I checked in with Harris Methodist Hospital in Fort Worth. That is the doctors preferred operating location.
The people were very nice. I had first to check in with a clerk to see if the operation had been scheduled and that was an affirmative. She then took me across to yet another person to do the real check in. This was more correctly described as your rights and their money check in. That took about three electronic signatures one of which acknowledged my signature itself, HIPPA instructions on rights, etc. and then we got down to the money part. And of course, being retired military and on Social Security, there was no additional funds required. Otherwise the clerk was ready to collect money but I did not owe any. She then took me over to Pre Op Center.
Pre Op was the real nuts and bolts. Long questionnaires on whether I had been out of the country in the last month, all the drugs I take, history of operations I have had and a ton of instructions including a vial of special soap (really cleanser of some kind) to use prior to the operation at least twice. The instructions included not to take any drugs except bring one of them with me.
So when I start the final fast it is no nothing, not even my Diabetic drugs. That kind of bothered me but I guess I could last until the next day. No one knows how long maintenance drugs stay in your system anyway. That is why no Aspirin or NSAIDs a week before surgery. Those along with Fish Oils are blood thinners and they do not want to deal with thin blood. My blood now days is thin enough to probably give them fits but that is life.
Finally I was handed over to a Medical Technician to draw blood and do an EKG. I thought the EKG was odd since I already had clearance from my Cardiologist and had had a Nuclear Stress test about a month ago and a visit with the Cardiologist. But no matter, it was done and I got my parking ticket validated.
It is a huge hospital complex, like six or sever high rise towers interconnected with a maze of hallways, the parking garage alone is seven stories by itself. And there is yet another parking lot for heart patients (one floor for them) and a third parking lot for the Emergency Care Center (Judie had processed through that one for her second go round back operation a couple of years ago). It is a giant complex covering four or five city blocks and all kinds of other ancillary places like Cancer Centers, doctors offices, X-ray and MRI facilities and laboratories out the gazoo. It makes Lady of the Lake in Baton Rouge look tiny in comparison. There is even a wing named after Ben Hogan, a famous professional golfer from years back and of course he was a Fort Worth native.
I have already been in and out of several of those facilities with Judie as well as Harris Methodist Hospital itself.
I was told I would be in for one night but advised if I thought I needed to stay longer I could do that (at what astronomical cost I have no idea). So should be prepared for one night stay and discharge the next day. Bring fresh undies, etc.
Not at all like the old days, check in at one place, and get the job done. More people, more contentions law suits, more exotic diseases, and more government requirements has over laid the process with tons of bureaucracy. Unending forms, paper work and computer entries all before we get down to the cutting.
Friday, September 7, 2018
Friday, August 31, 2018
Post Stress Follow up . . .
More Meh. The Cardiologist said keep on doing what you have been doing. Everything looks about the same. A shadow in the back of the heart and the scribe read back the results of a 2015 CTA where there is some blockage in the LAN area. Still not enough to change anything.
Blood pressure was good. So he was happy. Ran me out of the office. Schedule another visit six months from now. So I will see him next March just a few days before my birthday.
I wonder if he will have me do another stress test.
I asked why there was no treadmill, just the chemical stress test. He said he did not know why. But I surmised it was good enough for him and a lot less stressful to me.
So I will be keeping on keeping on.
Blood pressure was good. So he was happy. Ran me out of the office. Schedule another visit six months from now. So I will see him next March just a few days before my birthday.
I wonder if he will have me do another stress test.
I asked why there was no treadmill, just the chemical stress test. He said he did not know why. But I surmised it was good enough for him and a lot less stressful to me.
So I will be keeping on keeping on.
Monday, August 20, 2018
Stress Test - Meh . . .
I had another stress test today, a nuclear stress test. I expected to trot on the treadmill, etc.
Nope none of that. I had an IV inserted in right hand. Then the shot me up with stuff and followed that with a saline shot to clean out the IV (or so I was told). Then I was covered with sensors on my chest. I did not have to put on a gown as I was prepared to trot and was in a T shirt and shorts.
After that I was "scanned." I am supposing it is something akin to a CAT scan. Then I was run out of the scan room to the lobby and told to drink a cup of water. I am sure the water was to add to the blood supply or something like that. To make the solution to flow around the system easier. Of course, I really do not know why.
After a wait was ushered into the treadmill room and told to sit in the big chair. They then took my Blood Pressure and shot me up with something new. And then a second shot was administered. That was the stressor. The nurse said I would feel weak, shortness of breath, etc. and that would go away in a minute or two. I had no particular sensation at all.
While the stressor was going on they were taking an EKG. She took my Blood Pressure again and entered that data into the machine.
Then I was run out again to the lobby and told to drink a cup of coffee or drink a Coke, something with caffeine in it. So I had a cup of coffee. I also ate a packet of crackers and peanut butter. After about 15 minutes it was back into the scan room.
After the scan it was out the door with an appointment to see the Cardiologist later. I am sure the data has to be absorbed and scrubbed and then the prognosis has to be drawn up. There were would be a report of sorts, I would get a copy and my primary physician would get a copy.
If something shows up I am sure the alarm bells will go off and some procedure would be done. I think I am in good shape so I figure nothing will show up. Just a nice conversation with the Cardiologist.
Nope none of that. I had an IV inserted in right hand. Then the shot me up with stuff and followed that with a saline shot to clean out the IV (or so I was told). Then I was covered with sensors on my chest. I did not have to put on a gown as I was prepared to trot and was in a T shirt and shorts.
After that I was "scanned." I am supposing it is something akin to a CAT scan. Then I was run out of the scan room to the lobby and told to drink a cup of water. I am sure the water was to add to the blood supply or something like that. To make the solution to flow around the system easier. Of course, I really do not know why.
After a wait was ushered into the treadmill room and told to sit in the big chair. They then took my Blood Pressure and shot me up with something new. And then a second shot was administered. That was the stressor. The nurse said I would feel weak, shortness of breath, etc. and that would go away in a minute or two. I had no particular sensation at all.
While the stressor was going on they were taking an EKG. She took my Blood Pressure again and entered that data into the machine.
Then I was run out again to the lobby and told to drink a cup of coffee or drink a Coke, something with caffeine in it. So I had a cup of coffee. I also ate a packet of crackers and peanut butter. After about 15 minutes it was back into the scan room.
After the scan it was out the door with an appointment to see the Cardiologist later. I am sure the data has to be absorbed and scrubbed and then the prognosis has to be drawn up. There were would be a report of sorts, I would get a copy and my primary physician would get a copy.
If something shows up I am sure the alarm bells will go off and some procedure would be done. I think I am in good shape so I figure nothing will show up. Just a nice conversation with the Cardiologist.
Sunday, August 19, 2018
Left Shoulder . . .
My left shoulder was giving me fits, a great deal of pain. At first I would take a Naproxen Sodium pill (Aleve) that kinda made it livable. Then my personal doctor said no NSAIDs other than your baby aspirin. Finally, she relented and said do not take more than four a day.
She had an X-ray done and referred me to a Orthopedic Surgeon and also had an MRI done.
I made to the Orthopedic Surgeon. He looked at my MRI (and I do mean my MRI, it is in my possession). He lifted me arm and moved about a little bit and said, "You need a shoulder replacement, you are bone on bone at the moment." He also gave me Cortisone shot and said that it would not do much for me.
And the shot did not do much for me. He then referred me to another Orthopedic Surgeon who does shoulder operations.
I got to see the second doctor, found out he went to LSU med school. And that he was indeed from New Orleans. He was a much younger man that the first Orthopedic Surgeon (who informed me he no longer did operations). And he also said the new doctor was the best one in the Fort Worth region.
I was impressed with the second doctor. Like the first doctor, he said bone on bone and no relief until the joint was replaced. He also said I may not recover all my range of motion but I would get pain relief. It is my left shoulder, not my primary use arm so yes, I can tolerate a good bit of loss of range of motion and not worry about. He said often the range improves with time.
He showed me on the joint displayed on his lap top computer what we were going to do. Basically, it is a total replacement of the rotator cuff with a new synthetic/plastic material that will not wear out. I will not have to come and get a grease job every so often, it is once and done. The big recovery he said was the reattachment of ligament that had to be removed for the operation. That and stitches were the big issue. And there would be some soreness for a while.
He was intent upon selling me to do the operation. I said I was ready right now to have it done. Pain relief was paramount to me.
He said recovery is about six weeks. I am sure in that time is some rehab also. But that I would get paid relief immediately. And I could quit taking Aleve or getting Cortisone shots.
My biggest issue is getting the grass cut while I am recuperating. I am pretty sure I can survive that. I do have to get clearance from my Cardiologist but I get to see in just a couple of days for a Nuclear Stress Test. So that is easy. Now it is just a matter of getting the operation scheduled.
She had an X-ray done and referred me to a Orthopedic Surgeon and also had an MRI done.
I made to the Orthopedic Surgeon. He looked at my MRI (and I do mean my MRI, it is in my possession). He lifted me arm and moved about a little bit and said, "You need a shoulder replacement, you are bone on bone at the moment." He also gave me Cortisone shot and said that it would not do much for me.
And the shot did not do much for me. He then referred me to another Orthopedic Surgeon who does shoulder operations.
I got to see the second doctor, found out he went to LSU med school. And that he was indeed from New Orleans. He was a much younger man that the first Orthopedic Surgeon (who informed me he no longer did operations). And he also said the new doctor was the best one in the Fort Worth region.
I was impressed with the second doctor. Like the first doctor, he said bone on bone and no relief until the joint was replaced. He also said I may not recover all my range of motion but I would get pain relief. It is my left shoulder, not my primary use arm so yes, I can tolerate a good bit of loss of range of motion and not worry about. He said often the range improves with time.
He showed me on the joint displayed on his lap top computer what we were going to do. Basically, it is a total replacement of the rotator cuff with a new synthetic/plastic material that will not wear out. I will not have to come and get a grease job every so often, it is once and done. The big recovery he said was the reattachment of ligament that had to be removed for the operation. That and stitches were the big issue. And there would be some soreness for a while.
He was intent upon selling me to do the operation. I said I was ready right now to have it done. Pain relief was paramount to me.
He said recovery is about six weeks. I am sure in that time is some rehab also. But that I would get paid relief immediately. And I could quit taking Aleve or getting Cortisone shots.
My biggest issue is getting the grass cut while I am recuperating. I am pretty sure I can survive that. I do have to get clearance from my Cardiologist but I get to see in just a couple of days for a Nuclear Stress Test. So that is easy. Now it is just a matter of getting the operation scheduled.
Saturday, August 11, 2018
Oncologist . . .
A while back while at my Cardiologist I commented about the bruise blotches on my arms and the easy bleeding I have been experiencing from my lower arms. So my Cardiologist referred me to the Oncologist to do a platelet study of sorts.
Well I had the appointment with the Oncologist and the first thing she said was, "You are old and have had a life time of sun exposure and your skin is reflecting that experience. The splotches or bruises are perfectly normal of a person of your age." In other words, you do not have a problem with your skin.
But her expertise was in Hematology - blood. So she had me bled, that is did a series of blood tests one of which one was platelet oriented. And one of the tests could only be read at their big lab in downtown Fort Worth. So the tech said go to this address, I will forward the request and they will do all the blood work. So I charged off to Fort Worth medical district and to their lab/central office for the Oncology Group. I found the place easily and parked.
Up to the second floor I went and at the desk, the attendant said, "Yes, we got the request. Have a seat and we will call you for the blood drawing." That took about 20 minutes. I saw at least five of six people go into the area where they were doing the blood drawing. And in I went and they took four vials of blood out of me. Sort of a continuing operation.
I had a follow up appointment with the Oncologist and got the results. She said you are "extraordinarily normal." There were no platelet issues to worry about. She smiled and said, "Out you go, no need for further testing."
So I trooped out to the front desk and they did something I thought was strange. They took a picture of me. The clerk alleged it was done to be able to remember who I was. I am sure they do that to all their patients that go into remission except I did not have any remission to worry about. I had no signs of cancer.
That is a big thing with me. My father and my grandmother both died of breast cancer. My father alone had four different bouts with cancer. In his middle ages he had skin cancer on his lip and on his cheek, both were treated with radiation. He had smoked but only cigars and a pipe. He of course quite smoking.
Many years later he had the bain of all men, Prostate cancer. That was taken care off and he had no more problems in that area. Then in his mid 70's he developed a sore on his left arm and examination confirmed it was Melanoma. Of course this is his third go round with cancer and second time with Melanoma. They dug out all the cancer cells in that area and remove a couple of lymph nodes which were negative. That incision healed, big scar but healed over.
