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msmechanic58
post-grad
Oh my!!!! We did renovations and new builds for other people for several years. It's crazy what you can find.
Bilateral TKR May 19, 2014 bilateral knees for me
- Thread starter msmechanic58
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Dutto
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Scary!!
How's this for one house we bought in 1972.
Built around 1930 the house was split into two apartments (top floor and bottom floor) for summer holiday lets. (The previous owners used to live in a caravan in the garage!)
The house had been flooded out when the North Sea came to visit back in 1953 so the plaster had been replaced up to about five feet; however the electrics hadn't been touched.
After a complaint by my then eight year old son that he had got a shock off a light plug I investigated and discovered that ALL the insulation on the wires of the ground floor had perished so badly that it just crumbled to dust if it was touched.
My investigation started after I discovered that the lad wasn't lying; the hard way. This was when I prodded at the light switch in question whilst standing in my bare feet on a concrete floor!! (Remember, this was before they had invented RCD's and that the UK uses 240 volts!)
During the re-wiring I also discovered that the electricity to the garage was supplied via the pay-as-you-go electricity meter for the upstairs apartment. Cunning eh?
We sold the house after a winter storm in 1974. Standing in the upstairs bedroom we watched the sea throw spray up and over the top of a street-lamp that was positioned above eye-level on the foreshore opposite the house.
I agree, "new build" is generally a lot better than "modification"!
Lovely here today and when my cycling shoes dry out from yesterday we will get out on the bikes again.
Have a good day when you wake up; but take it easy!
Best regards,
Ian
How's this for one house we bought in 1972.
Built around 1930 the house was split into two apartments (top floor and bottom floor) for summer holiday lets. (The previous owners used to live in a caravan in the garage!)
The house had been flooded out when the North Sea came to visit back in 1953 so the plaster had been replaced up to about five feet; however the electrics hadn't been touched.
After a complaint by my then eight year old son that he had got a shock off a light plug I investigated and discovered that ALL the insulation on the wires of the ground floor had perished so badly that it just crumbled to dust if it was touched.
My investigation started after I discovered that the lad wasn't lying; the hard way. This was when I prodded at the light switch in question whilst standing in my bare feet on a concrete floor!! (Remember, this was before they had invented RCD's and that the UK uses 240 volts!)
During the re-wiring I also discovered that the electricity to the garage was supplied via the pay-as-you-go electricity meter for the upstairs apartment. Cunning eh?
We sold the house after a winter storm in 1974. Standing in the upstairs bedroom we watched the sea throw spray up and over the top of a street-lamp that was positioned above eye-level on the foreshore opposite the house.
I agree, "new build" is generally a lot better than "modification"!
Lovely here today and when my cycling shoes dry out from yesterday we will get out on the bikes again.
Have a good day when you wake up; but take it easy!
Best regards,
Ian
tiredwife
alpha
@msmechanic58 The guy had also used scrap pieces of paneling on the basement walls, some going up and down and some side ways. The tile he laid was so bad, nothing lined up. The wire going to the dinning room light had at least 4 feet without any insulation on it. It's been a nightmare! Hope you have a great day! Don't over do!
OP
OP
msmechanic58
post-grad
Sitting on the couch balancing the checkbook and starting back to school paperwork. 
You are lucky to not have had a fire!!!!!
You are lucky to not have had a fire!!!!!
tiredwife
alpha
@msmechanic58 I know, that is what started us rewiring everything.
Hate balancing the checkbook. We use a credit card for every thing, then deduct it from the check book and pay it off when the bill comes each month. We get $50.00 back from the credit card every month or so! Have to keep on top of it though.
I think you are looking forward to school starting?!
Hate balancing the checkbook. We use a credit card for every thing, then deduct it from the check book and pay it off when the bill comes each month. We get $50.00 back from the credit card every month or so! Have to keep on top of it though.
I think you are looking forward to school starting?!
Dutto
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We too find it easier to pay everything by Visa and then pay it all off at the end of the month. We don't get anything returned but we do get 28 days free of interest.
In the UK we have had a sudden plague of "Pay-Day-Loan" companies that can charge as much as 4,500% interest per year (i.e. borrow $1 today and by this time next year you will owe them $45 and by August 2016 $2,025 etc); and they even advertise these interest rates on national TV; when they tell you how easy it is to get a loan.
It's an obscenity because it is aimed at the poor and uneducated when they are at their most vulnerable.
In response we have a system where people with a bit of money can lend it to an organisation called a "Credit Union" that hands out loans to people at low interest rates. There is no set interest on any money lent to the CU but they pay a small dividend every year and whatever you donate is protected by the government so you can't lose it. These are NEVER advertised on TV and only get the odd mention in the local media!
Enjoy tomorrow.
I well remember looking forward to school starting; it was when our second child reached school age!
