Tag Archives: Before we go

Everyone needs a Mantra: “The Mechanic Way Will Have His Way”

Posted on September 14, 2012 | 4 comments

Dory had: “Just keep swimming”.  Lucky fish. Every time they see the little castle its a new surprise. (or at least Ani DiFranco says so).  Here I sit again in a hospital waiting room while Jane gets another procedure.  It’s an odd state, just me and my thoughts…how do I keep them positive.  During chemo I liked reading Jane’s blog (janesposse) because I learned things she wasn’t saying out loud.  One day I realized in my empty house that if she didn’t make it she would have insisted that I grieve then recover and celebrate her life and my own.  Fortunately she made it through that ordeal.  Today I pore through my orthopedic knowledge that most fractured clavicles don’t heal.   Metastasis is not the only reason a clavicle wont heal.  Non-unions are common.  During the amazing flexibility of shoulder ROM the clavicle rotates  60 degrees during its vertical and angular translation.  When people sleep, they can’t help but lay on it so the bone  often doesn’t knit well and folks just get a cute little bump while they return to function.

The origin of  “The Mechanic Way Will Have His Way” goes 14 years back to moving into our current home.  the ceiling fan was warm, wet, and still turned on after we took possession of the house!  I took down the trashed plaster lathe ceiling, to find the tub drain in the bathroom above leaking.  Jane watched as I moved through a progression of “Bigger Wrenches”.  When I hung on a 6 foot cheater bar (extension for a pipe wrench) and the pipe didn’t budge, Jane said; “thats never going to come apart”.  My reply:  “Don’t worry, The Mechanic Will Have his Way”.  (In the end, I used a sawzall to cut neatly through the fittings, just kissing the threads of the pipe I wanted to preserve.  The culprit unscrewed like butter or some better analogy).

Since that day, every time I face an insurmountable barrier, I think….”Don’t worry, The Mechanic Will Have his Way”.

Yup, at work, under the car, looking at bounced checks, in traffic…any time I need to remind myself to relax (Don’t tell Jane to Relax)…just keep swimming.  Each morning, if you’ve been fortunate enough to sleep well in that safe place we call our bed, you wake up”Re-set”.  Think about it, muscles healing and a new perspective: EVERY MORNING!

Treasure your mantra

David

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It’s Never Easy, Is It?

Posted on September 13, 2012 | 14 comments

Oh crap! Crappity crap crap crap!

Cancer, or, the threat thereof, has reared its ugly head again. Tomorrow, I get a biopsy of my left clavicle to see if there’s a lesion. I had a skiing accident on January 20 of this year and my orthopedic oncologist isn’t completely happy with how it’s healing and wants to be absolutely sure that the clavicle doesn’t have a metastasis. We’re leaving as soon as we can whether or not the result is in. If the news is bad, we’ll come right back home to get treatment. If the news is good, well, we haven’t wasted any time.

A short background: 2 days before Christmas in 2009, we found out that I had breast cancer. 2010 was a blur of chemo, radiation and surgery. Late 2011 and early 2012 brought more surgery for reconstruction. In the middle of the reconstruction process, I got slammed into on the ski slope and broke my collarbone. (One broken bone in 30+ years of skiing is not so bad!)

I thought my doctor visit this week was going to be a quick sign-off that all was well. Not so. Rats!

Here’s one thing I know: No matter how afraid I am, no matter how stressed out I become over this, it will not change the outcome. So, I haven’t lost any sleep. I’m still preparing for the trip but squeezing in some pre-op tests.

It’s crappy that we have to go through this, but our plan remains unchanged. Tomorrow I go in for the biopsy and then, in a few days, we’ll be off on our adventure and, god willing, we won’t be coming back until the money runs out!

– Jane

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Barriers: “When are you leaving?”

Posted on September 12, 2012 | 5 comments

Hope this doesn’t sound whiny…But, if anyone wonders why we can’t/won’t give an exact day for departure; think a little.  For a vacation, book a ticket, reserve a room, maybe stop the paper and find someone to feed the dog.  You’ll be back in a week, so some things don’t really matter.  We are trying to plan a year’s bills, empty our bedroom/prepare the house for another tenant, clear and organize the basement, clear David’s mother’s house (you know the rule; if you haven’t used it in 12 years, it is trash), finish the camper, create a home we’ll live in for months and make a 1995 Toyota reliable.  We had to stop working before we could really assault our to-do list in earnest. We have lists that started more than 2 years ago, they’ve been revised, transformed and nearly completed.  Last Friday the list had 15 tasks completed, 12 yet to do.  Now, Wednesday evening there are 5 to-do’s on the main list taped to the fridge.  (and I’m blogging instead of doing them!)

Fortunately we were saved tonight with a spontaneous friendly pie visit. We love spontaneous visits from friends.

The biggest laugh of the day came when this picture arrived in my inbox.  I spent 6 hours today clearing out more than 50 years of junk and lumber from the basement and under my mom’s porch.  And, fortunately, there was someone there to capture the scene in these photos.

…this one needs a bit of explaining.  15 years ago, a fox had a litter of Kits under the porch. In such a dry place the food remains mummified. The “skate-board” was yet another relic circa 1968. Perhaps the other question is who took that picture? David will never say…

There are clear instructions to “Not fill above the line”

– David

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What “Barriers there Be”…

Posted on September 11, 2012 | 2 comments

When we first conceived of traveling by the sun and seasons as our guides, we thought of retirement.  A long way off and not guaranteed for any of us.  (Remember, working in a hospital gives a skewed view of life; everyone there is sick.  In the real world, only a proportion of people are sick)

Then we began to dream about what we would do.  Early morning sunrises in the woods drinking strong coffee has always been nice.  We like to hike.  We like to ski.  Even sitting on flat water in a kayak looking at birds is nice.   (Actually, I like to work too.  Work is one of the most native states.  I lose myself in work: PT, projects, gardening, whatever…there is a bliss in accomplishment)  But our skiing and cycling fitness is better now than it will be in 15 more years when the bills are all paid.  Once we decided sooner would be better, we had to figure out HOW.

Then ALL of the reasons we couldn’t do this thing came to mind:

MONEY, TIME, PLACES TO SLEEP, JOBS, BILLS, MONEY, A HOUSE IN BALTIMORE, PEOPLE SAYING “YOU CAN’T DO THAT”, HEALTH INSURANCE,…

Truly the biggest barrier to any of our dreams is inside of our heads.  Once I believe the “Talk”, I cease to plan and cease to accomplish.  Think back.  What kept you working so hard to get through school?  What are you dreaming about now?  I’ll be trickling out a few examples of barriers that jumped in front of me so far on this journey (before we even left town)

here is a bottom view of a 1957 trailer tongue…not what you want pulling your dreams around, supporting the full weight of a camper

– David

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The map of where we may go…

Posted on September 10, 2012 | 13 comments

(I’m trying something new. Well, everything we are doing with the blog is new, so newness is relative here.)  We created a map to show some of the places we may visit on our Tramper Voyage. We have a nice paper map, with many little push pins.

It works well at home but this is a blog, so I used Google Maps to help create this lovely USA & Canada map. It might even be somewhat interactive. You know, with the little thingies that let you zoom and move the map.

It’s really not likely that we’ll be able to go to even half of these wonderful places in 6-12 months at our planned slow pace. The map is a good prompter for what we want to do and see. Structure, too, is good.  The “What by when?” question is easier to answer. Although we do already have the answers: What – have fun, be very active, meet nice people, see beautiful things, appreciate life while not on the clock. When – from the day we leave until the money runs out!

Jane

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