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Between 265 & 485 SQ/FT The "Glendora Garage"

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Dan in Pasadena

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The Thomas Fire was the the one that worried me the most. We were living in town at the time. Would have been closer to the origin where we live now, but the winds were the main factor. Dodged a bullet.

Pic from my street the night it started:

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Yikers! The fire I showed never got as close as the one in your picture. But the fire in the summer of 2020 - our first year in this house - was close enough that the planes flying over us were so low that I could just about read the stenciling on the underside of the wing and the helicopter pilots actually waved at us once - all the neighbors were standing in their front yards worrying.
 
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Dan in Pasadena

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On an entirely different subject:

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I decided I couldn't hang Christmas lights on the eaves this year because of my shoulder so raising my arm over my head over & over (upcoming replacement surgery) was a no go. I saw some neighbors used lights around the perimeter of their lawns on plastic spikes (maybe they have bad shoulders too?)
Off to Home Cheapo I went for 100 spikes (laughable under estimate). We ended up using almost 500! My brother-in-law is living with us temporarily and he did all the "stoop" work of installing these lights. I had to shear the lantana hedges before we started because I know I won't be able to do them again for months.

My surgery will be in January and I won't be able to do things like take all these lights out, put them away, mow lawns, trash cans out & in, carry groceries, a lot of things I haven't realized yet. So he's offered to stay with us for a few months or as long as necessary until I can do some normal things again.

PS: STILL haven't gotten around to restoring the horribly filthy folding ladder I "saved" from someone's trash but it's already been helpful ding all this^^^ stuff - though it bothered me to use it in its current fugly condition.
 
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Dan in Pasadena

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Looks good! Is that a lone Italian Cypress behind your place? Kinda odd they're usually at least several in a line like the ones next to my driveway.
That Cypress is actually in the neighbor's yard behind our pool but right up against the block wall. We call it the "Raccoon Condo". There's a family of raccoons that live in it. A couple times while we were soaking in the hot tub in the summer one of them has come out on a bent limb to watch us below. It seemed he was as curious about us as we are about them! There are also opossums that live in it and we've seen a coyote on the wall below waiting to grab one! Either that or he was hunting for our now-departed lifetime best friend, "Joey" my black miniature poodle. I really miss Little Joe.
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In this pic, look just to the right of the tree stake in the center of the picture. Hard to see but that's the coyote. They're nearly invisible when they want to be. And the hedge is much thicker now then when this picture was taken.
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And here is the family that lives at our house. They cross the front porch like this almost every morning on their way to God knows where.
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Dan in Pasadena

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Did you lose much to the masked bandits?
As far as we know we've never lost anything to them. I keep a bowl of fresh water next to the sidewalk for neighborhood dog walkers - Maybe the prefer that over chlorinated pool water? I put out raw peanuts for the crows and they're usually gone in 5-10 minutes but maybe the raccoons get a few. I don't leave dog food outside. Our BBQ area has a small fridge but there's no food left out there. They seem pretty "neighborly"....so far.
 

M.Brane

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We have lots of critters here too since we are the last tract house on this side of the highway, and the creek is less than 1/4MI. Mainly squirrels, rabbits, and skunks. I did see a raccoon in the driveway recently. First one in a couple years. Odd I saw more when we lived in town. We hear the coyotes yapping down by the creek, but haven't seen any in the hood. I think there's too many high fences, and dogs for 'em to venture up here.
 
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Dan in Pasadena

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That looks like a Cooper's Hawk. They will prey on smaller birds. We have one here that will dive-bomb the feeders in the front yard. I put an antenna on top of the pole to discourage him, but he still tries anyway.
Right in front of where he but not visible is in this picture is where I put out peanuts for the crows. When we took this picture one was cross the street on the lawn and another on a light pole above it.

These crows are as big as this hawk, possibly a bit bigger. But I know a hawk is a raptor, a bird of prey and a crow is not. The crows just waited him out I guess.
 

kaymccampbell

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Right in front of where he but not visible is in this picture is where I put out peanuts for the crows. When we took this picture one was cross the street on the lawn and another on a light pole above it.

These crows are as big as this hawk, possibly a bit bigger. But I know a hawk is a raptor, a bird of prey and a crow is not. The crows just waited him out I guess.
A crow will kill a hawk if it's in the mood. They're intelligent and adaptable. Much more so than a hawk. Two crows will beat up that hawk and take it's lunch money, or life, depending on the day.

