9 14 16 recovery part 2

Today has been an interesting day. Conversations with people. people guessing what I have not disclosed. People thinking that they want to know what I'm going to disclose. LOL

I'll tell you what I need, I need someone to come by and rub her boobs on my head. Not too fussy who it is, either. So long is there's no charge for it. Maybe it'd work better for the boob donor to sit on a stool and (toplesss) and twitch a little every now and then. I could throw a quarter or nickel (depending on her eyesight)......

Ok, sorry. today was pretty good. But I'm going to tell you in kind of reverse order. Dinner was good, left over brats from before my trip, so they were 2 weeks old, no mold. Fresh buns. I had some "Over oniony potato salad" the quotes were from some fussy bicycle dude with some of recovery issues of his own....nice enough guy, and I'm not sure why we're not FB friends, actually. I've known him for 6 or 8 years at least.

Had a walk prior to that, saw those awesome panties again, and also a sock. Probably half a mile....slight reminisce of neighbors. Makes me wonder if Jason reads this. I doubt that John does, or Steve and Amy....they moved away years ago. 

I showered in my basement, I built the shower unit with some water valves and an old 5 gallon per minute shower head. This means, of course, that I can have it as hot or cold as I want it. I can have as much pressure as I want, and it's awesome. My luxury bath shower system thingy is ok.....but such a pia to clean. And the handle seems loose. Someone remind me once I'm back to semi normal.

I was able to recognize the stomach rumblings for what they meant, a dump with no milk o magnesia or torpedo help.....was wonderful. And my right arm reached wonderfully well. I challenge you to wipe with your non dominant arm. 

Do it.

Report back....no pics, tho.

But the main thing I'm excited about. And some of you I don't want to read this. Like Frank. But anyway....for the last however many years, like 35, since the summer of 81....holy hell that's a long time....probably 5 out of 7 nights/mornings, I've awakened with an erection. Except for the last week and a half, where there was absolutely nothing at all going on. NOTHING. 

NOTHING AT ALL. 

Ok, so I was on a lot of pain killers and other crappy drugs. There's no pain down there, no visible bruises. Well, I'm assuming that, because it's kind of hard to see down there. Being exposed to various nurses and nurse assistants didn't do anything, either. Watching the nurses bend over, seeing the panty lines seeing the shirts pull up exposing a slice of skin....nothing. 

Not sure of the dream or the cause of today's rise to attention, but I'm grateful for it. 

Aren't you glad you waited all day for this?? :)

9 14 16 recovery

Well of course this isn't true. Not for this one, anyway. I'd save it for one where it would be true, but I'd probably forget it. Shared on FB by one of Steve's girls which makes her my favorite niece, I guess. I'm FB friends with 3 or 4 of them, but I confess I like Rosalee's posts best. Maybe it's because she doesn't have a bunch of little kids. *insert shrug symbol here*

What's new with me? Very little. Why am I wasting your time? Because I can.  Actually something happened this morning that I have not experienced since  maybe Saturday. Even tho there was no apparent damage, I was concerned  that there was some.....but it seems to be ok. Curious as to what it is? 


Leave a mssg or send a mssg, either via fb, google+ texty phone email kik. If I get several, I'll write it out.

9 13 16 more recovery

I think I'm lucky to have gone thru massage school, so that I know a little about the body. I woke up early this morning, well......hell. I was in bed. ERRRR asleep about 8pm, so I woke up or gave up trying to sleep around 6. I noticed that I had a spot mid back that was really f'ing painful. I took my pills and had coffee and breakfast (which is about enough to make me want to rest), so I rested for 2 hours, or until I had to pee again. 

So then I ponder: what's going on with my back. Yes, I make lots of jokes about being dumb or lack the process of thought. But really....I'm not serious about that. I have found that with nearly everything (insurance is an exception) that if I take some time and think about things....I can figure it out. Relationships are another exception.....women are magnificent creatures, but tremendously puzzling. I think I'm missing about 2 keys there.

Ok, my back. Oh, sure. I've got broken or fractured ribs.  The must be just fractured, certainly not compound fractures, since they don't stick out of my hide or into my lungs. Ok, that's good.Why do I have this pain that I didn't  have yesterday? Dunno, been 2 hours for the pills to kick in, that's not it. 

What to do. Hurts like a MFer. Spasms, like maybe a kidney is on fire. Truthfully, even though I was just bragging about my body knowledge, I don't really know where the kidneys are....but I think they are lower than there this was, plus this was quite near the spine. I also don't know where the fractures are in back. In front, they are pretty close to my nipple. Want to see  a pic of my nipple? I didn't think so.  

In case you are really curious and I have not mentioned it: 3-9 in back and 3-7 in front, on the right side.

I got lost in all of that....to help my pain? I went for a walk. I have an old wood cane, I made sure I had my pants, and George wanted to go out. I walked down my street, which is mostly 2 blocks long....I walked down to about 215, stopping to rest about halfway. On the way back, I felt a major improvement....was able to stand up and breathe better.....and it's been better ever since. Not perfect. But I have to save some energy.....Susie is coming to take me to the grocery store. And I had to start some laundry.

