Steve and Judy's Travels!

 

Back and forth to the doctor and hospital to arrange a knee replacement.  The original doctor visits, back for a mandatory two-hour class on joint replacement, a complete physical, blood work, and imaging, just to get approval to schedule the surgery.  Today’s visit was the pre-surgical check-in at the hospital.

 

All the preliminary visits are done.  The paperwork is filed.  We’re on for surgery next Monday.

 

We’ve encountered several life-changing medical moments these last few years.  This one for Judy; it’s not a specific injury to her knee, it’s the cartilage worn out.  Bone on bone.  It’s painful to move.  It’s painful to not move.  In all of human history before our generation, her walking days would be done.

 

But what a wonderful time we live in.  In a week Judy gets the old knee joint out and a totally new one in.  After a few months of recovery and rehab, that knee should be good as new.  We’re both excited for it, but especially Judy!  She’ll get her freedom to move about back.

 

 

Record at least one bird in every state in the Union and fill in the map.

 

Done.  All 50 states filled in.  The more red the color, the more birds we’ve recorded there 485 species in Texas.  261 species in Colorado.  Only 2 species in Delaware (we didn’t spend much time there).

 

What’s next?  What’s the next logical step?  We could zoom out a little.

 

 

Now we have a new puzzle with lots more pieces to fill in.  652 species recorded in the U.S. so far.  190 species in Canada.

 

So, where do we go next; what’s the next most logical step?  Maybe Greenland?

 

 

It reappeared.  And it wasn’t in her poop!

 

Here was Jesse lying on the rug.

 

Gold chain nowhere to be seen.

 

This morning, a different story.

 

Right on the rug she was lying on last night.

 

The missing chain.

 

Right where she had been sleeping.

 

I blow up the picture from the night before and there is no gold chain; a mystery.  Here is what we think happened:  Jesse got the chain, ran around the house playing with it; flipped it in the air, and it landed next to her neck in the cone and disappeared into her fur.  She couldn’t retrieve it, forgot about it, went to sleep and didn’t move while we were stepping back and forth over her, searching.  Later, when she decided to get up and leave the room, she probably shook, and the chain fell out of the cone onto the rug.

 

That’s our story; and it has a happy ending.  The chain is still shiny, and it didn’t require any heroics to retrieve it!

 

 

Those that seem to know think the serious power runs underground and goes up and down through larger conduit inside the concrete pedestals to the transformers and switch boxes.

 

 

And Jesse.  Isn’t she sweet; sleeping on the bedroom floor?

 

A gold chain disappeared from the table next to Judy’s chair in the front room.  Jesse loves to get on the chair and grab stuff off the table to play with.  Now we’re going to have to examine every poop for the next week to see if it shows up there!

 

 

While we were there, I was looking at these switch boxes and transformers for the campground.

 

They’re mounted well up off the ground; on top of sturdy concrete to protect them from hurricanes and flooding.  That looks smart.

 

But I’m wondering about the amount of electrical power that must go through them.  How does that work?  This is the only wire I can find going in or out of the switch boxes and transformers.  You can see the conduit for it in the photo above.

 

I know the electrical system works because we stayed there in the campground hooked into 50 amp shore power.  The park was full, and everything worked just fine for everyone, but that doesn’t look like a wire that’s going to carry the load for fifty camping spaces.  What am I missing?  Is the real power flow buried underground and this is just enough power coming up to run some switches?  Are those big boxes behind the switchboxes not transformers?

 

If only we knew someone who understood electricity…