Never thought retirement would be like this

SeaBreeze, these are not wild dogs. They are neighbor's dogs running loose.:mad: I think everyone out there owns as many dogs as they own guns, so that's a lot. BTW, Thanksgiving and Christmas are when you hear all the guns firing. The kids get them for Christmas. Today was no exception.

A note about the Thanksgiving dinner. I just wanted to try it and see what it would be like. Maybe it would be fun. The food turned out fine, but neither of us was in the mood for that kind of food (prefer ice cream, donuts, PB&J sandwiches, pizza, etc). The cherry pie was the best thing. And we both felt stuffed afterwards anyway. I hate that feeling. So unless my life changes drastically I will not be cooking another Thanksgiving dinner anytime soon. I promised my mother today. She was happy. What a relief.:)
 

Latest aggravation...
lan2_zps5d772fe2.gif

This is the diagram that Windows 7 draws of my computer network after I installed the new router Wednesday. (What the heck is that question mark, anyway?) It appears the pc is connected both wired and wirelessly to the modem/router. Everything works without the Ethernet cable. But wireless is the first choice, and when I try to change the priority, Internet Explorer redirects to an AT&T webpage which asks for passwords, downloads some huge executable file, changes settings on the pc, and then puts everything back the way it was. Wireless connection seems to have a hiccup pause every now and then, but I can live with it.

Someone on this forum had the best signature (I don't remember who, and I think they took it away, because I can't find it now),

"If it ain't broke, fix it until it is."

That's why I prefer to not tinker with it just yet.

BTW, is it true that now my house is a WiFi hotspot? :cool2:
 
The signature you spoke of was Pappy's! Yeah a good one!:)
 

Neighbor's dogs Nancy? Now that would really tick me off! Guess I've lived in the city and suburbs too long, don't see that kinda stuff going on...guess that's a good thing. I would think if I had dogs on my property, they would want to hang out near home, and I'd probably gather them up at night too. :rolleyes:
 
I live in the country and in the area where I live there is a leash law and no dogs are allowed to run loose. I keep my dog at home, but some of my neighbors don't. in the good ole days if a dog went after your livestock you could shoot the dog. don't know if you can still do that, probably not.
 
Rosey, there *is* a county ordinance out there that says you can't let your dogs run loose off your property. However the sheriff and other officials are elected. I suspect they wouldn't last long if they started enforcing that law. I don't know how it ever got passed, except at one time I remember there *were* some wild dog packs running around, and there have been quite a few suburban type housing developments pop up in the county recently. Probably just depends on who shows up at the elections and meetings.

If you took measures into your own hands, there would be a fear of retaliation. And after all, it's not the dogs' fault. One time we caught one of the loose dogs and took him to the pound. There is a hefty fee to get him back. Maybe that is the best course of action, but it's a lot of trouble. Another time, we took a dog back to his owner, and the man acted like we were nuts to bother. "Oh, he's always running off somewhere."
 
Update on outhouse redo...

I realized the sides, with barn siding attached, were too heavy to lift, so decided to take off the siding today. The piece toward the sun was in pretty good shape, but the one on the shady side was too far gone, so I gave up on saving the siding. At that point realized this thing was put together as individual pieces, rather than sides, and the siding was what gave it stability. When the second piece of siding came off it looked like it was going to tip over. Thought about driving all the way back to the house and get some ropes for support, but decided this might not be such a bad thing, so I just gave it the final push.

These are some of the pieces laid out toward the cabin. None of the frame pieces were damaged at all, except maybe where the squirrels chewed up the edge of one piece of plywood for the bench.

strewn_zps7bc740eb.gif


Removed all the old nails, piled the pieces on the porch, and covered the siding with plastic. They have some useful measurements, like the slope of the roof and some cut outs.

Next step is to re-dig the hole. Think I'll try one of those catch basins for storm water drainage and cut the bottom out. There's one at Lowes for $27 and they seem very strong. Fill in with sand and gravel on the sides and bottom and then won't have to worry about the sides caving in (I hope). If it lasts 10 years that will be long enough.
 
Looks like a big job Nancy, kudos to you for taking it on all by yourself! Can't wait to see the finished product! :D
 
Update on outhouse project....

First, if you want to increase upper body strength, just go buy a set of post hole diggers. You can get them for about the cost of a month's gym membership. Then go in your back yard and dig a post hole, at least 2 feet deep. Next day fill it back up again. Do this two times a week. Or, better yet, put up a fence.

Today I got the digging done. Combination shovel and post hole diggers. You would never know there was an outhouse there from the dirt. The round basin may be a problem but the square ones were ridiculously priced and too small. I think I know how to make it work.

bucket_zpsb84fac04.gif


There is a place on our property with a pile of dirt that nothing will grow on. Maybe someone dumped oil on it? Rumor has it there was a cotton gin near there many years ago. There is an old dry well close by. Anyway, it is easy digging and good for nothing. Think I'll haul a few 5 gallon buckets of this dirt down there and make this thing sit up on a slight mound, rather than flat to the ground. That will keep surface water from running in.

