Farmerjan's journal - Weather

[farmerjan]

Getting ready to head to work. Got the meter brackets changed and dropped the stuff off at the farm so they can set up. Went by the county dumpster right up the road and dropped off a couple feed bags of junk. Bottles ready to go in the car.
Just ate a burger patty, sans bun, and some cottage cheese. Took first dose of tylenol and will take more in 2 hrs to keep knees from just quitting... 1 more week.... need to make a trip to the bathroom and put bottles in truck and go.
Sorted through another pile of junk mail, papers before I went to the dumpsters. I didn't get the heater going yet, got sidetracked in the kitchen. Put on a sweatshirt so I wasn't too chilled but house has not hit 65 inside... temps outside have hit 62 and might go up another degree but it is getting near to 3 p.m. so this is probably the high. Tomorrow is supposed to be warmer. Heard that tonight will be as cold or even a little colder than last night but no frost in the forecast. Have to get my spider plants moved inside and hope that they will go somewhat dormant while the temps are cooler for the couple weeks I am gone.

Laundry is hung and another load in soaking... quite breezy out there so it will dry real good by tomorrow eve.

Found out online where I have to go to early vote, so will do that one day this week when I go and make the bank deposit for the mtg payment and pay the electric bill early since I don't trust the mail to get it there even though it is not due until the 2nd of Nov.....
By the time I get home this evening, I will probably not want to do much and then I have to go back tomorrow morning at 4:45.... at least I am not testing again until Tuesday aft...I will have to do all the computer work tomorrow morning because I will not do it there in the dirty barn and no place to sit in the little cubby hole where he keeps the computer in the back room....so I will do it here, and then pack samples and all after eating some breakfast...
Got a list of phone calls to make in the morning too.... and my list of "NEEDS TO BE DONE" that has got a few things crossed off already....but lots more to do this week.
Well, can't put it off any longer .....

 

[Bruce]

Anybody else ever look up an old house they lived in as a child on Zillow?

OK, just did. Parents bought it ~1959 for $15,500. I guess they agonized over that last $500. It was 3 bed,1 bath. Added on to when I was maybe 6 or 7? Living room in the front became the den, larger living room added to the back, second bathroom in front of that and larger kitchen and laundry room in front of that. 2 car garage. 1617 sq ft (Zillow) Parents bought a small strip of land behind the back yard and one neighbor's when the orange grove behind us was developed into houses. I guess that extra land behind 1 house and 1.25 of another would have made those 2 houses too expensive??? Went from .13 acres to .18 according to the Google Area calculator.

That was a bummer because I started Jr. High the next fall and COULD have gone through the orchard but had to add 1/3 mile around the block to the now 1 mile trip. High school was the same direction. Those houses have 3' backyards and generally no front yard to speak of (those are 2 story so more sq ft, now Zillow listed at over $1M). All the houses in the area have maybe 7' between them. Really common in So. Cal.

Near as I can tell the house is still the same size but listed as 4 bedrooms. I guess it was when my mom and step-father got married. Step-brother got the den as a bedroom, changed back to a den when he moved out a couple of years later.

Sold when Mom died in 2003 for something over $400K. Some future owner added a pool out back where the eucalyptus trees were. Current estimate $768K!! Crazy.

 

[farmerjan]

CHILL OUT this morning. Bank clock said 37 degrees at 4:30.... my recording thermometer said 41 was the lowest here... but it is on the front porch so a tad bit warmer with the roof protection. No frost to be seen though. Not supposed to get quite as cold tonight they say... at least no frost forecast in this area for another week.... far southwest Va had some light frost warnings....

Tested and am so glad it is done. Have to sit here and do computer work, enter in all the milk weights and all. It will take me an hour or so to do all that then print the racking list for the samples then get them packed to ship out. Will drop them off later today.
Ate a bowl of cream of wheat this morning when I got home. Nice and warm.....

Got a text from my son, last evening, that a neighbor had called him and said there was a cow laying along the fence across from their house and she had been there all day and maybe she was sick...could I go check it out.... so I texted him back and said I was testing but would go by there as soon as I got done. It was at the nurse cow field. So I got there near dark, but could still see, and rode around and no cow laying along the fence... then the neighbor calls me and says he sees my truck, but the cow had gotten up and walked down near the gate ( that I had just gone in through) ... and so I told him we have one cow in there with a lame leg that does lay around alot, and that the bull also had had a sore foot so both would not be as active... and that I didn't see anyone that had a problem, but thank you very much.... . You have to go check these things out, but again, these are neighbors that call somewhat regularly for "something wrong" and there is nothing wrong... you know the type that are retired and have nothing else to do but "keep watch" on everything of everyone else's...... they are nice people so I try not to get aggravated, because there might be a time when it would be a cow having trouble calving and I will be glad they called.... but.... sometimes you just want to .....

