Why Few Posts Lately Here

I used to post more often here.  Mostly about projects, sometimes about world events, sometimes about complaints.  Well, I kind of got inactive for a while.  I simply stopped doing projects for a while...

It's health issues.  I'm not ill, but I've been having increasing physical problems that make it harder to just "do stuff" and it is really annoying .  Let me make it clear that I understand many people my age (72) have far more serious problems and a significant % of the world population would dearly love to have "only" my problems.

So this isn't a competition.  But my issues are MY issues and I'm having some difficulties adjusting to them.  A bit of background and a list:

1.  Back in the early 1960s, my town sent out DDT fogger trucks to kill mosquitoes.  No one thought DDT harmed humans.  We kids rode or bicycles in and out of the fog behind the truck just for fun.  Shortly after, I started to develop slight hand tremors to the point where building plastic models became difficult,  "glue everywhere". The past decade, those have been getting worse.

2.  Two decades ago, my right knee started failing occasionally.  I had to be careful on stairs.  Thge past 2 months, my left knee has been a problem and it has gotten worse.  I even bought a velcro strap knee compression support.  It helps, but I walk kind of stiff-legged lately.  

I'm pretty sure I know what the cause is.  I sit with one ankle up on the opposite knee (either way).  I think it used to be called the "English Sitting Position".  Which is probably OK in itself, but when you have cats on your lap, it puts a torque on the knee (of the ankle on the other knee).  After decades of that, I think I have ruined both of them.

But the result is that I don't exactly run around the house or yard "doing stuff" lately.

3.  I'm getting too many muscle cramps!  At night in bed, I get them in my thigh, calf and ankle on either leg (randomly and never more than one place at the same time.  But they feel like my muscle is about to tear loose from the bone.  I say "bad words" when that happens.  Sometimes no problems for a couple weeks, them every night for days.  Doesn't happen in daytime.  I can't think of a cause for them.  I get enough water.

In daytime, I get rib muscle cramps if I twist around to look behind me or lift something awkwardly.  

I get finger-clenches, too.  Holding anything tightly for even short periods can cause it.  Which means most garden tools can cause it.  Just holding the steering wheel for a while can cause it.  But it doesn't happen immediately.  Usually doing that stuff is OK at the time.  I pay for it in the evening making dinner.  I  prepare a lot of fresh food, which involves a lot of knifework.  All of a sudden, my fingers on the holding hand clench and I can't hold the knife.  Typing for an hour or more also causes problems later the next day.  I don't know what causes the delay, but it is predictable.

I use a lot of Aspercreme and Lidocaine ointments these days!

4.  I've been sleeping badly.  Not that I'm not in bed.  I am sometimes in bed 10-12 hours but getting maybe 6 hours sleep.  Partly, a heated waterbed is addictive and comfy, but I've had heated waterbeds since I was 25 and kept normal sleeping hours most of that time.  I used to be a morning person, but now the idea of getting up at 9 am feels weird.  Sometimes after being up 10 hours, I just want to go to bed again at 9 pm but that means I would be getting up at 6 am and I don't know what to do at 6 am.  I don't know what has changed.  

5.  So I haven't been as active lately as in the past.  And therefore have less to post about here.  But I think I need to take advantage of my medical insurance.  I got a card from them encouraging me to visit a doctor for a "basic exam".  I think I will take them up on that big time.  

My primary Dr (geriatric internist) didn't seem to understand what I was asking for as a "physical" 2 years ago (may have to change Dr).  But I'm thinking of many things to be done.

Full scale physical exam and many tests.  I made a long list based on several websites (I may post it separately in another post).  It may take months to get it all done.  But I've put some things off too long and my New Year Resolution is to get them all done this year.  If there are problems, better to discover them now than later (and it is really already "later").  

Maybe some things that trouble me now can be fixed.  But more importantly, maybe some things that would trouble me more in the future can be fixed or avoided.  

Eating small amounts of meat and lots of fruits&veggies doesn't prevent all problems.  It helps, but isn't a cure-all.  😟

Odd Weather

I might be a very interesting few days!

We have 4" of snow on the ground, it is above freezing, there is a forecast of a inch of heavy rain, and then tomorrow, the temperature is going to plummet from 45F to 10F with windchills near zeroF.

No one seems quite sure what will result from that.  The snow might melt adding to water on the ground which will there freeze, or maybe the ground will stay warm enough to not-quite freeze. 

I did some mild shopping today ahead of this uncertainity.  Nothing serious, just some fruits and veggies I might miss if the roads turned icy.

