Month: January 2023

Pam has already updated some friends and family about the status of my rotator cuff surgery, but I thought I would add a few notes. We did a few other things during the week as well.

First, a big shout-out to Becky who drove up to the Mayo Clinic, with Pam, through a snowstorm to pick me up. Becky’s car is quite a bit more comfortable than our old RAV-4 and gave a comfortable ride home. I appreciated the gesture!

My right arm is currently in a sling and will be for many weeks and months. I did get through the night with a few hours of sleep using only Ibuprofen and Tylenol for pain control. (I am trying to avoid using the oxycodone prescription I received.) I slept in the recliner in the Media Room. Pam and Becky added an extension to the recliner’s handle making it possible for me to recline using my left hand. That was thoughtful and is working well.

Getting used to doing tasks left-handed, or with only one hand, will continue to be a challenge. For example, my water bottles have screw on caps and I have had to come up with novel ways to hold them in order to unscrew the tops.

The therapist gave me only one exercise to do three times daily for the next six weeks, then physical therapy will begin. For the short term, I am to avoid putting any stress on the arm.

The procedure itself went pretty well. In addition to repairing two tears in the rotator cuff, the surgeon repaired a number of tendons. At least 5 of these were on the front side of the joint. As a result of this additional work, I am looking at a 6 – 8 month long period for a full recovery. That will certainly inhibit my summer activities!

I will have more on the entire event going forward, but let us turn to other events of the week.

Pam had previously mentioned a plan to replace our existing kitchen cabinet hardware – knobs – with handle pulls I had received from my brother Jon. This project was completed and it changed the appearance of the kitchen. For us, the new handles are easier to use than the old knobs and feel much more solid in use.

In the photo below, look at the new hardware at the top-left cabinets. The old pulls can be seen behind me on the lower cabinet doors.

We had light snow a couple of days which required shoveling and are expecting to get 4 – 6 inches later today. Pam will have to take over snow removal and plans to do the minimum required for us to get around to the garage, mail box, and dumpster pick up spot. I will miss this, as snow removal gave me the chance to play with my “big boy” toys and provided outside activity.

Work progressed in the guest bedroom. Pam continued to put spackle where needed to repair wall damage and got some detail work painted. I replaced a small crumbling section of sheetrock with some wood. It looks like the old window had leaked on one corner and caused the damage. With a light coat of spackle and paint the repair will not be obvious.

I managed to convert a few more LPs to digital files. Those of us “of a certain age” will remember Carole King (Wrap Around Joy,) Cat Stevens (Greatest Hits) and Air Supply (Greatest Hits.) While the $25.00 cleaning kit I ordered does a good job, it does not remove crud deep in the record grooves. I have ordered a slightly larger kit that consists of a tub with brushes mounted on both sides which is designed to do a more thorough cleaning job. I will have to see how that goes.

With my arm in a sling and restrictions on what I can do I suspect the next several weeks will be slow in the project work arena. I will try to put up a post or two, but there may not be a lot to report. As Rachel Maddow says, “Watch this space.”

Photo Archive

Just a few miscellaneous photos.

That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!

Pam’s Penny

Murphy’s Law at work. Somehow I knew the week of Jer’s scheduled surgery there would be snow, blowing snow, white-out conditions, the works. Bingo. (Becky and I do NOT want to repeat another one of those journeys.)

Also Murphy’s Law. This is the third day in a row of snow. Himself is incapacitated and I’m on snow shovel duty. Predictable.

Blondie, in a new sweater that she absolutely hates, looks like I feel. This again?

Happy Trails.

New projects were begun this week, including Pam’s painting of the guest bedroom and my attempts to convert LP records into digital files. There are two new video clips as well, so keep on reading!

Pam began work in the guest bedroom by removing old shelving, then outlet and switch covers. The next step was to begin spackling the holes left from the shelf bracket screws, followed by starting to paint around the edges of the moldings and walls. This project will take some time to complete – Pam works on the room every other day or so. The overcast conditions of mid-winter don’t help, as lighting in that room is not good for detailed work.

As noted last week, I had ordered 3 packs of negative sleeves so I could put a bunch of 35mm color negatives into 3-ring binders. The sleeves arrived and I was able to complete this task. No more envelopes with negatives in them lying around in the bottom of a box!

The other project I began was the conversion of LP records into digital files. Boy, what a learning experience.

Once you make a lot of mistakes and get the hang of the software, the process will yield pretty good results. Much depends on the condition of the records. While cleaning will help, you will get some “pops” and static in the converted file. I do not have the funds to buy a professional cleaning system, roughly $3,000.00, so I use a more modest cleaning kit of about $35.00.

