In the garden, and RAIN!!!! by SIGNYM

Grooming is mowing the lawn, but for people. (And dogs too)

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Monday, August 22, 2022 12:00 AM

Just waiting to watch the prequel to "Game of Thrones". tv mag said it was suppose to start at 8pm and the guide on my tv says 9:30pm. I just hope the dang show starts tonight.

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Monday, August 22, 2022 9:38 AM

My aunt came over yesterday without my Grandma because we had to do some work on her retirement stuff and we did some warehouse store shopping. She'd never been in one before and I got her a membership. I'm slowly working on her to start budgeting and saving because she's set to get a pretty good SS monthly check when she retires late and should have a very easy time getting by with it if she can make some better choices with what she does with the money.

She got a chance to see the rocks that I put down and is amazed. She can't wait to come back soon with Grams and show her the whole thing once I've got it done.

The old man might be coming by as early as tomorrow afternoon. Not the best time for me, but he really wants to see it and it might be the only opportunity he has this week to make it.

That means I'd better haul ass today. I want to have the entire front done before he gets here, and with how muddy the work is going to be after all that rain I'd rather not be finishing that up tomorrow morning before he gets here.

If I have my way, all 5 tons of river rock I bought on sale back in March will finally be in place by dusk.

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Tuesday, August 23, 2022 12:55 AM

Site's been wonky all day by me.

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Tuesday, August 23, 2022 2:58 AM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

Trst

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Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE someone poor - William Blake

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Tuesday, August 23, 2022 2:59 AM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

Ah, it's back!

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Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE someone poor - William Blake

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Tuesday, August 23, 2022 9:14 AM

We're back? Maybe?

Got all the grading and rocks in the front done. I didn't use nearly as many bags of topsoil as I thought I would have so far. The area by the front and the other side of the house is quite tricky as far as drainage and grading, and I need to account for the pooling that would happen from the side and wrap around the front to the porch. Because I need the level of the dirt to be low at the decorative barrier, I was able to use a lot of the dirt at the end of the hoasta beds to pull up toward the foundation. It won't be ideal, but at least water would pool up about 8 to 10 feet down and away from the foundation instead of right next to it.

I couldn't put all the rock down in the front yet because I'm going to have to make some adjustments over on the far end after I fix the cracked concrete slab and do my drainage grading on that side. However I did a bit of cleanup over there that I wasn't expecting to do with my time yesterday. There was an old, cracked half covered stone barrier over there that I yanked out. It would have been right where the old beat up chain link fence was before I ripped it out. One less thing I need to do as I wrap my way around to the back porch area into the Bermuda Triangle.

It looks like they're calling for rain now on both Thursday and Friday, although the amount of rain is significantly lower than they were predicting before. I think today I'm going to at least dig down to the bottom of the shed slab to clean it up and get watertite seal in there. It needs 72 hours to dry before I can cover it with tar. I don't really need to tar a slab, but it will look better since it joins with the cinder block wall of the porch and I want that clean black look all around the foundation.

After that, I'll probably mow my front lawn. Maybe the back if there's time.

My old man is coming in the afternoon, and after spending the last 3 hours last night without a break in a race against the sun again I don't mind having an easier day today.

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Tuesday, August 23, 2022 1:16 PM

Out for my walk in a bit. Got a referral for some physio from my doc yesterday. I messed up my right shoulder over a month ago and thought it was getting better. But it's not completely. So, I had to go to my doc and he examined it, sent me for x-rays and gave me the referral. I am off to see about that as well as hit the library. Later peeps.

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Tuesday, August 23, 2022 4:17 PM

Back from walk and waiting for a call from the physio office I went into.

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Tuesday, August 23, 2022 5:48 PM

Got the call from the physio office and have an appointment for September 29. Had to laugh at the receptionist then explain why I was laughing. It's my birthday. But I am also on their wait list so I could get in earlier.

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Tuesday, August 23, 2022 5:49 PM

Supper tonight is my version of a Spanish rice dish called a paella. I think I have the spelling right.

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Tuesday, August 23, 2022 6:06 PM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

Quote:
Originally posted by Brenda:
Out for my walk in a bit. Got a referral for some physio from my doc yesterday. I messed up my right shoulder over a month ago and thought it was getting better. But it's not completely. So, I had to go to my doc and he examined it, sent me for x-rays and gave me the referral. I am off to see about that as well as hit the library. Later peeps.

