it away. We need to make arrangements to replace our driveway because the condo association doesn't approve of it ( we used a guy my brother in law used, and got decent work, but cheap concrete that is crumbling on the surface and seams. ).
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on September 09, 2019, 04:46:44 AM
My Dad fell out of bed. No seizure this time, just a fall and head lacerations, but the local hospital forwarded him to another county because they didn't have a neurologist in the E.R. and they were afraid to mess with a head lacking the top of the skull. So, that was this week's big adventure.
====
My dog is recovering quickly...perhaps too quickly. We don't want her to become overactive and re-injure herself before she's fully healed.

------
On the MiL front, my wife finally made contact with people who could answer her questions about going forward with the Medicare/Medicaid stuff.

--------
I've been doing some organizing. Clearing some large cardboard boxes to give to the niece who is about to move. Trying on clothing and getting the oversized stuff into storage bins. Still need to make some room before I can start on that basement shampoo sink, but I'm gaining on it.

Got a rear cam for my crossover station wagon. I wanted one for trips when I have a boat on behind, or a lot of stuff/people and only tunnel vision in my rearview mirror. Charged it, installed and synched it easily. Almost love it but-  the camera is part of a license plate holder, and it's thick at the top where the camera is, thick at the bottom where the solar collector is, and it blocks too much of the plate, such as inspection stickers, or the name of the state. Also, it blocks the license plate light. So I was able to use brackets to re-position it so that it didn't block things too badly. Then I bought a LED  light for the license plate. I couldn't get that to work. Why? Because I have geezer vision that couldn't tell that this light had a cable, rather than a single wire. Last time I did a license plate light it was metal and frame grounded. With glasses and enough light, I should be able to complete the fix next attempt.

Started some yard work. Got involved in weeding the flower beds, trimming plants that are finished for the season, and going to war against every tree seedling I could find growing in a hedge or flower bed. Got them all pulled or sawed off below ground level, then got out the cordless sabre saw and went after a tree root that broke surface. Had battery left and started cutting back the buckthorn new growth on the path to the park. Meanwhile I did the laundry a day or so early. HOWEVER, today I feel like somebody tried to pull my arms out of their sockets. Getting older sure beats the alternative. But it seems that every time I put the extra energy that comes with the weight loss to use I feel it for days afterwards, which sucks.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: E_T on September 09, 2019, 05:52:13 AM
No Pain, No Gain??
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Geo on September 15, 2019, 07:14:38 PM
No Pain, No Gain??

No Gaian, no paean?
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on September 20, 2019, 04:08:27 AM
--------
Got a rear cam for my crossover station wagon. I wanted one for trips when I have a boat on behind, or a lot of stuff/people and only tunnel vision in my rearview mirror. Charged it, installed and synched it easily. Almost love it but-  the camera is part of a license plate holder, and it's thick at the top where the camera is, thick at the bottom where the solar collector is, and it blocks too much of the plate, such as inspection stickers, or the name of the state. Also, it blocks the license plate light. So I was able to use brackets to re-position it so that it didn't block things too badly. Then I bought a LED  light for the license plate. I couldn't get that to work. Why? Because I have geezer vision that couldn't tell that this light had a cable, rather than a single wire. Last time I did a license plate light it was metal and frame grounded. With glasses and enough light, I should be able to complete the fix next attempt.

  WELL, I'm going to save that video license plait frame only for trips with the boat. Because I have no routine, neither does my car. It puts on most of it's mileage on vacation trips. It sits in the dark garage for days at a time, the camera loses it's charge, and it's synch. I'll put it back on when the car is sitting in the driveway and the boat is sitting in the garage again.
-------
Dog is healing nicely.
-------
Mother in Law is doing well with the lift/recliner chair I selected and set up. She likes the heat and massage features ( I find them too weak to do much good ). At least now she is sleeping with her feet elevated.
------
We want to see if we can set my Dad up with an Alexa/echo. His neuropathy is so bad that turning a tv remote on and off is the best he can manage. He can't hold a book or turn a page. He could manage voice controls. He's at the end of a hall on a top floor, so maybe there's no wifi signal. Maybe there's no available power outlet. We'll see.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on October 13, 2019, 07:00:17 PM
Well, the wifi signal is too weak/slow to be of much use in my Dad's room. It's fine in other parts of the building. The nursing home is building a new facility, and this approaching Christmas will be the last one for the old building. So we'll see what we can do on a future trip once the move is made.
-----

The other hearing aide quit working, so I sent it in too. One will be replaced, the other will be repaired tomorrow if the part arrives, so I should get them back this week.
------

My Mother in Law is back in rehab, but it's good because they think she is well enough to try going back to a walker instead of a wheel chair. She's stubborn, had countless knee surgeries, so she's a rehab pro. She'll likely get out of the wheelchair again, but I fear that with the mental deterioration of the Alzheimer's she'll only fall and get hurt again. Well, it's her life. I understand that it's the nature of some people to fight new limitations, just as it's mine to adapt. I admire those who overcome them.

------

Well, I've got stuff to do today.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on November 16, 2019, 07:04:46 PM
My Dad's short term memory isn't so good, but that may be because one day is very like another in a nursing home bed watching reruns on tv.
----

I got the hearing aids back, took them out to get my hair done, forgot to put them back in because I was used to not having them. Then, when I reached in my pants pocket they were gone. Didn't find them, neither did my niece's hair salon. Went on a trip without them, came home, reached in the coat pocket and found the left one! Best explanation is that I reached for a handkerchief, one hearing aid got caught in it and the other got pulled out onto the ground or floor wherever I was, and then returned the handkerchief to my coat pocket instead of my pants.  Well, they're insured.

----
Dog is healing a little too well. Shen feels like running, jumping, and playing tag with the cats. We don't want her getting re-injured. There's a break in the weather, so we'll walk.
--------

Just when I was convinced that my Mother in Law would never get out of her wheelchair again except to transfer to a bed or toilet, the surgical wounds are healed, the edema is gone, and she is able to use a walker with a support boot in a rehab setting. So, there's hope. But, I'm conflicted. If she recovers, then we're back to where we were, an unsteady old lady that I have to take places in a car ( which is how she broke her ankle in the first place ). The only consolation is that the  surgery did re-align her foot so that it was pointed forward, and not off at a 45 degree angle due to twisting bones. So, it's less likely to catch in a car door, for example.
-----------

So far we still have the niece's cat, desk, and a bunch of empty boxes that are a fire hazard, but fun for the cats.  But she has moved and seems to be happy.

-------

I plan to make another soup today, and get back to fermentation projects.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: E_T on November 22, 2019, 10:40:29 PM
hidy (sp) places are a cats best friend...  especially in play with other cats (or when stalking someone/thing else)...
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on November 22, 2019, 11:33:52 PM
Agreed, E.T.

We were looking for something yesterday we couldn't find. Didn't find it by the deadline, but we agreed it was time to recycle the boxes so we had room to shift things around in a thorough search. Boxes got recycled last night.
--------
My Dad had another seizure, doesn't seem to be major, but doctors are worried. Don't know if that means the bone tumors are growing again or if it's the usual buck passing on brain stuff. My mom is a little overwhelmed. One of my sisters will be there for a few days early next month, the other switched jobs and has accrued only about a day of leave.  I'm on standby.

-----------------
There's another family member with a medical issue, which will result in more tests. Well, getting old beats the alternative.
---------------
My mother in law is on track again with rehab - walking with a walker and transferring. Still needs to be able to transfer in and out of a car and climb a couple steps if she's to got to family functions such as Christmas, or come to our home for Sunday dinner. I watched one of her therapy sessions recently, her foot alignment hasn't been corrected as much as I thought. She was just walking straighter in a knee length boot brace. With a shoe, not so much. So, I'm sure I was wrong about her being trapped in a wheel chair permanently. Still dreading the return to the status quo (where she broke her leg on my watch.)
---------
I'm trying a 2nd fermentation on some kombucha using cranberries and candied ginger.
--------
Otherwise, I would be testing Christmas lights.  So, maybe there will be another update soon, or maybe there will be an absence.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: E_T on November 24, 2019, 07:21:39 PM
Part of the offset in alignment, at this time, is walking such that there is less pain. 

In 9th Grade, I had broken the 3 middle bones on the arch of my left foot.  After I had gotten out of the cast, I had started to walk a bit sideways on that foot, as it was still painful to walk on (not as painful when walking with foot one way, compared to walking normally).  After fully healing and the pain going away, I never had given it any more thought.

In 12th Grade, I had joined the Cross Country Running team.  After a few weeks of practice, a few of the guys, after following me in our group runs, started to comment about how I always had my left foot outwards, compared to the right foot.  This was due to walking the way that I did in the past and it had become a learned behavior.  I had to consciously think about keeping the foot inwards for a long while, so as to bring it back into line.

That helped me, when later in the Air Force, I broke the same 3 Middle Arch Bones, on my Right foot.  Due to that, After that case was removed, I made sure to work through the pain, while making sure that I walked the correct way.  No later problems afterwards, too.

She might have something similar...
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on November 28, 2019, 07:44:30 PM
Good point about the alignment and pain, E_T. I often point out to my wife  the people I call "soccer walkers". They swing their legs from the hip because their knees hurt and need replaced, and they toe out as if they are dribbling a soccer ball.

My dad got worse, my Mom got stressed, and I got an airline reservation. Today he's better. The brain specialists aren't getting anything done this week. So, I still don't know what's going on.

The other family member thing turned out to be a false alarm after further testing.

The ginger cranberry kombucha was pretty good. I'd like to get some more fizz in it, I suspect I need to find a way to keep it warmer.

I put up some lights, but stopped the process due to the 40-50 mph winds. Yeah, I know, only half the velocity of what Uno has to deal with many Octobers. In my case, the wind tends to flog the icicle lights and candy cane lights. Then, when one bulb goes I lose half the string, and they're harder to test once they are hung. So, I stopped hanging them. Guess I can resume now, but today there is cooking and eating to be done.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: E_T on November 29, 2019, 12:58:18 AM
Happy Turkey Day to all!!
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on December 20, 2019, 11:34:16 PM
Let's see...

My Dad's seizure meds have been in an oversteer situation. So my Mom has been great/stressed/great, etc. I have been really lucky to have cooperative siblings for Mom support. Only my brother still lives nearby. My Seattle sister has burned through her leave time for the year. My Florida sister made another support visit this month. It's my job to call my Mom every night. I've had shifting airline reservations for another trip this month, but that gets postponed due to various reasons. I have a hunch I'll be going again in a month or so, but who knows?

Had another family member in surgery, but everything with that is okay now and I'm going to crack a cork tonight.

As far as getting fizz in the 2nd Kombucha fermentation, the trick was to keep it a little warmer, and have less air space in the Fido jar.

Decided against icicle lights this year. If I have to leave for PA, I don't need the extra work of putting up and taking down more decorations from a ladder. The candy cane lights worked great initially after careful testing and installing, then 40% of them went dark. Finally got around to replacing the string in the middle with the one on the end of the chain. Looking good. 

All of the Christmas presents I've ordered have arrived. Now I can wrap those and be done. The last of the stuff that needed mailed went out the beginning of this week. If I get stuff squared away, maybe I'll bake something for the holidays.

