Tag: PD (Page 1 of 49)

Another New Week In Which To Excel!

Over the weekend I worked on getting our indoor “greenhouse” up and running. We are closing off a closet section of our main garage with a door, window, and power access to accommodate a cheap greenhouse, for which we are only using the shelving. We have it in front of the window, with 8 heating mats to accommodate tons of plants. I transplanted 5 tomato plants that we started indoors and they appear to be doing well. I bought a wall heater that is completely automatic and is wife enabled from Amazon so I can be anywhere in the world where my phone is on wifi and adjust the heater or see what temperature is bing maintained. Sunday morning I planted forty tomato seeds and have about the same number of pepper seeds to go. I moved our Google interface to the area so I have toons there also. When I get it cleaned up a bit later in the week I’ll post a video of it.

Recall it is my goal to have tomatoes in the ground by mid-February, granted probably under cloches, but still in the ground.

Sometimes There Is A God

Have two points to discuss today:

  1. Bright and early yesterday morning I used Perplexity to put together a two-page treatise on Heads Up Display windshields in preparation for my visit to the shop that installed the incorrect windshield in my wife’s BMW. I could have saved my time. When I arrived at the shop and explained the situation, the owner went out and confirmed the installed windshield was NOT Heads Up compatible and assumed all responsibility for replacement, stating it was his error, that he quoted a price to fix the windshield and that price was the price. He would cover the cost of the correct windshield and labor to install it. We have an appointment to have the proper windshield installed next Tuesday.
  2. My visit to the dermatologist is a different story. I went in with a list of 6 places I wanted him to look at which he did. Along the way, he used what seemed to be a gallon of nitrogen squirting her and there and everywhere. Then the fun really began. With a marker, he outlined seven, yes seven areas from which another dude took samples to send to the lab for analysis, ie, is cancer present? The female attendant informed me in private that five is the usual maximum usually taken and that I was special in getting seven. Take that on board, seven. Just wait for the lab results to come back and we have seven areas that the dermatologists digs into to remove cancer.
  3. As a sidelight, I’m taking the wife’s BMW in at 1000 this morning to have a chip installed. I’ll let you know what, if anything it does for performance. Her car has the software programming to let us know how it affects performance.

Itshay: Or Yet Another It Only Happens To Me

So I reported that we had new windshields put in our truck and BMW. All is good. Ha. Not. My wife drove her BMW yesterday and noted that the HUD (Heads Up Display) is blurry. A search on Perplexity about this defrugality yielded the fact that BMWs with HUD take a special HUD windshield replacement which it appears the installer did not install. So now I have to go through the process of confronting the installer and try to cajole him to remedy the situation.

Yesterday, I underwent the scheduled Carotid Artery Doppler Ultrasound, a noninvasive diagnostic test that uses sound waves to evaluate blood flow in the carotid arteries, which supply blood to the brain. It helps detect blockages, narrowing, or abnormalities caused by conditions like atherosclerosis. Several of my doctors are interested in this so the results should be enlightening and get them off my back. I have a teleconference on 1/28/2025 to discuss the results.

On a more pleasant note, I have tomato seeds that need to be transplanted. Looking forward to that job tomorrow morning. I’m still shooting to have plants in the ground here in North Texas by mid-February under cloches.

More Random Meanderings

Yesterday I picked up our truck from the mechanic who went through it for us and added some modifications. It now has a cold air intake but with the temperature in the 20s doesn’t really need it. It also has a dual exhaust that is lowder than I wanted but it is what it is. I can’t tell if the performance chip we had installed is working as advertised – time will tell. I have lots to do to figure out all there is to find out about the 9″ screen replacement. It is running Android 13 and I married it to our local network but that’s about as far as I’ve advanced. I don’t know if it will display the TCM functions, oil checks, etc.

I have nothing new to report regarding dialysis. My blood pressure has been running high, with diastolic readings in the 150 to 178 range. My dialysis nurse suggested I start mixing in 2.5 bags on a more or less regular basis, which I did. This pulled about three more pounds out of me, fluids, I’m certain, but it did not improve my BP. I also used some heparin in each bag, as my wife saw some residue in the toilet where we dump the drain. Other than that everything is progressing well and we are on schedule this week.

Keepin’ On Keepin’ On

I woke up Sunday morning to 20F weather but sunny. I lit a 68K btu propane heater I recently purchased to heat our garage so I could work in some degree of comfort. Within an hour, with the heater turned down as low as it would go, the temperature in the garage was 95F, and needless to say, I was able to start cleaning and straightening it up. I also, put the license plates on my wife’s BMW.

Coming up this week I have Monday and Friday to myself. On Tuesday I have our truck and BMW scheduled for new windshields. Wednesday I have a neck sonogram to see how my caratery arteries are doing. Thursday I have a go-around with my dermatologist with several target sites on my facial area in question.

This Cound Only Happen To Me!

I took our “new” Ram 1500 truck to a windshield repair place for an estimate on fixing the many (5 or more) fairly severe rock dings in the windshield. The estimate was close to $200 since there are so many, and a little over $300 for a new windshield, which is what they recommended, and I’m going with it. We took our golden retriever Dickens to Canine Fitness Camp a short distance away Wednesday for a romp with other dogs when I noticed an 8-inch and growing crack in the windshield on the right side. Earlier in the month while traveling on a Fort Worth Zoomer we were behind a truck that threw up a rock into the windshield. At the time nothing resulted a couple of weeks later it did. Talked to “our” windshield guy for $411.xx We are replacing the windshield with our “new” 2023 BMW 330xi. Both of these replacements will take place next Tuesday.

