Sunday afternoon I sprouted a lovely crop of blisters on the end of my stump, brand-new gelsocks be damned. That was the end of what amounted to a 4-day work marathon between Thursday and Sunday – I lasted till the end, but I paid for it. The good news is that my 9-month-old torn rotator cuff got a nice stress test. It’s weak and painful when I try to swing a hammer overhead, but other than that it seems to be whipping into a tolerable new normal. At least the joint didn’t give out on me entirely.
This morning I stayed in bed till damn near seven, which brought a lot of bills due all at once so I spent the next hour appeasing dog and chickens in multiple locations, handling some other periodic maintenance chores at various places en route. Things have gotten a bit spread out over the years, and little chores have gone begging in the past several days during the rush to get the addition up.
Then I took my cup of coffee for a leisurely stroll up the ridge behind the Lair, so I could get an official TUAK picture of the ass end of the New Improved Lair (still in development)…
🙂 Maybe I should look for before and after Google Earth pics.
Yesterday I did the last of the carpentry that required the chop saw, cutting and placing the blocks between the roof joists. Now the saw is back in the barn, Neighbor D’s generator is under secure cover and ready to be shifted back to his place, and it can go ahead and rain if it wants to. I’ve still got today and tomorrow on light duty, unexpected crises permitting, and then Friday I start caretaking over the plateau for a week. $30 a day, baby, but I’ll earn it. Ever haul crop water by hand? Lots of back-and-forth carrying loads, my least favorite thing.
Saturday the addition’s door and third window are due to arrive – Landlady’s actually renting a truck, bless her – and then there will be cascading progress: Fit the door’s opening to the door, mount the door, then I can put up the last of the sheathing, then I can cut out the holes for the windows, then I can wrap tarpaper, then I can mount the windows, then I can open up the doorway between the rooms and the Lair officially becomes a 2-room cabin. 🙂 Then comes the siding and the painting, and then the interior work as resources permit. None of that needs to happen in a rush.
I want to speak that last sentence aloud, because it’s music to my ears.
So your idea of taking a well-earned break is hauling water by hand? 😉
I hope you heal fast!
Joel you’re making me feel guilty for getting up at my version of early (8 AM) this morning. I’m sorry to hear about the blisters. At the best of times blisters are an issue that you can do without.
The pic of the Super Secret Lair with the new addition looks good. I’m happy that it’s all coming together for you. Kinda funny the first thing I thought of when I looked at it was snow load, then I remembered where you are. :^)
I see you’re being smart and not pushing past your limits. The deadline you have to beat is winter and that’s a long way away. Take care of that rotator cuff, the next time it goes south you may not be as lucky.
The biggest single snowfall I ever measured here was five inches, which didn’t last long. Won’t say snow load *can’t ever* be an issue but it’s not near the top of the list’o’worries. It gets cold here but there’s rarely a very great deal of snowfall. And the roof may not be steeply pitched but it is built strong. Brand-new 2X6s on 16″ centers under a lifetime metal roof. I’ve seen far less snowproof roofs on commercial buildings in Michigan.
Joel, don’t overdo it. I know some chores like taking care of animals are every day things, but surely you can set a slower pace for the rest of it. I’m to the point now where I work outside in the morning, and stay inside most of the afternoon.
A Special Forces medic showed me a trick for blisters called “the hot shot.”
You draw the fluid out of the blister with a hypodermic needle and a syringe and then inject tincture of benzoine into the vacated area under the loose skin. The reason for the name of the procedure will immediately become obvious. Needles and syringes are available at the feed store or vet supply catalogs. One of your neighbors with livestock probably would give you some needles and syringes left over from vaccinating their critters. Boil ‘me up and save a trip to town.
If the blister is ruptured you can trim off the loose skin, apply a coat of the tincture of benzoine
(I recommend having a large caliber bullet handy to bite on during this procedure), let dry until tacky, and put a piece of Leukotape P, or equivalent (I think 3M came out with a similar sports tape available at Walmart) cover the insult and you will be good-to-go.
Wetting your pants while biting down on the bullet is optional.
Trim the corners off so they are rounded and they tape will not peel loose. Keep an eye out for infection. You do not want to seal bacteria under the tape over an open wound.
You can also use the tape on a developing hot spot to prevent a blister. Works good.
Tincture of benzoine is also recommended for cracked nipples should that ever become an issue.
I apply it to the skin on either side of a wound when I am closing it with steri-strips or butterfly bandages. Once again, let it get dry and tacky before putting on the steri-strips. They stay on even when you get wet and sweaty. After ten days cleanup and remove with iso alcohol if they haven’t fallen off by themselves.