A fine ending to a very nice trip

Tuesday proved another encouraging day. I slept terribly, finally getting up at 6:30 for breakfast and with a waffle in me and eggs, I got back to sleep and got up at 9:30, packed up my stuff and headed off for a walk in downtown Charlotte. However, I really had to struggle even to get to Discovery Place. So on a whim, I went in and the Ocean Futures was playing so I watched that and enjoyed it quite a bit. Very small scale stuff but wonderfully photographed. I walked up a few stairs and had to sit down. This was not going well so I went to the café, got a protein bar and a diet coke and after finishing them I was able to walk up to trade street and back. I then drove for over an hour and decided to try my luck at Cedarbrook, since the weather was so nice (just wearing t-shirt and a long sleeve shirt). However, my putting remained terrible and on the two par fives I shot a 10 and a 9, making a terrible decision on the second par five (the 10) and ending up with a 57 (I was hoping for a 56) and I would have gotten it on the last hole when my third shot from about 35 yards in the rough landed perfectly, not ten feet from the cup—and I watched it stop and hold on that very tricky green—but when I drove up and got out of my cart the ball had rolled all the way down, about 30 feet away and I three putted from there. Then I drove to my office, napped, then rode my bike down at the Armstrong center for 40 minutes before heading to O’Charley’s for a veggie dinner, lumosity and blogging. I sent my kayak friend a couple of funny emails and she responded in kind. I touched base with Gyorgyi, Cathy and Claire.

A bit of catchup

Friday seemed to be a very good day. I slept okay, got up and since it was too cold to go out and work or walk, I did my knee exercises, my stationary bike for 20 minutes, a good deal of piano and then it was time to nap. I got up around 10:30 and decided to take it easy and get ready to leave by 12 to meet Claire for lunch at Nagoya at 1. We had a fun lunch and since I was very free, I offered to drive her around to see some of the houses she had found online. We saw a nice house over in Fairlawn in a nice development but it was much too steep. The two in Cburg were decent looking but were much too close together. Then we drove way out on Mt. Tabor and found a decent house out there but the people were mean to Claire when she knocked and we just left. The last house on Mount Tabor was by far the nicest (and the most expensive) but though it had an acre of land, it was very close to a lot of other houses and right off Mt. Tabor and another road. I doubt Luke would like the property although the house was very, very nice. After dropping Claire off in Radford, I went to my office for a nap and then a walk around the building and I had a nice chat with Kim and she told me her adventures with Patty up at the Women’s March, much too crowded for someone of my solitary nature. I walked some more and then there was an Asian student working on her computer so I asked her if she needed any help since I was a professor. She was very happy for the help and I explained very carefully what neoconservatism is and some of the basic beliefs. She seemed really glad for the help. More walking and then off to Olive Garden for a late dinner and writing my blog. A very calm day by any standard and one that I thoroughly enjoyed. I didn’t sleep too well, so at 7:30 I decided to pack and head to Charlotte to play some golf in the much warmer weather. It was a good plan, with light traffic and I drove to Statesville where I rode my bike in Lakeshore Park, small but adequate. My legs were swollen so I raised and rested them on the truck door for 10 minutes and that seemed to help. After that I stopped for a nap, then decided to stop and check out the Larkin Golf Club and had a lot of fun even though I shot a nine on a difficult par 5 and 4 putted a couple of times. I shot what I tried for, a 54, but I was so tired the last two holes. Now I drove to the Wingate and napped again, then did my leg exercises, chatted with Gyorgyi about mad man Trump and then showered and went out to P.F. Chang’s and had eggplant and broccoli and soup, leaving out the tempting shrimp dumplings. I have been raising my feet all day and that does seem to help. Sunday proved quite a good day also. I got up at 5 then had breakfast at six after doing my knee exercises, and then weights in the exercise room and then finally fell back to sleep and woke up at nearly 10. I decided to drive down to Congaree and when I got there I was pretty tired so I took a nap and then headed out on the boardway. There were at least a dozen dogs on leashes along the way and on a four foot wide boardwalk there is no way to keep the dogs away from the people passing by. This was ruining my walk so I called the visitor center, really gave it to them and told them that I was going to walk up the Sims trail and then walk back near the Learning Center (which obviously is used by the public at points) as I used to bike back. The ranger told me that someone might stop me and question me about why I was there, but that I wouldn’t be arrested and I told them I didn’t really care. That if you were going to arrest a sick, handicapped man with a cane for trying to avoid getting bitten by dogs, then go arrest me and see what a publicity nightmare you would create. No one appeared so I raised my legs for twenty minutes then went inside and furthered my complaints, and found out that that bully Tracy Stakely is still in charge (the moron who wouldn’t take down the misleading bicycle sign, which took my months to finally get taken out after having to write to his superiors). I think I will find out who his boss is and simply copy Stakely. I then finished my biking and on the way back I stopped to talk to a fellow cutting wood about fishing the big lake, but he said it had no fish since it had been totally flooded out but he called his boss and Clark offered to let me fish one of his private ponds tomorrow at 8:30. I was excited and I drove to Walmart to get a license and a pair of size 40 pants after I broke the buckle on my North Face pants. I had a chicken breast at Hush’s near the Comfort Inn and it was wonderful (prednisone speaking?) then I went for a nap, did my knee exercises, the did my blog which I will have to post later since my laptop, after getting updated, is not connecting to the internet. Monday was another positive day on my road to recovery. I slept horribly, probably worried about meeting Clay Chappell at 8:30 to fish one of his ponds. He was late but very cordial and put me on an acre or so pond, where I got two nice fish, one over two pounds. I then drove some and napped for over an hour then did my Target shopping, then went to play golf at Northwoods, where I hoped for a 54 and ended with a 53. My putting is very jittery and that’s the drugs, I think. Then I drove to the comfort inn at Tyvola (saving 25 dollars over the wingate) and took a long nap. I did my exercises and yoga and then went to wolfgang puck’s for a wonderful Caesar salad and mushroom pizza.