At one time my right shoulder was hurting, and x-ray showed a possible torn rotator cuff. Since I was playing tennis a the time maybe that's what happened.
But now my LEFT shoulder hurts, same problem,but I'm not playing tennis or throwing bball, so WTH? There's no fix for it. Shoulder surgery I'm told is complicated with a long recovery and I don't need that. Plus it seems ALL of my tendons are weak...DXd with tendonitis, tendonitis, etc in most of my major joints.

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Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE someone poor - William Blake

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Tuesday, August 23, 2022 6:55 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by SignyM:
Quote:
Originally posted by Brenda:
Out for my walk in a bit. Got a referral for some physio from my doc yesterday. I messed up my right shoulder over a month ago and thought it was getting better. But it's not completely. So, I had to go to my doc and he examined it, sent me for x-rays and gave me the referral. I am off to see about that as well as hit the library. Later peeps.
At one time my right shoulder was hurting, and x-ray showed a possible torn rotator cuff. Since I was playing tennis a the time maybe that's what happened.
But now my LEFT shoulder hurts, same problem,but I'm not playing tennis or throwing bball, so WTH? There's no fix for it. Shoulder surgery I'm told is complicated with a long recovery and I don't need that. Plus it seems ALL of my tendons are weak...DXd with tendonitis, tendonitis, etc in most of my major joints.

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Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE someone poor - William Blake

There is a chance that I have damaged my rotator cuff and maybe even arthritis in the shoulder joint itself. That's why the x-ray the doctor said. The poor technician yesterday wanted a certain view of my shoulder but couldn't get it as my right arm wouldn't do what he wanted it to and he had to give up.

The physio will help get my mobility back and may be able to suggest some exercises I can do on my own. My new family doctor doesn't want to go with shots and I agree with him. Though the doctor said I have good arm strength when he stress tested both my arms. So, that's something.

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Tuesday, August 23, 2022 9:29 PM

Cool visit with Dad. Blown away by the updates.

With some rain in the forecast, I probably shouldn't have had him over and I should have been working, but it's not every day that he tells me he wants to come over without me throwing out an invite first.

I needed it though. Back to the salt mines tomorrow.

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Wednesday, August 24, 2022 8:47 AM

Have either of you tried reducing gluten in your diet?

I know it sounds like some hippie mumbo jumbo, but I finally got my old man to do it a few years back. He complained about joint pain all the time and was taking that Osteo Bi-Flex (Which is for Osteoarthritis) for years to deal with it. But all that harping on him about it must have stuck in his craw because when he had a medical procedure coming up and he didn't eat anything solid for 3 days he called me up and told me that his joint pain was basically gone. I used that opportunity to talk him into cutting the unnecessary gluten from his diet and he listened this time.

For two or three years now he hasn't even used Osteo Bi-Flex and whenever I ask about it he says all that joint pain he was living with is gone.

He hasn't cut it completely out of his diet, but he says he probably only eats about 20% as much as he did before.

It also didn't help his back problem or his hip pain. He's since gotten a good mattress to take care of the back pain, but he probably needs to have hip surgery eventually. Going gluten free isn't magic that will fix any serious damage, but maybe in the case of both of your shoulder pains it might reduce or even get rid of the pain over the course of a week or two. Especially if it's arthritis related.

It's not easy at all going completely gluten free, but maybe you can will yourself to try it for a few weeks and if the pain gets better you can go back to gluten in lesser quantity and see how that goes?

Even I'm not truly gluten free anymore. It was easy to do when I was a hermit, but once I started hanging out with friends and family again that was a burden I didn't want to put on anybody else. I had actually done it once or twice and realized how awkward it was to put somebody who was preparing a meal for me to tell them what I would and wouldn't eat. It's not as if I had a doctor's order to stop eating gluten. It just works.

And besides... On the rare occasion I do eat a pizza or some great Italian food, it tastes 100 times better than it used to when I ate that stuff all the time.

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Wednesday, August 24, 2022 9:29 AM

Alright...

Time to get out to my shed and clean that crack up so I can put the cement patch in there.

There's nothing I can do about the fact it's not level anymore, but hopefully this will keep it from shifting along with the watertite seal I put out there yesterday.

