Sting - Stang - Stung

Yesterday I was under the impression that August had only 30 days.  I had nothing to really write about, thus the quick post in the few minutes I had after my nap and before going to the neighbor's party.  Today, what was something little turned out to be a bigger deal.  Now I have something to write about.

I think it was August 14, about two and a half weeks ago, I got home from work and was mowing the lawn when it felt like I was getting poked with a needle on my foot.  I shook it and then looked down and saw a bee in between the leather on my (toe covered) sandals.  I let go of the mower and ripped my sandal off my foot.  I didn't see where the bee went, but the immediate threat was gone and I had a lawn to mow so I put the sandal back on and continued.

A few minutes later and on the other side of the yard I started to feel like I was getting poked again, same as before.  This time it was at the very top of my left ass cheek.  Again I let go of the mower, then I ran to the garage while grabbing at various parts of my shorts.  I got to the side door - locked.  I ran around the corner and in the open garage door but there was one problem - it was daytime and the open garage faces the street (and neighbors).  Quickly, I hit the button to shut the garage and turned on the light.  I continued dancing around until the door was mostly down then dropped everything right there in the middle of the garage.  By then the poking had stopped and no bee was found.  Back to mowing the lawn. 

At least two stings, minutes apart.  They itched like crazy - and continued to itch for about a week and a half - but no swelling whatsoever.  None.

I kept my eyes open as I finished mowing but saw no bees flying around at all.  It was a few days later we found their 'nest'.  They were coming in and out on the edge of the lawn under the wood that separates the tree area.  I sprayed their entrance several times and eventually saw no signs of bees and thought that was that.  I was wrong.

Yesterday morning I mowed the lawn before the rain came.  I wasn't even thinking of bees, but I should have been.  Not long after passing their area with the mower I felt that same sting, this time on the back of my right arm just above the elbow.  The perfect spot that I couldn't reach on the first try and he got me good.  I saw activity in that same area that I had sprayed before so I sprayed it again.  That quieted them down for the moment and allowed me to finish the lawn.  When I was done mowing I sprayed it again and put some spare wood over it.  I doubt it was a good enough fit to trap them inside, but maybe making them burrow through grass would make them leave.  I had one more shot at spraying left in the can, in fact I still need to get more to try to finish the job.

Not too long after I noticed that I was developing a welt, red and puffy and itchy.  I put some Afterbite on and tried to forget about it.  Just a couple hours later it was getting hard to ignore.  The swelling had spread, it was red and hot to the touch.  I put a compression sleeve on to hopefully keep the swelling down and carried on with my day.  By the evening my whole arm was swollen.  Not too grotesquely, mostly the back and inside of my arm from just below the elbow to below my armpit, but even my hand was a tiny bit puffier than the other.  It was uncomfortable because my skin was taut around my elbow and bicep and it itched - oh, the itching!

Today the redness has spread almost to my wrist but thankfully has not moved up to my shoulder.  The skin is still tight and the red areas are still itchy and hot to the touch.  I've tried ice packs yesterday and they really don't do anything.  It has not been painful, really, just very uncomfortable and has made me a bit grumpy.  I guess I am allergic to bee stings now.  I'm not sure how that works, but if it happens again anytime soon I may make a beeline for the urgent care, pun intended.

Some way to spend a holiday weekend, huh?

Labor Day Weekend 2014

I noticed that I have never posted less than seven times a month, and that's not going to change now.

Happy holiday weekend to all!  I got my three day weekend started by mowing the lawn before the rain came today.  After putzing around for a while, we went out for lunch before I laid down for a nap.  See, tonight we have a party to go to over at the neighbor's and at 8:00 the Wisconsin Badgers open their college football season!  Finally.  The Packers start next weekend.  Tomorrow, weather permitting, we're supposed to go out on a friend's pontoon boat, and we'll probably do some chores so we can be restful (lazy) on Labor Day.

Goodbye August, I hardly got to know you.

Friday's Feast

Hot Ham and Swiss sliders

We had some friends over Friday night to watch the Packers' preseason game against Oakland and have a fire in the back yard.  Well, many could not make it for one reason or another and it was really hot and humid, so the fire pit got nixed.  But Kate made a great spread of food again!

Pepperoni and String Cheese egg roll wraps

She also had potato skins ready to put together but wound up not making them because there was plenty of food already for the people who did come over.  They're in the freezer now for the next get-together for a football game.  Besides the pictured, she also put out 3 different kinds of popcorn, and there were tortilla chips and a cheese dip that she made in the fondu pot.  I got stuffed - and we had plenty of leftovers that we were eating yesterday.

