Yay! Let the healing begin.

The white cheddar macaroni and cheese with bread crumbs and the egg and flour breaded, butter fried, yellow Morels I had for lunch! :yum:

Mum's going to a funeral on Friday and the family has asked that people wear something pink as requested by the deceased.
Mum came off the phone from arranging to meet old friends beforehand and said something along the lines of, "Oh noes! No pink in my wardrobe."
And I looked at her something along the lines of, "Woman, WHAT?!"

Came dowstairs with an armful, and that's after deselecting things she wouldn't even consider.
It wasn't orange or yellow or green; pink I can help with. And that's the part that made me happy.

On a sadder note.
Well, nowhere near as sad as a death but I never met this person.
In fact I can't remember ever hearing their name.

My tiny sad is that I've had to give away three more treasured skirts.
One I was considering wearing tomorrow because it's May and it's nice and light and airy for sitting long-time on public transport.
They gotta go, I'd be showing my arsecrack within 5 minutes walk. Skirt falling down, not wearing a micro-mimi.

I don't mind switching down sizes. Of course!
And many of the clothes remind me of how I felt about myself at the time.
But now and then there will be something I was bought new, and I got to try it on and everything (as opposed to many clothes bought on eBay just because they happened to be the right size and price, ie 99p)
They were presents.
Letting them go is like shedding a skin. Good, but a bit itchy. Metaphorically speaking. Apart from the pubic lice.

I'm done. Hallelujah. :o

high five

You got it!

I had my first post surgical check up today, and it was wonderful I did not have to go to my second appointment because we have been taking such good care of the wound.

That's fantastic, fargon!

That's great, fargon!

Well done!

Woo hoo. Congrats.

Great news, ortho and fargon!

I am pleased that the worst part of my kitchen remodeling job at our home is done. Yesterday my son and I ground off all of the thin set from the kitchen floor. 10 days ago we had used a small roto hammer to get the tile up but about 80% of the rough cement adhesive was still on the floor, walking barefoot on it really sucked. We rented a big 16 inch floor buffer with a special diamond tipped brush and spread some water across the floor and went at it. Floor buffers take a bit of concentration to run smoothly and with the rough surface it was especially challenging. Pretty soon the wet thin set was coming off in a peanut butter consistency. When it was almost a dry powder we swept it up and started the routine again. It took 6 hours to do the whole kitchen and laundry room annex. We have a small half bath which only about 10 sq feet and I will do that later by hand, we didn't want to pull the toilet at this stage. I vacuumed and wet mopped the room several times and it is pretty good but still has a slight dust on it so will do it again today. You can really see the slight unevenness in the slab where the diamond brush ground down high spots which should make for a nice surface when we re-tile later.

Sounds like hard messy work. But it's great to look back at the progress you made.

Tickets to see John Cleese live. 3 of the 4 shows were sold out, and they're not the best seats in the house - but they're not horrible...

James and I just haven't really spent enough time/effort going 'Out' these past couple years. So the Roger Hodgson and John Cleese events are really something special :)

I *is* happy.
http://www.hahaha.com/en/johncleese

Today I got a call from a car collector based in Melbourne that`s interested in buying my car. Mid next week, he`ll fly up to Brisbane for a day trip to look at the car and make me an offer.

Last Sunday, I received a firm offer of $12,500 from a collector in Brisbane, so that`s the worst I`ll do.

If I could afford to wait, it might reach as high as the low $20,000s, but I`m flying back to Canada in a week and a half, so it looks like these two offers are it.

I haven`t even started the engine since pulling the car out of storage a week and a half ago, but both buyers are happy with that and would both prefer the engine wasn`t started.

I`ve spent most of the past few days returning the engine bay to as close to as possible to the configuration it was in when it was delivered 34 years ago. Still got a few flexible couplers to fit to the air intake plumbing, but it`s just about done.

That seems like a really good payoff. I didn't know there was a market.

Old Toranas are a cultural icon down under.

