US Girl Friends

Well the girls (Gail and Ann) finally made it to England, their luggage did not arrive but at least they did! I surprised them both and showed up at the airport with our great friend Simon! Well from then on it has been shopping eating and drinking! I have been able to mix in a little work as well. I took them to London showing them the train and the tube system. I think they did quite well grasping the transportation system here. While I worked they headed into London to see a play and do a little sight seeing. They made it back with no problems so I think they are veterans now. Yesterday we headed into London for more shopping (I only have 3 new pair of shoes now!) and we had a reservation for the Absolute Ice Bar. They had never experienced anything quite like it! Later that evening we went to dinner with Mike Amato (one of my big bosses in the UK) who got us into Cipriani's which is a fabulous restaurant in London and then he took us to his Gentlemen's club. We had a fabulous time. The weather has been brilliant and we spent the day today recuperating in the sun! Reading and resting, it was great! We are supposed to have great weather thru next week as well! I guess the girls brought it over with them. Next week we head to Paris for 3 days so stay tuned for more fun!

MRI

Here we go again. I'm killing myself just to get something to write about. With a shoulder injury and possible rotator cuff tare I was scheduled for an MRI. So here they stuff me inside the rolling donut for a 45 minute procedure. Of course I'm a good patient and hold real still listening to some good old country music. When it's finished they drag me out and guess what....they shot the wrong shoulder. As I was favoring my right side with my broke ribs the operator thought my right shoulder was the target. So back I go into the MRI hole for another try. Unbelievable! With ex rays and a CT scan last Sunday and now two MRI's, I'm chucked full of Gama-rays. Bloody Hell! I'm a walking Night Light.

Spare Ribs

My wonderful neighbors are helping on my recovery. Here I was treated to a spare rib dinner. I am looking for 3 good rib bones without cracks. In the background is Milan, whose deck I fell through. We are still under intense negotiations on a settlement for lost wages, medical costs, long term disability, and pain and suffering. We start arbitration every night at 5:00 and sometimes don't finish until dark. We are hoping these negotiations will end in September. If not we will start all over next April. The busted ribs don't stop me from getting my work done but the most simple things cause me problems. A sneeze is the worst, along with blowing my nose and reaching out and pulling anything towards me cause the most pain. I'll survive.

One Bad Step

The day started out good but then I made a mistake. Helping out my neighbor rebuild his deck I had an armload of decking material and stepped on a joist that I thought I'd nailed and it fell through. So down I went through the deck hitting a joist with my right ribcage and onward to the rocks below. This picture shows the joist framing that I did, and I stepped on the only one that I failed to nail. So there I lay catching my breath, and glad that I had my knee pads on. I was sure that I broke a rib so I dragged my stupid self up and finished the job in about two hours, had lunch and went to the local hospital. I was really hurting when I was driving in but the staff took good care of me. I had ex rays and a shot in the rear for the pain. After the shot kicked in I was able to pay more attention to the cute PA taking care of me. I ended up with 3 broken ribs and a concern of liver damage. So in I went for a C/T scan, and of course I had my camera ready for a picture, but with my pants down around my knees I didn't want to offend my readers. The liver was OK but still a chance of pneumonia and a collapsed lung because I couldn't breath very well. So here I'm sucking in air through an Incentive barometer to keep my lungs clear. The doctor said that I should be off work for a week. I'm sure that means with full pay and benefits. Wait until my neighbor gets the bill. Get Well cards with a little money will really help my recovery. Please don't worry about me, it only hurts when I breathe in or breathe out. I'll be OK

Trex

Trex is a product made of plastic and sawdust. It is very popular for deck surfaces that are exposed to the weather, and will look the same years later without any maintenance. At $2.40 a foot I will not waste very much. Here I am putting the trex down and am getting real tired of spending all day on my knees. My back is killing me. Not only that but I will use a box of 1750 deck screws and will have to get more. I just can't do that much screwing all at once, so I spread it out over a few days. At my age I need some recovery time.

Deck Framing

Having finished the framing of this deck, I'm happy with the results and know it was done right. Now a framing carpenter is a highly under rated job and most times goes completely un-noticed. If this phase of any wood framed construction is not done correctly the building will always have problems, with settling, doors sticking and even windows cracking. In a few days I will install the deck surface and guess what happens then. Friends and neighbors will come by and I expect them to say, "Man this is solid, you must have done a really good job of framing. But no, instead I here, Wow! what a beautiful deck, where did you get the material, I'm going to build one like that myself. "right" This is part of building that I enjoy the most, even though I am busting my knuckles and somehow bleeding every day. It's hard work and I love it. When the job is finished nobody sees the framing as it is covered up, but give us a little respect.

What A Mess

I've finally got the demolition completed and have started the rebuild. It is a narrow walk to the front door so I'm extra careful because I don't need any more injuries. After smashing two fingers and my elbow, I have no more blood to give. This is my favorite part of a remodel, and will take probably less time to rebuild than the tear out. This should be a two day job but will take three. No matter how hard I work. I can't move as fast as the old days.