Yesterday and in days past I've been able to bend clear over to pick up stuff. Pill, soap, etc. Today I can't. I really can't bend over to pick up the laundry basket....so maybe it's good that you have not brought over a hot dish. But I still got my laundry basket downstairs and the clothes washed. Curious??

Simple. I tugged the basket down the stairs with the cane. When it was several steps up, I picked it up while I was standing on the basement floor. Easy to carry it to the washer, where I don't have to put it down to load the washer.....the soap is on a shelf about neck high. I plan to ask Susie to switch them over for me so they can dry....and hopefully by the time I need the clothes, I'll either have some help or will have recovered sufficiently that I can get them. 

Yeah, I know you don't care about me doing laundry. But tomorrow! I'll be washing dishes! 

Something funny? Sorry, I don't have have any. My ears are roaring, hopefully it's a result of the knock on the head. I have a headache. I keep bumping my hands into the door frames. But I manage to get to the bathroom before I pee. I've only smashed my broken toe into the tub once. Getting there, one day at a time.

recovery confession 9 12 16

I have a confession to make. OH, nothing magical or scary or wonderous.

Strangest thing, I'll get up from my recliner, and stumble to the bathroom. The pills that make me clumsy don't really affect me in that direction. Or maybe I'm only clumsy w/o the pills. I don't know....I can't keep track.

I've never before sat back/leaned back on the the seat of the toilet. It's remarkably comfortable.  It really is. I find myself getting in there, sitting to pee, and then when I think I'm done, leaning back for a few minutes to rest up.

I've probably never done this due to the tank on a toilet where I lived a couple years in Creston, IA, a cute little house that was a terrible POS. Floor was terribly uneven. Had a gas space heater in the living room, which meant the bathroom was cold. Claw foot tub, btw. Had a 40 year old fridge and counters and cupboards. I didn't bother to clean it much.  It was better than renting a bedroom only, though. Nice to have a kitchen and bathroom of my own....

Anyway. Seems like that tank went to leaking, and I found another, but something about the holes didn't line up, something. Or maybe it was meant to be mounted on the wall? Anyway, I propped it up on 2x4, and was very careful with it. LOL Maybe Steve remembers....he rented it for a year or 2 after I moved to MN.  The place had a flat yard and wide driveway, so it wasn't w/o merit. LOL

BTW, the toilet in my house? I replaced it a number of years ago, it's a tall toilet with a oblong seat. I don't know why the tall crappers are not standard, except in places that have little kids. I know that it was very beneficial for Val when she had her numerous surgeries, esp the hip replacement, which of course, was the impetus for this blog. Some of you were on an email list where I'd write mssg to keep you informed as to her status. I thought they were hilarious. I don't think these are too funny. I wish they were.....I really don't remember the things I said to the nurses....they either pretended it was funny or maybe it actually was. 

I do remember quite vividly standing and leaning in preparation for the torpedo...hearing the nurse keep applying gloves and gloves, and gloves, and asking her how many gloves she was going to wear.  Can't say I blame her for wearing 2....or at least 2 was all she admitted to wearing. She did chuckle about that. But relating it doesn't seem too funny. 

I'm not willing to consume any bourbon (esp at 730 am) to help it to be funny....you get what you get.

Hey, just in case you're wondering....I'm willing to entertain visitors, and you don't have to bring anything. I don't sit around here naked, and I've been showering every day. Bonus points if you want to rub my neck. :)

recovery 9 12 16

It's not really the 12th. It's 2am. But I was tired at 8 and didn't take any pain pills. My cpap mask came apart, I woke up, all sorts of fun. I've seen 2am a few times these last couple years, occasionally for fun stuff, occasionally just up late leaving a bar or party. 

One thing is for sure today? George is confused.

Main issue with recovery? hands. The road rash....See....when my hands drug across the street, the skin didn't come off, but it came loose in several areas and it bled a little around it. They didn't do anything about it initially. One nurse did put some goop on the right hand and bandaged it....that meant that the next time I showered the skin came off of that area which left it really bright red. Picture a really red steak. She got to rebandage it. But now the blood is all crusty and catches on the blanket and is rather painful. The other is worse, since the skin has come half off and is standing up straight.

Yes, i should try to bandage it. But...would it be successful? Smear some goop on it, then the goop on my fingers will keep any tape from sticking. Probably just making excuses. 

Enjoyed a hot dish last night, impossible hamburger something or other....dropped off by my exwife. She turned on the oven for me too, and brought some crispy bars. Thanks, Val....It was quite good.

Been thinking of what I can do during this off time, before I go back to work....and of course the answer is: Hobbies!

But which hobby? Can't be giving massage....with scuffed up hands and flexible ribs.  Can't be doing woodwork for a few reasons. Get too tired, stuff is heavy, hands, ribs, etc. Cooking? Gardening? Canning? Cleaning? Painting? Welding? Fishing? hmmmmm. LOL  Might be able to do some leatherwork, I don't know yet. I do have a project that needs done...But once I'm done with that project....then what will I make? Hmmmmmmm 
Make suggestions, please!