Later when he was 80 they doctor repaired a hernia, hiatal hernia, common in older men. But while examining him, found a lump in his breast. That lump turned out to be breast cancer. And he had a radial mastectomy removing his breast.
Some years later he complained of not having enough energy to complete a round of golf even though he used an electric golf cart in his play. The doctor did a biopsy on his arm thinking he may have bone cancer. That turned out to be negative but they discover cancer cells going in to do the biopsy. They were breast cancer cells. The diagnosis was terminal breast cancer. He passed away seven or eight months later.
The scary part is that the lower Mississippi River Valley from Natchez to the Gulf of Mexico has the highest incidence of cancer in the US. It is common in that area. I am sure of two things, the first is all the exercise I did in the military and later in my life forestalled any serious heart disease. Yes, I have heart disease probably part hereditary and probably part exposure to Agent Orange in Viet Nam. But all the exercise kept in good shape. The other is that after the age of 21 years I moved away from Louisiana and the Mississippi Valley. At first it was only to Alexandria, LA but I was really there for less than a year, the other time spent in Viet Nam. After that I was Germany, then Virginia, Korea, California, Ohio, back to Germany and finally I retired in California. After I retired, it was California, New Mexico and Texas. All I have done since then is visit Louisiana briefly.
So I was confident I would not show up in this recent span of time with cancer and I am well beyond when my father started having cancer issues. I guess there is something good about left home on career jaunts well away from the source what ever it is. And I have been all over Europe, Asia and Africa. But no cancer as of now, 78 years of age.
Ultimately it is healthy living and exercising that has protected me so far. Yes, diet changes, better medicine and host of scientific improvements have all helped. But no cancer - hooray!
Well I had the appointment with the Oncologist and the first thing she said was, "You are old and have had a life time of sun exposure and your skin is reflecting that experience. The splotches or bruises are perfectly normal of a person of your age." In other words, you do not have a problem with your skin.
But her expertise was in Hematology - blood. So she had me bled, that is did a series of blood tests one of which one was platelet oriented. And one of the tests could only be read at their big lab in downtown Fort Worth. So the tech said go to this address, I will forward the request and they will do all the blood work. So I charged off to Fort Worth medical district and to their lab/central office for the Oncology Group. I found the place easily and parked.
Up to the second floor I went and at the desk, the attendant said, "Yes, we got the request. Have a seat and we will call you for the blood drawing." That took about 20 minutes. I saw at least five of six people go into the area where they were doing the blood drawing. And in I went and they took four vials of blood out of me. Sort of a continuing operation.
I had a follow up appointment with the Oncologist and got the results. She said you are "extraordinarily normal." There were no platelet issues to worry about. She smiled and said, "Out you go, no need for further testing."
So I trooped out to the front desk and they did something I thought was strange. They took a picture of me. The clerk alleged it was done to be able to remember who I was. I am sure they do that to all their patients that go into remission except I did not have any remission to worry about. I had no signs of cancer.
That is a big thing with me. My father and my grandmother both died of breast cancer. My father alone had four different bouts with cancer. In his middle ages he had skin cancer on his lip and on his cheek, both were treated with radiation. He had smoked but only cigars and a pipe. He of course quite smoking.
Many years later he had the bain of all men, Prostate cancer. That was taken care off and he had no more problems in that area. Then in his mid 70's he developed a sore on his left arm and examination confirmed it was Melanoma. Of course this is his third go round with cancer and second time with Melanoma. They dug out all the cancer cells in that area and remove a couple of lymph nodes which were negative. That incision healed, big scar but healed over.
Later when he was 80 they doctor repaired a hernia, hiatal hernia, common in older men. But while examining him, found a lump in his breast. That lump turned out to be breast cancer. And he had a radial mastectomy removing his breast.
Some years later he complained of not having enough energy to complete a round of golf even though he used an electric golf cart in his play. The doctor did a biopsy on his arm thinking he may have bone cancer. That turned out to be negative but they discover cancer cells going in to do the biopsy. They were breast cancer cells. The diagnosis was terminal breast cancer. He passed away seven or eight months later.
The scary part is that the lower Mississippi River Valley from Natchez to the Gulf of Mexico has the highest incidence of cancer in the US. It is common in that area. I am sure of two things, the first is all the exercise I did in the military and later in my life forestalled any serious heart disease. Yes, I have heart disease probably part hereditary and probably part exposure to Agent Orange in Viet Nam. But all the exercise kept in good shape. The other is that after the age of 21 years I moved away from Louisiana and the Mississippi Valley. At first it was only to Alexandria, LA but I was really there for less than a year, the other time spent in Viet Nam. After that I was Germany, then Virginia, Korea, California, Ohio, back to Germany and finally I retired in California. After I retired, it was California, New Mexico and Texas. All I have done since then is visit Louisiana briefly.
So I was confident I would not show up in this recent span of time with cancer and I am well beyond when my father started having cancer issues. I guess there is something good about left home on career jaunts well away from the source what ever it is. And I have been all over Europe, Asia and Africa. But no cancer as of now, 78 years of age.
Ultimately it is healthy living and exercising that has protected me so far. Yes, diet changes, better medicine and host of scientific improvements have all helped. But no cancer - hooray!
Tuesday, July 31, 2018
The Fan . . .
We are going through a really hot spell here in East Texas. Always on the edge of a semi arid climate we depend on irrigation wells to keep our lawns green and air conditioning to stay cool. But in the garage where I spend some time there is not air conditioned, just a fan or two.
A few years ago, well maybe more than a few years, I bought a killer floor fan. It is a high velocity fan about 15 or 16 inches in diameter. It could move a lot of air and I positioned it near the door so it could suck in the cooler air and cool of the garage. It did a very creditable job but then age caught up with it.
When starting up it would squawk and squeal like it had a bad bearing. But it would run. Then it started just stopping and maybe restarting later when it cooled off. I took the switch assembly apart but all the parts were okay and there was no burnt or charred items so I knew it was functioning like it should. So I figured the bearings had gone bad.
So while considering getting a new fan and tossing this one I decided to take it apart. I took the blade guard off and was able to the three blade fan off of the shaft. Not problem, it was held in place by a set screw and that was easy to get off.
The I attacked the fan motor case. It had a series of nuts and bolts around it that held the two part case and the rear fan guard in place. That was easy enough. But splitting the case was a bit more of a challenge. I was able to get it about a quarter of an inch apart, not near enough to do anything. I did not want to break or bend the case just in case I could really fix it.
After a bit of working it back and forth I got the front case off, or at least the front half of the case off. The outer electrical winding was firmly held in place by the rear half of the case. I found both the front and rear of the rotor held in place by a simple sleeve type bearings. I got the rotor off and it was in good shape. And the motor did not have brushes so that was not the problem.
I got the rotor out of the rear mount, not a ball bearing but a sleeve bearing was used in the front and rear to support the rotor. I thought maybe the shaft was galled up or the like and that was not the case. I got the rotor out and the shaft was just fine. I looked and in the rear bearing support I saw a piece of thin rear thrust washer. It had broken into two parts. I was able to fish out the bigger piece and I discarded that altogether. I figure since the fan is constantly pulling forward a rear thrust washer was of no importance. That is the shaft will be always pulling forward and thus it was just really a thin spacer.
I got my tube of trusty silicon grease that I have had for years and with a screw driver took a dab and place it in the rear support housing. Since there was not galling and apparently what grease was in there had long ago disappeared, this new stuff would work for me. I then place a dab of the grease in the front sleeve bearing. I smeared a little on both ends of the shaft. I noted that there were two or three front thrust washers and left them alone. That tube was acquired about 20 years ago to use on a dot matrix printer shaft for lubrication. I have used the grease on my models, etc. However, I got that tube of grease from Radio Shak which is not longer in existence.
I reassembled the rotor shaft and fan motor housing to the rear fan guard. I then replaced the fan blades and put the front fan blade guard back in place. Got it all screwed back together, guard in place and plug in the power. Then I turn it on. wha-la, the started right up and ran at its old top speed again. I had saved the cost of a new fan and this would continue to run for a while yet.
Sometimes it is worth while to take things apart and see if you can fix them.
A few years ago, well maybe more than a few years, I bought a killer floor fan. It is a high velocity fan about 15 or 16 inches in diameter. It could move a lot of air and I positioned it near the door so it could suck in the cooler air and cool of the garage. It did a very creditable job but then age caught up with it.
When starting up it would squawk and squeal like it had a bad bearing. But it would run. Then it started just stopping and maybe restarting later when it cooled off. I took the switch assembly apart but all the parts were okay and there was no burnt or charred items so I knew it was functioning like it should. So I figured the bearings had gone bad.
So while considering getting a new fan and tossing this one I decided to take it apart. I took the blade guard off and was able to the three blade fan off of the shaft. Not problem, it was held in place by a set screw and that was easy to get off.
The I attacked the fan motor case. It had a series of nuts and bolts around it that held the two part case and the rear fan guard in place. That was easy enough. But splitting the case was a bit more of a challenge. I was able to get it about a quarter of an inch apart, not near enough to do anything. I did not want to break or bend the case just in case I could really fix it.
After a bit of working it back and forth I got the front case off, or at least the front half of the case off. The outer electrical winding was firmly held in place by the rear half of the case. I found both the front and rear of the rotor held in place by a simple sleeve type bearings. I got the rotor off and it was in good shape. And the motor did not have brushes so that was not the problem.
I got the rotor out of the rear mount, not a ball bearing but a sleeve bearing was used in the front and rear to support the rotor. I thought maybe the shaft was galled up or the like and that was not the case. I got the rotor out and the shaft was just fine. I looked and in the rear bearing support I saw a piece of thin rear thrust washer. It had broken into two parts. I was able to fish out the bigger piece and I discarded that altogether. I figure since the fan is constantly pulling forward a rear thrust washer was of no importance. That is the shaft will be always pulling forward and thus it was just really a thin spacer.
I got my tube of trusty silicon grease that I have had for years and with a screw driver took a dab and place it in the rear support housing. Since there was not galling and apparently what grease was in there had long ago disappeared, this new stuff would work for me. I then place a dab of the grease in the front sleeve bearing. I smeared a little on both ends of the shaft. I noted that there were two or three front thrust washers and left them alone. That tube was acquired about 20 years ago to use on a dot matrix printer shaft for lubrication. I have used the grease on my models, etc. However, I got that tube of grease from Radio Shak which is not longer in existence.
I reassembled the rotor shaft and fan motor housing to the rear fan guard. I then replaced the fan blades and put the front fan blade guard back in place. Got it all screwed back together, guard in place and plug in the power. Then I turn it on. wha-la, the started right up and ran at its old top speed again. I had saved the cost of a new fan and this would continue to run for a while yet.
Sometimes it is worth while to take things apart and see if you can fix them.
Sunday, July 22, 2018
Drat, That Irrigation System . . .
After having spent a ton of money getting both the well pump being lowered (an additional forty feet) and a new pump, I am experiencing control valve problems. The old pump was simply worn out, they usually last 8 or 9 years but this one lasted 16 years, not bad at all.
Most of my control valves are "Dirty Water" valves, that is they can tolerate the amount of sand in the water. The sand is very, very fine to the extent when you taste the water it is sort of grity. In normal valves designed to be used with city water systems, there is not such debris, it has all be filtered out. And you can get a sand separator installed but they must be back flushed occasionally and do develop rust holes in the sides.
We had a separator, got it welded up once and there after removed it and threw it away whe it developed another hole. I replaced most of my control valves with the dirty water valves. But there are a few of the clean water valves still in use.
And one of them acted up. They get stuck open, run and run and run until the well is over drawn. The up side is the area gets well watered, the down side is nothing else gets watered as the well is not capable to supply more than one irrigation circuit at a time (only so many gallons of water per hour). Luckily for us, this valve was the last one in the series, that is it was the last one to run last night. So the other 9 did their job.
So I had to take it down, clean it out and reassemble it. I was able to get farther down into the valve this time, cleaned out the old sand with an old tooth brush and running water. I got it reassembled, bled the air out and once that was done the valve worked like it was supposed to do. It shut down and stayed shut down. When they get curded up with sand, they tend to stay open or on.
The valves are not complicated, a diaphragm, spring, and solenoid. But are indeed sensitive to grit (aka fine sand). This time when I reassembled the valve I added a little grease to the assembly. I know that the lubrication will wash out pretty quickly but it will get the valve functioning correctly for a while.
