So I was invited to a United Power dog and pony show to receive indoctrination on the new demand rate electricity pricing scheme. It didn’t go well. The prevalent corporate attitude seems to be Solar is bad and battery storage is not a priority. All these people seemed to want to do was argue about why their bill is too high and who is going to pay how much for electricity. I left them with a couple things to think about before the fisticuffs started.
It doesn’t take a big leap of faith to speculate on the background of this monumental scam. Most of the board members and other high-ranking cooperative people are business owner-operators in the local community – businesses operating primarily during the week in daylight hours. What better way to minimize the impact of increasing electricity prices on themselves? Should make for some interesting conversation when questions about conflict of interest come up at the right/wrong places/times.
But only just. I was close to starting the deck railing project when we noticed the dogs had been busy digging under there again. By the time we got the junk cleared out it was apparent that wasn’t the only issue. Subsidence had created a negative grade situation, with runoff pooling in 2 different spots. I almost forgot how hard it was moving dirt by hand. I’d say probably about as hard as going through hip replacement rehab with a fresh back injury – that is to say, at least in my case here, excruciating.
I staked down some chain link under there to prevent further canine modifications. I also ended up spending the better part of 2 weeks re-laying a good portion of the patio stones due to ant undermining. I mixed in plenty of ant poison underneath everything hoping to avoid doing it again. I doubt I’ll have it in me, even at the slow pace I’m on these days.
Interesting observation from somebody considered technically literate:
Perhaps the author overlooks the viability of open-source code and local storage. Of course nobody can download the entire Internet, nor would they want to, as the lion’s share of it is just crap purveyed by political pundits, pornographers, media outlets, and social media morons. But it definitely IS possible to easily and effectively preserve the stuff you need and use, practically speaking.
The original Pixel camera was a real game-changer a few years ago. I don’t know how they do it, but they just keep getting better and better. I skipped the Pixel 2, vowing to never again become one of the bleeding-edge early-adopters, preferring to allow others to sort out the bugs. But a half-price sale on the Fi birthday convinced me to try the 3, and all I can say is wow. The 4 will be out later this year, but I WILL NOT BUY IT – keeping my tech thirst on the odd-only versions at most.
Those last 2 sunset shots are a nitesite comparo, and I’m not really sure what to make of it. Nightsight is a new camera feature that somehow brings out much better detail in low light. But it also apparently alters the color balance in dramatic fashion. Can you tell which is which? Hmmm.
Took a few days getting around to the pics from a little outing to Cheyenne last week for the annual Thunderbirds show. They changed up the format this year, with the show actually being held on base. FE Warren is like walking into a huge open-air museum from the 1880’s. It began as an army outpost in the Indian war era , still contains much of the original construction, and is a National Historic Landmark or some such official designation. Worked out great for me, not so good for the crowds arriving late after they closed the gate. Found a nice big cottonwood tree to sit under out behind the officer’s quarters, and still finding Steeler fans everywhere I go.
Saw Dr. Brinkis, from the (now) 2-person surgical team, including Dr. Sylvestri as the current chief of ECHCS orthopedics and man who fixed my shoulder 3 years ago. Exactly what happened or why was not going to be discussed, except to say that Dr. Park no longer works there – not that he ever really did, as one of the contractors currently doing half the orthopedic surgery at the new hospital here.
As expected, apart from some tests, VA cannot accommodate any further treatment in a timely manner, so I’m being sent off into the civilian medical community to see a spine doctor. This was the last thing I needed, considering spinal issues already constituted the biggest problems in my disability situation. Now there’s a new problem there, and I just hope this new injury isn’t bad enough they need to go in and clean it up.
Still can’t believe I spent the last 6 months telling every VA staffer I encountered from the physical therapist, to the physician assistant to primary care to the surgeon himself, how badly I was doing in vivid detail, and every single one of them sent me away saying or implying there was nothing wrong with me. Perhaps disregarding Dr. Sluder’s April referral offer was unwise, but that was at the time I was still under the delusion of normality being instilled in me with comforting reassurances like “sometimes it just takes longer to get over an operation.” As it turns out, things eventually crystallize with an untreated back injury like this.
A little background before the upcoming appointment Friday with Dr. Park, the surgeon who performed my hip replacement back in January. Hopefully better light will be shed come Friday, subsequent to sacrum and lumbar MRI’s accomplished last week.
An unusual sensation emanated from the base of my spine accompanied by severe autonomous clenching and chronic muscle strain throughout my lower abdomen and thighs when I stopped the pain medication approximately 10 days after surgery. There were 2 problems associated with the surgery, the 1st of which is mostly resolved, with the 2nd remaining to be diagnosed.
Beginning in January 2018, I waited while the VA slowly and methodically slogged through one conservative treatment after another. Neurological and orthopedic exams, steroid injections and of course the months-long waiting periods in-between amounted to well over a year from the time I knew I had an end-state arthritic hip, to when I finally received the surgery. So the entire right side of my body compensated by developing an acute chronic strain condition. The right thigh in particular, became so deeply strained and sore I was often barely able to walk at all by the end of the day the first half of this year. Now after 6 months of misery, that problem has only just recently begun to show signs of remission. Within the past month or so, I have started using the cane more in my “right” hand, supporting the new left hip, which seems to be doing great, with only minor healing discomfort remaining.
Now for the bad part. I’m still grabbing the cane with my left hand due to: Either my lower abdomen was crushed like a bug with some sort of clamp on the operating table while my left leg was being sawed off and re-attached with a new hip joint, or the L4-5 annulus was torn tossing me around somewhere like a sack of potatoes. My first guess was a mashed-up sacrum. Dr. Park said it could be a stress fracture in my pelvis. L4-5 annulus tear seems to match the primary pain source from what I can decipher in the MRI reports. I was interpreting this as the worst of the muscle strain, but now it’s pretty obvious what is going on down there. Whatever it is, I’m effectively crippled.
It’s not just the VA, and could happen to anyone. I’m probably one of the lucky ones. Surgery is risky business. People make mistakes. Thankfully not a botched hip “replacement,” considering the new hip seems good so far. I’ll have questions to ask, and suggestions to offer regarding the patient clamping and handling procedure(s).
…Got off to a cool, wet start a couple weeks ago. The month of June was mostly rainy and cool in Frederick. The mountains got tons of snow this spring. People in Steamboat woke up to a foot of new snow on the ground the 22nd of June. This region will probably go from high desert to rain-forest after another hundred years of climate change.
Flowerbeds are looking nice and the Yellow roses of Texas are still red. The trees have been keeping me busy. The bigger they get, the more trimming they need. At least I haven’t had to buy firewood for quite some time.
Why do these mutherfuckers think money is the solution to all problems? I guess when you have it, it is. They can pay their hookers to shut up, write off millions evading taxes, and give tax breaks to the rich. Why not throw some towards the Middle East and see if that goes away? The Lebanese have already told them we can keep our money. You can’t buy freedom and happiness for people. Nobody is trading basic principles of human dignity for U.S. dollars.
This dipshit needs to take a long vacation with Ivanka while they both disappear from the public eye, along with their egregious stupidity. This is just fucking insane. Go fuck yourself, little boy. He can’t even fool a troglodyte like me with the ‘ol smoke-n-mirrors trick. Took about 2 whole days to start the backpedaling. Let’s see you pull another Mideast Peace Plan out of your ass. What a miserable piece ‘o shit.
Careful not to cut off your noses to spite your faces.
That POS hunk o’ concrete you just wrote a blank check for is looking like it needs a little nose-hair trimming. Why not spend the money on something nice/new? Oh right, forgot – it’s not about a war memorial, it’s about Christianity.
