What is happening

[Hans]

Yeah today we had some rain too, great.

[Priscilla]

I'm so glad you had rain. I hope it was enough to help.

We're watching the Tour de France. The footage of the English countryside is just beautiful. They had perfect weather for the start.

[Zelandeth]

Attended the air show at RAF Waddington.

Good day had by all, even if we are now all knackered!

Seeing the Vulcan in flight in person was quite something - even if I am now slightly deaf.

...not that the Lancaster flanked by a pair of Spitfires or the displays from the Red Arrows were anything to miss either...

[Kath]

Originally Posted by Priscilla

I'm so glad you had rain. I hope it was enough to help.

We're watching the Tour de France. The footage of the English countryside is just beautiful. They had perfect weather for the start.

Tomorrow they'll be going right past Jeremy's new school in Worrall, which is all of a mile from our new house. Such a shame we missed the chance to see it by not even two weeks!

[Priscilla]

That really is a shame!

[Hans]

In 2010 the Tour de France, which had its start in Rotterdam that year, passed through m hometoen, a mere 200 meters from my house. There are qite a lot of photos of that event in my flickr photostream (search for "tour"). It was really special.

[Kugai]

You were lucky Zelandeth, that may be the last time the Vulcan takes to the air.

[mawra]

July 4 started out good. Took Kibby to work. Took Mom to a Trekie friend that was having a party for their Trek group. Tammy was on call for work so I had to go incase she got called. It was nice, pot luck dinner. Left to pick up Kibby when we got back it was almost time for fireworks to start.

The guy who was having the party had a dock on the small lake where the lake. There is a STEEP embankment to get to the dock, which is the best place to watch fireworks. Mom was not sure she could make it to the dock. Tammy told she could. So she TRIED. Less then half was down her power chair slid sideways. Mom did not, she slid forward, out of her chair. Tammy who is an EMT and one of the other member who was an O.R. nurse for 38 years said nothing was broken, but she should get checked out. They were unable to get her up with causing pain. Until she got checked out they did not want to move her. Not that anything was broken.

She went to E.D by ambulance. An hour later Dr. orders X rays. An hour later she gets X rays.
She broke her leg bone just below the knee. Luckily it is her left half leg. Not her good one. She can not use the left leg at all. It was amputated below her knee a long time ago, she has not been able to wear the fake one since her stroke in '07. Over all it could have been worse. To make it worse sometimes her stump will jerk for no reason anyone has been able to figure out. It started jerking while she was laying on the ground, and had kept up despite the meds to stop it, making the leg hurt even more.

While we were at the E.D. my niece Melissa calls. She fell and can not move her foot, that was turning purple. Tammy, who is an EMT went to take a look at it. Melissa could not mover her foot, they could not get her up enough to get her to the car. She went my ambulance. She did not brake her foot, just destroyed all her muscles and ligaments in it. In the past she had broken in with know it.

I did not get Mom home until 4:30. Tammy and Kibby stayed to Melissa's. Mom has only gotten out of bed long enough to use her bedside pot, and has been taking muscles relaxers all day. Has not done much good. Not sure how Melissa is doing.

[Priscilla]

That all sounds just awful! I am so sorry for all of them. For you too, since it sounds like you had a great deal of stress from all of this. I hope the medications will kick in soon so your mother can be more comfortable. It sounds like all of you need some sleep!

[AnnMarie]

Originally Posted by Zelandeth

Attended the air show at RAF Waddington.

Good day had by all, even if we are now all knackered!

Seeing the Vulcan in flight in person was quite something - even if I am now slightly deaf.

...not that the Lancaster flanked by a pair of Spitfires or the displays from the Red Arrows were anything to miss either...

Lucky you! I love to see those old planes in the air. The fact they ARE is a testimony to those who love them.

[mawra]

Mom has been sleeping all day which is good, I think. Hopefully she'll feel better tomorrow. She is going call bone Dr. (I know the word, I am not even going to try and spell it) on Monday.

