Ouch: Dog Bites Hurt!

Ugh, so I went over to my buddy, swing-driver Mike's house to exchange plants. He was planting bulbs and decided to remove his peonies which I said I'd take for him :) And I had a bunch of Myrtle that I'd dug up when planting a Japanese Maple in the front yard. Anyway, when I arrived his little dogs Arty and Oscar were going bananas. So Mike says I need to see them so they'll stop barking. Ok, no biggie, I've seen his dogs before. Well as soon as he opened the gate Arty circled behind me and Oscar positioned himself in front; they were both barking and since they are so small they are able to move quite quickly. Next thing I know Arty has jumped up and bit me in the but; I yelped and then Oscar bit me in the shin!

Obviously Mike felt horrible. I can't blame him... LOL. The shin bite looked really nasty all purple/bloody looking under the skin. When I got home I examined my butt as best I could and other then one little tooth mark which broke the skin it wasn't bad. No I'm not posting any butt pictures. My shin looked considerably better by the time I'd gotten home albeit there were definitely teeth marks that punctured my skin.

Here's a couple pictures. The first one was taken right when I got home and the second was 2 days later. It's now been 4 weeks and I can still see the defined bite mark. Yes, that is a scar on my knee when I fell out the hotel door at the red dress run in Toledo last May and there's another scar on that leg from crushing my lower shin on a cement step at work. Fortunately me left leg doesn't look as bad as the right!

Lance and I dressed for Halloween

With only 4 hours to get together a Halloween costume I come up with this. Turned out pretty good and lots of people were looking and taking my picture. That's my 1984 homecoming dress!

Quick Halloween Costume. Sponge acrylic paint on the tire and begin rolling over the dress. The painting and rolling process took a while since I could only roll about 7" at a time then had to apply paint to the next part of the tire then roll the dress over more.

I blotted heavy paint areas and to further assist in drying I aimed my halogen work lights at it while it was spread out on the pool table.

Mess up the hair, apply some white face paint and blood. Whallah!

Painted the Garage

So I didn't take a picture of this side of the garage before scraping and painting it, but it was pretty bad. The paint was basically hanging on it little strips all over it. I could just take a picture of the other side of the garage since it looks exactly the same as this once did! Anyway, here is a picture of it after painting it. The sun is starting to set so it doesn't look all that great, but what a difference a coat of paint makes. I pretty darn sure I painted the garage about 12 years ago and used Behr paint. It could have used a new paint job though 2 years ago.

The paint I chose is Valspar Duramax which has the primer built in. It's definitely thick enough to cover up a lot of the scraped and un-sanded siding of the garage. It covered in coat! There was a little bit of streakiness up in the gables where I working in overhead tight corners, but I touched them up a bit once I got out the roller and I can't see it anymore. I'm very satisfied with the application of this product. I wonder how durable it it.

A Little Knitted Pumpkin

It's not like I couldn't go buy a real or fake pumkin, but where would I ever find a knitted one? LOL. Anyway, this little guy was a lunch time project resulting in a fun addition to my fake gords in my Autumn center piece.

The pattern is a Jan Lewis design and it's free. It can be downloaded as a PDF or on Ravelry (registration required)

Landscaping Sunday

Whew, it was a busy day. First off I finished off the 2ND garden bench today which entailed positioning the top and securing it and then urethane it. Man is that thing heavy. I used my dolly and still had to take several breaks to move it from the garage all the way around to the canal. Anyway, it looks good. Both benches received a second coat of urethane late yesterday evening and with just one more quick coat in the morning I'm calling the projects done for now.

So when I went to the Depot to purchase urethane I saw that they had all live plants on sale for 50% off. Well, I can't refuse a deal like that and it would be nice to "landscape" the back by the new bench and I could replace that peony for something that isn't deciduous and I wonder if they have something for along the canal to keep the kids from climbing into my yard and fishing. CHA-CHING! I found a plethora of plants to suit my every need! I wasn't sure how many plants I would need for the front by the bridge and wound up going back and purchasing 4 more of the picker bushes to complete the job and bought a Japanese maple on the second trip too (those 5 plants aren't in the picture).