I've watched our crows duke it out, in the skies over Halfassed, with the local hawks and eagles. The crows always win. They never fight with the turkey vultures, but will work with them to harass the eagles and hawks.
 
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Dan in Pasadena

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I know crows are hella smart. They recognize people’s faces, use tools. The ones I feed dip the peanuts I leave for them in the water bowl I leave for dog walkers to soften the shells.
I’ve seen crows harass a hawk on the fly I assume because the hawk goes after the crow’s eggs or babies? But I presumed the hawk could kill a crow if or when it wanted.
 
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Dan in Pasadena

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Good luck with your surgery. I tore my left shoulder up Jan 2 in a fall and had surgery on the 28 of January, PT March through August and still struggle to do some things. Take care
Was yours total shoulder replacement? I’ve read different things about how much range of motion can be recovered with reverse vs. normal replacement.

So you had 1 month of recovery from the cutting, then 6 months of PT… is your “struggle” range of motion or lacking strength? Doc says I have “good” range now pre-surgery but little strength. I’m hoping for the best but girding myself for permanent change I may dislike.
 
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Dan in Pasadena

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No sorry just repairs. I completely tore 2 tendons and the other 2 tears that weren’t complete. Along with some bone spurs and ligament damage. My bone and socket were ok.
Good luck
Earlier in the post I noted that the two tendons "on top" of the rotator cuff (don't know their correct names) are torn off the bone and have retracted out of sight on the MRI. The orthopedist said he couldn't know if re-attching them would be viable or not until he "... got in there". The third and larger tendon on the front side of the shoulder was, "hanging by a thread" - his words. Since his opinion was the life of that repair would be only "3 to 5" years I figured it's not worth it to me to subject myself to that much trauma for that short a period of relief.

The total replacement is supposed to be good or "...10 to 15 years" but he did admit that the parts used now are better than ever and without overuse they "...MAY last the rest of your life". Not much better until I realized 10 to 15 years takes me to age 81 to 86. YIKERS! I can't believe those numbers will ever apply to me! The sobering reality is I may not live that long since my dad died @ 66 and I'm already 71. I've considered doing nothing at all and just living with the soreness. But I'm already tired of it, struggle to sleep deeply, etc
 
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Dan in Pasadena

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Get it fixed, Dan
Chronic pain will impact your mental health and reduce your lifespan.
Ah well.....my mental health left a long time ago!

Yeah I'm going to have the surgery. I wish it could feel and move as it does now just without the constant soreness and the periodic sharp winces. I can live with the poor strength. My girlfriend's mother lived with us the last couple years of her life. She passed at 100-1/2 almost 3 years ago. She had her shoulder replaced in her 80's and said her entire body hurt EXCEPT her shoulder! So I'm hoping the pain will pass after physical therapy.
 

Bob Heine

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Dan, you're making me feel better. I only had trouble with my elbows. Left one was permanently cured by removal. Right one was fractured and a year later, one day of PT at Disney World fixed it. The thought of my right shoulder being out of commission is frightening. Liane told me when I broke my elbow that she wasn't wiping my *** so I figured it out but it's not a very good story. And 81 isn't that bad. Most of my memory is foggy so I really don't know if I'm in more pain than 10 or 15 years ago. My father had the good sense to retire and die at 55. I wanted more retirement time so I chose (with IBM's help) to retire at 50 and 31 years later I'm starting to get the hang of this retirement thing.
 

PugetDude

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Dan, you're making me feel better. I only had trouble with my elbows. Left one was permanently cured by removal. Right one was fractured and a year later, one day of PT at Disney World fixed it. The thought of my right shoulder being out of commission is frightening. Liane told me when I broke my elbow that she wasn't wiping my *** so I figured it out but it's not a very good story. And 81 isn't that bad. Most of my memory is foggy so I really don't know if I'm in more pain than 10 or 15 years ago. My father had the good sense to retire and die at 55. I wanted more retirement time so I chose (with IBM's help) to retire at 50 and 31 years later I'm starting to get the hang of this retirement thing.
We're working with an Attorney setting up a Trust,..he asked if we had a Medical Power of Attorney. I told him I had asked my younger brother if he would do it. His response was " I am willing to unplug you but I'm not wiping your ***"
 
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Dan in Pasadena

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.... I wanted more retirement time so I chose (with IBM's help) to retire at 50 and 31 years later I'm starting to get the hang of this retirement thing.
Retiring and living for 31 years is my idea of success after decades in harness. Though just surviving that train accident achieved it for certain! If I can live to age 89 I'll have equaled the same 26 years I worked for Metro. But that's unlikely:

My dad died at only 66 after 20 years of minor heart attacks & strokes following a massive one he shouldn't have survived at only age 46. There were no clot busting drugs, bypasses, stents, and effective cholesterol drugs were in infancy back then. Like most people (in my childhood memories) he'd been a heavy smoker getting into his 4th pack a day when he had the cardiac. Yikes! Maybe because of that I never even tried it as a teenager. So I'm "ahead" in that way. But he also had quite a physique even until his dying day from all the heavy physical labor he'd done. I'm not so sleek!

