no lights

Good morning.
Happy post Thanksgiving!
I'll try and get this  post done before my dsl goes out again.
Been having issues with either the modem or the service. I'll have internet, then all of a sudden a page won't load, and I look to see the dsl and internet light out. At first I thought it was the connection, so I'd re-power the modem. I have since found out that it'll go out, and come back at some point all by itself. Sometimes I'm off line 10 minutes, sometimes over an hour.  Anyway, I've got a tech coming out this afternoon after work. Yes we are working today and tomorrow. And I'm booked both days.
Now back to Thanksgiving....
We had a nice quiet day at home with a usual delicious turkey dinner. Watched some of the parades, and some football. I did most of the dinner myself, as I'm trying to let Craig take it easy as much as possible.
I went in to the Salon, as usual, Thanksgiving morning to decorate the Salon for Christmas.
 Blew 2 fuses on the lights putting them on the tree. Soon found out, I had no fuses left.  :-(
I ran over to Meijer, and they didn't have the ones I needed so I ran over to Walmart, and the same there. Being Thanksgiving and no other stores open, I went back to the Salon and finished decorating the tree. I went online when I got home and bought a 12 pack of fuses on E-Bay, but they won't arrive until Tuesday. I'll stop at an auto parts store on the way to work this morning, hoping they might have a fuse that fits. If not, the tree will have to go light less for a few days.   :-\
Better the tree than my house, right?  :-)
 Does anyone know where to get a 125v 5a fuse? It's 3/4 on an inch long.

So now, I'm off to work!
And for those lucky enough to have a long weekend,
Have a great weekend!

mo-ho update and computer repair

Good morning.
The unseasonably cold weather continues with the temp this morning only 19 and a high projected to be 26. We should be 40 this time of year.  :-\
We did pick up the mo-ho yesterday after they changed the oil and serviced the generator and drove it out to Flying J to top off the gas and propane. Like to keep them full in case we need it during the winter like we did last week.
We used 8lbs of propane and about 9 gallons of gas while we used the mo-ho when our home had no electricity. That translates into about $18 a day to stay in the mo-ho until our power was restored. A lot cheaper than staying in a hotel, and a lot less gas and propane than I thought we would use given how cold it was and how much we ran the generator.
In other news......

On Monday, I went out to a customers house to see if I could help with a puter issue. I've had no puter training myself, but people think I'm some sort of expert. I think I've just been damn lucky. And this time I was again. He was having problems loading windows. I tried to turn on the puter, and got no farther than the starting windows screen. There it just froze. So I did a hard shutdown, and restarted it in safe mode. There, I was able to determine the computer had lost the hard drive.

 

I was able to run a diagnostic, and it appeared to fix the problem. I restarted the puter, and it went all the way to the desktop. But there, things went really crazy. Little windows started popping up from the task bar saying all these different files were lost. There were dozens of them. I thought, "this doesn't look good at all!" So I did another hard shutdown. I thought I'd take the cover off the tower and check inside. Sometimes, if the insides get to dusty, it can over heat and cause odd issues. I took off the cover to find it not too bad. Probably wasn't that. I checked all the different connections and discovered the one from the motherboard to the hard drive was loose. I pushed it back on tight and restarted the puter. That was it! It came on and loaded perfectly normal. I ran a couple of diagnostics and everything was running smooth. I asked him how often he backs up.

