house sitting

Did I mention I was housesitting last month?  Yep, that happened.  Also, no blog posts were written then.  Funny how that works. 

It was a good month.  I enjoyed having a place to myself, a kitchen of my own, and a huge bed to hog.  On the other hand, I missed hanging out with the family I live with.  I guess what I can take away from the experience is this: It's all about perspective.  No matter what stage of life you are in, find something about it that is extraordinarily enjoyable, and hang on to that.  I guess I already employ this life strategy on a regular basis, so it was just another opportunity to practice it. 

Some other things discovered while housesitting:
-minerally water makes my hair less curly
-Being left handed/right eye dominant is not ideal for target shooting
-I can survive without regular internet access
-I can still read a cookbook-including using the index!
-One should still walk, even if there is a vehicle readily available.
-If you want to get invited on the next family trip to Hawaii, one should not be such a responsible housesitter.
-Someday, I want a kitchen of my own.  I can do fine in other peoples' kitchens, but if I had my own, I would be able to set it up how I want it.  That would be awesome.

on gossip and small communities

Last weekend, I realized that I have a problem with gossip.  Why this happened last weekend is probably not important, but I will hit you with it anyways.  I wsa hanging out with some friends in Anchorage, and they were talking about someone they know.  Instead of examining the ins and outs of what each of them had heard, they left it at, "well, I have had some conversations with [insert name here], but I don't think it is appropriate to discuss it."

What??  I thought to myself.  Why not go over every single word she said to figure out exactly what could possibly be going on in her situation?  Oh, maybe that's the point....

Its a hard trap to avoid.  It might be easier in a big city, where your social circle, work circle, neighborhood, and church family don't always cross, but here, its the same people every day.  The conversation would go something like this:

Me: So... I inspected a navajo engine today...
Friend (who is a dispatcher): yeah I know.  You kept asking me when parts were coming in.  Then I had to close the door when you ran the engines, cause it was loud. 
Me: yep.
Friend: Yep.  So... I had flights delayed because of weather today...
Me: No kidding.  I was waiting for parts. 
Friend: Did you hear the bear got into [insert community member's name here]'s trash?
Me: Yeah, I heard they.... (conversation digresses to gossip about who burns their trash when)


Maybe its not all that bad.  Parents can talk about their kids.  And their are plenty of people I hang out with that don't work for the same company as me, but its pretty quick and easy to cover what is happening in the hangar, and what happened in their lives, before we move to talking about everyone else. 

Here's where you come in.  I want to start a list of great things to discuss that doesn't involve other people, the weather, or where the bear was last seen.  We have all been friends long enough that we know favorite movies, books, food, desired super powers, and future plans.  What do you talk about when you get together with your friends?

some things to look forward to...

-change
-snow
-cooking for myself
-hosting parties
-no internet
-big house
-caramel apples
-dryer


I'm going to be housesitting for the next 5 weeks.  Some friends of mine are off to Hawaii, and want to make sure that their whole water system is not frozen solid when they get back, so they have asked me to stay at their house while they are gone. 

The above list is not to say that I am discontent with the way things are now, just that I am looking forward to having things different for a little while.  I do well with a little change.  I also will really look forward to coming home at the end of it. 

Who knows?  Maybe I will come up with some deep philosophical things to share while I am there.  Or maybe I will remain silent.  We shall see!

Old time Alaskans tell me that fireweed indicates the change from summer to winter.  All summer, the fireweed can be seen as a timer.  At first, the bottom blooms, with a long stem of blossoms yet to come.  As the summer wears on, you see the first blossoms die as the blooms creep higher up the stem.  When the last blossom blooms, there is seven weeks till winter.  Or the first snowfall.  Tradition is a little uncertain on this one.  Anyways.

Between summer and winter is the prettiest season: fall.  All the leaves on the trees turn yellow, adding drama to the mountainsides.  The fireweed turns to a firey red, and all the tundra comes alive with fall colors.  Termination dust (snow) starts in the tops of the mountains, creeping its way lower and lower until there is snow on the ground. 

