Nailed It

When we’re traveling to a location looking for better weather, it makes no sense at all to check back to learn what the weather is like back home.  But we do it.  When we vacation in Florida in the winter, I often check the weather in Cary, and, if it’s cold, I mention it to Aloma, and we talk about how lucky we are to be in Florida.  We just returned from a week in Cashiers, North Carolina (elevation 4,000 ft.).  The low temperatures in the mornings were in the mid-60s and the highs for the day were in the mid-70s.  Every evening, a shower or thunderstorm would move through while we were enjoying a drink on our covered deck.  It was perfect.  Meanwhile, back in Cary. temperatures were in the mid-90’s with a comfort index in the mid-100’s.  A heat advisory was issued on most days.

Fortunately, we’re not the kind of people who pester their friends back home with reports of our beautiful weather.  Well, that’s not exactly true.  We did send a photo to Jennifer of her mother wearing a heavy sweater on the deck overlooking mountain woods.  And maybe we mentioned it to a few friends.  But not that many.

Boy, we sure nailed this vacation.

Seasoned man

stevelem117@gmail.com

RC Flying and a Dumb Thing

I’ve written several times about my hobby of flying radio-controlled model airplanes.  I belong to a club and enjoy new friends almost as much as flying.  I last flew in November 2019 and because of the weather and getting ready for two-and-a-months in Florida, I didn’t fly again.  Soon after we returned to North Carolina, the flying field was closed due to COVID-19.  When the field re-opened, I had surgery and couldn’t fly with a cast on my hand.  Last week, I tried to fly but had mechanical problems.  Yesterday, my plane worked great and I flew perfectly and enjoyed being with the other flyers.

So, what’s the dumb thing?  I had an MRI this morning to check if my hearing problem is affected by my brain.  I was in a hospital gown, wired for en EKG, and had a blood pressure cuff attached.  Before putting me in the machine, the nurse noticed that I was chewing gum.  She asked me to spit it out and handed me a Kleenex.  I took the Kleenex and reached into my mouth for the gum--but I forgot that I was wearing a facemask.  Of course, the gum attached itself to the facemask.  Did I feel stupid!  The nurse, trying to keep me from feeling bad, said others have done the same thing.  I doubt it.

After 35 minutes of loud noises and trouble breathing because of a hard mask pressed against my face, I was released.  I won’t know for a week whether or not I have the brainpower to process human speech.

Flying my airplane is much better than having an MRI.

Seasoned Man                       

Stevelem117@gmail.com

Landscaping in Place

My right hand is out of a cast and in a brace so I can type again--slowly.  Before my hand surgery, I decided to build a stone border in front of our bank and our plantings.  Aloma had been suggesting one, so I thought this would be a good time since I had nothing else to do and nowhere to go.

I figured a two-man landscaping crew could do the job in half-a-day costing about $200 in labor.  I decided to do it myself. 

After three weeks of back-breaking labor, we now have a stone border, 84 stones picked up 12 at a time from Home Depot, 30 hours of work (most of it sitting in a chair looking at my progress), taking 28 extra-strength Tylenol tablets. Roots from an oak tree that we included in our border were the main problem.  A couple of roots were five inches in diameter and a couple more were slightly smaller.  I used an ax and a reciprocating saw.  We’ll know next year whether or not I killed the tree.

So the job is done.  Aloma says I’m her hero, so it was worth the effort.  See photo below of the Great Wall of 201 Callum Place.