Mold Patrol and PT

Gosh, I’ve been here for 2 months already. It feels like I’ve been here longer than that. Maybe it’s because so much has been going on.

Upstairs bathroom…
I was advised to use a bleach solution (not vinegar) along the base of the tub and wall (where they meet). That took out a lot of the smell. However, when I lean into the tub to turn the water on, it smells musty. I was also advised to use Tilex® on the entire tub and surround. That’s on my shopping list for today.

I spent considerable time cleaning that bathroom yesterday. Picture this (your shower head has the same thing): where the shower pipe comes out of the wall there is a metal baffle (or whatever it’s called) that covers the hole. I decided to move this piece away from the wall so I could clean the inside of it. OMG! The baffle was cruddy, as expected, and the wallboard around the hole was damp, ‘rotten’, and black from guess what! I’ve never seen anything like it. I left the baffle off (away from the wall) to give the wallboard a chance to dry out.

My immediate solution will be to place the baffle up against the wall where it belongs and trace around it with a light pencil mark. Then I will cut out the section that is blackened by mold. The traced circle will let me know just how far I can go. The long-term solution would be to rip out the entire bathroom and put everything back new and dry, with an entire floor to ceiling one-piece surround. However it’s going to be a long time (maybe never) before I can accumulate 20K to do all that.

Physical Therapy
PT has been going well. I have been pain free the last two days. Considering I tore tendons around my shoulder blade, shoulder and neck back in mid-March, I am most appreciative of having no pain.

Back in March, I very unwisely lifted a very heavy bag of groceries and carried it up the stairs into the kitchen with my arm fully extended. The bag was so heavy I couldn’t have flexed my arm if I wanted to. That was just totally stupid on my part, and trust me, I will never do it again. I now make as many trips as necessary to bring stuff in from the car. Granted, now that I’m in the condo I don’t have that far to go…but any distance is too far if the object I’m carrying is obscenely heavy.

Learn from my pain! :-))

After the Storm

The afterglow. I had a front seat for last night's storm and this beautiful canvas.

Heat Wave

This has been brutal…a week of 90+ temps and humidity so high I can’t breathe outside. Makes me feel like I’m drowning. I thank God for the central air in my condo. I have never had it before and cannot see doing without it in the future. I bless it every day and I bless the electric grid for not failing.

It was somewhat difficult for me to sleep with all the windows closed and a fan circulating air upstairs, but I can get used to anything I guess, since I am sleeping well now.

Life's New Rhythm

I am establishing a whole new rhythm to my life and I have to let it happen. Nothing forced. So far so good, although I would like more days of bike riding.

I haven’t been able to take part in many water aerobic sessions since I moved here. Appointments with carpenters, electricians, doctors and my physical therapy sessions, all seemed to fall on Tuesday or Thursday mornings.

This morning there wasn't a session, so I went to the pool and did laps. I lost count but I think I did somewhere in the neighborhood of a dozen the long way. Granted this isn't a big pool, but I'm not used to swimming. I did rest a minute or so after each lap, and that's OK. The last time I did laps it was only 5. So I've doubled the number and then some. Now I have to work on doing them without resting in between. For someone with COPD (like me) this is great exercise and the more I can do the better for my breathing.

Just let it flow; let it happen; enjoy the scenery along the way. There is no hurry.