Mid Weekend Update

Cooterinos, let me tell you about my three-day weekend thus far. Yesterday I awoke at 8 am after a long night of Dude's Night Out, fed the cats and took a nap on the couch until 11. Okay, so Dude's Night Out consisted of dinner, a game of darts and a couple games of pool. There was no debauchery, no run-ins with the law (unless you count the parking "note" M-to-the-C got) , nope it was simply a night out with the dudes.

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It's Getting Wette in Herre

Yesterday morning I was lounging with a crossword puzzle after an exhausting breakfast when HECOW called with a plumbing emergency. He was pretty sure that water wasn't supposed to be dripping from the downstairs bathroom ceiling, and needed a hand keeping water on the inside of a couple of pipes. Well, I wasn't getting anywhere with that puzzle and some human contact wouldn't kill me, so I loaded up the Lesbacy with my plumbing gear and headed over.

By the time I got there, HECOW had determined where the problem was. "Yup, right there where the water is spilling over the top of those pipes you cut." I confirmed. The real problem was that the shutoff valve only half-assing its one purpose in life: to shut off water, and water was trickling ever-so-slowly. After some time we were able to get the old one freed and the new one went it almost too easily. Hmm, I hope it's not dripping.

After that, we decided that maybe those pipes should be capped (please pass the 1/2" plug sweat). This was the perfect opportunity for HECOW to learn how to sweat pipes. If the new shutoff held, these caps would see no action so there was little likelihood of failure. It was no professional job, but I think he learned the technique.

By the time the first one was on, he already had the smoke detector going off. ECOW solved the age old problem of smoke detector noise by removing the battery and we were back in business.

End result: the new shutoff opens and closes and the caps in the upstairs bathroom keep the water in the pipes and out of the ceiling. Check and check.

Note: HECOW splurged on shutoffs with bleeder valves, something many people cheap out on only to wish they hadn't when they need to get the water out of the pipes to fix something. Well done, HECOW.

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Saturday AM

This morning I awoke at a more reasonable hour. I put my new el cheapo vacuum to use in the kitchen, mopped the floor and, inspired by HECOW's plumbing, fixed the handle on my kitchen sink. Let me set the stage for you...

Several years ago I replaced the kitchen sink (amongst many other things), and had a bitch of a time getting the hot and cold water handles on properly. Over time they loosened up to the point where you almost had to hold the base still while you turn the handle. That's fine for me because I know how it works, but anyone else who uses it cranks the hell out of the handle because it doesn't feel like it's turning off. Well Cooterinos, today I took that damn thing apart (no small task), packed the base with plumber's putty like I should have done three years ago, reassembled it and PLADOW! it works great. Check and Check.

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Off the Injured Reserve List

Monday night I had that overuse injury sideline me for a few days. I was worried it might be a stress fracture, so I really laid off it. Today I went out for a couple of miles to test out my recovery. I even told myself that no matter how I felt I had to keep it to 3 miles MAX! Sho nuff, it felt pretty good and I finished the run at 3.02 miles. Perfect. I'm probably going to ibuprofen it and maybe do some stretching just to make sure it's properly healed, but I think I'm good to go.

For those of you who've wrestled with shin splints (Abbey, are you listening?) the one activity (besides rest) that has twice solved the problem for me is so simple you'll think I'm lying. You sit in a chair with your foot off the floor. A recliner works well for this. Moving just your foot (from the ankle), write the letters of the alphabet in the air with your toes. I did this a couple of times a day and the results are amazing; the pain and swelling is gone in next to no time. There's no test, so if your toewriting is poor the benefits are the same.

Ideally, one should do this regularly to prevent shin splints, but history has shown that I won't. I am not proactive when it comes to my own health and well-being.

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Well, hopefully I'll holler at y'all on the morrow.

Over and Out,
Old Coot