A Little Follow-Up

A week or so later, Isaac's burns:

They believe his arm is doing nicely.

The belly, well, that's going to take more work. They think they'll have to do another skin graft surgery, either at the end of the week or beginning of next week, depending on the doctor's schedule.

Again, he's not a complainer. I would have been bellowing as they took a look and cleaned things up a bit after they took the bandages off. He said "ouch" a few times, but just kept on letting them work. He did stop them once, but only once, and only for a few moments.

He's worried this could delay his mission. It might, or they might give him a local option for a few months before things go further abroad. We'll have to see what happens.

Tired Guy Duty

So Isaac went into wound care this morning for a follow-up, and they decided they needed to do a little surgery. So he was in for day surgery. Michelle was with him up until about 1:30, but she had to go to the dentist for a root canal and crown, so I stayed with him that afternoon.

Sorry for the graphic photo. These are the burns on his abdomen, which had them concerned. So they put him under briefly, removed the dead tissue, then put on some cadaver skin as a temporary bandage as he heals.

So he had dead guy duty.

He is a dynamo, though. He was done with surgery and discharged at 4:30, but before we could go home we had to stop to get him something to eat, back to the hospital so he could get his pineapple juice out of his truck (he's getting his wisdom teeth removed tomorrow, and was told the juice would help with the swelling), then out to the plant so he could get stuff from his locker, then to the company store for some ice cream, then to Walmart for a poncho, then finally home where I dropped him off but took his brother to the hospital again to pick up Isaac's truck.

He's the one who had surgery, but I'm the one who's tired. Though he has gone to bed and I'm still up like a moron.

Oh, I Got Dead Again.

 

This is what you get from your laid-back son when he's doused with 185-degree water mixed with a caustic solution and has to go to the ER for treatment.

If anyone asks, he's fine. And ready to go back to work tomorrow.

Moved

I didn't take any pictures -- which now seems sad -- but we successfully got Lexi and Keaton moved into their house today.

It's a big deal.

They feel like they're rattling around in the space, after leaving a 2-bedroom apartment for even smaller digs with us as they looked for a place to live locally.

But I can see the gleam in their eyes as they look past the piles of boxes and such at the possibilities of having all sorts of places to put the stuff they've got and plan for the future.

It's kind of exciting for them.

And for us, because it means we have a lot of stuff that's moved out of our house now. Last time I had to restart the router, it took ten minutes to move enough boxes to get to it.

And soon one of the two pianos we have in the house will join them. We'll get a wall back. I don't know what we'll do with it, but we'll get it back.

Hoooo! Hooooo! Hooooooooo!

Youngest just called and we had the following conversation:

Me: Hello.

Him: Dad, food for thought, you should become a mall Santa 

Me: Oh?

Him: You know, just in case the INL thing doesn't work out. You've got the personality for it.

Me: Cranky old coot?

Him: No, you'd be a very sweet Santa.

Me: Okay. Well, do you know of any openings?

Him: I could go create one.

Me: That might not be a good thing.

Him: Yeah. They might find out we're related.

Terrible. I Still Have A Job

 

A brief text exchange with Isaac this morning, after a long discussion about jobs and their sucky necessity the night before.

He had a pretty rough day of it Monday, with equipment being shuffled and worked on over the weekend and returned with metal shavings where the ice cream ingredients were supposed to go. It took them ten hours to get the machine running and at the end of that ten hours, the boss still wanted them to make ice cream.

Isaac -- never shy to speak -- told the boss in a brief term that ice cream was not going to happen. He expected he'd be out of a job come morning, but there we go. They know without him, they don't have much of a production crew.

Suddenly Emptier Nest

Our youngest – at age 21 – announced last week he was moving to Pocatello to share an apartment with a friend there and possibly go to Idaho State University.

I hope he and Kimren get along well as roommates. It can be different living with someone, than hanging out with someone. But they both like each other, and are pretty laid back, so their chances are good.

It’s exciting for him, getting a bit of freedom and independence. And saving a little gas, as he spends most of his weekends in Pocatello anyway, though I say only a little because he’s still working in Idaho Falls and now has to commute 100 miles round trip for work. But he’s working on that, applying for jobs in Pocatello now.

He’s cleared out most of his stuff, took the idle window AC unit we have in the garage, a box of dishes I had left over from when I was Scoutmaster, and is still moving stuff. They got a washer and a dryer and a chest freezer. It’s all surreal.

I’m all for it. It’ll be good for him to get that little bit of independence. And see how tough it is to make rent payments and utility payments. But I have no doubts for him. He’s a hard worker, goal-oriented in many ways like his mother. And getting him in school, even if he’s only interested in general education at the moment, is a positive step.

It’s going to be odd, though. The house is emptying.

That leaves, ironically, our oldest at home now. He’s doing online school, and should be looking for a job but I think the autism is holding him back a little. It can be hard, I know.

We pray for our kids a lot. I hope they do well.

But the older I get, the more I understand what my Mom meant when she said she missed it when we were all little kids. I look at my own kids’ pictures and ponder, were they ever than young? Was *I* ever that young? But we were, and that time has passed and the world is turning and inevitably I’ll be at the end wondering how the hell I got so old.

