the weekend is almost upon us

Good morning.
As expected, it's been a crazy busy week. But that's soon to end.  :-)
And our little mini drought has continued. No rain for over a month, except one day when it poured for like 3 minutes. The grass is slowly browning, as I don't have time to keep that watered. It takes all my spare time trying to keep the perrenial beds alive.
Here's a few pics of the yard from this morning....

With us normally taking off Sun, Mon, Tues, and the 4th on Wed., we will have a nice l-o-n-g weekend. Can't wait.
But first, we have to finish the work week.

and back to work

Good morning.
It' was a fairly productive weekend.
Despite my knee issue, (which is slowly getting better)  I managed to get a lot done. I washed Boston and Kia. (yep, Craig named his new Hyundai Boston, because the color is called Boston Red)
I also trimmed up a large snowball bush, weeded, and used a 4th gallon of crack filler on the driveway.

 The darker color is what I did this year, the lighter color is crack filler that survived from last year.

If you click on the pics, you'll see the cracks even better. I think the driveway is more cracks than not, but we're not ready to spend big bucks to have it repaved. It's about 20 x 80 feet. It cost enough 20 some years ago. Don't want to think how much it would cost to replace now.
But with crack filler and sealer every year, I think we can make it at least another 5 years.  :-)
And since we liked the new recipe for oven fried veggies, we made them again to go with baked chicken for dinner.

This time, besides cauliflower and zucchini, we also tried mushrooms.

It was delish!
And now, time for another work week.

I love grillin

Good morning.
The weather's cooled down a bit with temps running in the low 70's.  It's been so dry, area lawns are starting to brown. I've been busy watering my many flowerbeds. The good thing about no rain, the grass doesn't grow much.  :-)
I spent a good part of yesterday, weeding, (yes, the weeds grow with or without rain) cleaning birdbaths, (we have 5) and deadheading the early perennials that have finished blooming.
I grilled marinated pork cutlets and skewered veggies for dinner. Served with a side of wild rice. Made enough for leftovers during the work week.

And now I'm going out to do more weeding, while I let Craig get his beauty sleep.  :-)

hi

Good afternoon.
Well, the work week ended as expected, very busy. We somehow got a couple of birds in our Salon on Saturday, and fortunately, they went out when  we propped open the  door. We tried to figure out how they could possibly get into the Salon. We've been here 15 years and  never had a bird in the Salon. The only thing I could find was an exhaust vent to one of the empty units near us that wasn't sealed. I took care of that, and when I went in this morning to clean the Salon, no birds. So I hope that was the problem.
In other news.....
I came home and washed the Hyundai and the front of the mo-ho.
We haven't been on a RV trip the entire month, but do have one coming up in a couple of week's.
I also weeded the rock garden, and fixed a mudflap on the car caddy. Lost a nut I replaced.
My knee continues to improve. The bursa is getting smaller each day.
It's been very dry here and I've been watering quite a bit.
And with that, time for dinner.
Marinated round steak on the grill with baked potato and corn on the cob. Yum!

wasn't that nice and not so nice

Now wasn't that nice.
I got home from work yesterday, to find a box by the door. It was from Great Harvest Bread Co.
I opened it up to find this...

2 loaves of bread, and a big bag of cookies.
Sent from the salesman that sold us Craig's Hyundai.
I thought that was a nice gesture. I've never received a thing from any one else after buying a car.
That's like when we took the car in to have mud flaps installed, when I picked it up, they had also washed the car and left a carnation on the dash. No other dealer has ever washed my car after a service.
Nice stuff.
In other news....
It's been a very busy week in the Salon.Will be working late today and tomorrow.
The leg continues to improve. Redness, gone. Soreness, gone. the bursa continues to slowly shrink. I was told by a customer who is a retired nurse, that it will take some time for the bursa to return to normal. It takes time for the fluid to be reabsorbed. I just need to be very careful when kneeling so as to not aggravate it.
Now the not so nice....
The stylist that was to join our staff in July called and decided to stay at her former Salon with the new owners. I was nice to her on the phone, but a bit ticked off when I hung up. She originally approached me and really wanted to work in our Salon. She was burned out from owning a Salon as I have said in a previous post, and really liked our setup. We had several meeting. We really didn't have room for her, but with some adjustments, I figured we could get it to work. She wanted promises that I'd hold that station for her and not rent to anyone else. To make it work, I had to have a station for her to use. We have a stylist, Colleen,  that works Mon. Tues. and Wed., 8-3. Craig works Wed -Sat. I figured I'd come in on Wed. and work 9-12, Craig could use my station and work 12-3, and then he could use Colleen's 3-close. and use her station Thur-Sat. Then I had to clear out and condense cabinets in the back room to fine enough space for her supplies. I also added an extra shelf to the shampoo station cabinets to make room for more product there.
Anyway, I went through a lot to make it work for this new stylist, just to have it not happen. I realize situations change, but she was the one adamant about working here.
Overall, it's not a big deal, just short term I'm pissed. I'll get over it and it will be nice to have the extra storage that I'm sure I will easily fill with more crap.  :-)
And with that, it's time to get ready for another busy day at work.