We are going through a terrific heat wave and the grass is suffering from lack of water. Our yard stays green because we can water it. If we were to use city water which we do inside the house it would cost three or four hundred dollars a month to irrigate. That allows us to amortize the well in about a year and half. Our well when first installed cost about $5,000 to drill, get the pump, pressure tank and hook it up to the existing irrigation system. Today that cost over $10,000.
The well has been in use for 16 years now. And of course is showing its age (a new pump for instance, they do wear out) and me cleaning out control valves and sprinkler filters. The sprinklers are easy to deal with but you have examine them every once in a while to make sure they are working correctly. Usually a brown spot shows up and one needs to take the sprinkler head off and usually the little nylon plastic screen is full of debris. Wash the sand/dirt and/or debris out and reassemble and the sprinkler works just fine. Lawn mowers and weed eaters can also do a number on exposed sprinklers.
So it is constant maintenance. I am adept at it having had two previous sprinkler systems. It is just one of those things.
Most of my control valves are "Dirty Water" valves, that is they can tolerate the amount of sand in the water. The sand is very, very fine to the extent when you taste the water it is sort of grity. In normal valves designed to be used with city water systems, there is not such debris, it has all be filtered out. And you can get a sand separator installed but they must be back flushed occasionally and do develop rust holes in the sides.
We had a separator, got it welded up once and there after removed it and threw it away whe it developed another hole. I replaced most of my control valves with the dirty water valves. But there are a few of the clean water valves still in use.
And one of them acted up. They get stuck open, run and run and run until the well is over drawn. The up side is the area gets well watered, the down side is nothing else gets watered as the well is not capable to supply more than one irrigation circuit at a time (only so many gallons of water per hour). Luckily for us, this valve was the last one in the series, that is it was the last one to run last night. So the other 9 did their job.
So I had to take it down, clean it out and reassemble it. I was able to get farther down into the valve this time, cleaned out the old sand with an old tooth brush and running water. I got it reassembled, bled the air out and once that was done the valve worked like it was supposed to do. It shut down and stayed shut down. When they get curded up with sand, they tend to stay open or on.
The valves are not complicated, a diaphragm, spring, and solenoid. But are indeed sensitive to grit (aka fine sand). This time when I reassembled the valve I added a little grease to the assembly. I know that the lubrication will wash out pretty quickly but it will get the valve functioning correctly for a while.
We are going through a terrific heat wave and the grass is suffering from lack of water. Our yard stays green because we can water it. If we were to use city water which we do inside the house it would cost three or four hundred dollars a month to irrigate. That allows us to amortize the well in about a year and half. Our well when first installed cost about $5,000 to drill, get the pump, pressure tank and hook it up to the existing irrigation system. Today that cost over $10,000.
The well has been in use for 16 years now. And of course is showing its age (a new pump for instance, they do wear out) and me cleaning out control valves and sprinkler filters. The sprinklers are easy to deal with but you have examine them every once in a while to make sure they are working correctly. Usually a brown spot shows up and one needs to take the sprinkler head off and usually the little nylon plastic screen is full of debris. Wash the sand/dirt and/or debris out and reassemble and the sprinkler works just fine. Lawn mowers and weed eaters can also do a number on exposed sprinklers.
So it is constant maintenance. I am adept at it having had two previous sprinkler systems. It is just one of those things.
Tuesday, July 10, 2018
Death . . .
We, my wife and I, are of an age where our friends are dying. It is trying to hear of someone you knew passing away. It just does not fit in correctly.
Recently a local friend who had been dealing with a patch on his back via Veterans Administration treatment suddenly was entered into Hospice for cancer. And then with in a week, he passed away.
That was shocking to me. Last year in August we drove up to Denton to a model airplane swap meet. While driving up there he was sedate but he was always a quite kinda of person. We got there and we wandered all around the place looking at the wares for sale by owners. Lots of junk, but the old adage about one man's junk is another man's treasure holds true at these events. But a careful shopper makes good bargains.
I noted he did not buy anything but I did not think much about it. I did not buy much either, I am pretty selective now days. Not that I can not afford it, I just do not need it. And I do not have space for it either.
We had our fun and returned back to Weatherford. I dropped him off not thinking much about it. It literally was he last time I saw him. I shall miss him.
He had tried to retire once but his wife was going to school for an advanced degree, so he had to go back to work. He worked at the local Ford dealership, driving people home, picking them up and running the housekeeping operations of cutting the grass and cleaning up the buildings. He liked his work but fretted about getting his team to do the work. Often, the team had team members that were assigned to him by the owner/manager who had hired them as a favor for someone. And they often really did not do very good work. But he was stuck with them and could not let them go without clearance from the big boss.
Now he is beyond that point. No more of those kinds of worries. And we worry about his wife as she too has medical problems too. I am sure I will next see his house up for sale and she will move on a care facility of some sort.
It is the fate of age, it always catches up with us. We are just growing old. I mourn for him in a detached way as I know my time will also come to pass.
Recently a local friend who had been dealing with a patch on his back via Veterans Administration treatment suddenly was entered into Hospice for cancer. And then with in a week, he passed away.
That was shocking to me. Last year in August we drove up to Denton to a model airplane swap meet. While driving up there he was sedate but he was always a quite kinda of person. We got there and we wandered all around the place looking at the wares for sale by owners. Lots of junk, but the old adage about one man's junk is another man's treasure holds true at these events. But a careful shopper makes good bargains.
I noted he did not buy anything but I did not think much about it. I did not buy much either, I am pretty selective now days. Not that I can not afford it, I just do not need it. And I do not have space for it either.
We had our fun and returned back to Weatherford. I dropped him off not thinking much about it. It literally was he last time I saw him. I shall miss him.
He had tried to retire once but his wife was going to school for an advanced degree, so he had to go back to work. He worked at the local Ford dealership, driving people home, picking them up and running the housekeeping operations of cutting the grass and cleaning up the buildings. He liked his work but fretted about getting his team to do the work. Often, the team had team members that were assigned to him by the owner/manager who had hired them as a favor for someone. And they often really did not do very good work. But he was stuck with them and could not let them go without clearance from the big boss.
Now he is beyond that point. No more of those kinds of worries. And we worry about his wife as she too has medical problems too. I am sure I will next see his house up for sale and she will move on a care facility of some sort.
It is the fate of age, it always catches up with us. We are just growing old. I mourn for him in a detached way as I know my time will also come to pass.
Saturday, July 7, 2018
The Well . . .
We have had a water well for irrigation purposes almost as long as we have owned this house. The well is about 200 feet deep and goes into the Paluxey aquifer. The Paluxey is a river, more like a large creek, west of us but apparently feeds this aquifer. There is another aquifer below it but it is well over six hundred feet down. And that is quite expensive to drill to.
We live in the city limits and one would ask why a well. The City of Weatherford thinks extremely highly of their water. It is extremely pricey. I cost us about $6,000 to drill our well and have he pump and electrical work done. We amortized that in two years. So since then the expense of the well has been maintenance of the system and the electricity to operate the sprinkler system and run the pump. I would guess that would have been maybe $100 or $150 a year. And for that we have a green yard.
Of late the well has been acting up. We had the well people check it out and it ended up with a new pump to be installed. That was $1,790 but once every 16 years, well that is not much. While we were at it we had the pump lowered down deeper into the aquifer. We added 40 feet of pipe. So now we know we will not cavitate the pump.
So we are about to green up again. I have been running the water extra cycles to get the grass green again. Surprisingly the grass responds quickly, in just a couple of days it is nice and green again.
Few people do not realize we are in a semi arid zone, next to desert almost. We get seasonal rains in the Spring and they suffer through a long hot and dry summer. We get cracks in the ground and the trees seem to suffer through it all. Watering keeps the trees healthy too.
Now back to fixing sprinklers, adjusting them, cleaning them (yes, they have little filters to catch debris and some times stop up). I consider an irrigation system as a source of constant maintenance. It is just upkeep but it has to be done.
We live in the city limits and one would ask why a well. The City of Weatherford thinks extremely highly of their water. It is extremely pricey. I cost us about $6,000 to drill our well and have he pump and electrical work done. We amortized that in two years. So since then the expense of the well has been maintenance of the system and the electricity to operate the sprinkler system and run the pump. I would guess that would have been maybe $100 or $150 a year. And for that we have a green yard.
Of late the well has been acting up. We had the well people check it out and it ended up with a new pump to be installed. That was $1,790 but once every 16 years, well that is not much. While we were at it we had the pump lowered down deeper into the aquifer. We added 40 feet of pipe. So now we know we will not cavitate the pump.
So we are about to green up again. I have been running the water extra cycles to get the grass green again. Surprisingly the grass responds quickly, in just a couple of days it is nice and green again.
Few people do not realize we are in a semi arid zone, next to desert almost. We get seasonal rains in the Spring and they suffer through a long hot and dry summer. We get cracks in the ground and the trees seem to suffer through it all. Watering keeps the trees healthy too.
Now back to fixing sprinklers, adjusting them, cleaning them (yes, they have little filters to catch debris and some times stop up). I consider an irrigation system as a source of constant maintenance. It is just upkeep but it has to be done.
Doldrums . . .
Extraordinarily hot yesterday. Then out of nowhere blows up a nice shower. Rains about 20 minutes and soaks everything. Better than watering any day of the year. Muggy later but a cool night and AM very pleasant to walk my mile and half this morning.
We had the well tuned up and I have been watering extra to get back to even so to speak. Had some dry spots and used the hose pipe and individual sprinkler to work on those parched spots. That surely greened them up and now the rain has done a better job.
Front grass on the left side of the yard really looks bad. I am thinking the yard people who do the spreading of fertilizer got the wrong stuff on the yard. I will do some of my own spreading and see what happens. But regardless the grass is in really bad shape. Water helps but it is not the be all, need some nutrients to make the grass grow.
I know it is kind of hot to be putting out fertilizer but something needs to be done. I can see where the tree man droves some tree spikes in the ground to fertilize the tree. Those spots are nice and green. So that tells me we need to do something.
I did not cut the far back last grass cutting session. It needed to have a rest too. It does not get treated by the yard people. We are going to start getting them to put stuff down back there too. But you can not even see the difference between where I cut the grass and where I did not cut the grass. Pretty bad.
Oh well gives me something to do and worry about.
We had the well tuned up and I have been watering extra to get back to even so to speak. Had some dry spots and used the hose pipe and individual sprinkler to work on those parched spots. That surely greened them up and now the rain has done a better job.
Front grass on the left side of the yard really looks bad. I am thinking the yard people who do the spreading of fertilizer got the wrong stuff on the yard. I will do some of my own spreading and see what happens. But regardless the grass is in really bad shape. Water helps but it is not the be all, need some nutrients to make the grass grow.
I know it is kind of hot to be putting out fertilizer but something needs to be done. I can see where the tree man droves some tree spikes in the ground to fertilize the tree. Those spots are nice and green. So that tells me we need to do something.
I did not cut the far back last grass cutting session. It needed to have a rest too. It does not get treated by the yard people. We are going to start getting them to put stuff down back there too. But you can not even see the difference between where I cut the grass and where I did not cut the grass. Pretty bad.
Oh well gives me something to do and worry about.
Wednesday, June 27, 2018
Recovery . . .
Data recovery. Did it. Not hard to do. Just be patient, and you can dial ups some UTube videos that tell how to do it.
I had an older Dell computer, an Inspiron 530, a nice dual core computer. I had added an extra CD drive, a 2.5 inch floppy drive and second hard drive of one Terabyte capacity as a back up device.
Well while updating Windows 10 Pro to version 1803 the Inspiron 530 crashed. I later found out Version 1803 had its problems and has been crashing older computers left and right. I bought a new computer for me, a Dell OptiPlex 790 with a four core CPU (aka Intel i5 chip) and it came with 8 mega bytes of RAM, a 2 Terabyte hard drive and a optical CD/DVD drive in it along with buddle of software and Windows 10 Pro for the princely sum of $206.95 shipped to my door. You can not buy a Windows 10 Pro software disk for less than $199.00. So that is what I call a great deal. The new to me computer has no less than six USB ports too.
For the sum of $8.55 shipped to me by Amazon Prime in two days I acquired a kit of cables and a power supply that allows me to attach the old Gigabyte hard drive from the Inspiron 530 to my new computer. One must remove the old hard drive for the old computer (requires you to open the case, unplug the hook up cables and remove four screws). Then you attach the power supply to the hard drive and plug it in to the house power. That turns the hard drive on and allows it to be operated. Then one connects a SATA cable to the data port of the hard drive. Not to worry, it is keyed so you can not get it on wrong. Then you plug the SATA cable into the terminal of a cable that goes to a USB port on your computer.