As for my MiL, she made a full recovery physically, and moved back to assisted living. The doctor admitted after the fact that he expected her to lose the lower leg. So that's sort of miraculous. On the other hand she was calling and asking where she'd been the last few weeks ( she'd been in the physical rehab wing for 5+ months.) as soon as she'd moved. Had she been out of town? Her Alzheimer's is that bad now. 
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on December 28, 2019, 04:56:25 AM
The house is unsettled on account of the holidays, first from accumulating and stashing gifts, then from shifting stuff around to make space for a party. Now I'm in a restoration process. Re-organized a closet.

Tomorrow I'll probably remove the lights from the outside tree and bushes. Which reminds me, I was going to shop for lights on sale.

It was a good Christmas, although I was probably most gratified to hear about a kitchen knife I selected last year as a gift was still getting used every day, it was the favorite of all of the people in the apartment. Well, it was my personal favorite knife first, ( and still is) a Misen utility knife. It's currently available in a year-end clearance sail. https://www.misen.co/products/utility-knife-original?variant=15394839330897 

The biggest gift for me hasn't arrived yet, more on that later.

Maybe I'll do some vent work tomorrow, too. The limiting factor is my back. It's hurting from carrying stuff from room to room, to and from the car, etc.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Geo on December 28, 2019, 06:22:29 PM
The biggest gift for me hasn't arrived yet, more on that later.

A new boat? ;)
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on December 29, 2019, 06:39:29 AM
The biggest gift for me hasn't arrived yet, more on that later.

A new boat? ;)

HAH! No. We're of the opinion that it's better to rent a boat when and where it's needed, and skip the storage and maintenance costs. HOWEVER- since everything is so bound in tradition in her family, we use the boat to haul stuff there and back. It's just that other family members use it now. It's a john boat. The virtue is that it's low to the water. That's good for the primitive cane polls we use, with limited lines. The problem is that the boat is lower than the dock, and hard for older people to enter and exit.

Arrived today-
https://www.traegergrills.com/pellet-grills/pro-series/780-575-pellet-grill

Yes. It's a smart grill. Yes, there are synching challenges. But it will be a great grill even if it never works with my phone.
------------------

I did at least manage to get the outside tree and shrub lights removed, and the remaining lights re-connected. Also another Keen smart vent arrived. Synch & installation was pretty quick and easy.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: E_T on December 30, 2019, 12:15:31 AM
You might look into a small dolly or something, to help with moving things around.  might help keep your back in better shape,,,
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on December 30, 2019, 04:24:09 AM
You might look into a small dolly or something, to help with moving things around.  might help keep your back in better shape,,,

Good point. Actually I have a dolly and a couple different hand trucks, I just need to remember to use them. I'll go put one of them where I can see it every time I'm in the garage right now. Thanks.

For this the hardware delivery guy had a lift gate on his van, the lawn was frozen around the side of the house, and I had set up a pallet as a ramp onto the back deck, combined with a ramp I'd made for the dog when she was recovering from ACL surgery.
So it was pretty easy for him to bring it around, and I didn't handle anything heavier than a pallet.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Geo on December 31, 2019, 01:49:40 PM
So it was pretty easy for him to bring it around, and I didn't handle anything heavier than a pallet.

;deidre; would be proud of you: +2 Efficiency

I think there was a john boat moored at the climbers cliff I visited last summer in Finland. It was there to move rappelling climbers back to the main cliff.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on January 23, 2020, 04:04:33 AM
I'm home from my travels.

While I was in Cozumel, I took a tour which stopped at a chocolate store/tour and a Mayan melipona stingless bee place. The chocolate art had a guy in Mayan garb speaking the language ( or so they said) and making an official greeting complete with incense. Then we went on to see a model Mayan house, which was basically dominated by a shrine to the dead. My favorite part was the bar tender selling chocolate coladas. The chocolate was great, but over priced. Bought several bars anyway.

At the bee place there was also a Mayan guy in costume speaking the language and smudging us with smoke as a blessing, but I think he was really just bee-proofing us. The bee area was also a sculpture garden of Mayan gods, which I found more interesting than the masks. I didn't know that these New World bees were smaller and stingless. They produce far less honey, although it seems to be concentrated. After we tasted some of it squeezed from plastic drive in ketchup type bottles onto wooden dixie cup type ice cream spoons, my wife noticed I had bees on me. Actually there were two perched upon my eye glasses, which were against my chest hanging from a lanyard. They were eating a drop of honey which had spilled. They took their time and did a thorough job. I figure it belonged to them to begin with.

They also had some sculpture buy a Mayan artist authorized to make images of the gods. I liked the stuff, but it didn't pass my "where would you put it?" test. It would simply be out of place in my home, and I don't think it would be respectful to either my religion or that of the Mayans to wear a carving of a god as a necklace. My wife did buy various medicinal honey products. 

Unorthodox would have found the day interesting.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Lorizael on January 23, 2020, 09:18:59 PM
Neat!

The chocolate art had a guy in Mayan garb speaking the language ( or so they said)

I thought it was the case that we don't reeeaaaally know what the ("original/ancient") language sounded like.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Geo on January 24, 2020, 03:54:00 PM
Okay, that was an interesting story, Rusty. Thanks for sharing.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on January 26, 2020, 02:10:30 AM
Neat!

The chocolate art had a guy in Mayan garb speaking the language ( or so they said)

I thought it was the case that we don't reeeaaaally know what the ("original/ancient") language sounded like.

That was always  my understanding, or that only two dozen scholars can approximate it, but these people claimed to be original descendants from isolated villages. For what it's worth they did resemble pre-Colombian artwork in profile, so probably not so genetically diluted. 

My sense of the tone of the language is that it had a macho kind of Maori sound to it. Or maybe it was the black make-up/tattoos that suggested the comparison. To be fair, I'm hearing impaired and musically "tone deaf" when I could hear, so I'm a poor witness. Even so, it wasn't like the soft murmurings of western native North American languages I was expecting.

Oh. I should clarify that while these bees are stingless, they can still bite like ants. They aren't defenseless.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Geo on January 26, 2020, 11:49:51 AM
Oh. I should clarify that while these bees are stingless, they can still bite like ants. They aren't defenseless.

I suppose that means the bee doesn't die after it bit something.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on February 04, 2020, 06:35:40 PM
Okay. Travels resulted in mild sickness, followed by sinus infection, followed by bronchitis. Nothing out of the ordinary for me, really. It's the usual sequence of things.

Now I'm dealing with a new wrinkle. Tooth ache since Friday afternoon. I've had clean check-ups since I started the diet and cut out most carbs. Trouble is I can't isolate the pain. Usually right side top. Sometimes lower right. Once in a while on the left. It can be front, back, or middle. I thought maybe it was receding gums and temperature sensitivity.

My dentist is in Hawaii, so I got referred to another and they fit me in at lunch time yesterday. So of course while I was hitting the Aleve, rum, and Anbesol over the weekend and still getting stabs and jolts in my teeth. Yesterday I laid off of the drugs, but didn't have the pains by comparison. Of course, I wasn't eating or drinking much unless it was between room and body temperature. Dentist tapped and probed and x-rayed. Nothing. I authorized a complete set of x-rays, figuring it would reveal or rule out an abscess, or be needed before a root canal. More tapping and probing. Still nothing. Dentist said if the cause is dental and not sinus or neurological, the pain will focus and I'll know which tooth. It could be a nerve dying beneath a crown. At least my gums are healthy, my teeth are solidly in place, and there's no abscesses.

I've been able to simply ignore the pain from a tooth whenever one broke off. But these random stabs grab my attention every time. Grrrrr!

Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: E_T on February 06, 2020, 05:41:44 AM
When I still had my teeth, I would always (and still do, mind you) drink through a straw.  This way, you get the hot or cold drink past the teeth and swallowed before it has much of a chance to spread out and really hit the teeth.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on February 06, 2020, 09:18:53 AM
When I still had my teeth, I would always (and still do, mind you) drink through a straw.  This way, you get the hot or cold drink past the teeth and swallowed before it has much of a chance to spread out and really hit the teeth.

Thanks for the reminder!
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Geo on February 06, 2020, 03:31:02 PM
When I still had my teeth, I would always (and still do, mind you) drink through a straw.  This way, you get the hot or cold drink past the teeth and swallowed before it has much of a chance to spread out and really hit the teeth.

I got one word for you, one word: (micro)plastics! ;)
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on February 10, 2020, 11:47:11 PM
Saw my dentist today and he personally cleaned my teeth and probed, tapped, etc.

Diagnosis- TMJ and he made me a mouth guard and told me to cut out caffeine. I have taken up coffee drinking since starting my diet because it's the easiest way to order an unsweetened beverage that doesn't taste like chlorine, and it's supposed to have some health benefits. I had an issue with TMJ 15 years ago, so it's credible.

The mystery was what would make me clench and grind my teeth as I slept, when I'm retired and have no bosses or deadlines or financial stress, and my health is the best it's been in 10 years? Especially in the last 10 days?

FORNICATING [Sleezebag]!
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Geo on February 11, 2020, 08:10:23 AM
The mystery was what would make me clench and grind my teeth as I slept, when I'm retired and have no bosses or deadlines or financial stress, and my health is the best it's been in 10 years? Especially in the last 10 days?

FORNICATING [Sleezebag]!

You should consider an outhouse in Costa Rica for the remainder of the year!
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on February 12, 2020, 07:14:33 PM
The mystery was what would make me clench and grind my teeth as I slept, when I'm retired and have no bosses or deadlines or financial stress, and my health is the best it's been in 10 years? Especially in the last 10 days?

FORNICATING [Sleezebag]!

You should consider an outhouse in Costa Rica for the remainder of the year!

True. More likely I'll simply step back from cable news and internet. I did something similar at one point during the Clinton administration, and was much happier.

The mouth guard, the elimination of caffeine, and trying to pay less attention to [Sleezebag] are actually working. Teeth only hurt once since my Dentist visit.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on March 16, 2020, 02:07:06 AM
I'm still managing to avoid the teeth pain. Of course now, between the stock market and the Coronavirus stuff, I have something to be stressed about that will impact me directly. We are reluctant to liquidate any stock at current value. Then again, it looks like our travels will be curtailed this year whether we want to or not. So our needs will be much less.

I dusted off my seeds and peat trays, and I'm trying to grow my own greens this year. So far I've started kale and turnips for tops. I have a tower planter with a watering system being shipped. I'll probably plant some carrots, beets, radishes and turnips ( different variety) for roots and some various lettuce in time.

Haven't gotten over my sinus infection, so I haven't given blood.

The ice is coming off and I'm beginning to take walks again.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Buster's Uncle on March 16, 2020, 02:20:30 AM
Spring is trying to sprung here.  Momma and I are going to assess the foliage in front of the playhouse and do some trimming before it's too late tomorrow afternoon.  I'll try to get before and after pics of the holly tree/bush...
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Geo on March 16, 2020, 03:52:47 PM
Why would it be too late tomorrow afternoon? A cold spell comin' in?
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Buster's Uncle on March 16, 2020, 04:06:07 PM
No, you just don't want to do ruthless pruning after the plant's gotten into the growth phase, and many of the trees have started budding, so close examination will inform my trimming...
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on March 17, 2020, 12:47:02 AM
Chickens. Not legal here in the suburbs, and not even practical because firearms discharge isn't legal either, and that results in a robust population of raccoons, foxes and coyotes- all of which like to eat chicken.

