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Weedygarden said:
Good to hear from you. Bait and switch is happening more and more in this world. It is just another way to reel people in to a plan they hadn't wanted or needed.
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I had a full blown Panic Attack.
Oldest son and I went over to new apartment with painter's tape, measuring tape laid everything out.
Which I can now see that it will work better for me.
I'm a visible person these days.
I feel betterseeing things now.
Didn't save any money water bill is $10 monthly for washer and dryer.
Saved maybe $2 monthly.
I don't handle severe change well anymore.
But sons want me and Strawberry safe.
Only thing I'm missing is linen closet will have to get creative on that.
 
Today is a stormy day.
Woke up to tornado sirens going off at 0530 hours.
Being pelted by thunderstorms now.
Taking another load of food stuff,pots and pans over to new place this afternoon.
Putting it away as I bring it over. Only keeping 3 day supply of food at old place.
Cannisters, dry goods(beans and such) go over this afternoon too.
Taking cheap single pod coffee pot over with me this afternoon along with radio of some kind.
Both sons seem to think we will be able to fit my freezer in the mechanical room, but will have to put upon paver stones so not to hit drainage pipe of water heater.
But after the last panic attack, oldest son is going to tape it out for me.
I'm afraid the gas line will be in the way by 2 inches.
Will have acrew with trucks to load furniture up on Wednesday for the final push to get me moved by the 1st.
Been making several loads of items in totes and grocery bags over several times a day.
Met several of the neighbors yesterday. They seem like nice people.
Several of my friends that live in the new neighborhood introduced me to several people.
You would be surprised how much stuff you can move in a Fiat.
Just about got all the totes moved in the Fiat.
Just catching up on the news with you guys,taking a small break from moving things, sorting , getting rid of,resting a bit.
 
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Ok, so I'm trying to take this whole "Get Into Shape" thing seriously...I've been doing some walking and weightlifting, but nothing intense. The doctor said I need to lose weight - and I always said if I ever hit 250 pounds, I'd go on a diet and work out. Well...last checkup I weighed 251. I can't jog because of my back, and TBH I'm too fat and it hurts my knees. So on an impulse, I went into the bike shop, and came out with a used crossbreed bike. It cost me $240 which I thought was a lot, but when I looked at good quality new ones I just about had to clean out my drawers...A similar new bike starts at $700 and goes up to where I could buy a used car for the same money.

So, I took it out for my first real ride tonight. 40 minutes on fairly level terrain wasn't a killer, but I'm gonna feel it tomorrow. I do think I could have done 15 or 20 more minutes but no need to make it hurt on the first day.

I got to thinking, a bike has SHTF implications as well. For a person in shape, 5 or 6 miles on a bike is nothing. Even 10 miles should take no more than an hour. If fuel gets to be in short supply, biking could be a great way to go...
 
Yesterday had a Dr appt for my back. I had an MRI a few weeks back and we discussed it. I have 2 herniated disc at L4/5 and L5/S1. I've had both for better than 30 years. Most days aren't too bad, but when it's acting up it's hard to put shoes on, let alone do anything. After discussing symptoms and how and what I do, they told me I was a poor candidate for surgery. Thats a good thing. Wants me to stretch which I do several times a day, take ibuprofen as needed, and walk. Take PT when it's acting up. I also have some arthritis in my lumbar area.
All in all about what I expected to hear. Glad I don't need surgery.
 
Not good news about your injuries @Bacpacker but with stretching exercises it helps a lot and walking is good too. DH has similar injuries to you and had a discectomy and spinal fusion of the L5 S1.

@Spikedriver walking is good for loosing weight and stretching also helps for the back injuries to keep you flexible. Have you been to a physiotherapist to get some advice on exercises you should do for your back ?, if not it would be beneficial. Riding a bike will also help but it will only work the bottom half of your muscle groups. Brisk walking will raise your heartbeat to use more calories and you can try flat ground to start off with and work up walking up slight to more steep inclines and sweating is good to show you it is working :). DH went from 135 kg or 297 lbs to now 95 kg or 209 lbs and is 6ft 2" and a bit tall and has a heavy large body frame.

Watch your diet too and eat more whole foods eg nuts and grains, vegetables and fruits which will help to loose some weight too.
 
@MoBookworm1957 you sound so like DH and he hates change too and suffers panic attacks. I am glad the new apartment will work for you and lovely of your son to mark where everything will go for you. Sounds like you are getting everything moved quickly and take little steps to get there as to not cause a lot of stress for you. Glad you have met some new friends and neighbours where you are moving to.
 