Within a few seconds Windows detects the new data source and assigns it a hard drive letter (in this case the letter is E:/). The new computer allows you to completely access whatever is on the hard drive. And all my back up data was there: pictures, documents, tax files, etc. I moved the data on to the new computer's hard drive (it has tons of room to hold the old data) and left it on the old back up hard drive (my data bank). I just copied it over, an easy process.
Next I acquired via eBay a portable hard drive case assembly. It comes with an aluminum case that you can slip the hard drive into and connect it up similar to the cable kit. It is a little bit better in that it has an on/off switch so that one can turn it on and off when one wants to. It now sits atop of my Dell OptiPlex in the off position waiting for me to use it when I want to. It has its own power supply too. I leave it hooked up to the USB port but do not turn it own unless I want to do some back up work.
The point is one can recover data off the old hard drive if it has not been fried. I used my cable kit and new computer to reformat the hard drive that came with the old Dell computer. I will take some time and reload Windows 10 on it now that all the old stuff has been isolated and out of the picture. I am sure the reformat I did just erased all the address of what was on the drive and it will over write data in those locations. Soon I will have my old Inspiron operating and I will contribute it to some organization to use like a church or some similar organization. Then I can write it off for about what I bought the newer more powerful machine.
If I can do it, anybody can do it.
I had an older Dell computer, an Inspiron 530, a nice dual core computer. I had added an extra CD drive, a 2.5 inch floppy drive and second hard drive of one Terabyte capacity as a back up device.
Well while updating Windows 10 Pro to version 1803 the Inspiron 530 crashed. I later found out Version 1803 had its problems and has been crashing older computers left and right. I bought a new computer for me, a Dell OptiPlex 790 with a four core CPU (aka Intel i5 chip) and it came with 8 mega bytes of RAM, a 2 Terabyte hard drive and a optical CD/DVD drive in it along with buddle of software and Windows 10 Pro for the princely sum of $206.95 shipped to my door. You can not buy a Windows 10 Pro software disk for less than $199.00. So that is what I call a great deal. The new to me computer has no less than six USB ports too.
For the sum of $8.55 shipped to me by Amazon Prime in two days I acquired a kit of cables and a power supply that allows me to attach the old Gigabyte hard drive from the Inspiron 530 to my new computer. One must remove the old hard drive for the old computer (requires you to open the case, unplug the hook up cables and remove four screws). Then you attach the power supply to the hard drive and plug it in to the house power. That turns the hard drive on and allows it to be operated. Then one connects a SATA cable to the data port of the hard drive. Not to worry, it is keyed so you can not get it on wrong. Then you plug the SATA cable into the terminal of a cable that goes to a USB port on your computer.
Within a few seconds Windows detects the new data source and assigns it a hard drive letter (in this case the letter is E:/). The new computer allows you to completely access whatever is on the hard drive. And all my back up data was there: pictures, documents, tax files, etc. I moved the data on to the new computer's hard drive (it has tons of room to hold the old data) and left it on the old back up hard drive (my data bank). I just copied it over, an easy process.
Next I acquired via eBay a portable hard drive case assembly. It comes with an aluminum case that you can slip the hard drive into and connect it up similar to the cable kit. It is a little bit better in that it has an on/off switch so that one can turn it on and off when one wants to. It now sits atop of my Dell OptiPlex in the off position waiting for me to use it when I want to. It has its own power supply too. I leave it hooked up to the USB port but do not turn it own unless I want to do some back up work.
The point is one can recover data off the old hard drive if it has not been fried. I used my cable kit and new computer to reformat the hard drive that came with the old Dell computer. I will take some time and reload Windows 10 on it now that all the old stuff has been isolated and out of the picture. I am sure the reformat I did just erased all the address of what was on the drive and it will over write data in those locations. Soon I will have my old Inspiron operating and I will contribute it to some organization to use like a church or some similar organization. Then I can write it off for about what I bought the newer more powerful machine.
If I can do it, anybody can do it.
Tuesday, June 26, 2018
Hammered and Banged Ad Nausiam
Yep, I had an MRI. Specifically, an MRI on my left shoulder. In the last six months the pain in my left shoulder has gotten progressively worse. First it was an Xray and that led to the MRI.
Back in 1995 or so I was treated at Beaver Clinic in Redlands for left shoulder pain. The doctor prescribed Naproxen Sodium, 750 MGs twice a day to relieve the pain. And that worked and then eventually in a week or two the pain subsided and went away. So I thought I was done with it.
Well it is arthritis now, hurts all the time. Sometimes worse than others. I was taking Aleve for it, that the over-the-counter Naproxen Sodium now days. I was taking two a day one in the AM and one in the PM. That sort of relieved the pain to a level it did not bother me.
But, there always seems to be but, my personal care physician (aka PCP) said I had to stop taking NSAIDs as it was beginning to effect my kidneys. It was okay to take a baby Aspirin for heart purposes but to stop the NSAIDs otherwise. And I found Acetametaphine (aka Tylenol) was not doing the trick, no relief. So I am now scheduled to see the Orthopedic doctor for additional treatment and/or consultation.
At best it will be more drugs to treat the Arthritis or shoulder rotator cup replacement. I do not relish the latter but that may be the only good answer.
Until them, we shall see what gives.
Back in 1995 or so I was treated at Beaver Clinic in Redlands for left shoulder pain. The doctor prescribed Naproxen Sodium, 750 MGs twice a day to relieve the pain. And that worked and then eventually in a week or two the pain subsided and went away. So I thought I was done with it.
Well it is arthritis now, hurts all the time. Sometimes worse than others. I was taking Aleve for it, that the over-the-counter Naproxen Sodium now days. I was taking two a day one in the AM and one in the PM. That sort of relieved the pain to a level it did not bother me.
But, there always seems to be but, my personal care physician (aka PCP) said I had to stop taking NSAIDs as it was beginning to effect my kidneys. It was okay to take a baby Aspirin for heart purposes but to stop the NSAIDs otherwise. And I found Acetametaphine (aka Tylenol) was not doing the trick, no relief. So I am now scheduled to see the Orthopedic doctor for additional treatment and/or consultation.
At best it will be more drugs to treat the Arthritis or shoulder rotator cup replacement. I do not relish the latter but that may be the only good answer.
Until them, we shall see what gives.
Saturday, June 23, 2018
Separated From Their Parents . . .
I am a loss here. Much hoopla about separation from parents going on at the border.
Excuse me, name me one convict that is not separated from his or her family here in the US? It is a crime to enter the United States at any point other than a "entry point." There are entry points all over the place and they are not the common banks of the Rio Grande River. They are bridges across the Rio Grande that all have entry points. These immigrants do not care, they are escaping Mexico and Central America.
This is a artificial creation used by the Democratic Party as an issue. Yet, they wont agree to a law change, they use ancient footage that occurred during the Obama administration of the border to stir up the masses. Oh yes, Obama did the same thing. It is the law to incarcerate illegal immigrants. And many of those immigrants are criminals: drug dealers, smugglers of people, rapists, and murderers. Some are using their own children to shield themselves during illegal entry. And the Democrats are shedding tears and doing absolutely nothing to correct the problem. They do not want to as it is their only issue in opposition to President Trump. Such hate is hard to understand.
Wake up people, we, the United States of America, have a problem. Please solve it. It is not hard to do, all of Europe, China, Indian, Africa and South and Central America have tough entry laws. Mexico is using the US as a dumping zone. Try going beyond the border of Mexico without paying their entry fee and you will be incarcerated in an filthy prison.
It is time to stop this foolishness from happening. And it is up to Congress to do so.
Excuse me, name me one convict that is not separated from his or her family here in the US? It is a crime to enter the United States at any point other than a "entry point." There are entry points all over the place and they are not the common banks of the Rio Grande River. They are bridges across the Rio Grande that all have entry points. These immigrants do not care, they are escaping Mexico and Central America.
This is a artificial creation used by the Democratic Party as an issue. Yet, they wont agree to a law change, they use ancient footage that occurred during the Obama administration of the border to stir up the masses. Oh yes, Obama did the same thing. It is the law to incarcerate illegal immigrants. And many of those immigrants are criminals: drug dealers, smugglers of people, rapists, and murderers. Some are using their own children to shield themselves during illegal entry. And the Democrats are shedding tears and doing absolutely nothing to correct the problem. They do not want to as it is their only issue in opposition to President Trump. Such hate is hard to understand.
Wake up people, we, the United States of America, have a problem. Please solve it. It is not hard to do, all of Europe, China, Indian, Africa and South and Central America have tough entry laws. Mexico is using the US as a dumping zone. Try going beyond the border of Mexico without paying their entry fee and you will be incarcerated in an filthy prison.
It is time to stop this foolishness from happening. And it is up to Congress to do so.
Thursday, June 21, 2018
Passwords . . .
I have just spent a half hour trying to come up with the password to this blog. First I had a hard time just finding False River blog again. Lots of False River stuff but no blog. I consider that pretty bad search by Bing (which in my mind is garbage software and virus to begin with). But I finally located it via Google.
Then I finally found my "current" password for Google which is the parent organization for BlogSpot. Then Blogspot put me through one those are you a human kind tests, deciphering strangely written gobly-gook in various colors. I settled on blue and I could finally figure it out then. I tried the sound but listening to it came out really weird, nothing anyone can figure out anyway. No, it is not by bad old tired ears, just a bunch of stuff run together that is very hard to figure out. Sort of like four people talking at the same time.
By then I had forgotten what I was going to originally blog about so settled on the password crap. I have no less that three full pages of user names and pass words listed. And the same list has annotations in ball point ink and sometimes pencil changes to the list. And sometimes the new password is put down on the back of the sheet. Confusing; you bet it is but right now it is all I got since my old machine crashed.
I have a "docking station" coming where I can take a hard disk out of my old computer, power it up and plug it in to the new computer. That way I can down load all my old files including my old list of passwords. It seems all one has to do is power it up and connect the old hard drive with a UBS connector to the new computer and the new computer will recognize the old hard drive as just another hard drive like thumb drive or an optical drive (CD/DVD).
I bought the connectors, a box to hold the hard drive, power supply and cables all in one package for $18.05 on the Internet. I am sure it is coming from China, Hong Kong or the like. Free shipping so you can not beat the deal. And once I get my old files off the old drive, I can format the disk and make it a back up disk drive for the new computer.
My old computer had two hard drives, both of which are still good. Once I am sure I have my files back and clean the drives up and reuse them via this set up. And it is a lot cheaper than buying a service or even an new back up hard drive. My new computer is a small format machine so only has room for one drive but it has no less than six USB ports that I can use for back up purposes. The one drive is two Tera bytes in size.
One of those ports has my internet device installed as the new machine does not have internal internet equipment. The Wi-Fi device is about as big as your thumb and will work on two frequencies.
My printer is wireless and the Windows 10 recognized it right of way and then I was able to load all the HP software on it. Yes, I even refill my ink cartridges, much cheaper though a bit messy. I will keep the printer, scanner, copier system until it dies.
Well enough palaver about nothing.
Then I finally found my "current" password for Google which is the parent organization for BlogSpot. Then Blogspot put me through one those are you a human kind tests, deciphering strangely written gobly-gook in various colors. I settled on blue and I could finally figure it out then. I tried the sound but listening to it came out really weird, nothing anyone can figure out anyway. No, it is not by bad old tired ears, just a bunch of stuff run together that is very hard to figure out. Sort of like four people talking at the same time.
By then I had forgotten what I was going to originally blog about so settled on the password crap. I have no less that three full pages of user names and pass words listed. And the same list has annotations in ball point ink and sometimes pencil changes to the list. And sometimes the new password is put down on the back of the sheet. Confusing; you bet it is but right now it is all I got since my old machine crashed.
I have a "docking station" coming where I can take a hard disk out of my old computer, power it up and plug it in to the new computer. That way I can down load all my old files including my old list of passwords. It seems all one has to do is power it up and connect the old hard drive with a UBS connector to the new computer and the new computer will recognize the old hard drive as just another hard drive like thumb drive or an optical drive (CD/DVD).
I bought the connectors, a box to hold the hard drive, power supply and cables all in one package for $18.05 on the Internet. I am sure it is coming from China, Hong Kong or the like. Free shipping so you can not beat the deal. And once I get my old files off the old drive, I can format the disk and make it a back up disk drive for the new computer.
My old computer had two hard drives, both of which are still good. Once I am sure I have my files back and clean the drives up and reuse them via this set up. And it is a lot cheaper than buying a service or even an new back up hard drive. My new computer is a small format machine so only has room for one drive but it has no less than six USB ports that I can use for back up purposes. The one drive is two Tera bytes in size.