My issue with recovery? my neck is stiff and my head hurts. I can handle the hands and ribs. But the constant headache......

Recovery sept 11 16

Can't dive into my own thing right away today. I do remember where I was...and I also cringe how unaware I was then. That hasn't much changed, although I'm more respectful and patriotic now. I was driving my bus. and someone said "someone crashed a plane into the world trade center" I said "does that affect us?" "Not really, not directly" "Ok".  

But of course it did and still does. I'm disappointed with our gov't. Then and esp now.

Enough about politics....recovery. Fun times. I'll keep flashing back to the hospital stay, too. I'll probably repeat a lot of it and for that I'm mildly apologetic. I'll blame the cat that's sitting on my left wrist. A cop was yelling at me in the ER. Bitching at me? I'm irritated by that.

I'm more irritated by the doc that felt it so important to torture me with the diabetes treatment. Glucose was high, right? Turns out that stress and injury and not eating and all sorts of things contribute to that. So what's the treatment? Wake me every hour so they can sample my glucose level because they put in a insulin drip.  "Gotta get the glucose level down so you heal quickly" Guess what, medical people??? My pharmacy doesn't have the Rx you gave me until at least Monday, so what the fuck is the big deal?  Pretty sure sleeping thru the night is important. 

So anyway. I guess I've been home 3 nights now. And I've slept though the night. Around 11 hours each night, and usually a nap in the middle.  Last night, actually mid day, I was cold. Finally closed some windows and mid sleep, woke up warm. So the blankets got moved around. I use 2 fleecy blankets, a smaller green one on my legs and a larger blue/gray with some pattern on it on the upper half. Just the green for a nap, usually. 

Aren't you glad to know that? I was also wearing wearing my ugly brown shirt....it's not flannel, but it's really warm....I can see thru it, it's so old....prob 10 years now....bought at fleet farm for $3, clearance. I've stained it so many time, with black die, with walnuts, etc. and it saved my good polo once when some wood stain jumped out of the can and tried to kill it. Old brown caught all that stain and saved the day. I had a pic on FB last year or 2 years ago regarding buttons.....

So anyway, when I got up I was a little cool, until I drank a cup of coffee, been hot every since. Frustrating. Confusing. Don't understand how it all works. I guess I'll start with my thermostat, see what the temp is. Prob the same yesterday, since windows in the east side of the house are still open.

Whew. morning nap. Karen is highly offended....she must be ultra liberal, I always suspected she was...but she maybe should be aware that my filter, which is sketchy at best, is pretty much non-existent now. 

These drugs are interesting....I remember a side effect saying it'll make me clumsy. Of course I remembered that after crashing into a couple door frames. with the backs of my hands. 

recovery 9 10 16

Yeah, so anyway. I forgot what I put in today's episode, but know I holler curse words frequently when I keep misspelling words. 

I've got neck pain, a headache. some hand pain, shoulder pain rib pain, ankle pain. Hand and ankle is just due to road rash.  On enough pain killers that the neck should be happy. Ungrateful bastard.

So yeah, a little car crashed my bike. It's great when people call or text, asking if I need help. Trouble is.....I don't know know what I need. I can't remember what I need for groceries. I'm no expert yet, but what I know is this: 

new line to make sure it is special and stands out. watch this:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
mssg or call, say: I'm going to the grocery store or Kwik Trip, do you need anything. I'll wait while you look
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On the other hand. If someone (I) mssg you and says will you go to sam's club for something.....just do that and get that. Because I really don't know what to do with a rotisserie chicken. I know I don't want to fool with chicken skin. I don't want to fool with ligaments and tendons. I don't want overcooked meat. Yes, I'm ungrateful. But I paid for it.....and seriously, gala apples? Didn't I specify either braeburn or honeycrisp? 

Sorry, rant over. I know she did what she thought best.  Went to WalMart, even though she knows I go to aldi....bought a few freezer things....thanks, I do appreciate it.  I know it doesn't sound like it.....but.....a rotisserie chicken? 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Try this: I've got an hour or 2, can I pick you up and take you to the grocery store or out to eat? Or come visit?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


FUCK a new rant. Harvest Jam. Super duper loud country music that I can hear in my house with the windows shut. 


I can hear my pulse in my left ear. I have a constant headache. It's not warm in my house, and I hope that's why I'm cold. but I'm sometimes too warm too. 

Recovery Sept 10 16

Damn blogger thing. I hate serif font.Why is the default a serif??

Sept 10. Tammy's bday. Jeff and Sheila's anniversary. Was my anniversary for 20 years, too. 22 years ago was a hot Saturday, I was spared a lot of the annoying BS that goes along with the wedding. I'm not in contact with any of the guys that stood up with me, except I could contact Steve. Kinda miss Jeff and Troy.....Danny a little....he didn't treat Kris as well as he should have.....

Oh sure. I know most of you reading this have not a single clue about any of that. Want to know? ask. What else do I have but time and irritation for the next several weeks???