@Sewingcreations15 I tend to walk a lot for work and my feet have taken a beating over the last ten years. Walking on railroad ballast isn't good for the body. I'm trying to take the load off my feet and joints but still get a good workout. I enjoy hiking, and I'd prefer to be able to do that when I'm 60, and the way I've been going I won't be able...

As far as diet, I just need to eat less, period. Life on the road is rough on the diet, as restaurants always have huge meals that look so good. I just need better discipline. I've lost 50 lbs. that way before, and I can do 30 lbs. this time, as a starting goal...
 
Bacpacker said:
Yesterday had a Dr appt for my back. I had an MRI a few weeks back and we discussed it. I have 2 herniated disc at L4/5 and L5/S1. I've had both for better than 30 years. Most days aren't too bad, but when it's acting up it's hard to put shoes on, let alone do anything. After discussing symptoms and how and what I do, they told me I was a poor candidate for surgery. Thats a good thing. Wants me to stretch which I do several times a day, take ibuprofen as needed, and walk. Take PT when it's acting up. I also have some arthritis in my lumbar area.
All in all about what I expected to hear. Glad I don't need surgery.
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I've started doing a lot of stretching too. It doesn't really lessen my pain, or let me do the things I used to, but I do notice I bounce back a lot better...
 
Spikedriver said:
Ok, so I'm trying to take this whole "Get Into Shape" thing seriously...I've been doing some walking and weightlifting, but nothing intense. The doctor said I need to lose weight - and I always said if I ever hit 250 pounds, I'd go on a diet and work out. Well...last checkup I weighed 251. I can't jog because of my back, and TBH I'm too fat and it hurts my knees. So on an impulse, I went into the bike shop, and came out with a used crossbreed bike. It cost me $240 which I thought was a lot, but when I looked at good quality new ones I just about had to clean out my drawers...A similar new bike starts at $700 and goes up to where I could buy a used car for the same money.

So, I took it out for my first real ride tonight. 40 minutes on fairly level terrain wasn't a killer, but I'm gonna feel it tomorrow. I do think I could have done 15 or 20 more minutes but no need to make it hurt on the first day.

I got to thinking, a bike has SHTF implications as well. For a person in shape, 5 or 6 miles on a bike is nothing. Even 10 miles should take no more than an hour. If fuel gets to be in short supply, biking could be a great way to go...
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I used to ride a bike but got tired of almost getting killed by inattentive drivers so I gave the bike to a neighbor kid. It's great exercise and you can cover a lot of ground

I worked with a guy that was a biking fanatic. He would ride over 200 miles on a Saturday over the Cascade mountains just for fun. He did the STP, Seattle to Portland, race every year and he did it in 1 day, over 200 miles. He also did the RAMROD.
His bike frame alone cost almost $5,000.
So you are correct, 5 or 6 miles should be nothing.

RAMROD 2019
RAMROD [Ride Around Mount Rainier in One Day] is the Pacific Northwest's premiere one-day ultra-marathon cycling event. It combines the incomparable scenery of Mount Rainier National Park with a challenging course featuring 10,000 feet of climbing over 150 miles.

He was 35 at the time and usually finished in the top 5.
 
@Spikedriver another low inpact exercise is to exercise in water. The water softens the impact on your joints and back and also floating weightless in water helps so if you have a public pool or a friend with a pool that is an option too. DH walks up and down the pool for exercise and even with his chronic back injuries he finds that works well for him and lowers his pain levels. You probably have water aerobics exercise or get fit in water classes near you maybe which would offer you resistance training.
 
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Started off the day with folding up 3 loads of washing and putting it away and then made the bed with clean sheets. DH then put on a load of washing in the washing machine, hung it on the clothes line and brought it in when dry. He then watered the garden beds with the grey water and watered the fruit trees and herbs with saved grey water in our collapsible rainwater tank.

DH then washed the dishes and cleaned the benches and I wiped them and put them away. I have been studying our lesson for the week in Relief Society for church tomorrow as I am the teacher of the lesson. I am not naturally a good speaker or teacher so I will see how it goes as I get extremely nervous speaking in front of people although most tell me I am a good at it my knees knock and get weak and secretly I am a mess.

Tonight's dinner is rump steak with steamed peas, corn, carrot and capsicum.
 