But I find myself wishing I had them again. I used to have a compost heap of table scraps, meal prep trimmings and pulled weeds. The chickens would eat what they liked and let the bugs or worms have the rest, then eat them, too. So they recycled the organic garbage into fresh eggs. Something I miss now that I'm homebound, or trying to be.

As it is I have a plastic composter that converts the low protein waste to soil, and then I can grow greens in it. It's much slower than chickens.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on March 30, 2020, 03:00:30 AM
I'm still managing to avoid the teeth pain. Of course now, between the stock market and the Coronavirus stuff, I have something to be stressed about that will impact me directly. We are reluctant to liquidate any stock at current value. Then again, it looks like our travels will be curtailed this year whether we want to or not. So our needs will be much less.

I dusted off my seeds and peat trays, and I'm trying to grow my own greens this year. So far I've started kale and turnips for tops. I have a tower planter with a watering system being shipped. I'll probably plant some carrots, beets, radishes and turnips ( different variety) for roots and some various lettuce in time.

Haven't gotten over my sinus infection, so I haven't given blood.

The ice is coming off and I'm beginning to take walks again.

UPDATE:
Got over the sinus infection and donated blood. Still feeling good.

No more teeth pain.

Stopped taking walks, the paths were crowded with other people and their dogs, and there wasn't enough social distancing for the comfort level of me or my dog.

Planter arrived, but I don't have enough potting soil. I planted another tray of seeds, but maybe they were too old. There seems to be 0% germination. I'll give it the rest of the week, and try starting another tray. Meanwhile, the kale and turnips seem to be surviving.

Today I was washing windows. I'm sure I'll be revisiting them on a sunnier day when my errors are more obvious.

I'm assembling an emergency box from things buried about the home. I found a few N95 masks left over from a sanding project, and added a box of exam gloves. Cleaned up my CPAP machine. Still looking for my MiL's portable oxygen concentrator.  I know it's around somewhere.

Law professor Joyce White Vance has coined the term "Corvid 19 (pounds)" to describe quarantine associated weight gain. Can't say that I'm gaining, but I am stalled in terms of weight loss. Too much anxious eating.

I'm gradually/daily organizing and consolidating my home. In don't know what tomorrow's mini-project will be.

Attempting to gradually resume exercising after a long convalescence from a shoulder injury.

My niece is going crazy confined without access to pets. She hopes to fetch away our guest/her cat in a week.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on March 31, 2020, 07:35:06 PM
Spoke too soon. Tooth pain again. I know it's stress. Doing some Tai Chi breathing to balance it.
The weather is dreary, maybe the paths won't be crowded today.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on April 06, 2020, 11:10:36 PM
Then there's the matter of the genetic testing.

The good news is that there aren't any genetic disease surprises waiting to pounce. What few are there I knew were in the family, and not so serious with modern medical science.

As for the nationalities, they are all European. That's actually a surprise. Based on what I knew of conversations with my grandparents and records I've since lost in multiple moves, I believed myself to be German/English/Scotch/Irish/French/Iroquois. I took a genetic test years ago, and it said there was a fraction of genes shared with people now living on the western coast of Latin America. I assumed that was the native American trace. However, this recent test, ( and it pinpoints cities and names provinces or counties ) says Southern Germany, Rhine Valley, London, Glasgow, Dublin, and Belfast, various counties in England, and southern and other Irish counties. Then there's a broadly northwestern European group, from the same countries plus the low countries and Scandinavia, and that sounds like Viking to me, but it might be Germanic. Then there's a broadly southern European that might be Roman or something. Anyway, no native American, or  Highlanders in particular. That Latin American connection in the earlier test is more likely from a 1.6% Spanish and Portugese faction of the Southern Euro. No signs of Mongol invasion.

Of course some of this is prefaced with "in the last 200 years". Well, if that's the case there's a significant faction of Pennsylvanian that's colonial, not represented in the data. So I guess it's a hedge term instead.

It also pointed out my Neanderthal heritage. Makes sense, in that they were discovered in the Rhine valley. Me and everyone on my father's side of the family have heavy brow ridges. Apparently the main expression is a gene for straight hair.

I looked at the data again and it's changed in the margins.  The Spanish/Portugese faction is gone. There's a generic Italian that can't be confined to a region, so I'm still presuming Roman. Likewise there's a generic Scandinavian that can't be traced to any particular country in the group, I'm presuming Viking. Edinburgh was added as a place of origin. So, if anything I'm whiter.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on April 26, 2020, 11:26:20 PM
Been a while.

Lost the enthusiasm for organizing. Still looking, but haven't found that oxygen concentrator. I am developing some cleaning and sanitizing habits. Hopefully that will reduce future illness of all kinds.

Not exercising much. The shoulder pain has returned, and so has the tooth pain. Both were better, so I tried to resume normal life. Bad decision.

The guest cat was finally sent home, and is adapting well.

My daffodils are past their peak, but it's been a beautiful week.

I had a pretty slack week. Seems like all I did was read, cook, eat, watch tv and sleep most days.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on May 08, 2020, 04:17:09 AM
So I got another e-mail from the blood center. I thought the first time was a mistake, but this time I looked into it.

Apparently my blood is in high demand for people with sickle cell anemia. Not because my German- Irish blood is similar, but because it's sort of hypo-allergenic.   I'm O+, but apparently I'm more specifically Ro.
https://en.wiRh_blood_group_systemkipedia.org/wiki/

Only 5% of Americans are blood donors, and only 4% of donors are Ro. So they'd like me schedule 3 donations in advance. Well, it's nice to be needed, but how do I know if I'll be healthy enough to donate 6 months from now? That's why I play it by ear. Oh well, guess I won't be traveling so much this year. Maybe I'll give them a call tomorrow. I've got a clear calendar.
EDIT- and I'm trying really, really hard not to get sick this year, so if ever there was a time, this is it.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: E_T on May 09, 2020, 02:24:48 AM
When you donate, ask to see about now often you can donate and if one of those can be saved for yourself, in case of need.  They can rotate the ready pint for you and use the older for someone else...  but requires donating often to do so...
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Geo on May 09, 2020, 06:05:15 AM
Edited.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on May 15, 2020, 03:36:21 AM
Let's see. Got one of the veteran blood nurses. He said he understands why they are on my case about donating, but that scheduling three appointments in advance was too much pressure in his opinion. So we only scheduled the next donation.

I haven't rediscovered my interest in organizing, beyond seeing opportunities for improvement. I have been on a weed war against stray dandelions and an infestation of garlic mustard
https://emswcd.org/on-your-land/weeds/weeds-to-know/garlic-mustard/

It's in the woods behind my house.  I have to wear gloves and long sleeves whenever I'm around it, because I seem to be allergic to it. So, no, I'm not going to sautee it.

It looks like we are getting a neighbor in the other side of our duplex, which will lead to a roof replacement. It's currently cedar, and will be replaced with thick asphalt shingles which look like cedar. That means I need to get up on the roof as soon as it's dry and carefully remove the heat cables. Then I get to re-install them on the new roof. We'll see how it goes. Maybe I'll be weeding again in the morning as the roof dries.

I went to the garden store today to get flowers. Brought home some strawberries, too. To be fair, they are in bloom. I don't like to eat them, but my wife does. Since we seem to be past the full moon frost risk this month, I'm moving my seedlings outside. I've been working mostly with old seed remnants from previous years. Some of it is germinating and some isn't. I'm not sure what all of it is, but when it comes down to it, I'm growing almost all of it for salads and sautee, so it doesn't exactly matter, I'll still eat it. I'm also trying to get some Stokes purple sweet potatoes to sprout, and a Japanese white sweet potato, too.

Things are opening up in the state. The fishing trip may be on.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: E_T on May 15, 2020, 04:23:29 PM
I recently had to replace my Clutch Master Cylinder, Clutch Slave Cylinder (both under lifetime warranty) and the Clutch Hydraulic Line (was the only part of this that I had not previously replaced, so full price).  Due to the fact that the routing of the Hydraulic line goes down and around and up and back down and finally goes down as well as the Slave Cylinder bleed valve to be on a lower section of the unit, it make it a major pain in the rumpus to get bleed out.  And with this setup, with ANY air in the system, I can NOT get the clutch to fully disengage and shift gears into either 1st or Reverse.

Fortunately, my Transmission allows for synchronous shifting and I VERY rarely use my clutch (or need to use it) while driving down the road.

So, If I need to use my car, at this time, I have to have the engine off, put into gear and then start it while in gear.  Of course, this does put a strain on my Starter as it needs to not only turn over the engine, but move the car a few feet as well.  Once I get it going, I can shift to a different gear.  And if I come to a stop light, I have to slow early to hopefully time it to were my speed doesn't drop too low to not get back into second.  If It does drop too low, I need to fully stop, turn off engine, put into gear and restart it.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: E_T on June 07, 2020, 01:54:36 AM
Tornados in Orlando
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on June 30, 2020, 07:13:11 PM
Returned from fishing Saturday, but still very busy taking care of stuff that didn't get done the last two weeks. I should be online tonight.

Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on July 07, 2020, 09:23:35 PM
Let's see. Got one of the veteran blood nurses. He said he understands why they are on my case about donating, but that scheduling three appointments in advance was too much pressure in his opinion. So we only scheduled the next donation.

I haven't rediscovered my interest in organizing, beyond seeing opportunities for improvement. I have been on a weed war against stray dandelions and an infestation of garlic mustard
https://emswcd.org/on-your-land/weeds/weeds-to-know/garlic-mustard/

It's in the woods behind my house.  I have to wear gloves and long sleeves whenever I'm around it, because I seem to be allergic to it. So, no, I'm not going to sautee it.

It looks like we are getting a neighbor in the other side of our duplex, which will lead to a roof replacement. It's currently cedar, and will be replaced with thick asphalt shingles which look like cedar. That means I need to get up on the roof as soon as it's dry and carefully remove the heat cables. Then I get to re-install them on the new roof. We'll see how it goes. Maybe I'll be weeding again in the morning as the roof dries.

I went to the garden store today to get flowers. Brought home some strawberries, too. To be fair, they are in bloom. I don't like to eat them, but my wife does. Since we seem to be past the full moon frost risk this month, I'm moving my seedlings outside. I've been working mostly with old seed remnants from previous years. Some of it is germinating and some isn't. I'm not sure what all of it is, but when it comes down to it, I'm growing almost all of it for salads and sautee, so it doesn't exactly matter, I'll still eat it. I'm also trying to get some Stokes purple sweet potatoes to sprout, and a Japanese white sweet potato, too.

Things are opening up in the state. The fishing trip may be on.

Well, it seems I did a great job of suppressing the garlic mustard.
Since I have returned I've had lots of energy, although my muscles were sore from sitting in a boat and sleeping on a bad bed. Works better when I use a back massager before I attempt anything.  I got the heating cables off, and they replaced the roof. Still need to put them back on before winter, but I'm waiting for lower temperatures.

