Lucky 13

I can confidently say we know a little about operating rooms. After all, the Newmaforma has a combined total of 13 trips under the knife in 6 years. Lucky for me, I'm number 13. 'Cuz with A; these things go sideways.

In short, the screws were supposed to become a part of me. I didn't like one of them so I jammed it through the bone, into the joint and tore up some cartilage for a few weeks. The good doctor said we may want to reconsider the added bling as excess. Yesterday he took them out.

A friend asked, How many did they take out? b/c I won't concede that you no longer have any loose screws, just LESS than before!

Here's the thing, yeah the incision hurts and there is localized swelling, the anesthesia and initial pain meds kept me dozing most all day so I didn't go to bed till 5 a.m. this morning, but what I'll describe as tension in the joint is already gone. I wish it wasn't such a chore and so risky to pull the junkyard of hardware out of my hip. If all of that metal could come out I imagine I might feel good again.

Post-op sleep while healing has been a subject of discussion and I agree there is something to it. I haven't slept for more than 3 hours straight except maybe 1 night a week when I get 5 hours in, since before the Cadillac Attack 6 years ago. I've tried to justify other stresses as being contributing factors, but between the rehab improvements in the last year with the hip and the contrast of the newly broken elbow this year, I've decided its the injuries not the outside stresses causing the lack of sleep. In turn that's no help with the attempts at rehabilitation. I am curious to hear more from people with similar experiences and sleep issues.

G took his favorite Transformer to school earlier this week for Show And Tell. When I came home with the bag of screws that came out from inside me, he was pretty stoked. Next week he plans to take the screws for Show And Tell. Should make for an awkward segue for his teacher to transition to the next kid.

Special Guest Video



A few weeks ago Bill and Nymbol came down for a visit from Langley, WA. Their first request? To do some laps with G at the Lumberyard.

 

 

 I think this is a pretty worthy video for my first video blog post. I'm finally catching up with the 21st Century.

 

Here is a link to Nymbol and the rest of his troupe.

Business Lunch



Maybe I took too much advice from the movie Tommy Boy, but there's really only one way to roll when it comes to the business lunch on the road. Lowest. Common. Denominator.

 



 

 This is the Buzz Inn Steakhouse. It has chrome on the building. Chrome is shiny and catches your attention.

 

 

 The inside is vinyl. Vinyl is timeless. Wears well and can be washed easily.

 

 

This is the Meatloaf sandwich with a side of mashed potatoes and gravy.

 

 

This is the auger operator cleaning out the sewer system out front after we were done businessing our lunch.

 

 

 



Saving the world with Burger Rain

 

 

I had a conversation with a friend a while back about our boys being maybe too aggressive from watching too much super hero-evil fighting tv shows. It was deep winter and with a broken elbow, television was in heavy rotation so don't judge me. The problem came up during a break in the weather when a little girl at the park wanted to play on the play structure thingy and the boys came running out from behind some Laurel hedges toward her with sticks yelling, "Slay the monster intruder."

The thing is, the glowing boob-tube is merely an accessory to the action and monster slaying that goes down during episodes of super hero crime fighting shows. Think of it more like the P90X for tots. Other accessories include a small trampoline, a couch and a carpeted basement for all this world saving to get done. And any other objects or people to jump on/over. As a father of a boy it is my duty to instill a sense of imagination, adventure and responsibility to take care of others. I think I'm doing a pretty good job. Besides, his mom started it with  the Captain America costume at 18 months.

Spiderman, Superman, Batman...the classics are great, but Ninja Turtles were a bigger draw. Until we found the Aquabats Supershow!  Even a 4 year old can see that Ninja Turtles are a cartoon and Aquabats are real. Who better to save the innocent from extra-terrestrial monsters than an aging punk band from Orange County? Anyone? Anyone? I thought not.

So while I was away for work last month, A came through again by making G some Aquabats goggles out of pipe cleaners. G thinks they're the real deal. He goes out of his way to take care of them so as not to bend them up too much. He wears them practically everywhere. Last week, when G asked,  I  took a break from other projects to crank out an equally official, laser shooting, electric guitar, just like the one Eagle Bones Falconhawk rocks. Today G took it to school for show and tell. But not the goggles. He was worried the other kids would jack them up.

Stay tuned for future episodes and more cool homemade Super gear.

photos via google  courtesy of the Aquabats Supershow! on the HUB. Watch it.