He didn't even know what I meant. Sooo, I showed him how to easily and quickly he can back up all his important docs and pics, and told him to do this twice a year, so if his puter ever crashes and is lost for good, he'll have all his stuff to put on a new one.
So, I got lucky again with computer repair.   :-)
Back to Tuesday, with the bitter cold, I stayed indoors, cleaned, did laundry, and finished repacking all the mo-ho stuff away.
Trying to keep Craig relaxing, I fixed us a tasty dinner.
Yes, I really can cook if I need to.   :-)

Spicy-sweet pork cutlets with honey glazed carrots, steamed broccoli and wild rice. Made enough for leftovers for Wed.
And with that, time to get ready for a very busy day at the Salon, as we are closed tomorrow for Thanksgiving.

weekend update

Good morning.
It's been bitter cold out the last couple of days.
It's currently only 20 out this morning. Going for a high of just 33.  :-\
I did managed to get the mo-ho winterized, again, Friday after work. It was cold, but near 40. I bundled up, got it done.  :-)
I also managed to get the snow tires on the Kia. 
I'm taking the mo-ho in this morning for an oil change and generator service like I do at the end of every year.
And it's been a productive weekend so far. I got the Salon cleaned, all the laundry caught up, all the mo-ho stuff repacked away, and Craig got caught up on his bookkeeping.  With the windy cold crappy weather, I stayed inside and cleaned and took out screens. With the long dreary winter we have, we need as much light coming in as possible.  :-)
 Craig continues his very slow recovery. Because they can't 'set' the ribs like they do for other broken bones, they just have to heal on their own. I think that would mean taking longer to heal. And I think Craig is trying to do to much to soon. I'm constantly telling him to take it easy, or let me do it.
He's just impatient.  :-)
And so, time to go.

Home sweet home

Good morning.
And a good one it is because we are back in the house.   :-)
They got the power back on Thursday, and after work, I brought all our stuff back into the house.
I'm hoping to get the mo-ho re-winterized after work today, as the temps are expected to plummet this weekend into the teens. Today is suppose to be 44 with scattered showers. Tomorrow, just a high of 26.
I'm happy we had the mo-ho to use while the power was out. We managed just fine. Although we discovered living in the mo-ho is a lot different than taking weekend trips in it. You need a lot more 'stuff' when your living and working than when 'camping'.   :-)
This weekend will be catching up. Craig has 2 weeks of laundry, and I have to repack all the mo-ho stuff.
Work had also been busy, and today and tomorrow are booked.
Craig continues to improve. He's now sleeping all night in bed instead of part bed and part recliner. He's also off his prescription meds, taking just aspirin when needed.
And with that, time to get going.

No power for a week?

Good morning.
I write this in the comfort of our motor home.
We've decided to use it one more time this year. But not by choice.
Sunday, we headed over to Muskegon to see my Mom.
Cut her hair, emptied the trash, and took her to lunch and then the club. (the VFW)
While we were there, the sports channel that was on was interrupted by a weather advisory. Strong storms were heading into Michigan and the entire state was under a thunderstorm watch and a tornado watch. Mom thought we should cut our stay and head back to Lansing before the bad weather arrived. On the way back to her apartment, we stopped at the store for some supplies for Mom, and got her home. Hit the highway back to Lansing, and arrived safely ahead of the storms. I called Mom to let her know we arrived safe, and sat down in our TV room to watch the storm as it blew though. At one point the wind got incredible and the noise was deafening. Then the power went out. I called to report the outage, and we spent the evening playing on our tablets. Went to bed, still without power, and awoke with still no power. It was a cool 63 in the house when we awoke. Fortunately, the water in the water heater was still nice and warm for our showers. I checked outside to see numerous branches down, but nothing very large. I went over to the pole that the power line was on to see piles of sheet metal and 2x4s scattered around. Found out, they were from a shed behind our neighbor. The wind tore it off and blew it over the roof of their building and hit the power pole. There was damage and that was why we lost power. I called to get the automated time for restoring our power, and it said it should be restored by Sat. 11pm. SATURDAY?????
IT'S GOING TO TAKE A WEEK?
That's what happens when your just one home without power, you get pushed way down the list of repair priorities. 
So, with that, I went out to the Mo-ho, and turned the fridge on to transfer food.
I spent a good part of Monday un-winterizing the mo-ho and getting it ready to live in again.
Putting out the slides, I noticed that they seemed to be straining. Checked, and the house batteries were really low. I tried to start the generator, but not enough juice to get it going. So I started the mo-ho. That gave me enough juice to start the generator. I let it run an hour or so to charge the house batteries. After I turned it off, I ran the furnace and saw that the blower fan was draining the batteries way to fast. Those 11 year old batteries must be going bad. So.....I had to take them out, and find a place to get new ones. Told Craig to to run the engine to stay warm until I returned. It was only 41 out. Got back, got them installed, and we were good to go.
I did managed to run a phone line from the house to the mo-ho. And brought out the wireless modem, so I can get internet, but only while running the generator since the modem has to be plugged in, and all the plugs only have power if the mo-ho is plugged in or the gen is running. Soooo, I won't be online much this week until we're back in the house.
Oh, and Craig is doing pretty good. Still moving slow, and still quite sore. but he's slowly progressing.