Also, I dug up a few wheelbarrow loads of daylilies my neighbor wanted rid of and replanted them in the gaps of a boulder wall separating me from my neighbor on the other side. It's a terrace of sorts, and I'm on the downhill side. Anyway, the daylilies should suppress the tree and dandelion seedlings which try to grow there. Looks nice, too.

I've got my hydroponic system up and running. I think this ex-farmer is a convert. The tower is working nicely, although it seems to need water more often than they suggest now that the plants are bigger. I guess it stands to reason.
I've got both the Stokes purple sweet potatoes and the Japanese sweet potatoes growing well.

Somebody asked me if I was going to maintain the trail between our subdivision and the nearby park this year. I said I'd add it to my list.  I trimmed the invasive buckthorn on one side, so you can walk without being scratched or hunched over.  Then I hauled a couple loads of tree mulch and spread it on the path. The leafy part of the mulch had heated and molded. So maybe it's sinus infection and back ache from moving sacks of wet mulch. The night after I did it I couldn't sleep very well, woke up every half hour or so with headache and back & body pain. The following day I was miserable all day. Today I feel much better, but I have a fever. Sinus infections are commonplace for me, but fevers are not.

So... canceled my blood donation and other plans, and scheduled a covid test. Staying in.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: E_T on July 08, 2020, 01:06:07 AM
Let us know how things go
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on July 08, 2020, 07:45:51 PM
I'm feeling much better.
I am coughing up phlegm drained from my sinuses. No fever. We had 3 inches of rain last night. I know that's not a big deal in Florida where it's flat and sandy, but here it's clay and sloped. I wouldn't be surprised if much of the mulch had washed off of the path.

The blood center is calling me already. They urgently need my blood for treating sickle cell anemia patients. I said I cancelled because I had a fever two days ago. They still wanted me to come in if my temp was normal, and were offering gift cards as an incentive. I explained that I'd scheduled a coronavirus test, and I'd get back to  them when I had results, or they could get back to me.

I guess the blood center tests the donated blood  for coronavirus, so probably not an issue.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: E_T on July 09, 2020, 01:56:36 AM
hopefully, but if they need it that badly, they might just let it through.  Thing is, would they get back with you faster with the results than the brain scrub would?  or best to get two Negatives?
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on July 09, 2020, 03:29:39 AM
They probably need it badly. I got two e-mails today besides the phone call. One was a standard "you're eligible to give again".
The other was about the critical need for my sub-type for treating sickle cell anemia, and the scarcity of it. I followed a link and discovered that they don't test donors ( that I knew ) or donations ( I  thought the opposite ) , as they believe that it is not transmitted through blood donations ( yeah  right, that's what they thought about AIDS at first, until people with bleeding disorders started dying like flies. Oops. ).

That seems wrong-headed to me, as my current understanding of the disease is that it attacks the cardio-vascular system, and that micro-clots in the lungs are usually the thing that sends people to the E.R. We think of it as a respiratory virus because of that, but that is not it's nature. Oh well, tomorrow I get tested. I'm interested to find out how long it takes to get results. I'm predicting Monday. We'll see.

I'm figure it's simply breathing mold/sinus infection and back/shoulder ache because I'm back to normal temp and pain free today. BUT, I'm going to exercise the same care to be sure I'm healthy that I would expect of others if I were in need of a transfusion.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on July 09, 2020, 03:33:32 AM
P.S. - Since my dog was crying to go to the park, and I hadn't taken her in the last couple of days, I picked a time in the heat of the afternoon unlikely for others to be there.  We had it to ourselves and the mulch was still in place, much to my surprise.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Geo on July 09, 2020, 11:15:59 AM
I'm figure it's simply breathing mold/sinus infection and back/shoulder ache because I'm back to normal temp and pain free today. BUT, I'm going to exercise the same care to be sure I'm healthy that I would expect of others if I were in need of a transfusion.

Yeah, take care, Rusty.

P.S. - Since my dog was crying to go to the park, and I hadn't taken her in the last couple of days, I picked a time in the heat of the afternoon unlikely for others to be there.  We had it to ourselves and the mulch was still in place, much to my surprise.


So, was it easy to lure her back home? I can imagine lots of frolicking went on at the park. ;)
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on July 10, 2020, 03:20:23 AM
I should update.

Got my e-mail confirmation and text reminder. Went to the CVS pharmacy drive through testing lane for my free test at the scheduled time. ( they only do drive through testing, as signs and PDFs had made clear I WAS NOT TO GO IN THE BUILDING) Maybe a 10 minute delay for me to get to the front, as there was another car ahead of me.

They asked me if I wanted a test, had an appointment, what was my name, what time, etc. Well, I wasn't on their list. They said I had to schedule through CVS.com, not Minute Clinic.  So I went home, printed off my confirmation e-mail which clearly said Minute Clinic@ CVS.com  Drive through corona virus testing appointment. I went back, had to hold the paper up close to her window. She made a couple phone calls and talked to the pharmacist. Then she tried to explain things to me, only she was intercoming to the guy in the prescription lane , and I could see her talking and looking at me, so I yelled that I couldn't hear her and the other guy suggested she was talking to the wrong person.

"This has never happened before. You're not in our system. I called the Minute Clinic nurse and you're not in her system, either. This has never happened before! We don't make appointments. You'll have to call this number to get an appointment" and gave me a slip of paper, which was the standard paper they give you to set up MyChart to get the test results ( which would have taken an estimated 4 days IF I had been tested. As it was they didn't have a test kit assigned to me without an appointment. )

So I went home again, my wife talked to the pharmacist and got the run-around, negotiated the voicemail maze at MyChart  only to get hung up on. Tried to schedule a new appointment at another pharmacy, but the system crashed during the process.

I feel normal and have no temperature.    Maybe I don't really need a test.
"Anybody who wants a test can get a test"- Donald [Sleezebag].
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: E_T on July 10, 2020, 07:23:50 AM
we have so much testing....
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: E_T on July 10, 2020, 07:24:44 AM
Man, hope you get it cleared up soon.   Dang...
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on July 11, 2020, 03:21:41 AM
So my wife has tried to set up an appointment for me again. A couple of times. Different places.

The program insists on knowing my race and state that I live in. They were pull down windows, but all she could see was the word "select".    So, with those two boxes blank, the form couldn't complete.  So, as of now, no appointment. Meanwhile, the wait to get one is getting longer.

Today's temp- 98.0  I'm not worried about my situation. I feel normal again.
I am concerned about how difficult it is for somebody with a headache, body aches and a fever to get a test in a timely fashion. Same goes for results, which are backlogged.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Geo on July 11, 2020, 07:53:18 AM
Over here, if you think you have symptoms, you're supposed to contact your doctor who decides to do a house visit for a test or puts you immediately in quarantaine.
There are (or rather, were) alot of people who came to the doctors' office anyway, and those were I assume tested on the spot. I know at my doctor's office patients with symptoms were imediately ushered to a separate waiting room.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on July 14, 2020, 09:30:20 PM
So, was it easy to lure her back home? I can imagine lots of frolicking went on at the park. ;)

Sorry, I didn't see this before.

My dog loves to go to the park- for the purpose of "Checking her messages."   She's not too active ever since she tore her ACL and had surgery about a year ago. Also, Schipperkes aren't good in the heat. So a one mile round trip to and through the park has her pretty tired and thirsty and eager for air conditioning.    I've set an alarm so that I can make a regular practice of walking her in the morning while the course is mostly in the shade, at least until mid September.

-----------

I'm still checking my temperature every day, and it's below normal.   Today my wife announced she doesn't think I'm sick, and she has given up on trying to get me a test.  I checked the Center for Disease Control website and answered their questions. They tell me I don't need a test. If my temperature is at or below normal tomorrow, I intend to call the blood center to reschedule.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: E_T on July 14, 2020, 10:34:38 PM
Triple Digit Heat Index in the whole Central Florida Area
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on July 26, 2020, 07:05:24 PM
*Got my blood donation done. It went pretty quickly this time with an appointment and using the phone app to complete the questions.
*Stained my deck, using up various cans sitting around the house. That reminds me, I should put another coat of varnish on the front door. Maybe in September when it's cool enough to open the screens to let the fumes out.
* Painted another basement wall with drylock. Took three coats, those cinder blocks kept sucking up the stuff.
* I've been watering my plants every day. The daylilies I transplanted have completed their bloom cycle and are putting up new shoots. I'd call it a success.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on August 27, 2020, 03:11:20 AM
Maybe you've been hearing about the overnight  shootings here. The reporting I've seen has ben largely incomplete.

I think this is accurate as far as it goes. https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/ellievhall/kenosha-suspect-kyle-rittenhouse-[Sleezebag]-rally

WI is an open carry state. You can legally carry a firearm in plain view ( provided you are 18, which this Illinois interloper was not. ). Presumably Rittenhouse's group was hired to defend a gas station from arsonists.

The footage you aren't seeing is 1) militia saying the cops would send the protesters in their direction and leave. 2) Rittenhouse ( illegally carrying his rifle )approaching an armored vehicle and asking for water , getting both water and encouragement after curfew from the police. 3) Rittenhouse leaving the gas station and rapidly approaching some of the protestors/vandals and shooting one in the head, then saying on the phone "I just killed somebody". After that he started running away, and an angry crowd began pursuit. The video of him killing one pursuer and wounding another is what is gaining more attention on Tucker Carlson and national news.


 
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Geo on August 27, 2020, 09:16:31 PM
He's still a minor. Does that mean he can't be charged with homicide?
Looking at the link you provided, the reports here on my side of the Atlantic are fairly accurate.


You say these vigilantes were 'hired' to protect a gas station. Does that really mean the owner payed these vigilantes to guard the place? And if so, is that a legal practice in the USA?
In my country, you need to have at least a license before you can work as a payed guard. And that's a non-armed job at that. For a firing/carrying license you need a whole extra set of licenses and confirmed shooting club membership before you're even allowed to carry a handgun off your premises.


Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: E_T on August 27, 2020, 11:19:36 PM
He's still a minor. Does that mean he can't be charged with homicide?

IF they even decide to charge him, he will likely be charged as an Adult (they have done for other cases, all depending).  If they keep it as a Juvenile thing, there will be a big outcry against that, I would think...

Quote
Looking at the link you provided, the reports here on my side of the Atlantic are fairly accurate.


You say these vigilantes were 'hired' to protect a gas station. Does that really mean the owner payed these vigilantes to guard the place? And if so, is that a legal practice in the USA?
In my country, you need to have at least a license before you can work as a payed guard. And that's a non-armed job at that. For a firing/carrying license you need a whole extra set of licenses and confirmed shooting club membership before you're even allowed to carry a handgun off your premises.
Might have been someone whom is very Right leaning, whom is doing things (behind the scenes) that are creating situations that fuel the Pro-Police (and current RNC fearmongering) situations.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 28, 2020, 03:00:40 AM
Prediction:  There will be an especially brutal-and-blatant cop-on-black murder in a month to six weeks.  This will not be a coincidence.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Geo on August 28, 2020, 08:30:06 AM
Next: due to continuing violence the elections will be indefinitely postponed
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on August 29, 2020, 03:37:03 AM
He's still a minor. Does that mean he can't be charged with homicide?
Looking at the link you provided, the reports here on my side of the Atlantic are fairly accurate.