But I was also reminded of why I seldom shop on weekend days and especially ahead of storms.  People go nuts.  And they get stupid.  All *I* wanted was the usual fruits and veggies ( have month's worth of meat in the freezer).

I'm looking at the carts ahead of me.  Lady, do you need TWO 12 packs of toilet prepare to get you through the next 2 days?  Hey single guy, 6 frozen pizzas?  Etc. 

All I was trying to do was my regular fresh food shopping.  Lettuce, celery, beets, beans, apples, tomatoes, etc...

And I had to stop to shop at the local pet place.  Chewy was out of several regular items (Whole Earth Farm, so I wanted to replace them locally .  I found them at Petco.  But Petco has oddly expensive aquaium fish, and none on the one I wanted, so I went to Petsmart across the street from them.

I walked into Petsmart and was subjected to an utter cacophony of screaming babies, barking dogs and upset parrots screaming words.  It was also doggie adoption day (and hurray for any adopted doggies) but it was a madhouse!  And they didn't have the fish I wanted either.

It's a serpa tetra with a high top black fin.  I found a few a month ago for $1.39 each and suddenly they are $4.39.  The price doesn't really matter to me, but I don't like big price changes like that.  I'll wait.

And there was something else that annoyed me.  If it was just the pet store asking for donations I might help.  But EVERY SINGLE PLACE I GO is soliciting donations for some cause or another on the card checkout these days.  "Do you want to support X"?  You can't escape it. 

But what concerns me is that they never say exactly how you are supporting them?  They never mention a particular organization. 

Do I want to support Vets or homeless people or pet shelters?  Sure.  But not without knowing who they are.  That's why I donate at home to several specific organizations I know to have small administrative costs and most of my money actually goes to the specific causes.

But I am safe at home with the cats' accustomed foods, my fruits and veggies, etc. 

I found what I needed and got out as fast as possible.  I seldom shop on weekend days for that reason.  But sometimes I forget the day.  Retirement will do that to you.

Other Complaints

Sort of continued from yesterday...

Aside from the heat pump problems, I've had damaged/loose tiles around the bathtub for almost a year.  At first, I couldn't get any highly-rated company on Angie's List to come out.  The job was too small.  Then it gradually got too big.  Them I couldn't get a bathroom remodeler to come out because the job was too small. 

I have a plastic trash bag duct-taped over the loose tiles.  Well, it FINALLY got big enough of a problem for one remodeler to come look Wed.  Quite frankly, I hadn't looked under the plastic covering lately, and it was worse than I thought. 

I expected bad news and I got it!  Now let me mention that this "starter house"  (where I have lived for 30 years) was not the best-built of houses.  The builder took shortcuts all over the place.  Apparently, one of those shortcuts was around the bathtub.  The seal around the tub faucet was leaky, the tile was poorly applied, the grout cracked, and the wall behind the tiles was truly waterproof. 

The remodeler popped one seemingly sound tile right off and pushed an awl right through the wall behind it.  Everything seem rotted...  So he came by yesterday with a basic proposal, subject to change after they remove the tiles and see behind the wall. 

They propose to remove all the tiles, replace the backer board wall, repair some damaged drywall, replace the tub faucet and showerhead (upper tile loosening suggests it is leaking inside the wall), and re-tile higher than it currently is  (which is below the showerhead).  And replace the bathtub itself.

I asked about why to replace the bathtub, and he said that, at 30 years old my cheap one won't last much longer and it would require pulling off the new tiles and some drywall to replace it then at twice the price.

I did some internet research and I know the routine for bathroom remodelers.  They get the initial job, then find all sorts of further problems (replace studs, scrape and spray mold, replace the floor, discover insect damage, etc).   I'm resigned to that.  There are some repairs you just HAVE to have done even when you know you are being taken advantage of.

At least I have some advantages myself.  I know wood, so they won't be able to lie about the condition of the studs.  I know the floor is solid; I can see it from the basement and there is no waterstain.  But also, I chose this company because their Angie's List rating is A+ for price and quality of work.  So they not only have a good rating, they care about their rating.  And if *I'm* not happy, they won't be happy!

At $5700 for the contracted work, they BETTER make me happy.  But it will be 3 weeks before they get to me on their schedule.  And they estimate 10 days of work (not every day, some parts have to sit a couple days to set). 

And then there is my right knee.  It has been a month since I first twisted it.  At first, it was pinful just getting it and out of bed.  And getting up and down stairs was an adventure in caution.  At least now I can walk almost normally.  Stairs are still annoying, but not actually painful.  Putting on my right sock and shoe are still awkward (but just an "err" and not a "GRRRR".  But it all means that I have not been able to do any gardening work in this extended mild temperature we have had all April and early May.  It will heal...