First trip since the hospital

I didn’t sleep too well, so at 7:30 I decided to pack and head to Charlotte to play some golf in the much warmer weather. It was a good plan, with light traffic and I drove to Statesville where I rode my bike in Lakeshore Park, small but adequate. My legs were swollen so I raised and rested them on the truck door for 10 minutes and that seemed to help. After that I stopped for a nap, then decided to stop and check out the Larkin Golf Club and had a lot of fun even though I shot a nine on a difficult par 5 and 4 putted a couple of times. I shot what I tried for, a 54, but I was so tired the last two holes. Now I drove to the Wingate and napped again, then did my leg exercises, chatted with Gyorgyi about mad man Trump and then showered and went out to P.F. Chang’s and had eggplant and broccoli and soup, leaving out the tempting shrimp dumplings. I have been raising my feet all day and that does seem to help.

Some slow, slow chainsaw work but a lot accomplished

Thursday has turned out to be another good day. I slept pretty well, getting to bed around 2, and got up around 5:30, and I did my knee exercises, which I hadn’t done on Wednesday and I could really tell I had missed a day. I did some dishes, listened to some news about that idiot Donald Trump, then went back for a nap. When I awoke I knew it was chainsaw time, so I very slowly got all my equipment together and got on my chain saw clothes and headed off to my first stop where I had a 30 foot log just off the road hanging on the stump that eric cut. I wanted to relieve a bit of the pressure and cut some of the log farther from the road. It was slow work and a little dangerous as I got higher up, but I was able to cut away a good portion of it and cut it up into sections I can roll off into the ravine when I get a chance. I had to take several breaks because I was quickly out of breath, but I was glad that job number one was finished. The second job was the two dead trees hanging over the road to the orchard and that job was even more work. I had hope to work till 12:30 but it was simply much too hard and there at least another hour of cutting to be done, then clearing the road. My Stihl electric is great but of course limited and I have to put the other blade on because I think the first one is dulled with all the cuts I made today. When I backed up and turned around in the pasture, I was pretty tired and hungry so when I got home I microwaved an Amy’s Pad Thai and then took a nap. I didn’t sleep that long and when I got up I painted the fixed spots in the bathroom, but it quickly became apparent that the 8 ounce, supposedly matched sample was much too dark. Fortunately, I noticed that I had a quart of old white semi-gloss in the cabinet so I tried that out later and it was a much better match. I actually thought of mixing a little bit of the darker paint to even match the wall better, but such subtlety of effort is not my general mode. I was watching Tiger’s return and at one point he was even but he ended up 4 over which really isn’t too bad for such an incredible layoff. After a very needed shower, I headed into town around 4 and rode my bike on the Huckleberry for 40 minutes, stopping a little early because I didn’t want to hurt my butt. After my ride I dropped off my check to Rob and he hoped we could walk this weekend. That would be fun for both of us I think. I still have to pick up my meds and some more chain saw oil but it’s just after 7 so that shouldn’t be a problem.