You say these vigilantes were 'hired' to protect a gas station. Does that really mean the owner payed these vigilantes to guard the place? And if so, is that a legal practice in the USA?
I9n my country, you need to have at least a license before you can work as a payed guard. And that's a non-armed job at that. For a firing/carrying license you need a whole extra set of licenses and confirmed shooting club membership before you're even allowed to carry a handgun off your premises.

1) He was charged with murder as an adult.

2) I'm not sure about the laws, they probably vary by city and state.
On the other hand, there are the "norms" . Back during the Rodney King riots in Las Angeles ( 1980s ? ) , the only grocery stores in the neighborhoods to survive the looting and burning were the Korean owned stores who put people on the roofs of the stores with shotguns to look mean and yell at the crowds when they approached the building. Insurance companies have been reluctant to pay for buildings and contest lost in riots, arguing that riots aren't normal situations with a fire department response, so they aren't covered.
Also, there simply aren't enough private security people in a city to protect the entire central business district on the same night.

So a store owner will likely ask or hire  a friend with a gun to stand outside the business or on the roof with him. If he doesn't know somebody, he starts contacting organizations of gun users. This is tolerated, because the police can't protect every business either.


IN THIS CASE the kid wasn't staying put protecting a business, he was roaming the streets. The cops should have told him to unload/ take apart his weapon and sent him home OR arrested him for breaking curfew and being under aged for open carry.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on September 27, 2020, 01:22:25 AM
Here's an update on the Rittenhouse case.
Apparently they are trying to tell an edited story that paints him as a civic minded patriot acting in self defense. Republicans and FOX viewers see these edited versions that don't include the initial confrontation/ murder, and think he acted in self-defense and are calling him a hero and sending money.

https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/crime/2020/09/24/kyle-rittenhouse-extradition-subject-friday-court-hearing-kenosha/3520926001/
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on October 01, 2020, 06:41:10 AM
*Got my blood donation done. It went pretty quickly this time with an appointment and using the phone app to complete the questions.
*Stained my deck, using up various cans sitting around the house. That reminds me, I should put another coat of varnish on the front door. Maybe in September when it's cool enough to open the screens to let the fumes out.
* Painted another basement wall with drylock. Took three coats, those cinder blocks kept sucking up the stuff.
* I've been watering my plants every day. The daylilies I transplanted have completed their bloom cycle and are putting up new shoots. I'd call it a success.

*I was supposed to get the results of a Covid test as a result of my last blood donation. I got a notice that the donation was sent to be used, but I imagine the testing backlog is greater than the one for my particular blood/subtype.
* Oh yeah, I should do the front door. Fall has arrived on schedule.
* The reason for painting that basement wall was because that's where I wanted to put my grow lights. I moved my Japanese sweet potatoes down there.

* I have been working on a project this year. It's because of the pandemic. Too much time sitting at home looking out the window and thinking. Included in my back yard view is a dead spruce tree. The condo association and it's tree service on retainer hasn't done much of anything about the spruce trees, which are diseased, so I decided to remove it. It was near the underground cable/internet.  I cut off the limbs as high as I could reach, then washed the soil away from the roots some each day after I watered my day lilies and so forth. I remove the roots as I could see them clearly. Eventually the neighbor saw what I was up to and offered hid help. He rigged a come along to one of his trees and he slowly pulled the spruce down as I cut the roots.

 Then he got his chain saw and cut it up for me. I dug the rest of the roots out, put the firewood in the garage ( my nephew was going to use it for bonfires ) and cut the limbs into chips and put them on the path to the park. I planned to plant a red oak after Labor Day, but there were some delays with authorization. Meanwhile I extended the hole to put the new tree in line with the two it would be between.  I cut down or pushed over and cut up various dead trees that I didn't want to fall on my new tree. Some elms and hawthorns, and an ash or two. Left the roots or stumps to rot, but I cut everything up into firewood if it was fit, or chips if it was not. Some of it I split, but there is more to do.

I picked up all of the sticks and broke up or chipped them. I wanted to leave the surface clear to plant more daffodils there this fall. 40 Arrived today and I planted them. The red oak arrived and I planted it, too. Buried some pieces of concrete somebody had dumped in the woods in the spruce end of the hole. I've got a hundred crocus to plant tomorrow. I will need to scatter the surplus dirt after I top off the hole,  spread mulch around the tree and haul away the firewood.

Everybody asks what I'm doing back there, because it looks crazy from a distance, but everybody who looks closely like it.

Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on October 03, 2020, 09:21:46 PM


*I was supposed to get the results of a Covid test as a result of my last blood donation. I got a notice that the donation was sent to be used, but I imagine the testing backlog is greater than the one for my particular blood/subtype.


I am negative for Covid-19 anti-bodies. My niece told me where to look.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Geo on October 03, 2020, 11:57:46 PM


*I was supposed to get the results of a Covid test as a result of my last blood donation. I got a notice that the donation was sent to be used, but I imagine the testing backlog is greater than the one for my particular blood/subtype.


I am negative for Covid-19 anti-bodies. My niece told me where to look.


???
You found another place to test your blood?
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 04, 2020, 12:16:32 AM
He means the paperwork that came with the blood notice buried the covid results deep - or it was posted somewhere online, or something...
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on October 04, 2020, 12:20:28 AM


*I was supposed to get the results of a Covid test as a result of my last blood donation. I got a notice that the donation was sent to be used, but I imagine the testing backlog is greater than the one for my particular blood/subtype.


I am negative for Covid-19 anti-bodies. My niece told me where to look.


???


You found another place to test your blood?

I assume you are being funny/cute as usual. And as usual, I deserve being teased for a poorly constructed sentence. I enjoy making those kind of jokes myself.
In case I'm wrong, I'll clarify-

The blood donation center tests donations for Covid-19 anti-bodies. I was expecting an e-mail notification, but apparently they only send e-mails when the test is positive. When the blood test is negative it appears in the subsection of the phone application that includes my blood pressure, pulse, etc. I didn't see it there when I looked before. It's there now.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Geo on October 04, 2020, 07:05:10 AM
Nope, I was truly dumbfounded. So thank you for the clarification
Remember, English isn't my native language.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on October 04, 2020, 07:48:40 PM
Nope, I was truly dumbfounded. So thank you for the clarification
Remember, English isn't my native language.

I do, and I'm frequently impressed with your ability to make a joke in English. Ask me for a clarification or an explanation any time.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: E_T on October 14, 2020, 06:05:18 PM
they are saying something about shutting stuff down in parts of WI??
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on October 14, 2020, 07:45:34 PM
I don't know.
The Democratic governor is trying to manage a pandemic,
The GOP legislature by staying out of session and the Tavern Owner's Association in the courts are trying to thwart him.

They are opening the emergency hospital that the corps of engineers set up this spring in the main exhibit building on the state fair grounds. It's finally reached the point where we need it.

The tragedy is that we could have managed and mitigated this pandemic if it hadn't been politicized. Like the nation, WI failed the quarantine, testing & contact tracing, and the mask wearing/social distancing challenges. Always within reach, but the cooperative majority was thwarted by a defiant minority each time.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on October 26, 2020, 03:08:31 AM
Let's see....

Got the oak planted, mulched, etc. and the excess subsoil scattered. Harvested sweet potatoes and moved the vines into the basement under the grow lights. It was working well until I had an aphid outbreak. Eventually I found some insecticidal soap and treated them. Now I'm wondering about planting shallots with the sweet potatoes to keep the aphids away.

Didn't apply another coat of finish to the front door. I did change the lock to one with a keypad and a key. I can add a module to make it a smart lock, but I'm suspicious that smart locks and smart garage doors will become the targets of hackers in the near future.

Next year I'm going to add window boxes, same painted rough cedar as the house. I did plant day lilies around my deck.

Meanwhile, I feel like planting more stuff. I have a backordered tree that was suppose to be here in spring, but they keep changing the dates on me. I ordered more daffodils as soon as I planted what I had. Not here yet. Today I'm thinking about berry bushes.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: E_T on October 26, 2020, 03:55:44 AM
as long as you don't use password as your password... :p
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Geo on October 26, 2020, 04:31:38 PM
Does "swordpas" works?
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 26, 2020, 04:45:22 PM
Not anymore...
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Geo on October 26, 2020, 05:00:22 PM

:mad:  GET :mad: FF MY ACC :mad: UNT!!! :mad:


(...just kiddin'...)
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 26, 2020, 05:06:16 PM
:)   :P
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on October 26, 2020, 09:20:59 PM
We got snow this morning. So, I think I'll scrap my tentative plan for buying and planting more stuff. I'll settle for what I've already ordered...if it arrives this year.  I'm changing my focus to planning the Halloween/Christmas decoration transition.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Geo on October 27, 2020, 03:53:57 PM
We're expecting 16°C this weekend...  :)  (that's 61 F for you oversea people)
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 27, 2020, 04:37:05 PM
Low temperature, or high?
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Geo on October 27, 2020, 07:14:19 PM
Low temperature, or high?


Oh, highest predicted temperature of the day. Meaning some time in the afternoon it peaks at that.
Lowest would be 12° C (about 53 F)


Still darn better then this morning's temperature: 7.5° C (45 F) according to my car's thermometer.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on December 12, 2020, 03:50:03 AM
Update.
My mulberry tree shall arrive in Spring. I dug out the front door planter, put in a few inches of sand, mounted a pair of heating cables on hardware cloth, covered it with potting soil, replanted the crocus as well as the remainder of the new ones I bought this year, covered it with top soil.

All of the Christmas decorations are in place for the year. My goal this year is to complete a project before starting another. Doing well, although I should apply the last of the white sealer to the basement wall and tear off the masking tape. 

Next project will be to order blueberry bushes for next year.

As far as the sweet potato aphid war, it was a long campaign, but I eventually threw in the towel and cut of all of the foliage, stuffed it in a trash bag, then hauled it outside to the composter. No sign of aphids yet on the re-growth, but there are some fungus flies.

Meanwhile my car doesn't start. The next step will be to charge the battery (yet again), measure the voltage , run the headlights for a while, wait, then test the voltage again. If it's lower, it suggests a bad cell in my sealed battery. A new tester arrives Monday.

Also, a now and then  running water sound from the toilet has been isolated to the float jamming rather than the handle linkage. So I have to get the mechanism and swap it out.

Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: E_T on December 12, 2020, 02:50:42 PM
[drooling][Homer Simpson mode on]  Bluuuueberriessssss.......... [/mode]
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on December 29, 2020, 03:41:38 AM
The battery swap under warranty seems to have solved my primary car problem.

I need to go to the bank and shift some money to complete the blueberry transaction because they still deal in checks rather than credit cards, but I'm kinda in self isolation.

The toilet is working just fine again.

Put away the big Santa inflatable, some window decorations and the bush lights. Now it's pretty much just a winter theme until the end of January. Meanwhile, I've ordered new bush lights on clearance sale. I'm finally making the switch to LEDs on those. I hope it solves my circuit breaker problems in wet weather.

