Okay, I had my eye surgery on March 14th and took the following week from work off. The surgery went off without a hitch. The eye surgeon told me she was only going to operate on my weak (right) eye and that if further down the road she wasn't happy with the results she would operate on my good (left) eye. That was great. I fully expected to have both eyes operated on and I would have been severely impaired for quite a while. As it was--I still had my good eye!
My buddy CopperKnight came over and kept me entertained on his days off. We even made a trip out to the local Pawn/Gun shop so that was a treat.
I still have double-vision--the surgeon 'tightened' my right eye in to line up with my left eye. It's an interesting sensation. Up close--like where my monitor is--I see just one object. If I look up I see two of everything. It is getting better though. The brain is adapting. I still feel a little disoriented sometimes. Probably a few more weeks and it will be fine. (Fingers crossed)
Next up is the shoulder rebuild! June 5th! Woo-Hoo! I'll be off of work for about 3 weeks--and in a sling for at least 4 weeks. I've read a lot in the last couple of weeks of folks who have had rotator cuff surgery and they all say the same thing. If you do all the PT, no matter how goofy it sounds--you should be better than new when you're done. I can live with that. I just picked up a Mossberg 930 SPX and currently it is a little difficult to hold it up to my shoulder. I put about 20 rounds through it before my shoulder told me it was done. Looking forward to spending some time at the rock quarry and breaking it in.
Remember--if you have been putting off having medical work done, and you can afford it--get it done. Who knows how long our current medical system will be in place.
Showing posts with label Planning ahead. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Planning ahead. Show all posts
Thursday, April 18, 2013
Sunday, March 31, 2013
Useful Skills in a Collapsed Society
Imagine a classic post-collapse society:
-Electricity flow is erratic at best.
-Gas and diesel are rare to find.
-Medical facilities no longer function.
-Food shipments cease.
-Merchandise shipments cease.
The world never really goes back to the middle ages because modern knowledge is out there. It's stored in books and on millions of computers. It's only a matter of time before groups of people independently rebuild local infrastructure and neighborhoods start trading between themselves.
This is one vision. There are more extreme versions and there are lesser versions out there. The truth being no one knows what it will look like; the situation depends upon too many factors. But... taking a middle case collapse, let's discuss a couple of professions or skills that would make you useful in such a situation. I know I can't hit them all and I guarantee I'll think of "one more" as soon as I publish this article, but here are a few in no particular order with my opinion of why they will be useful:
Doctor/Nurse
-This one really doesn't need much in the way of discussion. Medical professionals have been highly regarded throughout history in all civilizations.
Carpenter
-When things start falling apart, someone has to fix them. Nearly everyone can Mickey Mouse their way to fixing a broken table or wood chair, but someone skilled in woodworking can do it right, make it look good, and can correctly repair larger things (say... a house after an earthquake).
Blacksmith
-A rare breed in modern times where everything metal is made by machines. Like the carpenter, it takes someone with skill to do effective repairs. This guy's job is thougher: there are fewer of them and it's harder to repair metal. A beginning blacksmith, however, can make tools and that will be important for the other professions as items wear out.
Gardener
-Distinct from the farmer in that I am defining a farm as a large monocropping operation and a garden as a small plot of land with multiple different items growing in it. Without fuel, a million acres of corn will be useless except to those in the immediate vicinity. It can't be harvested by machine, nor can it be shipped around the country. A garden, however, requires only local inputs and can be tended by hand... as long as you have the seeds to get it started. A local experienced gardener is skilled at balancing all of the things necessary for a successful harvest.
Electrician
-Wait... what? So many people have generators and solar powered things, but with an intermittent power grid, someone with knowledge is needed to set up or repair a system the right way to keep it running. You can run your laptop and other items off a car battery, but if it's not set up right, things will go horribly wrong.
Cook
-Not a New York City chef and not someone who can do up a box of Hamburger Helper; but a real, old time cook. Someone who can make a pot of those rice and beans you have been storing edible for the 5th night in a row. Someone who knows what to do with all those funny things that come out of the garden. One of the best examples of what I mean is Clara whose family has a YouTube channel: DepressionCooking . This is a 90some year old lady who talks about cooking during the Depression of the 1930s.
I suppose that's enough for now. Maybe I'll do a second post on this. Or maybe I'll convince my cohort to do a follow up post with some more opinions. Either way, here is this gist of what I'm getting at - nearly every profession on this list is a skill that we call can learn and get fairly proficient at over time. You don't need to be a world class anything to have useful, barter-able skills during hard times. Learn a hard skill- take one up as a hobby if you want- but keep making yourself better and more useful to your family and those around you.