Took my son to the arcade. I hit the change machine for $2 and one of the quarters was a 1963 silver quarter. Melt value right now is about $4.50. After I finished my pinball game, I noticed a penny face up by my feet.

I haven't checked the lottery ticket I bought this week yet;).

Especially rare ones ... and while mine isn't an official factory model, the myth and speculation that's been going on since 1978 about the handful that were built, makes it collectible. Even the exact build number is unknown. All that I know is that mine was one of the first batch of 5 of the second generation models (they were built 5 at a time on a mini-production line), and the total production is somewhere in the lower to middle 2 figure range.

rain, finally getting a bit of rain after two weeks of some pretty unrelenting sunshine. all the little baby plants that went in are going to be happy... and our grapes might just survive after all :)

Just heard from my son, Liam who lives in Alaska with his lovely bride of only 6 months and they have a baby on the way! Should arrive in early January. I am happy for them as a family was part of their intentions and he will make a very good dad.

That will make grandchild #14 for us! :cool:

Congrats Chris and Liam!

Congratulations, Chris. I'd say the dynasty is secure. ;)

Just scoffed one of the cheese scones I made mostly for Dads, or company.
Damn. Good.

Can't really take any credit, but I did use mature (sharp) cheddar and 1/2 teaspoon English mustard. But the texture and mouth-feel came from the recipe.

Pretty much going to bed now. I've heard Bonnie Tyler giving her best in the Eurovision.
I don't have the emotional stability to see us destroyed again.
NB - will Scotland enter as a separate country if they seceed?

Anyway, going to bed in a stable mood.
I hope to cuddle Diz-trouble. I admit he's more likely to wake up completely and tread all over my head, snagging my short hair on every circuit.

But you never know. It's the happy thread. Maybe he'll settle down and we'll fall asleep snuggling. And he'll wake me up by being sick all over me and my bedsheets.

I still adore the little furry bugger.
And he adores me.
Makes me happy.

RichLevy.
He cheers me up and makes me laugh.

Two sleeps til hospital.

"And this lamp"
 

HA!

Funny is fun. ;)

I finally got my wife's car back together and up and running after changing the timing belt, pulley and tensioner, other belts, spark plugs and wires and replacing the valve cover gaskets. I never could get the water pump swapped out with a new one as I could not remove the front cam shaft sprocket which is necessary in order to pull the upper rear cover out enough to access the water pump bolts.

There is always that fear before starting that I may have screwed up somehow and maybe gotten the timing off or the spark plug wires on the wrong plugs or some hose or wire not connected right. But it started right up and sounded great. Took it around the block just to make sure and it ran fine. I will need to get a mechanic to torque down the crank bolt on the crank pulley as I don't have an impact wrench. That shouldn't cost much. And if the noise I had heard prior to all these repairs comes back I will just take it in for inspection. I'm done with greasy engines for awhile. ;)

chris, do you have large breaker bar and socket 1/2 drive use that, and you won't have to take it to a mechanic.

I have that but every time I try to tighten the bolt more the crank shaft just turns. It's supposed to be torqued to 160 lbs, so I had seen on some youtube tutorials that they just put an impact wrench on it and spin it down fast.

I got a job today!

WOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!


WTG MOAR!!!!!!!!!

Congratulations, MTP!!

oh that is fabulous news!

hoping to have a substantive post here momentarily....

this is pre-happy. anticipatory happy.

Hey mort, that's great news! What kind of job is it?


Making me happy today: Minifob got pulled off the waitlist and offered an official spot. Both my kids are going to the awesome charter school next year!!

Congratulations! What great news for Clan Fobble!

Having had children that went to different schools and that also went to the same school, I can tell you that two kids one school is waaaay better. In high school, BD's school played EldestSon's school in football. We went, of course. But we had to change sides of the stadium at halftime.

Here's what's making me happy today:

I'm going to Hanford!

I've been seeking this white whale for over two years. There is a strictly limited number of tour seats available, and they go live for registration each year in March. I missed the opening time this year by misreading the time by four hours. By the time I figured out what happened, all the seats were booked. Totally, for the whole year's quota.

