Plumbing, day 2

Oy. Got one leak fixed, but I didn't go far enough. The pipe that connects to the wall is also leaking. Discovered that this morning.

So, when I get home from my platelet donation this afternoon, I'll tackle that stripping and re-caulking job.

And while I was scurrying around the kitchen, I decided to look up where I can recycle those pesky #5 plastics that our local city and county don't take. I found this site which lead me to this site. So I'll start a bag for all the #5 plastics I collect and take them with the next time I go to Whole Foods. They also have a place where you can ship them to as well. They use the stuff to make toothbrush handles.

While I was under the kitchen sink yesterday I also tried to get the garbage disposal running. The sad thing is, I think it's now a rusted piece of junk, since it took me six years to get it hooked up. I can't get the thing to move, so I'm pretty sure it's toast. There's another $100 for a new disposer. At least I can do the work myself.

That's today in a nutshell. Platelet donation, fix the pipes, again. Make lunch for next week. Wash clothes. Crochet.

Plumbing repairs

Ugh. I just finished doing the dishes and was draining the sink when I heard water dripping below. The drain pipe from the sink decided to leak.

Now the good news is, I've caught it early. I have a fan on under the sink to dry it out. I dug through my junk drawer and found I have two tubes of silicone so I can strip the old silicone and put on fresh. Maybe while I'm under there I'll actually hook up the garbage disposal. Then I can send ice cubes down the drain to clean the whole system out.

Meanwhile, yogurt is on the stove. I got groceries yesterday, so I'm OK there. Now I just need to put a few things together for lunch next week and I'm good.

I'm in the mood for egg salad. I have plenty of eggs, I should boil them up and make some. Yum.

Other than the usual go to work, stare at Excel all day, come home, crochet and play with Shadow, not much doing. Kettle bells is still kicking my butt and back, making me use body parts like they are intended to be used.

I'm on a crocheting streak right now. I finished up a lap robe last weekend, then started on a baby afghan. I'm trying to use up all the old stuff around the house to get it out of here without having to buy too much new yarn. I did drop another $20 in yarn yesterday at a sale. That new stuff will help me finish up some of the other projects that are in process. Then I can donate the works.

The company I work for has volunteer projects, one of which is known as Project Warm Hearts. Those of us that crochet and knit can make stuff and send it in. The company's foundation then makes a cash contribution to the same charity that our stuff goes to. Baby blankets go one place, lap robes another, scarves mittens and caps go yet a different place. I should start keeping track of what I've spent, time and money wise, see if I can take it off my taxes.

So, I suppose, better see how bad the mess is. Eat some lunch, let the fan run, plot how to fix this.

I wonder how bad my fame is plugged up and/or leaking away...

Zzzz...

Maybe I should go to bed early tonight. I'm just about a walking zombie anyways.

Been tired the last couple days. I'm chalking it up to the heat - it wipes me out. Throw in kettlebells and yeah, I'm done.

We're finally in a hot streak, days above 80 degrees all week. Yes, it's nice, but I could do without sweating all the way home from work. Even in this heat, I still wear full jacket, helmet and gloves when I ride Chael. I can recover from dehydration a whole lot faster than I can road rash or worse.

Got a good giggle at work today. My work computer has been having some issues (it's a PC, whadda ya expect?), so the guys in the department have been trying to re-image it. I had gone to do something, came back to my desk and the re-image expert was there along with two of the other guys. As I walked up, one guy who I know rides quipped to me, "Well, Beth rides." Reimage dude looks at me, so I pipe up, 750 Shadow.

I'd walked into the middle of a conversation about why reimage dude doesn't ride his motorcycle to work. Several astounded looks went around the group when I went on that I rode my bike because it gets 50 mpg while my truck gets 12. They ribbed me about getting a different vehicle, I told them I'd love to, just can't do it right now.

I'm still giggling about it. I've been waiting for one of them who has seen me get on or off the bike to make a comment about me riding. Didn't expect to be used as a way to get at someone for not riding theirs.

It reminded me of when I was at Home Depot. When I first started riding, I was going in at 7 am, so I'd walk right through the contractor crowds at registers 1 & 2. I'd purposefully wait to pull off my helmet until I got inside the big doors. The contractors in line would usually drop their jaws to see a woman come in with motorcycle gear. I was the only woman that rode at that store.

As for kettlebells, I did go to the second class. We dropped from 13 to 10. That's OK, that leaves a few more of the lighter weight bells available. We did swings, one arm presses, trying to do push ups on the bells. Give me a flat pair of dumbbells and I can do a plank and a bit of a push up, but forget the bear crawls.

I'm not near as sore as I was last week. When I got home last night I dove right into the shower with as hot water as I could stand, then stretched as I went. When I got out, lots of water and a protein shake.

Not much doing otherwise.

Kettlebells and Kooza, redux

Start with Kooza this time.

Kooza was pretty cool. It's been at least 30 years since I've been to a circus, so this was a treat.

The story line is about a little boy out trying to fly his kite on a windy day. While out, he receives a big box. The box contains a magical jack-in-the-box and his magical wand. From there all sorts of things happen. There's the classic circus acts, like jugglers, a couple magic acts, a pick pocket and hauling up audience members for different gags. There was a double high wire act, a gal on a high swing, a trio of contortionists, acrobats using a seesaw.

There were two acts that left me shaking my head. One was the last act, a gymnast that was stacking chairs then balancing on them. The guy had amazing control - his body many times was at odd angles to his arms that would throw a normal person's center of balance off completely. Not once did he waver, the tower never moved. He moved slowly, perfectly in balance no matter what he did.