One of those ports has my internet device installed as the new machine does not have internal internet equipment. The Wi-Fi device is about as big as your thumb and will work on two frequencies.
My printer is wireless and the Windows 10 recognized it right of way and then I was able to load all the HP software on it. Yes, I even refill my ink cartridges, much cheaper though a bit messy. I will keep the printer, scanner, copier system until it dies.
Well enough palaver about nothing.
Sunday, June 10, 2018
Windows 10 . . .
Well the operating system is working better. I made a mistake and allowed Bing to be a browser and now I can not get rid of the thing. It has embedded itself and even though I can go in and remove it from the start program it reinserts itself.
I have found many consider it a nuisance virus. That is it acts like a virus in that it is very hard to get rid of and is a nuisance since it is there and is of no value to the operation of the computer.
I now open Windows Edge and select MSN and that opens the MSN browser. Then I go up to left corner of the screen and close the Bing application and that leaves MSN running by itself. It just means I have to go through a couple more steps to void it off the system but it only do that until I close MSN again and then it is back again.
Live and learn. Be warned Google/Chrome/Chromium will do unwanted things to your computer. They are trying to make a niche for themselves and end up pissing everybody off. So as of now, I have removed Chrome from my computer. It still pushes to be down loaded but now I am alert to it and will not agree that.
Hot outside, 93 degrees and potential to hit 95 today. I work a little while then come in and cool off. I do get little things done here and there.
I have found many consider it a nuisance virus. That is it acts like a virus in that it is very hard to get rid of and is a nuisance since it is there and is of no value to the operation of the computer.
I now open Windows Edge and select MSN and that opens the MSN browser. Then I go up to left corner of the screen and close the Bing application and that leaves MSN running by itself. It just means I have to go through a couple more steps to void it off the system but it only do that until I close MSN again and then it is back again.
Live and learn. Be warned Google/Chrome/Chromium will do unwanted things to your computer. They are trying to make a niche for themselves and end up pissing everybody off. So as of now, I have removed Chrome from my computer. It still pushes to be down loaded but now I am alert to it and will not agree that.
Hot outside, 93 degrees and potential to hit 95 today. I work a little while then come in and cool off. I do get little things done here and there.
Tuesday, June 5, 2018
Well I be darn . . .
After lambasting Windows and Microsoft over my Office Professional I now note it is appearing in APP list and page. It is not automatic as when one usually loads a large file with an icon. It just showed up.
Since it is now on the apps page I have removed it from the task list. Now I can just click on the icon and the program runs. I do not understand why it was slow, late or whatever but it certainly works now. And it works well.
I guess after while the Windows 10 Pro just lets it in and allows its use. No BS about being outdated, etc. It is there and I use it just like I used use it.
There is a mystery there but I do not need to solve it. So I apologize the Microsoft and Windows 10 Pro.
Thanks Windows.
Since it is now on the apps page I have removed it from the task list. Now I can just click on the icon and the program runs. I do not understand why it was slow, late or whatever but it certainly works now. And it works well.
I guess after while the Windows 10 Pro just lets it in and allows its use. No BS about being outdated, etc. It is there and I use it just like I used use it.
There is a mystery there but I do not need to solve it. So I apologize the Microsoft and Windows 10 Pro.
Thanks Windows.
Monday, June 4, 2018
Getting Around Another Windows 10 issue . . .
I made a mistake and allowed Bing to become the search engine of Windows 10 Pro Microsoft Edge application. I find on the Internet the Bing App is considered by some as a virus. It gets lodged in, buried somewhere and takes over all search duties from Microsoft Edge.
So I reverted back to Internet Explorer. I place the icon on my task bar like I did with Word found in Office 2002. I can not get the Internet Explorer on to the App page either, so the task bar will suffice.
So far Bing has not invaded Internet Explorer and I am satisfied. I had been clicking MSN on the Bing page to get away from Bing. Now with the Internet Explorer icon on the task bar I have eliminated that extra click action.
I have several recommendations for removing Bing and they work once and then Bing invades the correction and takes over again. So for the time being I have simply avoided it. I have remove Chromium from the computer but that does not seem to do the job.
Now I am sort of free of it. I hope it does not discover Internet Explorer and contaminate it also.
Oh, live and learn!
So I reverted back to Internet Explorer. I place the icon on my task bar like I did with Word found in Office 2002. I can not get the Internet Explorer on to the App page either, so the task bar will suffice.
So far Bing has not invaded Internet Explorer and I am satisfied. I had been clicking MSN on the Bing page to get away from Bing. Now with the Internet Explorer icon on the task bar I have eliminated that extra click action.
I have several recommendations for removing Bing and they work once and then Bing invades the correction and takes over again. So for the time being I have simply avoided it. I have remove Chromium from the computer but that does not seem to do the job.
Now I am sort of free of it. I hope it does not discover Internet Explorer and contaminate it also.
Oh, live and learn!
Sunday, June 3, 2018
Windows 10 Pro . . .
With a new computer comes an update to Windows 10 Pro, it is a 64 byte system. And along with it comes a new set of problems.
My first problem was when I tried to update to Version 1803 of Windows 10 Pro. It hiccupped and destroyed my Dell Inspiron dual core computer. The it tried to auto load on my Lenovo Lap top and wiped it out too. Microsoft admits it has problems with version 1803 and has issued a correction for professional programmers but not as yet for the general unwashed users like you and me.
Well after fighting the Inspiron crash I got for me a new computer. It is a refurbished Dell OptiPlex 790 with an Intel i5 computer chip. I got operating and a couple of days ago Windows 10 died and had to be restored. Guess what, it wiped all the files right along with the restoration. That really makes me mad but not much I can do about it. The good news is that I was able to restore the computer and it has finally finished up dating. At least I was ready for it this time.
I tried to load my Microsoft Office Professional 2002 software. The computer ran the disk but at first refused to show any icon for it. It cleverly hid the program. I still do not have an icon for it but it is now listed in the apps and I can open it and use it. I have also run the update for it and it has been applied.
And my Office 2002 runs just fine on the new computer. It is just that Microsoft wants you to rent or buy their newer Office 360 suite. So they have jerry rigged the software to suppress using the old software. The old software runs and is good to go with its updates, it is just that Microsoft wants to sell you more unnecessary software. That to me is just plain greedy.
I also made a mistake when restoring the Windows 10 in doing so allowing "Bing" to be my search engine. I can not get Bing off the machine. I have even got rid of Chrome and driver behind the search engine. I have deleted it from my computer. But the damn Bing is like a virus and has attached itself and will not let go. I have found some folks do indeed refer to Bing as a virus. So I have ceased using Microsoft Edge and now use Internet Explorer by itself. I removed the Edge icon from my task bar and replaced it with Internet Explorer and now I do not have to deal with a Bing page popping up all the time. I also added my Word to the task bar, no nice big icon anymore but it is on my task bar and I can open it with the mouse anytime I want.
No one seems to tell you about the continued utility of the old Word software except say it is out of date. It ain't out of date, it is just that Windows 10 has some code in it to suppress using the old word processor.
You live and learn. Yes, continue to work at it at issues and problems, they keep your old bean from atrophying away.
My first problem was when I tried to update to Version 1803 of Windows 10 Pro. It hiccupped and destroyed my Dell Inspiron dual core computer. The it tried to auto load on my Lenovo Lap top and wiped it out too. Microsoft admits it has problems with version 1803 and has issued a correction for professional programmers but not as yet for the general unwashed users like you and me.
Well after fighting the Inspiron crash I got for me a new computer. It is a refurbished Dell OptiPlex 790 with an Intel i5 computer chip. I got operating and a couple of days ago Windows 10 died and had to be restored. Guess what, it wiped all the files right along with the restoration. That really makes me mad but not much I can do about it. The good news is that I was able to restore the computer and it has finally finished up dating. At least I was ready for it this time.
I tried to load my Microsoft Office Professional 2002 software. The computer ran the disk but at first refused to show any icon for it. It cleverly hid the program. I still do not have an icon for it but it is now listed in the apps and I can open it and use it. I have also run the update for it and it has been applied.
And my Office 2002 runs just fine on the new computer. It is just that Microsoft wants you to rent or buy their newer Office 360 suite. So they have jerry rigged the software to suppress using the old software. The old software runs and is good to go with its updates, it is just that Microsoft wants to sell you more unnecessary software. That to me is just plain greedy.
I also made a mistake when restoring the Windows 10 in doing so allowing "Bing" to be my search engine. I can not get Bing off the machine. I have even got rid of Chrome and driver behind the search engine. I have deleted it from my computer. But the damn Bing is like a virus and has attached itself and will not let go. I have found some folks do indeed refer to Bing as a virus. So I have ceased using Microsoft Edge and now use Internet Explorer by itself. I removed the Edge icon from my task bar and replaced it with Internet Explorer and now I do not have to deal with a Bing page popping up all the time. I also added my Word to the task bar, no nice big icon anymore but it is on my task bar and I can open it with the mouse anytime I want.
No one seems to tell you about the continued utility of the old Word software except say it is out of date. It ain't out of date, it is just that Windows 10 has some code in it to suppress using the old word processor.
You live and learn. Yes, continue to work at it at issues and problems, they keep your old bean from atrophying away.
Wednesday, May 30, 2018
Follow Up on the Lawn Tractor . . .
Well I could not install the new drive belt. It takes a special tool to get the drive pulley off the engine. There were three pieces of metal that kept the belt in place on the engine pulley. So one has to remove the engine pulley. If I had a air ratchet it would have been a piece of cake to remove the pulley but alas I did not have the tool so I kept the old belt on the machine. May have to visit Harbor Freight and get a cheapo air ratchet aka pneumatic driven wrench. I have the air compressor so I can power the wrench but I do not have the wrench.
I did make a run with the new spindle and the mower is almost silent. Well it was quiet and did not make a lot of noise. The most noise came from the engine as it should. So things are back to normal.
One thing I did was really pack the grease into the new spindle as well as the other old one. I must have put 8 or 9 pumps off the old grease gun. Now I know the bearings have lots of grease in them and the potential for failure goes down. The lower bearing, the one that failed, has one open face that faces upward. So the extra grease will be there to keep it lubed up. The old spindle seemed to have grease but apparently not enough of it to keep the bearing from failing. My opinion is that the design is such that the lower bearing is doomed for failure because there is not enough grease getting to the bearing.
And the mower is ready to go again. Just needs to gassed up and I am off and cutting.
Another comment. I bought the new spindle for $23 and change. I was shipped in two days and the shipping was free. That is Amazon Prime for you. But I noted I could have gotten the replacement bearings and installed them in the old spindle. But the difference in price was negligible and I did not have do the bearing installation job. So it made sense to get the new spindle. Another one of those marketing issues. So less work and same money.
Another successful job done.
I did make a run with the new spindle and the mower is almost silent. Well it was quiet and did not make a lot of noise. The most noise came from the engine as it should. So things are back to normal.
One thing I did was really pack the grease into the new spindle as well as the other old one. I must have put 8 or 9 pumps off the old grease gun. Now I know the bearings have lots of grease in them and the potential for failure goes down. The lower bearing, the one that failed, has one open face that faces upward. So the extra grease will be there to keep it lubed up. The old spindle seemed to have grease but apparently not enough of it to keep the bearing from failing. My opinion is that the design is such that the lower bearing is doomed for failure because there is not enough grease getting to the bearing.
And the mower is ready to go again. Just needs to gassed up and I am off and cutting.
Another comment. I bought the new spindle for $23 and change. I was shipped in two days and the shipping was free. That is Amazon Prime for you. But I noted I could have gotten the replacement bearings and installed them in the old spindle. But the difference in price was negligible and I did not have do the bearing installation job. So it made sense to get the new spindle. Another one of those marketing issues. So less work and same money.
Another successful job done.
Tuesday, May 29, 2018
John Deere Spindle . . .
The spindle was delivered on Memorial Day, amazing to me but then it is Amazon, right.
I installed the replacement spindle. It looked right, it fit but it was a fight to get the old retention bolts to work. It appears the threads in the new spindle were just a tad undersized. So it was fight to get the bolts started but "I got er done." Now with tearing up one knuckle and opening another tear on the top of my hand thus a little blood spilt it is finished. Band aids and Neosporin took care of that. And the tight fit means nothing is going to come loose.
Since I had the deck off I thought I would replace the drive belt on the tractor. So off to Home Depot to get a new belt and some other stuff we could not live without. It was Memorial Day and there was a army of people swamping the aisles of Home Depot buying every thing in the world. We did find what we want but no drive belt. We were told the only people who had that in stock was the John Deere dealer.