the 3rd opinion didn't work

Good morning.
Actually, it's not a good morning.
We were awaken in the night with our co2 detector wailing. It was reading 168. I unplugged it and opened the windows and doors. It dropped below 50 in about 1/2 hour, but took an hour and a half to get back to normal. I turned the water heater down so it wouldn't fire the rest of the night. Obviously, the 'fix' of extending the exhaust pipe isn't working.
I think we need another 'expert' opinion. I've not been impressed with the last 3 'experts'. But I'll talk it over with Craig later today.
In other news, the redness on my leg is finally gone as is the warmth. Even the Bursa is shrinking in size. So some good news there at least.
And now, time for another work week that's looking pretty busy.

Looking good!

Good afternoon.
To catch you up to speed......
The pharmacy called and my doctor decided another week of antibiotics was needed.
My leg continues to improve. The bursa is slowly getting smaller, and the redness is almost gone.
With my leg feeling much better, I've been back to work at home.
Over the last 2 days, I've used 3 gallons of crack filler to seal the cracks in the driveway in preparation for sealing. Our driveway is very old and should be replaced, but I keep nursing it along.  :-)
Filling all the cracks and sealing the driveway, has extended the life of the driveway by at least 5 years.
Monday, we got Craig's new splash guards/mud flaps installed, and had lunch at Cheddar's. We almost never eat out in Lansing, so it was a treat.
I also went in Monday afternoon to the Salon and laid the tiles around the water heater. Looks good.
Back home, I've also sprayed the paths for weeds, and did some more weeding.
Today, we did our usual shopping for the week, and while Craig mowed the yard, I used the 3rd gallon of crack filler on the driveway. For an afternoon snack, I whipped up some oven fried veggies.

I used zucchini and cauliflower. It was delish, and so easy!
Cut up the cauliflower and zucchini, dredge them in flour, egg and a Panko Parmesan seasoning mix, and place them on a greased baking pan. Cook for 25 min at 450, turning once half way through.
Serve with marinara sauce. Really good!
And now, Craig is fixing turkey burgers for dinner, and another busy week looms ahead.  :-)

here's an update

Good morning.
Well, things never go as expected.
I arrived at the Salon at 11am, and went into the malls utility room and turned off the water to our unit. Then attached a hose to the water heater, and put the other end out the back door into the parking lot.  Took about 45 minutes to drain the 75 gallon water heater. . I also noticed water was still trickling out of the sink faucet, so went back to the utility room and gave the nob another turn.  Was able to tighten it a bit more when all of a sudden, it just broke. It wasn't shooting water all over, the handle was just turning loosely.  That means the threads were stripped. The same thing happened a few years ago when we replaced our home water heater. So now we had another job for the plumber. And I had to call the landlord to pre-approve him doing the job. Ugh. It's always something.
So, I waited for the plumber to show up. 12 noon came and went, no plumber. I was beginning to worry he might have thought it was next Sunday. At quarter past, I called. He answered and said he was about 5 minutes away. Something about traffic. He finally arrived at 12:30.
I showed him the turn-off, and he said no problem with replacing it. Would charge me just $75 extra.
I called the landlord, and he was fine with that, and to just deduct it from next month's rent.
So, he was able to do it all and got finished about 2:45.

Old one top, new one bottom.
After they left, I headed over to the pharmacy. I had called when they opened and the pharmacist was very apologetic, and said to come in and they'd replace the pills. I didn't know if they'd just replace the 2 dark pills or give me extra since I didn't know if I'd taken the right number of the right pills. When I arrived, she apologized more and gave me a whole new supply. She said she'd call my doctor on Monday, to make sure he wanted me to have that many. At least I know I have enough to finish off this infection, which today is looking pretty good. I still have a swollen Bursa, but I think even that is beginning to shrink.
Anyway, back at home I did some weeding followed by cocktails and relaxing on the deck.
This morning, I was at the Salon. When the floor was laid 15 years ago, the installer cut tiles to fit around the old water heater feet. Of course, the new water heater doesn't sit the same way. So I tore up the tiles around the new heater and prepped the floor for new tiles. The tile adhesive needs to sit about 8 hours before placing the tiles, so I'll go in this afternoon and do that.
Also this morning, we take Craig's new car in for the installation of splash guards.
But right now, I need to place an online order for Salon supplies before I take my shower and get Craig up.

