Truck Resto Rant

Quote: Face

I went to Tampa for 2hrs a few weeks ago. I've been in sweat lodges that were more comfortable. 60-70*F would be perfect for the sort of manual labor I need to do.

You must realize, now, that any advice you give me that "isn't meant to be taken seriously" needs to be left unsaid ;) I think both of those are great ideas, if I decide a scan is needed. Hell, I just found xray machines on the Googles for $445. Could take care of myself and open up further side hustles to boot XD

A few days has shown a lot, though. I've (un?)fortunately been through this enough to know what stuff feels like. I'm like 9-0-1 in diagnosing myself before going to the ER. This one hurt too much when I did it and doesn't hurt enough now to be broken. The pain is all wrong. I started thinking dislocation yesterday afternoon and the evidence to support it keeps piling up. I'm even starting to think nothing is torn, but that's just as much wishful thinking as it is a hypothesis.

I'll keep sitting, waiting, wishing; hopefully it continues to improve at this rate.

(But really, I'm thinking we can do the Baja for $80k or less, maybe even around $50k if you want to take a chance on minimal spares =))

I

edit;


For 445 just guessing I think the xray just catches speeders or [on fire] or something? Hard to believe you would be picking up anything other than nuclear waste for that much.

But if its the real deal, I think I have an epiphany. You could RFID cats. And if it works safely you could use it on other pets.

If that don't seem like something you wanna do, how bout this. We could get cardboard signs and sit down here at the 40 junction and panhandle that much.

Need some kind of catchy phrase, great big letters maybe. WILL Panhandle for baja or something like that?

Yeah I know, I'm an idea guy. No need to thank me.

Any updates on your wing?

Hope it isn't throbbing.

That part about not taking it seriously was my attempt at a disclaimer. That is actually what I have done. I don't have a xray but I do have a ultra sound, the kind the therapists use, not the one that looks at fetus's.

If teotwawki should happen race down to the feed store or vet and get a gallon of anti biotics. It will trade higher than lead imo. Its good quality medicine, they don't use lousy meds on million dollar horses.

We had a shaman over a few weeks ago to treat us for Koyaanisqatsi.

I did not know until just now there is a movie with that title.

Equal parts hope and misery.

It continues to improve to the point it's confirming my diagnoses of it not being broken, but what's left continues to make me question. That questioning is stressing me the hell out, and that stress is probably the worst part of it all.

I can move it in just about any direction that does not raise my arm level with my shoulder. As long as I keep my arm down, I can move it wherever. Moving it up is barred by pain and what feels like a catch. It still clicks and pops when my arm is high. Is that because it's torn, or just because everything is still swollen? I don't know. And I hate not knowing.

My shoulders are level, but I can notice differences in appearances. The bulges when I flex aren't mirror images of each other. Again, is that just swelling, or is something out of place? Don't know, and I HATE it. Can something be just kinda out of place? I didn't think so, so I'm hoping it isn't so. But again, the not knowing. It's driving me crazy.

I managed to get fully dressed and undressed yesterday all by myself, which was a new development. Got out of the house and went fishing for minnows to feed my fish at home. Just nets and traps so I didn't really use my broken shoulder, but I got out. It was sort of nice, but just reminded me how much of a pinch I'm in. That made me think of the pioneers; imagine doing this and having no doctors. Imagine having to harvest your crops, but you have to deal with this. What do you do? You only get food and water if you go get it yourself, there is no Quik-E Mart, no water department. You get it, or you die. Broken parts? Well... better get it, or you die.

We sure are coddled nowadays. So with that in mind, I've a truck to finish. It's liable to be maddening, using my stupid and crippled left hand, but it ain't gonna do itself. I gotta get this thing painted before the temps in the 50's are here for good.

I tell you what, though. Tearing my calf last winter was the final straw. That was the last injury I could just sort of soak and deal with. My crash at the track this summer, now this... I'm tired of hurting. Just sick to death of it. I've been off Vicodin for 3 months now, and everything just hurts. I feel like a demo derby car that quit halfway through the program. Yeah, it still runs and drives and turns, but at what cost? What use is it now, other than being just good enough to finish it off?

They always said I'd break my neck one of these days. Sad to say that sounds like relief. Sadder to say this is just talk of an acutely depressed man, who will be right back at it, happy as a clam to beat himself to death, once this particular injury fades into history =p

Lao Tzu,

A candle that burns twice as bright ,,,, burns half as long

edit; I assume you already know. Those injuries, anything worse than a stubbed toe don't go away. They go into remission and they wait for you to get old and they come back with a vengence. Then they either visit for a while or set up permanent residence. When pain is looking for a home it like joints best, particularly shoulders and backs. After that it will also go for hips and knees. Other than that its not too hard to ignore it.