Is there something in that pan?

Good morning.
It's been a busy week in the Salon so far. Craig is doing pretty good. He did 2 haircuts on Wed. and  2 cut/color and a haircut on Thursday. He's been taking his Norco just in the morning when he gets up, and just aspirin during the day.  He's trying to ween himself off the hard stuff.   :-)
Last Tues. when we made a spaghetti casserole, the pan he uses to boil the noodles started to act possessed! Like there was something in it trying to get out!
Pretty funny huh?
 Apparently the pan is bulging on the bottom when it starts to get hot. When it's cool, it's perfectly flat on the bottom.
Anyway, time for another workday.....

Yuk!

Good morning.
This is what I awoke to this morning......

Yuk! Too early!
But at least I did manage to get all the leaves up Sunday like I wanted to.
I took Craig out Sunday also, and he did very well. Walked with me to both stores I went to. Took him out Monday also, and he did very well. He seems to be making faster progress as time goes on. It might also be that he's now on Norco, instead of the powerful Oxycontin. But he says he's feeling so good, that he plans to return to work later this week on an extremely limited basis. One customer on Wed., 2 on Thur., 3 on Friday and Sat., with extra time between customers so he can rest.
He's also driving today when we go out to make sure he feels comfortable with that.
It's good to see him doing so well, since it's been just 2 weeks since he broke those ribs.
We also need to get another shoe rack to replace the one he broke when falling.  Do they make Nerf shoe racks?   :-)
Also, Monday morning, while Craig slept, I went in and got my first crown. No, not on my head, in my mouth. :-)
Back on our last RV trip, I broke a tooth. I went to the dentist when I returned, and he prepped it for a crown and put in a temporary one.  It had been on a watch for a possible future crown because the filling it had, had been replaced a couple times. But the install went smoothly, and today, it feels just like the rest of my teeth.
Anyway, time to get on with the day.

Ahhhh, a weekend

Good morning.
I've just returned from cleaning the Salon.
It was a busy week in the Salon, partly due to spreading Craig's customers amongst the rest of the staff.
Craig continues to improve. S-l-o-w-l-y. Bones don't heal fast.
He wants to go out with me today. He's getting tired of being shut up indoors.
I have to get laundry detergent for the Salon at Menard's, tp, paper towels, and coffee supplies for the Salon at Gordon's, and what ever he decides he wants for dinner at Meijer's. He can sit in the car, or walk in with me. We'll see how he feels.
He has been able to do bookwork this week during the day when he feels good.  It helps to keep him busy during the day. I'm happy I don't have to try and deal with it, and I'm sure he's happy I'm not  touching it.   ;-)
During the week, the rest of the leaves from my 2 large Maples came down, and hopefully, I'll get them up this afternoon. We're in for some bitter cold weather starting tomorrow with temps only in the 30's for highs this week. Nearly 20 degrees below normal.
I may have to finish cutting down the rest of the perennials in the spring if the weather stays like this.
And now, time for my shower and to get on with the day.