Sweet potatoes are growing again. Saw an aphid or two, but I think I got them. I do still have a fungus fly infestation. I've been spraying daily with insecticidal soap and just made a trap for them.  I'm holfing my own against them.

I got some accessories for my Traeger for Christmas. The ones that require drilling may well be easier than the one that requires loosening and removing existing screws, based on my attempts so far.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on February 13, 2021, 06:15:20 AM
* The new battery solved all problems. The car can sit for two weeks and start easily.

* Didn't go to the bank yet.

* Sweet potatoes. Some of the plants died, but I beat the aphids and fungus flies. Still have a few white flies, but the vines are growing well again.

*Traeger. Got my accessories installed. While I couldn't loosen the screws with a screwdriver made to accept a wrench for greater leverage, I did eventually manage it with a set of groove joint pliers.

* I may put the last of that white sealer on the basement wall soon.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Geo on February 13, 2021, 07:35:47 AM
* I may put the last of that white sealer on the basement wall soon.


You got a water seepage problem?
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on February 13, 2021, 09:26:21 PM
Marginally. I have a built in planter at the front door. I should probably drill some drain holes in the stone and concrete. Because there aren't any drains, water leaks out against the foundation. It gets damp rather than wet. The issue is stains in the mortar and cracks between the cinder block foundation. So it's more that I'm trying to cover them.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on February 24, 2021, 09:19:06 PM
Things are defrosting here. We've lost 1/3 to 1/2 of our snow depth. The steps I took to deal with ice dams worked well. I may move the zig-zags on one of the cables closer together, and add one or two more cables before next winter.

I've got a new tinnitus tone in my right ear. Sounds like a viola playing softly. Kinda soothing. But before I figured it out it was making me crazy.

I'm cleaning out my wife's walk-in closet. Chester uses it as his office during the day. Long term is that a cat in a closet tends to knock stacks of stuff over. Since that tends to be folded clothing, it gets wrinkled and collects cat hair. At this point it's a procession of loads of laundry, and a lot of folding into transparent storage totes. Well, at least we can now walk all of the way to the back of the closet without trampling clothing. The sweaters are going to be more of a problem. This might call for fabric softener to help release the cat hair.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on March 14, 2021, 04:40:15 AM
Follow-up.

* Completed the walk-in closet project.

* Snow is almost all gone. There is about a wheel barrow load left. We should get more snow Monday. I re-arranged the existing cables on the roof.

* Took care of the banking/blueberry transaction. They will arrive next month. I need to measure and dig before they arrive. I plan to use the sod along one side of the driveway. The new driveway wintered very well.

* Cleaned up the last of the dog crap in the park. It won't stop the repeat offenders, but it might shame them a little if the park is clean. I really couldn't ask for a closer or nicer park for walking my dog. I'd really like to keep it open for dogs.

* Still haven't done the sealer or drilled a drain in the front planter. On the other hand, the heat cables I put in the soil have melted the ice and are accelerating the crocus I have planted there.

* Speaking of planting, I have some arugula sets in my basement, I have some Swiss chard starting to emerge down there, too. When it's all up, I'll start another tray of something ( I haven't decided what yet ) . I seeded some carrots, radishes, beets, and kale outside.

* Sweet potatoes. As they started growing again they needed more water. Wetter soil seemed to lead to more aphids. I decided to take some cuttings from the plants and place them in water to root. Then I took the boxes outside and dumped them under the tree in the front yard. The soil I used was mostly compost. This year I plan to use last year's potting soil. Got next to nothing in the way of tuber development over the winter. IF I do sweet potatoes in the basement again, I'll use a heated tent. More likely I'll simply do hydroponic greens down there. They wilt in the heat anyway.

*Looks like one or two more dead trees to remove in the back of the lot. The grove is moving towards a sugar maple monoculture.

Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on March 22, 2021, 02:59:55 AM
*Haven't weighed myself in weeks. I'd guess I'm about 220. I've really ramped up my activity, but my appetite has increased as well.

* Snow is completely gone. So is the pond ice.

* I've been sawing, splitting, and chopping up part of a tree trunk I didn't get to last year. I'm about a day away from converting the last of it to mulch. I'm waiting to see which trees get leaves this year. The one that I suspect needs to come down this year before it falls down is more substantial than the ones I've dealt with so far.



Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on March 27, 2021, 10:14:00 PM
* Finished the last of the dead tree. My wife has convinced me that the other ones aren't my responsibility. Seeing as how they aren't likely to fall on the one I planted, or shrubs I intend to plant, I'll let them alone and the woodpeckers can have them.

*I've got 3 planters set up with water reservoirs, coir chips inoculated with soil microbes, potting soil and trellises. The arugula is going great in the basement, I had to spread it out. The chard only germinated about 10%, so I planted some more. I also planted some Mesclun mix. None of the seeds planted outdoors have emerged yet.

* I want to start removing sod and preparing the blueberry beds, but it's too muddy.

* Haven't started another closet, but I probably will if it stays wet. I suppose that there is always finishing that basement wall, but I like working in the basement during the summer heat. There is always the drain on the front planter, but I'll need to buy a drill bit for that.

*I'm leaning towards planting an apple serviceberry bush and an American Filbert this year. As for trees, a royal frost birch and a hemlock.


Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on April 07, 2021, 03:37:15 AM
Weather was upper 70s today. So warm I enjoyed my trips to the basement. I may apply the last of that sealer sooner than I think.

As for planters, I set up the one with raspberries and tayberries in similar fashion to the ones for sweet potatoes. I'm working on another, haven't decided if I'll use it for a tree or parsnips and other root crops. Yesterday I set up a large hanging basket and transplanted Swiss Chard and Arugula into it. The plan is to gift it to the niece who is going to water my plants while I'm away. That way she can get used to the "Put water in the funnel at the top of the tube until it runs out the hole in the side of the container" concept. The permanent outdoor planters with the Mesclun mix are emerging as of yesterday.

I had been working on the blueberry beds before Easter. I cut the sod into strips and repaired the lawn along the driveway. More sod to remove, but I got the nicest stuff out. I've decided to only dig it down 8" rather than a foot, to reduce the work and expense of soil replacement by a third.

I bought a drill bit and started drilling on the front  planter. Boring through the mortar wasn't as bad as I expected. However, there are cinder blocks behind the river stones, and either they are harder to drill, or my bit is losing it's edge. I used an extension I had, but it wasn't long enough to hit soil. So I bought a 1' extension today. The drilling is tough. I figure I should be through by now, but I'm not. If I leave home tomorrow I'll probably go back to Home Depot for a new long bit. Speaking of things that aren't going well, when I set up the new garden hose the valve in the basement that shuts it off for the winter was leaking once I opened it. Also there is a coupler between it and the wall which is dripping as well. I put that coupler in some years ago with a copper epoxy ( I was replacing the outside valve which cracked in a surprise freeze). I'm disappointed because while I tend to detest plumbing repairs, that one was quick and easy.  I plan to make a list and hire a plumber.

I ordered  a pair of Filberts and an Aronia berry bush from a nursery upstate. They're primarily to attract and feed wildlife and provide some fall color. I plan to get the service berry ( same purpose ) and the royal frost birch locally. I still intend to plant a hemlock tree this year, but not yet.

There is rain in the forecast every day this week. Guess I'll have to start on another closet.


 
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Unorthodox on April 07, 2021, 04:40:44 AM
Contorted filbert? 
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on April 08, 2021, 04:08:05 AM
Contorted filbert?

That would make great monster limbs, wouldn't it?

No. Trying to stay within the spirit of the condo assoc. rules. [ The birch is the exception. The native birch are suffering from bugs and disease, hence the hybrid.].  They are aiming for native species in hopes of low maintenance ( so the names  normally begin with American or Canadian ).  The dominant trees are sugar maples. There were hawthorne, ash, box elder, but the bugs are killing them.  Companion trees in native forests would be red oak,  hemlock, beech, and basswood (a.k.a. Linden).  Understory tree/shrubs would be filbert , serviceberry, chokeberry (Aronia) and witch hazel.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on June 05, 2021, 04:23:07 AM
Recently returned from a 3 week trip to PA, only delayed a bit by vaccinations and so forth. I haven't been there for about 20 months, and there were a legal pad full of tasks for me to complete. Not complaining, it felt good to get stuff done.

Well, that and stay busy. My step-dad isn't alive any more. Sometime during the quarantine in the nursing home he aspirated some food, then got pneumonia. He couldn't recover.  I got to visit 5 times or so his last week. It was rough for a while, then I think they increased his narcotics. You've probably seen this for yourselves with some friend or relative.

Anyway, it was time. He'd had 6 brain surgeries for non-cancerous skull tumors in the last 20 or so years and a round of unrelated colo-rectal cancer. It seemed that every time he had a surgery or a seizure he lost more body control.  He only had the use of his right index finger, couldn't really use that arm. His left was strong, but it had Parkinson's tremors so bad that he couldn't do much more than hold a hand rail or something, once somebody guided his hand there. He was stuck in bed and couldn't feed himself or hold a book. He still had his wits. I don't know if that was for better or worse. I admired his determination to recover, even in the face of repeated setbacks.

My brother is the executor because he lives nearby. I was glad to be cleaning the garage, etc. instead.
So that's why I haven't been around. That and I'm enjoying being outdoors again.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on September 09, 2021, 11:26:56 PM
The birch has been problem free. The blueberries are doing alright. 9/10 bore fruit this season. Not a lot, but berries are still ripening. Finally planted a hemlock. I'm spraying it with deer repellant to keep them from eating it. It's working, but now the tree smells like rotten eggs rather than hemlock, and I enjoy the smell of hemlock. Still haven't painted that basement wall, but the drain hole I drilled in the planter seems to have solved my seepage issue.

Today I froze some sweet corn. My next project will be bulb planting, but they haven't arrived yet. My hydroponic romaine is growing well. I plan to move it into the basement this fall and keep it producing year round.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on November 10, 2021, 01:29:29 AM
Here's an update on the Rittenhouse case.
Apparently they are trying to tell an edited story that paints him as a civic minded patriot acting in self defense. Republicans and FOX viewers see these edited versions that don't include the initial confrontation/ murder, and think he acted in self-defense and are calling him a hero and sending money.

https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/crime/2020/09/24/kyle-rittenhouse-extradition-subject-friday-court-hearing-kenosha/3520926001/

The case has finally gone to trial. My wife has been trying to follow it on the internet  although she has had doctor's appointments, lunch with her Mom, etc. I've overheard a lot.  Today I had to laugh at the DA and his assistant. To me it seemed that they were leading a witness ( semi-pro photographer who was in the thick of it) and badgering him when they didn't like his answers. I guess they never heard the old legal adage - "Never ask a question to which you don't know the answer" One of the questions was something like -Was your camera turned on at the time you took this picture?  Another was Don't you remember what we talked about after the interview? "No." How I complemented you on your photography? "That was beforehand, while we were waiting for your assistant to show up."
 Another was Don't you remember signing and dating the top of every page of your statement once we had it typewritten? "I signed and dated the bottoms."