They do however, offer seats for cancellations. I get an email occasionally indicating that there are open seats. I have never been able to get, read and respond to the email in time for the seat to still be open. Until this morning. Seriously, it's been like trying to call the radio station for free concert tickets.

It will be a day trip for me, the Hanford Site is about two hundred and fifty miles from my house, (I'm guessing), so I'll leave in the middle of the night on Wednesday, arrive at 7:30, bright eyed and bushy tailed for the four hour tour.

I'm stoked! I should warn you all ahead of time, there are no phones or cameras allowed on the tour, subject to confiscation and immediate termination of the tour. So, I'm hoping it *will* happen, but there won't be any pictures. Maybe I'll get y'all a postcard.

If I get super lucky, I'll be able to bookend it with a tour of the B Reactor (cameras permitted there!).

Wow! BigV is going to Occupy Hanford! We all want the special glow-in-the-dark key chains they sell in the gift shop. Well, I do, anyhow. Trade you for a ball bearing found in an uranium settling pond outside Naturita, CO.

All snarkiness aside, sounds like a fascinating tour that few get the opportunity to experience (probably for good reason).















sent via the rays emitted by a harmless isotope of strangelovian67 as it undergoes decomposition to a benign substance. Promise.

Awesome news, MTP and Clod! And BigV, if you're happy, I am happy for you!

Angels do walk among us. I had a great conversation with C&F 1.0. she's really inspiring. :)

I found my favorite hot dogs at my local wegmans!

Attachment 44114

Natural casing. They even have little bits of string separating them.

I'm behind on what C&F 1.0 means but I'm glad you're happy.

BigV, that's kinda cool but kinda mad.

In other news:
 

Remember that friend I spoke of?

Well, he's moved out to a temp. sublet and just had the first meeting with a mediator. The ball is rolling.

Sounds like things are looking up for the friend. :)

I'm glad your friend is getting control of things.

Him will be back in 12 hours!

Now that car repairs are over for my wife's car and waiting on a part for the Rover I addressed my kitchen remodel yesterday. It has been sitting patiently waiting since we ground off the old floor a few weeks ago.

I finally took a tape measure, pencil and level and mapped out on the wall where the upper cabinets will go. This was important because I had left wires in different parts of the walls behind the new sheet rock for the under cabinet lighting that will eventually be installed. Since I am building my cabinets from scratch I have a bit of leeway on measurements but so far the upper cabinets will be pretty standard in sizes. 18 inches above the counters, 42 inches to the ceiling (no fur-down). 12 inches deep and in widths of 12", 15, and 30. I installed after-construction outlet boxes for the wiring, just below where the upper cabinets will meet the back splash (nice glass tile mosaic), they are controlled by a switch I added at the kitchen entry.

Next step will be to float and tape all the drywall. I will use hot mud to start with and then finish off with the regular stuff.

I love hot mud. It's great not having to wait a day for it to dry. Although I wish I was more skilled in applying it with a smooth finish. It's especially good when you have to put it on thick and regular mud in the same location would never dry.

After a four hour drive, I am number one on the sign in sheet at the muster point for the tour.

Be back later!

For context this needs to start with some unhappy: back end of last week my skin went loco again, and as is often the case at such times, I started breaking out in lots of little infections - boil in my ear, red and watery eye, and a little nailbed infection at the tip of my right index finger. So, I called my doc and got a prescripton for anti-biotics, all dandy.

Then, two days into the anti-biotic course, I got hit with a vomiting bug. A full 24 hours unable to keep anything down for more than a few mins = fucked up my anti-biotics.

Though my eczema flare and most of the little infections were more or less done anyway, the fingetip just got worse and worse. Massively swollen. Ended up over at the doctors where he had to drill a little hole through the top of the nail to try and drain some of the goo...and doubled up the anti-biotics.

