I was wondering about our missing MMPers over the weekend. Does anyone know why **bumba **doesn’t post any more? And where’s Dots? And I miss rue (but I know why he doesn’t have time for us any more).
Wow, page 2 before I finally have a chance to chime in? Must be a really slow week for everybody! Everybody else, that is – I’m up to my eyeballs today and tomorrow.
Great op, BBBobbio! Sounds like you learned a valuable lesson, too. I’ve come close to heat exhaustion a couple of times myself, but have always been able to catch it pre-ER visit. But when we were in the ER last Wednesday, there was a young man who works outdoors who was there being monitored to make sure his blood pressure came back down from it, and he received a rather stiff lecture about fluids and such when working out in heat and humidity. So you’re obviously not the only one who forgets how debilitating heat can be!
Things around here are fairly quiet. Papa Tigs insisted he felt okay to go to work today. I remain highly :dubious: but at least he’s got tons of docs around him if he has a problem. Although, as he pointed out, if he went to see one of the orthopods there, they wouldn’t know what to do with him when they look down and see he has ten toes.** :eek: (That’s called gallows humor, folks, and he refuses to take credit for it – one of the orthopods came up with it in a meeting last week!)
It’s a beeYOOOOtiful day here in Merrylande – our temperature is a heavenly 69°, all the windows are wide open, there’s a lovely light breeze coming in, and we all couldn’t be happier. Although whiterabbit is still freaked at having occasional nice days during the summer; she’s spent most of her life in far hotter climes, where once summer arrives it simply does not let up until October or so. I’m enjoying laughing at her shock.
Back to the salt mines for me.
**Just think “large military hospital” and you’ll probably be able to figure it out…
Great OP, Bobbio, with some very useful information about heat exhaustion, too. I wish I’d known about the need for all those minerals during the years I attended band camp. We’d spend 8+ hours a day outside during the first week in August (in Michigan, that can equal 100+ degrees with no clouds, every afternoon), for three hours at a time with only one water break each time. And of course, the water provided didn’t have any sort of electrolyte balance in it… It’s no wonder we had half a dozen people fall violently ill and had to send one to the ER.
Well, how are you all doing this… checks Monday? Yep, it is Monday. More than two weeks down, but still one whole day until Ali gets back. Bah.
At least I’ve been keeping myself fairly busy this weekend – on Saturday, a couple friends and I attended our area’s annual gay pride festival, and as per usual, had a blast. We ran into an old friend from high school there; he was running the booth for the Human Rights campaign. I was really glad to see him again, considering I hardly ever keep in touch with him or know what he’s up to anymore. And I just love going to the pride fest, in general; it may be more than a little outrageous, but it’s one of the few places around where I don’t feel like I’m being perceived as “skewed” or “amoral”. And considering how my extended family appears to be handling the me-moving-in-with-Ali situation, I’m relishing that feeling of acceptance.
Perfect weather here, too.
I threw up during the laundry process. Oh, well. The coffee shop next to the laundromat has not the best washroom in the world. I’m really happy that in probably two months we’ll have a washer, probably a combo washer/dryer, and there will be no more laundromat.
QD’s supposed to be over before I go to work. If she gets here soon enough we’ll go down and measure some wallspace at the new place. If the current tenant is at home.
Time for lunch. Hash browns and french toast. And tea.
Hee! ::snerk::
Too bad this doesn’t translate into Hebrew… I’d so be sending it to everybody if it did!
Jahdra sorry your week is starting off so badly Hope things get better.
Nava, I’ll take some of that rain off your hands, too. Send some this way please? (South-East, yes?) And sorry about your cold! Get better fast!!
Thinking of you, Bib–and am glad you found a nice home for your nice kitties.
I am back from errands, but will have to run out again to pick up the meds (I dropped off Rxs).
Isn’t my life fascinating? I know you’re all riveted by my tale.
Off to see about lunch-I had no breakfast and am still not hungry. Why?
BBBobbio first, glad you’re ok. Second, thanks again for doin’ what you do. See, around here we depend on volunteer firefighters too. I haven’t had a need to, but it’s good to know there’s folks like you out there in case I did ever need to call. Third, sorry about Vwife’s feelings about it, but I stll have a feeling that deep down, she’s really proud of you for it all.
