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Post by zrct02 on Apr 2, 2015 4:20:43 GMT -7
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Post by Grug - American Neanderthal on Apr 2, 2015 9:15:53 GMT -7
Not sure, but looks like Hitemp and Stetto moved on, neither have been active for months now.
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Post by HiTemp on Apr 17, 2015 16:21:00 GMT -7
I have been busy. I put an addition on one of my sheds, painted my house, put up new rain gutters, took all the plants and bushes out of the beds and re-leveled them, covering them with mulch for now. I am also trying to expand my workshop but have run into a snag with the building code folks. Seems they can't agree on whether my proposed wind mitigation measures (Simpson ties) are adequate even though I provided documentation straight from Simpson that shows FL has accepted them. Then there is the question of whether or not I have to bring the original structure up to current code because my expansion is larger in square feet than what exists, putting me over the "more than 50% limit. Normally, that only applies to residential structures not workshops but mine is "attached" to the house by a 4 x 8 foot box-like structure covered in roofing. One inspector says it's attached, another says it isn't. Unless I can get them to agree, they tell me I'll have to pay an engineering outfit to certify my improvements will meet wind code. I called two just to get a rough idea how much this will set me back. First one told me "less than $1,200," the other was sure it could be certified for under $1,500. So that's taken a bunch of time. I have all the materials in my carport, I think it's maybe $700 for the framing, hardware and siding, but I can't do anything with it until the plan is approved.
Aside from that I had another sibling pass during my hiatus from the online world. And recently, I went back to work full time since my furniture biz was too unstable to rely on. The work is good and pays good, but the orders are erratic. One week I had an order to build 18 banquettes for a restaurant; the next week I had an order for one stool. I don't need to work, I mean money-wise, but I had hoped to work a few more years to maybe finish paying off the house and vehicles before permanently retiring. So I got a job working in a hydraulic repair shop. 9+ hours every day, M-F. So, needless to say, I've had a lot going on and I had to cut back somewhere to fit all of that in, so I cut the time I was spending online.
Just so's ya know, I have missed HFN and the banter we've had here. I regret that my last series of posts was taken as some kind of attack as that certainly was never my intent. I just wanted to ask some questions about it but I guess it came across as critiquing the messenger or something. That was right about the time things got busy. I've poked my head in a couple times but didn't see any other posts so haven't bothered to log in.
Hope all of you are doing well and that life is treating you all kindly.
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Post by Grug - American Neanderthal on Apr 18, 2015 17:30:22 GMT -7
I was starting to worry, and have been meaning to call, but I don't suspect you would appreciate the 10pm phone call when I finally remembered at the end of the day. Sorry to hear about your families loss. Same ol, same ol around here, almost done calving, getting ready to finish up the late planting I have to do and then get ready for the hot weather and hay season. We had an early dry spring, but got about 2" of rain the last couple days. That working thing dies not sound like fun at all, who invented that anyway?
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Post by HiTemp on Apr 22, 2015 8:10:49 GMT -7
After so many years of having to do a midnight tour/inspection of all the engineering spaces I think I've only gone to sleep before midnight once or twice in the last twenty years. And I'm up at 5:30 no matter what. Guess that's just what my body's become used to over the years. I'd accept a call at 10pm no problem. The only catch is I only carry my phone when I'm outside and have been known to leave it on my desk in one room while I'm in another, and I don't hear it. So if you do call and it goes to voice mail, you know it's on the desk and out of earshot.
As for the "W" word, I don't know who invented it, but for the longest time I thought it was surely someone cruel. When I stopped working (for someone else), I thought, wow, now I can get up when I want, do what I want, when I want, and I can sort of take it easy. That didn't turn out to be the case. I was still up every day at 5:30, had so much to do around the house I was working 7 to 7 with a couple short breaks in between. And doing that 6 days a week. I had less time to do anything like fish or fly or fart around than I ever had.