The Roomies -- Isaac on the right, Kimren on the right. I don't know the name of the dog who wanted to be in the picture.

The Housing Market is, Shall We Say, in Need of Some TLC

Lexi and Keaton are moving back locally and are hoping to get into a house.

Of course the housing market is weird, locally and nationally. Really high prices and the like. Makes me appreciate how lucky we were getting into the home we have now, at the nadir of the 2008 real estate collapse.

We took Lexi to see a house in Iona on Saturday.

Should have noted some red flags right away.

First of all, these are the only two photos of the house on the listing. No interior shots whatsoever. We'll get to that in a minute.

Then, the description:

I emailed the agent to see how much "TLC" the house required, but never heard back. We were contacted by a different agent through Zillow, however, so we set up a time to see the house.

Obviously the phrases 'great potential" and "this home does need some TLC" told me there was some work the house needed, but I thought we should at least see if it was cosmetic or if it were more structural.

I did not take any pictures, though I probably should have.

First of all, here's a view from Google Street View:

Not necessarily flattering. It's got an addition that looks like most of the town of Sweet Haven -- like it was built in a couple of hours.

Currently, the city is resurfacing the street and putting in curb and gutter, so the fence is mangled and a good portion of the driveway is missing.

We had to access the house through the back -- and the real estate agent put his foot in a hole and fell as we were walking there.

Once inside, well . . . you could see why there were no interior pictures on the ad.

An addition had been built on the back of the house, and it's clear the roof -- even though metal -- is leaking like a sieve and the ceiling in the two added rooms is either collapsing or bowing noticeably. The first room we came into was covered in bird feathers; that was after we got through the outer door, partly kicked in, and the interior door, locked but not looking all that secure.

The house stank of animal droppings, and there were a few on the carpet that looked like it had been plenty tromped on with muddy feet.

I don't know how they can ask for $230,000 for this house with a straght face. You'd seriously have to trash it out and put an easy $100,000 or more into it to make it even partly habitable, and that would likely include demoing the addition on the back of the house and putting a new roof on, so more like an additional $200,000.

This is not a house with potential or one that needs TLC. It should probably be torn down so the new owner could start again on the land.

I felt bad bringing Lexi there, but it was an eye-opener for them. They're going to either have to spend more money on a house now, or rent a while when they move back until the market has a correction.

Dopey Dad

Thing is, when your children are adults, they get to see that their "adult" parents aren't as bright as they should be. Viz:

 

Hard at Work

Caught Isaac in a candid moment working on his 1992 Ford Ranger.

*COMPETENT* Bad Guys!

 

Got a call early this morning from our daughter, concerned that she had a headlight out on her van.

A bit of a concern, yes, because she doesn't want a ticket for driving with only one headlight, and their other vehicle is off-limits at the moment as it's going to be headed to the shop.

She's in North Dakota, though, and I'm in Idaho. All I could do was suggest she find an auto parts store, buy the replacement bulb, and see if they'd replace it for her. I know they'll do that in our neck of the woods.

She discovered, however, that the folks at the auto parts store thought the job looked too hard and recommended she take it to a mechanic.

She bought the bulb anyway, drove the van home, (thinking all the time about the "incompentent bad guys" at the auto parts store) and got to tinkering. She found a screwdriver and managed to get one of the bolts out, but couldn't budge the other three. I suggested a few things.

She reported back a bit later with the photo above, showing success.

Not a big deal, maybe, but for her it was. She got it done, and that's always a good feeling.

Too Many Adults in the House

One thing I'm learning: I'm not sharing this house with kids; but I am sharing this house with two of my children who are adults and have appropriate adult interests.

I spent a good portion of my evening gutting my shed and moving my workbench into it. The workbench used to be in the garage, but it got moved out to make way for our youngest's growing pile of auto repair tools.

I will likely spend a good portion of the weekend putting up shelves in our oldest's room so he has more room to store his LEGO collection. (And since many adults collect and display LEGO, I disput the argument that this is an adolescent pursuit.)

Space is tight. I had argued that when our daughter -- bless her soul -- got married and move out we should convert her bedroom into some kind of hobby room, likely dominated by LEGOs. But I was rightly overruled as the room was cleaned and painted and turned into a guest room, which has been used by our daghter and her husband on a few occasions since they got married.

So the options are thus: I'm slowly removing contents from the shed so I can convert it into some kind of tiny workshop for me. Next to it we'll set up a carport that our youngest scavenege from a friend to store things and to be used as a workshop extension. I'm also getting rid of some old tools and bicycles which we're no longer using, along with a rusted out trailer I inherited from my brother.

All the while I'm wearing a carnation at my lapel so I don't look too industrial.

Ha Ha, You Love Me

This is the kind of text a father wants to read over and over and over again. Because I look forward to those moments too.

More Trip and Rescue Details Emerge

More details of yesterday's trip and repair have filtered in.