OK, so I went on a bike ride last weekend. Left Friday afternoon, spent the night in Dubuque. Had a great time, saw the Julien Dubuque memorial and park. Saw the lead shot tower, went to the farmer's market, left town in such a way to see Illinios. Went to the Dickeyville Grotto, had a picnic lunch. Went to Plattville, saw the largest M in the world. Disney used it a few times, I believe. Saw a lead mine. Went to Potosi and on to Lancaster for the night. 

McDonald's for breakfast, went straight to Mineral Point, to ride the Cheese Country Trail, which is an ATV trail open to motorcycles too. Kind of rough for that, to be honest. But fun....Got to a rest area and took off, instead of going on to Monroe.  Went to the toy train barn near Argyle, which is awesome. Went to Yellowstone park for lunch. Was heading to the mustard museum which is on the west side of Madison when a tan car turned right into the bike. 

I came to with a beautiful dark haired women on me...I think she mashed her boobs all over my helmet, which spoiled all of that fun. I have lots of memories from that time, but it's very very weird. Like time stood still. Like I was dreaming. I could feel them cutting my clothes off, but could still feel my shorty shorts. I could sense the people dreading trying to pick me up. I could feel them take off my helmet, and put on a collar. They put ear muffs on me for the helicopter ride, but didn't let me look out the window. It was a fairly smooth landing, one lumpety bump.

Glucose all over, but mostly high. Some dickhead says test every hour. Which means they woke me up every hour. I didn't appreciate that. I let them know that I didn't appreciate that. I made certain that the doctor knew that I did not appreciate that. 

I'd insert some pics, but I didn't take many. and they are on the phone. etc. 

recovery 9/9/16

I've been home about 24 hours now.  It's been quite a struggle....had to get up and find the bathroom w/o any pain killers....I'd taken some tylenol at 7pmish. 4pmish was last of hospital pills, so when I woke about 9am, I'm sure they were all worn off.

I could feel the front fractures. 

Not the best feeling in the world. Not peeing in my only chair was rewarding, though.

Oh, what happened? On FB, I joke and say it was a improper parking of my motorcycle. In reality, a little car shoved me down. Maybe they ran over me and that's why I have 7 broken ribs, 5 broken twice. I don't know why my toe is broken. Sympathy?

So anyway, today? yeah, my driver helped set up my cpap, I got some water and pillows, blankets, sat down here and slept for about 10 hours. Nice. Was able to get up to pee. Had some PB&J, coffee, water, advil, tylenol and normal diabetic/hypertension drugs. 

BTW, the cat was very glad to see me last night, but now he just wants to go outside. Dumbass doesn't realize it's been raining and likely to rain some more.

A friend was coming over today for moral support, i had planned to put her to work rearranging the kitchen a little, but didn't much. I thought ahead and switched pharmacies. Why does anyone use Wallymart pharmacy when it's so easy to use weber and judd? We walked down there, and then back in the rain. Brrr. Oh well. gotta do crazy stuff before you die, right?

Not sure it was the drugs, or stage fright, but there was no poop for 4 days, finally yesterday with the aid of some fun stuff, i.e. milk of magnesia and then a torpedo, got some results. Timing was good, moved from the crapper to the shower, etc. 

Today timing was not as good, but it's ok, since even though my right shoulder isn't 100%, my right arm still reaches and can perform the required task. NO Pics. 

See? I do care about you people.

Birthday. Suck.

Lots of people love their birthday. They have lots of fun, they party, they go around smiling all day. Not me. Oh I know, I don't go around smiling any day. But I look forward to birthdays kinda like people look forward to colonoscopies. And root canals. 

Why? Maybe I'm a grumpy bastard, maybe I expect too much. This year I didn't expect anything, and almost got less. If it weren't for the passenger that gave me a rice krispy bar, the day would have totally sucked. 

I can think of a few birthdays that were good. I recall one year riding my motorcycle all around, and then going to dinner with some friends. That was nice...Val had arranged a good group. I think I remember our first year I surprised her by showing up, we went to the rochesterfest parade.

I only remember having one bday party growing up, had it at Bibbons Park. I don't remember who was there, but I do remember who didn't come. This should have been a clue for the rest of my life. 

Focus on the bad, disregard the good.

I remember having to share my bday with my cousin, since she had the misfortune of being born the same day. Must have been kind of like being twins, even though she was several years older. What the fuck is the fun of holding someone down and tickling them? It's goddamn torture, is what it is. Thanks a lot you fucking cousins.

I turned 21, went to Casey's and bought a 6pack of beer. Went to where Dad worked, and gave him one. He says "oh, is it your bday?" 

I turned 30, had to clean a fridge at the apt complex. It had been w/o power for 3 weeks, full of what used to be food. No hot water. The manager says "why don't you just move it to the office and plug it in, you can't throw away her property". 

what a fucking idiot

Facebook is great, though, huh? More than 100 people have sent a happy birthday greeting. I think a lot of them are sincere, too. Since I send almost everyone on my friends list one, I kinda wonder if it's just retribution. Half of them say "enjoy the day", kind like a command. Maybe that's the problem...I tend to do the opposite if possible. Sure as hell managed that today. 