When I go up north, 3 days and it is like being hit in the back with a hammer. Three days down here warm, especially dry and it feels a whole lot better. That is why you find so many older people down here. It hurts less.

If you have access or had then you have found someone with a prescription pad. Don't know if you have enjoyed the "shots" yet? You probably have. Most pain comes from inflammation. If you can reduce that it gets better, quickly. Got nsaids?Ibubprofen is anti-inflammatory, again you probably already know this. I can take 12 of the 200mg, per day until it starts causing my skin to come off. But at this point whats a boy to do?

Long story short. Can you negotiate with someone for a steroid shot in the shoulder? If you know them sometimes a cash deal costs less or they may let you pay later. If you haven't had them before, they put novacaine at the tip and inject on the way in. It gives [some] almost instant pain reduction. If you get home fast enough you will be tempted to go out and finish the truck while the novacaine is still active,,,, bad choice.

The survival thing back in the beginning? That's why they formed tribes instead of everyone going it alone. Benefit and strength in numbers. I think you probably have plenty of friends that would want to help you if you give them a chance, sort of like if someone asked you for help. It's a good way to find out who your friends really are.

Ok, Ok, pain humor is always funny, especially when it's someone else's.

A guy came to my place to fix something, I dont' remember what. But, on his business card it says "if I can't fix it, it ain't broke". I liked him right away.

So he tells me one of his pain story's, it goes like this.

He was welding underneath a truck. You know those sparks are sometimes bigger and form little balls? One of those molten balls went in his ear. It burned down his ear canal and continued travelling down until it came to a stop around his voice box.

I said, Gee that sounds like it must have hurt?

He said, not half as bad as banging his head back and forth between the frame and drive line trying to get out of there.

Oh my effing god! I'm so glad you posted that. First, the punchline is hilarious. Second, the event is absolutely nightmare inducing, and I'm glad it's in my head to save me from myself in the future. I'm actually just healing up from my first ever 3rd degree burn. You guessed it, a ball of molten slag bounced along the floor until it stuck under my thigh, where I was laid out welding up a bumper. I've had those balls of fire in my shoes, down my shirt, even in my outer ear, but INSIDE?! I can't even think about it ><

I've never had a shot. Scared of needles. And someone jamming one into my joint? No. I'll just walk this shit off XD

My cousin and one friend would be here if I asked, but I have issues asking. I got here on my own, I'll get out of it my own. If it was an emergency and I really needed it, that'd be one thing. But really, all that's happened is my week long project is gonna take 2 months, and instead of doing it in nice Fall weather, I'll have to be miserably cold. That's not worthy of disrupting their lives humping around 500lbs of steel.

Maybe this is a blessing. Maybe I won't be able to get it on at all. Imagine the winter driving fun we'll have then! =D

Back to the project, I'm on one hand nearly done with the bed and on the other even farther than before I began. I didn't realize there were so many hidden voids that are unreachable, and these voids are what's going to eventually give me the "Dodge-rot" over the wheel wells. I think best I can do here is scrape what I can reach, treat it with rust reverse, slop paint on it, and hope. No way I can get to it without drilling out all the spot welds and tearing the bed apart, and that's infinitely more work than I plan to do.

I got the entire inside of the bed scuffed save for the very bottom. I couldn't both support my body and sand one handed, so i'll get that later. The outside, the part that shows, is nearly done. I've got to slop and sand a bit of bondo on the bad dent, and do the same for a small crease on the other side. After that, the outside is done.

The bottom is a disaster. There's just too much scale to get rid of, and some I can't reach without drilling and cutting out the heat shield. I've chiseled out what I could and again am just gonna heavily treat with rust reverse and go heavy on the paint. It won't save it, but it might buy me another year or two. So another 3-4 hours of bondo and sanding and the bed prep will be completely done.

If only I knew how I'm gonna get it outside to wash it...

A furniture dolly on one end and a floor jack on the other? Sweety to keep it balanced whilst you roll it out the door?

Yeah, it ain't the weight, beds are bulky.

I hired the high school football team to move us. I should be able to have the place fixed in no time. Eager, not graceful.