After a while, I ran out of things to do and that was even worse. That's why I started up the little furniture biz. I was going stir-crazy. When the best thing you can find to do with your day is sand the rust off hand tools and oil them all, you need something to do. So I started building planting benches, planters, wooden columns, stools, chairs, tables, chests, you name it. Life was good. I had a purpose for the day, didn't have to work all day, and could stop any time I want to do something else. I'd still be doing only that if the work was sustainable. As it is now I just make a bunch of stuff and once every month or so I haul it all down to the Farmer's Market and set up a booth. Usually I sell most of it and come away with an order or two, but other days I've hauled most it right back home.
Day off today - woo-hoo!
Calving... now that's work from what I can see. Have you considered moving on from cows to giraffes? The local zoo just had one of their giraffes give birth to a baby giraffe and it was quite a media event. Folks from Animal Planet were down here filming. Turns out the giraffe, according to the giraffe experts, is one animal that requires absolutely no human assistance with birthing its young. The mama giraffe builds a mound of sand with its feet, then stands over the mound when it's delivery time. The baby giraffe pops out and falls about 6' landing on the mound of sand with a flop. After a few minutes the mama begins cleaning it off and 5 minutes later it's standing up with rickety legs like Bambi on ice. I suppose you'd probably have to make a building or two taller, but think how easy it would be to find them in the deep snow? With the right tack I suspect it wouldn't be too hard to train them to pull a roll of hay, though I admit putting the bridle on one would require a little work. Food for thought.
Roger - how've you and Mrs. Roger been? I've been wondering if you've finally taken that rifle and put one of those feral hogs on the BBQ yet? Pulled pork with honey BBQ sauce... not much in the world better'n that.
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Post by HiTemp on May 6, 2015 1:58:55 GMT -7
Hmmm. Crickets.
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Post by zrct02 on May 6, 2015 7:22:02 GMT -7
We're doing pretty well. I'm working on shedding a major part of my weight. Tired of not seeing my shoes, not being able to tie them, etc. Going to have gastric sleeve surgery. Supposedly, there is an 85% diabetes cure rate to boot. Less stress on knees etc. I have to jump through hoops so it won't happen until mid to late August. They even made me see a shrink. Like Sheldon Cooper I can now say "I've been tested and I'm not crazy." I have yet to see any feral hogs on our property, but if I do, I'm ready. Ammo still scarce around here. Local Walmart person said people come in at 7 AM on days they expect a shipment and when it arrives they call all their friends. Takes about 15 minutes to sell out.
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Post by zrct02 on May 6, 2015 7:24:55 GMT -7
HiTemp, we have some chores over here if you get stir crazy. Could keep you busy for quite a while.
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Post by Grug - American Neanderthal on May 6, 2015 11:54:05 GMT -7
Been busy here too, we were really dry so I put off busting out any soil for fear it would blow, then it finally got wet so once it dried out I have been working in between rain storms to get the spring farming done. That and my wife has conscripted me to build garden beds and hoop houses.
That and we have been trying to take care of Vickis dad whose health is failing and mental faculties slipping, just got a an ambulance ride to hospital for the 2nd time this year already for falling. But he is being stubborn, or was, he may not have a choice now, and will probably be in a nursing home, at least for a while.
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Post by HiTemp on May 6, 2015 12:58:52 GMT -7
Roger good to hear y'all are doing okay. Three of my former co-workers had that gastric bypass surgery and it made a HUGE difference in all of them. Two of them I literally didn't recognize when I happened to run into them at a store. Two of them were line techs, the guys in bucket trucks that maintain the actual cables and amplifiers and such. One chose to do it because of a history of heart problems in his family and his doc told him that being as heavy as he was, it was just a matter of time for him too. He had the surgery and went from 5'8", 275lbs to (about 18 months post-surg) 5'8", 165lbs. He looks GREAT and about 20 yrs younger. The other guy had really bad knee problems from all the weight and was certainly a contestant for adult onset diabetes. He had one knee operated on and then had the gastric bypass. Today he's also over 150lbs lighter and went from a hulking sort of guy to your basic bean pole. Knees don't bother him anymore.
The most dramatic was a lady who was my boss for a short time. She was maybe 5'3" and had a very egg-shaped torso. She had the surgery and also quit smoking right around the same time. I ran into her in the store and didn't even recognize her. She looks like a movie star, extremely petite now. She went from the cable TV biz to running her own fitness center and she teaches yoga now. All three point to the surgery as the major life-changer for them.