Maybe I should take the day off and do whatever I want to do. The problem is that I cannot do what I want to do. And I'm not going to talk about that right now.


I wrote this on my birthday, but didn't post it. I don't remember why, probably because I'd been drinking heavily. Why post it now? Ah, WTF. 

94 F150 update

F150 update. Or getting ready for winter again. 

Yes, I do believe I remember saying a few years ago I'm not sure how long this thing will last. Well, I might or might not have mentioned that in January 2014, I bought a Subaru, so the poor old rusty pickup doesn't get much action any more....and it seemed to kinda like that.  

Did I mention I got a couple more jobs? Yeah, in January. So anyway, in February I had to work 2 or 3 of them on the same day, which means I needed one car to go north and the other to go south. Cold day. holy hell.....and the pickup didn't start to go north to the bus barn, so I put the charger on it. 

Cut me some slack, ok? The battery is old. (Dec 2007)I had not started it for about a month or 6 weeks. But 3 hours on the charger had it going. I had to do this 2 job thing for about 2 weeks, and mid way thru the 2nd week, this happened: 

That is a front wheel brake line. I wound up replacing all the brake lines on the front of the pickup, then couldn't get the bleeder screws loose to bleed them. I hired CSC, the towing and repair shop across the street to take care of it, which they did for $40.

In August, I see a puddle under the poor pickup....power steering oil. I don't have time to fix it, so I toss the keys to CSC again, and they guy replaces one hose. BTW, there are 2 hoses, and they are the same age. I'm not sure why he didn't put on both. Because it's leaking again, or still. 

Anyway, the point is I was going to change the oil, which I have not done for 2 years, because I've only driven it about 1700 miles in those 2 years. I plan to replace the wiper blades, fill the transmission and check the differential. I also plan to hook up a battery tender to it, so I can keep the battery charged, since it's still old. 

Cause when I need it.....I NEED it. 

edit and update again. LOL. Oil changed, transmission checked, winter air installed in the tires, including the spare, coolant topped off (where does that stuff go?) and windshield washer juice filled. 

I know, the pic kind of doesn't really show what is going on. that plastic tab broke off the reservoir, it holds that side of the tank to the pickup. I wrapped a long wire around the tank and gave it some twists to hold it tight. It's not a critical thing. 

I generally buy oil at fleet farm, in the 2 gallon jug. I did some math once and found it's pretty much the same price to buy it that way vs the 5 gallon bucket, and much easier. Easier still, but more wasteful is the quarts, or a 4 or 5 qt jug, but the cost is not the same....usually by the qt is the most expensive option, and then you have all those little bottles hanging around. 

I have bought oil for my motorcycle by the 5 gallon bucket, because there's been a great rebate on it. I'll pour a gallon from the bucket into a gallon jug, on the bench. I'm sure there's an easier way, and maybe I should look for a pump to install in the bucket. then I can just take the bucket to the bike, pump it full, be done with it, get rid of the gallon jugs. Hmmmmmmmm

From pallet to booze shelf in 3 easy steps.

Do you ever visit those "crap for sale" on facebook? I think Rochester has 14 of them in various forms. A friend and constant reader saw a wine bottle shelf for sale on one and "liked it".

So I says: dude, if you want one, I can make one cheaper than that. 

I was wrong about that, but I sold it to her at that price anyway.

Spoiler: it's way more than 3 steps, and not many of them are easy.

1. find a pallet
2. get it home
3. disassemble
4. sand
5, add bottom shelf so bottles don't fall out
6. add extension blocks for glasses shelf
7. measure, mark and cut shelf for glasses
8. stain
9. varnish
10. do all the other things you forgot to do before:
such as...

1. add screws to mounting board
2. drill mounting holes
3. make sure all boards are secure, remove extra/bent/broken nails

It's not hard to find pallets. The trick is to find them with good character. Colour, contrast, just broken enough but not too broken. I've glued lots of boards back together. 
Where do I find them? Often, the plumbing company across the street leaves them out on Monday mornings....so I walk across the street, pick up 2 and carry them home. Or the lawn mower/small engine place a mile away, or the electrician down from the mower place, or construction sites, etc. A hundred other places...like the bed store, along the highway, Northern Tool, KMart....

FYI pallets are a great source of free lumber, but it is not really free. It takes a lot of work to disassemble the things, and it uses up sanding discs much faster than fresh clean wood. It's harder on router bits, saw blades, gloves. It takes more glue, more varnish, more stain. 

I found plans for a dis-assembly tool, called the Pallet Pal, made by Izzy Swan. I'll be honest, when I first saw the guy, I thought WTF? What the hell kind of name is that? But he probably didn't choose the name, and he's creative and smart as hell, so I'm jealous. I bought the plans he had for sale and built a pallet pal, and it works pretty good. The plans only contained one error that I noticed, I suggest you check his site for all sorts of fun stuff.  I made this from yellow pine, which I got from the plumber's dumpster. It came from loads of pvc pipe, the groove in the wood is used to hold the banding that secures the pvc.

