The new campfire thread...ooooh purrrrty!!!!!!

[toypusher]

Pain killers and steroids that I am taking help a lot. I can still work, just can't do anything except mow and drive the truck. I had bought a new 2 gal sprayer a week or so ago and finally got it out this morning and sprayed a lot of weeds. The weeds have gotten totally out of hand around here this year. I have been too tired or the weather has been bad most days when I got home. (that is just an excuse though and I am trying to remedy that). As far as retirement, this could very well be my last season to mow. Heck, might even not make it through this season.

 

[Fenlason]

I did some work with Dave Thursday.. building some new bikes.. I am not being compensated for that work.. in this case it was a day of heavy rain. We do have some other weekend work coming up. I guess we need to verify that that they are paid work like this last one. Typically like back at the shop I didn't want to work weekends.. this is different for Laurie and Angela are working with us.. and it's fun work.. and the compensation is great!

We ended up doing trail work all weekend. First up was cleaning up the skinny farm area on the lawn. For one it just needed to be mowed. We did have some stumps to remove, and had other stuff to clean up. We also did some work out in the woods.. some string trimming.. We scouted and flagged 2 new trails... and did more work on a new technical trail we started earlier.

 

[toypusher]

Off to get my MRI and Cat Scan in a bit. Taking anti anxiety meds and they are already work after about 20 minutes. Feeling a bit loopy. just hope they get me through the MRI.

 

[Fenlason]

Good luck with the test!

We are finally supposed to cool off today. We have been warm and humid.. temps into the 90's and 100's.. this morning it was still in the low 80's.

We have had several showers pass through.. and by tomorrow morning we should be back to comfortable stuff.

We have continued to do trail work through it... and ride. We had 7 people on last nights ride. We did also have others that did not want to ride because of the heat.

The new trail area is a big hit for some people.. others not so. It is a pretty cool challenging area.. yet there is a way to get through it for the less skilled rider.

We had a good Forth of July.. we were out early and got a lot of work done.. but got talked into heading over to a nearby camp. [John, and Dan you ride here regularly] It is their in-laws place.. but they are out there a lot. It's on the otherside of the pond from where are trail run. We headed over there for a boat ride.. and some swimming.. then ended up staying for supper.. and then a 4th of July boat parade.. followed by Camp Caribou's fireworks. [seen from the boat]. It was all quite nice.

 

[toypusher]

The drugs worked pretty well and it went fairly smooth. However, I cam home and slept for about 3 hours and when I woke up, I was really groggy for several hours. Should be a really nice day today and I am hoping to get the lawn mowed, some trimming done, and week spraying. Also, want to do laundry and maybe grocery shopping. I intend on going to the range sometime today also. Last time there with the new (to me) rifle, it was just a bit off to the right. Hoping to get the sights right today. I may not have said anything, but I got a Mossbery 432K (vintage about 1959 or so). It is .22 cal bolt action with 7-shot magazine. Really fun to shoot.

 

[Fenlason]

I am glad you made it through your MRI.

It sounds like you had a full day planned.

Yesterday we did a ride on the A trail. 1600+ feet of climbing in 10 miles... and it's fairly rocky.. My fitness is way down.. and it kicked my butt.

We got up at 5:30 to go do it... and I was up a lot the night before.. I had fallen back asleep.. before it was time to get up.. and I was in a deep sleep cycle... and it was hard to get going.

by the time we got home.. I napped... and then I was still groggy when I woke up. We did get a bridge built late yesterday. we will have a bit of earth work to do at the ends.. but it's there.

We have another day of comfortable weather here.. before more warmth and humidity comes back.

 

[Fenlason]

We did a lot more trail work Sunday.. in that same area.
Monday and today was hot and humid again.. getting back into the 90's [although not quite as bad as last week.]

I have worked on staining the porch soffits.. [each side] and adding trim. I have picked up various fuels..[gas and diesel] I have done other work on the porch.. repaired my arched beam jig.. cleaned up a little in the barn.

We had a great ride Monday night.. a small turn out.. but a fun ride.. and I felt pretty good. Although after Saturdays and Mondays ride.. I felt pretty trashed tonight.. we had some storms come through so we bailed on the ride.