I will have to go to UVA on Monday, because I woke up with the left side of my face swollen from a tooth infection. I have gone today, but their pharmacy is not open on the weekends and that is where I get my meds. They go by income so I get them VERY cheep & I can not take the cheep antibiotics.


At Melissa's this morn. everyone except Emmi was outside. Suddenly Emmi came out waved her hands and yelled, "Everyone let's go watch the Lynchburg news." and ran back inside. Why Emmi, or any 5 year old, would want to watch the news I don't know. With Emmi I don't think I want to know. The thought of knowing what goes on in her brain is scary.

[Hans]

Sad to hear you and your family had such a bad fourth of july, maw. Hope things will get better soon.

[Kath]

Maw, that all sounds awful. Wishing you all some good health!

[mawra]

I figure things has to get better sooner or later. I prefer sooner. Seth is still doing really well. He is having some behavior problems because of the meds and surgery. He is getting the idea that bad behavior won't be tolerated.

[Moonlady]

Ah, Mawra, I hope things look up for your family soon. My thoughts for speedy recoveries and to stay healthy will be with you and yours.

Hans, enjoy the rain. I wish we would get some.

My youngest and I spent the 4th with friends at a local high school. They had music, food and fireworks. It was very nice.

Zelandeth, the air shows sounds amazing. Do you have pictures?

[Kath]

Eeeeeee! Our boxes will be with us again MUCH sooner than we thought! (Possibly before Jeremy gets back to England!)

[Hans]

Originally Posted by Kath

Eeeeeee! Our boxes will be with us again MUCH sooner than we thought! (Possibly before Jeremy gets back to England!)

I can't figure out if that is a cry of joy or frustration...?

[Kath]

Both?

It's all happening so fast!

[Zelandeth]

I don't actually have any photos, basically because I was there with two people with good cameras and an order of magnitude more experience than me - so made a point of watching the show rather than peering at it through the camera! Once some photos have been processed though I'll post a link though.

Plumber visited today and changed the valve on our header tank so it actually fills again. He reckons the tank should be okay but we should keep an eye on it. Some plastic cement has been applied over the one crack and I'm going to use some shelf racking to make two braces over the top anyway though just to take some of the strain. Reckon we will get it replaced at some point - but not yet as it's being an expensive enough month as it is!

[mawra]

Mom is still in a lot of pain. She could not get a Dr. appt. until Thurs. She is lucky to get one then. Melissa could not get one until July 17.

I was lucky and got one today for infected tooth. I'm glad I could get an appt. I REALLY did not want to go to E.D. for it.

Kibby is still coming home from work covered in flour from making biscuits. She seems to be enjoying it. Now we have 4-5 people needing to go in 3-5 different directions with only 2 cars. It will get worse when Kibby goes back to school. Her job is in the opposite direction from home and school.

[Moonlady]

Hugs and positive thoughts to you and yours, Mawra.

Soon it will be over, Kath, till then one box at a time along with some cyber hugs.

[GinnyStar]

Originally Posted by Zelandeth

Attended the air show at RAF Waddington.

Good day had by all, even if we are now all knackered!

Seeing the Vulcan in flight in person was quite something - even if I am now slightly deaf.

...not that the Lancaster flanked by a pair of Spitfires or the
displays from the Red Arrows were anything to miss either...

Thanks for the info, idea stewing about some related to airplanes and names

[Zelandeth]

Today I mostly flew back up to Aberdeen to stay with my parents for a couple of weeks. Plan being to resurrect my Skoda from its four month hibernation (read: While I tried to track down a part that's made of unobtainium and moved house). It's going into the garage on Friday to get the offending wheel bearing changed and (hopefully!) to come out with a fresh MOT (annual mandatory roadworthiness test) so I can actually drive it again.

Then I just have the sporadic overheating issue to resolve, though I think I know the cause behind that now at least. Despite having sat for four months and a bit, started first try (well, second actually as I deliberately cranked it with no choke first time to get some oil circulating first) and seems to be running fine despite the time off the road.

MOT will be a nail biting experience I know - it's always nerve wracking, nevermind when you're talking about a 27 year old car that was never exactly renowned for reliability of quality of build even 27 years ago...