a little pain in my hands, but a very good day

Another good day on my road to recovery. It is Wednesday night and I am in O’Charley’s having pie and coffee and doing emails, my blog and my lumosity training. I had a tough night sleeping, and really didn’t drift off till after 4, and my hands felt cramped and I had to hold them straight out just to lessen the pain. I did eventually take an acetaminophen and I think that helped. I got up and was still groggy so I took my meds and did a few things and went back to bed. When I got up, I decided that since I had gotten so much done in the past few days that I would take the day off and just head out and play golf and ride my bike for the first time since I got out of the hospital. My play was pretty off, although I made some good shots and though I had a couple of 4 putts, I still ended up with a 50, which was fine. I played very slowly in the bright sunlight and when the wind slowed around 12:30, I felt very good indeed. My bike ride was also very rewarding. I rode from Merrimac toward Tech at first and then back up to the railroad bridge for 50 minutes. I rode very slow and was winded but it was quite an accomplishment for me. I rode back home and talked with Kelly and that was nice to catch up with her and update her on my condition. I told her I would go back and finish the first two seasons of Homeland but only for her. I asked her how Lucia was handling the Trump stuff and she said that as an 8 year old, her responses are that articulate yet but she is troubled by that idiot. I left a message with Gabes and he left a return message from Julian and from him that cheered me up. I have the time and the money to do a New York trip if the weather was decent, but my sleeping patterns and my need for long naps would seem to dictate waiting at least a month until I am better adjusted to the prednisone. I know it would be fun to take Julian for an adventure but I am not sure if I could be safe with him. I took a look at the new apartments on Merrimac but they don’t have any one bedrooms on the first floor so that won’t work. I did get a message from Jonathan at Hethwood that some of the Cooper Croft one bedroom, one den apartments are on the ground floor. I think I will take a look at one. I got the matching touchup paint for my bathroom job, and after the last spackled spot dries I will paint it. Got a message from Rob not to take the extra 100 mg of allopurinol since he thinks the hand pain is from the lupus not the gout. I am also going to drop off a nice donation for his charity walk.

maybe I can get off Cellcept

Microsoft is screwing up again. Amazing. It lost my Monday entry but I am pretty sure I posted it so I guess each blog will have a different name. I am going to return my Tiles after talking with the idiots at Tile, one of the most incompetent organizations I have ever dealt with. And I have to package and get the tiles to a shipping place. Today, Tuesday was a very good day and the big news was that when I talked to Rob, he said that he thought there was a good chance I could get off Cellcept at some point, which would be wonderful. I emailed my kayak friend about that possibility but I know this is another busy week for her so she may not respond until later of tomorrow. During the day I decided to do some work outside, so I drove to the far gate and replaced the old lock with a brand new one, and then I decided to fix the third gate where my turnbuckle / cable setup broke a while ago and the gate has to be lifted to open it completely. If I had purchased a new thicker cable, bigger cable clips, and a new larger turnbuckle, then the job would have gone much, much easier. But I decided to see what I had up at the cabin and in my house and I did have some smaller cable clips so I thought I could improvise, and it got ugly. I had a lot of trouble working with the tiny nuts (losing 3 of them but I brought my box of nuts so I had plenty). I pulled the post back by attaching it to my truck and backing up and that worked okay. I also put some wood under the end of the gate to raise it a bit and that helped. I eventually got 5 cable clips attached and after I pounded the stake in with the sledge, I got the cable pretty tight and the job was done. It works very well but I am not sure how long it will last. The overall job took me over 2 hours but I was pretty satisfied and I did get to use some of the stuff I bought a long time ago. I went back and napped, then got up and took a long hike to the orchard, then napped again and did my exercises, my weights and my stationary bike for 40 minutes but no piano and no yoga before heading out for dinner at Greens. I also cleaned and oiled the TV cabinet, the top of which was amazingly dusty but the whole thing looks great. I talked with Gyorgyi and we are planning to get together soon. Trump is very unbalanced I think and I am not sure he is going to last as president. I looked into the Hethwood apartments a little more and I think I could afford a one bedroom with a den at Copper Croft or Stroubles, their two better places. I was just doing it for fun since my recovery is going well and I am hoping that I can stay in the hollow for a long time.

Good Day, Lousy Football

Hopefully Microsoft Word will work today. I had another very good day, and I slept pretty well last night after falling off after 2. I woke up at around 7 and did some exercises, a load of wash, then a refresh wash, then I organized my travel, misc., retirement and social security/medicare folders. I had quite a bit of extra stuff in them. I then went to nap and when I got up the rain had stopped so I decided to walk to the orchard and did, taking breaks on my new log seats and finding out that my Visa bill is much lower than I thought it would be so that will help me pay for the Amtrak trip to Salt Lake City. I walked down to the level area and then all the way back and while I was sitting there John O’Brien returned my phone call and we had a very good conversation for almost an hour. He was very funny at points and it was really good to connect with him. I will call him in a few months and reconnect. I got back after the Atlanta game had started, taped it, took a short nap and then did my stationary bike, slightly heavier weights, yoga, and cleaning out my vitamin and pill cabinet, I watched football, cleaned up and headed into town for dinner and the second half of the second game. I had one of the best steaks I have ever had at Bull and Bones (a fillet with Rosemary/Garlic butter) that was wonderful, with the smokehouse beans I really enjoy.