 

[toypusher]

Friday the 13th was yesterday and lived up to it's name for me (not all bad, but enough for one day). Actually it has been most all week except for Monday - Monday was a decent day. OK, we have 4 guys that work with me on occasion (never all at once). So, Tuesday my main helper calls off sick and I have to get one of the other guys who is not very good. That evening I talk to my old helper and he says he will be available to help out off and on. Nice I am thinking. Wednesday, my main helper has a medical appointment and so do I. I was planning on working starting about 11 Wednesday, but he was not available and I could get no response to text for voice mail. So, I just packed it in for Wednesday. Thursday morning the main guy needed to go to court about custody of his kids. Again nothing from him all day and I got the same guy as on Tuesday to help out. Yesterday morning, I had not heard from any of the guys that help out on occasion. I texted and call all of them and got no response at all. Well, my doctor says that I can drive and can us riding mowers, but NOTHING else at work. So, after about 2 hours of trying to find one of them, I finally got the guy that worked with me 2 years ago and he came out after he got off work at the golf course. Then at our first stop, he set on of our gas cans out on the curb and we ended up driving away with out it and when we returned it was gone. And I am not sure that there is going to be anyone available to help next week.

Also, the doctor says that if I can live with the pain for a couple months that my partial herniated disc should dry up and dissolve enough to quit pinching nerves and then in the fall he can operate and do another fusion to keep it from happening again. But, it it gets worse in the next couple months, then he will have to operate sooner.

 

[Fenlason]

It sounds like a "fun" day. You guys seem to have trouble with help..

Things are ok here. We have done a ton of trail work. We are supposed to have some storms coming through today.. and I was going to take a needed rest day.. but then I saw where things were supposed to start until mid morning. [Although at 11:00 still nothing] Anyways I went out for a couple hours early. I could have worked longer but I was tired.. and wanted help on that particular project.

Dave and Angela have had it rough.. Dave hurt is ankle / foot here Saturday riding. He was looking at our new drop.. and really wanted to ride it. He looked at lines.. rode up to it.. and really checked stuff out. He was to fly out Sunday.. so Angela talked him out of trying it now. She finally suggested he go play on this fun hill he likes near the house. He did.. and that is where he got hurt..

They say nothing is broken.. but he might have torn his achilles tendon.

Last night he oldest daughter went into the hospital with a bad kidney infection. Angela is supposed to have her follow up appointment on her wrist today. It's looking like Laurie will go stay with the daughter.. and I will drive Angela to her appointment. It's an hour or so away.. she still have the cast on one arm/hand.. and the other is still sore from that dog bite.

 

[toypusher]

WOW! sounds like a run of bad luck for them.

We are still having employee problems. Not sure how things will be next week, but it is supposed to be sorted out by the end of this week. No doing much mowing anyway due to the lawns being all dried out and not growing. Only been working a couple hours each day lately.

I have a temp dental crown and it came out last night and then dentist says to just chew on the other side and come in Monday for my permanent crown to be put on.

 

[Fenlason]

Wow! It's been almost a week since I have posted.

We are to have a semi rainy week. Which I guess can sound sort of depressing.. but we need the rain.. and some rest might not be a bad idea for me.

I am feeling sort of yucky today.. my stomach is so so at the moment. I have been out and done some tool maintenance this morning. Most of last week was trail work. We have continued work in the new area of ledge "drops".. as well as doing side projects. We have done some maintenance on trails we have been riding all along. String trimming etc. We did some major alterations to the beginning of another nearby trail. It has a tapered exposed ledge.. far to the left it's just a down hill.. as you move to the right.. ledge becomes exposed.. and as you move left the drop increases to maybe 30" There was a small tree in the landing area.. as well as some big jagged rocks. That area has been "fixed". We also found that this ledge.. travels maybe 400-500 feet which also brings it out beside another dual tract trail. So we have been working on building a trail there. We have just a little more earth work to do on that.. then it is ready. Another nearby short connector trail hasn't been used in a few years.. so we re-claimed that.. and made another connector to connect the new ledge trail to this. This gives us a lot of little interconnected trail in that area.

Dave and Angela's daughter ended up having e coli It took a little while for them to know that [they have to wait for cultures to grow etc.] Once they did she improve fairly quickly.

Angela does need surgery.. and because the original injury was 5+ weeks ago they have to take tendon material from elsewhere.. to reconstruct. Which is more work.. and more healing than had they done this at the beginning.. They told her at this point there is no rush.. that she could choose when to have it done.. She has a cast on.. can't do much of anything.. and is in a bit of pain. I think she wants it done as soon as possible.

Dave is back from Ca. is going to try to get in to the Dr. today on his ankle.. While in Ca. the team doctors took a look. They did find something partically dislocated.. and adjusted that... and agree with a probable achilles tendon issue.. but there is still so much swelling they couldn't tell without an MRI.