Another act that had me calculating physics as fast as I could in my head was the Wheel of Death. Click on the link above to see the contraption. What the guys were doing on the inside and outside of the wheels made my heart stop a couple times.

It was cool. I wouldn't mind seeing it again.

As for kettlebells, I had to go see Dr. R today. He agreed that I need to do something to tear down the muscles in order to build them back up. He was surprised that I went right straight to kettlebells, but he understands where I am coming from.

As I suspected, my hips and low back were out of whack, despite seeing Dr. M just a week ago. Out came the stim pads and heat pack to get the muscles loosened up. I had him work on my left foot, which he thinks is really stiff, which is what causes it to hurt in a particular spot. Then he started working on my hands, commenting that my fingers are starting to tighten up like my pinky fingers that I can't flatten out.

I will be seeing much more of Dr. R. I am so sick of seeing of Dr. M and his mind games. I much prefer Dr. R's straight forward approach.
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It's been raining today. We need it, as here in the cities we're in a pretty good drought. Sounds like we got at least 3/4". It's a small dent in the bucket.

Shadow continues to be a klingon kitty. She was not pleased with me getting home at almost midnight last night. I got chewed out for not feeding her and not being around to cuddle with. Right now she's tucked herself into my left side in the recliner.

It's not that she wants my direct attention, she just wants to be near or on me in some way. If I purposefully pet her, she gets growly and hissy. If I leave her alone, she naps or just hangs out, quietly purring as if she doesn't want me to hear her purring.

Silly furball. This morning, since I slept in, she wanted to go up on the clothing armoire I have. When she was younger she could leap up there by herself from the dresser. Now, not a chance, so I have to lift her up there. She sits on the bed and meows at me until I do so. So I put her up there about 8 this morning. She was sound asleep when I left for Dr. R's, so I just left her up there. She was still sound out when I got home 2 1/2 hours later. At that point I pulled her down, much to her despisement.

So now I've got plenty of work to do tomorrow. Play catchup from today, make a run to the farmer's market for organic beef, maybe go to the art fair or go see a movie.

For tonight, Shad and I will cuddle and watch Eureka.

Kettlebells and Kooza

OMG, owww.

You would think I would know better than to pick up and swing around an 18 or 25 pound cannon ball with a handle. Nope. That's what a kettlebell is, a cannon ball with a handle.

Yes, for an hour today I was learning how to properly pick up and swing said kettlebell. It's a full body workout. You're using your legs and hips to do the lifting, but all the stabilizer muscles in your gut and back are working overtime to help your arms as you swing.

As I sit here typing, I have a microwaveable heat pack between me and the chair. I had it on my shoulders when I got home so they would loosen up. Now I need to get the mid back to open up.

I'm going to be crazy enough to go back again next Wednesday. In the meantime, when I finish this current gallon of milk, I'll fill that up with rocks and water to use here at home. It may not be as much weight as class, but it will help get those muscles used to working this way. If I really like it, maybe I will invest in one bell, then work my way up.

Good thing I had already decided to drive the truck tomorrow. Don't think the back would hack the bike.

Tomorrow night is a trip to see Kooza, by Cirque de Solei. The company I'm working for got three of the upper deck sections for an unbelievable price tomorrow night. At the regular price of $105 a pop, or even the $95 through MERSC, there was no way I could afford to go. The deal we got, plus the fact I'm going alone, allowed me to get in.

I haven't been out to anything fun like this in almost a year. Something different than my usual Thursday night fare. And given how late I expect I'll be getting home, I'm working from home on Friday.

I'm going to enjoy sleeping in for three days in a row. Been so bloomin' tired again this week that even going to bed before 10 isn't helping any.

So, I'll tell you how Kooza is on Friday, and we'll go from there.

Sunday

Lots of stuff going on the last couple days.

Today was another platelet donation day. The head phlebotomist was in a good mood, giving me crap left and right. He even started singing my song, Beth by Kiss, to me. Goof.

Took the leap and joined Facebook. Most of my created family is on FB, so I joined so I can keep up with them. All of what I'm thinking and doing will stay here, unconnected to FB, so potential employers and clients don't connect the two.

Thinking of created family, we got together yesterday at French Regional Park. J clan is getting two exchange students this year, and the first one came in yesterday. After they picked her up, they and D clan came to the park. It was great to get together with them again.

If only the weather had cooperated a bit more. It was sunny, but for August 1 in MN it was chilly. Low 70's with a 20 mile an hour wind put the air temp in the 50's. Brr. Wish I had brought my jacket with...

Saw Dr. M Friday night. Asked him about the weight, again. So he played one of his mind tricks on me. Gives me two pieces of paper, tells me to pick which one is right for me. So I open it up, it says 'space for two'. The other one said 'space for one'. My body, because of issues, believes it needs to take up space for two.

Space for two can play in several ways in my head. Yes, given my weight, I have enough mass to make two people. That plays into the abandonment issues that go way back. Space for two could also mean twins, as in the twins my mom lost right before I was conceived. Space for two also plays into my desire for a companion in my life.

Space for one, in this body, is all I need. Now to get head and body to buy into that.

Mammogram was fast and painless. I got there early, and was out before the time my appointment was supposed to start. I like that.

So, I suppose, back to work. I should butcher up one of the roasts so I can make soup for the week. Gumption to get stuff done, none. See what the rest of the day brings.