Sand it. I generally just use 80, sometimes 100. Very rarely 120. We just need to take off the worst of the dirt and roughness, and splinters, etc. We really don't want it to be really smooth, or have uniform colouring. Stain it if you so desire. 

Nail in or on a board to keep the bottles in. the bottom of it should be stained, and maybe the edges too.

Measure, mark and cut the slots for the glasses, stain it too. When all the stain is dry, put on a couple coats of varnish. I generally prefer a coat of gloss and a coat of satin. On some projects I just use one coat, but I know that I won't be doing much dusting of it, and I'm not too fussy. I always brush these, it'd take way too many coats of the spray to be enough.

 on the right is the 2nd one I made, on the left is big enough for 2l pop or the big liquor bottles.

 this one is pictured below, the before pic

 used biscuits to mount the glasses shelf

30" 

 the little is totally customized, at only 24", 6 slots. All wood came from pallets

 dropped it, had to disassemble and repair before delivery

 drilled hole in wrong spot. turned the plug on the lathe and glued it in. next pic is same board but sanded.

 after pic of the very rustic pictured above

shop cat

If you desire such a shelf, of any dimensions, and BTW, I'm working on one that will be 7' long, please do contact me. kingswoodshop@yahoo.com

A list of songs that I've come to dislike and re-like in the past couple of months

In no particular order:

1. Boston: Amanda
2. Passenger: Let her go
3. Asia: Only Time will Tell
4. Scorpions: Still loving You
5. Cars: why can't I have you

3 of these I've known since the 80's, but never looked at the lyrics...and my ears don't hear them until I've read them. Make sense? 

2000 International Blue Bird School bus review

Nothing typed here should be construed as a complaint regarding the shop or mechanics.

I know, out of character for me to start with a disclaimer, but once when I was in the shop and I had a weird conversation with one of the mechanics.  I'm not going to recount that, suffice to say that it was weird. Really really weird.

I had this bus for 5.5 school years, and initially I hated it.  I'm almost too fat for the bus, there's just enough room behind the wheel for me to sit/fit.  There are a couple of drivers that are too fat for the bus, I really should befriend them and hang out with them, so I could be the thin one.

This bus came from Anoka or Chanhassen or some other goofy place, I got it with about 120,000 miles in the fall of 2008.  I had just enjoyed a year of a rear engine AmTran, which had a power door and a brand new window.  The sliding window fell in on me one fine day in October, and it didn't get replaced until February or March...when it fell in, it just missed my eye and gashed my cheek, I was not happy about that, let me assure you.

So this Bluebird is a "conventional" bus, meaning it has a long nose that sticks out and it has a huge tailswing.  This means that the area between the back wheels and rear bumper is long, and when turning sharply the driver must be careful because that tail will swing around and decimate things.

The bus had the standard manual operated door, which means my right arm got some use...for every school bus stop, they make us activate the yellow lights, put the transmission in N, set the brake all before opening the door, and all that is done with the right arm.  Of course the lights go off automatically, but the door, brake and transmission all must be reset before departing.  Yes, I kept the door well lubed...I don't see how people got by with a sticky squeaky door.

To the best of my memory, the bus never stranded me. It got swapped a couple times, mid route, because of the transmission not shifting out of first gear, the turbo problem, and an air leak....but each time it was driven back to the shop.

 Developed a problem, it'd wear off a front tire in just a few thousand miles.It was weird, too, when I first got the bus, it would not make the turn around a culdesac. Then for a couple years it would, but then at the end, it would not. Maybe they put different sized tires on it.

 coolant leaking onto alternator. BTW, the alternator quit one day, mid route. Batteries lasted the rest of the trip, thankfully.

 Turbo sucked in a seal and blew an amazing amount of smoke. An impressive amount of smoke. It was awesome.

 hood hinge bolt. disappeared for a while, made it a lot of fun to check the engine.

 "crossover mirror" mount. mirror would swivel around so that it was more useless than normal until they put a screw into it. LOL

 Exhaust pipe would smash half flat going into Lincoln school.  They put on a new pipe, and it smashed flat the first time I went to Lincoln.

 Some body damage that I sort of fixed. After 3+ years like this, the shop did some work to it, the same year the bus was retired.

 cup holder and anti rattle.

 Ran it quite a ways further, about another 20,000 miles, I think.

 Turn signal stalk broke off one day. Fun using a pencil....jamming it in to lever it up or down.

Some one mowed their lawn into a big puddle that I hit. That grass stuck to the bus for a long time...kinda funny.

beard

As a teenager, I tried in vain to grow a mustache. Couldn't do it. Kinda gave up on facial hairs until I was nearly 30, when I went on vacation and didn't shave the entire time. When I got home, I had the start of a good shadow, so I just scraped off my cheeks and neck, left the goat part. I was working at an apartment complex, doing maintenance, and an absolutely beautiful girl told me that the goat thingy looked good.

So I kept it.

I grew it longer, trimmed it shorter, bushier, etc. Until I was off work one year between Christmas and New Year, when I shaved my chin naked.