termite update....and a Craig one too

Good morning.
Rose Pest Solutions came out yesterday to check the bait traps again, and this time found just 2 with termite activity.  We had 4 last time. He said most likely, the termite nest has shrunk due to the feeding, and there's probably not as many foragers available to feed. The other unusual thing I noticed, was one of the active bait stations was on the west side of the house below a bedroom window where we had indoor active termite activity earlier. The other bait station was near the south east side of the house. That's got to be nearly 40 feet from the other and there is 3 other bait stations in between. He said, "that's termites".  They will travel up to 350 ft looking for food. And that's why they couldn't guarantee  when they would find the bait stations. The termites randomly forage for food, and they 'stumble' on the bait stations. That's why, even though we only had visible activity on one side of the house, they put stations all the way around it.
In Craig news......
He continues his slow healing. He is able to get in and out of his chair easier, and the same with the bed. he also has been able to tend for himself, so I'm not as anxious going to work and leaving him. He still sleeps a lot, but that's probably a combination of the body trying to heal, and the side effects of the Oxycontin he's on for a couple more days. On Saturday, he's being switched to Norco. It's very similar to Vicodin, but contains less Acetaminophen than Vicodin. Still a strong pain reliever. He'll have a 2 week supply, and by the end of that, should be able to get by on over the counter stuff if needed.
And with that, time for me to get to work.
Someone needs to make some money.   :-)

a Craig update.

Good morning.
I write this as Craig is sleeping. He's been sleeping about 12 hours a day since he came home. Probably good, as he didn't get much in the hospital for 4 days, and with less movement, the ribs can heal quicker, hopefully.
I've made a few adjustments to our home. First off was a riser for the toilet. Second, a bigger table by his recliner to hold his water, cell phone, tablet, TV remote, booster meds, and a towel for when I'm out and about. He needs the towel as the Oxycontin he's on for pain has a possible side effect that causes sweating, and he's got that. I'm washing sheets and mattress pad every day.  :-\
The last adjustment is by the bed. To help him in and out, I took a shirt and pant rack he had in the corner of the room, and wedged it under the bed and night stand. He can now grab the bar to pull him into an upright position to get out of bed.
So just a few little things to make it easier on him.
As of yesterday, he can get in and out of bed by himself. Go to the bathroom by his self, get in and out of his recliner, and take a shower.
He still needs help drying and getting dressed, as he is unable to bend enough to do that. I've moved my morning appointments at the Salon later, so I can help him with that before I go.
Today, I'm concentrating on making sure he will be able to be by himself for the day, as I'm completely booked Wed. and will be gone about 9 hours.We'll be doing a run through today.
He'll have oatmeal and a banana for breakfast, and I put the milk on a lower shelf in the fridge, and the oatmeal on the counter. For lunch, I'll make him a sandwich  before I go to work and stick that in the fridge with some yogurt . Dinner will be left over casseroles I made from Sunday and Monday and ready and in the fridge and he'll just need to microwave them. I told him to put the dishes in the sink so he won't have to bend to get them in the dishwasher. I'll also have plates on the counter so he won't have to reach for those either.
I'm so glad he came home Saturday, so we have these few days to work out any issues. I think he'll do okay.
He also has a doctors appointment this afternoon with his primary care doctor. The hospital doctor gave him Oxycontin to take for 7 days. After that, he'll probably still need something, and his family doctor will prescribe that. I know it won't be more Oxycontin as they want you off that as soon as possible. But pain level has been managed well so far, with him not taking many of the booster pain meds they also gave him. Besides the Oxycontin 20mg he takes twice a day, they gave him Oxycodone 5mg he can take every 4 hours and 3-6 pills. He only took 3 pills yesterday morning. So hopefully by Saturday, he'll be able to switch to something not as powerful.
And thanks for the comments, flowers, cards, phone calls and e-mail well wishes. Craig appreciates them all.
Now time for me to go.....

