Count Down to Spring

[Harry Babb]

Otay den buttwheat! ! !

Down here in the deep deep souff its already dipped down into the 30's a couple of times and headed into the 30's again in the next couple of days......

Winter was nice......now starts the count down to Spring.....

Went to Big Daddys for supper last night and while there I picked up entry forms for the annual Christmas Boat parade on Fish river. This year the parade is December 21st. (Always the 3rd Sat of Dec). Don't exactly know our decorating theme for this year but will get some ideas Thanksgiving weekend.

Today DeNada and I will bundle up and make a high speed run down the river to Mobile Bay.......should be a clear chrisp ride.

T-128(Days) and counting! ! ! ! !

hb

[PeterPalmieri]

23 here this morning. Realized I hadn't emptied the fresh water tank yesterday. Better get down there after church.

[Bertramp]

Was supposed to be in FL this weekend and was gonna do the Miami game .... well, work had different plans for my weekend, so I'm here on LI in the SERIOUS cold ....spring can not come fast enough !!

[Navatech]

so I'm here on LI in the SERIOUS cold

There's a reason I won't go north of the Mason-Dixie line between autumn and spring :-)))

And that reason has absolutely nothing to do with politics...

[Bob H.]

Harry, guess having a few cold ones down to tacky jacks or Lu Lu's is few days away as well.. Balmy 18 with wind chill down 12..split more firewood got seven cord put up..how long till spring...aghhh...BH

[Harry Babb]

Harry, guess having a few cold ones down to tacky jacks or Lu Lu's

It was Big Daddys last night......just to chilly to go to the "Boat House"......tonight its "Home Made Soup" at Mrs Jo Ann's ........ in the mid 40's outside and wind blowing like crazy! ! !

After a little shuteye it will be.....

T-127..... but who's counting..... I AM! ! !

hb

[wmachovina]

Tried to land at lga last night. Vis went down on 31 then 22 with 35 kts from 320.arrivals shut down while I held over Brooklyn at 4000' opened up in 20 mns. Landed on 31 wind was rockin . Ugly night . This morning 22 degrees wind 330 28 g 35kts. We don't use no stinking jetways, GA , colder than crap, you boys are in for an ugly winter. That summervflorida heat doesn't seem so bad . Bless ya

[Tony Meola]

We are long over due for a long cold winter up here in the NE. Looks like it is coming this year. Get the snow blowers ready.

[Pete Fallon]

Faithful,
I know it's going to be a bad winter up North, I found out that I need to have my right knee replaced for the 4th time. I have to go to Mass General in Boston to have it done. The doctors down here won't do it, they say it is too complicated of a surgery. I think they are just covering there asses.
Anyway I have to fly up to Boston on the 10th to meet with a specialist who is willing to do the operation.
I found out that the joint has loosened up from the bone completely, confirmed by MRI and Bone Scans. One doctor says it's the cement that has let go another thinks the plastic insert between the 2 pieces of metal has broken down, tests on the fluid inside my knee showed that for 3 months in a row there was a large amount of poly plastic material in the fluid, the next 3 months there was nothing but some small shavings of poly plastic. Anyway the joint is screwed up.
I have been doing some research and found that the cement they used is methyl methaculate the same stuff used in marine bonding compounds such as ARJay. I am going to call ITW Devcon and ask if they have a medical grade Plexus available. That stuff is indestructible , I have seen demos bonding aluminum and fiberglass together the fiberglass delams before the joint comes apart.
I just hope the weather up there is better than what the Old Farmers Almanac is predicting but I have to do it. I will be in the Boston/Salem area for January, February and March, I can't do anything down here anyway, I'm in a full leg brace and have to use crutches to get around. No boating, working on my boat, golf or anything else, I have been on crutches now for 2 months and haven' t worked for four months. Hurts like hell to bear any weight without using crutches. Anyone know a good lawyer now that UV is gone.
Pete Fallon

[Carl]

Oh man Pete...so sorry to hear you have to go thru this ordeal again.

I do like hearing they are going with a new knee instead of trying to repair/rework the old one again. I have to believe time and technology have come further since the last time you had it done.

One thing is for sure...you are the one looking forward to Spring the most.

Hope it goes better than your hoping for.

Carl


Spring cannot come fast enough...been a long year.
It's the first year in at least 32 years I have not been out on the water...


Dam cold this morning...

[Charlie J]

pete years ago I had to take my daughter up to mass general
great hospital, best of luck

[TailhookTom]

Best of luck Pete! 10 years ago my ortopod told me that my knees were in worse shape than the woman in the next room -- she was 77 and I was 41 -- he suggested I lose some weight and wait as long as possible before I have my knee replacements (he knows my knees intimately having been inside the right 2 times and the left 5 times). Well, I've gained weight and live on a magical combination of advil and Woodford Reserve. It is getting to the point where I am going to have to get them done in a couple years.