So... what useful skills can you come up with? What useful skills do you have already that you can teach others? What new useful skill are you going to learn?
-Electricity flow is erratic at best.
-Gas and diesel are rare to find.
-Medical facilities no longer function.
-Food shipments cease.
-Merchandise shipments cease.
The world never really goes back to the middle ages because modern knowledge is out there. It's stored in books and on millions of computers. It's only a matter of time before groups of people independently rebuild local infrastructure and neighborhoods start trading between themselves.
This is one vision. There are more extreme versions and there are lesser versions out there. The truth being no one knows what it will look like; the situation depends upon too many factors. But... taking a middle case collapse, let's discuss a couple of professions or skills that would make you useful in such a situation. I know I can't hit them all and I guarantee I'll think of "one more" as soon as I publish this article, but here are a few in no particular order with my opinion of why they will be useful:
Doctor/Nurse
-This one really doesn't need much in the way of discussion. Medical professionals have been highly regarded throughout history in all civilizations.
Carpenter
-When things start falling apart, someone has to fix them. Nearly everyone can Mickey Mouse their way to fixing a broken table or wood chair, but someone skilled in woodworking can do it right, make it look good, and can correctly repair larger things (say... a house after an earthquake).
Blacksmith
-A rare breed in modern times where everything metal is made by machines. Like the carpenter, it takes someone with skill to do effective repairs. This guy's job is thougher: there are fewer of them and it's harder to repair metal. A beginning blacksmith, however, can make tools and that will be important for the other professions as items wear out.
Gardener
-Distinct from the farmer in that I am defining a farm as a large monocropping operation and a garden as a small plot of land with multiple different items growing in it. Without fuel, a million acres of corn will be useless except to those in the immediate vicinity. It can't be harvested by machine, nor can it be shipped around the country. A garden, however, requires only local inputs and can be tended by hand... as long as you have the seeds to get it started. A local experienced gardener is skilled at balancing all of the things necessary for a successful harvest.
Electrician
-Wait... what? So many people have generators and solar powered things, but with an intermittent power grid, someone with knowledge is needed to set up or repair a system the right way to keep it running. You can run your laptop and other items off a car battery, but if it's not set up right, things will go horribly wrong.
Cook
-Not a New York City chef and not someone who can do up a box of Hamburger Helper; but a real, old time cook. Someone who can make a pot of those rice and beans you have been storing edible for the 5th night in a row. Someone who knows what to do with all those funny things that come out of the garden. One of the best examples of what I mean is Clara whose family has a YouTube channel: DepressionCooking . This is a 90some year old lady who talks about cooking during the Depression of the 1930s.
I suppose that's enough for now. Maybe I'll do a second post on this. Or maybe I'll convince my cohort to do a follow up post with some more opinions. Either way, here is this gist of what I'm getting at - nearly every profession on this list is a skill that we call can learn and get fairly proficient at over time. You don't need to be a world class anything to have useful, barter-able skills during hard times. Learn a hard skill- take one up as a hobby if you want- but keep making yourself better and more useful to your family and those around you.
So... what useful skills can you come up with? What useful skills do you have already that you can teach others? What new useful skill are you going to learn?
Thursday, March 7, 2013
Rotator Cuff Surgery
I met with my orthopedic surgeon yesterday after having an MRI w/contrast last week. The MRI shows I have a small tear in my rotator cuff that will require surgery. I was hoping he'd say, "You're fine, quit your whining." But sadly he did not.
I will be off of work for a couple of weeks--up to four--and then I will have limited mobility for the next three months.
Not wanting to hurt my co-workers too much I will tentatively plan to do this surgery in June. Fingers are crossed that our great nation will hold together until then.
What I plan to do prior to my surgery is actually PRACTICE doing things with my left hand and arm. Brushing my teeth, eating, shaving, cleaning, you know...all the things you do with your 'good' arm. I'm lucky(?) that I have this time-span to practice. If I were to break my arm in a car accident or something I wouldn't have the luxury to actually try to practice. I'd be immediately thrown into it.
I may have to put a cork on the end of my fork like Steve Martin did in 'Dirty Rotten Scoundrels' but we shall see.
If you knew you had three months to practice doing something before an event like this happened....would you?
I plan to start today.
Not wanting to hurt my co-workers too much I will tentatively plan to do this surgery in June. Fingers are crossed that our great nation will hold together until then.
What I plan to do prior to my surgery is actually PRACTICE doing things with my left hand and arm. Brushing my teeth, eating, shaving, cleaning, you know...all the things you do with your 'good' arm. I'm lucky(?) that I have this time-span to practice. If I were to break my arm in a car accident or something I wouldn't have the luxury to actually try to practice. I'd be immediately thrown into it.