But then there is the weather.   After 3 weeks of drought late March and early April, we have had 10 days of daily off-and-on drizzle.  5" of drizzle and not any heavy rain but 1 hour.  So, good knee or bad, I wasn't going to get to do much work in the flower or vegetable gardens.  The vegetable garden is newly redone, so it doesn't need much work and the early crops were in and the warm weather crops will wait. 

But the flowerbeds are all gone to heck.  Weed grasses and regular weeds are nearly taking over.  This was going to be a Spring of renovation.  Too many of my perennial flowers have slowly died back (perennials don't live forever) and I was planning to dig up everything worth saving and rototill large areas to start over with some perennials that DO seem to live forever and add lots of annuals this year while I decide what to do in the future. 

I went big into perennials 15 years ago, but they are disappointing.  Most only flower a week or two.  Some flower longer, but are shorter-lived (3-5 years).  Some are very special in their short blooms (oriental lilies, tulips, daffodils, etc), and some have great foliage (Hostas, Brunella).  But I like the ones that flower all season or at least all Fall (Coneflowers, Goldenrod, Astilbe, Clatis, Asters).

I'm going back to annuals ( Zinnias, Salvia, Marigolds, Coleus, Impatiens).  More work each Spring to plant under lights inside and transplant, but I have time for that.  And growing seeds from scratch gives my better varieties than the local Walmart sells.

But if my knee doesn't heal soon, I won't be able to get down and scrape the weeds off the soil (and dig out the deep-rooted ones) and plant all those seedlings. 

Mom used to tell me that "getting old isn't for sissies".  I understood that theoretically a decade ago; now I know personally.  I'll turn 66 in 2 weeks.  LOL!

I've stayed young long.  You know how, in high school, there were those who matured fast?  Well, they aged fast too.  I always took some comfort in that.  Well, age is starting to catch up with me...  Small matters to be sure.  But I bet I need a knee transplant in 10 years.  My knees have always been a bit loose.

Most people fidget in some way.  They doodle, they hum, they tap their fingers.  I shake my ankles.  Sound weird?  Put your right ankle up on your left knee.  Now shake your ankle up and down constantly.  That's what I do at the computer.  I'll bet I loosened that knee badly over the decades...

"tempis fugit, momento mori".

 

Heat Pump Problems

I don't like to be complaining often, and I recognize that my worst complaints are minor compared to many other people's.  But they are what *I* am suffering, if you understand what I mean.  Sort of the "I was sad I had no shoes, til I met a man who had no feet".  Well, I still have no shoes, so I'm not happy.

My heat pump is non-functional.  Brief history is that the heating function barely worked in early Feb and I had to pay $120 for a diagnostic visit, then $745 for a replacement of the outdoors unit "thermal exchange valve" and a coolant recharge.  It worked, but not like it used to.  And there was often a weird high-pressure whistling sound both inside and outside after that.

Then when the weather warmed into the low 80s in mid-April, I turned on the cooling function.  It struggled.  How could it struggle when it's only 80 outside?   So I had to pay $120 for another diagnostic visit.  Naturally, it was only 65 outside that day and the system worked perfectly...

Monday the system simply stopped completely.  No heating, no cooling, not even the fan operated.  Even the thermostat display was dark.  I checked the main circuit breaker panel, the inside unit ciruit breaker, the outside circuit breaker, nothing. 

Wed, another repairman came out.  THIS guy knew what he was doing!  First, he ACTUALLY listened to my description of the recent history of diagnoses and repair, and he listened to my observations of noises and heating/cooling failures.

The 1st thing he did was get into the inside unit where there was yer ANOTHER circuit breaker, and replaced it.  It promptly blew out when he turned the system back on.  So he shut everything off again and checked the coolant because "that high pressure whistle you described is bad news".  Sure enough, he found the coolant recharge done in Feb was 4x too high.  There was some by-passing valve that protects against that but it meant the system wasn't doing much.  He said the previous week's diagnostician didn't measure for long enough to discover that.  And terms like "those clowns" were used...

He suspects the INTERNAL "thermal exchange valve" was damaged by the coolant overpressure and said he needed to speak to the repairs manager because they had screwed up my system and owed me some free work (that he couldn't authorize on his own).  The nice news was that he said I had observed the problems accurately, had been right that the noise was due to high pressure, and that if the previous guys had paid attention to what I was telling them, they might have fixed the problem right to begin with!

And, in fact, I had described the pattern of cooling failure to the last week's diagnostician in detail.  Not 10 minutes later he told me that I should observe the pattern of failure.  Exactly what I had just previously done.  I think that, like doctors, repairmen shut off their hearing when clients speak.  Seriously, how often have you explained symptoms in detail to a doctor only to have him/her ask you about symptoms you just mentioned?  Often, right?

