August 15, 2009

Before and after, the room that is!




For some reason, the pictures didn't come out in the order I wanted them to, so I'll just let them go the way they are. Not much choice, huh?
The green is the before and the white is the after.
I will have some finished pictures too when I can get around to it. The ones with my music equipment installed the way I want.
The carpet stayed on the floor, although I moved it a bit to center it. The flooring under it is ruined from a carpet tech who layed glue down to hold the "Kangaback" carpet we had when we first moved into the home in 1992. We had to peal the carpet up and it left most of the padding and glue on the wood.
When I win the lottery, I will have some laminated flooring put in.
The curtains are worn out, but they cover up nicely when needed. The windows in the house are almost new. They have security built in, and are double pane, providing protection from the heat/cold, and noise.
The basement has the original tile that was there from when my In laws lived here. The tile is worn out, faded, and ugly, but, it is also stuck the the concrete floor. I don't know how I will get it off the floor. I might just cover that up too.
Lots of work to do in the house yet. I have to repaint the rest of the house since the paint was new in 1992, and badly needs it. I didn't do the kitchen, so that paint is even older than that.
The bathroom needs everything. The electrical system is sadly lacking there.
Carpet throughout the house is pretty worn out too. Add to that the wonderful aroma left over from up to 7 cats at a time, and 2 dogs.
I can't imagine how far along I would have been had I been able to continue working at a good paying job instead of driving a school bus. Had I been in shape too. Oh well. I guess I have my work cut out for me.





August 14, 2009

Two steps forward...

I finished the studio today, as far as I can go for now.
It is functional.
I was fighting fatigue, so the work went slowly. I took a two hour nap this afternoon.
The equipment moved easily enough.
The little old laptop was a real pain. I'll be happy when they invent wireless everything.
I spent a full hour crawling under the table to unplug everything, and move it, piece by piece onto the new table.
I had a 6 foot table in the back bedroom. I still have that table and I love it......but....
I have everything set up on a 4 foot table now. That leaves me no room for the printer and the all in one. Right now, the printer is on the table, and the all in one is on a speaker cabinet, not in use.

I got up in the middle of this and went outside to cut the lawn. I finished 2/3 of it. I have been fighting a struggle between the old lazy me, and the new energetic me. I started reading what I was writing, and saw the old me, and I got mad.

I feel a little better now. A bit sweaty, but good.

While I was chugging outside with the mower, I made some other decisions. I will keep them to myself..... for now.

So, after everything I tried to do today and didn't succeed, I still made progress. I will play my guitar tomorrow.

The work out!

I went over to the Bariatric clinic this morning to check out the gym.
They have a very nice set up with everything I would need to torture myself, I mean, get a good workout.
The new Physiologist is very pleasant and seems to know what she is talking about.
She showed me the equipment, and let me get started on a treadmill that has one really neat feature in addition to all the latest bells and whistles. It has a fan! The fan delivers a breeze right to my face and made me feel as if I could go forever.
As it turned out, I only stayed on it for 20 minutes or so. I like to set the incline up a bit in order to get a more thorough workout. My legs are short, so 2.9-3.0 mph is about all I can do without jogging. I am not ready to jog although I've done a bit of it at the house on my treadmill. I get too sore, so for now, I won't jog.
Then, she showed me the elliptical runner, and I managed only 3 minutes on that. It did OK with my short legs, but I was really interested in becoming familiar with the machines, rather than doing a workout. Today was my break day. I needed some recovery time after working hard for the past 3 days.
I did work up a slight sweat, so that is good.
I plan to wear out the equipment in order to lose the last 45 pounds and have the energy to go back to work. I also have a treadmill at home, so I'll concentrate more on weight training at the Clinic rather than aerobic. I'll cover both bases and I'll share any insight I have right here.
If there is anything you do to get into shape, feel free to share it. I need all the variety I can get.
Kayaking will have to wait a bit.
Hershey Park? Not this year. I am ready, but I am broke.

August 13, 2009

My aching back!

Ok, it's time to put all the stuff back into the studio.
I planned to carry all the stuff I won't be using right away back down into the basement, so, it's going to be fun to say the least.
I have a ton of stuff to move and it should take me the better part of a day.
I have pictures of my newly painted studio that I'll post when I'm too sore and tired to move stuff.
The room I'm in now (the back bedroom) is slightly larger and has one fewer door. It has more room the way it is, so I will have to move stuff downstairs. No way out.
All in all, I'm pleased with the results. I did a second coat on the whole room, except for the corners and trim and there is a bit of bleed through there. I don't want anyone to think I enjoyed painting, or can do a good job at it, so I am going to leave it the way it is!
So, Saturday should be the day I start playing my guitar again.
I've been listening to my entire music collection while working this past week. I don't have a system in the basement, so I listened to the voices in my head when I was downstairs. It wasn't so bad, but I would rather hear the music.
Alabama is playing "There's no way" right now. I've listened to Tony Bennett, and various classical pieces. I also have my friend's various bands that I've recorded to inspire me.

Dave Marion has some of the stuff, but he has a band called "The Howling" right now that is really driving. My favorite band of his was called BRB. They were doing blues and old rock and roll. That stuff is not available right now. You can find it here. Look for DJLEE and my radio station. I'm not sure if the site is down for maintenance or just down.