I find that ridiculous. It is just a belt. It is of a certain size, etc. and should be available at any hardware store that stocks belts. But we do have a brand spanking new John Deere dealer so I know they will have it in stock. It is a common item for a number of models of their lawn tractors.
I get really fed up with marketing that tries to BS the customer. For instance, I replace the oil filter annually on the tractor. The John Deere oil filter goes for about $14, the Briggs and Straton oil filter (really the same item in a different package) goes for about $12. The Fram equivalent oil filter goes for about $7 and guess what the Walmart brand filter, an equivalent unit sells for $3.45. Give me a break, this is silly. Profit upon profit for essentially the same equivalent item. It is even getting hard to find cross reference for the filters, they are all trying to hide the simply known facts to make more money. I would not be surprised to find out the same manufacturer made all of them, with different numbers and paint colors but the innards are identical. John Deere will not generally provide a parts breakdown for their tractors. The good news there are dealers on line that do provide the data and sell the parts (cheaper but one has to wait for delivery). Dealers are counting on ignorance and the urgent for instant service.
Well in a fit of timeliness, I will get the belt from John Deere. The old one is 9 years old so I thought while it is available and open, get it done. Preventive maintenance was something I learned in the USAF, it pays off.
Any way I have some hot work to do putting the mower back together again. Got to rehang the mower deck on the tractor. Not hard to do, just a space and weight issue. The deck must weight 60 or 70 pounds. Drag it around and hooking it up will be a hot job in the sun. But once in every 9 years, well that is not so bad.
I'll soon be cutting grass again.
I installed the replacement spindle. It looked right, it fit but it was a fight to get the old retention bolts to work. It appears the threads in the new spindle were just a tad undersized. So it was fight to get the bolts started but "I got er done." Now with tearing up one knuckle and opening another tear on the top of my hand thus a little blood spilt it is finished. Band aids and Neosporin took care of that. And the tight fit means nothing is going to come loose.
Since I had the deck off I thought I would replace the drive belt on the tractor. So off to Home Depot to get a new belt and some other stuff we could not live without. It was Memorial Day and there was a army of people swamping the aisles of Home Depot buying every thing in the world. We did find what we want but no drive belt. We were told the only people who had that in stock was the John Deere dealer.
I find that ridiculous. It is just a belt. It is of a certain size, etc. and should be available at any hardware store that stocks belts. But we do have a brand spanking new John Deere dealer so I know they will have it in stock. It is a common item for a number of models of their lawn tractors.
I get really fed up with marketing that tries to BS the customer. For instance, I replace the oil filter annually on the tractor. The John Deere oil filter goes for about $14, the Briggs and Straton oil filter (really the same item in a different package) goes for about $12. The Fram equivalent oil filter goes for about $7 and guess what the Walmart brand filter, an equivalent unit sells for $3.45. Give me a break, this is silly. Profit upon profit for essentially the same equivalent item. It is even getting hard to find cross reference for the filters, they are all trying to hide the simply known facts to make more money. I would not be surprised to find out the same manufacturer made all of them, with different numbers and paint colors but the innards are identical. John Deere will not generally provide a parts breakdown for their tractors. The good news there are dealers on line that do provide the data and sell the parts (cheaper but one has to wait for delivery). Dealers are counting on ignorance and the urgent for instant service.
Well in a fit of timeliness, I will get the belt from John Deere. The old one is 9 years old so I thought while it is available and open, get it done. Preventive maintenance was something I learned in the USAF, it pays off.
Any way I have some hot work to do putting the mower back together again. Got to rehang the mower deck on the tractor. Not hard to do, just a space and weight issue. The deck must weight 60 or 70 pounds. Drag it around and hooking it up will be a hot job in the sun. But once in every 9 years, well that is not so bad.
I'll soon be cutting grass again.
Saturday, May 26, 2018
Windows 10 Pro Version 1803.
Beware of down loading the update of Windows 10 or Windows 10 Pro to install version 1803. It has bugs. I ruined not one but two of my computers. As a result I had to get a new computer, actually I got two of them.
The first was a HP cheapo from Walmart. I has a small key pad, 14 inch screen and solid state hard drive (means not much space). But it was about a $100 cheaper than a 9 inch screen Samsung tablet and comes with Windows and some other bundled software. It gave access again to the internet and that is where I learned version 1803 was screwing computer after computer and Microsoft has been very blaze' about it all.
When I called Microsoft they said Windows would not run on my Dell Inspiron 530. I knew that was BS because my good old Inspiron has been running Windows 10 Pro since the software became available.
But that led me to my second computer purchase. I got from a Walmart source (actually a Walmart contractor) a Dell OptiPlex 790 with Windows 10 Pro on it, Intel i5 CPU, 8 Gigs of RAM, 2 Terabyte hard disk and a optical disk (aka DVD read/writer) shipped to me for the princely sum of $207.
I got that computer, hooked it up and it was DOA. Called the techs and they said probably a memory stick was dislodged. Sent me a link to a YouTube video that showed how to get into the computer. It is neat, no screws, it all snaps together and plugs in to its various cables. So sure enough, I opened up the case (no screws just a big latch), followed the video instructions and reseated the memory sticks. I actually moved them around and reinstalled them. Closed up the computer and powered it up and it is running like a champ.
This machine is much faster than my old reliable Dell Inspiron. I dislike the compact design but for the price it is worth it all. The computer came with a host of bundle software, some is open source and some is not.
I am typing on it now. I had to go get all my old addresses and plug all that in. But it is mostly back in operation.
Now I have to go fix my old lap top, it is about three years old, not used much except on trips. But I checked in with a computer shop in town and got a colossal load of BS. They said it was a bad hard disk. I already knew about the Microsoft fiasco regarding version 1803. I am sure more will come out and I expect a big class action suit to transpire.
The first was a HP cheapo from Walmart. I has a small key pad, 14 inch screen and solid state hard drive (means not much space). But it was about a $100 cheaper than a 9 inch screen Samsung tablet and comes with Windows and some other bundled software. It gave access again to the internet and that is where I learned version 1803 was screwing computer after computer and Microsoft has been very blaze' about it all.
When I called Microsoft they said Windows would not run on my Dell Inspiron 530. I knew that was BS because my good old Inspiron has been running Windows 10 Pro since the software became available.
But that led me to my second computer purchase. I got from a Walmart source (actually a Walmart contractor) a Dell OptiPlex 790 with Windows 10 Pro on it, Intel i5 CPU, 8 Gigs of RAM, 2 Terabyte hard disk and a optical disk (aka DVD read/writer) shipped to me for the princely sum of $207.
I got that computer, hooked it up and it was DOA. Called the techs and they said probably a memory stick was dislodged. Sent me a link to a YouTube video that showed how to get into the computer. It is neat, no screws, it all snaps together and plugs in to its various cables. So sure enough, I opened up the case (no screws just a big latch), followed the video instructions and reseated the memory sticks. I actually moved them around and reinstalled them. Closed up the computer and powered it up and it is running like a champ.
This machine is much faster than my old reliable Dell Inspiron. I dislike the compact design but for the price it is worth it all. The computer came with a host of bundle software, some is open source and some is not.
I am typing on it now. I had to go get all my old addresses and plug all that in. But it is mostly back in operation.
Now I have to go fix my old lap top, it is about three years old, not used much except on trips. But I checked in with a computer shop in town and got a colossal load of BS. They said it was a bad hard disk. I already knew about the Microsoft fiasco regarding version 1803. I am sure more will come out and I expect a big class action suit to transpire.
John Deere Tractor
Today is the hottest day in the year so far. I started out to cut the grass. First I edged. And it was still relatively cool then.
Then I fired up the John Deere lawn tractor and began cutting grass. As usual for some time now a lot of deck vibration. But everything was working. Just about finished cutting the entire front lawn, really not much but . . . And then the vibrations got really bad.
I knew then that I had ball bearing failure in one of the mower deck blade spindles. A spindle has a large pulley on top, a disk that the mower belt loops through. On the bottom of the spindle is the grass cutting blade. The spindle bolts on to the mower deck.
I pulled up in front of the garage and grabbed my grease gun and gave both spindles a shot of grease. That really did not make much difference. I pressed on and cut most of the rear yard and pulled up in front of the garage.
I got out the old instruction book and sure enough it gave instructions on how to take the mower deck off. I got that done pretty quick, though had to take a cooling off break as I was sweating like a stuck pig. Hot day, remember.
I parked the tractor in its spot in the garage and move the mower deck over to some shade. Sure enough one of the spindles was bad. I removed the bad spindle and took it apart thinking I would just replace the bearings. I found some pretty bad wear on the internal spacer so I elected to get a new spindle complete with bearings.
I found one on Amazon Prime for $24 shipped in two days Well I do not care if it comes in one day or three days, I do not have to cut the grass for a while yet. I have at lease a week before that comes due. I ordered up the spindle and will in the mean time sharpen the blades and grease up the remaining good spindle.
It will be another sweat job to get the mower deck back on but it is not to bad of job. It looks pretty simple as I took it off. All the work is close to the ground and that is an irritant but cheaper than taking the deck to the John Deere place to do the work. It is after all something I can do.
And the beat goes on.
Then I fired up the John Deere lawn tractor and began cutting grass. As usual for some time now a lot of deck vibration. But everything was working. Just about finished cutting the entire front lawn, really not much but . . . And then the vibrations got really bad.
I knew then that I had ball bearing failure in one of the mower deck blade spindles. A spindle has a large pulley on top, a disk that the mower belt loops through. On the bottom of the spindle is the grass cutting blade. The spindle bolts on to the mower deck.
I pulled up in front of the garage and grabbed my grease gun and gave both spindles a shot of grease. That really did not make much difference. I pressed on and cut most of the rear yard and pulled up in front of the garage.
I got out the old instruction book and sure enough it gave instructions on how to take the mower deck off. I got that done pretty quick, though had to take a cooling off break as I was sweating like a stuck pig. Hot day, remember.
I parked the tractor in its spot in the garage and move the mower deck over to some shade. Sure enough one of the spindles was bad. I removed the bad spindle and took it apart thinking I would just replace the bearings. I found some pretty bad wear on the internal spacer so I elected to get a new spindle complete with bearings.
I found one on Amazon Prime for $24 shipped in two days Well I do not care if it comes in one day or three days, I do not have to cut the grass for a while yet. I have at lease a week before that comes due. I ordered up the spindle and will in the mean time sharpen the blades and grease up the remaining good spindle.
It will be another sweat job to get the mower deck back on but it is not to bad of job. It looks pretty simple as I took it off. All the work is close to the ground and that is an irritant but cheaper than taking the deck to the John Deere place to do the work. It is after all something I can do.
And the beat goes on.
Friday, March 23, 2018
Another Step Down the Road . . .
We switched eye doctors and both of us now have Ophthalmologist taking care of us and our eyes. My case was simple and I found out my Optometrist was indeed way out in left field doing unrequired tests on me and saying I was a candidate for Glaucoma. My current doctor says no, I have normal pressures in my eyes and I do not have Optical Hypertension. End of that story.
But Judie, my wife, who has among other things, well many other things, dry eyes. She suffers from Sjorgen's Disease which dries up your body. She may have Myasthenia Gravis, yet another autoimmune disease which the Neurologist says she has maybe a 15% chance of having it. Not much treatment for Sjorgens, no drugs unless you are pretty severe. She does take a drug for Myasthenia
Gravis and that has helped her with improved upper body strength.
Her new Ophthalmologist took one look at her and said, "Your eyes are not converging like they should be. You are in fact compensating by closing your non-dominant eye to read up close." He immediately referred her to the Neurologist because that symptom is common to Parkinson's Disease.
We saw the Neurologist who had treated her before for migraine headaches and she said that was true about the eye convergence, it was indeed a primary symptom of Parkinson's Disease. But she needed to view a current MRI of the brain to make any definitive diagnosis. She explained that one can experience Parkinson-isms, or symptoms of Parkinson's Disease and not have the disease. So she was scheduled for a brain MRI.
That in itself was a sort of trial, the MRI Clinic went berserk over the fact that she had an implanted pain stimulator in her lower back. She purposely got the kind of stimulator that was impervious to Magnetic Radiation or put another way, not a problem for having an MRI performed. That was finally settled but not without signing papers etc. to absolved the MRI clinic of any post problems from the MRI.
She had the MRI, saw her eye doctor and got prism glasses prescribed for her to use while reading. Long distance vision is okay and does not need the prism correction. We discussed the MRI and the report we had seemed very benign, no issue was pointed out by the clinic doctor who reads the MRIs. We felt good about the MRI examination.