Had to make a long trip last night to another store to get the stuff since the one by me didn't carry it, and because of how potentially serious this issue is I didn't want to just go the easy route and get some inferior stuff that's easier to acquire. Hopefully I use at least part of the 2nd bag or else I'll have to find another reason or two to drive that far again to return the 2nd bag.

Rain moved up a day and there's no way I'll have anything ready to seal up by tomorrow, but now we're not getting any on Friday and it's only .10 inches tomorrow, so I should be fine just covering up the work area with some old plywood.

I'll need to be busy this weekend though because it looks like were in for a decent sized thunderstorm on Monday that wasn't in the forecast.

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Wednesday, August 24, 2022 12:14 PM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

Quote:
Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:
Have either of you tried reducing gluten in your diet?

Yes, I did. I took gluten out of my diet for quite a few months. The only thing I got out of it was an allergy to rice and potato. I was also tested for wheat gluten sensitivity as well as sensitivity to the two compounds that react to form gluten (gliadin and glutenin) and was negative. In fact, it was only after I had extensive allergy testing that showed I was alergic to potatoes and rice but not gluten, gliadin or glutenin, that I switched back to wheat.

:-)

I have a crapton of food allergies and dozens, literally, of environmental allergies (you should see my allergen report!) as well as a possible autoimmune issue for which I've been Rxd medication. I suspect that all of these tendon issues are either a mild autoimmune attack on my collagen (set off by a round of levaquin antibiotic) or a result of one or several of my many food allergies. And for all that my immune system is hyperactive, it's all misdirected since I used to get frequent sinus infections, asthma attacks, and, of course, cancer.

Curiously, when I was on chemo one positive side effect was that my joints stopped hurting. That could either have been one of the chemo agents or the steroids they were giving me to counteract the chemo agents.

I suppose I could possibly narrow it down to whether it was a food allergy by going on a three-day fast. Unfortunately it wouldn't tell me which food I was reacting to, and I sometimes think I react to the solinaceae (tomato, potato, eggplant = tested +allergy).

One thing I didn't win was the DNA lottery.

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Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE someone poor - William Blake

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Wednesday, August 24, 2022 1:27 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:
Have either of you tried reducing gluten in your diet?

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My body needs gluten as I have low blood sugar. Foods missing ingredients isn't good for me as my body has nothing to work with. And I have tried eating gluten free things and have felt terrible afterwards.

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Wednesday, August 24, 2022 1:30 PM

Anyways off for my walk in a bit. Need lunch for mah jong tomorrow. Nothing good on the menu. Hope the physio calls me early.

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Wednesday, August 24, 2022 1:43 PM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

Quote:
Originally posted by Brenda:
Quote:
Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:
Have either of you tried reducing gluten in your diet?

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Falsus in unum, falsus in omnibus

My body needs gluten as I have low blood sugar. Foods missing ingredients isn't good for me as my body has nothing to work with. And I have tried eating gluten free things and have felt terrible afterwards.

er... if you have low blood sugar the answer is glucose, not gluten. Glucose is a sugar. Gluten is a protein found in wheat and closely-related grains like barley and rye, and primitive forms of wheat like spelt. (Oatmeal, rice, and corn are OK. https://www.livestrong.com/article/522560-gluten-content-of-grains/) Entirely different things.

But if you react badly to gluten-free foods (Most foods are gluten-free, and include rice, potatoes, oatmeal, corn, quinoa, fruits, vegetables, meats, nuts and dairy products) that would be worth pursuing, since many foods specifically made to be gluten-free (gluten-free pancakes, cookies, breads, and flours) tend to have additives that you could be reacting to and should definitely be avoided.

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Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE someone poor - William Blake

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Wednesday, August 24, 2022 4:53 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:
Quote:
Originally posted by Brenda:
Quote:
Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:
Have either of you tried reducing gluten in your diet?

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Falsus in unum, falsus in omnibus

My body needs gluten as I have low blood sugar. Foods missing ingredients isn't good for me as my body has nothing to work with. And I have tried eating gluten free things and have felt terrible afterwards.
er... if you have low blood sugar the answer is glucose, not gluten. Glucose is a sugar. Gluten is a protein found in wheat and closely-related grains like barley and rye, and primitive forms of wheat like spelt. (Oatmeal, rice, and corn are OK. https://www.livestrong.com/article/522560-gluten-content-of-grains/) Entirely different things.

