Scattered Thoughts . . .

All the electrical works! Dimmer switch at left, fan delay timer at center, and GFCI outlet at right. I managed to get a little bit more accomplished on the half bath yesterday. That wore me out and I had some health issues later that night so I took another day off today for rest and recovery. Actually, I slept the entire day! I installed the subfloor as well as the underlayment. That was a fairly easy job. We now have another clean and level spot in the old house! Oh, and a solid spot!  Once I get a primer for the self-adhesive tiles, I can finish the flooring. I have a couple of extra boxes of the tile flooring that we had installed in the hallway that we plan to continue on into this new half bath.  A week or so ago, I had written that I installed all the wiring and tested all the fixtures and everything was fine... While everything worked fine (meaning I had wired everything correctly), I had a problem fitting these bulky electronic switches/timers/outlets into the parti

Waiting outside the recruiter's office... Back a few weeks ago, Sheila and I accompanied Adam to his first visit to an active duty Air Force recruiter. Since that first visit, Adam has been going alone but we felt it would be best to introduce ourselves to the recruiter right at the beginning so the recruiter would know that the family is familiar with the Air Force family and way of life. Things moved very quickly in that first week or so but then we moved into a syrupy, frustratingly slow "wait mode". That first week involved completing a ridiculously long application (I think it was 120 pages long) and lining up references. After submitting his application, he was scheduled for his first visit to the Military Entrance Processing Station otherwise known as MEPS. While at MEPS he passed his physical, psychological profile, drug testing and written exam (others in his group were not as fortunate), and then he actually signed a contract putting him into the Delayed

New HP Envy desktop computer with Beats Audio... Excellent audio for a home computer! I had mentioned in a previous blog post a few weeks ago that my computer had stopped working and that finding a new one proved to be a difficult, time-consuming task. Within a week or so, I had a new HP Envy desktop computer delivered to my door. Money is always an issue for us considering the medical bills for both Sheila and me with our respective illnesses so this was a costly problem we did not welcome. We've certainly had more serious and costly 'emergency' problems but this was a problem we needed to address as soon as possible in today's electronic world. This computer issue sort of bumped a few more projects around the house. My health hasn't been cooperating for home renovations anyway so that slows down renovations which helps with the budget issues. Buying a new computer always involves extra costs though. There is software to replace which can total more than

Sheila's mom went for her daily three mile walk on Wednesday morning but started having chest pains when she was close to the farthest point from the house. With no cellphone in hand, she took a short break to try to catch her breath and in the hope the pain would dissipate but then decided to push forward still feeling pain, tightness and pressure in her chest. She eventually made it home only to collapse in bed in pain.  When there was no change to her condition after a few short minutes, Sheila's dad quickly decided to call for the EMT's.  She spent the day and half the night at our local hospital, still with significant chest pain, until being transferred to the more suitably equipped hospital in Burlington in the middle of the night. She was immediately admitted to the ICU and scheduled for exploratory surgery in the morning.  By morning, her chest pain had subsided considerably but all tests were indicating she had experienced quite a prolonged heart attack due to

Plumbing for the washing machine and pedestal sink... Overall, things have been very quiet in the house for the past month as my health recovers from a painful dip which, at this point, has sapped most of my energy. I'm getting a bit bored and antsy laying around doing nothing but my energy level is still so low that it is impossible to accomplish a thing. On top of that, I spent a good portion of last night in the bathroom, sick, rather than sleeping... those are always fun times! (sarcasm) There have, however, been a few mornings during the past month when I felt that I had enough energy for an hour or so of work. On these few days I did manage to get a little bit accomplished on our bathroom project.   I needed to get a bit creative with all the plumbing to make it fit in this small space. In this first photo, at right, you can see some odd 45 degree angles to help make things fit. There was absolutely no room for sweeping elbows!  The waste line running up on the ri

