Happy New Year

Posted on 12/29/2013 by Andrew Reynolds

It’s been a good week – mostly. Christmas was great.  We kept it low-key this year and stayed in town with a small gathering of family and friends on Christmas day. Christmas eve we went to the children’s play at church and drove around to look at the Christmas lights.  The only bad part of the week was dealing with the after effects of dental surgery and other annoying health issues.  Tomorrow I get to see a dentist and a doctor to get it all sorted out.  More on all that next week.  I am also hoping that Heather has time to get this completed project in the mail tomorrow to our grandson:

Gumball Kicker

Gumball Kicking Machine

Last summer when the grand kids were out I told them they could look through my stack of ScrollSaw Woodworking magazines and pick a project they’d like to have.  One decided on this contraption.  You drop  gum balls in the top, rotate the handle, the ball drops into the base, you lift it with the lever and pull the string to kick it out the side.  Every time we talk to our grandson on the phone the first thing he asks is, “Is grandpa working on my  gum ball machine.”  I have to say this has been a difficult project because of the accuracy needed for the cuts and some of the instructions in the magazine were incomplete (wrong in one case).  Still I managed to get the thing working and Heather did all the paint work.

Now it’s ready to ship as a late Christmas present.

Next year, I’m picking the project.
Till next week,
Andrew

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Tooth to Tire

Posted on 12/22/2013 by Andrew Reynolds

It’s been one of those weeks I wish I could just fast forward through. It wasn’t a bad week – just one of those you knew you had to do, but didn’t really want to.  I mean really, it would have been much more fun to sit on a beach in Hawaii and drink Mai Tais – well any rum based drink for that matter.

Monday to Wednesday it was mostly working a lot to try and get ready for being “under the pliers” on Thursday.  Most of that work was going around to the various teams I support and say, “I’ll be out all day Thursday,” and then listening to everyone tell their favorite, “I had a tooth pulled once” story.  What is it about people who when someone tells of a health problem, we get the irresistible urge to reply with our own story, or to launch into a detailed narrative about when Aunt Mabel had all her teeth pulled and had to eat oatmeal for six months while waiting for her dentures?

I am sorry about your Aunt Mabel, but “I am the guy” that’s about to have a tooth ripped out, thank you very much.

And like most of these things we stress about, the surgery to remove the tooth went just fine.  No problems. No complications.  The surgeon and his staff were very professional, caring and attentive to all the details.  He even called me in the evening to make sure I was doing alright.  I’m still undecided if his comment to his assistant was really comforting to me or not.  Just after I tasted a little blood in my mouth I heard him say, “Oh yeah, that needed to come out.”  I had my eyes closed at the time but suspect he was holding up the root he had just taken out.

Other than the expected pain, discomfort, inconvenience and the two-day liquid diet – everything  went fine and I am mostly recovered.  Today I was able to eat a cookie and will consider myself fully recovered when I can eat popcorn.

I do want to get to the popcorn eating stage because there are a few good movies out there that I’d like to see and you can’t watch a movie without popcorn.  The two that are top of my list right now are “Saving Mr. Banks,” and “The Book Thief”.  Well, actually Heather wants to see “The Book Thief” as she’s read the book and I mostly like the movies she likes to watch – except for all those Jane Austin adaptations.  At one point I was thinking of going to see “Ender’s Game” as I’ve read that book.  I know that Heather wouldn’t like it and I hate going to movies alone so I haven’t seen it.  I guess I could have asked a friend to go with me but that thought just occurred to me and it looks like the movie isn’t playing locally anymore.  Good thing I have Netflix and Heather has committee meetings some evenings.  I’ll catch it sooner or later.

Actually this hasn’t been a good week on the entertainment front.  I heard about this production of “The Nutcracker” that was playing here in town.  It was kind of an experimental thing with acrobats instead of ballet dancers.  We went last night.

It’s the first time I’ve walked out of a live theatrical production in about 20 years.  We endured the first half but at the intermission we saw the row to the left completely empty and the exit door open.  Making our escape on foot, we made it undetected to our car, got safely to the freeway and then sped away into the night.  Frankly, I’d rather not recount more of the experience than that – somethings are best left forgotten.  I am just hoping that some of the ticket money I paid will go to unemployment insurance for the performers because they will all be looking for work soon.

Then just when I thought the week wouldn’t totally suck, I left the house this morning all dressed up in my Sunday best and ready to head out for church.  It’s not often that I actually wear a sports coat and a clean shirt to church, but it’s almost Christmas and the coat has lots of pockets.  I love pockets. What I don’t love are flat tires, which is what my car had.

Well that threw a wrench into the works.  So instead we squeezed into Heather’s car and set out bravely into the world.  After church and lunch with my family, we came home and I proved that I am still man enough to change a flat tire.