I am having extreme difficulty with an Amazon provided getting a handle on our order for a set of side rails for the truck. The Amazon status is and has been in a do-loop going round and round bouncing back and forth between at seller’s dock and held up due to weather. I tried talking to the firm selling the product and got back shipping is Amazon’s problem. On the Amazon site, they have recognized the delivery is late and state that if I do not have it by Jan 17 I can thereafter request a refund. This in no way helps me receive the product which is the single most critical thing I need for the truck since it is a 4WD and higher and difficult to get up into.

Funny Thing

Yesterday I dropped by a windshield shop near us to get an estimate on repairing multiple rock damage to our new truck’s windshield. Pricing was $65 for the first repair, and $25 per repair afterward. Since at least five damaged places that require repair, that pens out to $165 going in. The shop would not repair any windshield requiring more than five places needing repair. Since our truck has 184K miles on it, the windshield is also kinda pitted in places. Bottom line, it turns out that a new windshield is more cost-effective and effecting repairs to the old one. As a result, I have scheduled a replacement for next Wednesday at 1300.

I have noticed an unnatural humming in the drivetrain of the truck while driving it A search on Perplexity revealed the front driveshaft universal joint has what is called a needle grease fitting in it. This fitting requires a special tool to inject grease that not all shops have. Additionally, not all shops, in fact probably the majority, don’t even know the grease fitting is so fitted and miss it in normal grease jobs leading to eventual failure such as I may be hearing now. I’ve instructed our new mechanic to completely check out the u-joints on the drive shaft and replace them as needed.

I’m going through all the thought processes to construct a 100-foot-long railroad tie border along the back of our property. The current flower bed there slopes decidedly down toward the back fence and we want to build it up so it is more level with the backyard. I’ve sourced the ties and have lined up our lawn crew to provide the manual labor to place the ties and lug the fill-in. I’ve purchased two manual hooks to pick up the ties and place them. I have yet to buy the posts etc for the three trellises we are going to build out of cedar fence slats. More on this project later as we progress.

Life In The Fast Lane

This coming week, I have scheduled three of five doctor appointments plus taking the truck in Wednesday afternoon for maintenance. My doctor’s week begins Tuesday with a dental appointment at 1045, a Supply Delivery and heart follow-up at 11:30 on Wednesday, a meeting with my financial advisor on Thursday, and a meeting with my dialysis team on Friday at 0845. We meet with our financial advisor every quarter via video conference, and once a year around my birthday in person where our lunches are on the advisor, in theory at least.

I dropped in our new mechanic’s place this past Saturday and checked it out. Mostly new equipment with lots of experience so I could find a goto place for our auto needs. Up to now, I have accomplished all of the required maintenance by myself but at 86 I’m ready to have a professional take over AND I want something and/or someone in place to take care of this aspect of living in my demise.

This morning coming off the cycler I reminisced to my wife about the music I listened to as a youth. In 1953, as a lad of 13, R&B was just starting to hit the airways. In Springfield, Ohio where I grew up, there was a Friday night dance named El Sombrero held at the YWCA that was free and very well attended. Songs that became mainstays of the R&B movement we often previewed there. The local Catholic Churches on occasion sponsored dances and often brought in aspiring young groups that when on to fame and fortune. It was a great time to be young and growing up. One of the first songs I recall. was “Shake A Hank” by Faye Adams. It was subsequently recorded by many artists but, IMHO, none matched the original. I’ve embedded it below for your entertainment;

Cycler Acting Up -> Again

Last night, I did everything per usual, setting up my assigned Liberty Cycler as provided by Fresenius. There was nothing unusual. I went to bed at about 9:30 PM and turned the Cycler on as usual. What was remarkable was that about midnight, I had to get up and potty. The procedure to accomplish this for us, due to the shorter cycler cassette line is to pull the wall power plug and let our UPS (Uninterruptable Power Supply) take over so we can wheel the cycler closer to our center bathroom where I can stretch the cassette cord out and do my business. So far business as usual. When my wife and I moved the Cycler back to its normal position in the bedroom she noticed that the Cycler was still on the hookup stage and had not started draining my static fill. This took place shortly after midnight which meant that I had lost several hours of Cycler time for an unknown reason. i know I heard the cycler start its normal drain and fill routine, but neither of the 6-liter bags we use showed any sign of being deployed. So I restarted the process and stayed awake reading until I had received an initial drain and fill then went to sleep. I was awakened around 0830 with the third drain and fourth fill finishing up. I hit the OK button bailed on the fourth dwell and went right to the fourth drain so I could get up at a decent hour.

This is the second time that this has happened. No, I haven’t reported same to “tech support” but if when it happens again I will. Along these lines, I wonder what Fresenius is doing in response to multiple complaints about the shorter cassette lines? Hum?

Still Having Birthdays!

I am authoring this blog on 01/08/2025 for posting on 01/09/2025. Today, 1/8, is my 86th birthday. It seems like yesterday I learned to ride a bike in Springfield, OH, where we lived on Mound Street for the first 17 years of my life. After that, I went off to college in Las Cruces, New Mexico, to return after a semester to Wittenburg in Springfield, which I then left after two semesters to join the US Navy, and I never looked back from there.

Today, my wife took me out for a birthday lunch at Hoffbrau, where I had a great rib-eye steak. Our family—son, wife, and stepdaughter —met us there, and they brought me presents consisting of great socks and a must-wear felt cowboy hat. Now I can be all Texan. Bought myself a small greenhouse to start plants in as a birthday gift to myself. My wife is scheduled to make my favorite dessert – lemon meringue pie. You can’t have any!

But you know what, dialysis aside, yes, I’m now officially a year older but none the worse for wear. I’m getting more steady on my feet and more assured in my stride. I’m coming back and should be in fine shape for warmer weather here when it breaks.

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