Getting Old

chrisk said:
🕵️‍♀️ If your schools sports department gave you tennis balls that had eyes in them, I think we found the problem.
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No, but someone took a marker pen and drew them at least for one ball.

The upper classes were at another school around one kilometre away. This school was for 7th - 9th grades and optional three years for upper secondary. On 7th grade we had a technical work teacher who owned a lot of old motorcycles, including some of them Laverda. He was an ex cop who had quit after a some kind of threat case on his job. He offered an option for students to spend those three years for rebuilding a motorcycle. One another option was to build a go-kart, there was one wreck someone had left, someone finished it and we tried how it went on ice. Think the students were 12-13 years old when they started and 15-16 years old when they ended 9th grade. I remember the teacher once took a pistol to the school to repair it and introduced it for his students.

We had such a hullabaloo class that this motorcycle rebuild option was delayed for us and would have probably opened for us at the beginning of 8th grade. I already had a Honda CB125T 1979 project for this. Then someone from upper class had used illegal drugs and threatened another student with a knife. The technical work teacher took the knife off and got a small wound on his hand, others were not injured. I would have expected the student to get fired, I don't know what happened to him, but the technical work teacher was sent to another school, WTF?!!!!!!!!

Then we had a new technical work teacher on grades 8 and 9. I think he often had no clue and did not received much respect from students.
For example, he immediately scrapped the jig for welding the go-kart frames, also the metal milling machine somehow disappeared, and old German bench-type drilling machine that had a gear drive was disappeared and was replaced by modern belt driven model.
Well, at least I was only student in the school he let to use Colchester turning machine without his supervision, did a couple of components for 50cc's. Some students started to make shurikens, but the boring principal prohibited them after many doors had a lot of holes on them.

Later got another bike and sold the CB125T for spares.

-Jouni
 
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piranha-bro2 said:
Good job, Cam. My hernia op was lapro but Days 2 and 3 were by far the worst. Hopefully less invasive getting to the appendum.
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I had a job lot of hernias fixed up, four.

One blew through the mesh and had to be redone 5 years later. I asked the surgeon if it would be fixed under warranty “What do you reckon this is, a Kia dealership”
 
piranha-bro2 said:
Good job, Cam. My hernia op was lapro but Days 2 and 3 were by far the worst. Hopefully less invasive getting to the appendum.
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I had a laparoscopic hernia repair in 2014. I don't remember it being a particularly awful experience. Perhaps a little more invasive than the appendicectomy, but recovery seems about the same. Dressings have now come off, and I was surprised how much bruising there is around the puncture holes. There's a little pain if I poke at it or stretch too much. But I'm still supposed to be taking it easy. They said not to do anything strenuous for 2 weeks. That "take it easy" period finishes this coming weekend, so I'll be back to running marathons and power lifting. ;)

I asked the doc if I'd be able to play the violin after the op. He said yes, that won't be a problem. I said "That's brilliant. I couldn't play it before"
 
The swelling in my lower legs has gone down with a bunch of diuretics being taken, and one of the two blood pressure meds has been stopped. Apparently, the blood test results indicate heart failure isn't the cause. The skin on my legs is peeling a lot, looks like a severe sunburn effect. Back to the GP next week to learn more. I am thinking deep vein thrombosis, but it's rare to get it in both legs at once.
 
Still searching for decent ones. Blood tests come back fine for everything except colestorol, that up a bit. Thats always been good in the past. All the heart tests, stress echo, and ultrasound are also good. Calcium score is also a bit high; you get that from a CT scan of your heart arteries. Now I am on Statins for that. Famiou's last words. The rub is to quote the quack: not too bad, FOR YOUR AGE.
 
Vince said:
The swelling in my lower legs has gone down with a bunch of diuretics being taken, and one of the two blood pressure meds has been stopped. Apparently, the blood test results indicate heart failure isn't the cause. The skin on my legs is peeling a lot, looks like a severe sunburn effect. Back to the GP next week to learn more. I am thinking deep vein thrombosis, but it's rare to get it in both legs at once.
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I got swelling in my ankles and immediately got my blood pressure meds changed- also got itchy legs and dry skin - sorted by adding moisturiser / body cream whatever’s handy to my calves before trying to go to sleep - sorted
 
Getting the coronary artery calcium (CAC) score test is a good thing to do. Especially for us old farts. I've had the test done a couple of times in the last decade. It's a special type of CT scan that measures the amount of plaque that's blocking your arteries (plaque contains calcium that shows up on x-rays). It's worth doing to know what your risk of heart attack is, but many people in Australia don't do it because the cost of the scan isn't covered by Medicare (our country's national health scheme). Most private health insurance schemes don't cover it either. It's around $350 which comes out of your own pocket.

My cholesterol level is a little above where my doc would like it to be. It has been for decades. But rather than going blindly onto lipid (anti cholesterol) medication, I got the CAC test done to see if I should be worried about it.

The actual score is a number between 0 and several hundred. I don't think there's a maximum. Apparently scores in the thousands have been recorded for some individuals. The meaning of the score number goes like this:
• 0: No calcium found. This indicates a very low risk of heart disease and a low chance of a heart attack over the next several years.
• 1–100: Mild amount of plaque. Low risk of heart disease.
• 101–400: Moderate amount of plaque. Moderate risk of heart attack or heart disease.
• Over 400: Extensive plaque buildup. High risk of coronary artery disease.

I'm 75 years old. A typical score for an Australian male of 75 is in the range 100 - 400. My most recent score (a couple of months ago) was 1. Although it's not zero, it's near enough to not be of any real significance. My doc was happy that my elevated cholesterol level is not doing any harm so she didn't prescribe any any meds to treat it.

I can't explain why my arteries are cleaner than they have any right to be. I have many of the risks of heart disease - I'm male, old, overweight, don't get enough exercise, etc. I enjoy all the wrong foods, like butter on my toast and cream on desserts. I should be a heart attack waiting to happen. The only lifestyle factors in my favour are that I don't smoke or drink. In my case that seems to be enough to keep me alive a little longer.

Another test that's relevant to arterial health is retinal imaging. Go to an optometrist and get them to photograph your retinas. Retinal imaging is the only way you can actually see your arteries - well, those in your retinas anyway. It'll also show any plaque, aneurisms or blood clots that might be present. As your eyeballs are in your head, it's an indication of the health of the arteries in your brain, so it's a useful diagnostic tool for assessing your risk of stroke.
 
My Calcium Number is 370, which is typical for my age. 1 is crazy low, Cam. My recollection was that the scan cost me $400, and I got $200 back from Medicare. I have a Health Card. I have had a Central Vein Ocusion, small bleeds twice in the last 20 years in my left eye and get an intraocular injection once a month to keep the macular swelling at bay. They do Eye scans and imaging every month, checking for issues. My ophthalmologist just became a full professor at Sydney Uni. Great Lady. I am very lucky to have her as my eye Dr. Back to the GP in a week to learn more.
 
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