So anyway, it seems I may take after my mother...maybe. She lived to 91 passing in 2016. But if I do it'll be like the old "6 Million Dollar Man" with artificial shoulders (the "good" one is barking a bit too) and artificial hips are a possibility too!
 
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Dan in Pasadena

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We're working with an Attorney setting up a Trust,..he asked if we had a Medical Power of Attorney. I told him I had asked my younger brother if he would do it. His response was " I am willing to unplug you but I'm not wiping your ***"
We JUST signed our Trusts about a week ago. The totally unexpected death of my dear sister in July and the sudden illness & death of Lourdes' oldest brother (THE most fit & active of her 5 brothers) from cancer less than a month ago motivated us to stop procrastinating. I briefly considered having my daughter do it - She's now the VP of Legal Affairs for her company after almost 20 years @ Disney - how the HELL did my little girl become a lawyer 20 years ago? - but she said wills, trusts etc are not her forte and had hired an attorney for her own. I used the same guy.

I'm completely aware of the loss of independence as we age - not driving sooner than any of us want, needing help with things we used to do for ourselves, BUT I revolt at the loss of dignity. Yes, that does refer to someone wiping my ****. Just the thought of having to rely on a cane, then a walker, then not being able to walk almost at all, sheesh. Lately, I am reflecting on how INCREDIBLY FAST age is suddenly upon me. I am also "getting it" that the world doesn't know you've left, doesn't know you were ever here except for a relative handful of people. I am trying to wrap my head around the meaning of that.
 
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Dan in Pasadena

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Here's an update on my STOOPID Thanksgiving week mistake. I flat spotted the rear tires on our Fiat 500 toad by forgetting to release the parking brake for 1/2 a block. Had to replace them today. Then because of my luck I got a flat on one of the front tires on the way to get the rears changed! Holy moly. So... three new tires. The fronts had been changed recently by my brother-in-law due to wear. The camber on both fronts was off, so $475 in addition to Christmas expenses AND all the "stuff" to gear up for my upcoming shoulder surgery.

Polar ice machine system, very expensive electric adjustable bed, post surgery loose clothes, slip-on shoes, tools for pulling on/off your own socks, tools to pick up stuff, things to bathe yourself, yada yada. Amazon sells kits for all this stuff because OF COURSE THEY DO! They don't miss a trick.

YouTube has a lot of actually helpful videos on how to sleep to reduce pain, how to use the toilet (yikes), techniques to dress & undress yourself.

Anyway, the flat spotted tires. Yes, it was only 1/2 a block and at very low speed.
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Dan in Pasadena

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Done that to a few race car tires, but due to going sideways or spinning around completely.

My shoulders are starting to give me problems too so looking forward to your experiences so I know what to expect.
Well, at least you had fun flat siding some tires. Mine was just being clueless and there's no one to blame but myself.

Regarding the shoulder, I've been watching YouTube videos. A guy recovering from day one through 3 months. Also a surgeon that's done thousands of these surgeries. There are a couple real good animations of the process - eek! I've got say it makes me gulp. "They're gonna do THAT to ME?!"
There's no way this won't be quite painful for a bit - a couple weeks at least. Then a long slog of recovery. The surgeon kept saying, "You'll feel like you're making no progress but you WILL be. He said, "It's biology" and the body is healing, bone is growing, nerves are knitting, etc.
I don't have much alternative. One of the people said he'd had multiple shoulder surgeries but after all that he ended up having replacement and wished he'd just done it earlier. Once and done.
 
