September 19, 2020

Saturday Night Bullets

Whew! What a day. I don't know if my back has ever been this sore.

I've had a bad back as long as I can remember--even when I was as young as eight years old. It's super frustrating because NOTHING helps it, and I've seen several specialists, done the therapies, etc. Nobody can really tell me what's wrong or how to fix it, ugh.

Anyway, I was ready to collapse by 2:00 PM today. I went for my morning walk after chatting with Jerry when he got home from work at 6:30 AM. Then I worked on the front porch until 1:00 PM. Then I went for my second walk and was feeling the pain big time by the time I got home. Then I sat down with my heating pad. I hate having chronic back pain!

I don't have a lot to write about, so here is a little of this and that...

**I started tearing down the front porch. It all started with a teardown and bonfire...


(The Lowe's bucket on the right is full of water in case it got out of control--that was a big fire!)

**It's been SO HARD to find pressure treated lumber (it's treated with some sort of chemical for outdoor use so that it doesn't break down from the weather). Because of the wild fires in the Pacific Northwest, lumber has tripled in cost and is very hard to come by.

I will post pictures of the porch when I finish it. I'll probably finish it tomorrow or Monday.

**I'm so sad that my most favorite place I've ever visited is being destroyed by fire. And I don't say this lightly! Every time I've gone to Oregon/Seattle I've gone hiking--I LOVE the trees and clean air and everything about the atmosphere there.


I went to the Toledo Lowe's (the one closest to me didn't have anything in stock) and was able to buy most of what I needed. The 2x6's were out of stock, but I was able to get them later. When I went to the Lowe's in Toledo, I brought along my circular saw, tape measure (which is affectionally named the M.W.--inside joke), pencil, safety glasses, and speed square. I was fully prepared to cut down the long boards in order to fit them into my Jeep Renegade.

I had to buy a lot of lumber, and I fully expected to be cutting it down in the parking lot for an hour or more. But a super sweet (and very easy on the eyes!) male employee helped me out and cut everything for me. I knew Lowe's would cut plywood down, but I wasn't sure about the long 5/4 boards (the Lowe's nearest to me won't cut treated lumber because of the fumes).

Because everything was cut down to less than 6 feet long, I was able to fit into the Jeep, no problem! I even got a few stair stringers.


**Joey and I have a new favorite walking route in the mornings. During a typical route, I decided to turn into what I thought was a small park area but turned out to be a pretty large open park. It's in the middle of the peninsula--we used to walk the perimeter of the peninsula on the road, but the park is in the center of the peninsula with the road going around it.

Our usual route on the road:


And walking the center, where he can go off-leash. I usually circle this twice--it's 2/3 of a mile around:


I can let Joey off leash, which is awesome! It's surrounded by a canal, so even if he was to disobey me and run off--he never does; he's actually REALLY good about staying nearby--he would be stopped by the canal. I've been using the walks as a way to train him--when I whistle and hold my arm up, he runs to me immediately and I give him a small treat. Sometimes I'll tell him to sit and stay while I walk way ahead to where he can't see me, and then I'll whistle. He's great about staying until I whistle!


**I think Jerry got tired of seeing my "boob money" on the counter in the bathroom. We call it "boob money" because whenever I find change while I'm walking, I tuck it into my sports bra. When I get home, I set it on the counter in the bathroom--and I've collected quite a pile! Today, I saw this on the counter where my pile of change usually is... BAHAHA! (It says "Not Political" on the side, because I'm "Walking 4 Change" for my own benefit, I guess! 😂)



**As I write this, Duck is TOTALLY passed out to the world. He's sitting on my lap while I sit on the couch (with the heating pad on my back!) and I've never seen him so limp and lifeless. It's hilarious. (I have to pee so badly, but I don't want to get up and disturb him--I know you other cat-lovers can empathize!)


**Don't forget, I posted about the Cookies Fall Challenges, so if you're interested in doing those, make sure you check out this post before it starts on September 22nd!


3 comments:

  1. Bonfire sounds lovely right about now, especially with the evenings getting chilly

    ReplyDelete
  2. I'm assuming the old stairs were made of PT also. You're not supposed to burn PT, due to all the chemicals in it that you release into the air. Put it in a dumpster.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Burning the old, pressure treated wood from your porch is dangerous. Pressure treated wood releases arsenic when burned and arsenic can remain in the ash.

    ReplyDelete

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