The New Bench Landscaping Project: I decided a few days ago that I'm going to build an arbor to go down the new bench by the canal in the backyard. I have not started this project yet, but have gotten the materials. Well, you can't have just an arbor with no plants so when I saw the 50% off at the depot I couldn't resist and went crazy and even got vine for the arbor. Here's a quick plan that I set up. I haven't begun the installation of this yet mostly because I didn't have time plus I'm still deciding on how I'm going to present the approach to the arbor.

The Hide the New Meter Project:This was a rather easy task and only involved digging out the peony and replacing it with the Burning Bush.My meter was recently moved from inside of the house to outside and although the did stick it on the side a bit

when the peony dies off for the winter the meter will be an eye sore. So I figured a bush would be better and I do like the Burning Bush fall color.

The Bridge Project: Wow, I'm digging through rocks! Finally I got 6 substantial size holes dug 3' apart that hopefully will have enough dirt for the 6 picker bushes to thrive in. By the time I returned from the Depot it was dark so I continued my landscaping endeavors by lantern and head lamp. LOL.

Total plant cost: $190

Garden Bench

Remember the huge dog house that was recently torn down? This is the bench I made out of otherwise scrap wood from from it. I call it a garden bench but I really built it so I'd have something to sit on to feed the fishies. My neighbor is already scoping it out as a new place to drink beer as well. Hmm. I need to build a fence too! :P I still have to clean up the wood on the bottom and I'll urethane it for lasting protection. I'm putting another one that's a little bit longer along the canal on the side of the house too.

In the picture I'm talking to "Swing Driver Mike" and enjoying a Trader Joe Dark Premium Lager... YUM. :D

At it Again

My brother sent me an email today asking me how my knee surgery went.

It didn't. As I told you the insurance company sent me to an IME. I haven't received his actual report yet, but basically he determined that yes I have a torn meniscus and yes I need it scoped. However, in his opinion a person with a tear such as this certainly wouldn't be able to do physical activities like work and exercise therefore although the insurance company isn't denying the fact that I "aggravated" my knee, called in the claim, and went to the clinic doctor twice before seeing my own orthopedic surgeon who ordered the MRI that the tear must have happened after I called in the claim and told the clinic guy that I felt like it was torn which he actually put in his dictation report. Hmm, I should start playing the lotto more often if I'm able to predict that 3 weeks after telling someone I think my knee is torn that I actually tear it.

So anyway, yesterday I had my restrictions lifted with my own orthopedic surgeon so I could take my"unable to perform physical activities" butt into work. I can't sue them until I'm on disability and having the surgery even though I need it now, but can't afford it so I can't take off work to have it. Back when we picked vacations early in the year I took next week off as a payoff for one of my vacation weeks and am scheduled to be off the following two weeks. I've asked my boss if I can work through the 2 weeks that I'm scheduled off to save enough money to have the surgery in January. Then in January I told him I would have to take all 5 weeks of my vacation together and have the surgery. BUT, if I am allowed to work through my 2 weeks of vacation, I will instead have the surgery just prior to Thanksgiving and give them a ___ you so sorry I won't be able to work peak this year and will hopefully be recovered by the first of the year or at least by the second week. Then while I'm off I can file an appeal against their denial for workers' compensation. I almost feel bad about tricking them... oh wait, no I don't. Unfortunately for them I take really good notes and have lots of documentation regarding my injury. I don't see how they have a leg to stand on when it comes down to it. In addition I will be trying to sue not only for the workers' comp benefits but for pain and suffering and mental anguish that I've endured through this. I'm not sure if that will fly, but I'm certainly going to try. Screw them; I did nothing wrong other than go to work and twist my knee while working and the stress that it's caused me has been enough to cause at at least temporary increase in anxiety and despair.

Of course with all insurance companies they are looking for an "out" so they conjure up some crap by twisting what the doctor has to say based on questions that they ask him but that he doesn't ask me. The guy never once asked me about my ability to do my job or other physical activities and I'd have to guess that conveniently no where in his report does it state that I told him that I could do things, but the next day I would be stiffer and more sore feeling in the knee. They do this because they figure by the time the person pays for the surgery using their own insurance and pays for the lawyer fee that it isn't worth it to them monetarily to file an appeal. However, I don't like basically being called a lying, deceitful person who has filed a "false" claim which no doubt creates in the minds of my supervisors and peers regarding my integrity. Therefore like many things we fight for in life, we do it on the basis of principle.