How do I know all these things will happen?  Because it happens every year.  I was reading somewhere (I'm pretty sure it was CS Lewis, but not positive) that God created the changing of seasons because humans need both consistency and change.  We find security in knowing what is coming, but when we things don't change, we get stuck in a rut.  Therefore, with the constant change of seasons, we have security in knowing what is coming, while things are constantly in motion around us.  God created us with those needs and He created the world to fill them. 

The glorification of "busy"

As I drug myself out of bed this morning, I was already thinking through the things I need to do in the next couple days.  Work, youth group with the girls, pack, work, head to town, plan trip to town.... not to mention my neglected blog that I hardly think about anymore.  I was stressed before I even drug myself out from under the covers. 

As the summer season slips away and fall comes at us full force, I think the village as a whole hopes to catch their breath.  But it never happens.  Winter activities start up: Bible studies, Awana, prayer meetings, school activities, plotting pranks, craft nights, and regular social gatherings keep us going non-stop.  It seems like the action never stops around here. 


Many of these activities involve relationship building, which is great.  Living in a small community definitely gives us opportunities aplenty to practice relational living and "doing life together" as one of my favorite pastors calls it.  Oftentimes I will come home to a pile of laundry that still needs to be done and a room that I was supposed to clean, and ignore it for a more exciting social opportunity. 



I know I am not alone in this feeling of "busy."  I can only imagine how much more busy the people living in town are, who have more friends, commutes, gym memberships and text messaging to keep them even more busy.  Just being in amongst the hustle and bustle of a bunch of people makes me feel the need to GO GO GO every time I visit town.

After the socially acceptable, "hi, how are you?" "Good how are you?" "good" interaction, the next commonly asked question is, "how have you been?"  It seems like everyone's standard answer is "Busy!  Just really busy..."  I take pride in my activities.  I feel complete when my schedule is so full that I can't stop for an evening to drop by a friend's house just to visit for a little while, or invite one of the high school girls over to make cookies. 

I guess its nothing new.  Psalms 46 addresses the chaos of life, and especially what I tend to miss in my day to day busyness.  I've copy/pasted the whole thing, underlining the text that I need to work harder to put into practice.  I'm sure I am not the only one who could use some improvement in this area! 

Psalm 46
1 God is our refuge and strength,
    an ever-present help in trouble.
² Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
    and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
³ though its waters roar and foam
    and the mountains quake with their surging.^[c]

⁴ There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
    the holy place where the Most High dwells.
⁵ God is within her, she will not fall;
    God will help her at break of day.
⁶ Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall;
    he lifts his voice, the earth melts.

⁷ The Lord Almighty is with us;
    the God of Jacob is our fortress.

⁸ Come and see what the Lord has done,
    the desolations he has brought on the earth.
⁹ He makes wars cease
    to the ends of the earth.
He breaks the bow and shatters the spear;
    he burns the shields^[d] with fire.
¹⁰ He says, “Be still, and know that I am God; 

    I will be exalted among the nations,
    I will be exalted in the earth.”

¹¹ The Lord Almighty is with us;
    the God of Jacob is our fortress.

life on earth and corrosion

One of the outside (not owned by my company) planes that we maintain is an old DeHavilland Beaver.  Produced in the 50s, they were built to be a bush plane.  There are a few around here that are well maintained, making them a dream machine to work on and see flying.  The one we get to work on was operated in Hawaii for many years, flying in and out of salt water.  Corossive environments such as that are detrimental to aircraft structures, and extreme measures are required to keep them safe. 

That got me thinking about life as a Christian.  Growing up, I often dreamed about a point of maturity where the Christian walk will be easier.  As if there is a point where I will be so tight with God, that I don't even entertain distractions.  But as I have grown up, I am realizing the case will never be.  I think even in Heaven we will be growing and building our relationships with God.  Sure the sin nature will be gone, so it probably will be easier.  But that's not the point I am going for here. 