But if you react badly to gluten-free foods (Most foods are gluten-free, and include rice, potatoes, oatmeal, corn, quinoa, fruits, vegetables, meats, nuts and dairy products) that would be worth pursuing, since many foods specifically made to be gluten-free (gluten-free pancakes, cookies, breads, and flours) tend to have additives that you could be reacting to and should definitely be avoided.

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Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE someone poor - William Blake

I do watch my sugar intake as I have to be careful about eating too much. I use unprocessed sugar in the morning in my coffee then during the rest of the day, I have a certain amount of sugar.

Sorry, I should have really said foods that are made gluten-free, like sausages that have no binders in them like say bread crumbs or baked goods made with different kinds of flour. Those I avoid.

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Wednesday, August 24, 2022 4:54 PM

Back from my walk and lunch got along with getting the garbage and some recycling out.

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Wednesday, August 24, 2022 8:34 PM

No way I was going to finish what I wanted to today. It took hours to excavate that crack with chisels, brushes and screwdrivers.

I pulled 40 lbs of sand out of there easily, so the 20lbs of patch I bought isn't going to cut it.

Cleaned the whole shed up and it looks nicer from the inside than it ever has before. Got some crap clogging up my garage now, but it shouldn't be too much in the way until I get this done.

Going to get up early and get my supplies tomorrow morning and at least get a slurry coat down at the bottom of the crack early enough that it will stay put if the rain in the PM ends up being more than they thought it might be.

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Wednesday, August 24, 2022 11:05 PM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

What kind of crack are you talking about, and what does it indicate, SIX? Just curious..

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Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE someone poor - William Blake

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Wednesday, August 24, 2022 11:10 PM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

Quote:
Originally posted by Brenda:
Back from my walk and lunch got along with getting the garbage and some recycling out.

Well, I'm not sure I've even done that much. For some reason I just couldn't get my rear in gear.

I DID try a new recipe for pork tenderloin today. It was more northern Italian and included bacon, sage, parsley, white wine, onion, garlic, sun dried tomato, broth and cream. I wasn't sure how it would turn out and so far the family hasn't been impressed with similar recipes. Since I can't smell a thing, I have no idea how it tastes but family wasn't impressed with this recipe either. I'd have to do something wildly different with it; ditch the tomato, ramp up the garlic or something but as it is it's OK at best

Well, better luck next time!

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Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE someone poor - William Blake

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Wednesday, August 24, 2022 11:20 PM

I am off to mah jong in the morning. Hoping for good luck but we shall see.

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Thursday, August 25, 2022 2:05 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by SignyM:
What kind of crack are you talking about, and what does it indicate, SIX? Just curious..

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Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE someone poor - William Blake

It was here when I bought the place. It got bigger during the years of negligence. Now that I'm getting quite intimate with the entire foundation of the house, I'm pretty sure that this was a major contributor to the structural issues I was having.

It hasn't gotten any worse since I got the raccoons out and put the gutters up. I've got photographic evidence of that to compare it to.

Shoring up the grade and fixing the crack is only the first thing I'm doing out there. I've got a few things planned. Might actually be able to reverse some of the damage instead of building around it if it goes right.

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Thursday, August 25, 2022 11:21 AM

Damn... Rain came in early. Glad I had the foresight to put the board up outside to cover the exposed crack that I patched before I wrapped up. I even second-guessed that move because it wasn't supposed to rain until the afternoon.

Looks like a lazy day for me now. Biggest thing on my plate is putting out the trash bins before they come and pick them up.

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Thursday, August 25, 2022 12:42 PM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

Quote:
Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:
Quote:
Originally posted by SignyM:
What kind of crack are you talking about, and what does it indicate, SIX? Just curious..

-----------
Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE someone poor - William Blake

It was here when I bought the place. It got bigger during the years of negligence. Now that I'm getting quite intimate with the entire foundation of the house, I'm pretty sure that this was a major contributor to the structural issues I was having.

It hasn't gotten any worse since I got the raccoons out and put the gutters up. I've got photographic evidence of that to compare it to.

Shoring up the grade and fixing the crack is only the first thing I'm doing out there. I've got a few things planned. Might actually be able to reverse some of the damage instead of building around it if it goes right.