I will go back up there in a little bit and check them out again... just to make sure I did not miss anything last evening... going to take feed and see if I can get the bull in to get him out, and those couple of heifers too, anyway.
Made a couple of the phone calls already. Got the load of clothes running through now so I can go out and hang in a bit when it gets a little warmer. It's up to 55 so far....

Got the other cabinet organizer from Wayfair today already.... they are super fast in getting things shipped out to you. We'll see if I can get any of that put together in the next few days.

It is cool in the house... 62... so the sweatshirt still feels very good.

Got a text to remind me of my appt at the PT tomorrow morning @7:30 a.m..

Just talked to the patient advocate from the dr office, for the surgery. Very nice person. The restrictions for the visitor are stronger due to the covid... no overnight in the room now.... and visitors only from 2-6 p.m. except for DS staying during the surgery, and recovery time. It looks like if I come out of surgery okay, that he might as well go home because he will not be able to get in the next day to see me til after 2 p.m. So, I will talk to him. She also said that they recommend usually 2 overnights in the hospital...for bi-laterals, then go to an "acute rehab at a sister hospital... and that will be for about a week... as they work it "harder" than a skilled nursing/rehab like I went into after the ankle...and the ankle was different since no weight bearing and being immobile in the cast then the boot.. because they have you up an walking and working at getting the range of motion... and that by a week or so, you are ready to go home and resume as much as you can as you will actually be working it better than sitting around in a "regular" rehab.... up and down and doing things in a normal setting.... So, that looks like the plan at this point... then I will have some rehab here... and I guess the amount/length depends on how much range of motion I get... the thing that we have worked on here, has been the straightening as I cannot straighten the knees... the bending has not been near as big a deal for me even now... from what I have been told, that is the harder part for most people.... and my PT guy says he thinks that it will be easier for me to do the bending part since I can still do it now.. so I hope that he is right.... so I can really work on the straightening part.... and range of motion.....

So I guess I am about set up as I can be.... The pcp dr called and left a message that they got the blood lab work and will be faxing it up. They said that my blood sugar was 127.... like that is a problem. It was a NON-FASTING blood work up.... from everything I read; FASTING blood sugar should be under 110, preferably under 100... but that non-fasting can be up to 140 with no concerns... and one site I looked up said that a spike of up to 180 is not out of the allowable amount.... so I am not going to be concerned. I have had fasting blood sugar of around 100 or under.... I am not pre-diabetic by any of the charts I have seen. If I can get these knees fixed and start being able to walk again more, I hope it will naturally help me to drop some weight and just get a little healthier overall. Dropping weight is good for improved blood numbers too. I will not be pushed into taking drugs when I know that I can do better if I just can get out and "do" again with new joints. It just bugged me that they made it a point of saying my blood sugar was 127 like that was a big concern....
I just called Dr office for surgery, and the girl in the office says that the ekg and other stuff has been received and scanned into their records... so things look good. Looks like things are on track.... I don't want any last minute snafu's.....

Okay, spent enough time on here, time to get the rest of the computer work for the farm done and then go out and hang clothes. Sunny and nice looking out but still breezy....

 

[Bruce]

Bank clock said 37 degrees at 4:30.

I can't even imagine knowing what the bank clock says at that hour! You do Yoe(wo)man's work Jan.

and that by a week or so, you are ready to go home and resume as much as you can as you will actually be working it better than sitting around in a "regular" rehab.... up and down and doing things in a normal setting

I bet their stock instructions were written by someone who has no idea what YOUR normal work life is! Take it a bit eay when the time comes.

 

[Larsen Poultry Ranch]

Random thought but if you had a newer phone the neighbors could take a video of the cow they were concerned about and send it to you, then you could see if it was an actual issue before having to run over to check it out.

 

[Mini Horses]

Only if those old farts had a new phone to even make a video...

Good thought though!

So Jan, what's actual day of surgery? 25th?

 

[farmerjan]

Hey, been a long day and have been just a little aggravated. So here I am back for a bit to talk to people who have some common sense....

Yes, actual surgery is Monday Oct 25th. After talking to the PAC person, it looks definitely like it will be after 12. She made the comment that he does the singles in the morning then does one bilateral in the afternoon and that it will be at least 12 or later....If i have to be there 2 hrs before, we can leave here by 5:30 and get there even allowing for some travel slowdown time... I talked to DS for a minute as he called to see what my work schedule was because they want to chop corn, preferably Wed afternoon. I am off Wed... DS wants to put it off until Thursday if he can...I test Thursday morning and then off for the afternoon... I can help either... I think the guy doing the chopping wants to get it done before we get more rain and cold this coming weekend. Which makes sense... I guess any errands I want to do, I had better do tomorrow between PT and then leaving to go to test in the afternoon...