Craig's ordeal

Good afternoon.
Whew! It's been a week!
Let me fill you in on the details........
Last Tuesday night, I went to bed and Craig stayed up to watch some TV. He said he fell asleep in the Chair. He awoke later, got up to go to bed, and blacked out. The reason he blacked out was most likely due to his blood pressure medication. His new doctor had changed the type he was taking, and the new stuff wasn't keeping it down low enough so the doc said to double up. He did, and everything looked good, most of the time. He was still occasionally getting too high a reading. So at times, he took a third. The day he fell, he had taken 3. And when he awoke from sleep to get up and go to bed, his blood pressure was probably too low, and he stood up too fast. Anyway, down he went.
This is what broke his fall, and his 3 ribs....He must have gone down sideways when he hit.

Of course, the noise woke me up, and I came out to see him on the floor withering in pain. He didn't at the time tell me he blacked out, and I thought he just tripped himself and fell. I helped him up and to bed, not even thinking how serious it might be.
He wakes me up around 2am and says he thinks he needs to go to the hospital. I get up and get dressed, but he's still in bed. He says he can't move, it hurts too bad. I call an ambulance, and they transport him to Sparrow Hospital, St Lawrence emergency. I take a quick shower, and arrived shortly after them.
They do a ct scan and discover 3 fractured, and displaced ribs. That throws up a red flag and he was to be transported to the main campus and the trauma unit. From what I know now, 1-2 ribs is one thing, but when you have 3, the pain level is tremendous. Craig said his was a 10 on a scale of 1-10. They put him on an iv drip of morphine, and it barely touched his pain, They gave him a shot of Dilaudid before transporting him to the main campus. It's supposedly 10 times stronger than morphine and that helped a bit more.
The trauma team evaluated him and admitted  him for pain control and respiratory monitoring. They said his level of pain could not be controlled with oral meds at home and he would have to stay until his level of pain subsided to the point where oral meds would work. There was also the risk of pneumonia, since with such a large area of ribs damaged, deep breathing is next to impossible. So breathing exercises where to be done also to keep the lungs clear.
They got him into a room around 8am, and I stayed with him until about 10, cancelling my morning appointments at the Salon. When I decided they had him settled in with a plan for treatment. I then went into work and and was there until around 5pm. I had cancelled my evening appointments so I could get back up to the hospital and sit awhile with Craig. I arrived to find they had put in an  epidural for the pain. It wasn't helping as much as it should. They had to mix several different blends of medications before finally  they had him down to a 2-3 pain level by Thursday morning. I left Wed. night around 7pm, going home and crashing since I'd been up since 2:30 am the night before. I awoke Thursday morning and called the nurses station for an update to find they had gotten his pain under control. I went to work at 8am until 11am and then up to the hospital for a couple of hours. Then back to work until 6pm and back to the hospital. Friday morning was very busy at the Salon and I didn't get to the hospital until 3 pm. I happened to walk into the room when the doctor was there. He explained with this type of injury, the pain is severe for the first 2-3 days, then slowly subsides. They had switched him from an epidural to intravenous pain medication. After a couple of days, they would switch him to oral medication for a couple of days and then he could go home.
I worked again Saturday morning and got a call from Craig saying they were thinking of letting him go home that evening. They had already switched him to oral meds since he was doing so well. I went up after work around 3pm taking clothes for him to wear home.
They released him at 6pm, and I brought a happy, tired, weak Craig home.
First thing he wanted to do was take a shower and shave. He needed a lot of help, but he got it done.
I got him a little dinner and to bed he went. He was suppose to sleep in the recliner, since trying to lay down in a flat bed is very hard on his ribs at this point, but he really wanted to sleep in the bed, so with my help, we got him in. He slept 13 hours!
Today, has been a busy day for me as besides cleaning the salon, I've had to do shopping, laundry, yard leaves and dinner. But it's worth it to have Craig home.   :-)
I've got to serve dinner now. I'll try to find time to update.