Both  of the foods on the right were found at Do It And How, thanks Krisgo!


It's been business as usual, otherwise.  I have less overtime next week, so that's good.  Maybe more posting, maybe not.  It's hard to post when you have nothing new, funny or odd to share.

Drinking in Wisconsin

I've loved this bit for some time now, ever since I first heard it.  This is Lewis Black on drinking in Wisconsin.  Classic because it's very true.  Yes, I'm a bit intoxicated right now, late this Friday night, aren't you?  We were out with friends and had some fun.  I hope you had a happy Friday night, too!  After all, you've had a long week - you earned it!   NSFW!



*Hiccup* - maybe it's time for bed.  Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaawwwwwn

GodMode

For Windows 7 or 8.  I saw this over at Bits & Pieces and watched the video.  It's really just as simple as that, copy the code and create a folder on your desktop, name it the code and... Ta-Da!  Tons of functions at your fingertips!  Thanks Jonco!

Copy this code: GodMode.{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C}

Supermoon

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This And Thats

It has been a week since I posted anything but not a lot has been happening.  It must be time for a little bit of this and a little bit of that.

• Work has been keeping me busier than I'd like.  I shouldn't complain, it is only 5 hours of mandatory overtime a week, but I still do.  Especially in the summertime it is nice to be off work at my regular time.  I do have a week off pretty soon, hopefully that will relax me, maybe change my attitude.
• We have been pretty dry lately, but not dry enough to turn the whole lawn brown again.  We've also been warm this summer, but not warm enough to use the air conditioning too often.  Overall a very nice summer.  I'd like more rain but we seem to be getting by for the moment.
• Ace Frehley's new album Space Invader comes out real soon.  I'll see how it sounds to me, but as long as it doesn't bomb it just may be my next LLP post.
• Due to reasons nonforthcoming, money has been a little tight recently.  Not too bad, but there is a lot that we need and want by this fall.  Kate is going to take some online classes so we need to get a laptop for her, and I've been wanting a power washer for several outdoor tasks around here.  We know what's number one on the list, after that is the 'wish' list that greatly declines in urgency as it gets longer.  I think we've prioritized well and should be able to get everything necessary by the time it's needed.  See also the overtime above.
• I missed my sister's kids birthday.  Sorry J&L, happy belated!  I'd like to think I'm getting better by creating a list with phone numbers, addresses and birthdays, but I still should get better with cards, especially with the kids.  I've never been a card person, but I really don't get to see the nieces and nephews much.
• Nothing new on the computer front, the old one is still humming along nicely.  It's easy to get complacent but we have to have a back up plan.  There was no warning last time it crashed and I don't expect one next time.
• The Packers play their first preseason game tonight!  Yeah, it's early and we won't see a lot of the starters, but some of the kids we do see may make the team.  I can feel the season coming!

That's what's going on in my world, what's going on in yours?  I hope it's more exciting.

Where Is Hyrax?

Not Hirax, a metal band out of L.A.  Hyrax, an obscure metal band from Germany, as far as I can tell.  I came across this band almost a year ago, (they're one of my LLPs,) though it seems longer, on one of my youtube searches for something fun and new and striking to me.  I found Hyrax by chance and have been loving their music ever since.  Their previous 'debut' album, Over The Edge, is the most available but for early EPs and random stuff.  It came out last year when I first wrote about the band. I'm surprised writing this now that I now it was less than a year ago, the fact that I really like their music and I'm looking for more proves they're doing something right.

Still, there's not a lot of live stuff on the ole internets.  Maybe they're in the studio, I don't know, I don't speak German.  Still, I like it and I'd like to hear more.  Here's a few good ones I found tonight.  Forgive my indulgence, I'm rockin' out!

Hyrax - Too Kind

Hyrax - Your Company

Hyrax - Tasting Pain

Garage Project Finished and Atwoodfest

I spent a couple hours finishing the garage yesterday midday.  It went pretty easy, even though it was a bit warm it was mostly overcast.  Now I have to spend some time organizing and utilizing the new space wisely.


Afterward, Kate and I walked over to Atwoodfest, one of the neighborhood festivals with food, vendors and bands.  A lot of each, it was a larger deal than I was expecting.  We met up with James, our favorite cook at our favorite bar and grill, and later his friend, also named Kate.  We had a really good time trying different foods, drinking, listening to music, people watching - you know, street festival stuff.

It was about a 15 minute walk from our house, mostly on the bike path, longer than I have walked in some time I'm sorry to admit.  After stepping up and down a ladder dozens of times, and then, of course, we were on our feet up and down the street all afternoon.  The walk home was quite uncomfortable (my dogs were barkin'!), but an ice cream cone on the way helped make it better.  The bike path was busy that day, and nicely lined with community gardens for much of the walk and flowers everywhere.