I got the paperwork done today finally, got the samples packed and dropped them off. Went to the P.O. the will , and a note from my brother was included. Interesting, and typical of my father and his ways. The 4 of us kids, get a token cash "settlement", and then the POA brother, and the 4 grandchildren, my son and 2 nieces and one nephew, will split it 1/3 for my bother and 1/6th for each grandchild. And they were given the power to make the decisions...
The thing that makes me really mad is I think that the POA brother should have gotten the one piece of property outright because it means the most to him, he has done all the labor and sh!t work for my father on it for years...besides taking care of them for the last 4 years even when I did not see eye to eye with him on some things... and it is stated in the will that all properties are to be sold.... so, that's it for me, I am out of it. Whatever they do with the distribution of it is up to them. My brother did say in his accompanying note that he hoped that the grandchildren would include their parents (meaning us other 3 children) in the distribution of the personal belongings in the house. I have just decided that if my father who claimed all along with his mothers will and the way she had set things up and how much had to be sold and "lost to the family" because of inheritance taxes and lawyers to be paid...., and fought to keep the one piece of property in the family, buying out his brother, could so cavalierly just say sell it all, then his familial ties and constant talk of family inheritances, wasn't worth a thing to him in the long run. So that is that. I am going to concentrate on my knees, and getting my self put back together, and the hell with the rest. Brother has been more than fair about things up to now, and his hands are tied now. It is so wrong for him. I figured he ought to get half of what there was to inherit, and us other 3 to split what was left.... after anything else was distributed.

He left nothing to the neighbor who came faithfully almost every single night he was home from work, to help with my mom, not part of the paid caregivers, for the last 4-5 years... nothing to the one lady who was helping all the time when mom was starting to fail more than 5-6 years ago... and left equal to the one grandson that has not bothered to go see them since he got married 6-7 years ago, and has an almost 3 yr old that they never took to meet her great grandfather... not one visit in all that time and they live only 4 hrs away... hell I've been there twice in that time, from this distance, and that is not much, and my DS has been there a couple times a year for the last 10 years..... doesn't seem fair that they all share equally yet some sure didn't show their caring......but my father could be very selfish in that way. My mom talked to me once, years ago after my grandmother died, that if she outlived father, that she would do things differently that what he was saying at the time and I don't know the details of those thoughts,.....but she didn't...
Oh well, such is life. I didn't have it before, so won't miss it now.
I will not burden my son with my disgust of what I feel... he will read the will for himself. Good for him, it will financially make his life a little better down the road... but he also said that he thought Dick should get the cabin property because he always hunted it and took care of it and did all the mowing and upkeep and all. I think it was very unfair of my father. Even with what he might get out of it, I don't see how he would be able to buy the cabin property.... he would have to buy out 2/3 of what he has basically worked for for the last 10-20 years....
If I had gotten a decent share, I would have given it to him towards the property; but financially I can't help him.

Also, valuation of the car is higher, and I am not going to go in alot of debt to buy it. I will spend the money on my forester which will hopefully be getting done soon. Not going to borrow from my son either since he was surprised at the value of it in average good condition, and with all the extras on it, it is worth more... but not to me.
I' m not in love with the car, it is just a vehicle... I have a feeling that the local dealership up there is wanting a good used vehicle like that so it is now worth in the 14-15,000 range... which is about what KBB gives as an estimate...but not to me.
The niece that wanted the truck, will now be able to afford to buy it if she can swing a temp bridge loan until she gets her "share"... hate to say it, but wonder how long it will last her since she cannot, at nearly 35, manage money enough pay her bills... and she has nothing to show for it either...her brother is the nephew that hasn't had time to make one visit since his wedding years ago... my other niece will do good with hers, she has some common sense.... and is not as materialistic as the rest of them up there.

So since I may be spending a long day on the tractor with the chopping, one of the next couple of days, I am going to get going on things here in the house.

 

[Bruce]

Even with what he might get out of it, I don't see how he would be able to buy the cabin property.... he would have to buy out 2/3 of what he has basically worked for for the last 10-20 years....

Unless the others decide they want to sell it to him for $1. Not sure how that would go down with the tax man though.

When my aunt died she left enough money to the 2 ladies who were her paid 24x7 caregivers for the last year or so of her life to buy a small house.

 

[farmerjan]

Will stipulates that the properties must be sold as expeditiously as can be done in order to receive the highest price obtainable blah blah blah... so they cannot sell it to him for $1. And a couple of them will not be that generous anyway...
Done and over, don't have to overly concern myself now about helping clean out the house or anything... whatever they don't agree on will be turned over to an estate auction company.... might just be the best way for me to get what I want and not have to deal with anyone else anymore. Funny thing was the 4 of us kids had talked and we were all pretty much in agreement about working through things... this is going to cause alot of hard feelings with different ones...
I didn't mention that the 1/6th splits was because there were 6 grandkids, and the 2 not mentioned belong to my brother, one has passed away and the other got himself into some trouble and cannot own anything at this point in his life... so my brother is in essence getting their shares....which is fine with me.

The fact that he did not leave any of the caregivers anything really sets wrong with me....

Well, it's done... I have to get everything in line for the new knees... and a new chapter of my life....

 

[Cecilia's-herd]

New knees! Yay!!!!