I may have to put a cork on the end of my fork like Steve Martin did in 'Dirty Rotten Scoundrels' but we shall see.
If you knew you had three months to practice doing something before an event like this happened....would you?
I plan to start today.
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
Medical Procedures--get them done while you can!
I will be having amblyopia eye surgery next month to correct my 'lazy eye' that I've had since I was born. This will be the third surgery for me--the last one was in 1979.
I honestly did not think I was a candidate for eye surgery again as I had been told there was too much scar tissue from the previous surgeries. When I met with the eye doctor and she said she could help me out I was ecstatic. I have double-vision all the time--not the cross-eyed double vision but just the opposite.To say that this causes headaches would be a gross understatement.
Not wanting to stop there--I met with an orthopedic surgeon to see if they could fix my shoulder that I injured on a fishing boat back in 1991. As soon as I heal from the eye surgery I will have my shoulder fixed up. The shoulder doc is saying that right now it looks like he can do everything with the arthroscopic procedure but he will know more once I have an MRI with contrast next week.
What I'm getting to is this...if you are financially able to have any work done that you need to have done and have been putting off...do it.
I've been putting off having my shoulder looked at because I didn't want to hear the doctor say, "Yep, you need surgery." And that's exactly what he said.
I have a job with some pretty-darn-good insurance. I know I am extremely lucky compared to some family and friends of mine who do not have insurance and wouldn't be able to have work like this done. Why haven't I done this before?
Easy answer. I was scared.
What motivated me to finally get this looked at and to stop being such a baby was I thought, "if everything goes to hell in a bucket in the near future...I'm screwed." I wouldn't be able to have my eyes fixed. I wouldn't be able to get my right arm working again like I want it to. I may need my eyes and my arms more in the next couple of years than I do now. (That EBR in the gun safe isn't going to use itself now is it?)
You just don't know what the future holds. I'm a pessimist. I don't think things are going to get better. That's why I'm having the work done.
If you need new glasses...get them.
If you need a hearing aid...get one. (I hear Costco has some great deals.)
If you need dental work...get it done. (My folks have all of their dental work done in Mexico just across the border from Yuma. The work is top-notch and the prices are ridiculously low.)
A friend of mine is having foot surgery because she doesn't know if she'll have a job next year.
Don't be scared like I was. If you have something that needs to be done and you are able to do it--there is no reason not to have it done while you can. What would you do if our medical system as we know it collapses?
I honestly did not think I was a candidate for eye surgery again as I had been told there was too much scar tissue from the previous surgeries. When I met with the eye doctor and she said she could help me out I was ecstatic. I have double-vision all the time--not the cross-eyed double vision but just the opposite.To say that this causes headaches would be a gross understatement.
Not wanting to stop there--I met with an orthopedic surgeon to see if they could fix my shoulder that I injured on a fishing boat back in 1991. As soon as I heal from the eye surgery I will have my shoulder fixed up. The shoulder doc is saying that right now it looks like he can do everything with the arthroscopic procedure but he will know more once I have an MRI with contrast next week.
What I'm getting to is this...if you are financially able to have any work done that you need to have done and have been putting off...do it.
I've been putting off having my shoulder looked at because I didn't want to hear the doctor say, "Yep, you need surgery." And that's exactly what he said.
I have a job with some pretty-darn-good insurance. I know I am extremely lucky compared to some family and friends of mine who do not have insurance and wouldn't be able to have work like this done. Why haven't I done this before?
Easy answer. I was scared.
What motivated me to finally get this looked at and to stop being such a baby was I thought, "if everything goes to hell in a bucket in the near future...I'm screwed." I wouldn't be able to have my eyes fixed. I wouldn't be able to get my right arm working again like I want it to. I may need my eyes and my arms more in the next couple of years than I do now. (That EBR in the gun safe isn't going to use itself now is it?)
You just don't know what the future holds. I'm a pessimist. I don't think things are going to get better. That's why I'm having the work done.
If you need new glasses...get them.
If you need a hearing aid...get one. (I hear Costco has some great deals.)
If you need dental work...get it done. (My folks have all of their dental work done in Mexico just across the border from Yuma. The work is top-notch and the prices are ridiculously low.)
A friend of mine is having foot surgery because she doesn't know if she'll have a job next year.
Don't be scared like I was. If you have something that needs to be done and you are able to do it--there is no reason not to have it done while you can. What would you do if our medical system as we know it collapses?
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