Now get to bed early!! Nite, nite.
Best regards,
Ian
In the UK we have had a sudden plague of "Pay-Day-Loan" companies that can charge as much as 4,500% interest per year (i.e. borrow $1 today and by this time next year you will owe them $45 and by August 2016 $2,025 etc); and they even advertise these interest rates on national TV; when they tell you how easy it is to get a loan.
It's an obscenity because it is aimed at the poor and uneducated when they are at their most vulnerable.
In response we have a system where people with a bit of money can lend it to an organisation called a "Credit Union" that hands out loans to people at low interest rates. There is no set interest on any money lent to the CU but they pay a small dividend every year and whatever you donate is protected by the government so you can't lose it. These are NEVER advertised on TV and only get the odd mention in the local media!
Enjoy tomorrow.
I well remember looking forward to school starting; it was when our second child reached school age!
Now get to bed early!! Nite, nite.
Best regards,
Ian
tiredwife
alpha
@Dutto We have those pay day loans here too, lots of loan shark type companies and they advertise on tv here too. People are so stupid to get involved with them. Our credit card is RBS and we don't have interest as long as we pay it off each time the bill comes in. They give us a percentage back with each purchase.
OP
OP
msmechanic58
post-grad
I actually don't go back until Tuesday. three days of meetings and the kiddos start Friday. I'm looking forward to getting back into a routine that doesn't revolve around pain medicine. ;)
three days of meetings and the kiddos start Friday. I'm looking forward to getting back into a routine that doesn't revolve around pain medicine. ;)
KElmore
junior member
Msmechanic58....Having my BTKR in a week and 3 days. Been waiting to read more of your updates. How are you feeling now? So far, it seems good. God Bless you and hope to hear from you soon. Kim
tiredwife
alpha
@msmechanic58 Good Morning! Take care not to overdo it. Do you have a helper in your class room?
OP
OP
msmechanic58
post-grad
Kim- @KElmore - I am doing well. Last day of therapy today. I'm having some pain right in my joint area but nothing else. PT said it was from swelling. I'll be resting this morning for pt at 1:00. Then CPR class at 5:30.
Dutto
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That's eleven weeks today from the BTKR operation to "..... some pain right in my joint area but nothing else."
Give yourself a pat on the back!!
Come Friday, enjoy the little darlings,
but personally I would sooner do this 
than lock myself in a classroom full of children!
The scales fell from my eyes after a comment made by a neighbour who had three children in kindergarten.
We were standing in her living room looking out of the window where we could see her three children and my own two skipping along the road as they celebrated the beginning of the school's summer holidays.
School had ended early as it did in my own day and it was lovely to see the kids so excited; and the sight brought back all the happy memories of my own summer holidays.
However, the illusion was shattered somewhat when Maureen said in a funereal voice "Look at them. Not a care in the world. No school for six weeks. You'd think those schoolteachers could have at least kept them until normal chucking out time."
I have often wondered how many times my own mother thought the same thing!
Best regards,
Ian
Give yourself a pat on the back!! Come Friday, enjoy the little darlings,
but personally I would sooner do this than lock myself in a classroom full of children!The scales fell from my eyes after a comment made by a neighbour who had three children in kindergarten.
We were standing in her living room looking out of the window where we could see her three children and my own two skipping along the road as they celebrated the beginning of the school's summer holidays.
School had ended early as it did in my own day and it was lovely to see the kids so excited; and the sight brought back all the happy memories of my own summer holidays.
However, the illusion was shattered somewhat when Maureen said in a funereal voice "Look at them. Not a care in the world. No school for six weeks. You'd think those schoolteachers could have at least kept them until normal chucking out time."
I have often wondered how many times my own mother thought the same thing!
Best regards,
Ian
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msmechanic58
post-grad
Dutto
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I was thinking today was 12 weeks but you are right @Dutto - it's 11! I am most worried about having to sit and listen in the teacher meetings the next three days. I also have a cpr/first aid class tonight. :( I'll have to be there early so I can find a place to elevate my feet while I listen.
You'll get no sympathy from me! I had to sit and listen to teachers drone on and on for eleven years!
Six strokes of the cane was a welcome diversion with some of the teachers! The pain only lasted a few minutes whereas "Double History" could last what seemed like years; especially on hot summer afternoons!
Must be a tough school if you have to learn CPR, or is it for your fellow teachers?
Best regards,
Ian
Best of luck going back to work. I have 3 more weeks off before a full week of teacher meetings and students back the day after Labor Day. That will be 10 weeks post-op for me. I'm going to get out as much as possible and have as much fun as I can before 8 to 12 hour workdays begin.
tiredwife
alpha
@msmechanic58 Good night and pleasant dreams.