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Falsus in unum, falsus in omnibus

Is it a crack between the shed and foundation, indicating that the whole shed floor is sinking? ( Or alternately, the house was floating?) Or across the floor of the shed, ditto?

I think once you repaired the drain pipe that was dumping sump water back around your foundation, graded away from the house and put up gutters and long drain pipes (whatever they're called) you went a long way to solving your foundation issues. Good on you!

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Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE someone poor - William Blake

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Thursday, August 25, 2022 1:38 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by SignyM:
Quote:
Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:
Quote:
Originally posted by SignyM:
What kind of crack are you talking about, and what does it indicate, SIX? Just curious..

-----------
Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE someone poor - William Blake

It was here when I bought the place. It got bigger during the years of negligence. Now that I'm getting quite intimate with the entire foundation of the house, I'm pretty sure that this was a major contributor to the structural issues I was having.

It hasn't gotten any worse since I got the raccoons out and put the gutters up. I've got photographic evidence of that to compare it to.

Shoring up the grade and fixing the crack is only the first thing I'm doing out there. I've got a few things planned. Might actually be able to reverse some of the damage instead of building around it if it goes right.

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Falsus in unum, falsus in omnibus
Is it a crack between the shed and foundation, indicating that the whole shed floor is sinking? ( Or alternately, the house was floating?) Or across the floor of the shed, ditto?

The crack is roughly in the center of the slab for the shed, which is on the far end of the addition after the cinderblock wall underneath the porch (the house is solid poured concrete foundation, thank god). The crack is (roughly) perpendicular to the cinderblock wall about 1ft away from it. (Incidentally, the raccoons were getting in underneath the siding in between these two structures that really aren't joined well, then they climed up the shed, went into the porch attic and got into the house attic. This has all been blocked up for years now.

Quote:
I think once you repaired the drain pipe that was dumping sump water back around your foundation, graded away from the house and put up gutters and long drain pipes (whatever they're called) you went a long way to solving your foundation issues. Good on you!

Yup. All of that plus killing off the moles that were making the tunnels along the foundation, killing all the ants (including those terrible carpenter ants), putting up windows and proper siding so water wasn't leaking behind the porch walls and destroying everything, and killing off the Maple Trees I'd planted close to the house when my idiot neighbor who gave me the hoastas told me they were Rose of Sharon and my dumb ass believed her. I think I finally dug out the stumps for those 2 or 3 summers ago so they couldn't build any more shoots and stay alive.

And also right now I'm putting in those grates to keep the moles from making any more foundation tunnels if and when they manage to make their way back up there and strategically grading all the dirt down from the walls before putting the rock in.

Hard to pin down exactly what went so terribly wrong when I was letting every possible bad scenario play out all at once.

P.S. I did just check outside and the slab is going to be fine. Not all that much more rain expected today. Although it will be sporadic and ruin any working plans, it won't pool up in that pit I dug to get to the outside edge of the crack for repairs.

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Thursday, August 25, 2022 5:46 PM

Back from mah jong and just a terrible morning. Last week I couldn't hardly do anything wrong. Today, I could hardly get out of the starting blocks. Took me most of the morning to break 1,000points. Mind there were 4 people playing at my table. Almost had the booby prize but one of the ladies I was playing with only had 900points, so it went to her. Oh well. Maybe next week.

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Thursday, August 25, 2022 10:24 PM

Spontaneous visit from my buddy today with very little warning.

Had to go to the store to buy the supplies to jack up the shed and replace the bad sill plate. I only asked him yesterday and he's so booked up I thought it might take weeks. $25 and 2.5 hours work and one more major potential catastrophe in the rearview.

Heck... I don't even know if I mentioned that problem here yet this all happened so fast. We're getting to be pros at jacking up structures to fix them. This is my 4th one now.

Perfect that this was done before the door went up. I was going to have to do it with his Dad before we put the door up if he couldn't make it in time, but now I'll be able to have his dad help me with some tricky electrical final touches with that time instead.

That sill plate was so bad. Wood rot from water damage and the half of the bottoms completely hollowed out by ants. Now I've got proper green board under there, and I'll make sure everything is wrapped up tight and water never makes it back in there.