I wandered from the living room early yesterday morning to take a look at our wildflower gardens as Autumn settles in and Summer slips away. Oddly enough, even though most of our plant life is turning brown and drying up, we do have a handful of new blooms here and there. I noticed one of these new blooms with a narrow beam of sunlight illuminating it from above and behind. I am always searching for good light and this was exceptionally good light. This beam of sunlight was lighting up only the yellow petals and green stem. I crouched down low in the perfect spot about 10 feet from this single flower. I set my exposure... I focused, inhaled and held my breath... I ever so gently pressed the shutter release being careful not to cause any camera shake... I exhaled slowly. After capturing a few extra frames, I noticed something change in the scene in my viewfinder...  A single bee entered the frame. Apparently, this bright yellow flower draped in sunlight caught his eye as well! I&#

I've really had a few weeks of virtual nothingness lately. I've been laid up on the couch trying to recover from some excruciating and debilitating bone and joint pain. At times, I had to deal with the usual Systemic Mastocytosis intermittent anaphylaxis, nausea and gastro-intestinal issues too. Needless to say, it has not been a very productive month as a result. As I lie on our couch, I have a clear view through our living room window of the moon rising from behind the Worcester Range each night. The moon always captures my attention but considering I've been confined to the living room all day, every day, for the past month, the bright moon rising and shining through our living room window is impossible to ignore.  Two things make this full moon worth mentioning. First, the full moon in September is known as the Harvest Moon which oftentimes is spectacular. Second, this particular full moon is also considered a Supermoon because it is so near the Earth at this time

I've had debilitating ankle pain for the past 11 days now. The first few days I could not even put any weight whatsoever on my left foot. Since then, I've been hobbling and limping around with a cane. Needless to say, very little has been accomplished around here for the past week and a half. A few days ago I wrote that I realized that I probably injured some nerves while working on the waste plumbing for a new bathroom that I am trying to install. There is no doubt that I was hard on my ankles while crouching on the floor and sitting on my feet on an uneven, unfinished wood floor. I was also crouched down in a tight crawl space for part of the plumbing project. These activities were no help to my ankles, knees, shins and lower back, that is for certain. This morning when I awoke, my ankle pain seemed to get a little bit worse again. It was raining out and the moist rain always affects my bones and joints since I've been struggling with Systemic Mastocytosis (or perhaps

For more than a week, I've had severe ankle pain which has left me unable to walk without aid for most of the week. I am now limping around but that pain is still constant. I've had my ankle elevated everyday and I am taking a maximum-allowed dose of an anti-inflammatory medication for the maximum-allowed time. The only side effect thus far is just a bit of drowsiness but that is hardly worth mentioning since I can't do much else anyway. So, what has caused this severe, disabling pain in my ankle?   I often struggle with terrible, debilitating bone and joint pain so this is more than likely contributing to my current problem with my ankle. Now that the pain in my ankle has waned slightly, there is no doubt that in addition to my ankle pain, I am also struggling with my usual debilitating bone and joint pain. The ankle pain was so severe in the beginning that it masked most other pain in other areas of my body. These regular bouts of bone and joint pain are very typica

As most of you know, Adam has been in the process of enlisting in the US Air Force. I had mentioned in previous blog posts that standards had risen considerably in recent months but didn't give many details. I think I'll take a little time to list some of the disqualifying factors that today's young adults face when attempting to enlist in the US Air Force. I recently read that more than 90% of potential recruits are disqualified in the initial telephone interview. NINETY PERCENT DISQUALIFIED before they even get into the recruiter's office! Here are some of the reasons for being disqualified immediately: - Prior arrests (whether convicted or not) - No high school diploma - Overweight - Prior drug use - ADHD/ADD diagnosis, especially use of ADHD/ADD drugs - Tattoos - Piercings - Moving motor vehicle violations - Certain allergies - Responsible for more than two dependents. Single parent recruits with less than two dependents must apply for a waiver