Kama Sutra of a Hug

"Oh, no. Not there. That hURts!  The hand. Gotta move the hand. Oh, watch the shoulder! Ouch! Ouch! Ouch!  Oh, there. That's it!"

We sat quietly looking into the evening sky. My arm around her back. Her head on my shoulder. We knew that it wasn't going to last for long. The arthritis in my shoulders has been so bad the last few weeks that the simple act of putting my arm around Pamela and allowing her to rest her head on my shoulder makes most of the Kama Sutra look like child's play. We don't generally think much about the workings of our shoulders.  Think about it when you reach behind your car seat, or lift a bag sitting on the seat next to you, or reach back to flip the light switch as you enter a room. Each of these acts can bring tears to my eyes.

How often do we take for granted the seemingly simple act of giving a hug to our mate, child, parent or friend?   37 years ago when, at the ripe ole age of 32, I was diagnosed with arthritis, I was not prepared for the reality of this non-lethal but exceptionally painful disease.

Before you go back to check the author of this blog ... yes, this is the same Russ Vance who runs 40 mile races,  hikes, bikes, kayaks and scubas.  I don't think that I can do all these things because I'm particularly strong. I think that I can do all these things because I'm particularly stubborn and refuse to allow this common disease to stop me from living life to the fullest. But some people aren't as fortunate as me.

Pamela and I are both arthritis sufferers.  Pamela was a triathlete before arthritis brought an end to her career. Her favorite part of the triathlon was the running.  Now she is trying to decide whether or not to have double knee surgery before she retires in about 18 months. She's just barely 60.  We both have arthritis from top to bottom and are walking barometers. When a storm front is moving in, we are both hardly able to move.  Even on a good day, if you watch us you will notice that we take a bit longer than others to get up out of a chair and we will pause before we move.

I think that Pamela's arthritis is much worse than mine, although she'll argue that. I also think that she's as strong and stubborn as me, although she'll argue that too.  Once I get moving, I can run or walk for hours because my hips are my worst lower extremity joints. Her worst lower extremity joints are her feet and knees. Nevertheless, when we head out trekking across the Rocky Mountains, she'll say "let's just go a few miles today and turn back."  5-10 miles later she'll finally agree that we should think about turning around.

I am not ashamed to say that I am very proud of our 2014 accomplishments.  I did the Goofy Challenge at Disney in January. That's a 39.3 mile back-to-back race.  It will probably be my last not because of the arthritis but the cost.  Together we hiked over 450 miles, mostly through the Rocky Mountains.  We biked over 300 miles, again mostly in the mountains. We kayaked about 30 miles. And we've gone diving from Montana to Bermuda.  We traveled 11,700 miles living 134 days in our 16 foot vintage trailer in state and national parks, forests and wilderness.  On top of this Pamela, a college professor, still teaches a full load with labs . . . i.e. always on her feet.  We're heading to Montana in about 5 weeks to work at Glacier National Park again this summer.  We are determined to live life to the fullest for as long as we are able.

I have a saying, written in Irish on the side of my old pop-up trailer, that reads "don't stop living before you die."  But there are many who are not as fortunate as us.  Arthritis is very painful and it is often crippling - twisting joints and limbs like grotesque pretzels.   You have to look closely at the two of us to see the physical manifestations, but that's not true of many.  Pamela has an aunt, who is actually only 2 years older than me, who just had an MRI. She has arthritis in every joint from her neck to her toes and was told the only thing they can do for her is give her pain medicine.

Arthritis includes more than 100 different rheumatic diseases and conditions. Arthritis types such as rheumatoid and lupus can affect multiple organs and cause widespread symptoms. There are 52.5 million Americans diagnosed with Arthritis.  Of those, 22.7 million are disabled by this disease, and 1 out of 3 who are of working age (18-65) and have arthritis are limited in their activity. Almost 300,000 children have arthritis!

I must admit that I've never known of anyone dying from arthritis . . . directly.  I could not find any published studies in the US on the number of suicides related to arthritis but a NIH study found 11% have suicidal ideation because of comorbid depression. A 13 year study was done in Finland with frightening results.

There are many deadly diseases we need to fight.  Nevertheless, this disease is on the rise and the number of related suicides is likewise rising.  The next time you hug your mate, child, parent or friend, think of those of us who can't and when you are asked to make a contribution, please be as generous as you can.

Visit the Arthritis Foundation website (click here).

WILLY'S FACE LIFT - FINALE (Almost)

Ready to travel again. 

Pamela and I had a cruise booked and were to leave town on Saturday, March 7th.  I had been working frantically to get Willy as far along as possible.  Bad weather arrived the week before we were to leave.  On Thursday schools were closing because a horrible storm was to hit that afternoon. We stopped by to see our landlord and give him rent before we left town.  He decided that he wanted his new Lexus to be inside, so we were out. He put us out in the middle of a snow storm that had prompted the governor to declare a state of emergency. We hurried to get tools and materials packed up. We put contractor trash  bags over the two window openings, vents and AC opening. Covered the trailer with a tarp and then put the trailer cover over that. We were hoping that would protect him from the storm.

