Oh! My Aching Back...wash.

The previous post dealt partly in a sudden affliction to my lumber region. A severe tightening of some muscles around some big nerves that made me scream for my mama, and made useless my legs. Annette, my mother, has been with the baby Jesus for these past three years now, she did not hear my cries, but the neighbors clearly did. I am now, just shy of two weeks post spasm, vertical, and cane free. I am not however, pain free. Therein, lies the rub...

The other part of the post mentioned moving. Dear Lord, did I say moving again? The amount of absolute chaos that arises due to uprooting material planted over a twenty-plus year span, while trying to market the property that the uprooting just carpet bombed, is quite challenging.

The realtor would like to "Stage" our home before the "Open House". That means, clean EVERYTHING. I mean everything. Windows, floors, screens, new paint, clear closets, mulch garden beds, trim shrubbery, edge and mow the lawn, clear unwanted items inside and out, remove personal pictures and anything that might indicate someone was actually living in the structure. Did I mention to him, I HAVE A BAD BACK!

We have an active, accepted bid on the new property, and after the inspections at that abode, we have had to go back to the owner and beseech an adjustment. Window issues, and a possible new roof...cha-ching. My aching back is telling me to calm down, or I might have a more serious problem, like a nervous breakdown, or full-blown insanity. Did I mention the new place has an in-ground pool? Another task, backwash the pool filter...does that require bending at waist? I have a bad back you know.

I had really just started to pack up my shop when the ICBM hit my L4 vertebrae. The PODS module is due tomorrow morning. After placement, and leveling, I can begin to actually move boxes outward into something, rather than inward and down into the basement. Every time I took a box down there, I said to my feeble inner self; "This is stupid, this stuff is moving OUT of this house, I'm going to have to pick this damn thing up at least two more times." I HAVE A BAD BACK.

As the chaos proceeds, I will continue to post progress. I know you are just sitting on the edge of your driver seat, foot to the floor, waiting for the next bridge abutment to steer into. Trust me, it will get more interesting in the next two months, back off the accelerator flyboy...

Be well, and do the right thing.

Gaff

Change Is Good Sometimes, Sometimes Not So Much So.

I am at this moment, flat on my back watching MacGyver make a spark plug for an outboard motor. The reason I am bedridden is that this morning, while packing for our imminent move from our home of twenty-one years, as I bent to return a lid to a lower cabinet in our kitchen, my lower back went "pop", and I was literally brought to my knees with pain. The pain was so intense, I could not catch my breath. After I crawled to the stairs to try to sit down, it became clear that my plans for the day had changed.

It was decided to call an ambulance, and I was transported to the ER. Five hours later I was released with Percocets and Valium in tow. Seems I had an extreme muscle spasm. So the physician's assistance deduced from my symptoms. Whatever it is/was, I can say without hesitation, it was VERY extreme. Pain like I have never felt before.

The happy pills have dulled the pain enough for me to pen a few words this evening.

We have decided to move as I mentioned earlier. My wife likes horses, and she has found some property that will allow horses to roam and be ridden. Myself, I don't know which end of a horse to talk to. However, as the adage goes..."Happy wife, happy life". I was hoping for Wyoming, the move will not be quite that far distant.

My biggest issue with this change is my workshop. I have spent twenty plus years building and customizing it to meet my exact needs and desires. It is filled with raw material such as wood varieties, nuts, bolts, and fasteners of all kinds and sizes. Electrical and electronic parts, and of course, all my tools. Tools such as a large Unisaw, lathe, planer/jointer, work benches, reloading supplies, three gun safes, and my seven tool chests.

I was in the process of cataloging and packing all the stuff...then today happened. Plans are wonderful, then God says "Not today." Our new house will be larger, and consequently so will my shop space. That is a good change. Another plus is the ability to purge unwanted items, and not pack them for relocation. The downsides exist too. Strange noises in the new abode, as well as unfamiliarity with the home's infrastructure in general. Another hurdle is rebuilding the customizations I made in this house, and they are many.

How much hay does a horse eat? Does the vet make barn calls? What does that cost? Oats? What's a Farrier charge for new shoes? I think it's time for more Percocet.

Be well, and do the right thing.

Gaff