I have a second turntable that I brought with us from Colorado. That unit is hooked up to the iMic device and used for the conversion. This also had a learning curve, as I found a 60 mhz “hum” in some of my early attempts. I had not grounded the turntable. In a normal set-up the turntable is grounded to a post on the back of the receiver or amplifier. In this case I added a clip to the table’s ground wire and attached it to a metal outlet strip located under my computer desk. This removed the hum, but I had to re-record a few songs. This was typical of the learning curve required.

Here are a couple photos of my conversion set-up:

Note that not all songs on all albums have been converted as I am picking and choosing the tracks I want. A few notable exceptions are the Anne Murray: Greatest Hits and Crosby, Stills and Nash: So Far albums. This is a project I will work on the rest of the winter.

Speaking of the rest of the winter, I am going in for my rotator cuff surgery this Thursday. Depending on how I feel after the operation, I may not have a weekly blog post for a while, depending on how much mobility I have in my right arm.

I was busy with my video camera this week. Pam’s friend Nick requested kitten videos, so here is one of Pam trying to get the kittens (and Elmo) to play with a cat toy around a Chewy box. Run time: 2:22. (Yes, I know I misspelled “Chewy” in the title. Too late now.)

A couple weeks ago we instituted a new acorn feeder for the squirrels. Pam had kept an old silverware rack from a previous dishwasher. I lined this rack with wire mesh to keep acorns from falling out the sides and bottom. The rack has proven to be a hit with local squirrels. Next year we will have to save more nuts when we rake the yard! Run time: 1:51. (“Revenue” in soundtrack should have been “retinue.”)

I’ll finish my part of this post with a photo I took this morning at a vintage snowmobile show held in Cresco, about 25 miles from Elma. These were only some of the sleds present. Brought back a lot of memories from my high school days when our family owned a Skiroule SX 300 that I rode a lot.

Until next time, thanks for looking in!

Pam’s Penny

Oldest child Felicity recognizes a significant mid-life birthday next weekend by scheduling a visit to the Pacific NW. She will be housesitting in Portland, OR for one of her Northwest Harmony chorus friends.

Second child Toby will be driving east (between snowstorms), after his vacation in Vegas, this coming week. He has begun the process of relocating from the Midwest (Indiana) to the West (Vegas).

The upcoming week will see us driving back-and-forth to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. A somewhat less exciting route than either of the other two.

Happy Trails, all.

A quiet week was punctuated with only a few items of note. Both occured on Friday. The first was an outing to Decorah and the second was a power outage. Those details (and more) are outlined below.

A trip to Decorah always includes a trip to Walmart, generally to pick up a prescription and do some general shopping. We get items not available in our “normal” grocery stores such as larger bottles of agave sweetener, McVitties digestive biscuits, office/paper supplies, and other miscellaneous items. I won’t say I enjoy Wally World, but we do get resupplied with a number of items which are nice to have around.

This trip included a side stop at the Howard County Regional Health Center, located along the Decorah route, in Cresco. The Mayo Clinic had sent me a blood draw kit with instructions to have a draw done locally, hence the stop at the Center. This task did not take very long, and the tech who did the draw indicated they get these kits from Mayo and other facilities fairly often.

Along the lines of preparing for my rotator cuff surgery, we began making other changes. I took a few extensions out of the bird feeder pole, lowering the feeder tube assembly to the point where it can be filled without the use of a ladder. The birds don’t seem to mind.

Other preparations include the acquisition of sweat pants for me as I will have trouble using my suspenders while in an arm sling. I’ve started to line up button-front shirts that I can drape over my shoulder. And, to keep me occupied, I have begun preparing a few projects that I think I can handle.

One of these is photo related. While going through boxes in the storage room Pam found several envelopes of 35mm color negatives (family photos) that were never filed. New sleeves are on order and a couple 3-ring binders purchased to complete this project.

Luckily, most of the envelopes are dated so I can put them in chronological order when arranged in the new binders. I may even scan some of them, as they date from the late ’90s into the early 2000s.

A second project is audio related. I have several old cassettes and quite a few LP records that I would like to convert into digital files that can be played on my computer. The RAV-4’s after market stereo system can accept a flash drive with songs on it. We have been using this method to provide us with driving tunes since we bought the car. I hope to expand the flash drive’s selections with some of my older tunes.

The biggest part of this project involved getting an external input device since my Mac has no stereo input capabilities. An old Griffin iMic took care of this as it adds a stereo input through a USB port. (Also works on Windows PCs.) Software is included but will have a learning curve. It may be a few days until I get the hang of converting cassettes and LPs to digital files.

I am waiting on an extension cord needed to go between the stereo system receiver and this device. It should arrive this week. I’ve ordered record cleaning kit to treat the LPs before trying to convert them. Should be a fun project!

A localized power outage kept us in the dark for about 90 minutes, not bad. Apparently there was a problem with a transformer about half a block to the west of us that serviced a few houses. Our supplier is Alliant Energy, and according to their web site, only 8 outages had been reported, one of them ours. I suspect there were more than 8 affected homes as the outage happened during the afternoon when many people are not home. The weather was mild and we suffered no ill effects; the furnace did start running as soon as power was restored.