Now this!

Good morning.
I've just returned form cleaning the Salon.
I still have a little bit of redness and tenderness on my leg. I looked to see how many more antibiotic pills I had left. When I dumped them out of the bottle, here's what I saw.....

3 light blue pills, and 2 dark blue pills. The light ones have P126 on one side, and 500 on the other. The dark blue pills have an F on one side and 83 on the other. I dug out the paper that came with them, and I'm suppose to be taking a dark blue  pill with P126 on one side, and 500 on the other. Well that pill is LIGHT blue. I went online and googled the other pills to find out they are for treating Herpes.
That's just great! I'm not even sure what I've been taking. I only take them twice a day, so I just pop one out of the bottle, and take it. I couldn't even tell you if they were light blue or dark blue. It was only a 7 day prescription, so that means there were only 14 pills. Even if there were only 2 dark blue pills in the bottle, how did they get in there? How do you fill a bottle with just 14 pills and not have them all the same?
So first, I have to call the pharmacy when they open at 11 and figure out what they want to do. And Monday, I'll have to call my doctor, and see if I need another prescription.
I was thinking my leg should have been looking better than it is.
Anyway, in other news......
The week ended very busy, and after work, we went to Kohl's with a 20% off everything coupon. Craig got a pair of pants and a shirt, and I got 2 new shirts.
Back home we relaxed on the deck, enjoying the 90 degree day, and Craig made pizza for dinner. Today, I go back to the Salon at 11 to empty the water heater in preparation for the arrival of a new one at noon.
And with that, it's time for my shower and to get Craig up.

my leg hasn't fallen off yet.

Good afternoon.
My leg continues to improve. I still have some redness, and the bursa is still too swollen to be able to kneel on that knee. But I have no rash. And I do have 3 1/2 more days of medication. Hope it helps.
Work has been crazy busy, and it's probably not helping my condition. Standing all day. But I have to work to pay all the doctors bills.
Actually, my leg feels just fine, except for the swollen bursa. After another busy day tomorrow, I'll try and take it easy for another weekend.
I do have to be at the Salon on Sunday. We are replacing the water heater. It is 20 years old, and instead of waiting for it to go bad and temporary put us out of business, we decided to be proactive and replace while it still works.  The company we have doing it doesn't charge any more for weekend  work. That will be minimal disruption for the staff.
 And now Craig is calling me for dinner. It's Boca Burgers tonight. We like the Mushroom Lovers and the Pizza ones. Yum!

medical update

Good morning.
 Well, let's bring you up to speed.
Monday, I went back to the Ready Care clinic, and they decided I was allergic to the antibiotic. So he told me to stop taking both medicines. My leg wasn't completely better yet, but he thought it was no longer a possible infection, and to wait a few days and see how it goes. I thought I should have gotten a different antibiotic and continued with treatment, but you should trust the doc I guess. The leg was actually feeling pretty good. I still had some redness and warmth, but not much. So, we went on with our day. Shopping, banking and post office.
 Back home, the guy from Eifert Mechanical showed up to put the extension on the water heater exhaust pipe. Took all of about a half hour. Now we'll see if that makes that issue any better.
Then, since I didn't want to do too much, we went out for a late lunch. We don't go out to eat much, so this was a nice treat.
I spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing on the deck, watching my rash slowly fade.  :-)
Tuesday morning, My leg was feeling a bit more sore. I stopped at the Salon to check my books for Wednesday, and 2 of my staff looked at my leg and said I needed to go to the doctor now.  Redness and warmth meant infection.
So I decided to go to my regular Physician. Called and was able to get in. He said the same thing as the staff did. Redness and warmth meant an infection.  He prescribed me a different antibiotic, and we were off to the pharmacy. He also said to go back on the Ibuprofen as I still was a little swollen.
So back home, I spent another day doing pretty much nothing.
And now it's Wednesday, and I accomplished nothing in the yard for the entire weekend. I feel I'm falling way behind in my yard maintenance, but I suppose it'll all still be there next weekend.  My leg is feeling much better this morning, after just one dose of the new antibiotic.
And I appear to have a rash on my sides this morning. Not sure if it's a new rash, but I think it is. I'll wait to see if I break out on my arms and legs. If I do, then it must be the Ibuprofen I'm allergic to. I'll know in a few hours because I had already took another dose when I woke up this morning. Before I noticed the rash.   :-\
I've had Ibuprofen before, but not this strength, and not for as long. 
At least I'm able to go back to work on the leg.  :-)
And it's looking to be a fairly busy week.
And I'll end this post with a few current pics of the yard....