Allow friends to be, that.

http://youtu.be/omBaFpxkBOQ

I had a great fear of needles as well. After having dozens of epidurals I've been able to replace my fear with contempt.

Pain is a great teacher.

The best teacher ever. Unfortunately I'm in too many ways still 12yrs old, confident that I know what's best =p

I have no dollies, neither the handle ones for moving fridges or the floor ones for turning cars. I think what I'll do is just tip the bed back onto the frame, drive it outside, then tip it back up. That's the idea I'm going with, and the only option I can think of. How I'm going to squat 500lbs with one arm is a question for another day =p

Time is running out. Temps of 70 haven't disguised the air, which has taken on the unmistakeable smell of Canada. I can almost sense the steelhead taking cursory glances towards shallower water, can feel the hyping of the whitetail in the woods. The leaves no longer give their soft, smooth sigh of supple warmth. Now it is but a raspy whisper. Millions of them, and they all whisper the same thing...



Yesterday was a big day, and I continue to be amazed at the "other plane" I go to when doing this type of work. I knew work had to be done, but I was sick to death of the difficult task of preparing the torn up underside of the bed. I decided to move to the cab instead, and on that subject, I've not much to say.

I remember approaching the cab, looking at what was, for the most part, solid, pure metal. With paper in hand I wondered "Am I really gonna tear up this paint?". I made one swipe, kind of like I do when cutting something up in preparation for welding. Just do it, and do it fast. Then you have to carry on and finish the job.

That long rash of scratches is about all I remember. I started working and my brain checked out, leaving the meat behind on auto pilot. It's the oddest form of meditation. I remember snapping fully out of it once, when I tried to get up off the ground and used my right arm without thought. Happy to say I now know it's torn; the unmistakeable feeling of peeling a fresh, nerve ripping scab off your skeleton confirmed that. By the time Ash pulled in some 4 hours later, I had the entire back and right side completed.

I welcomed her home for a few minutes before she retired to the house to complete her Italian homework and start a pot roast, leaving me alone for a few more hours. Those few hours were again spent in a detached haze, and then POOF! I was all done.







Now we're getting down to the nitty gritty. The roof still needs be done, but I can't get it without being able to support my body with an off arm. I reckon I could push through, but that's a 20 minute job and not important. The underside needs muscle, and I just don't have it. Too much grinding, too many odd angles. On this I am stuck, and might have to start teaching Ash if I'm ever to get this job complete.

Today will be odds and ends. The tailgate hasn't been touched, so I'll peel the odds and ends off that and get it done up. I'll also do the little parts like door latches, tailgate hinges, and all those other bits that are pitted up. But that won't take long, leaving only the big stuff left. How am I gonna address those doors? Even worse, wtf am I gonna do with this behemoth?

You really might get some relief from naproxen, which I think is Advil now. It's a muscle relaxant, which can be combined with an anti-inflammatory like ibuprofen, can be very effective. But look for the naproxen.

My sympathies on the sore and torn muscles. About 5 weeks to go unless you make it worse. At least it's not broken, right?

You might get some use out of a single crutch. Prop your body on the crutch, under the hurt armpit, and you can brace on 3 points while using the good one. Unless it hurts too much to put pressure on the underside.

Quote: beachbumbabs

Unless it hurts too much to put pressure on the underside.

The very idea sent a javelin of nausea through my body that is better off left undescribed ;) It's not the pain; the skeleton-scab-peeling hurts the most, but even that I'd rate a 5-6 out of 10. It's the sensation, that peeling feeling. I can't take it psychologically. And a crutch? I've been obviously using it and moving it, trying to keep it loosed up. There's certain movements that, while not painful, create a sort of rolling in the joint that's wholly unnatural. It's not the pain that stops me from continuing, it's the sensation that it's about to flip inside out that ruins me. And the way a crutch sits I imagine it going with an audible, sucking "pop". No thanks XD

I didn't do anything I said I was going to, instead heading right for the most rotten door. I ground down enough to identify that nearly the entire length of the bottom, and a full inch upwards, was a complete loss. The two shells of the door have rotten apart. There was just no way to save it. I figured if I left what was there, the rust would just continue to spread under the bondo until the whole piece fell off. So I cut it out.



Again, act before you can think yourself out of it lol. Now I reckon I'll run a length of tape along the bottom, giving me a straight edge to build off and recreate the door from bondo. I'm confident in the job, but getting it sanded straight at that angle is gonna be a bitch ><

I just got the door cut and grinded and about 2/3 of the rocker panel sanded down when it started raining. To be continued...