I spoke to the repairs manage this afternoon.  My system is a year out of warranty, but he has gotten authorization to replace the inside thermal exchange valve at no charge and the labor charge will be at 50%.  Plus any other problems found during full repair will be cost-adjusted. 

I mentioned that seemed generally fair, since it was likely the Feb over pressuring caused some of the problems, but I didn't push it further.  I'm not a skilled negotiator (I'm always afraid people will just say "NO" and THEN get mad and unhelpful). 

They expect the part to arrive Monday and will be out to replace it ASAP.  I've been very fortunate that the temperatures have been very stable between highs of 65 and lows of 50.  I can deal with that.  I'm a very warm-bodied person, I have a heated waterbed, and I'm a lot more comfortable at 65 than 75.  And the house stays warmer than the outside.  All that electronic stuff that stays permanently 1/2 on creates heat, as does the refrigerator, water heater, cooking, etc.  And the house got a detailed attic-to-basement spray insulation and blown-in insulation job 18 months ago. 

When it is 50 outside, the house stays at 65.  But that also means that when the outside temperature is 80, the inside will reach 90 even with windows open and I can't sleep in THAT!  And it will get into the 80s Tuesday!  So the repair will be a close call...

It could be much worse.  Heat pumps usually die on the coldest or hottest days.  My previous 2 heat pumps died in mid August and the in-house temperature reached 100!

I have more complaints, but this post is long enough (and my appreciation to all who have read to this point)!  So the rest tomorrow...

Sunday Snow Aftermath

I have lived in various parts of Maryland since 1963.  In the NE part til 1968, at Univ of MD  til 1973, and around Washington DC since then.

The worst single snowstorm I experienced in Maryland was in 1966 where is snowed for 4 days.  The accumulation was only 20", but the winds whipped up snowdrifts covering the ground floor windows.  And Mom was about to have a baby!  The neighborhood roads were not plowed.  Dad and I shoveled 20" of snow a car width wide for 150' to the main road behind the house.

And off Dad and Mom went by car seeking the local hospital (which had a maternity wing of course).  At 15 (I keep thinking 16 because it was 1966, but I wasn't really 16 until May), I was left behind to take care of my 2 younger siblings.  For 2 days.  It was quite an adventure...  It's a good thing I could cook.  And apparently, I would have made a good parent (if I do say so myself); peace and calm abounded!

7 Mothers delivered babies in Harford County that day.  The other 6 Mothers were brought to the county hospital by helicoptor.  Dad drove...  Determination and self-reliance (to a point) is a family habit.  And school was closed for a WEEK!

So that was a really serious snowstorm.  And there have been some bad storms since then, but mostly several close-together storms with recovery time between.

But this one was BAD.  I think it is now considered 2nd or 3rd worst in the Washington DC area (that 1966 one mentioned above slid north of DC so they don't count it here).

So here are some more pictures of THIS one...

The wind collected a lot of snow near the house on the deck.  It was 3' deep in the drift Saturday afternoon.

 And it got worse as the day went along.

The sunflower seed birdfeeder was standing tall.  I had cardinals, sparrows, juncos, titmice,  nuthatches, chicadees, purple finches, and goldfinches there at various times.  I could have done without the sparrows (they get i seeds and kick backwards, shoveling seeds out of the tray.  It is their successful "scratching the ground" habit, so I can't exactly blame them.  But they sure are unwelcome at a seed tray.

But then the outside unit of the heat pump failed overnight.  Probably because the sides got covered by snow preventing air from getting in.  I assume it shut itself down because of the lack of air flow.  I'm on "Heat2" right now.   That's less efficient than the usual heat pump process, but I don't know exactly what it is doing.  All I can tell (from the manual) is that it is not "emergency" heating (which would be like turning on an electric oven with the door open).  It will probably be more expensive, but not like I have much choice.  The repair company is busy with true failures and at least mine is keeping the house at normal temperatures (operating constantly).  There ARE priorities of repairs.

So the first thing I did Saturday morning was to dress up warm* and shovel the snow from around the sides of the heat pump.  That didn't get it started again.  When I looked inside, it was all full of snow.  I know it is SUPPOSED to "de-ice" itself when that happens.  So I tried some simple repairs.  I loosened the grid on the top to scoop out the accumulated snow inside.  NO GO!   I couldn't remove the grid because there is a heavy duty electrical cable stuck to it.