To top it all off, when the prosecution rested the judge threw out the charge of being on the street after curfew simply because they forgot to speak a word about it during the course of the trial. The DA botched the easiest charge to prove out of negligence.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on November 10, 2021, 07:33:04 PM
The assistant DA was cross examining Kyle today, and ran afoul of the judge multiple times, sometimes in front of the jury, sometimes with them removed.... now one of the defense attorneys is asking for a mistrial on the basis of prosecutorial overreach. And the judge's phone just went off with some loud music in the middle of it.

I was posting to say that the assistant DA had said something to the effect of - please be quiet and don't interrupt me until I've finished ..  TO THE JUDGE! That did not go well. Other issues were the prosecution trying to re-argue pre-trial motions and repeatedly criticizing Kyle's multi-month silence , while the judge was affirming Kyle's 5th Amendment right.

I don't know if they'll finish this trial or not. It could be a mistrial and a do-over, OR a mistrial due to prosecutorial misconduct with extreme prejudice and which means that they drop all of the charges.

Now the judge is yelling at the assistant DA again.

The judge is going to proceed.

I think the fair thing at this point is to declare a mistrial and let an appeal determine if there is another trial. The DAs are screw-ups, they botched the prosecution and prejudiced the judge against them. I think it's incompetence rather than malice. Both the accused and the victims deserve a fair trial. I hope there's a new trial.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on November 19, 2021, 08:00:37 PM
Well, it's all over and Rittenhouse was found not guilty on all counts.

I see it as a validation of vigilante justice and I'm concerned that we'll see more of it in Wisconsin as a consequence.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Buster's Uncle on November 19, 2021, 08:16:03 PM
...IF, and it's a mighty big if, what Rittenhouse did was not a crime, it Should Be.  -See also George Zimmerman.

See also OJ - it is Bad For Society to see people getting away with serious crimes (see also the Pig's speech on Nazi Wednesday) in front of God And Everyone, no matter who gets away with killing whom.  (See also crows deaths passing three quarters of a million recently, and the Pig isn't in prison or going to be.  [See also Dick Cheney.])
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on November 21, 2021, 02:27:47 AM
It's been stressing me out for many days, but I've made my peace with it. I figure we're done for when we stop respecting the validity of elections and juries.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Buster's Uncle on November 21, 2021, 02:36:20 AM
I'm respecting the jury when I don't call for punishing the Murder Kid anyway.

-I do wonder whether it was a state or federal trial, and wonder if whichever it wasn't can't try him now...
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on November 21, 2021, 02:50:56 AM
It was local. The only federal charges that might result would come from the firearms aspect.
There's talk of civil suits, but they are aimed more at the local authorities.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Buster's Uncle on November 21, 2021, 03:01:14 AM
No way Murder Kid ever had money, so I wish them the joy of that.

-Well, at least that way he never WILL have money...  George Zimmerman says "Hi".
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on December 30, 2021, 05:32:46 AM
I'm reaching the contact the dealership phase of car buying.  I'm starting to wonder if the supply won't dictate my choice, but I've procrastinated longer than is prudent.
Wish me luck.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on January 14, 2022, 06:40:31 AM
That was a different experience. I ended up ordering a Toyota Highlander. Probably won't have it until April. Still better than Ford, who said they could have one ordered in up to six months.

The only 2022s I could find that met my criteria were still on the lot because the dealer had $7500 of unadvertised mark-ups that I didn't find out about until I said I wanted to buy it, even though I read all of their fine print. I really hate a bait and switch. They wanted to test drive my car to assess a trade-in value. I had to ask for my keys 3 to go home times before they gave them back. I was contemplating placing a call to 911.

Glad to be done with the process.

Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Geo on January 17, 2022, 03:52:31 PM
(click to show/hide)
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on January 26, 2022, 07:21:39 AM
 I thought that the orthopedic surgery we had for two of our pets in recent years was expensive. Much the same with a new car.

The bills are rolling in for my wife's surgery.  I have reconsidered.  All of them together were less than the list price of her surgery. This is the first major claim against our current health insurance. It remains to be seen what it actually costs us out of pocket.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Geo on February 01, 2022, 11:15:24 PM
At my end, there's sofar a lack of (medical) bills coming in. Last Fall I had a scan of the joints in my hands, and sofar no payment slip dropped in my postbox. Similarly, I had to let myself be tested to go abroad (I'm vacationing on the Canary Islands now), but the test center didn't request me to pay on the spot, while usually tests for traveling  purposes should be paid by the client.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on November 23, 2022, 04:10:53 AM
Been a long year.

 As it happened, the Platinum Highlander showed up the end of January, and it's been semi-marvelous. Lots of tech. Much of it I set once and forgot how to do it. I really like the camera system. Great for parking in my garage, which has minimal clearance. My favorite part is being able to cram the back of the car full of stuff, and still be able to see behind me, and to watch the boat to make sure it's not having problems like fishtailing at high speeds or having a tire problem. 

Also great is all of the driver assist tech which watches blind spots, the car ahead of me, etc using a combination of cameras and radar. Speaking of radar, I also like that the navigation system can super-impose a live weather map. I like the power -295 hp and I'm getting overall gas mileage in the low 20s. A big improvement over the 250 hp and 17mpg city/22 highway that my previous station wagon had. Quality control- first new car in my family that didn't have to go back to the dealer for a recall or repair in the first year. Beyond that all of the seams fit and nothing is loose.

The not so great is that 1) the 3rd row seats are a contortion test for adults, not something they could tolerate for even 20-40 minutes. 2) I'd much prefer a lower, stiffer suspension. At 8 inches of ground clearance, it's difficult for my wife to climb in with one bad arm. (we have a stool) Since the styling is boxy, and the suspension is on the soft side, it tends to rock in a cross wind or driving past a truck or being passed by a fast car on the highway.

------
As it happens, our health insurance did what we needed to covering all of the costs of my wife's shoulder reconstruction above our deductible. Now, it probably wouldn't be easy for me or a normal person to get everything straightened out, but my wife was a chief accounting officer in her previous life.
-------

While we were in PA, we had a freezer failure. Must have been a power surge, because the surge protector melted. The appliance survived, the mostly meat, fish, and corn that I'd processed was a total loss. Beyond that, it was a lot of work cleaning it out and getting rid of the smell. Mostly a success, but I suspect there's still some dried blood/fish juice underneath the appliance which smells when the freezer works and makes it warmer. Since it happened at the same time that the hurricane was hitting Floridians, we figured ourselves fortunate not to experience their other hardships, like mold and extended power outages.
-----
Speaking of power outages, we had one for about 20 hours. Wind storm. Not the 100 mph winds Uno gets annually, but 75mph, and our trees simply aren't used to that. A lot of them went into power lines. In my opinion the utilities don't trim the trees thoroughly enough here, compared to PA, but whatever. I'm thinking it's a climate change foreboding of the new normal. I expect more prolonged power outages until the trees and the utillity companies adjust. Wind blows as hard from a new direction, and we'll have the same problem all over again.

On the bright side, while we were expecting to dump everything that was in the refrigerator (We kept it closed the whole time while they continued to extend the estimates for power restoration.), when I opened the refrigerator freezer door the ice in the bin wasn't melted, it wasn't even wet enough to re-freeze into a lump. When we checked the temp in the refrigerator proper, it was still under 40 degrees, so we kept everything. To be fair, my wife likes our home at 66 degrees, so the temp differential wasn't as great as you might expect, but it's nice to know that our fridge can safely go 20 hours.

On the other hand, we have electric recliners, and my wife was stranded in hers. I was able to upend it so that she could get up and go to the bathroom, then she switched to a manually operated chair and hated it. But what if I weren't there, or my back was out? Call some relatives (although the cell tower was slammed for the entire outage)? Call the fire department? (They were very busy judging by the sirens). Considering an uninterruptable power supply for her corner. I can also see the merit in a solar powered generator. There are one or two homes in the subdivision with natural gas-powered generators. I think that happens when one of the residents gets dependent on medical equipment. We're not there yet.

Enough for now.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Geo on November 23, 2022, 06:52:51 AM
On the other hand, we have electric recliners, and my wife was stranded in hers. I was able to upend it so that she could get up and go to the bathroom, then she switched to a manually operated chair and hated it. But what if I weren't there, or my back was out? Call some relatives (although the cell tower was slammed for the entire outage)? Call the fire department? (They were very busy judging by the sirens). Considering an uninterruptable power supply for her corner. I can also see the merit in a solar powered generator. There are one or two homes in the subdivision with natural gas-powered generators. I think that happens when one of the residents gets dependent on medical equipment. We're not there yet.

Enough for now.


A busy year it seems.
Regarding your concerns of an uninterruptable power supply, a couple engineers from one of the universities here started a spin-off company and are busy designing a commercial solar panel that directly collects hydrogen from the air for distribution or local storage. The local storage part seems to be interesting  for your situation.
Mind you, they're expecting their system to be on par with the current type of solar panels pricewise by 2030. But perhaps you only need a really independent energy source by then?
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on November 28, 2022, 03:23:26 AM
My wife doesn't feel the urge to spend that money at the moment, but I'm sure that when it happens again her tune will change.

Maybe not so busy as I haven't been keeping up here.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on December 21, 2022, 12:34:29 AM
Our weather is supposed to get interesting at the end of the week. A catastrophic convergence. There's a polar vortex approaching, a breakout of polar air that's spilling south over the middle of the North American land mass. Since the ground is already frozen with snow cover, there will be negligible moderation of the air mass temperature. Meanwhile they are predicting a "panhandle hook". That's when warm, moist, Gulf of Mexico air moves up the Mississippi valley, deflects off of the northern high pressure system, and the track makes a "hook".   That Gulf low pressure system is projected to stall over lake Michigan. They are also predicting a "bomb cyclone" to result from this. That's when the air pressure drops 24 millibars or more in 24 hours. 

In other terms we're expecting a heavy snow followed by 50 mph winds followed by -20 temps. Yesterday I asked if she changed her mind about ordering power supply stuff as a precaution against power outages. She said no, snow doesn't usually bring power outages. But we plan to stay home, defer our Christmas and anniversary plans, and  listen for thunder snow. She did suggest that I put away the inflatable displays today. I agreed, so Santa is in the basement drying out now, instead of waiting to fly to the North Pole with a 50mph tail wind, or getting buried under snow and ice until Easter.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on December 22, 2022, 05:48:54 AM
It seems the foot or two of snow is going to fall in Michigan now. We are only going to get 3 to 5 inches. It will still be dangerously cold with high winds.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on December 22, 2022, 09:01:03 PM
We got between 2 and 2- and 1/2-inches total snowfall and are transitioning into cold and windy weather. Michigan is welcome to our missing snow.

Me- Alexa, what is the outside temperature?
Alexa- In (Rusty's suburb) it is currently 7 degrees. Tonight's low will be -10 degrees.
Wife- Alexa, raise the temperature.
Alexa- What device?
Wife- The Sun!
Alexa- I'm sorry, I don't know that one....
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Geo on December 23, 2022, 04:25:00 PM
 ;lol
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on December 31, 2022, 06:29:52 PM
Got the Moderna vaccine yesterday. Feels like a cow kicked me. All of my previous Covid vaccines have been Pfizer. We switched because we were eligible for a booster, and it's what our pharmacy had. I plan to take it easy today, unless it gets above freezing this afternoon. If so, I'll probably take the dog on a walk.