Then we visited the Neurologist for a post MRI examination discussion. Well the MRI Clinic docs are ignorant and really do not know much about Parkinson's Disease. The Neurologist did in fact know what to look for and where to look for it in the brain. What she found was not encouraging, in fact down right scary. She said what she saw was probably (note the hesitation to come out with a strong diagnosis) the early stages of Parkinson's Disease. Additionally, her nodding off at night and in the car was a symptom of Parkinson's. Her uncontrolled drooling out of the corner of her mouth was yet another symptom of Parkinson's. And finally the eye convergence issue was yet a third symptom of Parkinson's Disease.
The Neurologist immediately put her on Dopamine with specific instructions to take only two pills a day for the next week and then return of another look see by the doctor. We are supposing that the doctor can detect some sort of improvement from the Dopamine and that will help confirm the Parkinson's Disease diagnosis. Otherwise, I surmise she would have only Parkinson-isms. So she is taking the pills and we will see the Neurologist again next week. We do not see any immediate improvement but then we do not know what she, the neurologist, is looking for. We hope for the best but grid ourselves for the worst.
We live now from day to day. We are kept alive by maintenance drugs for blood pressure as an example and suffer from autoimmune disease like Diabetes and Sjorgren's Disease. We do not need yet another autoimmune disease to deal with like Parkinson's. We are in the keep on keeping on mode. The twilight of our life is upon us.
But Judie, my wife, who has among other things, well many other things, dry eyes. She suffers from Sjorgen's Disease which dries up your body. She may have Myasthenia Gravis, yet another autoimmune disease which the Neurologist says she has maybe a 15% chance of having it. Not much treatment for Sjorgens, no drugs unless you are pretty severe. She does take a drug for Myasthenia
Gravis and that has helped her with improved upper body strength.
Her new Ophthalmologist took one look at her and said, "Your eyes are not converging like they should be. You are in fact compensating by closing your non-dominant eye to read up close." He immediately referred her to the Neurologist because that symptom is common to Parkinson's Disease.
We saw the Neurologist who had treated her before for migraine headaches and she said that was true about the eye convergence, it was indeed a primary symptom of Parkinson's Disease. But she needed to view a current MRI of the brain to make any definitive diagnosis. She explained that one can experience Parkinson-isms, or symptoms of Parkinson's Disease and not have the disease. So she was scheduled for a brain MRI.
That in itself was a sort of trial, the MRI Clinic went berserk over the fact that she had an implanted pain stimulator in her lower back. She purposely got the kind of stimulator that was impervious to Magnetic Radiation or put another way, not a problem for having an MRI performed. That was finally settled but not without signing papers etc. to absolved the MRI clinic of any post problems from the MRI.
She had the MRI, saw her eye doctor and got prism glasses prescribed for her to use while reading. Long distance vision is okay and does not need the prism correction. We discussed the MRI and the report we had seemed very benign, no issue was pointed out by the clinic doctor who reads the MRIs. We felt good about the MRI examination.
Then we visited the Neurologist for a post MRI examination discussion. Well the MRI Clinic docs are ignorant and really do not know much about Parkinson's Disease. The Neurologist did in fact know what to look for and where to look for it in the brain. What she found was not encouraging, in fact down right scary. She said what she saw was probably (note the hesitation to come out with a strong diagnosis) the early stages of Parkinson's Disease. Additionally, her nodding off at night and in the car was a symptom of Parkinson's. Her uncontrolled drooling out of the corner of her mouth was yet another symptom of Parkinson's. And finally the eye convergence issue was yet a third symptom of Parkinson's Disease.
The Neurologist immediately put her on Dopamine with specific instructions to take only two pills a day for the next week and then return of another look see by the doctor. We are supposing that the doctor can detect some sort of improvement from the Dopamine and that will help confirm the Parkinson's Disease diagnosis. Otherwise, I surmise she would have only Parkinson-isms. So she is taking the pills and we will see the Neurologist again next week. We do not see any immediate improvement but then we do not know what she, the neurologist, is looking for. We hope for the best but grid ourselves for the worst.
We live now from day to day. We are kept alive by maintenance drugs for blood pressure as an example and suffer from autoimmune disease like Diabetes and Sjorgren's Disease. We do not need yet another autoimmune disease to deal with like Parkinson's. We are in the keep on keeping on mode. The twilight of our life is upon us.
Thursday, March 1, 2018
The Truth About the AR-15 . . .
The commercial version of an AR-15 (and its variants) is a semi automatic firearm. Like a semi automatic pistol it can only fire one cartridge per trigger pull. Pretty common amongst modern weapons. The key word here is "commercial" which means it is available to the general public. It is not the same as the AR-15 and its variants as used by the US military establishment that in and of itself can fire more than one round per trigger pull. That gun, is an assault rifle, and can fire single, multiple of three rounds or empty the clip if so selected on one trigger pull.
Many people confuse the general use of "automatic weapon" with the more specific term semi automatic.
As a matter of record automatic firearms have been banned from the general public since the National Firearms Act of 1934. That includes military assault weapons. Your local police department or the county sheriff has a literal arsenal of those kinds of firearms. The general public does not have them, can not buy them and it is illegal to modify the commercial version of the firearm.
So in reality, the commercial version of the AR-15 is no different than any other multiple round magazine rifle made and sold in the US of A. It looks tough, very military but it is not repeat not an assault weapon. It uses a common .223 high rifle powered round. The commonly available AK-47 is similar to the AR-15 except it uses a common 30 caliber rifle round. It to in the commercial version is available to the general public and is a semi automatic weapon. In its military version it is a true assault weapon with a fully automatic capability. We have many automatic shot guns used in hunting all over the place. The shot gun is really a semi automatic firearm, that is one shot per trigger pull.
Senator Diane Feinstein had an federal act passed that tried to define AR-15 and like weapons in the commercial version as assault weapons. That law expired and in spite of the many attempts by the gun toting Senator (Senator Feinstein has a conceal carry license and is said to carry such a firearm at all times when in the public) to renew the act, the Congress of the US has refused to do so. The act was failure. The act was an attempt to change the definition of the rifle. It did not work. Many states, including Senator Feinstein's home state of California have banned the weapon. But in general it is not an illegal firearm in the US thus is readily available in next door Arizona or Nevada. Nothing prevents you from buying the weapon in Nevada and bringing it back (albeit illegal in California) home in California. No one that I know that had such guns in California rushed to turn their weapons to the authorities in California.
A word about the National Rifle Association (NRA). It came into existence after the Civil War and its objective was the protect the guns rights of the former salves. Many people, especially in the southern US, were afraid if the blacks got weapons they would rise up and slay people. That most assuredly did not happen. And because of the NRA, the US Constitution 2nd amendment remains intact. We, the citizens of the United States, have the right own and bear arms. It is said that the Japanese in WW-II ruled out any attacks against the continental US would fail because the general population had so many guns.
Remember it is not the firearm that kills, it is the human that pulls the trigger that kills people.
Many people confuse the general use of "automatic weapon" with the more specific term semi automatic.
As a matter of record automatic firearms have been banned from the general public since the National Firearms Act of 1934. That includes military assault weapons. Your local police department or the county sheriff has a literal arsenal of those kinds of firearms. The general public does not have them, can not buy them and it is illegal to modify the commercial version of the firearm.
So in reality, the commercial version of the AR-15 is no different than any other multiple round magazine rifle made and sold in the US of A. It looks tough, very military but it is not repeat not an assault weapon. It uses a common .223 high rifle powered round. The commonly available AK-47 is similar to the AR-15 except it uses a common 30 caliber rifle round. It to in the commercial version is available to the general public and is a semi automatic weapon. In its military version it is a true assault weapon with a fully automatic capability. We have many automatic shot guns used in hunting all over the place. The shot gun is really a semi automatic firearm, that is one shot per trigger pull.
Senator Diane Feinstein had an federal act passed that tried to define AR-15 and like weapons in the commercial version as assault weapons. That law expired and in spite of the many attempts by the gun toting Senator (Senator Feinstein has a conceal carry license and is said to carry such a firearm at all times when in the public) to renew the act, the Congress of the US has refused to do so. The act was failure. The act was an attempt to change the definition of the rifle. It did not work. Many states, including Senator Feinstein's home state of California have banned the weapon. But in general it is not an illegal firearm in the US thus is readily available in next door Arizona or Nevada. Nothing prevents you from buying the weapon in Nevada and bringing it back (albeit illegal in California) home in California. No one that I know that had such guns in California rushed to turn their weapons to the authorities in California.
A word about the National Rifle Association (NRA). It came into existence after the Civil War and its objective was the protect the guns rights of the former salves. Many people, especially in the southern US, were afraid if the blacks got weapons they would rise up and slay people. That most assuredly did not happen. And because of the NRA, the US Constitution 2nd amendment remains intact. We, the citizens of the United States, have the right own and bear arms. It is said that the Japanese in WW-II ruled out any attacks against the continental US would fail because the general population had so many guns.
Remember it is not the firearm that kills, it is the human that pulls the trigger that kills people.
Saturday, February 24, 2018
Dentist . . .
Dentist. About a month a go I had a tooth ache, I rarely have them. I mean I have a tooth ache about once in 20 years. But it was tooth the local dentist had done a root canal on and then capped the tooth with a crown. I took a couple of Aleeve's and that took care of the pain.
I followed up with one more Aleeve and called the dentist. They squeezed me in and promptly took an X-ray of the tooth. The dentist looked at the X-ray along with his dental assistant and said they saw a spot. That could mean a cracked tooth with an infection or abscess under it or just an abscess from the original root canal. But that to keep the tooth I would have to see a specialist.
So off I went to see the Ondodontist, or dental surgeon. He looked at the X-ray sent over by my dentist and said pretty much what the dentist had said. So we scheduled an Apiecoctomy. That is basically, cutting a flap in the area, and drilling down to the base of the tooth. Once down in there clean out the residual infection and fill in the area with literally concrete. Well, maybe it is not real concrete but it is back fill material that gets as hard as concrete.
Well I went through that Thursday, two plus hours in the dental couch with him cutting, scrapping and drilling and finally sewing me up again. The dental surgeon said it was a large lesion, and the infection was sort of like cyst growing down under the tooth. He back filled the area and sew up the incision.
I drove home after stopping at Walmart to pick up pain killers, Amoxicillin, and some Ibuprofen. The pain killers are Tylenol 3's and Tramadol. Judie takes Tramadol for her back and it is mild opiate. So once at home I popped in a Tramadol and got in my chair and watched the stock market on TV. The Novocain gradually wore off and the Tramadol took over. Basically, everything was pretty painless.
The second day, Friday was okay, no issues to worry about. I took the Ibuprofen and that seem to do the trick. Today is Saturday and not so fast, things are a little sore or achy, so I took a Tylenol 3. Everything is tolerable but I still feel the tooth in the back ground. I did the salt water treatment, basically washing out the mouth with warm salt water. And I rinse with my mouth wash after.
I think as the Tylenol 3 wears off I will see if the Tramadol will quite it all down. Eating soup is beginning to get old. I have a hankering for steak but will end up with a "cup or noodles" instead.
I get the stitches taken out Thursday. I am sure it will be another Tramadol or Tylenol 3 day for me.
And perhaps by then we will get a biopsy report on the material he sent in to be examined. At my age that is a wise move as it could just as well be cancer. You never know what is going to happen and of course one's mount is full of all the worst kinds of germs. It is said that a dog's mouth is cleaner. I wonder about that but . . .
As I said before, it is hell getting old.
I followed up with one more Aleeve and called the dentist. They squeezed me in and promptly took an X-ray of the tooth. The dentist looked at the X-ray along with his dental assistant and said they saw a spot. That could mean a cracked tooth with an infection or abscess under it or just an abscess from the original root canal. But that to keep the tooth I would have to see a specialist.
So off I went to see the Ondodontist, or dental surgeon. He looked at the X-ray sent over by my dentist and said pretty much what the dentist had said. So we scheduled an Apiecoctomy. That is basically, cutting a flap in the area, and drilling down to the base of the tooth. Once down in there clean out the residual infection and fill in the area with literally concrete. Well, maybe it is not real concrete but it is back fill material that gets as hard as concrete.
Well I went through that Thursday, two plus hours in the dental couch with him cutting, scrapping and drilling and finally sewing me up again. The dental surgeon said it was a large lesion, and the infection was sort of like cyst growing down under the tooth. He back filled the area and sew up the incision.