I wish you good luck with it and hope it makes a big difference for you.
As to those chores, well, they'll have to wait. I'm busy right now building a few furniture projects, in fact I just came in to make a sandwich because with the boss at work I can enter the kitchen covered in sawdust.
Honcho, I wish you and Mrs. well in caring for her dad. My wife does that for a living. She used to work for a hospice outfit but it was too much driving for her. Now she works in an assisted living facility in the memory care section. Most of her patients are so cognitively "gone" they aren't aware of what they say or do, so they have to be behind a locked door lest they decide to just go for a stroll with no idea who they are or where they are. The others have varying states of dementia. None of them can live by themselves because they could put a pan on the stove and totally forget they did it and end up causing a fire.
Her oldest brother is going through the beginnings of that right now. It's really sad because when you look up "nice guy" in the dictionary, you see his picture. His wife just died a week and a half ago and he was vaguely aware but not totally understanding of it. The responding paramedics ended up wanting him to go to the ER to get checked out and they put him in a psych unit for evaluation. He's been there all week and they are finally agreeing to release him to family with the understanding that he must go to a nursing home or assisted living facility at least for the foreseeable future.
My wife has grown attached to some of her patients but it is a different slice when it's her own brother going through this. I will say, though, that these assisted living facilities are really the best thing for them because they will have peers there, all their needs are taken care of (except for their families visiting them) and there will be a nurse making sure they get their medications reliably. When people start losing their facilities, that can become critically important because they will almost always screw up any meds they are on. Just knowing they will get help dressing, taking a shower, and 3 squares can often take away a lot of the worry about folks in that state.
If we can help in any way answering questions you may have about those kinds of decisions or facilities, please let us know. When families come in looking for answers, they refer them to wife. I'm sure she would be glad to help you.
Well, sammitch is gone, iced tea is drained, so back to making sawdust.
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Post by Grug - American Neanderthal on May 6, 2015 18:26:04 GMT -7
Well right now the only question is finding a place with room for him. We will see if he improves or not.
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Post by zrct02 on May 7, 2015 22:40:21 GMT -7
I've read that a good number of older patients have a B12 deficiency and been diagnosed as dementia. If untreated it becomes irreversible and is indeed dementia. Thus it is always a good idea to test for B12 - just in case. Several years ago the boss went through this and the B12 injections did wonders. I've been attending what's known as the Bum's Table in Austin. The group meets weekday mornings in the break room of a grocery store. Bunch of old farts like me. Lively discussions kinda like used to go on here. Particularly lively one today. I decided that while I go to these meetings to do something else at the same time. What to do? I decided to take all my math courses again. Just now finishing up Algebra at the local Community College. Trig next. Old people - uh less young people - like me don't have to pay tuition. I got a quick education about why students have such high debt. Tuition is obscenely high. No wonder one sees so many ads for online college courses. It's a VERY profitable business. Austin Community College gets tax money AND charges something like $100 per semester hour for in-district students. Since I'm out of district the price jumps to nearly $300 per semester hour. Out in the country, I'm not in any Community College district. A&M and UT are just as bad.
Anyway, you guys take care.
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Post by Grug - American Neanderthal on May 8, 2015 5:39:03 GMT -7
I think a lot of his problem is he has taken a cocktail of drugs for so long for things like high blood pressure mad Rheumatoid Arthritis, plus drank too much on top of it all, and refused to make any changes in lifestyle or diet to help himself, its finally catching up. Still its sad to see someones world shrink continually.
My daughter is going to a community college, and how they structre pricing is a mystery, she is paying more for summer classes than regular semester classes for some reason.
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Post by zrct02 on May 9, 2015 5:04:43 GMT -7
Yep, it is indeed sad. I'm not one to judge though. In my youth, I suffered from the Mickey Mantel syndrome.
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Post by Grug - American Neanderthal on May 9, 2015 5:53:14 GMT -7
Yeah, but you are not having serious health issues and still trying to act like there is nothing wrong by drinking like before while on prescription drugs that are bad enough anyway. He was a functioning alcoholic, he hid it as much as possible, which was not, but he thought he was, and he is trying to now.