So, my work is cut out for me. Time to go do it!




August 12, 2009

The Paint, The Paint!

I'm not done bitchin' about the job yet, but I won't put that here.

Whooo Hoooo!

I went back to painting and reached my milestone!

So, yesterday, I painted in the morning before my 9am. meeting, then I cut the lawn, and then, I finished the studio painting.

Man, was I tired, but, I did it!

Whooo Hooo!

I still have to finish the trim, which takes the small brush, and not much effort, just concentration. I figure that will take an hour once I get set up. I may have to do a second coat since most of it is just the green paint from before and hasn't been touched yet by the Kilz or paint.

I went over to the Bariatric office this morning. I seemed to remember them saying that we could drop in between 6 and 8:30 any morning until the end of the month and they would set up a program for us. I wasn't really planning on doing this yet, but I wanted to push myself a bit.
Turns out, I was wrong. No one was home.
So, I cam home and ate a gallon of ice cream to drown my sorrows. NOT!
NO big deal.
I came home, and waited until 10:30 to call them and set up an appointment to see the facility and get started on a plan. I start tomorrow.

August 11, 2009

A new job

This is my first thoughts on the subject so I hope you don't mind reading about my anger at being forced to change jobs.
The change has been contrived to draw blame away from anyone, so I don't have anyone to be angry at. This is the way it goes nowadays. I think they teach them how to do this in college. It should have a master degree attached to it.
Anyway, if I want to keep driving the school van, I will take a cut in pay.
I can't afford to do that, so it's time to move on. It doesn't matter that I've gotten paid the same wage since I started 3 years ago. It doesn't matter that I still have to have a CDL with school bus endorsement, passenger rated, FBI investigation, or any of the other stuff. I get paid less.
Now, in all fairness, I have wanted to stop driving for a long time. But, I hate having it forced on me. I still have issues between my ears that I want to resolve before changing.
And, I am a great bus driver.
I will have to work a little faster now. I am not happy about that, but, I have to deal with it.
Time to go cut the lawn. I finished the first coat of paint this morning. I have to do the second coat and trim when I get back to it. If I have the energy to do that after I cut the lawn today, it will be a new milestone for me. I can't imagine that, but I will try.

August 10, 2009

New ideas

One of my fellow bloggers pointed out an option for scheduling the posting of a blog entry when you want, instead of right away. I didn't really look too close at the options, so I missed that one.
I may use it sometime, but for now, I write when I get inspired, and don't really think too far ahead.
Our Bariatric clinic has expanded and changed over the past month, and the change is amazing.
I am on the steering committee for the support group meetings, and that is also changing, due to our nurse leaving the clinic and going back to teaching. The dietitian took the reins and made a list tonight that just made her job a little more involved. She is a stickler for details, and is notorious for getting things done. I wish I had that ability. I do, but only with medication.
They are producing a book now with everything in it to guide someone from beginning to end as far as the options and what to expect in Bariatric Surgery. Diet, exercise, pre op, post op, nutrition, side effects, and a lot of whys are included.
The difference now is that everything is clearly written out in one place, so you can instantly reference it. I have a pile of papers in a large shoe box that I used before.
There is also a new workout room, that I spoke of before, and it's free as long as you're a patient. All that is required is to sign up and show up.
I put the coat of Kilz primer on the walls of my studio this morning. It took hours to do the prep work and the paint. Kilz looks horrible. The green paint shows through, and I didn't have enough to do the whole room as far as the trim and edges, so I will probably have to do at least two more coats of paint on that, and maybe the whole room. When I finished, I was bushed. So, I hit the showers and took a nap. I was lucky to use the Central AC today, because the outside temp and humidity was way up, as it will be tomorrow.
Tomorrow, I have my first school bus driver's meeting in the morning, so I won't be able to start painting, and I have to cut the lawn because it is getting too long for the mower from all the rain we had over the weekend. I hope to start the painting in the afternoon, provided something else doesn't come up first.
I am also looking at a specific company for a job, and may end up taking a 2nd or 3rd shift just to get my foot in the door.
Life gets complicated every once in awhile. Well, maybe all the time. Oh, and I have to stop at UPS to send my wireless router back to Verizon. It died last week, and they sent me a new one.

August 9, 2009

Right on the edge


My purple amp is waiting for me!


Before cleaning the studio
The Eagle

We went for a short drive yesterday. My wife can't walk very far because she has some damage to her lungs from previous illness. So, I take her for drives where we don't have to walk very far, or can just stay in the car. She gets winded just from walking up or down our stairway into the basement.
It is frustrating for me since I really want to walk, and there is no one to walk with.
Add to that the fact that I'm almost finished with the painting for at least the next 20 years, and I want it now!
I have a ton of stuff that I need to move out of here next week. I also have a ton of stuff to move back into place. I emptied out the studio today, and loaded everything I could into the back bedroom.
When I am finished painting it, I will move some of the stuff back into the studio, and some to the basement for storage.
I will empty out the back bedroom so my wife can fix it up "her" way.
But, I want to be finished with it all now!
I don't have the energy to do it all.
I will keep plugging away at it as long as I can. Someday, it will be finished. Just think, a year and a half ago, I would have just let it sit. I probably would be dead by now.
I think that's progress......I'll get back to you on that. LOL