Bugs Palace!

Motorcycle IS ON THE ROAD. Finally got the bike on the road. 10 days later, I find a nail in the tire. Take the wheel off to get new tire put on. Bring it home, bike won’t start. Looks like either the wrong plugs were installed, or she’s running really rich. Either way, new plugs in and its running for now. In fact, i’ve even started using it to commute to work. Feels great to finally be riding. Looks to need a touch more tuning but all in all, things are improving.

 GTI is trying it’s hardest to drive me insane. I’m pretty sure Kevin is sneaking in at night to sabotage the car. (We have a bet about how long I will keep this car.. He says it will be gone before January 1st 2013 aka 2 years from the day I bought it.)..  The lemony yellow colour should have been my first clue. So far, I’ve got a flakey hatch latch, had to replace the driver side drive shaft, and the timing belt which I was told was done by previous owner WASNT done. So it needed doing too. Since then, I’m now past due for brakes; air conditioning is dead; I blew out a tire; exhaust has developed a massive hole before the cat (aka loud and stinky); and i’ve got some sort of clunk in the front suspension which needs looking at. Where to start… Damn you Kevin..

Pools is open at Mom and Dads. The kids (especially Abby) LOVE IT. Warm weather outside means they want to be swimming. Abby is a fish. She’s in and around and loving it. Joey is still getting used to it. So far, haven’t found a swimming aid which works with him. They all seem to tip him back. Gonna have to check some other options. He is clearly more top heavy then his sister, as none of her stuff seems to work as well for him as they did for her.

JJB pictures are coming. Another great show this year. One of the biggest in the last few years. Great to see so many coming out again. Yes, I’m behind on pics AGAIN. WTF.  Lots of pics of Joey still in sorting progress. Some of Abby.. JJB, GTI, motorcycle, etc. all coming soonish. Just need a day to do it.

Lastly, I got clearance from the surgeon last week in Ottawa. I am healing excellently, and am ready to  FINALLY get my new eye made. The appointment is Tuesday so come Tuesday evening, I will finally look normal again. At least as normal as I get.

After 20 years with my original implant, I finally took the plunge and had it changed out for a different one.  What most people don’t realize is an artificial eye is made up of two portions. The implant, and the prosthesis. The implant is a small ball which is wrapped in left over muscle and tissue after your real eye is removed. The prosthesis is essentially a cover which is formed to the implant. It is the part you see which is removable and painted to match your remaining real eye.

Over time my implant shifted to the left, leaving my prosthetic a pretty poor area to ‘form’ to.  This causes poor movement, and poor fit in general. My new implant removed the small smooth ball and replaces it with a nearly double the size porous ball that the muscles will essentially fuse to. This will make it impossible for it to move around like the old one and should make a much better foundation for the prosthetic to form to. Better forming together means better fit and hopefully much better movement.  Surgery was quick, but recovery beat the hell out of me.

Dad and I went up to Ottawa on Sunday night (May 29) and stayed till Thursday (June 2). Monday was pre-0p. Tuesday was surgery. Wednesday rest at the hotel and Thursday follow up and trip home. Pain from the time I woke up until Thursday morning was pretty intense. Even opening my eyes was extremely painful. It was a long ride home. Dad drove home. Good thing, because opening my eyes still hurt badly. Looking around was impossible. Couple days home an tons of tylenol 3 I started feeling somewhat better. Each day was an improvment in both pain amount as well as energy levels. But the Sunday/Monday after the surgery things were looking up finally. By Thursday/Friday I was feeling much more like my self.  Today marks 2 weeks since the surgery and I’m nearly 100% again. All thats left now is a follow up in Ottawa June 30 to make sure the socket has healed, and providing all is well, July 12th I will have a new prosthetic formed and I will be ‘complete’ again. No more patch or walking around with a clear eye in.

Thanks to my Dad for coming with me and making sure I was taken care of. Had to be a boring trip for him seeing as we were stuck at the hotel and I couldnt even stand the TV on. Sorry Pops. I will make it up with a better trip sooner or later. Thanks again! Love ya!

I think the worst part of the whole thing was leaving Shannon and the kids for several days without being able to even talk to them realy. Missed you guys.

Speaking of missing them… While I was away, my little boy decided to take a good tumble which resulted in a couple stitches on his lip. Poor little dude. He just had to be like his sister and get his first stitches at under a year. He only made it by a few weeks seeing as he turns 1 on Friday!

As of Sunday May 15, I am officially licensed with my m2. The course was a blast. I learned way more then I expected to. The riding was pretty straight forward and natural. Felt like riding my old dirt bike again. The learning was all the ‘what to do’ ‘when to do it’ stuff. VERY glad I did the course. If anyone is interested in learning how to drive a motorcycle and is looking for a great course go to CMA 

Joey got his first haircut. Sooo cute. Poor little bugger was developing an odd mullet. Hair was growing way faster in the back and side then the top was. So Donna got out the clippers and shaved him all nice and even. Cute little onion head. Couple more weeks and daddy will match him 😉

Less then a week till my surgery. Not too worried about the surgery itself. However, I am really not looking forward leaving my wife and children for 4-5 days. I’ve never left them that long. Gonna suck. Guess I’m gonna have to get skype up and going again.

Shannon’s maternity leave is nearly at its end. Really feel bad that she has to go back to work, but I am looking forward to the pay checks coming back and bills getting paid in full and on time 🙂  The only good thing is, the kids will both be going back to my parents for ‘daycare’ every day. Mom and Dad are very much looking forward to it… And so are the kids 😉

Hopefully I will be able to get some internet going while I am in Ottawa and give some post-surgical updates. Time will tell.