 

[Fenlason]

An easy day here.. it was cloudy.. and VERY humid.. but most of the day was rain free. It was mostly as easy day here. I did work on some tools.. cleaned up some bikes.. and brush cut some stuff up the road from the driveway... Heading north I can mow.. the other direction no so. We had something for big weeds.. and some trees starting. It was stuff that was heavy enough I used the brush cutter.. not the string trimmer.

Angela's last news on her thumb was with her doctor reading the MRI.. NOT the radiologist.. she got a call back today.. It's not fully torn.. no surgery.. and she is supposed to remove the cast and start doing PT.... and Dave has completely torn his achilles tendon.. and has some calf tears also. He is having surgery tomorrow.

 

[toypusher]

Sounds like good news bad news for your friends. Hope the surgery and recovery goes well.

It was like the Sahara dessert here last week and now since Saturday it is nothing but rain. Saturday we got 2.5" of rain, then Sunday not so bad, but since then it has been bad. Since I emptied my rain gauge Sun morning, we have had 4.5" of rain as of 0630 this morning and they are saying at least 3.5" more today and tonight.

 

[Fenlason]

That's a lot of rain.. So far our rainy week.. hasn't added up to much. We are still quite humid.. Hmm Dave isn't having his surgery until next Monday. They would have liked to have done it right after he injured it.

An easy day here today.. of course I have been awake sine 3:00 something this morning.. then I was pretty headachey.. I built some new bikes for Dave today.. and otherwise did some mowing.

 

[toypusher]

Today (later this afternoon) we will be back at work mowing. As of this morning we have had 12" of rain in the last 5 days. Getting kinda water logged. Last evening it rain so hard that we had flooding in the fields across the street from our driveway. There was at least 4 feet of water in places for it to be that high.

 

[Fenlason]

We had another work weekend with Dave. We left later Thursday.. and got back at 8:00 or so last night.

We were at a mountain bike festival in Vt. It was another of those places not easy to get to. Not much for east to west roads. This one was smaller and less busy.. than the last one.. but overall still a bit of work. This one.. Dave and Angela had no kids.. and we all left from here.. so we were able to take one vehicle.

I am pretty trashed this morning. [Not a lot of sleep the past few days].. but we do also have.

I am not sure what's up for today. We have a lot of vegetative growth closing in on the driveway.. and it's pretty bumpy. I might put the box scraper on the tractor to try and fix that... and work on cutting stuff back.

 

[toypusher]

Well, just can't find any help it looks like. Dave told me Friday that he was not coming back, but the boss talked to him and he is still available. So, I sent him a text last night about working today and he responded this morning saying he could. Ok, then I texted him a couple hours later about starting at 11:00 and he said he could not! So, now I have to wait for our best guy to get off work at 1:30 or so. And it is supposed to be raining by about 2 this afternoon. Great week so far for me.

 

[Fenlason]

Sorry about the lack of help.

Re-reading my post above.. the weekend sounded like a chore. The lack of sleep was just me. They are semi long days. I was pretty tired yesterday. We did have fun though. Our acommadations were very close by. I think Dave said it was a Holiday Inn.. but the part we were in were re-claimed condos. The area was a skis mountain that closed down. We have a 2 bedroom, 2 bath.. with a kitchen, living and dinning room. It a quite nice place, just down the hill from where we were set up with the bikes.

I did get my driveway fixed.. I put on the box scraper.. and used it to dig down.. and then level the bad part of the driveway. I then used the string trimmer and loppers to prune back the driveway. I went out for some trail work this morning.. about 3 hours worth.. I quit early.. kind of sick to my stomach..it is still rather humid.. and I am having a hard time drinking enough. I am talking it easy this afternoon.. to recover for tonights ride.

 

[Fenlason]

We have been quite hot and humid. We have continued to do some trail work... working most every day. Monday not.. Laurie had an appointment for her eyes. She has a disease that affects her corneas.. It is a progressive disease and they are getting worse. She needs surgery. Monday was with the surgeon. They do an eye at a time.. but will have her corneas replaced. They will also address cataracts at the same time. Her's aren't particularly bad yet.. but I am not sure they can do that surgery after the cornea transplant. In her case they will do both surgeries at once.

 

[toypusher]

We have been quite hot and humid. We have continued to do some trail work... working most every day. Monday not.. Laurie had an appointment for her eyes. She has a disease that affects her corneas.. It is a progressive disease and they are getting worse. She needs surgery. Monday was with the surgeon. They do an eye at a time.. but will have her corneas replaced. They will also address cataracts at the same time. Her's aren't particularly bad yet.. but I am not sure they can do that surgery after the cornea transplant. In her case they will do both surgeries at once.

WOW! That is quite a bit to deal with at one time. Hope all goes well.