Life is Good

[Spell Chick]

My old coach from my old gym came over to make a t-shirt yesterday. I hadn't seen her in over a month and it was fun to catch up. She was also excited with her shirt.

Then I made the shirt Frankie designed for her daddy. I don't know if she wants to give it to him for Valentine's Day or not, but she will have it.

[Spell Chick]

I made Valentine shirts for the granddaughters and we mailed one to Morgan. She got it and modeled it for us. Her dad took a picture and sent it. She is adorable.

[graphophobia]

Four new chickens arriving today. A cool and wet welcome for them , but they have a lovely tidied up orchard to scritch in.

[Spell Chick]

We went n to Hilton Head yesterday and got to see the family. Craig and I talked a bunch of gym stuff, him giving me advice. He and his dad talked business stuff with Dick giving Craig advice. Frankie and I worked side by side on our laptops with me showing her how to work some of her craft programs. She and I also made a peanut butter/chocolate chip puff pastry together. Dayna and I talked about kid problems with each of us unable to solve them.

I hate only seeing them infrequently. Not enough to actually move, but I really do wish we were closer.

Frankie liked the shirt I made her and was thrilled when I showed her the picture of Morgan wearing the same design.

[graphophobia]

Peanut butter/chocolate chip pastry! *faints* You need to make & sell this online (with international shipping!)

[Dansinger]

Had my first post-op shower today. It was just lovely - even though I was only allowed a very short one.

Managed to put on my cardigan all by myself too. And I was able to reach the shelf that held the salt and pepper.

[Spell Chick]

My goal for the week is no squats. Yesterday's workout was to get a one rep maximum weight back squat. And then later, do goblet squats (squats holding a kettlebell or dumbbell like a goblet).

I did deadlifts instead of back squats and the first time my knee pinged, I dropped the bar. And then I did glute bridges instead of the goblet squats.

My knee is no longer waking me up at night, but it still is ouchie during the day. If I can actually not be stupid, it should heal up nicely. As the Spartans said, "If."

[Gyppo]

It can be very difficult to 'make haste slowly' when something is damaged or hurt and needs time to get better.  When you get older you know the clock is ticking, and you have an unspecified amount of ticks left.  Therefore you get impatient

When you're eighteen, and believe you're indestructible, it's easy to tell yourself 'It's only pain," and work through it.  At that age everything heals faster anyway, even if you try to sabotage the natural process by skimping on recovery time.

About fifty years down the line not only do some of the pigeons come home to roost, they gleefully crap in your head.

[graphophobia]

It is one of those odd things about getting older, going to bed and everything's relatively fine, then waking up with a randomly aching body part for no particular reason. Pains used to happen because I'd done something, now they just happen while I'm asleep. Anyway, my 'life is good' for today is starting Valentine's Day with my beloved and a pancake breakfast. Now I'm off to muck out the chook house. That's real life romance for you...

[Gyppo]

Little 'Nifty' is going around to my mate's garage next week for a thorough  check to see if it really is a viable project.  After all, it's 35 years old and hasn't run for the last 21 of those.  But during that long sleep it was stored in a nice dry garage.  We shall see.

The rear mudguard has a big rusted hole in it, which might be okay with a welded patch, but a replacement wouldn't break the bank if necessary.  The exhaust pipe and silence are rusted from one end to the other but the tap test suggests they are still solid, so a good clean off and a few coats of high temperature paint should save that.

[DAnuchan]

I'm about to set out my Valentine's Day surprise for my wife. He he. Don't want to ruin the surprise. Let you know how it goes...

[Dansinger]

Feeling better today than I did yesterday. Wounds are healing nicely and I can't stop smiling when I catch my reflection in the mirror.

Had one of my writer friends visit me today and we spoke about her book, which is in its final stages now. I can't wait to see her finished work.

[Spell Chick]

Yesterday's task was to get a one rep maximum weight snatch. This is taking the barbell from the floor with a wide grip and throwing it (floating it) overhead in one continuous movement. I managed a new and higher weight. 5% greater than my previous weight. 

[graphophobia]

The old printer died yesterday, so off to town to buy a new one. The good part is discovering how inexpensive printers are these days. (It's just buying the ink that dents the wallet.)

[Gyppo]

Yeah.  Printers are seen as a disposable commodity these days.  Cheaper to replace than mend.  Sometimes it shows in the build quality.

Friends tell me some of the aftermarket cheaper inks are good.  Seriously cheaper if you buy in bulk and refill the cartridges yourself using a syringe.

I did this for years with my old inkjet printer - mono again - and no-one ever complained about print quality.  Not the route to travel if you're a clumsy person though or can't follow instructions.  Overfilling makes one hell of a mess.  If the instructions tell you to add 10cc of ink, settle for 7.5.

Guideline?  If your the sort that freaks out when a length of sellotape sticks to itself instead of where you want it go, you're not cut out for home-refilling ;-)

I don't need colour so I bought a mono laser printer when the price was right.  It worked well straight out of the box and hasn't missed a beat since.  All I've had to do so far is add paper.

Speaking of paper.  Keep the tray filled up because new paper fresh from the sealed wrapper can sometimes play up, getting caught up or feeding two sheets at a time..  It's something to do with humidity.  Paper which has been sat in the machine for a while usually behaves better.  When you get down to the last quarter or so of your tray capacity top it up but put the older paper on top.  It's a minor hardship, but it works.