Hey BibKitty! Sorry you’re goin’ through such a rough time but I also know it’s sump’n you knew you had to do, so my bet is you come through it all just fine.
Feel better Nava!
Welcome An Arky!
Ok, yards are mown, pool is cleaned and some water has been let out of the pool in anticipation of some heavy rains that are allegedly on the way. Also, a tree tried to kill me this mornin’.
I was mowin’ JoeDawg’s daddy’s yard. He has this biiiiiiiiiig oak tree in the back yard. I know I’ve mentioned having to chainsaw and drag a biiiiiiiiiig limb out of his back yard before. Well, this mornin’ I was on the ridin’ mower in his back yard. Bear (HEH!) in mind that I wear earplugs when I mow. So, I’m comin’ around the corner when I see this BIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIG tree limb come a’tumblin’ down just inches from me! :eek: Seriously if it had waited two seconds to fall, I woulda been right under it. It hit his carport and a couple of electric lines that run to his house. :eek: Anywho, I managed to get it off the lines first, then moved away from the carport. I also managed to drag it into the alley behind his house (it was just a few feet) so I could finish mowin’ back there. Dang thing did scrape my left knee (again!) as I was draggin’ it out. Stoopid tree. JoeDawg’s daddy is gonna get the “you need to get that tree trimmed” lecture again. This time with a lot more colorful language for emphasis. :mad:
So, I’ve had a shower, doctored up the knee and had a chicken salad sammich. Medicinal ice cream will be consumed shortly followed by a nap cause I deserve one and need to recuperate. I shall expect much pityin’ tonight. Speaking of which, I’m being taken out for Mexican food tonight, so there is that.
Later Y’all!
Damnit, I don’t want pleasurable pain for my students. I want PAIN. PAAAAAAIN.
cough Excuse me.
I am trying to juggle another community college job offer right now - this new one is in the suburbs, but less than an hour away from the Loop, so hopefully something will work out.
Poor swampy. I’d kiss your sore knee but you already have that someone to do that for you.
Er, swampy, if I’m reading that right, you pulled a tree limb off of live power lines?! :eek: That’s, uh, really not very safe. Don’t do that again, if I didn’t mis-read what you did. I’m glad you didn’t get whomped by the widowmaker, though, those can be, well, widowmakers.
Great story, Bob!
I’m still waiting for mine.
A second here, with a caveat. If you pulled it off the line between the transformer and the service entrance, you’re generally OK if the insulation on the lines is intact. That’s 220 volts, so even if there was a bare spot, if the limb was dry you’ll have enough insulation in the branch. Still, you get a :smack:
However, with the line poles the conductors are bare and typically run 2kV to 7kV. Attempting to pull even a dry glass pipe off of one of those will ruin your whole day. :eek: :eek: :eek:
BTW, a branch fell off the peecan tree yesterday, and I don’t know why it broke. Maybe a 300 lb mockingbird landed on it.
BBBobbio, the mockingbird probably was the one who has eaten all of my loquats and started on my tomatoes. Git him!
Awesome OP, BBBobbio. It’s amazing the amount of stress you can put yourself under in only a couple of hours – and what it can do to your body. I’m glad you got everything under control – both the fire and your body chemistry. It’s a shame VWife is all rolly-eyes about it. You do good work – stressful, dangerous work that not a lot of people can or will do. You help people, even save people. I just can’t understand how anyone can become exasperated with that, even if it does interrupt your daily life periodically. Perhaps you should take her along on a run so she can see what you really do. Nothing’s more eye-opening than witnessing stuff like that first-hand.
So, yeah… page two before noon. Is that a record or something? Anyway. It’s the last day of the long weekend for us Canucks, but fortunately Tim Horton’s is open, so caffeine is in good supply. And I promised pics, so pics you shall get in volume.