Several mornings featured frozen fog on trees in our neighborhood. This effect is called rime ice. Here are a few photos taken of the after effects.

While I was taking outside photos, I took this shot of Heart House, mostly for documentary reasons. If you click on the photo to enlarge it, then look at the second pole on the right-hand side you will see the transformer that was the source of our power outage.

In most respects it was a quiet week. We did get a contractor to come out and look over the “tower project” which involves removing the old cedar shingles and wood trim, then installing architectural shingles. This work requires a lift or a bucket truck. Additional work, such as repair or replacement of damaged siding and painting, may also be bid out as a separate project. We shall have to see if the contractor comes through with reasonable quote(s).

The contractor indicated he already had 5 other jobs lined up, including some big ones. Even if we get acceptable quotes it may be months until the work could be completed. We are hoping to get the tower done this year, so maybe additional inquiries will be needed to find another roofer/company.

Photo Archive

Family photos from ’90 and ’91

That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!

Pam’s Penny

Figures – Heart House experienced a power outage the very week I wrote a check for the highest one-month electric bill I have paid (for any property) in my entire life. The previous month, with brutal cold/windy weather and holiday lighting, was painfully expensive. In addition to our actual usage, the “Regional Transportation Fee” is $60 a month and increases every six months. Another penalty for living in the rural area of NE Iowa. (I didn’t hear our newly-re-elected governor planning any energy relief to those of us in the hinterlands – how about some Federal grants or state matching funds, Kim?)

Jerry’s brother recently gave Himself a pile of metal door pull hardware [in an older style]. I’m considering having Himself’s next project to be installation of these metal pulls on the kitchen cupboards. It will be “like putting lipstick on a pig” because the white-laminate-over-composite doors are pretty cheap and the pulls are constantly loose and wobbly. I’m hoping the “overall look” with the metal will resemble “old hardware store?”

A Solstice (kitten) update – after two weeks with us and no welcome from the current inhabitant of the catio, Solstice kitten departed into the neighborhood. Hopefully she went back to her previous family.

Happy Trails, Solstice.

The past week was pretty routine for this time of year, with only a few projects occupying our time. Pam took on a detail painting project and I did updates and housekeeping on the web site. The details are below.

Pam decided to improve the looks of the kitchen by adding some artwork to the splash panel behind the sink. The row of hearts adds detail and interest to this area. Additionally, the semi-gloss-painted hearts serve to keep splashing food particles from staining the white paint.

Another of Pam’s projects included maintenance on JoJo’s feet. We had rain, snow, and ice over the past week and JoJo’s feet are like mops with all the hair growing around her toes. Pam unpacked the dog grooming kit [she received as a birthday gift] and began trimming. As a result, JoJo’s feet are much tidier and she tracks in far less material from her outside excursions. Pam reports the cordless clippers in the kit performed well and will be used again when the other dogs, particularly Bru, need to be groomed.

Speaking of Bru, she has a habit of occasionally licking the air around her. This looks very reptilian in nature. I was able to video her a couple days ago when she was “at it” again.

The appliance repair guy showed up on Thursday and installed a new “igniter” in the oven. (We have not yet received a bill for the work.) The job took about 40 minutes and looked to be fairly simple, but having the correct parts and tools was the key element. It’s great to have the oven back in working order.

Per usual, I was occupied by some outside work; I shoveled light snow from the sidewalks. The new “evaporative pad” for the furnace humidifier was received and installed. However, most of my time was spent updating the web site.

Most of my computer updates are “under the hood” and aren’t that visible. However, should you be interested, I added a few photos to the Heart House and Cats galleries. The video of Bru licking the air was added to a revised Dog Videos page. Squirrel videos were collected and a new Squirrel Videos page was created. Even the Birds Video page was modified with the addition of the Birds at Feeder video. A few typos were corrected and other maintenance performed.

The next time you view this blog, start at the top image and – slowly – scroll down. The block that has “AppleAttic Blog” will turn opaque and allow you to view the image underneath, just about the time the letters hit the top of your screen. I did not have anything to do with this as it is a feature built into the software but I do think it is cool. The image, by the way, is one of mine as the background image can be changed from the default. I will be using other background in the future.

And that is about it for this week. Dog grooming, painting, snow shoveling, and web site maintenance were the top activities that took up our time and energy. I suspect next week will be equally quiet.

Photo Archive

Columbine is the state flower of Colorado and I have taken many photos of them over the years.

That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!

Pam’s Penny

I feel accomplished — the holiday decor has been sorted, reorganized and stowed away. One of these days I will move furniture and start spackling the walls of the quilt room/guest bedroom in prep for painting. One of these days…

Happy Trails.