Thursday, June 2, 2016

Musings from the Recliner: It's 'the fates', and they ain't kind!

Good morning to all!  I figured it was time to get another one of these out, so here it is! 

First the usual stuff:  I continue to get a little better every day, but still spend most of my time in the recliner.  As long as I'm active enough to keep all the internal processes running but not too active, a little bit of the liquid hydrocodone-acetaminophen concoction alternated with a big-boy dose of Children's Motrin keeps me comfortable but not drooling.  (I think, anyway - I haven't actually hit the sweet spot yet.)  If I cross the line on activity - as I have every day so far - I quickly get sore and worn out, which leads to more meds which leads to... well... drool.

As I ponder a host of things here from my recliner I have come to understand the fates are cruel.  This may be a blinding glimpse of the obvious, but I've seen it frequently.  Since I'm not a TV watcher my 'window to the world' these days is my personal laptop which seems to be, at least in part, controlled by the evil fates.  The 'gotchas' come most frequently from the pop-up adds:  Just as De delivers a hearty mug of beef broth for me to tuck into they pounce:  BOOM! - Up pops a 'Hebrew National' add with a perfectly grilled, all beef hot dog nestled under an exquisitely arranged bed of relish, onions and the appropriate condiments.  AHHH!  GO AWAY!  (Fates:1,  Mark: 0 - I'm not usually much of a hot dog eater, but that dog looked goooood and I was sorely tempted.)  I shunned my eyes.

Yesterday I thought I pretty much had the day planned out to get the right amount of activity without crossing the line.  (Yeah, I know, "The road to perdition is paved with good intentions.")  We had a young farm kid from church coming to mow the lawn since it was approaching knee level for De and she doesn't run the little tractor with the mower deck.  All I had to do was walk up and get the mower out.  BOOM! - It needed a jump-start.  GRRRRRR!!  (Guess I should have replaced that battery.  Fates:2, Mark: 0.)  I took it in stride. 

I haven't sharpened the blades yet this year since we're still in the 'wood mulch' phase of lawn care at our house (I'm not picking little sticks off 1-1/2 acres of lawn - don't judge).  The kid was mowing so the cut grass was blowing into the unmowed grass creating a growing pile-up for the dull blades to chew through, there was enough chaff generated to clog the radiator and BOOM! - The engine overheated - at the far edge of the property.  NOOOOOO!  (I should have been watching him a little closer, I suppose.  Fates: 3, Mark: 0)  Since I had some pecuniary interest in verifying I was looking at steam and not smoke I felt obligated to traipse down next to the road to check it out in my fashionable new look of sport shorts and barn boots.  I just "brushed it off".

After a cool-down period and a bit of advice on mowing tall grass, an attempted restart required BOOM! - another jump start.  HRRMPH!  (Unmotivated battery, hot diesel engine - I should have known.  Fates 4:  Mark: 0)   Yes, Virginia, there was drool.

I'm guessing my leash will be a bit shorter today.    Even so, the morning sun is promising a beautiful day and there's another mug that of savory beef broth in my future.  "Um.  De?  I don't suppose we have any onion powder?  Yeah?  Cool!  Um...  pickle... powder?  No?"  <sigh...>

Take care all,

Mark