This last pic is my giant Hosta, Blue Angel.  You can tell how big it is by comparing it to the bathroom window.

Now this?

Good morning.
Well, if it isn't one thing it's another.
I awoke this morning to discover, I have a rash all over my body.

It's not real red, but the skin feels very 'lumpy'.
So I went online to find that it could be either medication that I've been taking. So I stopped both the Cephalexin and Ibuprofen, Though I think it's probably the first one because I've taken Ibuprofen in smaller doses and have been fine. But the clinic doesn't open until 10, so I'll have to wait to see what direction to go. My leg has gotten way better, but there is still some redness, swelling, stiffness, and it's still a bit warm to the touch. Nothing like 3 days ago, but not completely better either.
I have been real good at doing nothing. Hope it doesn't get to be a habit I enjoy.  :-)
I made it through my light Saturday, resting and elevating my leg when I could, and spent the afternoon in the recliner. Sunday, I did mow the yard, but only with the rider. And the clutch was done with my left foot, so no stress to my right one. The down side of mowing was I got to see up close, all the work I should be doing. Oh well, it'll still be the next weekend.
Poor Craig has had to pick up the slack during this. He cleaned the Salon, and has done house work besides his usual laundry and bookkeeping.
So this saga continues. I'll update when I know more.

No, I'm not a doctor.

Good morning.
Well, I found out I don't make a good doctor.
After work yesterday, I decided to go to an urgent care facility, because the leg was still warm,  sore, swollen, and red. I was concerned about possible infection. Turned out, I irritated the bursae and caused trauma to a tendon. I was seriously inflamed. Working all day on Wednesday, and 10 hours on Thursday, on my feet, was not a good thing.
So he gave me a prescription for extra strength Ibuprofen (800mg), for the inflammation, and an antibiotic for possible infection. And was told to stay off the feet as much as possible. Fortunately, I have a very light day today. Just 3 customers who are all cut and color. Should have plenty of time to rest in between. Then I have 3 days to help recovery.
It's not going to be easy just sitting around thinking about everything I need to do, but the quicker this thing heals up, the quicker I'll be back doing what I want/need to do.  So after today, I'll do nothing but sit and rest my leg.
In other news.....
Also after work yesterday, before the urgent care facility, I took Craig out to the Hyundai dealer to pick up his new car. Once we signed all the papers and wrote them a check, I took off for the doctor, letting the salesman show him all the  special things this new car came with.
And her he is, the proud daddy of a shiny red Hyundai Accent SE Hatchback..........

And now, I'm off to elevate my leg for a bit before I shower and head to work.

It's hell getting old

Good morning.
Well, my knee issue continues. This morning, it was swollen, very warm, sore and stiff. I went online. Looks like I've got bursitis. Definitely did some damage to the bursae on the front, below my knee. The knee has these sacks of fluid that helps cushion the knee, and kneeling on it for that extended time working on the mower belt, apparently caused some trauma to the lower front one. Apparently it's more common in people over 50.  :-\
The treatment is for rest, ice, and over the counter anti-inflammatory medication. It was actually a little better yesterday, But it was a very long day at work, and that must have aggravated it more. But today and tomorrow are shorter days, and I'll take ice to work and try to ice it a few times during the day.
And it looks like I'll have to take it easy this weekend, if I want it to heal. And I really have so much I wanted to do.  :-(
But I don't want it to turn into a chronic condition, so I'll be good and lay low. But first, I have to finish the work week. But I'll try to rest it as much as possible.
And now off I go.

waiting ion that new car smell

Good morning.
Well, yesterday, we went car shopping.  But we have tio wait for that new car smell.
Craig's been looking at cars online for a while and decided he wanted to check out  the Hyundai Accent. We arrived at the dealership at 10am, took a test drive, and then worked out what we think is a pretty good deal. Craig really wanted a color that is called Mocha Bronze.

