If it's already broke...

The saying goes "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." But what about if it's already broke? Well...

 With shoulder surgery already scheduled for October 24th, I've been operating on the premise that I can't really eff it up any worse than it is. Besides, I've already given the surgeon permission to fix what ever he finds with his arthroscopic exploration. 

 On Friday, September the 19th, my buddy Joe came up to help me cut up a huge ash log that was laying at the top of the hill. I drove the ATV up with the chainsaws and the winch (which we didn't need) while Joe used shanks mare. The second ATV wasn't working and I had made an appointment to have it serviced. More on that later.

 Joe managed the cutting while I loaded the ATV to haul the rounds down to the back of the house to be split later. I could lift with little pain but using a chainsaw was problematic. Reaching out in front of me produced stabbing pains in the 7 to 8 range. With the help of a pneumatic floor jack to lift one end of the log at a time, Joe made quick work of the 25 foot long ash and I had a pile of rounds to be split at my leisure. 

Saturday turned out to be "my leisure." After dropping a reluctant chainsaw at AJ's Power Sports for some TLC, I spent the rest of Saturday (the 20th) spitting the rounds into fireplace sized pieces. Then Monday was spent stacking it all. 

Tuesday was a day of rest--sorta. Terry and I went up to Ithaca for dinner at Antlers and then a show at the State Theater: Celtic Thunder. Wonderful!

(I just remembered that some when over that period of time I put together a 6x8 canvas garage for the John Deere mower I bought.)

Thursday the 25th we took Copy Cat to the vet who pronounced him obese (DUH!) at 22 pounds.  

Saturday I cut a left over piece of T-11 siding into 4 foot x 14 inch strips to use on the utility trailer which I hauled out from its hiding place. 

Sunday Terry and I went to the Mansfield firemen's breakfast.

Tuesday we loaded the ailing ATV onto the trailer. Not easy when it won't run and if it does run, reverse won't work but we got it done! Gravity helped. Along with a steep slope on the driveway. (I did have a come along handy just in case.) 

 Wednesday Terry and I took the ATV to Power City Motor Sports in Southport just outside of Elmira, NY. We dropped it there for a thorough checkup into why it won't run and fixing the linkage so it can be shifted into reverse. (Got a phone call that afternoon explaining several things that are wrong and bemoaning the difficulty in obtaining replacement parts for a Yamaha ATV from 1988 (or '89?) when even Yamaha only made that particular model one year and has destroyed its warehouse of materials from that long ago. But he promised to do his best.)

On the way home we stopped at a place on Route 549 that sells split firewood in bulk. For $75 we got about a half cord of what looked to be red oak, maple and some beech. We had the trailer and the makeshift sides I had cut so I passed the pieces to Terry who stacked them in the bed of the trailer. Pretty good workout there!

Today, Thursday, October 2nd, I spent the day unloading the trailer and stacking the wood under the tarps and in the garage. And THAT was a workout! 

Every once in a while, I would forget myself and push off or toss a piece of wood the wrong was and a shooting pain would remind me why I have pre-op test on Monday and surgery on the 24th. Can. Not. Get. Here. Fast. Enough. 

 

Tuesday