I ordered an outdoor electric Christmas tree on clearance. Trying to lose weight again, off to an okay start. I'll do better when we get rid of this backlog of holiday food.

The plan is to stay home tonight and watch TV. A normal New Year's Eve for us.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on January 02, 2023, 06:42:09 AM
It's easier to see in hindsight, but that Moderna bivalent vaccine had us feeling pretty awful. My usual headache and joint pains from my knees up to where my ribs start. Plus I was feeling too bad to unload the dishwasher, that standing and bending just seemed too daunting all day. Eating was unappealing.

Today I'm back to normal .
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on March 11, 2023, 05:12:51 PM
We spent a week on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. My mom flew in to meet us. The idea was to get a reprieve from the winter and to enjoy the fresh seafood. I really needed a dose of sunshine. Trouble is that it was unseasonably warm...80s. That caused the trees and stuff to pollinate. Sitting outside for an hour would cover your tablet with a film of yellow green dust. While I enjoyed the delicious food and doses of sunshine, I mostly suffered with sinusitis which led to bronchitis. I was able to use Teledoc, but they didn't have all of the prescriptions on the island, resulting in further delays and more misery.

So- I sat around the vacation rental while my wife watched the Murdagh murder trial. Those lawyers drove me crazy, simply because they let each other and their witnesses drone on without raising any objections. You know- things like "asked and answered" "badgering the witness" "Relevance?""facts not in evidence" "counsel is testifying" "argumentative" -No wonder it took 5 weeks!

And Murdagh's testimony? Trying to humanize himself. I could almost hear the theme from the Dukes of Hazzard playing in the background.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on April 11, 2023, 06:21:33 AM
I'm bringing this up ... more as an explanation/excuse rather than to whine or kvetch or seek sympathy.

My eyesight. I have cataracts. My optometrist was watching me to see if I could make it until Medicare would pay for my surgery, but no such luck. Last month he said he wouldn't write me a new eyeglass prescription because it wouldn't matter if I didn't get the cataracts removed.

Today I saw the eye surgeon. He said I would have a good outcome because my eyes were otherwise in great shape, but I shouldn't wait for Medicare because it wasn't safe. I forgot to mention that because of my Meniere's Disease I depend on my eyes to know which direction is up, and because of my diminished hearing ( I can't hear some frequencies at less than 70 db.) I lip read and caption read more than I realize. So seeing clearly is really important to me.


Anyway, the surgeon installs Light Adjusted Lenses -
https://www.rxsight.com/us

They use UV light to change the shape of the lens after the eye has healed to fine tune the vision. Satisfaction is about twice as high as conventional cataract surgery. Then they use two more light treatments of a different wavelength to lock the shape in place. I expect to live for more decades, and being a tourist and reading are things that wouldn't be the same if I couldn't see very well. Surgery is money well spent.

That said,  procrastination is a problem when it comes to writing that story on this site and to doing the associated reading to get into  the mindset.  Moreso than visual impairment. But the vision thing does drain the fun out of it.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on May 06, 2023, 05:24:19 AM
Medical stuff being medical stuff, getting the billing and paperwork straightened out took multiple attempts. At the moment, it seems that payment for everything is authorized. So it's a great day.

Also at this point I've gotten over the squeamish aspect of eye surgery and am looking forward to getting some restoration. After all of the exams and questions and talking to my brother about his cataracts ( his surgery was maybe ten years ago).  I'm more conscious about my shortcomings. That I close one eye, adjust the light, the focal length, the font and magnification when possible when attempting to read.
That I don't normally drive at night, or on rainy days any more. Stuff like that. I have simply stopped doing stuff that's difficult without realizing it. That I simply do not look directly at light sources anymore.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Been in PA 2 plus weeks and it's rained almost every day. Unseasonably cool as well. Fortunately, my mother didn't have any major projects like cleaning oout her garage or attic or painting her basement with drylock. I don't mind. She is dedicated to the idea that her house will be much easier to clean out and sell if she should die or go into a nursing home than her mother's house was. I've made progress on the landscaping with my bi-annual visits. The weeding and trimming isn't the task it was two years ago.


The weather at home while we've been gone has been flurries, melts, rain. Fairly miserable. I am missing my spring flowers. My mom has some, but only the Mt. Hood daffodils, tulips, and grape hyacinths are still blooming.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Geo on May 06, 2023, 12:55:28 PM
You're already retired, aren't you Rusty? Your mother must be at the least well in her eighties.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on May 07, 2023, 01:55:30 AM
You're already retired, aren't you Rusty? Your mother must be at the least well in her eighties.

You're right. I retired early because I married a chief accounting officer, and she decided she was much happier with me home to have dinner ready, and her weekends free because I ran all of the errands and did the chores during the day. My income was less than her annual bonus. After I retired I had time left over to play a 30 some hour game of Civ IV each week, so everybody was happier.

My mom was born in 1937. She is doing well, mentally sharp, but she does have a pacemaker and needs her second knee replaced, which she refuses to do. She DID NOT LIKE the post op therapy for knee surgery. So she still cooks, but her gardening is more management than execution. It's mostly for scenery and cut flowers, but today she harvested rhubarb and made a pie. She hires Amish girls to pull weeds and mulch a couple times a year.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Geo on May 07, 2023, 12:43:45 PM
Rhubarb... I remember pulling those off the stam/root as a cooked dinner vegetable back in my childhood. Always heavily sugared.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on May 22, 2023, 05:24:43 AM
The cataract surgery was probably the easiest major surgery I've ever had. Don't remember anything between meeting the nurse and anesthesiologist in the operating room and talking to the nurse in the recovery room. Didn't feel much, either. Couldn't really tell that anything had been done at first. Not to look at my eyes, or by the way they felt. They advised me to sleep as much as possible once I got home, so I did.

Even without the adjustments I have 20/20 distance vision already and can read the fine print on the drug ads on tv. I can read the buttons on the microwave again. I am using bifocals with 1.5 magnification for reading and computing. I can read without them, but not for long. My eyes do tire more easily. Apparently I'm a test subject for the latest generation of these adjustable lenses, and the doctor and I are both optimistic. Things should improve some more as swelling goes down. Then, they'll see what they can do for my astigmatism and enhancing the performance by adjusting the shape of the lenses.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Geo on May 22, 2023, 05:18:30 PM
Good to read your vision has improved, Rusty. :)
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 22, 2023, 05:32:32 PM
Being able to see again would be so nice...
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on May 27, 2023, 03:07:33 AM
That's the tough part about diabetes, it works against you all over, all of the time.

Yesterday my right eye tested 20/15, or 5 feet further away than normal. So more like what I used to have in my 50s. The left eye still has the astigmatism, and things tend to be blurred or doubled. They had me reading paragrahs of text. The hardest part was the word "still"  - with all of those vertical lines and their dopplegangers, it was like trying to read a bar code.  Even so, the left eye isn't much worse than 20/20. The lens shaping is a go for June 5th.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Unorthodox on May 30, 2023, 02:08:43 PM
I ended up getting glasses last year. 

I failed the eye test for my new license.

Well, sort of.  The dang machine at the DMV is such that my eyes don't line up with the damn holes you're supposed to look though so it's difficult for me to use on the best days to begin with.  I ended up barely scraping by when they send me to the actual eye doctor, so it's still not on my license that they are required, but it was such a marked improvement, I ended up buying some anyway.   

I failed eye tests back when I was 16 or so, but figured out if I didn't stress my eyes by reading books or staring at screens before the test I could pass and had been squeaking by that way since. 
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 30, 2023, 02:31:11 PM
It happens to all of us.

You're doing better than me, anyway; I noticed some faint loss just past age 30.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Geo on June 02, 2023, 07:50:09 AM
You're all talking like its a disaster having to wear glasses.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on June 02, 2023, 03:57:05 PM
You're all talking like its a disaster having to wear glasses.

I think that we're really talking about a constant reminder of our mortality. And being told not only is it a nuisance, it's no longer safe.

When my great grandmother had cataract surgery she had to be in the hospital for a week to ten days with her head in sandbags.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Geo on June 03, 2023, 04:27:21 PM
I stand corrected.  :)
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on June 07, 2023, 01:07:45 AM
Had my first light adjustment treatment yesterday. It involved extra paperwork and measurement data because I'm in this study. Basically it was looking inside my eye, doing an eye test, and trying to figure out a "prescription" to correct for the blurriness and double vision. Then eyedrops for dilation and waiting. Then numbing drops and putting something against my eye that looks like something a stamp collector would use to look at stamps. I stared a laser sort of dot with 6 bigger lights around it for 90 seconds for my good eye, and two minutes for the blury eye. Then they sent me home. Thursday we repeat the process. If my eyes are perfect, they shine a different wavelength to "lock" the lens shape in place.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on June 10, 2023, 03:22:08 AM
Thursday they decided that my left eye was good enough, and any correction would be hair splitting. They did give the right eye another 30 seconds worth of directed UV light. I guess there are actually eight lights, rather than six. I expect we will lock both of my lens shapes in on Monday, if they test well enough.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on June 13, 2023, 05:08:35 AM
The right eye tests well, and they don't think it can be improved upon.
The left eye tests well, but has a little astigmatism, not sure it's worth trying to perfect, the doc said "98 out of 100 is still an A"  I can easily see 20/15 unaided, and if I try I can see a bit better than that. I can see my laptop clearly with the screen at my fingertips at arms length, and pretty much anything I normally need to see clearly I can.

We decided to lock the lenses in their current shape. The lock-in light wave length is more intense.  95 seconds each eye. I have a final lock-in treatment on Thursday.  Eyes are a little sore.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on August 05, 2023, 05:49:47 AM
Today I had my last eye test as part of the study on the new lenses. They were testing various distances and lighting conditions, both eyes together and separately.  I was able to read the chart to the bottom in one of the tests. I haven't done that for many years.

It wasn't my best day, allergy-wise. My eyes were wet and the fluids were thick. So I think I could have done a bit better. More importantly, the testing reminded me to think like somebody whose eyes are starting to go, rather than somebody who has had glasses for 15 years. I need to adjust the distance to bring what I'm looking at into focus, usually an inch will do it. Sometimes two. Not reach for a light or a magnification device or an old pair of glasses. Old habits die hard.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Geo on August 05, 2023, 08:22:05 AM
Old habits die hard.

Isn't that true.
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 05, 2023, 05:43:05 PM
It is.  Why do you ask?

---

Must be wonderful to get sight back - I could do without the furrows in my head-flesh where the earpieces of my computer glasses go...
Title: Re: Rusty's Ramblings
Post by: Rusty Edge on August 06, 2023, 07:02:00 AM
It really is wonderful. That's why I wanted to share the news about the technology. I imagine it will become more affordable or that Medicare will cover more of the costs in a few years.

Another way to express the quality of my vision is that I can get the various USB cords right on the first try . I've been getting those things wrong for as long as I've been using them.
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