We drove up the street to a place owned by a man whom we had met during our refurbishing. He was willing to let us put Willy in his garage. He said that if he got really busy he'd move Willy outside during business hours. The storm hit as we were backing Willy into his garage. In fact, the sleet and snow was already so bad that I had to put Moe into 4-wheel drive to get Willy into the garage. But he was safe.  The next morning there was 18" of snow on the ground and all of the roads - including interstates - were closed.   Once the roads were opened we put Moe into 4-wheel drive and headed south.

Upon return from our cruise I put on a second coat of roof sealant, polished the window frames, re-installed the windows, put on the new roof vents and re-mounted the air-conditioner on the roof. As we were locking up this evening we discovered that the door is slightly warped and the lock will not hold. That's probably why the previous owners had installed the dead bolt that I removed and so meticulously covered the holes. Tomorrow we will take him to a locksmith to see what options we have.

I'm still trying to salvage the old fenders. New one will cost us $300, so Willy has no fenders in the pictures.  I'm also going to get some metal window rain guards for all the windows.  They will look classy.  They were common among older trailers.  

 Here are a couple of pictures of Willy and Moe. Pretty good color match, don't you think?  We could have bought the exact paint but it would have cost four times more than we paid and it could only be sprayed on. This may not be perfect, but you get the idea they go together.  

WILLY'S FACE LIFT - Installment 15

Willy is looking good!!

This blog was delayed by a couple of days because of weather.  The day I am relating is actually Monday, March 2, 2015.  I started this blog that evening but had to return quickly to Evansville to get packed for our cruise because there were storm warnings - 8-12" of snow. I am writing this on Wednesday evening. It is good that I did.  I returned to Madisonville at 6am this morning. We now have 4-6" of snow on the ground and it is showing no indications of stopping. So let's just go back in time and pretend that it's Monday.  - - - - - - - - - - - -

After the roof wash. 

The arthritis was really screaming at me today.  Thank goodness for $4 knee pads.  The day started with washing the roof with a super strong solution of TSP.  I was told not to not to get the roof sealer near the AC seal.  If you're ever in this position, you might try my solution. I put the AC seal in position and marked slightly outside of the seal. Then I put down a strip of paint tape so I couldn't accidentally get too close to where the seal will be.  Another thing I did that I felt made the surface better prepared for the sealant, I mixed the TSP about 50% stronger.  I applied the cleaning solution with a cotton shop towel and wiped the surface.  To be sure that I did not leave a dirty residue, I wiped the surface with paper shop towels. (I bought an 8 pack at Lowe's).  This way the final product was a surface as clean as possible.

First coat of roof sealer finished. 

I finished the wash job about 11:30 and put on the first coat of sealer after lunch - about 1:00 pm. I used a 3" brush, because it is what I had.  A gallon bucket will obviously permit at least a 4" brush. It was not hard to apply and went on like a slightly thick oil base paint, but it is water soluble and cleans up easily with water.

Refurbished handle

After the sealer was applied I turned my attention to windows and other items that had to be replaced. When we bought Willy he had a horrible looking dead bolt.  I took the original handle and lock set to Felts Lock in Evansville and they made me new keys. I installed the new lock and handle, It looks so much nicer. (When it comes to trailers, locks are for honest people. We got locked out one time and I went in through a window.)   Willy has one of the older style of hand grips - to hold on to while entering.  It redid it with chrome paint.  Ours was actually made so that you could have a light. They are now making reproductions of the original lens.  I did not do that because the wiring was not nearby.

The windows required a lot of cleaning and good ole elbow grease.  I had already removed all the butyl tape.  On the inside - i.e. the side to which the butyl tape is applied - I sprayed with Goo Gone and wiped.  Later I sprayed the area with 409 just to remove any greasy residue and allowed it to dry. On the front side of the window - i.e. that which you see standing outside the trailer - I used Marvel Mystery Oil and steel wool.  Marvel Mystery Oil has been around since the early 1920s and is used as an automobile engine upper cylinder cleaner and lubricant. Take a look at how it makes Willy's 30 year old aluminum window frames shine.

I was able to put all but two windows back in place. I ran out of butyl tape.  As far as I know, and from the looks of things, this was the first time in 30 years these windows had been removed. I am one of those people who worries about putting screws back in the same hole. Since the screw goes through, and thereby gets coated with, butyl tape putty they are generally sufficiently tight. Nevertheless on the corners I used a 8 x 1.25" screws.  The rest are 8 x 1".

Window screws before cleaning and replacement 

At this point the only things that remain are a second coat of roof sealer, fenders,  replace spare tire holder,  install new vents and re-install the remaining two windows.  It should only be a couple of days work.

Same spot after cleaning and replacement 

The grey that appears to protrude from the window frame is the butyl tape that squeezes out as the screws are tightened. I'll remove this.

Dinette window after cleaning

Water heater,  tank fill, drain and water attachment.