As I was pondering why it is so hard to maintain a relationship with God, I thought about the world in which I live.  I realized that the problem isn't just me being bad at relationships, its the environment, kind of like float planes in salt water.  So what do I do with this information?  Do I just let my plane sit in the harbor and rot?  Or do I drag it onto shore, spending hours washing it off with fresh water, inspecting to make sure the paint is keeping the metal from being exposed, and coat all hardware with a rust-inhibiting chemical? 

Do I accept the environmental hazards, and let my relationship with Christ fall victim to harsh conditions, or do I see the challenge, and take extra precaution to protect myself from the world? 

If you know me at all, you probably know which option I strive to achieve.  It's just comforting to me to be able to identify why it is difficult :)

birthday cake

Ralph (the owner of the house I rent a room in) celebrated a birthday last week, so I decided to throw him a party, complete with a cake.  I asked Autumn if she would help me (a clever ruse to kidnap her beautiful kitchen) and planned to head over there Wednesday after work. 

I was planning on making a jelly roll, and frosting it to look like a birch log, making some crack about "another year down!"  chopping down trees sort of thing.  Decorating looks pretty easy, would turn out really well, etc.  However, I didn't realize that jelly rolls are actually difficult to make.  Involving beating egg yolks for 5 minutes (hooray the kitchenaide) and whipping egg whites to the point of stiff peaks.  Not that those things are particularly hard, just quite involved.  Then you fold stuff together, and bake for 15 minutes, and flip it over on a towel covered in powdered sugar, roll up, and let cool before unrolling to spread the filling out.  Re-roll, and decorate. 

Armed with Autumn's mantra of "frosting covers a multitude of sins" we start on this adventure.  We followed the directions, mostly.  I got a little impatient with the egg yolks, so I shorted them about a minute of whipping.  Not detrimental.  I got things a little out of order when it comes to folding them together.  Shouldn't matter.  Baked it fine, maybe a little dry on one side.  Our big problem came when it hung on to the pan for dear life.  Yes, to those of you asking, we did grease the pan.  We flipped it over onto the towel (insert physics lesson here regarding displaced air and powdered sugar's nearly weightless state, resulting in displaced air transferring powdered sugar EVERYWHERE).  No luck.  We tapped on the pan.  The only result of that was more powdered sugar shooting out the sides.  Finally Autumn handed me a spatula.  The thing came off in chunks.  Non-salvagable chunks.  Even frosting couldn't piece this jelly roll together. 

Thankful for plan B, I ran home and grabbed some boxed cake mixes, and made a lovely double layered cake, complete with artwork from Ralph's 5 year old grandson adorning the top.  The guys in the hangar even got to enjoy "brownie thins" the next day, so it wasn't a total loss! 

My aunt suggested baking the jelly roll on parchment paper.  It will come out of the pan easier, and you can peel the paper off before rolling in the towel.  I guess this won't be my last jelly roll attempt...

carpal tunnel, part 3

I called the doctor's office on a Friday afternoon.  It was late in the day, and I assume everyone had gone home already.  They called back at work on Monday, and I took the next available appointment, Wednesday afternoon, for a pre-surgery consultation.  I told all the people that needed to know at work, got on the schedule, and headed into town early Wednesday morning.  I had enough time to go to the insurance office in person to let them know what was going on.  She told me to give her a call after my appointment, let her know what the doctor said, and she would look over my claim in the meantime. 

I go in to see the surgeon, and we discuss the surgery, and he clears me for it.  Basically, there is a not very stretchy ligament that goes over the carpal tunnel (a tight spot where finger ligaments, the median nerve, and I think the thumb muscle goes).  As best as I can understand, the ligaments will get inflamed from aforementioned aggressors, which causes the median nerve to get squished.  This is what causes the numbness/tingling.  The surgery cuts the ligament that goes over this tunnel, releasing the pressure on the nerve. 
 