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Falsus in unum, falsus in omnibus

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Thursday, August 25, 2022 10:53 PM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

Quote:
Originally posted by Brenda:
Back from mah jong and just a terrible morning. Last week I couldn't hardly do anything wrong. Today, I could hardly get out of the starting blocks. Took me most of the morning to break 1,000points. Mind there were 4 people playing at my table. Almost had the booby prize but one of the ladies I was playing with only had 900points, so it went to her. Oh well. Maybe next week.

There will be days like that When I used to play cards at work- rummy, or gin rummy, or bridge- I had some losing streaks that lasted weeks!

I really preferred Scrabble.

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Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE someone poor - William Blake

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Thursday, August 25, 2022 10:54 PM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

Quote:
Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:
Spontaneous visit from my buddy today with very little warning.

Had to go to the store to buy the supplies to jack up the shed and replace the bad sill plate. I only asked him yesterday and he's so booked up I thought it might take weeks. $25 and 2.5 hours work and one more major potential catastrophe in the rearview.

Heck... I don't even know if I mentioned that problem here yet this all happened so fast. We're getting to be pros at jacking up structures to fix them. This is my 4th one now.

Perfect that this was done before the door went up. I was going to have to do it with his Dad before we put the door up if he couldn't make it in time, but now I'll be able to have his dad help me with some tricky electrical final touches with that time instead.

That sill plate was so bad. Wood rot from water damage and the half of the bottoms completely hollowed out by ants. Now I've got proper green board under there, and I'll make sure everything is wrapped up tight and water never makes it back in there.

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Falsus in unum, falsus in omnibus

So, I'm puzzled. How do you jack up a structure if the sill plate is rotten? Don't you need to lift it by the sill plate?

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Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE someone poor - William Blake

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Thursday, August 25, 2022 10:56 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Brenda:
Back from mah jong and just a terrible morning. Last week I couldn't hardly do anything wrong. Today, I could hardly get out of the starting blocks. Took me most of the morning to break 1,000points. Mind there were 4 people playing at my table. Almost had the booby prize but one of the ladies I was playing with only had 900points, so it went to her. Oh well. Maybe next week.

That sounds like when I play UpWords with my grandma and half the game I'm sitting on either all consonants or all vowels.

Can't win 'em all when there's luck involved.

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Falsus in unum, falsus in omnibus

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Thursday, August 25, 2022 11:14 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by SignyM:
Quote:
Originally posted by Brenda:
Back from mah jong and just a terrible morning. Last week I couldn't hardly do anything wrong. Today, I could hardly get out of the starting blocks. Took me most of the morning to break 1,000points. Mind there were 4 people playing at my table. Almost had the booby prize but one of the ladies I was playing with only had 900points, so it went to her. Oh well. Maybe next week.
There will be days like that When I used to play cards at work- rummy, or gin rummy, or bridge- I had some losing streaks that lasted weeks!

I really preferred Scrabble.

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Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE someone poor - William Blake

I've had that happen too. So close to winds and dragons again but was stuck with a couple of tiles that I couldn't get rid of.

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Thursday, August 25, 2022 11:16 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:
Quote:
Originally posted by Brenda:
Back from mah jong and just a terrible morning. Last week I couldn't hardly do anything wrong. Today, I could hardly get out of the starting blocks. Took me most of the morning to break 1,000points. Mind there were 4 people playing at my table. Almost had the booby prize but one of the ladies I was playing with only had 900points, so it went to her. Oh well. Maybe next week.

That sounds like when I play UpWords with my grandma and half the game I'm sitting on either all consonants or all vowels.

Can't win 'em all when there's luck involved.

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Falsus in unum, falsus in omnibus

No, you can't. Was close to winds and dragons again today but I got stuck with a couple of tiles that I couldn't get rid of.

When you can't get the tiles there isn't anything you can do.

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Thursday, August 25, 2022 11:17 PM

Suppose to get rain where I am tomorrow and into Saturday. Will just have to see if it arrives.

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Friday, August 26, 2022 10:30 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by SignyM:
Quote:
Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:
Spontaneous visit from my buddy today with very little warning.

Had to go to the store to buy the supplies to jack up the shed and replace the bad sill plate. I only asked him yesterday and he's so booked up I thought it might take weeks. $25 and 2.5 hours work and one more major potential catastrophe in the rearview.

