"Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up." Thomas A Edison

I've had a problem with the big toe on my left foot (movie plot?) for the last two months. I figured it was just ingrown, would outgrow soon enough, and I did everything the internet said to do, including eat more BACON, all to no benefit. Then the nail started changing colors. So this morning I went to a podiatrist.

I learned that as we age our toenails grow thicker and tend to grow downward, making them more likely to become ingrown, which is what happened. Then it got infected with...fungus! (oh dear). He said the best solution is to remove the entire nail, treat the surface underneath with a liquid that will kill the fungus, and call it a day. Sounds horrible, but it was really no big deal. I barely felt him working, and I can go back to running tomorrow. It hurts a bit now, but not a lot. I'm to take Ibuprofen if needed.

Turns out a toenail doesn't regrow like a fingernail. He said they serve no purpose, and if I'm not concerned about appearance (I'm not), this was the best and most sure fix. In two or three months the top of my toe will be skin just like to the top of my foot.

So, would I get a discount on a pedicure?

So far my pitman arm has been from VA to Eugene, back to VA, return to Eugene and....
The USPS Priority Mail (!) tracking number says it's been sitting in the Eugene P.O for 36 hours, so I called our local Elmira P.O. to find out what's up. Those two ladies have been VERY helpful, sympathetic, and eager to do whatever they can. She called the Eugene P.O., spent forever on hold, and was told they *think* it's due to be shipped back to VA! They think there's something wrong with the bar code that has it going in circles.
The lady at the Eugene P.O. is going to look "in the back area" to see if she can find my package and snag it before it's put on another plane for the east coast. "We might be able to get it to you tomorrow."
Meanwhile, Old Dominion Parts sent me another one Friday, but didn't email me the tracking # as promised. I called them this morning and learned they sent it UPS ground (i.e. S...L...O...W) and it may come Friday.
Wouldn't you think they'd send it 2-3 day air, just to keep the customer happy? (He's not.)

I've recently become aware of the evil of cultural appropriation. That's what happens when someone (a White person) utilizes something from another culture, whether it's art, or food, or music, or....
So the artist who incorporates Native American themes in her paintings is committing an egregious offense and has her art show cancelled. Two Portland OR White women with a food cart serving burritos had to shut it down because of opposition from minority community members. A consortium of indigenous groups are petitioning the U.N. to make cultural appropriation illegal globally.
Is there no limit to this silliness? Where does it end?
Only Italians can sell pizza but not spaghetti & meatballs, which originated in the U.S.
Brussel sprouts? (naw, nobody wants to claim them)
Swedish meatballs becomes an oxymoron. (sorry, IKEA)
I know who the real morons are here. The real question: how do we rein in and box up the crazy snowflakes driving this nonsense?

We've hit a snag with the potential for a MoHo reno. Ceilings in "vintage" mobile homes are thin fiber board panels, 4' x 13' (the latter being the width of the unit) that install against the ceiling 2x4's with screws at the outer edge (4' side) with that junction getting covered by a decorative strip. Think way oversized acoustical ceiling panel, but with the texture much more subtle.
The stovepipe goes through a hole cut in one of those panels. The new stove will have a smaller pipe that will go through the ceiling in a slightly different place because it's a smaller stove and can be closer to the wall. That means that particular ceiling panel needs to be replaced.

Those panels aren't available anymore. Well, they are from a couple of places on the east coast, but they won't ship them and I'm not driving to VA (tho I could pick up a pitman arm if I did).

Options include adding 2x4 supports that would support 1/2" drywall, putting up 4x8 sheets of white paneling (sans grooves), with joint moldings between the sheets, or....
The drywall is a nice option because it would look more "normal" than white panels. But drywalling a ceiling is NOT fun (I've done it too many times) and the sanding makes a huge mess in the primary (read: only) living space.
The 4'x8' panels would be easy, but we'd have seams & moldings going both directions. Blech.
Can I take one of the panels from our bedroom - the only other room that's full width - and use that in the living room, then use one of the other options for the bedroom?
I'll do some exploring to find out if one of those panels can be removed and reinstalled. If not I'll either bite the bullet and drywall or hang a picture of the sun on the ceiling to cover the hole.

I stopped into a discount flooring place on the way home from the podiatrist to learn more about interlocking vinyl tile. (Pretty cool product I'm sure we'll use.) I also looked at some of the sheet vinyl they carry in stock we might use in the 2nd-bedroom-turned-launcry-room and perhaps the bathroom.
Very helpful sales person who did a great job of answering my questions about product specs, installation, and performance.
At the end I said, "OK, the next step is for me to bring......"
I don't think the pause came out of my mouth, but in my brain I did this quick check.
Which is the most respectful option?
"for me to bring in my wife" or "for me to bring Pam in"?
The first one describes her in her role in my life. And I'm grateful she's my wife, so that part of it seems good. But does it reduce her to a role, while using her name gives her respect as a person? Now that I'm wearing a wedding ring again (see below) it's obvious I'm married.
So, women, would you rather your husband refer to you as his wife, or by your first name? Or does it matter?

I was building a frame for the last of the raised beds yesterday to protect it from the deer and looked down to see my new latex wedding band laying in the straw. It slipped right off my finger.
I've been working on losing the ~10 lbs I gained over the winter and am about 1/2 there. Seems as though at least some of that came off my fingers. Maybe I should have ordered the next size smaller? So now I'm paying closer attention when I'm working around the place.

I just got back in from feeding the goats. I went out wearing my sneakers just because I had them on. Stella stepped on that big toe.
I asked Pam, who was in the house at the time, if she heard me. (It HURT)