"Well," I begin. "I am from out of town, about 200 miles west of here, so if it can be taken care of in the next few days, that would be ideal.  It would save me a flight in and out."
"I am in the operating room tomorrow," he responds. "So if insurance approves it, I can fit you in."
"This is a workman's comp claim," I inform him. "Is that going to be a problem?"
"Workers comp claims usually take a week to get approval, but we will give them a call and see."
With that, he left to make the phone call.  Since I had stopped by the office earlier in the day, she already had looked at my file and knew what was going on.  She approved the surgery, and I saw about 5 more people at the doctors office to get everything together.  A nurse came in for my vitals, the surgeon's assistant filled out more paperwork with me, the physician I had previously seen came in and told me to take care of myself, the scheduler got me a whole bunch of info on pre-surgery, day of surgery, and post surgery instructions, there was a perscription involved in there somewhere, and a whole bunch of other stuff.  I walked out of teh office with surgery orders for the next morning, checking in at 7 am. 

I still look back and shake my head at how the Lord totally orchestrated the whole thing, from an early flight in so I could see the insurance adjuster, to the surgeon already being scheduled in the OR the next day, to everything falling into place around me, I knew that He was there with me.  I was scared, but I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that it was arranged ahead of time.  That evening, I met up with friends for burgers then yogurt lounge, where everyone told me their best "coming out of anesthesia" story.

The next morning, I checked in, filled out some paperwork, and the whole process started.  Every person I talked to I had to confirm that I was doing left hand open carpal tunnel release.  I get dressed in the awesome surgery duds, have to pee in a cup to prove that I'm not pregnant (I laughed when I heard that is why they needed a urine sample), and the nurses started to get me set up.  As I was getting sat down, the surgeon comes by, says hi, and reassures me that I will be all fixed up in no time.  Suddenly, they realize that they are ready for me in the OR, so the nurses double team on the prep and get me through in record time.  One is asking me questions while the other is putting an IV in my hand.  After the interrogation was done, I thanked the nurse for distracting me from the IV. 

We went into the operating room, got laid down on the table, 4 more people asked me what they were doing, someone signed my arm to indicate the correct arm, and they told me they started the anesthesia.  Weirdest thing ever, it made my wrist ache.  (my right wrist, as the IV was in my right hand).  I asked if that was supposed to happen, and they said it was normal.  Ok, no worries, wow, I should lay down. I thought before closing my eyes.  Next thing I know, they were wheeling me into the recovery area, my left hand was all wrapped up, and I had no idea what was going on.  Tears started streaming down my cheeks.  I heard a nurse say, "It's ok, don't cry!" and I thought, I'm crying?  Weird... I guess its better than the other stories I heard. 

The friend picking me up was in classes for another hour or so, so I just sat back, they let me watch TV, and I drank a coke.  First how in the world am I supposed to operate with one hand? moment happened when I tried to open the straw.  I realized two things at this point.  One, how much I use my left hand, two, how much I don't like asking people for help.  I felt ridiculous as the nurse came and helped me get the straw out of the wrapper.  The surgeon came by and told me that the nerve was very squished, and he thinks I will be really happy with the results when everything heals up.  I could tell right away that it was going to be better.  Either that or it was the numbness...




The rest of the recovery process went really smoothly for the most part.  The first thing the guys in the hangar said when I came back was, "Where's your cast?  I wanted to cut it off!!"  10 days after the surgery, I went in to get the wrapping off and stitches out.  The surgeon repeated several times how squished the nerve was, and at some point said, "Well, we know you weren't lying about it!"  Putting those two statements together, I have come to the conclusion that he probably didn't really believe me.  I get it.  Its not something that is seen in people my age.  Most of the people he sees with carpal tunnel are at least in their 50s.  mid 20s is incredibly young to be having these problems.  But its fixed now, and I am just waiting on the recovery time to be done, so I can return to normal life. 

I'm so thankful that it happened the way it did, like I said, totally God's working.  Any later, and it would have put recovery time right into our insanely busy season. 

Carpal tunnel, part 2

I decided to talk to my supervisor about it.  We filled out the workman's comp paperwork, and I went in to see an orthopedic physician.  He confirmed what I had suspected: carpal tunnel.  We discussed options.  Since I was doing my best with the brace and anti-inflammatories, the only remaining options were cortizone shots or surgery.  He said he wouldn't do surgery until a nerve conduction study was done to see how bad it is, so while I waited for that, I could think on the two options. 

