Knew Knee part 2

It has been 10 days since my new knee was put in. I went to the doc today for x-rays and to have the staples removed. He gave me a copy of the x-rays. It's really cool what can be done. There is a big metal plate that is fit over the end of the tibia and another over the fibula and they have some sort of plastic cushion in between them otherwise I suspect there would be sparks and metal shavings all over the place. Each metal piece is inserted into the bone by means of DRILLING A HOLE IN THE BONE AND THEN HAMMERING THE PIECE INTO PLACE (and yes I was yelling that). It's no wonder it hurts so bad. Things are improving though, I have graduated from a walker to crutches to a cane, can go up and down stairs, can put on my own socks (and remove them) and a host of other minor accomplishments.
At this point I wish to pay tribute to Sharon. She has been helpful and understanding, will get me whatever I need without complaint and she fixed our toilet.

Of course after I became incapacitated our toilet clogged. This was a major problem for us because we have only one bathroom. After each use Sharon would plunge and plunge until it was mostly clear until the next use. I called a neighbor who is very handy and he came over and we decided to install a new toilet. But Sharon wanted to give things another try so she went to the hardware store and bought a snake. She got that toilet unclogged and even found a penny. Toilet works fine now.

This afternoon I start my physical torture.

Knew Knee

As previously mentioned I was the lucky recipient of a new knee (why isn't it spelled nee). Last Monday (June 29) Sharon drove me to the Ridges Hospital. After all the formalities and removing all my clothes and dressing in a beautiful hospital gown (open in the back) I was placed on as gurney. A short anesthesiologist came in to the room and using a very small syringe he injected a littl "don't hurt-no-more into my hand then he inserted the IV - and IT DIDN'T HURT. He said that he was going to give me something to relax and that's the last thing I remember until Tuesday. I do remember drinking a beef broth on Monday night and by Tues morning I was able to have real food. I could order anything I wanted, pancakes, omelets, sausage, oatmeal - so I had a bagel, cottage cheese and some peaches. Sharon tried to stick around but I wasn't very good company (I slept). Tuesday afternoon the physical tortourist came to my room and helped me stand up and do a few exercises while in bed.
The doc came by and explained that he did a total knee replacement. They don't remove the joint any longer. They put in some metal parts and some plastic parts. There is some sawing, chiseling, hammering and general construction.
Anyway on Wed I got to go to therapy to learn how to get into and out of the shower, on and off the toilet and then to undergo 30 minutes of physical torture. That was Wed morning. Wed afternoon was the same as was Thurs morning. I got bailed out at about noon on Thurs. While in the hospital my leg was in a CPM machine (continuous something motion). It is a machine that moves the leg while laying on ones back, from flat to a 90 degree angle. I was on that machine at all times except when in therapy.
I now have a machine at home for 2 weeks. It kind of feels good but at night it is a problem to have to stay on my back.
Progress is slow but I'm able to get around the house, up and down stairs, in to and out of the shower. There are times when it hurts like HE%#.

I have exercises to do at home and I start physical therapy on Thurs.

Thanks to those of you who called to inquire.

A Death in the Family

It was my computer that died. I have had this computer for 8 or 9 years so it has long exceeded its life expectancy. It was a good computer, especially since it only cost about $500 (compared to the $3500 for my first one).
I had turned it on when I came home from work for my 3 hour "lunch break" and it sounded kind of funny but I didn't give it a thought. When I left for work it was working fine and as programmed it (or is it a she or he) went to sleep apparently never to awaken again. I couldn't turn it off so I unplugged it, plugged it in and triede to turn it on but nothing. So I hustled it off to the Geek Squad to see if it could be saved but spending $100 on a 9 year old computer was not worth it. They told me it was most likely the power supply. So, yesterday morning I went back to Best Buy and bought a new computer. The Geek Squad transfered some of my files into the new computer but I lost my entire address book so please send me an e-mail and include your home address and phone #. I'm going to have to figure out how to back up my address book.

I spent the better part of an hour untangling all the cords and rearranging how I want the physical set up to be and I must say that there isn't the tangle of cords under my desk now.

The new computer comes with the Vista operating system (I hade XP on the old one) and I don't like Vista, perhaps it is because I was used to XP. I also found out that my Office 2000 won't run with Vista so I had to buy a new version of Office ($150, thank you). But now my new ACER computer is running and I have set up my e-mail account again (same address as before). Fortunately I backed up my most important files like Quicken and my family history files.

I dislike changes like this. I was happy with my old computer, slow as it was, but IOts gone now and I mourn her (I think it was a she) loss but time marches on.

I can't figure out how to make CNN my home page.

New Knee and the turtle

First the knee. I'm getting a new one, actually only part of one (hopefully). The great knee exchange will take place on June 29. There is a chance that I will have to have a total replacement but that won't be known until he opens up my knee.
I thought of going with "pre-owned" knees but you never know what you might be getting so I decided to go with a really souped up model. It has a V-8, turbo diesel, gets 40 mpg, is chopped, channeled, and best of all has a pair of fuzzy dice. I opted for the candy-apple red color and ordered racing slicks, a roll bar, all on a '32 Ford 3 window coupe with a fibre glass body, frenched head and tail lights, chromed throuoghtout. I could go on but this is getting silly.