We live in a pretty neat part of - overall - a pretty neat city.  We need to get out and walk like that more, a fifteen minute walk to get lunch, shop or have a drink is really not that much.  Just not yet, my feet still hurt today.

I believe that bikes would be soo much better, and we could go a bit farther.  We have discussed it, but they are low priority for now, added to an already long list.

Thanks for getting us out, James!  It was a great day!

Garage Storage Project

There was a sale on lumber a couple weeks ago so got my friend Keelan - and her truck - to help me get some boards for a storage plan I've had in the garage.  Not cheap, just over 100 bucks with a box of screws, but it will be more functional and look a whole lot better. 

Above is how I had been storing things in the rafters, on every large, thick cardboard box I got - starting with the lawn mower box on the left shortly after we moved in.  I've since made most two boxes thick.  We don't store anything extraordinarily heavy up there, but boxes sag.  You can see a stick above the workbench helping support an area.

Last Saturday I got a start on this project while my wife was away and I was free to listen to music and play in the garage.  Not that I couldn't have done it with her here, it just happened that way.  I really enjoy projects like this.  I'm not working for 'the Man,' I'm working for myself and I can go at my own leisurely pace.  I've always got good music playing so I can rock out a bit when necessary.  I get real focused while I'm planning things on the fly.  And I love the feeling of having something to look at and say that I did that.

Well, only half of that, for now.  I plan on finishing the other half this Saturday.  Eventually I'll be more organized, I've also had thoughts of fixing up my work bench area and somehow creating a gardening station.  All in due time...

Vertical Videos Are A Sin

I would agree.

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My Computer Issues

It was almost two weeks ago on a Monday night that we shut down the computer like usual, all was as it had been and should be.  Tuesday after work when we started it again all was definitely not well.  It took forever to start and then it moved slower than molasses, each keystroke would take minutes to register.  There was no getting online, no nothing you could do at that speed.  I spent that night and the next trying everything I could to fix it.  Nothing I tried worked, but I did manage to get the few recent files off that I didn't have backed up.  I even called StepDan for some advice, but even he couldn't think of anything I had not already tried.

So Thursday after work I went out and picked up a new one.  Wow.  First off, Windows 8.1 is waaaay different than 7.  And I noticed it seemed geared toward the all-in-ones with a touchscreen.  This would take some time to learn and get used to it. 

Setup went okay and I was learning to navigate somewhat, and I was able to connect to the internet, but then it would be gone, and then it would be back.  I was able to get a stable, yet slower, connection via wifi, but the Ethernet connection was on/off/on/off literally every few to 20 or so seconds.  It was maddening. We made do with the wifi connection for a while as I sought a solution.  I tried a different Ethernet cable, reset my router/modem and spent a good half hour on the phone with my ISP, but it was not their issue and they could not help.

There was no phone number in the materials that came with the computer but I found a number for the manufacturer easily online.  I called and a guy named Natesh walked me through a number of different things.  I remember him saying at one point that he thinks there may be a glitch - meaning a hardware problem.  Finally he had me do a factory restore.  On a brand new computer.  If I didn't know before, I surely knew then I was returning the computer.  This took quite some time so he scheduled a call back later that evening.  The callback was late and it was probably his supervisor, Natesh got stuck on another call, so by then I had the computer boxed up and ready to return.  When the factory restore failed there was a blue screen and a code and the message that the computer needed repair.  I had a lemon, all right.

But, I must say, they provided very good customer service.  They even called me back the next evening to make sure I was able to return it and get my money back before shutting the case.  That impressed me and I filled out their short email survey favorably a few days later.

So, I'm sitting with a busted computer again and I decided to drop the big one.  Restore to factory settings the computer we had.  Nothing else helped and I had most everything backed up, anyway.  And it worked!  It was acting normal after a successful restore.  The only thing is it was like a brand new computer that had sat around for about 5 years.  A lot has changed and updated in that time.

When this computer was brand new it looked totally different than the computer we were used to using.  Over the last several days it is slowly becoming the computer we had before the crash, but it has taken many hundreds of updates, downloads and service packs to get back up to speed.  I'm thankful because now I have what I had, what I like, and what I'm used to.  But even if we get it back to perfect for us, who's to say it won't crash again?

And that's where it stands.  I have no idea what the odds are or how likely another crash may be.  We may take a look at other computers as a backup plan, but for now I think we're just going to let it ride and see what happens - or hopefully what doesn't happen.