I have a bunch of tomatoes to put in the dehydrators, a worm farm to clean out, my closet to organize (ugh), window dowel stops to precisely cut. Husband is working on a new security camera system. Grandson is taking off for an overnighter at a lake with a friend. Neighbor girls were so sweet yesterday, were waiting for me to get home. Said they had something for me. Gave me something wrapped in some scrap material...some costume jewelry rings and a little pin, something from their jewelry box. Said it was because the robber took all of mine.
 
As unbelievable as it is I am pretty much caught up with my work. The garden is looking good with the weeds under control. The yard is mowed and the flower beds mostly weed free. Sprinklers in the pasture are all working like they are suppose to work, except I have a couple spraying into the road, which is a no no so I'll fix that. I reworked all the drip irrigation for my wife's flowers so they are getting watered like they should. It feels good to be caught up for awhile.
If the wind would ever stop blowing I'd go fishing. I hear the walleye are biting and I would like to put a bunch of fillets in the freezer.
 
Sewingcreations15 said:
@Spikedriver another low inpact exercise is to exercise in water. The water softens the impact on your joints and back and also floating weightless in water helps so if you have a public pool or a friend with a pool that is an option too. DH walks up and down the pool for exercise and even with his chronic back injuries he finds that works well for him and lowers his pain levels. You probably have water aerobics exercise or get fit in water classes near you maybe which would offer you resistance training.
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I looked into this. Closest one in at the Y 10 miles from me. I'll just stick with my bike.
 
Made a double recipe of Spoon Bread this morning, then went to a funeral at 11. The spoon bread went to the Church for the family get together after--it is a huge family! Haven't done anything since I got home. I think I'll go sweep the house in a few minutes. Then maybe write a couple of eBay drafts.
 
Animals. Security stuff. Talked to mom for a while. She took a fall yesterday and had to go to ER. Stitches in her forehead. Went into work for an hour, 4 loads of laundry done and hung, filled dehydrator with tomatoes, cooked some chicken for lunches, rice and pasta cooked for the chickens. Going to go work on cutting window dowels and then get spaghetti started for dinner.
 
Amish Heart said:
Animals. Security stuff. Talked to mom for a while. She took a fall yesterday and had to go to ER. Stitches in her forehead. Went into work for an hour, 4 loads of laundry done and hung, filled dehydrator with tomatoes, cooked some chicken for lunches, rice and pasta cooked for the chickens. Going to go work on cutting window dowels and then get spaghetti started for dinner.
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Window dowels? Something to help secure your windows?

When someone brought a ladder to my house many years ago and climbed through a second story window, someone told me to drill a hole from the frame of a window pane through to the upper window frame and use a long nail or screw through both to secure the windows so that someone could not come and lift it any further. I have yet to do that. I have not had anyone else bring a ladder to my house to climb through a second story window, but I suppose if someone did it once, someone could do it again. My first floor windows all stay closed year round. It is the second story windows in other places that are not as easy to climb through that get opened for release of the air drawn in by the swamp cooler.
 
Packing up and empting one room at a time.
Take to new apartment unpack put away of possible.
Kitchen has food storage pantry area just left to do in old apartment.
Will move it to new apartment in the morning.
Then each room in order.
Kitchen
Bathroom
My room
Living room
Tomorrow will finish kitchen, then old apartment kitchen will be swept, scrubbed and mopped.
Amish Heart sorry to hear about your troubles.
Getting ready to storm here, sky is turning black, wind is picking up.
I'm tired so will have bird bath, then bed super tired today.
 
Sewingcreations15 said:
Not good news about your injuries @Bacpacker but with stretching exercises it helps a lot and walking is good too. DH has similar injuries to you and had a discectomy and spinal fusion of the L5 S1.
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It was pretty much what I expected. I knew it hadn't got any better over the years. Just wanted to know for sure. Did the surgery help your hubs? I've heard good and bad from folks that have had back surgeries. The Dr even told me results were mostly 1/3's. 1/3 it helped, 1/3 not much difference, 1/3 actually was worse. Those don't sound like good odds to me. Also told me most people are to the point of having to try something for some relief.

With all the rain and storms in the area, we just slept in this morning, got up and had some hashbrowns and eggs, got cleaned up and took a road trip. Drove east of us and visited Yoders (a very nice Amish store we like going to) who has some great foods, bulk spices, etc. Left there and drove out into the country into an area we are very interested in moving to after I retire. We went up and down several roads in the mountains, farmland, and just country land looking for properties for sell and for areas we really like. We've been in part of the area once before, but took several hours driving around and looking closer today. Didn't find anything promising, but it's gonna be 5 yrs before I retire, so no rush to find something. The area is beautiful though, rolling farmland running up to the mountains. Elevations probably starting around 1500' up to 4500'+. Lots of crops, animals, and gardens all along the way.
 