Holy hell, what a mistake.

And I know what you're thinking. This blog is worthless w/o pics. 

It'd be worthless even with pictures.

So 10 or 12 years of a hairy chin.....you kinda get used to seeing that in the mirror...every time I went into the bathroom, I scared myself....thinking "who is that weak chinned fat bastard?" 

I grew it back just as fast as I could, which was not fast enough....took at least a month for it to look not terrible.

With the massage biz, and the wife preferences, I kept it pretty short, if it got to be too much more than an inch, she got a little crabby about it...so fast forward to 2014. 

15 years of wearing a goat thingy and no wife to complain if it's too long.

 Gay Bar Aug 2014

 That purple shirt pic was one of the first pics taken with the phone, so that is actually Sept 2013

 autumn 2013

 I don't remember when I found Jesus.

 made a beard comb last fall

 Mid Dec 2014 right before I had an interview. I trimmed the goat back to an inch to blend.

Beautiful day in Winona, Jan 2015

 March 2015

Will I keep the beard? I don't know. Probably not, I suspect it will be hot, esp in the motorcycle helmet.  I confess that I really like the comb...I have some oil blend, massage oil, to be honest, with some essential oils in it that I put on the comb. The comb is made from locust and maple, btw, cut on the bandsaw, sanded to taper the teeth. Feels great.

I do like the not shaving aspect of life...saves a little time each day. Does not really save much money, since I can use the dollar store razors; using a razor that cost a dime 5 or 6 times...living life dangerously.  I may see how it goes cut short, since a long goat is painful during motorcycle season anyway.

Opinions welcome....

Clever title

March 10, 2015 ramblings

On March 9, 2004, the frost was thick and heavy, I slid a city bus down a hill and half around a curve, slamming the back of the bus into a tree, hurting some people and killing the bus. Great day. (yes, that was sarcasm)

Jan 31, 2014, my wife of 20 years or so moves out into a place across town. I assume almost full responsibility for the dissolution. You'd probably understand and agree with the reason, but maybe not the application.

In order to pay for oBamacare, I took on a few more jobs. At the end of 2014 I had 2, plus the continuous occasional massage money stream, the random wood sale, etc. Oh, my other job? Driving a party bus, which they really don't run in the winter. Not helpful to my bank account, but I understand.  My new jobs: weekend maintenance at a hotel and actor at Mayo Clinic. Fun times, friends. 

So for a year and a little more, I've lived alone with my cat. I had not lived alone since meeting Val, in 1993. Overall, I think it's more fun now than it was in 1988-1993, but we have the internet now, too. During this time I've had good times and better times. A few bad times.

Like when the sink drain plugged up, but that really wasn't hard to fix. The bathroom sink drain is next, rather slow. I got really lucky the other day: I had some new sink parts perched on the toilet tank, waiting for installation, (drain plug, the handle and lever for it). Somehow the plug (also called pop up) got dropped into the toilet. I was in a hurry and went to work, promptly forgot about it. When I got home, I had to go, still forgetting about that thing in there....until I heard a *tinkle* when I flushed. "OH CRAP!" I said. Butt everything went down, and has continued to go down since, so I guess I got lucky.

Or how about this last weekend, which was moderately better than the weekend before, but not really. See, the full time guy at the hotel went on vacation, so I agreed to go there during my mid day break to maintain things. This means that I have to drive both cars each day. One to work and the other to work. (I know.) On day 8, I'm heading down and so is the brake pedal. I have a leak. Got it home, filled the MC with brake juice, drove it to the other job on Friday. Leak is worse, of course. A LOT of fun driving it home, but arrived safe. I could see that the RF wheel is coated with brake fluid, so I know it's the hose. I really don't feel like typing up all that occurred, but suffice to say that it was a decently warm day, and I made about 6 trips to the parts store; thank AlGore that it's close. I am still not done, can't get them bled sufficiently because I can't get the bleeder valve to open. I may give up and take it across the street, for them to do it.

Not ready to talk about the weekend prior to the brake weekend. sorry.

Seems like the older I get, the longer winter is, even though the time goes faster. 

My 4th job is in the multidiscipline blah blah blah center at Mayo. Basically my assignment is to pretend I'm a middle aged fat guy with a bad knee. I've got one more day of it this round, and may be called upon to do it a few more times thru the year. Fun times....but I don't get the whole anti bus ride to mayo angst that people have. I've ridden the bus there every time, and twice parked it within a block of the place. Oh, yes. I know, it's not fair....I drove the city bus, so I understand how it works. I live on a bus line; I can go east to one route, or west to a different route. Short walk each time. And since I drive a bus, I can park it in the bus parking right outside the bdlg. Cheating, I know. But you could have moved into a neighborhood where there is a bus....

Some parts of my family want to put Grandma into a nursing home. The idiot cousins disagree. One of them has worked in a nursing home, so maybe she knows better. I don't know...I'm too much of a coward to go visit her....and she wouldn't know me anyway, so....


