Tales from Easement Acres
In the annual post tradition for the coldest days of winter, here’s what I was up to in January of 2024:
Woo! But in my defense I was suffering from a gout attack at the time.
–Simon
“Say, you don’t look too good. The sight of blood bother you?”
“Only my own.”
-a brief exchange in John Wayne’s Big Jake.
I like that response, because I can usually stomach anyone else’s injuries, to an extent, while triaging my own injuries takes a good deal more mental fortitude. The fractured bone pushing against the inside of Liz’s ankle, however, was disconcerting. Fortunately I’ve had a lot of trauma training from ER nurses back in my Boy Scouts days, so a conditioned response kicked in and I was able to stabilize her skeletal structure for the trek to the hospital. Say what you will about the Boy Scouts (and I certainly have a number of my own opinions, especially the Texan troop I grew up with), but they did take measures to prepare us in advance of wilderness camping trips. I can still point out where all the major pinch points are on extremities which, given the right amount of pressure, will close an artery by squeezing it against bone. There were a number of visceral visual aids given with the addition of stage blood and some acting. Consequently, I can pride myself with having prevented a tissue rupture, which the ER doctor was very pleased didn’t happen. Husband win!
I won’t post any of the injury pics as that seems a bit ghoulish, so this is more for posterity’s sake. Here she is awaiting admittance:
Of course she didn’t look in such good humor once the adrenaline wore off, but I’ll keep those pics private for some personal memories. And the x-rays.
5 hours in the ER and a transfer to the main hospital campus and surgery and 2 days recovery. For a rotational multi-fracture. Ouchy.
What was she doing to receive such an injury? Oh just walking out to retrieve firewood in the cold and snow, AHA (against husband advice). Fortunately I went to go look for her before she went hypothermic. Sigh. The adventures we have.
–Simon
Prime tenderloin, I might add. Cooked to perfection with a dark roux and Caesar dressing from scratch.
–Simon
But, they were wanted. We’re old enough now to want practical items while still maintaining a childish nerdy side. So here’s some highlighted Christmas gifts:
I wanted a rechargeable water fire extinguisher for our various wood fires. We have a fireplace, a deck solo stove, a charcoal grill, and a fire pit. If things were to get out of hand, I did not relish the idea of spraying things down with a chemical ABC extinguisher. Plus, since I can recharge this myself, it’s more fun.
A custom gift from the sister-in-law. Everyone needs a viking hand axe, acid-etched, and engraved with runes evoking eternal feasting and battle!
We are not rock nerds. Prosaic pontification pertaining to geological aesthetics never cranked my shaft, so to speak. But machinery and pretentiousness? Absolutely!
We saw an episode of Dirty Jobs where Mike visited a hotel that offered a coin-washing service. It was a mutual curiosity, so I got Liz a tumbler. I’ll go into greater depth on a later post as some trial and error was involved. And of course don’t do this with any coins of significant monetary or collector value. But it was definitely fun!
Shiny!
–Simon
I suppose that unless you’re an early radio history nerd, this isn’t very interesting. But as a general enthusiast for all things history, it was enough for me to jump out of the car and awkwardly snap a couple photos, while normal passersby no doubt wondered what that goofy guy was doing in the parking lot.
Behold! Cincinnati’s Newsradio 700 WLW Blaw-Knox style antenna!
It’s that unique shape that defines it. One of a handful that still exist, their design outdated and less effective than the skinny towers. They’re also AM radio towers, so how many will continue to be maintained? I think they just remain as emergency communication infrastructure, although WLW the station still broadcasts news radio and baseball games. This one also has a couple tidbits of its own historic use, as explained by its marker:
It was also the second of its kind to have been built. Additional coolness points.
History!
–Simon