November Update

I haven't been doing a very good job of updating this Blog. Maybe that's because nothing of any real importance or note has taken place. 

We made it through Halloween with 1,851 Trick or Treaters as the official neighborhood count. That is a new record high. It was a good night. The weather was good. No rain.

It's becoming more and more difficult for Susan and I to do Halloween. We are just getting older. We really need to think about downsizing our decorating. The problem is, when you actually get to the event, and you see how much everyone enjoys it, it's hard to think about shutting it down.

We kind of expected the crowd since Halloween was on a Saturday this year.

No major new health news to report other than a slight change in my drugs, starting today. They've taken me off Carvedilol and relaced it with Metoprolol. I'm told the side effects will be some initial tiredness but that should wane as I go on.

Other than that, we are just enjoying the Fall and living life. We recently hauled about 20 big garbage bags of leaves to the dump. That was a shit load of work that really tuckered me out.

I think we are pretty much done with the yard for the season.

October BP

 

Inspire Implant

Today I had an appointment with a Dr. Heather Johns at Providence Ear, Nose and Throat to discuss getting the Inspire Implant for my Sleep Apnea.

From what I learned today, there are a number of things that can be done to help mitigate Sleep Apnea. The first thing she suggested was a surgery where they cut my jaw and position it forward. This creates more space in the breathing passage. She said it would slightly change the look of my face and it was a long and painful surgery with a long recovery. I told her that did not appeal to me.

The next thing she suggested was doing a sort of face lift in my throat. Again, the goal is to open the breathing passages. She said that from the looks of my throat, that procedure probably wouldn't work.

Finally we got to the implant. It would be placed on my right side across from my current implant. There would be a lead the goes to a nerve below my tongue. At night, I would use a remote to turn it on and anytime it detected my tongue in a certain position, stimulating the nerve would slightly push my tongue forward, enlarging my airway. To the point that the tip of my tongue would be sticking out of my mouth.

She went on to say that she needs to talk to my heart docs because I may not be eligible for this therapy.

The next step is they are going to order another sleep study and then I will meet again with Dr. Gross at Spokane Pulmonary. 

After this meeting, my Bi-Pap head gear is looking more appealing.

Just for reference, I first started using the Bi-Pap on August 23rd, 2021. So it's been five years.

September BP

 

E Bike Range

I have been doing some syphering with my e-bike, trying to figure out a typical range for the battery. To the best of my knowledge, it looks like I can comfortably get 30 miles out of one charge. I can improve that distance by using lower levels of assist. I generally keep it at Level 3.

I have been out on a few rides recently, even though the days are getting cooler. I haven't gone any long distances. Just the short jaunts downtown to the park as well as jaunts to the store, rather than taking the car.

I drove out to State Line today to gas up the truck and spent almost $90.00. I paid $4.40 a gallon and got about 20 gallons. Based on my recent history, that should last me about a month.

1067 Miles

I have just returned from a nice bike ride down to the park and back. Got in around 6 and a half-ish miles. It's a really nice sunny day with the temperature heading for 80 degrees. Along my ride, I stopped at the General Store. I got my knife sharpened, that was six bucks. Then I went to the plumbing aisle and checked out what they had for faucets. 

I have decided we need a new kitchen faucet. The one we have offers really crappy water pressure. I pulled the main hose off the valve under the sink, attached a short hose to it and let it spurt into a bucket. It had quite a bit of force. Much more than is coming through our kitchen faucet.

Right now, it takes almost three minutes for the hot water to hit the kitchen faucet. With my test into the bucket, I had hot water in thirty seconds.

Stand by for more kitchen faucet updates.

GOAL ACHIEVED!!!

I HAVE DONE IT! 

I went out on a little ride today to pick up some medicine for the cat. I managed to return to the house just after the odometer hit 1,000 miles. To be specific, I was at the intersection of Jackson and Wall when it tripped over.

I was close enough to home to know it would remain at 1K until I reached the backyard, which is where I took this picture.

I'm a full week ahead of my scheduled goal date, which makes me feel pretty good.

Now I have to go to the Home Depot to replace our wave sprinkler. My old one got stolen last night. Low Life MoFo!