Yoder is my family name. Ha. Sounds like you were describing Yoder, Kansas, except no mountains.
I've heard of the screw thing too, Weedy. This is maybe easier than that. Our windows unlock at the bottom by lifting two latches and pulling up. I cut dowels 28 1/4" (1/2 inch ones) and put them on each side of the upper pane so the window can't be lifted up. The robber had some type of tool where he jammed it in from the outside and managed to get one window open. Looks like he tried 3 others, but couldn't get them (the screens were off). Got lucky on one. Also put in window alarms, as well as the dowels. Didn't want to do screws in case we need to exit quickly in case of fire. It's easy to knock the dowel out from the inside and open the window quickly. Noticed today that he attempted to go through the back gate...it's just a locked wired gate. Bent the wire getting his foot in it. Changed his mind probably when the dogs came running. Got 7 windows done today, have about 10 more to do on the bottom floor. Have some more sensors/cameras to install tomorrow, but husband and granddaughter have been working on that.
 
Amish, drill a hole at a slight downward angle that is slightly larger than your nail. the hole should go all the way through the first widow frame and part way through the second frame. Drop the nail in the hole and it can't be seen from outside and it will prevent the window from sliding. A duplex nail that is long enough to go half way through the second frame is excellent. If you paint the nail head the same colour as the frame it will never be noticed by visitors.
 
@Bacpacker yes the operation did help DH with his injuries and pain in that area. DH does say don't get back surgery unless it is your last option and yes any back surgery has very mixed results which is why DH and I say this. As DH's orthopedic surgeon said if tacking a dead toad to the end of your bed works to reduce your pain levels then do that :).

He finds floating weightless in water helps as do spas and relaxes the muscles which when all tensed up in knots cause the pain usually. Arnica cream works for his swelling around the area and pain relief too. DH is now having regular physiotherapy appointments his other back injuries seem to be hurting him less too, he has a lot of muscular damage in his back and stretching helps immensely too.

Sounds like your country drive was lovely even without finding a suitable property.
 
It seems that from time to time I get shown just how wonderful it is to live out in the sticks, as I was going down to the lower garden area to close up the chicken coop I looked to the left side and there was a forked horn black tail deer bedded down, I talked to him and turned around and went to tell my wife and when I came back he was still there and only got up when I started walking down the steps. After I closed the coop I noticed that a doe had joined him and was walking toward me as I went back up hill. We leave most of the edible wildlife alone on our property as we consider it a nursery, so the wildlife tends to feel safe even when we are relatively close to them.
 
@viking it is lovely when you have special moments like that and we had a swamp wallaby come right up to us on our back ground level patio. It was digging up the citrus peels we had trench composted into the gardens as it is a really special treat for them to have fruit. It was not the least bit scared but like you we keep a reasonable distance and just watch them and think how blessed we are to live in the country.
 
Went to church and had a great time and I taught the lesson sitting down as my knees shake when I speak. It turned out rather well and everyone got involved. After church I went for my ministering interview with my companion and that went well too.

Got half way home and swapped drivers as DH's back was playing up so we had a bit of a walk around to stretch and I drove home the rest of the way. When we got home DH had a nap and we emptied the rubbish and recycling into the wheelie bins outside and I replaced the rubbish bag.

Tonight's dinner will be fried eggs on toast for something a little easier.
 
Enjoying my morning coffee. Sewing...didn't know that women did teaching in your faith, learned something new. Glad you found a way to make it successful. I dislike public speaking. Plan to cook a turkey that I took out of the freezer. One a butchered a while ago, a very mean Tom. Did I mentioned the druggie robbers stole all of my butchering equipment? Need to order a new kit from Cabellas. Plan to finish the window sticks and also clean out the trays in my worm farm.
 
My house has been a non stop project for the last 10 years, It's a 30 year old home that is better than any new home on the market. That being said we have another building on our place that we use for storage. It has a decent living area in it and I use the garage as a workshop. I had devoted all my spare time to making our house a nice place and ignored this building it was getting so bad I couldn't stand to drive buy it. So last week I decided to start giving it some love. I replaced the roof and a a lot of rotten cedar trim all exterior doors were replaced and put two coats of solid body stain on the entire building. I still have the windows to paint but since it's raining to day I'm going to spend the day in the shop building cedar shutters. I'm thinking it will break up the brown.


shop.jpg
 
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