Yesterday we went to MindWife’s brother’s new place (left half of the semi) for some Canada Day celebrations. It was my first time seeing the place, and I have to admit it’s quite nice. It looks bigger inside than it does from the outside, and it’s well appointed; of course, he couldn’t resist showing off his new toys. Most of our time was spent in the back yard as we all set up for a barbecue. There were beerverages aplenty, various snacks (cheese & crackers, olives, watermelon, various potato chips, and some weird concoction he made that was essentially a kind of fritter cake consisting of eggs and spaghetti all fried up into bars. I didn’t much care for it.) The back yard is quite nice. It has a nice view (and I couldn’t resist taking a few zoom shots) and the fence is lined with a nice garden filled with garden angels and a cool little waterfall in the corner. Their newly-shorn Pomeranian Dakota was a big ol’ suck to anyone who had food. Our hostess, BIL’s wife did a great job on the spread, as did BIL himself. He made a pretty awesome ice cream cake made of chocolate cake layers, chocolate ice cream, and crushed bits of Skor bar, topped with cocolate cookie dust and caramel. I was impressed with his culinary skills; I didn’t even know he knew how to make anything that wasn’t fried. The barbecue itself was great; barbecued sausage and boneless ribs were the main courses, and there was corn on the cob (boiled) as well as my macaroni salad (which was a big hit).
So fed, we headed out to the local fireworks show that was to begin when it got dark enough. It was held at the Brampton Christian School, right on the border of Brampton and Caledon off Highway 10, just a short three minute jaunt from the house. The parking situation was impressive; there were obviously plenty of people in attendance as every bit of real estate in the parking lot proper and the grassy areas to the side of the school and portables was occupied by cars. We found a spot, parked, and walked into the huge field behind the school whereupon the festivities were taking place. There was a cool stage set up where a band had played earlier in the day. They were done and packing up by the time we got there, so I don’t know who was playing. The setup was nice, though. I set up my tripod (unfortunately about 30 feet from one of the speaker stacks). Very shortly after doing so, a series of Roman Candles signaled the beginning of the start of the show. The accompanying music started up – a kind of new age orchestral piece, would have been very nice if it wasn’t blasting directly into my eardrums. But anyway, I started shooting:
Twin (overexposed) shots
Triple shots
Sparkly!
Sparkly AND Explody!
Barrage
Bigger barrage
Wispy
Stars and Stripes
Colourful
Explody
Wee assortment
Ooh, shiny! And blurry.
Twin streaks
Shiny assortment
Blurry blossoms
It was a pretty brief show – maybe 10-15 minutes or so, but it was pretty cool. Once the fireworks were spent, we headed out, encountering a snarl of gridlock as we did. Took us at least 10 minutes just to leave the parking lot. All in all, a very enjoyable evening indeed.
Oh. And once again, and for no particular reason, The Moon. It was full and bright and I wanted a picture of it up close and personal.
ETA: Someone is setting off loud fireworks just outside my window. Off their balcony. At 1:55pm. Idiots.
That’s exactly what I was thinking as I read that post. Thank goodness someone else posted it. I was thinking what a brave bear. . .brave is pretty close to unsafe, right?
bobbio, thanks for the OP. I got up this morning feeling like crying. I couldn’t figure it out. I wasn’t really feeling that badly and everything else was good. I just felt this overwhelming fatigue and helplessness feeling. I got up and drank some water and ate something and exercised with no change. But after I read your OP, I was thinking that Gatorade might help. So I took a couple sips of Gatorade and 30 minutes later, I’m feeling MUCH better. I don’t know if that’s psychological or not, but I’ll take it. So thanks for the reminder. Seriously, the change feels kinda miraculous.
Maggie, (is that your new nickname?), you already stepped off the abyss and now you’re here. You can’t escape. You’re* in*. Welcome to the MMP!
rigs, that’s what I felt like this morning. Man, I didn’t do anything and I’m exhausted. How depressing!
Nava, I hope you feel better soon.
Jahdra, I hope your week gets better. Are you off on Wednesday?
taxi, the people you mentioned must not have posted in a while. I don’t recognize their names. Who’s bumba, Dots and rue?
Just previewed and saw Mork’s post. Gonna have to come back to that. I gotta get going.