Heck... I don't even know if I mentioned that problem here yet this all happened so fast. We're getting to be pros at jacking up structures to fix them. This is my 4th one now.

Perfect that this was done before the door went up. I was going to have to do it with his Dad before we put the door up if he couldn't make it in time, but now I'll be able to have his dad help me with some tricky electrical final touches with that time instead.

That sill plate was so bad. Wood rot from water damage and the half of the bottoms completely hollowed out by ants. Now I've got proper green board under there, and I'll make sure everything is wrapped up tight and water never makes it back in there.

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Falsus in unum, falsus in omnibus
So, I'm puzzled. How do you jack up a structure if the sill plate is rotten? Don't you need to lift it by the sill plate?

Nope! Bottle Jacks are awesome.

We had three of them at our disposal. We used two of them with 2x4 studs along the far edge of the shed under the header (perpindicular to the crack). Those didn't move the entire time. The third one was moved from front to back further away from the wall using a "T" we made out of 2x4's that spanned two of the ceiling joists at a time.

We only needed to lift everything up a hair to get it high enough that we could cut out the bad pieces and knock the new green boards in with a mallet before tying everything together.

It's actually NOT all tied together yet because I have two more pieces to do that don't require jacks.

Once I get those replaced this morning I'm going to go a little crazy with the nails and rust-proof decking screws to get it all rock solid. Then I'm going to double up on some spots in between studs with another green 2x4 on top of the new plate. There's also some damage on several spots of the plywood wall like there was in the garage, so I'll be using some green 2x6 boards flat against the wall and then sealing everything with caulk like I did in the garage.

Oh... And I'm going to have to tap into the slab with my concrete bits and my hammer drill so I can get some heavy duty concrete screws down through the plate into the concrete. The far wall had some rusty old railroad spikes doing that job (poorly), and the bolts that were on the ground for the two plates on either side of the door were so rusty that they all sheared off when I took my wrench to them even after letting it marinate with some Liquid Wrench an hour before we got started. I had to just cut those bolts completely with a metal sawzall blade.

So hopefully I can finish all of that and finish cleaning the crack and get the first application of the vinyl concrete patch in there to dry overnight.

Oh... P.S. I was really happy that the entire fix was costing me under $20 until I needed to rip my 8 foot 2x8 green board in half for the last piece. I did have plans for that. I didn't want to pay the SIXTEEN FREAKIN DOLLARS that they wanted for an 8ft 2x4 green board after paying almost $5 per stud for the jacks, so I went with three 3ft green 2x4s for $0.89 each and it was too short for the last piece we needed. :(

Still. Totally worth it. And the price of lumber will come down so I'm sure I can replace that board down the line before I need it for way cheaper than the current prices are anyhow.

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Falsus in unum, falsus in omnibus

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Friday, August 26, 2022 1:15 PM

Out for my walk in a bit. Things to do and it's not sure if it wants to rain or not. So, I shall go out prepared.

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Friday, August 26, 2022 1:17 PM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

Bear wtih me, SIX, I'm slow ... So, you disconnected the studs from the sill plate where it was bad and lifted just a hair using the header? That way you could knock out the sill plate where it was bad, and knock in a replacement. Then you nailed or screwed (using rust proof nails and screws) the studs back onto the (new) sill plate. And now you intend to re-attach the (new) sill plate to the foundation. Is that abut right?

Thanks for the explanation!

PS: $16 for a fricken 8' 2X4?!?!

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Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE someone poor - William Blake

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Friday, August 26, 2022 5:05 PM

Back from my walk and everything done. Even made a dental appointment to get some more work done. Turns out my insurance isn't maxed out and with medical covering some and me, it will be okay. Got my last refill of thyroid done too.

There was some rain when I got off a bus to go to the pharmacy and the dentist.

The dentist was a spur of the moment thing just to ask a question but with the info, I thought why not.

Also bought a second hand Dr. Who book at a little store in the same area.

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Friday, August 26, 2022 6:51 PM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

Quote:
Originally posted by Brenda:
Back from my walk and everything done. Even made a dental appointment to get some more work done. Turns out my insurance isn't maxed out and with medical covering some and me, it will be okay. Got my last refill of thyroid done too.

There was some rain when I got off a bus to go to the pharmacy and the dentist.