Also started the van up and proceeded to blanket the entire village in a dense blue fog as it apparently managed to ingest some oil at some point, whether through a sticky piston ring or dodgy vapour separator I don't know. Sorted itself out after a few minutes though - and got rid of the midges anyway! Need to pull the battery out of that tomorrow to stick on charge as well as it only just managed to crank it over today.

[Moonlady]

Good luck Zelandeth

[mawra]

I hope you get it running.

I have got to get the breaks on the van checked tomorrow. They are grinding badly. We can not go with the van, just hope they hold out until they can get fixed. Mom's got a Dr. appt. tomorrow that she REALLY needs to keep. She is still in a lot of pain and tired all the time.

[Zelandeth]

It's running fine - getting it through the MOT is another matter though as they're really strict about a lot of things - including a shed load of things which don't actually have any effect on the safety or running of the vehicle...but don't get me started on that.

If the brakes are grinding it's most likely an indication that the friction material on the brake pads has worn away completely, and you're now hearing the sound of the metal back plate rubbing against the brake disc (think the term is rotor over there...). Should be an easy fix for anywhere that does basic brake work.

Just get it done sooner rather than later as A: Braking efficiency will be impaired, and B: It will wreck the brake discs as well if not seen to pretty quickly.

Also possible that its something completely innocuous like a stone that's managed to get itself wedged in behind a splash guard or something like that, but my money would be on that you need new brake pads.

[mawra]

The pads need replacing. Except for taking Mom to Dr. which is a must, it will not go anywhere until tomorrow when I take it in to get fixed.

[Priscilla]

That is good news. There are some things that can be put off, a safe vehicle is not one of them!

[Hans]

Will you driving one of them or both of them home, zelandeth?

[Allen]

Trouble is, Maw, that you mentioned the brakes over a month ago. Yes the pads most definitely need replacing, and as long as you've driven on the bad ones, you'll be really lucky if that's all. The rotors might be shot now, and you're looking at a minimum of $125 or up, each, plus labor, to replace them. So putting it off so long could cost you $500, easily.

[mawra]

Those breaks where were the front ones. They were the front breaks were replaced along with most the front end. Not the rear end has decided it need attention.

[Zelandeth]

Plan is to drive it back down south to home week after next. There's a big classic car show up here on the 20th which I'm hoping to take the Skoda along to. Given the amount of attention it gets on the road, hopefully it should draw quite a bit of interest there. Shortly after the show, all being well I'll finally be able to drive it down south to its new home.

...Assuming we manage to sort all of the gremlins out before then anyway!

[mawra]

There is a small creature under the couch bumping my butt. Anyone want a kitten?

[Priscilla]

I would absolutely be a crazy cat lady. We've had as many as 8 at one time. Currently we have 2 that are 18 1/2 and getting really old and 2 that are just two years old. They can't be together as the old male tries to attack them when he sees them. They get the run of the main part of the house in shifts with the old ones closed in the basement during the day when it is the young one's couple hour turn and the young ones go in the first floor hallway when the old ones are out. It's not ideal and I really hoped they would get along but at this point it won't happen. As much as I love kittens I think we'll pass.

[Moonlady]

Good luck everyone.

[Kath]

Mum and Dad are driving up to my sister's place right now. She's just lost her new horse to a fatal injury.

[Priscilla]

Oh my goodness, I am so sorry! Did I remember she fairly recently lost another horse? They are beautiful, breathtaking creatures.

[Kath]

Yes, she lost a dog and the horse she raised from a foal last year, and her marriage broke down right after. She's had a truly shitty year, and I'm feeling very much too far away from her right now. It's just not fair!

[Hans]

That does sound like a shitty year indeed. Totally unfair that so much always seems to be ditched on one person's plate. Totally understandable that you feel you should be there, physically.

((( hugs )))

[Zelandeth]

Really sorry to hear that Kath. Really horrible when things like this happen, especially when it seems that fate keeps dealing you cards like that over and over again.

Really hope that everyone is doing as well as can be expected.