I wish you the best, no one should have to suffer with what you have suffered with.

Tom

[Pete Fallon]

Tailhook Tom,
I am 6'3'' and weigh 215 which is not overweight, every time I go to the ortho doc I see a lot of over weight men and mostly women who are at least 100 pounds over what they should be.
My injury was caused by an impact to the side of my knee at the fire house, tearing out all the cartilage, crushing the nerve, fragmentation of the knee cap, and I didn't know I broke 2 vertebrae in my mid back for a year afterward because the knee hurt so bad. The doctors wanted to put in an artificial knee back in 1978, I asked how long would it last and they said I would have had 3 knees by the time I was 55, I was 35 at that time.
I waited until 1999 and since then I have had 3 knees in 14 years not very good odds, the company that my doctor choose, said that each knee should last 10 to 15 years, the most I ever got was the 1st one it lasted 51/2 years before it actually broke. The next 2 only went 3 years before they started to hurt, #2 came out in 2010 it should have come out 2 years before but due to a heart attack clogged right coronary artery 85% blocked, had to postpone surgery for many months. The last one, I went in for a clean out arthroscopic surgery and it was so loose, doctor told my wife I needed a new knee installed while I was under. I woke up with the Cpac machine working my knee back and forth. I've asked about just cutting it off completely but due to the fact that the top metal piece is half way up my thigh I wouldn't have much to attach the fake leg to. So I am going to go through another and hopefully the last replacement.
I have to move to Boston for at least 4 months and maybe I'll stay up there for good. If the new knee works out maybe I'll get back into catching Blue fins again. The TV program Wicked Tuna shows them catching what we used to consider rats, we used to release anything under 400 pounds in the early 90's. Anyway I am looking forward to the Spring and winter hasn't even go here yet. Thanks for all the support from the faithful.
Pete Fallon

[Bob H.]

Pete, I second your thoughts on plexus, that stuff is great I used it to join hull to top cap and deck to shelf and any other structural connections.. I have taken a hammer and chisel to the bond and can't get it to let go...hope they get you fixed up once and for all..I will be pulling for you through your operation and recovery. BH

[bob lico]

Best of luck Pete you suffered enough------------- God bless

[Tony Meola]

Pete

Best if luck. Man that is tough. You have to be going crazy, not being able to get around that well..

Hopefully this one will last for you.

[TailhookTom]

The 15 year life span was what my orthopod told me as well and then he said "Well that is what the manufacturer says, I've never seen one go longer than 11." My right knee isn't all that bad -- the left was blown up when I was 20 --- collision at homeplate -- he was 230+- and I was 185, and yes I held onto the ball (cause it was in my righthand as it should have been). Tore all the Ls, 4 surgeries in 21 months. Now, as a result of spending 15 years behind the plate, there are 7 bone spurs and no cartilage left in there. I push the scales in the 225-230 range at 5'11" - 175 would be better, but I like food too much and the cardio, other than elliptical isn't fun.

Medical grade Plexus would definitely be a godsend.

Tom

[Bertramp]

Pete .... all the best !!

[MarkS]

Pete may I bless upon you hot young nurses for the whole episode!

All the best.

Oh an happy Thanksgiving too!

[Kevin]

Pete,
I thought you just had one fixed over the summer or not too long ago. Is this the other knee?
I think we need to make you an Ironman suit with trolling valves.
Commuting in the snow would likely suck, never done it but I lived up there as a kid. At least it is pleasant to watch it fall as you look out the window with a bottle of scotch. Best of luck with the surgery.

[Pete Fallon]

Kevin.
They never did the one that they were going to do in the summer they kept postponing the operation trying to figure out what to put in, something that wasn't going to let go. I've been suffering since April with the same bad knee, keeps getting worse everyday. I had to quit drinking because of the pain meds or I would already be doing a bottle a day to kill the pain.
Hopefully I'll find a apartment with some kind of view, going to be a long cold winter, I'll put ice treads on the crutches. I moved down here to get away from the cold and snow , but I have to go where the best doctors are located. I can always get on a plane after 6 weeks(they don't want me to fly until then, afraid of blood clotting before then) if I start to go really crazy up North.
Pete Fallon

[Pete Fallon]

BobH,
I talked to the Devcon people today, they said that Plexus is not approved by the FDA for medical use, so it can't used in the human body. I told them that I've used it in boat applications for years with out a failure. The engineer that I talked to said it would be very expensive to make in a sterile environment it wouldn't be cost effective to make it Now I've got to find something that is approved ( besides the stuff that the medical profession is already using, methyl methaculate, which isn't very good). I was told by a pioneer in the orthopedic world back in 1978 that if I came up with a joint cement that actually worked I would be a multi-millionaire. Well I made and spent my millions but still can't find the right medical cement. Happy Turkey Day to all.
Pete Fallon