They found a room at a nursing home, and he has been undergoing physical therapy, but is for most purpose bed ridden. And still in his mind he thinks he is going to sneak off and have a beer, he informed her yesterday he was "skipping work and going fishing", he asked my wife for some money and his ID "to buy a can of pop". It would be funny if not for having to deal with the consequence of his mind being almost child like right now. We are going to have him taken off his arthritis meds to see if this is a side effect or just his mind finally slipping for good.
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Post by zrct02 on May 9, 2015 9:02:08 GMT -7
Sorry to hear that. Take care.
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Post by HiTemp on May 9, 2015 11:53:48 GMT -7
I've read that a good number of older patients have a B12 deficiency and been diagnosed as dementia. If untreated it becomes irreversible and is indeed dementia. Thus it is always a good idea to test for B12 - just in case. Several years ago the boss went through this and the B12 injections did wonders. I hadn't heard of that but I just read a couple articles that talk about this being something researchers are actively taking a look at now as it regards dementia. Interesting to note that weight loss surgery can also impact the body's ability to absorb B12 (by reduction of stomach acid, needed to absorb the B12) causing B12 deficiency in many patients. The articles also mentioned that with age many people are less and less able to absorb B12 even if they eat a good diet or take B12 supplements. Getting a test sounds like a way of easily eliminating the simple cause, and much less expensive than the variety of drugs and treatments offered to deal with dementia. Now that sounds interesting, the discussion group. I would go back to school in a heartbeat if I didn't already have so much else to do right now. One sure thing you'll learn is how poorly our current education is. High school grads that couldn't do what everyone in my eighth grade class could do. So dependent on the calculator that they take almost no time to understand the mathematical principles behind the operations. When I went to complete my degree after my military service, the local community college (now a state college) couldn't see their way to give me much credit for the two years of training I received in the nuclear program. Here's how it worked out; they gave me credit for Calculus and 3 hrs for Algebra and not ONE single science credit. There is this guy who does all their evaluating and if it's not in black and white in the ACE guide, he won't allow it despite what common sense might dictate. I asked him where anyone could take Calculus without having first taken Alg. I and II AND Trig? Oh, nowhere he knew of. Then why are you giving me Calculus credits and only Alg I without the other math credits? Answer: Because I didn't give you any science credits so I figured I find you some math credits. It's a community college so there really is no appeal. I took Alg II and about the fifth week after I aced both exams so far and was tutoring half the class the instructor asked me what was I doing in that class? I said I had to take it again, the school wouldn't give me credits for it. So she said if I continued to take it and just tutor the students I didn't have to take any more exams, I would pass with an A. Good deal. Then came Trig and I had a blast. I used to teach Trig at the Nuc Power School for a few months, and it's always been something easy for me. Funny thing, when I went to buy my textbook the school bookstore was out of them. I went across the street to a used book store/exchange and got one but it was the previous edition. The guy showed me it was page for page the same thing just that the new book had more pictures, more "strategies thinking questions" at the end of each chapter, and no longer had trig tables. Needless to say I caused all kinds of hate and discontent in class when I'd pop open the trig tables and get numbers faster than others were punching all this stuff into scientific calculators. The instructor was kind of pissed that I was just pulling data off a table rather than "doing all the work of putting the numbers in the calculator" like other students had to. Hey, not my fault some dumbass felt taking the trig tables out of a book was an "advance" in education. I finally had to relent because some of the test questions were structured such that you entered some values and crunched the calculator, entered that answer, then went on to do several more of those until you got the final answer. You could get partial credit if you carried forward an erroneous value, etc. so I couldn't rely on my old trusty tables anymore. I was thinking about breaking out my slide rule and toting that to class just for the piss off factor, but I didn't want to push it too far. Tuition structures? Don't even get me started. What would be fair is for the school to have to make those student loan payments for each month their alumnus can't find gainful employment. Maybe then they'd stop treating it as a business of how many heads pass through the chute instead of how many heads can think and solve problems. Glad you found a place for him, Honcho. My wife was reading the part about wanting his ID and some money "for a can of pop" and said "Oh yeah! Typical" That's the stuff she deals with daily. Her memory care patients are in a locked section of the facility for their own safety. A few of