February 2022 Newsletter Edition
The month of February hasn't gone how I had hoped. I've had to set aside the projects I am working on in order to respond to what needed my immediate attention.
In the evening of February 17th I heard running water in my basement. It sounded like a tap was turned on. This didn't make any sense to me. I live alone. This raised the prospect of a burst pipe or some other ailment having gone wrong with my plumbing. Upon inspection I discovered a gear clamp vibrated it's way free from my sump pump discharge. Instead of water being pumped out of my home it had created a water feature of sorts causing my basement to begin flooding. I addressed the urgent need. One of my long time friends very graciously came over to my home at 10:10PM to help. At that point I was knackered from the stress on my hips and knees assessing what was wrong and initially responding. It was very "touch and go" for about 45 minutes if my furnace would sustain water damage. Both it and my water heater are installed on patio stones for this exact situation.
Addressing this was very hard on my body. I was still recovering three days later when there was a loud "bang" while playing a racing car game in the evening as I was starting to think about sleeping. My refrigerator had wore out. This was immediately a crisis that needed my attention. When you first move into a house or apartment you need toilet paper and a refrigerator to get life started at your new home. This completely upended my life. We are in winter. However storing food outside caused it to freeze. This wasn't helpful. One of my friends loaned me a mini refrigerator so I'd have the bare essentials refrigerated. I purchased a second mini refrigerator to buy time. For the long term I applied for and was approved for funding to purchase a replacement refrigerator. The person I had to deal with was very gracious with me as I explained the way I bend and reach on account of my physical disability. This had to be considered when buying a refrigerator. Otherwise I'd be in virtually never ending pain simply from the reaching involved in getting my meals. The website says it is suppose to arrive between March 12th to 17th. The sales associate told me to contact the store after 2 weeks to check the ETA for the delivery.
I've started creating my green screen frame. However the impact of my sump pump discharge and refrigerator failures have prevented me from completing this. I hate when a project gets put on hold. But physically I have no choice. I need to rest and recover from the stress my hips and knees were under from the immediate responses to both urgent situations. It is just too hard on my body right now. I hate to waste a day. But I need to feel rested before I finish the process. What remains is about 60 minutes of tidying behind the chair I sit in while using my computer and 30 minutes of assembly. I am hoping to get this done in March or early April. I don't want to have the components just sitting around and not being assembled. My plan now is to find out when my refrigerator is expected for delivery. Then I will be able to plan how I can best manage my legs.
I had a really serious medical appointment on February 24th. This appointment was with the doctor who performed the regenerative medicine treatment of my right knee joint. My right knee cap dislocated causing the regenerative medicine treatment to be unsuccessful. With how this was unsuccessful I made 3 point form charts: How my body responded, what went wrong and the impact this has had on me. The doctor is proposing re-doing this using a knee brace to keep my knee stable during the treatment. You just don't have the protection of your mother's womb when undergoing regenerative medicine treatment. I have an appointment in early March to get measured for a custom knee brace and I will see how this goes. I am continuing to use omega 3, chondroitin and magnesium supplements for managing some of the symptoms of my physical disability and am finding value in these.
I really enjoy caring for Rocky the hamster. I love my little buddy. He has received fan mail. Some people have purchased Rocky toys. He needs to be moved out of the large fish tank he lives in and into a wire based cage. The pet store told me to use a hamster cage with at least a 4 inch base. Then I could space out cleaning the shavings so it would be less stress on my hips and knees. This has proven to be a really good strategy with housing Rocky in my large fish tank. It was great advice. This has worked well for me. But with Rocky's toys requiring a wire cage the set of cages I am finding with a deep enough base are made for guinea pigs. I found a video demonstrating how wire cages are assembled in a factory. They used a custom spot welder that makes about 10 welds at once. I get a lot of joy and satisfaction out of using my hands. This makes up for my physical challenges and chronic pain. I've decided to make a spot welder. I will modify a guinea pig cage by doubling the wires so they are spaced ½" apart. The components I ordered are expected to arrange end of March. I should be able to complete the green screen before starting into this project.