OP
OP
msmechanic58
post-grad
@Dutto - CPR was something I wanted to do. My 14yo son is in a certification class for disaster preparedness. He missed the CPR class because he was at church camp. I signed us both up for one tonight. It was only 2 hours but I was getting antsy at the end.
I had my last pt today for the week. He wants me to come back next week to be sure I don't regress after starting work. I have to keep stretching, elevating, and icing. As a reward to myself, I bought some new shoes for the gym. my son and I went to the gym this afternoon and I swam in the therapy pool. The water felt strange on my legs. Possibly because I had already done 2.25 hours of pt. I mostly just floated and swam with my arms.
I've been elevating and icing since I got home. 6 am will come early. :(
I had my last pt today for the week. He wants me to come back next week to be sure I don't regress after starting work. I have to keep stretching, elevating, and icing. As a reward to myself, I bought some new shoes for the gym.
my son and I went to the gym this afternoon and I swam in the therapy pool. The water felt strange on my legs. Possibly because I had already done 2.25 hours of pt. I mostly just floated and swam with my arms. I've been elevating and icing since I got home. 6 am will come early. :(
tiredwife
alpha
@msmechanic58 Hope you have a great day!
Dutto
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New shoes for the gym!! You are an inspiration to us all.
Before I retired I wrote Emergency Response Procedures for companies such as Exxon, BP etc and ran exercises all over the world to test them out. A great time but can't say that I am bored in retirement.
As it's your first day back to school, I will recount my own first day.
Aged 5 years I was chucked through the gates of the school with "the kid next door" (who was two years older than me) as a prisoner escort. He took me to my classroom and then left me to fend for myself.
The teacher (a lady called Miss Chapel who had a fierce reputation that extended well beyond the school gates) told me where to sit (close under her watchful and beady eyes) and assumed that because it was a village school I knew everyone. In reality I only knew one other kid and he was sitting at the other side of the room.
After about ten minutes into my school career I was desperate to call it a day when the kid in the next desk put his hand up, said "Miss?" in a rather urgent tone. Miss Chapel said "Oh, all right. Off you go." and glared at him as he left the room.
I liked this idea so I too shot my hand in the air and said "Miss?" in the same urgent tone. This time Miss Chapel said "Do you know where it is Ian?" Of course I did so I said "Yes Miss." and on the instruction "Off you go then." I ran for home.
My escape didn't last long enough to get the full 500 yards home though. My rather suspicious Mum was sitting on fence waiting for me about 30 yards up the hill from the school. (It wouldn't be the last time she managed a pre-emptive strike to thwart my ambitions!)
"I knew it." she muttered, grabbed hold of me by my shirt collar, administered unusual and cruel punishments banned by The Geneva Convention and returned me to school complete with the hand-shaped welts on the back of my legs that discouraged any further escape attempts for many years!
Happy days!
Don't overdo it with the gym shoes. Swimming has to be a better option.
Best regards,
Before I retired I wrote Emergency Response Procedures for companies such as Exxon, BP etc and ran exercises all over the world to test them out. A great time but can't say that I am bored in retirement.
As it's your first day back to school, I will recount my own first day.
Aged 5 years I was chucked through the gates of the school with "the kid next door" (who was two years older than me) as a prisoner escort. He took me to my classroom and then left me to fend for myself.
The teacher (a lady called Miss Chapel who had a fierce reputation that extended well beyond the school gates) told me where to sit (close under her watchful and beady eyes) and assumed that because it was a village school I knew everyone. In reality I only knew one other kid and he was sitting at the other side of the room.
After about ten minutes into my school career I was desperate to call it a day when the kid in the next desk put his hand up, said "Miss?" in a rather urgent tone. Miss Chapel said "Oh, all right. Off you go." and glared at him as he left the room.
I liked this idea so I too shot my hand in the air and said "Miss?" in the same urgent tone. This time Miss Chapel said "Do you know where it is Ian?" Of course I did so I said "Yes Miss." and on the instruction "Off you go then." I ran for home.
My escape didn't last long enough to get the full 500 yards home though. My rather suspicious Mum was sitting on fence waiting for me about 30 yards up the hill from the school. (It wouldn't be the last time she managed a pre-emptive strike to thwart my ambitions!)
"I knew it." she muttered, grabbed hold of me by my shirt collar, administered unusual and cruel punishments banned by The Geneva Convention and returned me to school complete with the hand-shaped welts on the back of my legs that discouraged any further escape attempts for many years!
Happy days!
Don't overdo it with the gym shoes. Swimming has to be a better option.
Best regards,
OP
OP
msmechanic58
post-grad
I was swimming. they have a lift in the lap pool and steps to the therapy pool. I will try the lap pool next time.
I. Am. So. Tired.
Elevating and icing now. Whew!
they have a lift in the lap pool and steps to the therapy pool. I will try the lap pool next time. I. Am. So. Tired.
Elevating and icing now. Whew!
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