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Monthly Archives: January 2019

Making Sawdust

23 Wednesday Jan 2019

Posted by Tim Hughes Living with CML in Photography, Retirement, Woodworking

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Tags

Frame, Picture, Power Tools, Projects, Retirement, Sawdust, Shop, Tools, Woodworking

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I must admit since I got married, I have been collecting woodworking tools but I have never been able to find the time to work with them.  I guess my first tool was the table saw, then a few small power tools like a drill, a Skill saw, a Miter saw and the list goes on.  Right now I have so many cordless drills that I can’t keep the batteries up on all of them and they all die.  In fact, I just ordered two new batteries for one of my more heavy duty drills.

Most of my drills came from when I worked.  At first, the company would supply us with cordless drills but when I went to use one, either I couldn’t find one or when I did the batteries were dead because the last person who used it didn’t put it back on charge.  I soon started buying all my tools that way I could lock them all up and they would be there when I needed them.

Anyway, now that I’m retired, I’ve started working on some small projects that were either needed around the house or projects that I’ve seen that I think I could sell at some craft shows.  My first project was, of course, the picture frame.  When I first started making the frames, I just couldn’t get it right.  I was using my miter saw that I bought some twenty years ago, cutting on a forty five but when putting everything together, the last corner was nearly a quarter of an inch off.  I couldn’t figure it out.  I watched Youtube videos on the subject, I was doing everything right but no matter what I did, I was still a quarter inch off on the last corner.

A few years after moving in this house, my dad and I extended our deck on the back of the house.  My dad is a real craftsman.  I’m just an imitation compared to him.  My dad, in order to help with some of the cuts, bought a miter saw large enough to cut some of the six by six posts that were required to build my deck.  After having all the trouble with my cuts for my frame, I decided to do a couple of cuts using his saw, being that he never took his saw home.  I want you to know that that was the prettiest frame that I had made.  The forty-five’s fit nearly perfect.  I went back to my saw and realized that when cutting a forty-five, the blade was square at the fence but as it moves toward the outer edge, it was out at least one-sixteenth of an inch.  When you add all that up, that’s at least one-quarter of an inch out.  No way to fix the saw.  There’s no adjustment for that.  I know.  I took the saw to have someone look at it and there’s no way to fix this.  Luckily, I have my dads saw and the last time I talked to him, he’s given me this saw.

Now that I’ve got a saw that cuts a good forty-five, I started making frames, and a bunch of them too.  All shapes and sizes.  I use plexie glass and real glass.  I’ve even got my mat cutting equipment and different colored mats.  I have a driver tool to hold the picture in the back of the frame.  I have everything needed to make and sell picture frames. And I got bored.

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Next up, a paper towel holder.  Or a poor excuse for one.   The plans call for a jigsaw, which I have, to cut the pattern out.  But, for some reason, I keep burning the curves.  I have a jigsaw that has a scroll feature on it but I haven’t been able to master it yet.  I also have a router and I used a trim bit but it ended up tragically.  It was my first try and I’ll try again I get the nerve.  It was pretty scary, to say the least.  It was so bad that my son, who was helping me at the time, said “Dad? “I don’t think that was supposed to happen”   No crap!!.

2019-01-16 16.36.37

Next up, clothes hamper.  Made from recycled pallet wood.

Don’t look too much at the lid.  I am still working on it.  In fact, I’m still working on all of it.  I’ve spent the last few days sanding on it.  If I had known that my wife wanted it sanded and stained, I would have done the sanding on my bench sander before nailing it all together.  Oh well, It’s giving me something to do.  If everything works according to plan, I should finish sanding tomorrow and start the staining process.

I look at sites such as Esty.com and see some of the prices these people want for items such as this and I think they must be crazy for asking for such an outrageous price.  But, going through everything that I’ve done just to get this far, I’ll have to say that they should be asking for more.  According to Esty, the picture frame should go for $35, the paper towel holder $75 and the clothes hamper $175.  Do I think I’ll get that much?  Probably not.

I’ll up date on both, the clothes hamper and the paper towel holder when they’re finished.  I think my next project will be a much needed foil rack for one of the cabinets.

Life Goes On.

