Shoulder Frustration

Getting into a chair earlier this week, I put weight on my arms while lowering myself: a routine process that I've done tens of thousands of times over the decades.

This time I heard a sort of 'sitting-on-an-egg-carton' sound in my right shoulder, accompanied by a complicated set of signals from the neurons in that zone. The nerve endings were mostly saying 'OUCH!!!'

Since then, I've had to be very careful about rotating the right shoulder in certain directions: mostly front and up. It's a nuisance, but manageable.

The cause of this frustration is obvious. I'd forgotten that using the mouse while resting my right elbow on my desk's shelf is convenient at the moment: and a very bad idea in the long run.

There's a moral there, but never mind.

I'm keeping the shelf retracted, learning to use my left arm for some procedures, and trying to remember that exercise is important. Based on previous experience, I should have normal function back in the right shoulder in a week or three.

This situation, needing trifocals and task glasses to see properly, and noticeably less tolerance for late night work, are all reminders that I'm not a 40-year-old kid any more. On the other hand, this sure beats the alternative.

Fuzzy Photo, and Strawberries

We've wanted central air conditioning in our house for decades, but it wasn't until this year that we could afford it. (May 17, 2013)

That happy event was followed by a remarkably cold stretch of time in May and June. July feels more like summer, though.

I keep my cameras at my desk, which now has a nearly-constant stream of chilled air from a floor register. It's a welcome change of pace from my usual summer experience: when blinking works up a sweat.

When I went outside Sunday afternoon, the smaller and older camera fogged up. I noticed it first on the camera's preview screen. Wiping that off didn't improve the preview's quality by much. The lens was fogged, too.

On the 'up' side, I had a very nice vignette effect for several minutes.


Condensation on the lens: frustration, or opportunity. I decided on "opportunity." July 7, 2013.

Interlude With Strawberries

My wife and #2 daughter spent this morning at the Gwost family's Tutti Fruitti Market Farm near Sauk Centre. They've got a family restaurant and bakery out there, too: but my household goes for the produce.

Folks can pay for access to the land, picking their own produce from the field, or buy 'pre-picked' seasonal fruits and vegetables at the stand. My wife and #2 daughter brought home two buckets of strawberries - and made a little money by turning part of what they harvested over to the Gwost family.


Buckets of strawberries. July 8,2013.

My wife cut up the strawberries this afternoon, and has them in a food dryer. Strawberries are on her 'can't eat' list, but #1 daughter and I will have a treat on occasion for quite a while now.