Posting this diary has made me wonder why I'm so much into building things since retiring. Someone reading this might think I'm making this stuff up---like the outhouse nonsense. I started trying to remember all the things I really liked to do when I was a kid. My favorite store-bought toys were: tinker toys, Lincoln Logs, little square Lincoln-type logs, little red bricks (precursors to Lego), and an erector set. I spent hours by myself playing with this stuff. Had an electric train, but the fun part was putting the track together in various configurations.

So in conclusion, it seems like building things in retirement is just a continuation of playing ;)---interrupted for 30 years by a job that took up too much time to do anything else, even watch TV.
 
Post hole diggers, used them when I was young, you must have very good upper body strength and a strong back...take care not to injure yourself. :love_heart: It does seem like your interest in building things has stayed with you since childhood, good for you Nancy, not many of us women can say the same. :)
 
http://www.jameswhitcombriley.com/passing_of_outhouse.htm

"One of the poems attributed to James Whitcomb Riley was never included in his published works. It was called “The Passing of the Outhouse.”

"The older generations know what an outhouse is but perhaps the younger do not. It is an outdoor toilet. Every country home had an outhouse.
James Whitcomb Riley, being a humorist as well as a poet with a human touch, could not leave such a subject alone.
An early “Preface” to a small pamphlet containing this poem says, “As a bachelor, he spent many of his leisure hours in hotels and clubs and was in no sense known as a stern or “straight-laced” moralist.”

"This little poem is not included in his books of poetry. “There were those among his more or less prudish friends who denied him the honor of its authorship,” according to one of the publishers of this poem in pamphlet form. Others have made claim to it. “However, there is little question about it because his cronies have told of the manner in which he would recite it – with all the humor and touching pathos which as a consummate author, he so ably displayed.”
 
SeaBreeze, I didn't mean to give the impression I am in great upper body shape. Sore muscles this morning are proving otherwise.
But it's a *good* soreness, not the kind where you can't crawl out of bed.:inv:
 
A day or two ago I heard the song "It's Magic", by Pilot, on the radio. It is a cute, happy, song, but it always brings unsettling feelings. I was going to school when it came out in 1975. During the period when it was playing on the radio, over and over, a coed was murdered shortly after midnight a block from the school library. I walked right by the spot going to class almost every day. No one found her body until daylight. It was a very violent crime---she was bludgeoned to death with a sign post with a concrete bottom, crushed her head so that she was unrecognizable. Everyone thought it was a crime of passion and suspected her boyfriend. He was found at his parents' house 100 miles away later that morning.

For weeks the school issued warnings to always walk in pairs at night. I didn't have a "pair" because my only hang-out buddy was an ex-boyfriend who had just taken a job several hundred miles away. I had to work in the computer center a block from the library late into the night for several nights after that, because I was under deadline to finish a project, and had to use their keypunch machines. Things like that don't usually scare me, but this gave me the jitters. I knew it was not logical, but it still gave me the creeps just to walk from the car to the building after dark. I finished the project and left there for good about a month later, never knowing the outcome.

Out of curiousity I Googled the case about a month ago and found out they finally convicted an African American man of the murder in 1981, six years later. Motive was claimed to be robbery. Evidence was strong for the robbery but only circumstantial on the murder. Evidently they had no evidence against the boyfriend. The girl's sister has become an active member of a group called Murder Victim's Families Against the Death Penalty. I wonder if she thinks they got the wrong person. In 2012 the state's Center on Actual Innocence decided to review the case. No word on the outcome. The man has been in prison for 33 years.

It's funny how you link emotions with certain songs, even though you can't always remember why.
 
Last edited:
I've never had any of what I considered serious health problems before, but now I've got vertigo, and dredging up old menisus tears.:eewwk: Anyway the vertigo came back yesterday morning. Not as bad as the first time, but bad enough. I'm going to ask the higher powers if I can trade this in for a toothache and a UTI. At least you can function with those. This may put a crimp in the outhouse remodel. As soon as I post this I'm going to flop around on the bed doing that Epley/Canalith maneuver a few times and maybe try this new one until something either works or I upchuck my dinner. It makes me dizzy just watching the video, so I'm putting it off hitting the Submit button as long as possible.
 
That's terrible about the murder Nancy, that would give me the jitters too, you can never be too careful. I understand about how we relate some songs to certain things in life, and they just stick. So sorry about your vertigo, I was dehydrated once for a couple of days, and that feeling of being dizzy and unable to walk on your own is terrible. I imagine vertigo is much more intense than what I experienced. Hugs...take care.
 