But I WAS able to lift up the opposite side and scoop most of the inside snow out.  That didn't get it going either.  So I poured bucket after bucket of VERY HOT water into it to melt the remaining snow. and ice around the working parts.  Well, those parts are exposed to rain all the time (water drains out the bottom), what harm can water do?  But that didn't get it started either.   I removed and replaced the outside unit circuit breaker.  No success there either.  I suppose some part has failed at the worst possible time (like there is ever a BEST possible time?) and I will have to call for service.

But I am still getting heat from the inside part of the equipment, so it is not an emergency.  I keep hoping to hear the outside unit suddenly come on though...

The snowdrift on the deck is probably about its highest. 

And the snow on the roof is slowly sliding off.  It should start to fall on the deck soon.  I have a specialty tool for pulling snow off the roof, but I have to get out on the deck to use it and that snow drift is too deep for me to even push through wearing my trout-fishing hip-high waders.

So I am just going to wait things out.  Which could get awkward.  The Weather Channel says it will get down to 8F tonight!  There isn't going to be any melting for a few days at least...

Did get to use the snowblower though.  More on that next post!

* Warm meant thermal underwear under heavy jeans, extra thick socks in the 16" rubber boots, thick flannel shirt, ski mask, insulated rubber gloves, AND a hat with ear flaps!  And of course a long insulated jacket you could explore the Arctic in...  I don't play around with cold windy weather.

Complaining

Have you ever felt you were cheated at a store?  And didn’t know what to do about it?  I did today, and I did something about it.

I shop at a particular grocery store.  I normally don’t question the weights of the fresh fruits and veggies.  I mean, how can I tell the difference between 2 pounds and 2.5 pounds of apples? 

But I CAN tell that a small handful of snow peas ISN’T .85 pound!  But that is what the register scale said.  When I challenged that as “ridiculous”, the cashier re-weighed it as .5 pounds.  THAT was still ridiculous, but several re-weighings got the same weight.  So I paid and went home.

I have a good quality Salter digital kitchen scale.  I checked the accuracy  by carefully measuring a pint of water (minus the container weight) and it showed PRECISELY 16 ounces (to the nearest 1/8 ounce).  So my digital scale was VERY accurate.

The .5 pound (8 ounces) of snow peas (according to the store receipt) actually weighed only 1 7/8 ounces according to my verified kitchen scale.  That’s a bit of a difference.

So I weighed most of the other fresh produce.  Same over-weight charge pattern!  I was annoyed.  But it would be my home scale against the store’s certified scales.  Of course they wouldn’t admit any error, and if I brought stuff back to the store for a reweigh, how could I prove I hadn’t removed some of the produce?

Ah, but there was the scale in the store. 

I called them.  I told them I suspected they had an inaccurate #4 register scale.  It took a while to get to the store manager...  First was the customer service desk.  They insisted the scales are accurate because they are checked every 2 weeks.  Then I got to the cashier, who remembered me because of the snow pea reweigh. 

When she couldn’t explain a way where the scale would be examined AND I would be advised about the result, I got to the store manager.  HE took it seriously.  I explained why I was sure my scale was accurate.  He agreed to check the scale immediately and call me back in 10 minutes.

I assume he simply grabbed a large can and compared the weights on different register scales.  I doubt he had a certified test weight on hand.  I expected a callback saying that the scales are tested regularly and were accurate.

I was wrong (which means I was right).  He reported that the #4 register  scale had some produce debris in it that caused inaccurate readings.  HE AGREED I WAS RIGHT!  So I asked about getting an adjustment to my bill on the percentage of inaccuracy.

He immediately assured me that I should come back soon with the receipt and he would refund 100% of the cost of all my weighed produce.  Wow, that was almost everything I bought.

I also asked “what about all the other customers who went through that register and were overcharged?”  He said they had no way to identify those customers.

They do.  I studied my receipt, and the register number is identified there.  There is a data string in the receipt, and I’m good at figuring those things out.  Date/time/store#/register/etc/etc.

AFTER I get my refund, I will point that out to him, and “suggest” he have the IT department arrange for similar refunds to those customers (via shopper club numbers). But if they don’t I’ll never know.

I did my part by checking something suspicious and questioning the store. 

You know what ELSE I did?  I decided to make a scale-tester for future use.  I took my bowls of accumulated coins (who uses coins anymore?) and scooped out about a pound of pennies.  I found the smallest lidded container that would hold them and even cut off enough duct tape to seal it.  Then I weighed the container, tape and pennies on my verified accurate digital scale, taking out pennies until the container and all weighed PRECISELY 16 ounces.

I’ll bring that to the store from now on, first to show to the manager, and for verifying the register scales in the future.

It pays to be willing to check on things you doubt.