 

Rescue Call to Big Timber

Alexia is on her way home from North Dakota for a friend's wedding. She called Isaac a little after 7 this morning reporting that her van was smoking. He suspected she was out of coolant, and suggested she pull over and check. She was indeed out. She refilled her radiator a few times and managed to limp her way to Big Timber.

In the meantime, Michelle and Isaac put together a rescue mission. Isaac packed up his tools and they met her at Big Timber, where she finally was able to spot the coolant leak. It turned out it was a plastic splitter than had cracked. Isaac couldn't reach it, but knew what needed to be done. He directed Lexi, who could get her hands down to where the broken part was, to remove the hose clamps, hoses, and the broken part. They got a new splitter put back in and are now on their way home. Hoping they get here about midnight or so tonight.

Grateful for a son who knows how to do things and for a daughter brave enough to keep on keeping on, following her brother's long-distance instructions, to get her home.

Accounts vary, but it sounds like they spent about $50 on tools and parts, with another $60 for coolant. This could turn out very well, and I'm grateful for this family's ability to help each other out.

Latest report at 7:06 pm is they're just finishing up dinner in Bozeman, and that Lexi's van is doing just fine.

Update 8:13 pm, corrections are coming in from Isaac:

Ding Dong, the Bells are Gonna Chime

This is happening, adding to my happiness and also somewhat to my disconnect from reality, as I'm not sure I'm old enough for this to be happening.

GRADUATION

Lexi's graduation was this past Saturday, with a bachelor's degree in something from Idaho State University. I say "something" because they've tinkered with degrees a bit since I went to school and I don't quite understand what they all mean anymore.

This is what I got when I texted her the question:

"It's called Bachelor of Applied Science with my focuses in Computer Aided Drafting Design and Technology and Organizational Learning and Performance."

They've come a long way from when I got a BA in Journalism and Mass Communication.

Anyway, a nice ceremony.

And she's getting married in February. And moving to South Dakota. Life is moving a great deal for her this year, and so far, that life is good.

 

LEGOS!

Going to brag on my youngest son for a moment.

Before Christmas, I saw this LEGO set at Walmart and mentioned to the kids it would make a great gift for their father. The price tag, however, was not friendly. So Christmas passed, and no weenie whistle, nor this particular LEGO set 

Time went on, of course.

Then he came home from Walmart the other night and said he saw this on their discount shelf at a price that couldn't be beat. He presented it to me as a belated birthday gift.

Somehow, maybe, we raised our kids right.

 

Wanna Try My Herbal Infusion?

This is the link our son sent:

 

So, How Does it Go?

First of all: ahaha.

I thought with the stay-at-home order, working from home, and time freed up since I'm not communing, I'd have more time for things like editing that novel and blogging.

But as you know, round about the time the virus started lolloping through the state like a big bear, we decided to remodel the master bathroom. Not done yet. And the paint on the walls, completed today, may be TOO YELLOW. Send help.

I'm ready to go back to work, not necessarily because I want to go back on the Chernobyl mobile and such, but because I'm tired. That bathroom remodel has taken up a lot of time. Add to that the garden. Oh, the garden. The crabgrass is gone from the raspberries. And the tiller is now in the dumpster at Ace Hardware and we have a new used one I used just this week to prep the garden for planting. That, I'm going to leave to Michelle, as I've still got the bathroom to deal with.

And while it sounds like I'm complaining, I'm really trying not to. The bathroom is close to being done. The paint is a minor issue, given what else we've gone through to get the room to where it is now. Painting would add another day to the project, so not that bad. Still, I'd like to think the only thing I have to do with paint now is touch up, not start over.

Second of all, the stay-at-home order technically expired on May 1. But we're going through stages of re-opening. Stage 2 starts tomorrow, meaning businesses like restaurants and hair salons and such can re-open. All's up in the air as to when we'll get back to work. I keep hearing the word June popping out of the mouths of higher-ups. Part of it is that many of our projects make social distancing a difficult thing to achieve. I keep thinking every Monday when I check in for work that I'll get the message that we're headed back, but that's two Mondays now without the word.

I'm doing about a third of the hours I'm used to, but still getting paid for the difference. When this started six or so weeks ago, they said the Department of Energy had lined things up for this pattern to continue for ten weeks. That seemed like a long time then, and seems like a long time still. I hope things are back to more normal before that ten-week period is up.

The kids, I think, are doing okay. They're both chafing a bit at the social distancing, particularly Isaac, who loves being with his friends. We are winding down home school, though, which is a good thing. Today we spent a good few hours helping Lexie and Isaac with their sculptures for their art class. I'll have to post pictures.

I should say I'm pretty proud of Lexie -- she's earned five merit badges while being stuck at home: Geocaching, Citizenship in the Nation, Home Repairs, Photography, and one other that's eluding me at the moment. Oh yeah. Family Life. That's a biggie. Isaac did manage to squeak out Home Repairs, which is a good one for him to earn. That also means one more Eagle palm for him.

Liam is still doing the mission thing. He's getting more used to working on the church farms in the area, though the wind out there in Osgood is really wearing on him. He started again at Sellers Creek Trek Center this week. He really enjoyed that last summer, so I hope that's a good thing for him.