Thanks SeaBreeze.

Well that did not go well at all Just testing out if I was in the right position on the bed sent the room spinning and I flopped down and grabbed a pillow to keep from flying across the room (it seemed). The first full manuever wasn't as bad. The second time I tried it, there was a delay of about 10 seconds and then the room started spinning again. Worse than ever. Quickly found a position where it stopped and didn't move for 20 minutes, thinking over and over HOW STUPID I WAS TO DRIVE TODAY!!!!!!. Had to take my mom to the doctor and I shouldn't have tried it. One jerk of the head the wrong way and we'd have been in the ditch or much worse. Got up and threw up. I'll try again tomorrow. {Sigh}
 
How often does it come on you, this vertigo? You write a good diary. I was taking flying lessons as a young man of twenty-five. The pilot, my trainer, and I would fly fifty or a hundred miles from north Texas to Lawton, Oklahoma and up to the Wichita Mountains. He was also a trainer employed by Shepherd Air Force Base? All the way up and back he kept telling me to bring the nose up. Finally he said bring the nose up or you're going to fly into the ground. I couldn't keep it level unless I could see the ground. The pilot said I had Vertigo.

By the way, I wrote that pet coon story. I put it right there.
 
I belonged to a diet and weight loss forum for about 4 years and it finally fizzled out. Most of the members were under 40. I was too old for that forum. Had never bought an avacado or a latte in my life, didn't know what gellato was, or half the other foods they were talking about. Was careful not to talk about anything that made me sound too old. If I had mentioned outhouse I'd probably have been banned. But finally found myself having to invent something healthwise to complain about to "fit in." ;) Now here I am talking about health for real. Sorry.

--------

Thanks, Meanderer.

Drifter, I've had only two episodes. One about a year ago, and this one. I don't think anyone who's never experienced it can imagine what it's like. My girlfriend described her episode to me in detail and I was skeptical. It is much more common among women. And once it happens it is likely to happen again.

--------

Today I'm fine as long as I don't look down at the ground or up at the sky. The only possible way to get this over with quickly is to get that maneuver done correctly. I don't think I did it right. Found a variation from the Mayo Clinic. I'll try that tonight. Trouble is, this variation says it's important to keep your head upright for 48 hours, including sleeping.:eewwk: But I'll do that if that's what it takes. Tend to trust the Mayo Clinic. Maybe I should fork out $140 and get one of those caps after all. Ha! Cheaper than going to a therapist.

I was always a stomach sleeper, but old age crept up on me and I couldn't keep my neck bent 90 degrees all night without it locking up, so I learned the next best sleeping position (on back). That was about 4 months before the first vertigo "attack." After that I started sleeping ANY WAY BUT on my back. My doctor said that had nothing to do with it, so I finally started sleeping on my back again. Three months later the vertigo comes back. I don't care what the doc says, I'm more convinced it has something to do with it. It only makes sense.

This is no doubt made worse by congested sinuses, which I have because my head feels stuffed up. So today I'm hovering over a sauce pan (not a neti pot) of boiling water, and spraying salt water in my nose. BTW, it appears there is no benefit to Vicks VapoRub, in fact it may be harmful, especially to kids. Always suspected that.
 
NancyNGA said:
I've never had any of what I considered serious health problems before, but now I've got vertigo, and dredging up old menisus tears.:eewwk: Anyway the vertigo came back yesterday morning. Not as bad as the first time, but bad enough. I'm going to ask the higher powers if I can trade this in for a toothache and a UTI. At least you can function with those. This may put a crimp in the outhouse remodel. As soon as I post this I'm going to flop around on the bed doing that Epley/Canalith maneuver a few times and maybe try this new one until something either works or I upchuck my dinner. It makes me dizzy just watching the video, so I'm putting it off hitting the Submit button as long as possible.
Click to expand...

I too have a little vertigo, I've had it maybe 10-15 years, checked by both a EEN Specialist and my primary care. I get mine from inter ear infection (as simple as a cold). What I discovered that helps me through the period is simply placing a cotton ball in the opening of my right ear. Somehow it either equalizes the pressure or gives me enough ballast to stand straight. But joking aside it does seem to help.
 
Did the Mayo Clinic version of that routine last night. Very little spinning with this method. Didn't do 48 hours upright, but slept as close to face down as possible. Things are much better this morning. Dizziness is pretty much gone, only balance is a little off with sudden moves. Of course you never know if it wouldn't have got better anyway.:shrug: Will try it again tonight. (If it ain't broke, fix it until it is, again?) They said it couldn't hurt.

I'm thinking of buying a massage table with one of those face rest things to sleep on so I can go back to sleeping on my stomach without suffocating or putting a crick in my neck. Or maybe cut a hole in the mattress and install breathing vents. Ha!

Hope to not talk about this anymore.
 

You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top