The dentist was a spur of the moment thing just to ask a question but with the info, I thought why not.

Also bought a second hand Dr. Who book at a little store in the same area.

Well that's good news on the inurance! And you got your refills and a new book too. Sounds like a good day, Brenda!

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Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE someone poor - William Blake

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Friday, August 26, 2022 6:56 PM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

Just saw my cardiologist bc I'm in the home stretch of my infusions (just two more months) one of which is cardiotoxic. But so far, so good. I learned that they will monitor me for a year following the end of treatment (MORE Dr appts!!) but since she considers me to be in generally good health (REALLY?? She must see some really sick people!) any negative effects should reverse in a few weeks. That was good to hear

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Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE someone poor - William Blake

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Friday, August 26, 2022 7:33 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by SignyM:
Quote:
Originally posted by Brenda:
Back from my walk and everything done. Even made a dental appointment to get some more work done. Turns out my insurance isn't maxed out and with medical covering some and me, it will be okay. Got my last refill of thyroid done too.

There was some rain when I got off a bus to go to the pharmacy and the dentist.

The dentist was a spur of the moment thing just to ask a question but with the info, I thought why not.

Also bought a second hand Dr. Who book at a little store in the same area.

Well that's good news on the inurance! And you got your refills and a new book too. Sounds like a good day, Brenda!

-----------
Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE someone poor - William Blake

It was a good day.

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Friday, August 26, 2022 7:34 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by SignyM:
Just saw my cardiologist bc I'm in the home stretch of my infusions (just two more months) one of which is cardiotoxic. But so far, so good. I learned that they will monitor me for a year following the end of treatment (MORE Dr appts!!) but since she considers me to be in generally good health (REALLY?? She must see some really sick people!) any negative effects should reverse in a few weeks. That was good to hear

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Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE someone poor - William Blake

That's good news for you too, SIG.

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Friday, August 26, 2022 7:36 PM

Also got a call today from my doctor's office about the x-ray he ordered for my right shoulder. There is no arthritis in the shoulder joint and no tears in the rotator cuff. So good news there as well.

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Friday, August 26, 2022 7:37 PM

Found the first episode of series 7 of Shetland on YouTube yesterday and started watching it today.

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Friday, August 26, 2022 8:35 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:
Bear wtih me, SIX, I'm slow ... So, you disconnected the studs from the sill plate where it was bad and lifted just a hair using the header? That way you could knock out the sill plate where it was bad, and knock in a replacement. Then you nailed or screwed (using rust proof nails and screws) the studs back onto the (new) sill plate. And now you intend to re-attach the (new) sill plate to the foundation. Is that abut right?

Yeah. You got it. I disconnected the studs using a metal cutting saw blade to shear the old nails after it was jacked up. I actually did it again on my own with my single bottle jack to take out the last old piece. It really wasn't all that bad, but there was some ant damage so I'm still glad I did it.

Quote:
Thanks for the explanation!

Yep.

Quote:
PS: $16 for a fricken 8' 2X4?!?!

I know, right? "Only" 5 bucks for regular studs, but green board prices around here are disgusting right now.

Speaking of which, I need to see if I can get a 3ft length of 2x6" green tonight. (I need 22" and if there are any 3ft or under lengths in the "value wood", it will only cost me .89 cents) I used 2x6 as plates up against the walls over the new sill to cover up any wall damage and then caulked everything with watertite like I did in the garage. The only section that is missing a board now doesn't actually need it, but I want everything uniform. Also, it gives something for me to screw into outside. I'm going to make sure the wall under the siding is tight to the new wood.

I already replaced J channel on the side of the overhead shed door in back, but I have to replace the entire length on the side too. The old one was nailed into the rotted sill plate and fell off last night. Thing weighed about 20lbs because of how much dirt and moss was in it. I've got 4 or 5 more 12ft lengths of the stuff from when I did the windows next year, so tomorrow I'll get a new one up there.

Still didn't get to any concrete repair, but as long as I get my shopping done tonight and I can get everything I need, I don't think it should take me past mid-afternoon to get everything else done so I can get back to giving that crack a deep clean and at least get the slurry coat of patch down at the bottom of the crack.

Finger's crossed!

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Falsus in unum, falsus in omnibus

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Friday, August 26, 2022 8:47 PM