I have been dealing with the pain for 2 1/2 yrs and after several attempts at pain relief (shots in the joint) I went to the doc and he said I have 3 choices:
1. Suck-it-up and deal with it.
2. More shots
3. Replace the sucker (his words)

1. I have been dealing with it
2. I tried the shots and they didn't work
3. Let's git er done

I figured that I would have it done during summer vacation so I would be back in shape to drive my wonderful drug dealing, violent, foul mouthed, lazy, lying miscreants to school in the fall. So this will work out fine.

Now the turtle:
There was this turtle out for a stroll when he was mugged by 2 snails. The police were called and they interviewed the turtle. One officer asked the turtle to tell him what happened and the turtle replied "I really don't know, it all happened so fast".

Scottish Meat Pie

You can make individual pies or one or two big pies. If you choose to make the bigger pies you can just use store-bought pie crusts (it's much easier that way. Some people like to use ground turkey, pork, chicken or lamb. You can also add the liver, heart and other organs if you like (I don't like). The pies we had at the Scottish Fair were individual pies and didn't have the veggies.

Ingredients:
2 pounds beef, in 1/2" cubes
3 carrots, in 1/4" dices
4 potatoes, in 1/4" dices
1 leek, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
Worcestershire sauce, salt, and pepper to taste.
***Pastry***
3 cups flour
1 1/2 cup vegetable shortening
1 beaten egg
5 tablespoons cold water
2 teaspoons vinegar

Directions:

Cut the shortening into the flour, then add liquid ingredients. Stir until it pulls together, then form a ball and let rest, covered, in the refrigerator about 20 minutes. Roll out and use as desired. Marinate the meat for several hours in the Worcestershire sauce. Brown with the garlic and a bit of butter. Add beef broth or water just to cover, and simmer until cooked through. Add vegetables and simmer until heated through, but not soft. Remove from heat and cool.

Prepare a recipe of pastry and divide into as many pies as you will need (one recipe will yield about 10 good-sized pies). Roll dough into a circle. Place crust on a baking sheet, and spoon about 1/2 cup of meat and vegetables into the middle. Fold the crust over to form a half-circle and crimp to seal. Cut a small vent in the top (we like to mark each person's pie with their initial). Bake in a 400F oven until pastry is golden (about 30 to 40 minutes). This will bake the meat and vegetables to a very tender perfection! Serve hot with brown gravy (from a packet... I cheat).

Meat pies can be frozen before baking; wrap them well to prevent a loss of flavor. To heat, unwrap and place on baking sheet. Put directly into the heated oven without defrosting, and bake until pastry is golden (about 40 to 50 minutes). Serve hot with brown gravy.

Scottish Fair

Today was the Scottish Fair at the Dakota County Fair grounds in Farmington, so even though it was cold and windy we braved the weather for a Scottish treat and bagpipes.

I can remember going with grandpa Ritchie to the Scottish Games in Calif and how I loved to listen to the pipe bands and watch the athletic events.
The detail on some of the pictures is not very good, that is more the fault of the camera operator (me) than the camera. I just can't figure out some of these new fangled things.

We watched a dog (Border Collie) herd goats. I don't know if the dog knew the diff between a goat and a sheep but she was a hard worker. This particular dog responds to commands in English and Welsh and also whistle commands.


We watched the scheaf (sp?) toss. It is a 35lb bag that you may be able to see at the very top on the picture. Grandpa Ritchie called it a Sheep toss and I always thought they used to use real sheep. A pitch fork is used to toss the sheaf over a bar. It comes from pitching hay up into the barn.


Next is the caber toss. This involves lifting a 20 ft pole that weighs over 100 lbs onto your shoulder and then flipping it so that it lands on its end and falls at the 12 o'clock position.


Sharon got to pose with a 1956 Rolls Royce.


The calf is only a week old and here are mother and daughter.



And of course the highlight of the day (for me) was the massed bands. There were 8 bands and of course my camera pooped out just before the march but I did manage to get one picture. The neat thing was while the bands were on the field I called my mom for mother's day and she got to listen to the bands play Scotland The Brave.
I absolutly love bagpipe music and this is an especial treat to see them live. When you get 100 pipes and drums marching and playing it is really moving (again, for me). I know there are many who hate bagpipes but I love them.


And then I ate my obligatory meat pie.
The end

Stuff

Yesterday our stake presidency was reorganized (SP already knows this) due to some boundry realignment. I was quite pleased with the new pres. because I had hime (and the 1st couns. - his brother) in various Sunday School classes as they were growing up. They were both well behaved and would actually answer questions that I, as their teacher, posed. By the way SP I saw you on the big TV screen sitting in the choir. The choir sounded goodly.
On another front, my school bus driving goes on and on. I have a new student that I only drive home in the afternoon. He is my last student and when I pulled up to his home his father came out to ask me to pull up right next to their driveway as the student is not allowed to set foot on a public street. I don't know if theis is the father's rule or a police one, but the young man seems to be quite impressed with his own violent behavior. He claims to have broken another's arm and a nose and said he has charges pending against him for hitting a police officer.

I am now a scout merit badge counselor. Can you guess which one?

Only 5 more weeks until summer vacation. Yea!!!