them are active fugitive wannabees and will try any means, fair and unfair, to bolt at first opportunity. They've been a few of them succeed and they had to go out and drive around the neighborhood looking for them. One patient noticed that when staff entered the code on the digital lock then went through, it took about 5 seconds for the door to swing shut but a full 15 seconds before the electric lock actually engaged again. So, when opportunity presented itself, he stationed himself close to the door and when someone went through he let the door shut, counted to 7 then casually strolled through the door and hid in a room down the hall. Worked his way room to room to the front door and fell right in step with the pizza guy who just delivered a pie. They found him a couple miles away "on his way to Ohio." He was actually headed west but that was beside the point. I was dropping off some lunch for her one day and as I got buzzed through the security door one of her patient was telling her she just got bit by a crocodile and needed immediate attention lest she lose her baby. Woman was 88 yrs old. They have no idea how irrational they sound but they are in a reality all their own. Most are not quite that bad but all of them have some issues that make it unsafe for them to be on their own or left to their own devices. I hope he makes out well in the new place. Getting the drinking stopped will also go some way to giving a clearer picture of what's going on. Could be that the arthritis meds weren't getting the job done and the booze helped in some way, or it could just be that the booze was a given and might or might not diminished the effect of the meds. Once he's stabilized in there his doc or PA will be better able to evaluate him. I hope you guys make out well with his care.
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Post by zrct02 on May 9, 2015 14:55:56 GMT -7
Turns out most of them are vets and mostly air force. one was a B 52 pilot. Flew long SAC missions with nukes. Said it was the most boring job he ever had. Flew 36 hours at a time.
I've thought for a long time that students shouldn't be allowed to use calculators. The never get a 'feel' for numbers.
Several people were surprised to learn I had a degree in Chemistry. One of the Table members (obviously an old fart) asked me if I was taking it to get a better job.
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Post by HiTemp on May 9, 2015 16:26:29 GMT -7
They don't get a feel for the numbers, they don't have much of a feel for simple common sense. I remember one girl in my Alg. class demonstrating her worldly skills during a study group one day. We were doing a bunch of those "train A left the station X hours before train B, here's the speeds, how long before B catches up to A" kind of problems. There was only a 2 or 3 mph difference in the train speeds and several hours difference in departure times, so you knew right away this was going to be something on the order of a couple days or more for B to catch up to A. She declared that "it's impossible for B to catch A because the speeds are nearly matched and we don't know how long the tracks are." Wow. So how would you put that into a formula young lady? You can't because we don't know the length of track. It sure stopped all other discussion... like an E. F. Hutton moment.
I got a lot of questions too about why I was back in school except in the humanities classes. I didn't have to take many of those as it turns out because years ago I took some night classes at a college in VA just for the heck of it. I took American Sign Language I, II, and Advanced because a charitable group I was working with had a couple folks who were deaf and I wanted to better communicate with them. Not a hard class, lots of memorization mostly, and it's a different experience when you aren't allowed to speak answers in class, only sign them. I also took some Asian cooking classes and I got credits for those. None of the physics, nuclear physics, chemistry, metallurgy, or heat transfer classes I sweated through got me a single credit though.
I also took some classes in AutoCAD which I got some use out of, and a slew of computer/networking courses which were, IMHO, a total waste of time. I learned more working for the cable company about networks than at the college.
I thought about taking some of the adult ed courses but I have to find the time. I'd also like to help people learning to read but I don't know of any groups around here doing that.
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Post by Grug - American Neanderthal on May 9, 2015 19:29:11 GMT -7
He is really slipping fast it seems, he just called here upset and wanted his dinner because he missed it. Of course he had eaten, fell asleep and then woke up thinking it was another day I guess. Last Saturday I mowed his yard and carried on a conversation with him about the mower and weather and how he wanted the wheel chair ramp fixed etc. He slipped out of his wheel chair on Sunday evening, spent the night on the floor, We came and got him up and had an ambulance come Monday morning and now has come to this condition, I can't help but think there is something else going on, but it could just be his breaking point was reached since he been particularly combative the last couple weeks. Anyway, you guys can have school, I have been away for so long and after listening to my daughter and her classes, I don't think I could handle it.
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