Random tidbits
Jun. 9th, 2010 12:02 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
greatbearA few peeks at what's been going on with me and my so-called life.
Physical therapy and medication have failed me as a means to control the worsening spinal stenosis in my lower back. I have to wait at least another week for potential relief when the next step is needles in my spine, and, undoubtedly, more PT. If that does not work, surgery is imminent.
Related to the above, I have to get something done with the tendinitis in my left Achilles. My left calf is totally gone too. As someone who was able to walk around light of foot while toting a V8 shortblock, being unable to even pick myself up on my tiptoes is as much a blow to my ego as it is to simple mobility. I am hoping for some relief from this too, after the stenosis is fixed.
Replacing my medical cane with a hiking stick lessens the appearance of crippled old-man syndrome.
The video card in my main server (that also gets me here) died yesterday, in an apparent death boil. The fan seized up, the card overheated, eventually blowing several caps, melting the fan itself and eventually shutting the power supply down. Being a server, I pulled the still-hot card from the box, chucked it on the table, then buttoned up the machine and kept on gittin' it. It's a server, and it has not had an attached display since sometime last year. I have a spare card to use when needed, I'll enjoy the slight energy savings without it for the time being.
Being unable to do a lot of the major stuff around here has been driving me crazy. The water heater upgrade from April became a complete plumbing overhaul, done in small sections as my body allowed it. This should result in even more energy savings, and an ability to essentially "plug in" upgrades such as solar water heating, hydronic house heat and other upgrades without having to alter anything already existing. All the hookups and required equipment are already in place. This is for some near-future enhancements.
All has not been projects in fits and starts and constant pain. Jeff's birthday was fun, he was invited to his boss' house for a Memorial day pool party/cookout, as was I, and he was given a Brinkmann smoker-grill. The grill got it's inaugural use last weekend at our first weekend camping trip to Hillside. The camping trip was nice and needed, as a stress reliever for both of us. I kept mostly to the site and took it easy. Prior to all this, we had the pleasure of seeing Sugarland perform at Merriweather Post Pavilion, basically in our back yard. It was an energetic, fun show. I took my Canon S3-IS with me and snagged lots of decent shots as well as a few videos.
There's more, I'll save that for a later post.
Physical therapy and medication have failed me as a means to control the worsening spinal stenosis in my lower back. I have to wait at least another week for potential relief when the next step is needles in my spine, and, undoubtedly, more PT. If that does not work, surgery is imminent.
Related to the above, I have to get something done with the tendinitis in my left Achilles. My left calf is totally gone too. As someone who was able to walk around light of foot while toting a V8 shortblock, being unable to even pick myself up on my tiptoes is as much a blow to my ego as it is to simple mobility. I am hoping for some relief from this too, after the stenosis is fixed.
Replacing my medical cane with a hiking stick lessens the appearance of crippled old-man syndrome.
The video card in my main server (that also gets me here) died yesterday, in an apparent death boil. The fan seized up, the card overheated, eventually blowing several caps, melting the fan itself and eventually shutting the power supply down. Being a server, I pulled the still-hot card from the box, chucked it on the table, then buttoned up the machine and kept on gittin' it. It's a server, and it has not had an attached display since sometime last year. I have a spare card to use when needed, I'll enjoy the slight energy savings without it for the time being.
Being unable to do a lot of the major stuff around here has been driving me crazy. The water heater upgrade from April became a complete plumbing overhaul, done in small sections as my body allowed it. This should result in even more energy savings, and an ability to essentially "plug in" upgrades such as solar water heating, hydronic house heat and other upgrades without having to alter anything already existing. All the hookups and required equipment are already in place. This is for some near-future enhancements.
All has not been projects in fits and starts and constant pain. Jeff's birthday was fun, he was invited to his boss' house for a Memorial day pool party/cookout, as was I, and he was given a Brinkmann smoker-grill. The grill got it's inaugural use last weekend at our first weekend camping trip to Hillside. The camping trip was nice and needed, as a stress reliever for both of us. I kept mostly to the site and took it easy. Prior to all this, we had the pleasure of seeing Sugarland perform at Merriweather Post Pavilion, basically in our back yard. It was an energetic, fun show. I took my Canon S3-IS with me and snagged lots of decent shots as well as a few videos.
There's more, I'll save that for a later post.
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no subject
Date: 2010-06-09 05:46 pm (UTC)Hate to sound dub, but I had to look up what stenosis is. Man, it sounds rough and I hope you get relief from the pain. Hugs (careful ones...)!
no subject
Date: 2010-06-09 06:49 pm (UTC)Get well soon, Take its easy, and try and not feel badly about your new (And hopefully temporary) limitations...
Oh, and...
(((ULTRA-HUGS!)))
no subject
Date: 2010-06-09 07:15 pm (UTC)The video graphics card, was it the ATI Radeon series, specifically the HD4850 (the original with 512MB VRAM)? If so and actually BY ATI if I have that right, it had cooling problems and they redesigned it so it's now a dual slot and has much better cooling and a GB of RAM on it. I have the version of that very graphics card, but from Diamond Multimedia and have not had any problems with it, even when running full out last July when we had that unusual heatwave where it topped out at 103 Degrees with days before and a couple afterwards in the mid to upper 90's.
Hugs to you man.
no subject
Date: 2010-06-09 10:56 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-06-09 10:57 pm (UTC)Thanks for the kind words. :)
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Date: 2010-06-09 11:06 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-06-10 01:18 am (UTC)As I said, I run ATI chipped graphics now and this graphics card is quite decent as it was at the time "only" retailing for $110.
no subject
Date: 2010-06-10 01:24 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-06-11 05:02 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-06-11 10:55 pm (UTC)Hassles abound, and they will always appear no matter how good the rest of our lives may be.
When it's our own body that's rebelling, being the obstacle rather than the tool, frustration follows. We can fight it to a point, and then acceptance and adaptation are necessary.
It's a different path than the one we expected, but every road has curves and forks. Like riding, the curves can either be a bitch if you clench, or they can become a glide if you relax and let the smoothness flow.
It seems we still have stuff to learn, even at our advanced age ;)
no subject
Date: 2010-06-12 12:32 pm (UTC)