Purty pics, Mork! I haven’t tried shooting fireworks; I don’t think I’m sufficiently bright to figure out how to do it with my camera. I’ll leave that technical stuff up to Papa Tigs. He does cameras and computers; I do all other household electronics. And I think I got fatter just from reading about your BIL’s cake! Yummy!
Sorry you threw up again, LiLi.
Look at it this way, Jahdra – with a Monday like this, the week has nowhere to go but up! Right?
Sorry about your knee, Swampy. I’m sure it will fell much better after ACBG pampers you, though.
I’ve got nothing else to report from this neck o’ the woods. It’s still beyootiful, and we’re still enjoying the lovely breeze. With that, of course, nothing much else needs to be reported!
Bobbio… Sveltification? How much de-svelting will you do to yourself by having some gatorade when you’re actively uh, active? If you’re down with heat exhaustion/stroke/ilness, who rescues the rescuer?
I’ve jammed enough icepacks into overheated groins and armpits to recognize the distinct signs of The Stubborn. By the time I get at 'em, they’re the Pales, Pastys and Incoherents. :eek: Don’t make me come over there young man!
Update on DH’s new job. We went to his new office on Saturday to start mucking the place out - the carpet was gray as concrete, but one pass of the vacuum turned it blue. Sucked tons of dust bunnies out of the PCs, moved a server, and fixed a jammed fax machine.
Remember last week when I’d mentioned the former office manager and the going impression that they’d been embezzling? Trapped in the jammed fax machine’s memory was a fax from a customer puzzling over why they had to make out a deposit check to the former manager, rather than to the company. This will most likely become a full-court-press legal action, so I’ll say no more other than BUSTED!
To celebrate the new job, and finding a smoking gun on the very first day, we finally upgraded our laundry to a sparkling new pair of LG 4.0 cubic foot frontload washer and dryer to replace our 2.something foot washer that’s given us three years of flawless service, but it’s just too small. Comforters and blankets simply don’t fit into it, and the new one’s supposed to be able to swallow a king-size comforter, and something like a dozen pair of jeans instead of just four pair.
The real fun comes with the rebates - $75 from the electric company, and $100 from the water company for advancing to a “third tier” HE machine.
In my defense, I WAS trying to keep up with the water. The problem with Gatorade and the sugar is that I lack a stomach and a couple feet of my upper small intestine; oddly enough the section responsible for absorbing sugar. If I ingest something loaded with sugar without also eating something not carb loaded, the sugar causes me to have some rather violent gastric distress, commonly known as dumping. It’s about a half hour of intestinal hell, and I’ll be running at both end at the same time.
The Rescue guys were running around sticking surgical gloves of ice down everyone’s back, and for the first time, I didn’t jump about 3 feet straight up when it happened. A smoke hood makes a handy spot to stash an icepack or three, too; kind of like a fanny pack on your neck.
Bravo Zulu (Navy slang for well done) to DH on finding the smoking gun. for him, :smack: for the guilty…
I don’t even bother trying to open Photobucket links from work. TPTB have decided that’s a blockable link. Dorks.
haze - you coming west or southwest?
gotti, that’s awesome news.
BBbobbio, now you know. And knowing is half the battle! Go Joe! Oops. :o I always wanted that GI Joe aircraft carrier…
Mork, those are great pictures!
I was busy beating myself up this morning about a certain body part, and finally I realized that I was being silly. That’s what plastic surgery is for! Besides, I always promised myself that I’d do it in my 30s and I’m 33. No time like the present. So I’m researching whether or not I can get the surgery covered by my health insurance (more than likely), and what that would entail (undoubtedly lots of paperwork and appointments). I also need to find out if/how much weight I should lose beforehand. Even if my health insurance won’t cover it, I can start saving money for it in September, after [del]all of[/del] my *single * credit card is paid off.
**Rue **was our fearless leader. He started the whole MMP way back when and used to be the one who always did the OP. But then he got a job that takes him away from us.
**Bumba **was another regular poster. He makes some pretty nifty soaps. Off the top of my head I don’t know much else about him. And I don’t know where he disappeared to.
**Dots **was a regular for a while as well. She was having some family problems and had struggled with an eating disorder and I think we all tended to worry about her a bit. Dot, if you’re out there, we’re still thinking about you!