But what we saw on the website above, wasn't what it looked like in person below.

So first he thought he'd go with Ironman Silver, but ended up deciding on Boston Red.

Of course, They didn't have one on the lot, so the search is on. We should hear today when it'll arrive.
In other news....
I got a new belt for the mower, and installed that and gave the rider a test run and it looks like it'll work fine.
Also, I got up this morning with pain and tenderness just below my right knee cap. Not sure what's going on there, I don't remember doing anything unless I somehow injured it working on the mower. I'll give it a couple of days. I can walk okay, it just mostly hurts when I go to sit or stand. It's hell getting old.
And now, it's time for another work week that's looking quite busy.

Ahh, new bikes!

Good morning.
After 20 years, we've got new bikes.
I knew our old ones were old, but until Craig dug up the old receipts, (yes, he keeps records of everything!) I didn't realize how old they were.
On our last trip, Craig was having problems with shifting gears and braking. I adjusted the brake cables and got them working  but tying to adjust the shifting thingys, I broke it. :-(

Soooo, back home, we went looking for a new bike for Craig. Found it at Walmart. 

In the picture, his old one was red, the new one below that. He wanted one with a lower seat, and higher handlebars. So this bike is called a cruiser bike. Tires bigger than the old 10 speeds, but smaller than a mountain bike. With a bigger padded seat and this bike is a 7 speed. Yes, it's an old farts bike that still looks fairly sharp.  :-)

Then, all of a sudden, I didn't like my bike anymore.   :-)

I mean, it works perfectly fine, but for some reason, I didn't like it any more. Sooo, I got me a new one too!  :-)

A 21 speed mountain bike! Sweet! And the new bikes are so much lighter than the old ones. Will be much easier to mount on the mo-ho bike rack.  :-)
Okay, in other news.......
We had a third company come out yesterday to access our water heater venting issue. No one can seem to understand why our water heater is occasionally venting into the house. This company had a couple of different suggestions. Everyone else seems to think the only way to solve our problem is a closed system water heater. For $2000.00.  This company first, want to extend the top of the vent on the chimney. He thinks if we get it higher, we'll have more updraft. The other suggestion would be to reconfigure the exhaust pipe. It now goes over at an angle, bends around the furnace exhaust before twisting into the chimney.

So if the extension of the vent doesn't solve the issue, he suggests running the exhaust pipe straight up into the attic, then over to the chimney to create better updraft. So we decided to go with his suggestion. A lot cheaper than a new water heater. I'll keep you posted as to the success or failure of this idea.
 Anyway, it was another nice , but a bit cool day. We finished the day looking at new cars on the internet. Yep, Craig is getting that new car itch. His PT Cruiser is 9 years old, and he's feeling he needs incentive to keep working past 62, which is just a few months away.   :-)
I told him the Kia is his too, but he calls it 'my' car. Oh well.
So, this morning, it's car shopping time. So after I post this, I'm out to clean up the Cruiser for possible trade-in.
And with that, I'm outta here.

It's Monday, but not a work day for me. :-)

Good morning.
Well, the work week ended very busy. Got home around 3:30, and thought I should mow the lawn. Couldn't do it Friday after work, it rained all day.  But I decided I'd rather relax from the work week with a cocktail on the deck instead.  And it didn't take much to convince Craig either. :-) The grass wasn't going anywhere.  :-)
 Sunday, as usual, I cleaned the Salon. I then came home and did some weeding. The flower beds are looking real nice.
After I got Craig up, had our coffee, read the paper, and did some grocery shopping, I decided to get the lawn mowed while Craig did his usual laundry and bookwork. Well, the riding mower wouldn't start, so I hooked up the charger, and mowed the back yard with the push mower. It takes a long time to mow our big yard with a push mower. But got it done and tried to start the rider again. It started.  :-)
 Proceeded to mow the front yard. Got a couple of swipes, and the belt broke.  :-(   
 Had to finish with the push mower.
 That will be on our to do list this morning.
Since that took most of the day, I didn't get much else done.  But it was a very nice day with sun and temps in the low 70's. Did a pork roast on the grill with a rotisserie and grilled veggies.
I've already spent a couple of hours weeding this morning, and now it's time for a shower and wake up Craig.
And to make this post more visual, here's a pic of our pond.....

a busy week

Good morning.
The weather has been icky cold and wet. A good week to work.  :-)
The Salon has been quite busy this week, and I'm working late Saturday.
And I've got to go in early today.
So I better get going, but here's a few pics of the garden