Filing for Disablility

23 Wednesday Jan 2019

Posted by Tim Hughes Living with CML in Disability, Photography

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

Birds, Disability, Feeder, health, Memory

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Yes, I’ve filed for disability.  Let me tell you, so far, it’s been one hell of a ride.  First of all, they tell you to go online, print out the paperwork, fill it out and send it in.  I did that, and while I was getting the information,(doctor’s notes, procedures, diagnosis’) I found out that you can also fill all the paperwork online then submit it once you have it completed.  Of course, I had most of the information filled out before I knew I could do it online.  Once I completed the paperwork online, I hit the submit button and off it went.

Several weeks go by and I get a phone call stating that they had received the paperwork and they, in turn, had sent it to the appropriate people.  I thought I had already done that.  Oh well.

Another week or so goes by and I get a letter in the mail telling me that I’ve got to go see one of their doctors.  I was expecting this.  I had to send the letter back to them stating that I was to keep the appointment.  The week before the appointment I got another reminder about the appointment.

The doctor was a psychiatrist.  I had to see him because of the memory issues I guess.  He asked a lot of questions regarding my health, my daily routine and of course, my memory.  After about thirty minutes or so he was done.  Now the waiting continues.  Oh I know this could take years before I hear anything and it will probably end up being denied.  I understand that.  Of course, I willl apeal it.

Life goes on.

Everyday is a Blessed Day!

11 Friday Jan 2019

Posted by Tim Hughes Living with CML in Cancer, Leukemia, Photography

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Cancer, Drugs, Leukemia, Medication, Medicine

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It’s been nearly five years since my diagnoses of CML, a form of Leukemia.  If I had received the diagnosis back in the 1990’s I would have been told to go home and make my funeral arrangements.  With today’s modern medical advancements, which I’m highly thankful for, those of us with this diagnosis are able to live a somewhat normal life for many years.

There is a “go-to drug” called Glevic that is prescribed to most all new patients.  This drug worked for me for a while but stopped and I had to find something else.  The next drug caused more problems than the actual cancer did.  This new drug I’m on is working for now but is causing fluid around my heart and lungs but not as bad as the previous drug.

Is my life back to normal, no.  There have been many changes that had to be made to make my life a little better.  Because of the fluid around my heart and lungs, I’m no longer able to do a lot of the things I used to do.  Basically, I had to stop anything that would cause me to get out of breath with exertion.  That doesn’t mean I’ve given up.  I still try to walk and stay active. Every morning that I wake up I feel blessed to still be here. I’ve got a lot to live for and I hope I’m here for a while to come.

Long Overdue

10 Thursday Jan 2019

Posted by Tim Hughes Living with CML in Cancer, Family, Leukemia, Pets, Photography, Retirement

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

Bird, Cancer, Chores, Dentist, Feeder, health, Photography, Retirement, Ulcers

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It’s been since September since I’ve posted anything so I figured I’d do a little update on what’s been going on. First of all, I went to the dentist today and had some work done and I had to take a prescription pain pill to take care of the pain that I was in.  So, if this doesn’t make sense, that’s why. As stated in my last post, I’ve retired.  I can’t begin to tell you how happy I am about that. I get updates from one of my co-workers every once in a while and let me tell you when I get off the phone with him, it makes me so happy to think that I no longer work at that place.  The management at that place has taken a turn for the worse and it seems that I left just at the right time.  The stress that I felt while I was there is no more.  That within itself is worth retiring over.

So, what is my plan since retiring?  I’ve got several irons in the fire, none of which requires getting up and going to a regular job.  I was blessed with an excellent pension and my 401k didn’t look bad at all either.  I made an appointment before retiring with a financial planner and he told me that I had nothing to worry about.  In fact, I got a little raise since retiring so I think we’re going to do just fine.

On most occasions, I get up with my wife when she gets up to get ready to go to work.  I usually sit and talk with her while she’s eating breakfast.  After she leaves, I usually take a shower and go to the garage and work on some woodworking projects.  I take care of the laundry and try to have dinner cooking when my wife gets home from work.

Other things such as setting up my camera so that it can take pictures of the bird feeder have been another little project that I’ve been working on.  It’s the simple things in life that make it interesting.  My cats and I enjoy watching the birds in the morning while we’re sitting in the kitchen spending time with the wife while she’s eating breakfast.

On another note and this will be the last of this update for now.  My cancer numbers are starting to look pretty good but on the other side of that coin, my iron levels have started to plummet.  I’ve had to do two iron transfusions and had to have a colonoscopy and an endoscopy to find out where I’m bleeding out.  Ulcers, I’ve got two bleeding ulcers.  Another pill to add to my pharmacy list.

Thanks for taking the time to read and I’ll post again soon.

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