So, what have I been up to since the last op session on April 19th (last reportable work on the layout)? A lot, just not layout related.
As you remember, just prior to the op session, I had a cancer scare. Surgery to biopsy and remove the infected area came back clear thank goodness.
To add to the excitement, I also endured another !@#$%^ kidney stone. Man ol' man, I wouldn't wish those on anybody!
It was a busy end to the school year with my wife and kids as always. That led into a very busy summer schedule. I don't recall any summer ever being quite as busy as this year.
Many home improvement projects were performed. My wife and I ripped up all the carpet downstairs in our house and laid over 700 sq ft of laminate flooring.
My wife and kids then left for twelve days to visit family in Missouri. Unfortunately, I couldn't go due to lack of vacation (due to numerous emergency trips to Illinois between November and January due to deaths in the family).
While they were gone, I busily completed the trim/moulding for the flooring project, installed a new kitchen faucet and hung new rods and curtains.
One additional project I worked on was installing LED lighting under the cabinets in our kitchen. I used the same power supply and LED strips used on v1.0 of the layout. I purchased a wall switch, face plate and metal insert to add to the wall. The project was incredibly cheap (like $30 or so total), but made a huge difference lighting up our countertops.
You can see the new LED lighting under the cabinets, as well as the new laminate floors installed in this photo. Next, I have plans on replacing the kitchen lighting and completely renovating our half bathroom downstairs.
As if I didn't have enough going on, I started getting this weird shortness of breath issue going on. It would come on randomly (rest or active). I ended up wasting away at the "Urgent" Care followed by an overnight stay in the hospital with numerous tests. So far, no definitive results of what might be causing it. The symptoms scream a heart attack or similar affliction, but all heart tests have come back normal. Doc seems to think it could be silent reflux. I had never heard of the term until now. It is like acid reflux, but without the pain. It can cause the shortness of breath. I have changed my eating habits including the very big challenge of removing soda from my diet. That has always been a tough one for me, but this episode has scared me straight. I have been soda-free for twenty days now and very proud of my progress. In turn, I'm also consistently losing weight which is a great byproduct of the diet changes.
About ten days ago, Doc doubled my Prilosec prescription, my attacks have dropped from numerous times a day to once or twice for every three of four days. So, I'm leaning toward the silent reflux as well.
I still have numerous doctor appointments to figure out what the heck is going on, follow-up appointments from other issues, etc. This year has been a crappy medical year maxing out my out-of-pocket amount quickly. Thank goodness my boss provides an excellent health insurance plan. The most recent one involves a 48-hour heart monitor to finally put to rest that it is not my heart causing the issues. Hopefully, the results from that will come back normal.
Well, enough about me. This is what the layout room looks like currently. I believe someone set a bomb off in it.
Just wow! The layout room was a dumping room during the construction progress downstairs.
Uh...our family craft table/workbench is under there somewhere?
First step is to clean the place up! What a mess!
But before I do that, I want to introduce some new motive power on the ROCK. Many of you recall that we visited many former RI sites last summer as well as explored various places in Iowa. Well, I fell in love with the Ex-Soo Line up in Dubuque, Iowa and decided to introduce a Soo freight to operate from Dubuque down to Ottawa and return as part of my official modeler's license. It started off with a weathered GP35 and then a second non-weathered unit. I believe I will sell that second unit though as I just acquired a Soo Line Custom paint SD40-2. I love how smooth those Kato units run! I'm very pleased!
Back to the room....
I managed to clean up a little bit this evening. More stacking stuff in like piles and putting away my tools. It looks much better already though!
Hi Steven,
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear about all the health problems. I stopped drinking sodas about 10 years ago under orders of my urologist. Something in them that contributes to stones forming. Since then I've only had one small stone that I passed easily so hopefully your not drinking sodas will also help you in that area. At least I can still have a beer now and then :)