Oh, I know, this blog entry sucks. Too bad. ;) I just have not felt like writing, every time I do it reads like I'm complaining. And maybe I am. Whining. whatever. 

10 things I saw today

I did a list thingy once, and it was well received. Maybe if you're lucky someday I'll tell you why I've not been keeping this bloggy thing updated.



1. Deer
2. Turkey
3. flowery bush
4. really nice old car
5. fat guy planting flowers in the rain
6. old couple planting garden
7. cop in a big hurry
8. ambulance chasing cop
9. helicopter leaving hospital
10. Kid falling off skateboard

"restoring" an old light 50 shades of grey?

Restoring an old light.  Not really restoring, that implies that it'll be just like new, "mint", if you're stuck in the 80's language trap.  

I was cleaning up my laundry room area, and was dusting off this light when I saw that the bulb was broken....as in no glass or filament was present.  Some needle nosed pliers make short work of that, but before inserting a new bulb, I see that the socket is loose, so I decide to take it apart to see if there's any problems in there.

There was indeed a problem, friends, one wire that was soldered to the socket was bare and nearly broken off from the socket, so the decision was made to replace it.  I have a bucket full of track lights in the garage, all with really nice ceramic sockets, not bakelite like this one.

A picture would be helpful here, sort of like about 1000 words helpful instead of me trying to describe this light.  But here goes.  First, you should know it's about the colour of a turd.  Brown.  It's also the colour of a lot of traffic lights, that weird bronze colour; not the silver or grey or green and yellow motif that is common around here, but kind of brown...except for where the paint has flaked off and the steel has rusted.


The main body of the light is round, which would be cylindrical.  If it had a flat base and could stand upright, it'd be phallic, and then I'd paint it grey, many different shades of grey.  How many?  50.  The diameter?  If you can imagine my hands, thumbs and middle fingers touching making a circle, that'd be close.  Pretty sure that'd be bigger than Miss Steele's boob.

The light is about a foot long, and hangs from 2 straps that were spot welded to the body of the light.  The cord, which is white and not original to the light enters one end, dead center.  The light socket also mounts there, which is rather unusual for the socket to have a hollow nut to secure the mount to the substrate, and for the cord to enter that same nut.  Generally the cord enters via  a grommet and the socket mount would have either a screw, a bolt, or use a short pipe nipple and nut. 

Covering the wires, therefore protecting them, shielding them from heat from the bulb and keeping kids fingers away from the switch, etc, is a thin flat piece of metal, it fits in the housing loosely, secured with a screw.  Next to the screw is a switch, a simple toggle switch, off and on are the 2 choices, much like you'd expect.  The connections are made thusly:

One wire from the cord is soldered to the switch, which has very small tabs with holes in it for that purpose.   The other cord wire is connected to a wire from the socket with a ceramic wire nut, reused as original.  The other socket wire is soldered to the switch.  Which wires are which?  It does not matter.  The cord is not polarized, meaning the plug doesn't have different sized prongs on it, and it doesn't matter if the positive or the negative/neutral wires are switched, so long as one of them is.  The same amount of current flows thru each wire...and the switch breaks/opens/closes/completes the circuit to enable or stop the flow of electricity.   Does that make sense?

A word about ceramic wire nuts:  Since they're ceramic, or porcelain, they are very heat resistant, nearly indestructible.  But they don't have a metal springy thing in them like a traditional wire nut to help make the connection solid, you have to make sure that you twist the wires together before putting on the wire nut.  

I got the electrical put back together, and thought that I should test it.  So I plugged it in, and didn't get shocked.  Good sign, since I'm really not into getting shocked.  I screwed in a bulb, and flipped the switch.  No light.  Grrrrr.  Different bulb.  No light. Grrrr. flip the switch again, and it lights. Success.

So this light is a cylinder of metal with one "side" open, the inside of it is painted silvery to reflect the light from the bulb back out.  I sanded the rusty parts and bare parts, masked the cord and put some paper in the open area. I washed it with some alcohol to remove all dust, dirt, grease, wax or other surface impurities, then I sprayed it with primer, and will later spray it black.  

Why black?  Because the blue and white and green and grey are in the garage.

Hindsight says I should have rounded up a longer cord for it, it's only about 4', which would roughly be equivalent to the length of Mr Grey's tallywhacker, if you believe everything you read.  Every lamp and every power tool should come with a 12' cord, in my opinion.  Since I've had a drill with a 12" power cord and a different drill with a 12' power cord, I know which one is easier to use...and therefore, I'm right.  Note: the drill for sale is not mine.  I don't know whatever happened to the crappy one that I had.  Maybe Steve has it.

What will I do with this light?  I don't know.  I also don't know where I got it, or how long I've had it.  I've used it in the basement, primarily, have hung it from pipes, but I suspect it's a bed light, for the old steel pipe beds. It could hang off of a door, or under the sink from the pipes, but I'll probably do nothing with it, to be honest.

If you came here from FB expecting this to be all nipple clamps, floggers, butt plugs, handcuffs and grey ties, SORRY!  :)  I'd have to change the settings so no kids could get at it first, and ask my MIL to not read it.