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Dan in Pasadena

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Pretty much everyone I know who's had a joint replacement wishes they'd done it sooner. Time to call the doc, and get the ball rollin'.
I've heard the same.
But it feels like I will be crossing "a point of no return". Doc says I still have very good range of motion in the bad shoulder. Just little strength. And some movements cause me to wince. But even without those it aches all the time - that's why I say it's like having a tooth ache....that never goes away.
I've also been told since I'll now have mechanical parts and they can't move further than they were designed to. Think of it like a door hinge. Hinges open and close a certain amount, then they reach their limit. So for certain I will not have the same range of motion as the other arm. Basically, "live with it" I guess.
 

xtremek

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Ok, for the shoulder, are they replacing the joint, or fixing the tendons? The late BiL had both shoulders replaced. One they could only do a partial replacement because there wasn't enough solid bone in the shoulder to insert the replacement in. He was so happy he had it done. My little brother just had his done. Too soon to tell how that's going to work out. In my case, the rotator cuff was shredded. The camera shot made it look like a thinned out cotton ball. Doc said there was nothing stable to join back together. So, they used a cow patch over all of it. The results are so-so. The pain is gone for the most part, but when I really need it, it lets me know that it was jacked up. I can't trust it now, but I could when it was painful. Get it moving early, like the next day.
 
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Dan in Pasadena

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Ok, for the shoulder, are they replacing the joint, or fixing the tendons? The late BiL had both shoulders replaced. One they could only do a partial replacement because there wasn't enough solid bone in the shoulder to insert the replacement in. He was so happy he had it done. My little brother just had his done. Too soon to tell how that's going to work out. In my case, the rotator cuff was shredded. The camera shot made it look like a thinned out cotton ball. Doc said there was nothing stable to join back together. So, they used a cow patch over all of it. The results are so-so. The pain is gone for the most part, but when I really need it, it lets me know that it was jacked up. I can't trust it now, but I could when it was painful. Get it moving early, like the next day.
Total reverse shoulder replacement. 2 of the tendons are torn off the bone and fully retracted. A 3rd one is, "hanging by a thread" according to the surgeon. I'm 71 so surgeon said the likelihood of a tendon repair being possible or suceeding is not good but wouldn't know until he was "in there." SO I asked if that was the case could he then just change up and do the replacement? He said no. He'd have to close me up, wait a few months andTHEN do the replacement. Sheesh.

Had my CAT scan yesterday. Surgeon said he thought my bone health looked good based on my MRI. Guess I'll hear scan results soon when the surgery scheduler calls. It'll be after Christmas?

Based on recommendations in my Shoulder thread I've ordered a Polar ice machine. I was thinking of getting an electric adjustable bed before all this so I went ahead and ordered one - pricey but I'm told it'll feel like a God send. I've ordered hands free slip-in sneakers, some non-cuffed athletic elastic waist pants and I'll get some kind of loose slippery T shirts. I suppose here'll be other stuff.
 

xtremek

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The BiL had one reverse. As far as the tendons go, did he discuss the cow patch? They grow a patch made of stem cells from a cow. It was developed because the failure rate for diabetic and morbidly obese folks was like 70%. Side note is that they developed it right down the street from me at MSU. They figured this out and now the success rate is like +90%. Like I said mine wasn't torn, it was shredded. I'm extremely happy with the results. 2 years out and it's still improving.
 
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Dan in Pasadena

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A bunch of the post surgery supplies have arrived. The electric adjustable bed, the ice machine, shower seat I had to assemble from truly lousy directions, slip-in sneakers. I suppose there'll be more to come. It's making the impending surgery feel real! I don't know if the surgeon's office is open this week but if so the scheduler will likely call and I'll get a date. I should probably NOT read recovery stories online. The claims are from very little pain after couple days to some claiming they screamed for hours. Yikes. I choose to believe both are hyperbole.

Fortunately, I eat, brush my teeth, comb my hair and wipe my tush with my left hand. Just not all at the same time, ha ha!
 
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Dan in Pasadena

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So I'm assuming that you are a lefty. So am I
Good luck with your upcoming surgery and have a Merry Christmas
Hi Don,
Yes, I'm left handed but also something called "criss dominant". I had never heard that erm until researching this surgery. I write and eat left handed but many other things I do right handed. Throw or kick a ball for example.

Both my son and daughter are also left handed. My son rigidly so. Does everything lefty. My daughter much like me.

But seriously, I've been sort of taking inventory of the things I do daily and it's feeding myself and cleaning myself that I'm relieved I won't have to rely on my right arm for. I'd probably stab myself in the face with a fork trying to eat with my right, ha ha.

Some pics. The chair REALLY makes me feel I’m about to be like an invalid; hopefully only for a while. The shoulder ice pad thing connects to a machine that pumps ice water through it on a schedule I’ll input with a remote control.
 

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