Parts is parts

Interesting times. I’m still dealing with a leg issue. Turns out this will take a while to sort out. There is no quick surgical fix. The good news is that the large suspicious lump is not cancerous. Treatments have produced mixed results. One two week treatment put me in a lot of pain and I ended up in a wheelchair for a bit.

I’ve pretty much recovered from that and I can walk on my own -maybe not as far as I’d like but I can fake it enough to get some shopping done. So far I’ve seen a whole bunch of doctors and went to three different hospitals.

It’s been my experience that doctors are pretty much useless 80% of the time. They provide useful treatments and information about 20% of the time. However, I need that 20% as it concerns things I can’t do on my own. The trick is sorting out the essential 20%. Your results may vary.

Back in early spring the thought was that I’d get healthy enough to tackle my long list of projects. Right. So much for that idea. While I can now do some small projects the big projects require hired help. Actually, I’m pretty happy to give up the hand shovel work and replace it with a friend operating an excavator. Probably won’t miss the top of the ladder carpentry work either.

Life goes on.

-Sixbears

Back in Business

 

The replacement inverter for the one fried in the thunderstorm came in. I’m always super cautions when working around the solar electric system. Everything is planned out. My tools have non-conductive handles to keep from shorting out across battery terminals. You really don’t want that to happen as there will be sparks, heat plus a good possibility of fire and an explosion.

The new inverter is working perfectly and the job went really smoothly. Of course it helped that I visualized every move necessary to do the job properly.

Today I hooked up the original water line and disconnected the temporary line. The water is flowing the way it should. It was also a good time to change the water filters.

The huge lump on my leg is hindering just about every physical activity. Nobody wants to operate on it. I’ve two more doctor’s appointments scheduled. Hopefully they can get their act together with a plan that works -I have my doubts. On the bright side, herbal medicines seem to helping. A few weeks ago I was in serious constant pain. Walkers and wheelchairs were necessary to get around. The pain is greatly diminished and I can walk enough to do some yard work and run errands.

It’s not the first time in my life that doctors did not know what to do with me. When I suffered my firefighter lung injuries at age 35 I almost died. After the initial crisis a doctor actually told me I’d be dead before age 45. Once the doctors gave up I was able to figure out ways to get better. When push comes to shove everyone is responsible for their own healthcare. Don’t believe everything doctors say. During my current health journey doctors have already totally contradicted each other.

On the bright side we’ve been able to rule out cancer, so that’s good.

-Sixbears

A Flash Then Darkness

 

3:30 in the morning. I was woken up with a flash and thunder that practically levitated me out of the bed. The lightning strike was so powerful and close that I checked the house for damage. Even before then I saw the light go out on my C-pap and most of the power in the house died.

The house inverter was making a high warning tone down in the basement. I went to the basement to see if the house was on fire. There was a strong burnt electrical smell but nothing was actively burning. While down the basement I disconnected the fried inverter from the electrical system.

At that point I decided to try and get some sleep until daylight. Fortunately I keep a backup battery pack for running my c-pap.

The weird thing is that the grid did not go down. Usually the grid goes down and I’m left with my off-grid solar electric system. However, with the grid still up I was able to transfer the solar electric side to grid power.

Once that was done I went on-line and ordered a replacement inverter. It should here in a couple of days. If it was going to be a long delay I could have always reinstalled the old modified sine wave inverter. I’d only replaced it because it doesn’t work well well the new LED lights.

All in all, it could have been worse.

-Sixbears

Independence Day

 Just want everyone to remember we aren't celebrating the 4th of July. It's called Independence Day for a reason. 

 

=Sixbears