That was on Monday. Whatever he'd drained off seemed to have been replaced within am hour or so with more gunk, lifting the nail up and swelling the surrounding skin to a tight red mass, with the green starting to expand out beyond the nail and up onto the finger joint. I've been in nightmarish amounts of pain with it. Ridiculous amount of pain to be had from the nail and its bed - I see why torturers historically seem so fond of fingernail stuffs. It looked for a little while like I was auditioning for a zombie movie (or...my finger was anyway, the rest of me was fine!). Tried getting a pic, but too blurry and badly lit to bother posting.

Last night I was getting to the point where I thought I may end up down at accident and emergency to have it properly dealt with...was starting to think maybe...maybe this is going all the way in and I'll be out for the count with sepsis.

This morning it started to leak stuff out. The pressure has been dropping for the last few hours. Am starting to feel so much better! And can now stop fretting that maybe that greeny,bluey,blacky,murky bit at edges is the beginnings of gangrene :p

Smelled bad though, the stuff that came out. And more to go. Probably still be doing stuff one handed for a couple of days yet.

One of my sons (the one in Alaska) is a drywaller and showed me the benefits of using it. I use the web mesh tape as the mud penetrates it and you don't have to do 2 passes of plaster to embed it like with the paper tape. The big thing is to have as much done ahead of the actual mud work as 45 minutes goes by pretty quickly. Also don't mix up more then you can use. I've got a few spots where I got off a bit and the gap between the wall or next sheet is 1/4" or so and the hot mud is great for filling it in. I use the regular topping mud for the later coats as it works better and gives you more time. I start with a 5 inch knife and work up to a 14" one at the end.

DanaC, glad it is improving and you can actually find something positive in all this.

I busted my right thumbnail today while installing the electrical outlets in my kitchen. Not sure what I did but my hand slipped and the next thing I knew I had torn back the nail a bit from the bed so it was bleeding and hurt. I shouted out a string of curse words and my dog ran in the other room to hide.

I usually draw blood a little bit when I'm doing wiring, but I've never torn a nail. Ouch!

And Dana, I'm sorry about your finger.

Jeez Dana.
If that's good news...

Damn, I was going to another thread to moan about a canulla. I feel unworthy now. But then I have photos and I bet you don't ;)

Yeah, sorry about your finger, and the rest of the horridness.

Dana,
No topical antibiotic for the finger?

Nah. But antiseptic rinses and antibiotic tablets.

I forgot to mention my other reasons for happiness and good cheer:

Carrotchops had his hip assessment today (shold have been a fortnight ago, but no matter ;p). Rhona the hydrovet was very pleased. His muscle development is almost approaching normal now for his size and age. He is far more stable with his footing, and able to right himself if pushed slightly, can stand on three legs if she lifts one of his rear feet off the floor. Did a walk round the carpark and his gait looked good, much more even and deliberate.

Did a stint on the underwater treadmill and this time she had him running, going really fast. Gosh he was wideeyed after that. Did well though and looked much more confident and even in his movements than he used to.

The difference in strength and flexibility between his right and left rear legs has decreased dramatically. He's still stepping slightly further with one side than other other, but it's barely noticable now. And in terms of muscle mass in his thighs there's now only about a 10% difference, whereas it used to be closer to 30-40 %

So...I've to increase his exercise a little more. And introduce some new challenges, like some on lead trotting at speed and things that force him to try and stabilise, like just gently nudging his back end as he walks past so he has to right himself:p Whilst also keeping up with his current regime.

Keep that all going for two months then go and reassess. If she's still happy with the rate of progress and his overall stability then she may sign him off at that point until such time as need arises (injury forces a reduction in exercise and a need to rebuild/winter weather makes getting the right amount of exercise difficult/ maintenance sessions if problems arise with increased exercises).

So pleased:)

And to celebrate, carrot spent the afternoon working on a new project: a beef knucklebone marginally smaller than his head

I am happy because my wife is alive and safe in Seattle waiting to fly home for the weekend. Last night she headed south from Burlingham, Washington and crossed the I-5 bridge in Mt. Vernon over the Skagit River.

An hour after she crossed it the bridge collapsed. :eek:

http://www.komonews.com/news/local/C...208760201.html

Yo mama so fat ...



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