I had Marianne my surgeon's assistant fax a work note which lifted my restrictions so I could return to work since the insurance company was denying my claim. When I returned to work, my boss asked me if I would be ok to do the job. I told him I would but it wouldn't last long. He asked how long is long a few hours? I told him no, I would make it a few weeks before the symptoms started bothering me again I would guess at which time I would start taking some Ibuprofen.

The Beer Mile

Woe, my head hurts. It's 6:30am the day after the beer mile and I'm not sure if I'm still drunk or just really hung over. Since I'm scheduled for arthroscopic knee surgery on Thursday and can't take any aspirin/ibuprofen, I figure what I need is a good run to help sweat it out.

So what's a beer mile? You dofour laps on a track with each lap preceded by drinking a beer. Yes a full can. So it's drink a beer, do a lap repeated 4 times. My total time was just under 26 minutes to drink 4 beers and do 4 laps. It's the only sanctioned r*ce that this group puts on every year. It was fun, but I'm paying for it now.

What's on My Mind

I don't think I've written about my current situation as of yet regarding my new injury. Yep, I hurt my left knee again; the one I just had scoped in March. I was doing so well too which makes it even worse because I really have to wonder how it will hold up and what it will feel like after the second arthroscopic surgery to remove the torn piece of meniscus.

A brief history since most would find this boring and since the details are on another blog of mine anyway. I hurt it August 7, 2008 with a twisting action (again). I let my boss know that evening. I called it in the next day hoping it would feel better by morning and I wouldn't have to officially report it. Eleven days post injury it was gradually getting worse so I went to the clinic on Aug 18. Ahh, the clinic. The doctor wanted me to return on Aug 21. Then he wanted me to return on Aug 28. Why so may times? Because he was "not completely convinced that I have a serious injury". Dude, I've been through this twice... it's torn. Anyway the insurance company pulled a number switcheroo and said that they were considering an aggravation to the previous injury so it wouldn't be a new claim; how convenient for them. Anyway, I saw my regular orthopedic guy on Sept 3, had the MRI on Sept 9 which did indeed indicate another tear, then I saw my ortho again basically to confirm the results and schedule a second scope. Fine.

Then I get a call from the insurance company on Sept 24 saying they are sending me for an independent medical examination on Oct 2. Now I know how these work and after looking up some information on the net I decided I better call a lawyer so I contacted Marshall who is in cahoots with the union. Anyway I was a complete mess for an entire week; which is why I haven't finished any knitting projects or blogged about anything. I spent hours fretting and stressing and having mini anxiety attacks despite my daily meds while getting my paperwork in order to see this IME guy.

The IME day. I was in and out of anxiety attacks from the moment I sat down in the waiting room. I had to wait for 25 minutes before being called back to see the IME. I told him I was going to video tape the session and he said he wouldn't do it then. I said, "If I'm not hiding anything and you're not hiding anything then why not". He said he didn't want his medical exam taped. He also rejected the use of a mini recorder. I would have pushed him on the issue except I'm sure it would have gotten turned around that I was the one that didn't want to have the exam and therefore the insurance co could issue a letter of dispute. I explained to him briefly while trying not to cry that I have this anxiety thing so if I seem like I'm being uncooperative or start feeling my pulse it's because I'm basically having an anxiety attack. He offered me something to drink and brought me a mug of water. I was shaking so badly I thought I was going to spill it. Anyhow, he asked me for dates and descriptions and I felt more at ease that he wasn't drilling me about physical activities outside work or seemingly trying to twist what I had to say around and make it look like I was making something up. He did a quick physical exam which included measuring both calves and thighs at the VMO he then performed the Mcmurry test which of course hurt and finished up with having me squat which I was very hesitant to do and I pretty much let out a squeel as I squatted down. So at the end of the exam he said "you need another scope". I asked him why they would send me for the IME if it was so obvious and he said sometimes they just do that. I felt relieved yet at the same time I knew the next step was to have the surgery. I didn't even get on the elevator yet and I was literally balling my eyes out then and all the way home. I guess because it was the final step before surgery on Oct 9; at least I hope so.

The lawyer tells me there is still a chance of getting a "letter of dispute" in which case I will definitely have to take legal action. I certainly hope it doesn't come to that.

So that's the story.