I drove home after stopping at Walmart to pick up pain killers, Amoxicillin, and some Ibuprofen. The pain killers are Tylenol 3's and Tramadol. Judie takes Tramadol for her back and it is mild opiate. So once at home I popped in a Tramadol and got in my chair and watched the stock market on TV. The Novocain gradually wore off and the Tramadol took over. Basically, everything was pretty painless.
The second day, Friday was okay, no issues to worry about. I took the Ibuprofen and that seem to do the trick. Today is Saturday and not so fast, things are a little sore or achy, so I took a Tylenol 3. Everything is tolerable but I still feel the tooth in the back ground. I did the salt water treatment, basically washing out the mouth with warm salt water. And I rinse with my mouth wash after.
I think as the Tylenol 3 wears off I will see if the Tramadol will quite it all down. Eating soup is beginning to get old. I have a hankering for steak but will end up with a "cup or noodles" instead.
I get the stitches taken out Thursday. I am sure it will be another Tramadol or Tylenol 3 day for me.
And perhaps by then we will get a biopsy report on the material he sent in to be examined. At my age that is a wise move as it could just as well be cancer. You never know what is going to happen and of course one's mount is full of all the worst kinds of germs. It is said that a dog's mouth is cleaner. I wonder about that but . . .
As I said before, it is hell getting old.
Monday, February 19, 2018
Is That It, Mr. Mueller . . .
Let's see, the Russians spent $1.250,000.00 interfering with elections and we spent probably five or six millions of dollars to determine that it was 13 Russians and 3 Russian organizations that did the interfering. If I read the news right, it was the FBI that did the real investigative work and Mr. Mueller gets the fame. And we spent four or five, or six times as much money as they did in trying to interfere to prove it. Give me a break. What an absolute waste of money.
So far one conviction for lying to the FBI by a former Lt General.
What a waste of time and energy. What we should get out of all this waste is that it is virtually impossible to upset US elections by foreigners. We all kinda knew that, didn't we? We have literally 50 different ways of electing our presidents, that is that there are 50 different states and they each do things differently. Each state has subdivisions, etc. So it is extremely costly to get our presidents elected and probably more costly to ever interfere with the elections successfully.
After a year of probing, talking, skulking around, we find out that there is no collusion by the GOP with the Russians. We did find a lot of collusion by Hilary Clinton, etal, with the Russians and nobody is doing nothing about it. Well there is still hope, maybe Mr. Robert Mueller will turn to investigating the Clinton's now. Ya think, I bet not!
Come on people, wake up. Get over the election, Trump won and has been President of the US for over a year now. Does he have faults, yes. Did he lie to the FBI, no. Has he fixed the economy, well that looks like a yes. Has he proved he will do the unusual, yes. Has he gotten rid of useless regulations, by the ton. He has been functional, no red lines in the sand, he attacks. You better believe the world knows the US is back being the US. We can walk with pride in the overseas streets. We are back to Teddy Roosevelt, "Talk softly and carry a big stick."
So far one conviction for lying to the FBI by a former Lt General.
What a waste of time and energy. What we should get out of all this waste is that it is virtually impossible to upset US elections by foreigners. We all kinda knew that, didn't we? We have literally 50 different ways of electing our presidents, that is that there are 50 different states and they each do things differently. Each state has subdivisions, etc. So it is extremely costly to get our presidents elected and probably more costly to ever interfere with the elections successfully.
After a year of probing, talking, skulking around, we find out that there is no collusion by the GOP with the Russians. We did find a lot of collusion by Hilary Clinton, etal, with the Russians and nobody is doing nothing about it. Well there is still hope, maybe Mr. Robert Mueller will turn to investigating the Clinton's now. Ya think, I bet not!
Come on people, wake up. Get over the election, Trump won and has been President of the US for over a year now. Does he have faults, yes. Did he lie to the FBI, no. Has he fixed the economy, well that looks like a yes. Has he proved he will do the unusual, yes. Has he gotten rid of useless regulations, by the ton. He has been functional, no red lines in the sand, he attacks. You better believe the world knows the US is back being the US. We can walk with pride in the overseas streets. We are back to Teddy Roosevelt, "Talk softly and carry a big stick."
Sunday, January 28, 2018
The Latest Medical Machine . . .
The latest medical machine is Judies CPAP rig. I call it a rig because it has a control box, hoses and even a small water reservoir (with heater of course). And there is no cheating on this machine, it reports electronically to the supplier and to the doctor. No escape not using it.
The mask, or the delivery device is simple. It has two soft ports that fit into the nose and are held in place with head straps. The straps are rubberized and provide tension to keep the nose mount in place. It also comes with a chin strap that makes sure your mouth stays closed. And it has a port in the back where the air line where one is supplied for the Oxygen.
So she continues to get an Oxygen boost along with the CPAP push. I guess that has to be better than hooked up to IVs and an Oxygen cannulas in the hospital. No more Oxygen tents and that is good thing but all the new crap, excuse me, equipment, is not.
It has a complicated array of commands and of course has small video screen with all the stuff on it. And it comes with a nice travel kit and expansive instruction booklet. And yes, it records all the usage and as said before reports the same to the doctor's office and to the machine supplier. We have no privacy any more. No trust. We give you the machine and we dam well make sure you are using machine kind of life now.
Judie's sleep test, and there were two of them, was marginal that she needed the device. She had been sleeping with a cannulas that supplied Oxygen to her nose. It was a simple set up with large Oxygen concentrator off in the corner. The concentrator literally filters Oxygen out of the atmosphere and pumps into the nose. A flow regulator is mounted on the concentrator and is variable. It is set a two liters per minute flow. So that is just plugged into the back of the CPAP unit on the side table by the bed.
So far we have learned that the water reservoir has enough water for one session so one has to load the dam thing every night with no less than distilled water. It also has an air filter that has to be changed every two weeks. Spares of the filters are provided but not the distilled water. That we get off the shelf at Walmart.
I do not doubt that Judie has lung disease. But I am not sure quality of life sacrifice is necessary at this stage. I get that antsy feeling that the doctor is just loading us up with stuff. It is true Medicare and TRICARE for Life will pay for it all but is it really necessary?
I went though this with the old Ophthalmologist and his staff Optometrist. And as I suspected, I did not need all the testing etc. that I was receiving. I view Optometrists, perhaps unfairly, as just an eye mechanic that are intent upon selling you things. I got a new prescription annually for glasses under the myriad of Optometrists I used for the decades. When I first dealt with my old Ophthalmologist he would do annual check but did not bother to write a prescription for new glasses as I really did not need one. We switched from my old Ophthalmologist/Optometrist group to a new one because of the Optometrists on the staff. And the old Opthalmologist would not see old patients that did not need surgery so we moved on. And, guess what, I did not need all those super duper tests anymore with the new Opthalmologist.
So under the world of Obamacare I worry that physicians are padding the system to earn the big bucks. It is not so much of what we need, it seems to be more of "I can prescribe this treatment and get paid for the visit no matter what happens." I question often now, the necessity of all these different specialists and what we really need. My trust in doctors is declining unless I know the doctor well. Even now our family physician is transitioning to retirement and new doctors are now seeing me.
As of yet nothing has changed but then I know the old doctor is supervising the whole thing. But he is a short timer and will soon be gone.
The mask, or the delivery device is simple. It has two soft ports that fit into the nose and are held in place with head straps. The straps are rubberized and provide tension to keep the nose mount in place. It also comes with a chin strap that makes sure your mouth stays closed. And it has a port in the back where the air line where one is supplied for the Oxygen.
So she continues to get an Oxygen boost along with the CPAP push. I guess that has to be better than hooked up to IVs and an Oxygen cannulas in the hospital. No more Oxygen tents and that is good thing but all the new crap, excuse me, equipment, is not.
It has a complicated array of commands and of course has small video screen with all the stuff on it. And it comes with a nice travel kit and expansive instruction booklet. And yes, it records all the usage and as said before reports the same to the doctor's office and to the machine supplier. We have no privacy any more. No trust. We give you the machine and we dam well make sure you are using machine kind of life now.
Judie's sleep test, and there were two of them, was marginal that she needed the device. She had been sleeping with a cannulas that supplied Oxygen to her nose. It was a simple set up with large Oxygen concentrator off in the corner. The concentrator literally filters Oxygen out of the atmosphere and pumps into the nose. A flow regulator is mounted on the concentrator and is variable. It is set a two liters per minute flow. So that is just plugged into the back of the CPAP unit on the side table by the bed.
So far we have learned that the water reservoir has enough water for one session so one has to load the dam thing every night with no less than distilled water. It also has an air filter that has to be changed every two weeks. Spares of the filters are provided but not the distilled water. That we get off the shelf at Walmart.
I do not doubt that Judie has lung disease. But I am not sure quality of life sacrifice is necessary at this stage. I get that antsy feeling that the doctor is just loading us up with stuff. It is true Medicare and TRICARE for Life will pay for it all but is it really necessary?
I went though this with the old Ophthalmologist and his staff Optometrist. And as I suspected, I did not need all the testing etc. that I was receiving. I view Optometrists, perhaps unfairly, as just an eye mechanic that are intent upon selling you things. I got a new prescription annually for glasses under the myriad of Optometrists I used for the decades. When I first dealt with my old Ophthalmologist he would do annual check but did not bother to write a prescription for new glasses as I really did not need one. We switched from my old Ophthalmologist/Optometrist group to a new one because of the Optometrists on the staff. And the old Opthalmologist would not see old patients that did not need surgery so we moved on. And, guess what, I did not need all those super duper tests anymore with the new Opthalmologist.
So under the world of Obamacare I worry that physicians are padding the system to earn the big bucks. It is not so much of what we need, it seems to be more of "I can prescribe this treatment and get paid for the visit no matter what happens." I question often now, the necessity of all these different specialists and what we really need. My trust in doctors is declining unless I know the doctor well. Even now our family physician is transitioning to retirement and new doctors are now seeing me.
As of yet nothing has changed but then I know the old doctor is supervising the whole thing. But he is a short timer and will soon be gone.
Friday, January 12, 2018
The Bird . . .
It has been cold recently, two cold snaps almost back to back. The one last week lasted several days and we have just had a tough front come through where temperature 20 degrees during the day and plunge into freezing at night.
We have been dog sitting, our daughter-in-law had to come up from Austin to the D/FW area and there was no one to take care of the dog at their home. Her husband, our son, was off to New Orleans so someone had to take care of the dog. While we do not have any pets we have had dogs in the past so we decided to take care of Abbie, the black dog.
Abbie is a good guest but alas must visit outside from time to time to take of natures calls. She is well house broken. But going in and out raise a strange problem. A small bird followed us into the house. No one noticed for a while but then the bird got active with the warmth and started flitting around in the open living area.
We had to turn off all the lights and turn on the light on the back porch to attract the bird outside. It took a while of chasing the bird around the room and it got tired of doing that. So it took the option and flew out the door on to the patio. Unfortunately for the bird, the back patio is now enclosed with screens. So the bird spent the nigh on the porch in small corner.
This morning I got up to water the dog. And the bird was still on the porch. After the dog was taken care of I opened the back screened door and used the clip to hold it open. The bird noticed the open door and soon departed for the greater out doors.
But the point is that creatures will seek warmth and come into one's abode. And we do need to take care and get them back out side where they belong. This little Wren made it back into greater out doors again. She had a respite of warmth, but had to helped out once again into its world away from our world.
It was strange but had a happy ending.
We have been dog sitting, our daughter-in-law had to come up from Austin to the D/FW area and there was no one to take care of the dog at their home. Her husband, our son, was off to New Orleans so someone had to take care of the dog. While we do not have any pets we have had dogs in the past so we decided to take care of Abbie, the black dog.
Abbie is a good guest but alas must visit outside from time to time to take of natures calls. She is well house broken. But going in and out raise a strange problem. A small bird followed us into the house. No one noticed for a while but then the bird got active with the warmth and started flitting around in the open living area.
We had to turn off all the lights and turn on the light on the back porch to attract the bird outside. It took a while of chasing the bird around the room and it got tired of doing that. So it took the option and flew out the door on to the patio. Unfortunately for the bird, the back patio is now enclosed with screens. So the bird spent the nigh on the porch in small corner.
This morning I got up to water the dog. And the bird was still on the porch. After the dog was taken care of I opened the back screened door and used the clip to hold it open. The bird noticed the open door and soon departed for the greater out doors.
But the point is that creatures will seek warmth and come into one's abode. And we do need to take care and get them back out side where they belong. This little Wren made it back into greater out doors again. She had a respite of warmth, but had to helped out once again into its world away from our world.
It was strange but had a happy ending.
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