Crystal Blade Episode 14: Get Into the Groove is now available at Vella. You know the drill.

The nice young man from the HVAC company got here around 10 AM, which was enough time for me to dust and spray a little air freshener (I vacuumed everything yesterday). He immediately got to work, and a half hour later we had a laundry list of things that needed to be fixed (which I already knew from the checkup visit back in March).

First and foremost, there was a leak in the downstairs unit’s condenser coil and it had lost coolant. Apparently coolant costs $675/three pounds and we needed 2.5 pounds. You do the math. In addition to that he was going to do a leak check and use leak sealant to (hopefully) seal any leaks, then blow out the drainage from the drip pans.

Which are apparently plumbed into our sewage system—the PVC pipes that lead outside are only emergency overflows. I had no idea. He wound up blowing out about two gallons of gunk and our master bath sink drain (which is where the downstairs unit’s drip pain drains into—I am so damn glad that I cleaned the master bath yesterday) is now clean as a whistle and will drain perfectly. We’d had problems with that line since we moved in and I’d snaked it out multiple times, but apparently there was a lot of buildup in the line leading from the drip pan. Bless his heart, that couldn’t have been pleasant.

And yes, he did indeed find a leak in the coil and applied sealant, then added the replacement coolant. I gritted my teeth and proffered a credit card for the total. Downstairs is now at a civilized temperature and the inside humidity (it was 60% this morning) is dropping like a rock, which is a goodness.

In related news I now have to sell a buttload of books, jewelry, and book covers, and will take any editing jobs going. But hey, at least we’re comfortable.

Let’s just say that I woke up with an issue today that made me go, “Hmm…” and prompted a visit to the local Urgent Care, Just To Make Sure. They confirmed my diagnosis and prescribed the meds that I would need to treat the issue, sending the scrips over to the pharmacist at my local Walgreens.

Who filled the scrips, sent me a text saying they were ready, and closed a minute later. Whee. To make matters even more fun the HVAC guys will be here tomorrow some time between 9 and 11 AM so I won’t be able to pick up said meds until they’re done.

Now, I will not die without these meds. I won’t even be majorly inconvenienced without them (mainly because I already had some on hand). But come on, don’t send a text saying “Yeah, you can come get your pills” and close up shop ONE MINUTE LATER. That’s just amateurish.

In the meantime I’m bracing myself for the repair costs that will be coming our way tomorrow. I’m hoping that it won’t be that bad, but we already know that this system is on its way out and there may be more things that have gone wrong than just a gunked-up drain line. Oh, well. We’ll pay for it somehow.

One year ago today I was in a hospital bed recovering from total knee replacement surgery on ShitKnee. During that time I learned that I will vomit copiously if given IV opiates and Zofran is the only thing that will stop it (good to know for future surgeries), the inside of my joint looked like a bomb had gone off in there, and that the nurses, CNAs, and PTs at Medical City Frisco were incredibly professional and kind. Also, my surgeon had one hell of a good stitching technique.

Today the knee is considered to be 100% healed and I pretty much have full mobility. There is some scarring on the outer side of the knee that has nothing to do with the surgery and everything to do with 38-year-old adhesions. one of which I broke last May. That area is still a little tender but it’s getting better and better as I keep moving and wearing down the little buggers.

In the picture above, taken about this time a year ago, I have my nice grippy socks, an elastic wrap and the cooling pad of my ice machine below my brace (the black thing with the blue stitching), and a pump on both calves that squeezed them intermittently to keep blood flowing and prevent blood clots. The blue foam pillow is an instrument of torture designed to promote my knee straightening to 0°. Going to the bathroom required a nurse to unhook me from my IV, ice machine, and calf pumps, and I used a walker to get in and out of the bathroom. But I was able to do it on my own, and I astounded the physical therapist when I walked to the end of the hallway and back to my room the next day.

One thing I learned and will pass onto anyone looking at joint surgery—do prehab. These are exercises that will get your joint into the best condition possible for the surgery and they will cut down on your recovery time. I am living proof of that. And keep doing your post-surgery PT exercises. They suck, but they keep your joint mobile.

Today is also another interesting milestone in my life in that I am now officially in menopause. My last period started on 4/18/22 and ended on 4/20/22 which means I have gone a calendar year without a period and am now a Crone. Personally, I’m relieved. Perimenopause was no joke (imagine going through a second puberty, only with this one you get hot flashes, night sweats, and gum problems along with the pimples and body changes) and I’m glad to be done with all that. I just threw out some really ratty t-shirts which means there’s room in my drawers for a new one—I need to find a really good Crone t-shirt.