According to more research, I learned that the vibrations of air tools are a big aggressor of carpal tunnel. In fact, according to the department of labor's list of careers most likely to have carpal tunnel claims, maintenance is higher up than computer/desk work.  Women are also 3 times as likely to get it than men.  Lots of things seemed to be stacking up against me, despite my very young age. 

After Christmas, I went for a shocking experience, which was really not that much fun.  They send electricity through various nerves to test how much resistance there is.  Between that test and a follow up appointment with the physician, things had improved, and I was going on vacation for two weeks, which is a great chance to rest my hand.  I decided to see if the time off would help, and be in touch if symptoms got worse.  The physician thought it was a great plan, and reminded me that we always have surgery in our back pocket as an option if needed. 

I was right, vacation helped.  No symptoms, no pain, but I wasn't using my hands nearly as much as when I am at work 8 hours a day.  When I got back to work, it wasn't long before symptoms kicked in again, as bad or worse than before.  I got to the point where I couldn't hold on to tools, my hand would go numb when working in inspection holes, and I couldn't buck or shoot rivets with my left hand. Despite wearing a brace at night, I wasn't sleeping well.

After much prayer and consideration, I called the doctor.  I knew something needed done, and I knew it needed done sooner rather than later.  We had a schedule lined out at work for finishing the 207, but I knew that I wouldn't be much use if I couldn't do any riveting. 

Throughout the process, I felt a lot of pressure from different people.  Certain coworkers implied I just needed to man up and deal with it, while others understood the problems.  Some friends advised me to take care of my body above all else, while others implored me to avoid surgery.  Still others told me that I don't want this on my medical records.  But the decision was mine to make, and I made it. 

To be continued...

surgery, recovery, and life (or carpal tunnel, part 1)

My blog is doomed.  You know how I know?  I have been not working for almost a month now, and I still can't find time in my nothingness to write.  Sure, there is a bit of needing inspiration, but mostly, its lacking in motivation.  And if I'm not motivated to write when I am desperately bored, how in the world will I find motivation when I am caught up in the throes of summer?  Perhaps in my "nothing to do" in the next two weeks, I can find motivation to write.  Its worth hoping, right? 

Oh right.  Maybe not everyone knows about why I haven't been working for almost a month.  Since I have time, I might as well tell you the long version of the story. 

Last winter, I would wake up at night with a numb hand.  being not entirely coherent, I didn't have much clue as to what was going on, so I associated it with having circulation cut off somehow by how I sleep.  As it became more consistent, I paid a little more attention to it.  I realized that it was always my left hand, and it was specifically my thumb, index, middle, and not as much in my ring finger. 

Armed with a little more definite symptoms, I took to the internet.  And what I found scared me.  carpal tunnel syndrome.  Really?  I thought that happened to old people who worked at computers all their lives.  The more I read, the more i discovered that it has everything to do with using hands, specifically repetitive motions.  The thing that scared me the most about it is how much I use my hands.  As a mechanic, my hands are my primary source of income.  Would I have to find something else to do with my life?

I called my ever faithful personal nurse (aka mom) to tell her about what was going on, ask advice, and see what she thought.  She talked to me about taking anti-inflammatories, and sent me a brace to sleep in.  The first night I slept in the brace, I slept better than I had in weeks, and realized that it was the numbness waking me up.  After a few weeks of sleeping in the brace, it got a lot better, and I didn't have to sleep in the brace.  Numbness and pain came on and off throughout the next year, but it was completely managable with the brace and ibprofen when it did come up. 

Then this last winter, we started on our big winter project in the hangar- our 207 overhaul.  Anyone who knows anything about silver bullet projects like this knows that it involves a lot of sheet metal fabrication, which involves a lot of rivet guns, drills, and die grinders.  Around Thanksgiving, symptoms were back in full force, and home treatments weren't effective anymore. 

