Time for catching up…
My shoulder surgery went well. I wish they had sent me for this arthroscopic surgery a year ago. I’m going to physiotherapy three times a week and doing very well. Thank you all for your well wishes, notes and flowers. The more concerning problem has been my back.
My GP initially thought I had a pinched nerve but since the numbness in my legs has not resolved and I’ve experienced some numbness in my face and tongue, he’s sending me to see a neurologist in a couple of weeks. Then I’ll go for an MRI and see if anything beyond old age is to blame.
Along with the physiotherapy for my shoulder I’ve been getting physio for my back. This requires that in between visits I do “homework”. I’ve got a set of dumb bells to work out my shoulder and a set of exercises I do for my back. I can do most of these exercises from my bed and as I move from one exercise to another I have to switch from lying on my back to lying on my stomach.
If you are a woman and over 40, here’s a scary thing to try:
Take your bra off. Get on all fours. Look down at your breasts. When I did this two words immediately leaped into my head – plastic surgery!
Moving right along…
I’m back to school. My son and I are taking night school courses at the local college. We’re in our second semester of the CCNA program, working towards our Cisco certification. So two nights a week I get to have supper with my son, daughter-in-law and visit with my grand daughters, Natalie and Eve. By the way, I’ve added more photos of them to my Flickr page and you can see them by accessing the Flickr badge to the right —>
I just can’t say how much I am enjoying being back at school. I absolutely love lab nights. Every Thursday night we have labs where we get to play with the equipment. I’m a real gizmo fiend and love anything with buttons, wires and stuff. Give me some computer components and a manual and a problem to solve and I’m in my glory. Right now we’re learning how to configure routers so we use a command line interface to do that. Some people are intimidated by this but this brings me right back to my DOS and early linux days.
This class looks like it’s going to be even more fun that last semester’s class. Forgive me but as a mom I have to brag a bit about my son. He was the only student in the class to get 100% on the mid-term exam. I didn’t do as well. I got 99%. It’s a challenging course as there is so much to remember. The concepts are easy to grasp but it’s the shear memorization of little bits and pieces that is daunting. That’s why I like the labs so much. Since I understand the concepts, applying them practically is easy and fun.
On the automotive front I’ve had a problem with my car now. I have a 2002 Chrysler Sebring and since it is a newer car than Lise’s and in better shape (yeah, after recently spending 800 bucks on it), I like her to take my car when she has to work in Chatham which is an hour away. This past Wednesday she took my car and got about 10 minutes away when the car started to over heat. She had to call her clown partner to pick her up so they could continue to work.
Initially, we weren’t sure if the problem was the thermostat or something more serious but when Lise had the chance to look at it later we discovered that it was the water intake housing that was pooched. It was easy to replace, just 4 bolts and 3 hoses but it was a dealership item so that cost another $156 for the part. Amazing what they can charge for a hunk of plastic with 4 brass bushings, two silicone gaskets and a sensor.
While I was at the dealership I took the opportunity to ask them about the intermittent flashing oil light I’ve been experiencing. About eight months ago I freaked out when I came to idle at an intersection and the oil light started flashing. When your car’s oil light comes on, that’s never a good thing and usually means you don’t have long to pull over somewhere and call CAA.
I took my car to Lise’s boyfriend Mark who tested the engine compression (it was fine for which I was relieved because I really didn’t want to have to shell out for an engine rebuild) and changed the oil sensor for me and all was well. That is, until about six weeks ago when the light started flickering again. It was weird because the light only flickered when the engine was hot and idling at about 500 – 600 rpm. Once the engine revs got above this, the light went out.
So while at the dealership picking up the housing I asked to speak with a service advisor about the oil light problem. They told me it was a simple fix (something to do with running a wire from the oil sensor to the engine block) and that they had the same problem with the Intrepids. They said a service bulletin had been issued for that problem with the Intrepids so they knew how to fix that bug. When I first had the problem I called the dealership to ask if any service bulletins had been issued for my car with that problem they said there wasn’t one. Now they say one was issued for the Intrepid. That’s dumb because both the Intrepid and my model of Sebring have the same 2.7 liter engine.
Sometimes I think I should have apprenticed as a mechanic instead of becoming a welder-fitter. Back then it was unusual to see a woman in a trade and I had a very hard time finding work. Still though I don’t regret learning a trade or later learning to drive a semi as the experience has made me less intimidated about taking things apart and putting them back together. When I was in middle school I wanted to take shop but they made the girls take home economics. I thought that was dumb. I already knew how to cook and stuff, what I didn’t know was how to fix things. I thought that the boys should take home ec and the girls shop so that each would know enough to take care of things themselves.
I have more studying to do for my driver’s licence. I let my AZ licence go and downgraded to a DZ licence. So I can’t drive a semi but I can drive a dump truck. It’s license renewal time and I have to write an exam to keep my DZ status. I’ve been putting off doing this because I doubt I’ll ever drive commercially again but Annie at the local licence bureau is encouraging me to keep my DZ status and take the test. I suppose it’s easier to keep my DZ than earn it all over again should I ever want it back. So I’ll be studying for that exam over the next couple of weeks.
Anyway, that’s what’s been going on here at the Lakeside Lair. Hope you all have a pleasant weekend.