I did think about calling the auto club to change the tire on the theory that a person who just had tooth pulled shouldn’t be doing heavy lifting.

But then, I couldn’t see myself saying that with a straight face to a tow truck driver.

Till next week,
Andrew

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Tooth

Posted on 12/15/2013 by Andrew Reynolds

It’s a day that I should likely not be writing, while the world is building up to the joy of Christmas I am feeling ‘less than joyful.’  Mostly because I found out this last week that a dear friend of mine is going to loss its battle this week.  I feel like I should have done more for my friend, but in the end there was nothing left to do but accept the inevitable.

I saddens me to report that the dental surgeon confirmed that my molar is a lost cause and yanking it out by it’s roots is the best option I have.  Yes, I get the fact that the infection isn’t going to get better and yes the tooth is starting to be annoying.

But, that tooth has been with me for a long time.  I’ve brushed it every night, flossed its gum lines and had it professionally cleaned every six months.  It’s been polished and cavities filled.  The root canal was supposed to save its life.

The first root canal kept it going for 14 years after it’s first crisis.  This last summer when the signs of infection showed up I was hopeful that a second root canal would save it.  But alas, poor tooth, its roots are cracked and the infection is settling deeper and deeper into the bone.

So my tooth is scheduled for removal this week.  The dental surgeon calls this an “extraction” trying make it sound less painful than, “We’re going to take a big pair of pilers, cut it into bits and pull out the pieces one at a time.”  Well, that’s not exactly what he said but I am sure that’s the general procedure.  Just hoping they do the Novocaine shot first.

Yes, I know, I shouldn’t be focusing so much on my tooth but it has really been the overriding experience of the week.  Monday, I saw the endodontist who confirmed the root canal failed.  Tuesday, I went to my regular dentist to get a referral to a surgeon.  Wednesday, the dental surgeon was far too willing to start proceedings against my tooth and I left with a surgical appointment for next week Thursday.

In between worrying about my tooth, I’ve gone to work, had the electrician finish, and managed to get the gum ball kicker toy finished enough to give to Heather to start painting.

What’s really annoying about the tooth is the failure.  In August it seemed like a simple thing, a little infection that needed a root canal and a new crown.  I’ve had that done a few times so no big deal.  But to go through all that time in dental chairs, not to mention the expense, to end up having to pull it out is just plain disappointing.

Well, I could be more dramatic than that but it’s pizza night and the old molar deserves a final tasty meal.

Till next week,
Andrew

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Cold

Posted on 12/08/2013 by Andrew Reynolds

It’s cold here, very cold.  The afternoon high was 47 degrees and tonight it’s predicted to drop to 29.  I looked that up and water freezes at that temperature.  Don’t get me wrong, I do like ice – on a hot summer day and in small quantities.  A whole world filled with it is a bit much for this California boy.

I really do dislike the cold.  Usually I go looking for a sweater if the temperature drops below say, 74.  47 is like being in Siberia.  It’s the kind of day that would make me want to sit in front of a nice fire and drink hot cider.

But that was not to be my fate today.  Instead I went to church where we discovered that the heater is having problems and not even the warmth of our hearts could keep my fingers from freezing.  The cold did make it harder to sleep through the pastor’s sermon – the desire to keep moving out weighed the desire to nod off, and kept the mind awake and alert.

After church there was the little side trip grocery store.  I am sure they aren’t suppose to let icicles form from the ceilings.  We went though the line of one of my favorite checkers and she was very happy with her new fingerless gloves – kept her hands nice and warm while working the register.

Lunch was a nice hot bowl of soup which was just what I needed before heading out to my workshop.  My nice, cold workshop.  I figure if this weather keeps up I could save some money on electricity by moving the refrigerator into the shop – about the same temperature so there’d be no need to plug it in.

Speaking of electricity, our electrician finished installing the new lights and outlets in my shop on Thursday – a record cold day in this city.  I spent much of the day yesterday enjoying the completion of that project.  I plugged in power tools and ran a heater at the same time I was using the drill press.  Then I had the table saw, dust collector and my radio all going at the same time – with no circuit breaker tripping.

Amazing the things these modern electricians can do with wires.

It’s still to early to call the electrical project done.  There is still the final electrical inspection, moving the washing machine so the last circuit can be installed, finishing removing the old wiring and installing the trim around the new circuit panel.  I did brave the cold temps this afternoon, just long enough to install the trim myself.

Likely we’ll have to wait for the spring thaw before we can paint my trim work.  Until then, I can now sneak out to the shop after work, turn on my little heater and enjoy an hour two of making things without worrying about electricity.  It will be nice to get time to catch up on a few projects.

And come to think of it, I’ve now have enough power that I could keep a bowl of cider hot for days in my shop.

Till next week,
Andrew

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