(this post is getting rather long, so I will break the story up.)

To be continued...

anticipation

Let's face it, its been a cold winter.  For an entire month, the temperature crept above zero for less than two days.  Most of the time it hovered around -30.  The bitter cold made an escape to a warm, tropical destination much sweeter.  Mom and I begun planning our trip to Hawaii in October, but when the abnormally long cold snap came, I was even more grateful.

And everyone around me knew it. 

At work, I reported to co-workers how many days before I would be lounging on a warm beach.

At Bible study, the ladies would roll their eyes at my praise: an upcoming tropical getaway.

Even the girls were giving me advice on sunbathing and staying away from surfers. 

When I went into Anchorage, I let the world know where I was headed.  From the people at the doctor's office to the people standing in line with me at the coffee shop, everyone was aware, and probably a little jealous, that I was escaping the cold and darkness for two whole weeks. 

Based on the cold, Hawaii seems like paradise.  But as I thought about how excited I was to share about my temporary escape, I started to wonder, Why am I not more excited to share about my permanent escape?


I realized that Hawaii may seem like paradise, but its not heaven.  Don't get me wrong, I had a blast.  Its beautiful and wonderful there.  But not heaven. 

Heaven is heaven.

I am going there.  And not just for two weeks, but forever.  I get to spend forever in a place that is infinitely more wonderful than Hawaii.

Forever.  

Now that is a little more exciting than getting out of the cold for a couple weeks.  

207 Fuel selector overhaul

Fuel is crucial.  Ask any pilot.  Whether you are in the air and want fuel to flow to your engine, or on fire, wanting the fuel to STOP going to the engine, a properly working selector valve is pretty important.  So when you have a working valve, it makes one nervous to take it apart and replace O-rings.  Especially when one of the most experienced guys in the shop walks up, says, "wow, you are brave!" and walks away.  But I survived, and it passed leak tests.  The real test will be when it goes in the plane, but for now, I can be happy about actually succeeding.  And having pictures.

Fuel selector, lines marked, ready for removal

cleaning with acetone.  Making sure not to erase alignment marks!

Old O-rings. I think they were originally round. The sticker on the unit had a cure date from '69. Replacement is well overdue. 

All the parts and pieces lined up, just like the picture from the manual

I don't have a picture of it all back together, but rest assured that its no longer in 14 million little pieces.  My tips for anyone attempting this act:

1. read the instructions from the manual, copy pictures, take notes, cross off steps already completed, whatever it takes to make sure you do everything in order and don't miss a step.
2. Disassemble on a tray or something to help catch little pieces.  There are 6 springs, 2 little silver balls, and countless other pieces that are easy to lose and expensive to replace.  
3. Lubricate sparingly with fuel-lube.  DC-4 is much more likely to clog stuff up, and is not as compatible with fuel.  Or so they told me. 
4. make sure you have everything lined up exactly right when you put it together. I think I had to remove and install the last roll pin about 5 times, cause something wasn't lined up right, then i forgot the washer, then something else wasn't exact, then I forgot the washer again... rest assured that it is now perfect :)

Argh!

I had a whole post about a delectable pot of salmon chowder that I made completely disappear!  I am totally frustrated with blogger right now!  Ok, so its possibly my fault a little... but still! Where did my witty instructions on how to cook like me go??  I will get you next time, blogger...

Look at how good I am doing...

... at not keeping up the blog already this year!  Well the past few weeks have been full of adventures in town, house sitting, moving back home (PTA home, not oregon home), and planning for Hawaii.  Last week, we finally broke the -30 streak by warming up to -10.  Man it feels warm in comparison!  It dropped back down again for the weekend, then came up ABOVE FREEZING on tuesday!  Seriously thought I was in the tropics, since it was over 60 degrees warmer.  This too shall pass though, as it is now back to 20 below.  We did manage to get in a blizzard and a good solid dumping of snow in the past few days.  I think the trend for the rest of the week is single digits during the day, below zero at night, and clear.  Not too shabby for Alaska!