kmkat and her kneedles

Gaming.

 

One of the downers about getting a Mac was the stunning lack of free apps.

Solitaire? Nope.

Mah Jongg? Sorry.

The Cleaner (a little program I downloaded in the 90s that cleans up cut-and-pasted emails by eliminating extraneous line breaks and ">" at the beginning of quoted text)? Only for Windoze.

I did eventually find an inexpensive games for the Mac -- Kitty Spangles Solitaire has been my official play-while-on-hold game for a couple years. I have tried some free Mah Jongg games, both downloadable and online, but I didn't like any of them as well as the one I used to have for Windows.

And of course, now that I have complained that there are no free games for Mac I have discovered a bunch of online games that I can play. (And hope that there is no malicious code on the sites.)

But the biggest disappointment was that our version of Boggle didn't play on the Mac. We got the CD free in a box of cereal years ago. I have installed it on every PC and laptop we have had in that time, including the ones I had for work, plus copied and shared it with other people, and over the years Smokey and I have played it together for hours. Since 2006, however, when I went Mac, we have been limited to playing it on his laptop, mostly when we are on vacation.

Last week Crazy Aunt Purl mentioned online Boggle and the light bulb flashed above my head.

 

We have become addicted all over again.

* * * * *

Last Friday night we were playing online Boggle (yes, it's an exciting life here at Chez Kat™) when a message window popped up from Elder Son. Who informed us he had nearly been killed recently.

This is the same kid who emailed me from South Africa a few years back when he was studying there to say he had been held up at knife point and was feeling really bad that he had lost his cell phone and $60. I had to go lie down for a bit after reading that email.

Anyway, the most recent expiration of one his nine lives happened when the car in which he was a passenger made an inadvisable left turn and was T-boned on the passenger side by a big SUV. The car he was in was totaled because the entire side was caved in, but he suffered only a little scrape on his shin.

Kids. They make your heart sing and they make it fall through the floor.

* * * * *

This was the scene on the first morning of our most recent camping trip.

 

 

 

 

It was at this point that I got so excited to have coffee that I forgot all about the camera.

Knee update. North Shore.

First, let's get the medical details out of the way. Many people are bored by medical details; if you are one, just skip ahead to the part after the * * * * *. I find such details fascinating, even when they are not mine own.

Results of the MRI: yes, there is indeed a floater/foreign body in my knee. The nurse practitioner didn't say so, but I am assuming it is a bone chip caused by the second fall, the one directly onto my kneecap.

There is also a bit of torn cartilage. That's probably from the first fall, the face plant onto concrete in front of 100+ people.

And I have prepatellar bursitis, which the link calls "housemaid's knee." That would account for the swelling in the front of my knee and the numbness of that skin. Nurse said it might just be blood from the bruising, and if so, it will be reabsorbed by my body. If not, I may have to have an incision on the front of my knee to drain *it*, whatever *it* is.

In the meantime, I will have arthroscopic surgery to remove the floater and repair/remove the torn cartilage. The staff are working to schedule it the same day as when my ortho doc will remove the screws and bolt and plate from my ankle; that means just one 100-mile round trip and one anesthesia, yay. It will happen on Friday, August 28. Mark your calendars.

The nurse also had me get an ultrasound of that leg from the groin to the ankle to be sure I didn't have any blood clots. Results = no clots. Afterward I asked the tech what would have happened if there had been clots.

"Oh, usually they put you in the hospital and give you blood thinners."

Yikes. I hadn't realized that part could be so serious, although upon reflection I realize of course it is.

Oh, and I seem to have some infection in that knee and shin (the link above mentions that the bursa can get infected when injured). Hot packs and antibiotics are in progress.

::sigh::

All this because I couldn't keep track of my feet...

* * * * *

Now for the more interesting stuff.

The week after the fall we went camping again, this time on the North Shore (of Lake Superior). Weather was a bit damp and cool, but that really didn't bother us -- we tend to nap/read/eat/knit/snuggle dogs when camping. All that can be done in the camper if necessary.

We had dinner one night with Smokey's old boss, who is now retired and who has a cabin near Grand Marais. We ate at the Cascade Restaurant:

 

 

The views from our table by the window:

Even though the weather was not 100% cooperative while we were camping, I think I got some very nice photos, one or two perhaps worthy of entry at the fair next year.

 

Oh, and proof I was knitting:

Sunday bullets.

I need to catch y'all up on stuff; hence, bullets.

* MRI last Thursday. Loud, but since they were looking at my knee rather than my head, not particularly claustrophobic.

* Will get results Monday.

* Earlier on Thursday felt the floating thing in knee occasionally wedge itself into the joint when walking, thus making it impossible to straighten leg.

* Thinking this means arthroscopic surgery to remove bone chip.

* No biggie.

* Tried to get new lens for glasses to replace one that cracked when face plant occurred. Called place where originally got glasses.

* LensCrafters is scam place.

* Told me I couldn't get just one lens, had to get both, new one would be made by different technician, might not match, visual irregularities, blah blah blah... $500.

* Two words for them: Quality.Control.

* Me, aghast: "Five hundred bucks? Sorry, I will go somewhere else and get new glasses."

* Them: [snippy snippy uppity uppity] "...[blah blah]..."

* Went to Sam's Club.

* Eye exam + new glasses =  $321.

* Take that, LensCrafters!

* Screws, plate, and long bolt securing ankle broken last year will come out, day surgery, August 28.

* Ortho surgeon still a cutie and bit of a hunk.

* :-)

* Technicolor knee & leg fading to more or less normal colors. Boring.

* Even normal-colored knee & leg still painful. Annoying.

* Other leg, both arms, back, head all intact and relatively normal. Reassuring.

* Trying to find comfort in above.

* Glass half full, etc.

* Worked at county library/Friends of Libraries booth at county fair Saturday.

* First time in seven years working there that temperature and humidity below 90 (32℃).

* :-)

* Knitting sock in public attracted another knitter.

* Pleasant knitterly chat ensued.

* Was told I should enter my socks at the fair.

* Subsequently checked out knitting and crochet entries.

* Very sad.

* Couple sweaters† knit from nice yarn, one pair of socks in Tofutsie, a lot of items knit or crocheted in acrylic.

* Anything I have knit in the past five years, including dishcloths, is at least as good as what I saw (except for the sweaters -- see † below).

* Already planning what to enter next year.

* Not that I am competitive or anything.

* Chatted with UW-Extension guy who is 4H coordinator for county.

* (On his governing committee; that's how I know him.)

* Remote possibility that I may be judging 4H knitting sometime in future.

* Went out for dinner last night with three other couples from lake.

* Most excellent new-ish Vietnamese restaurant in Grantsburg, small town 37.5 miles north of here.

* Long way to drive for a meal.

* Meal worth it.

* Group chatted with owner after dinner.

* She and boyfriend worked in restaurants in Twin Cities for years, wanted their own.

* Thought this location in Grantsburg would be good because there were no other Asian restaurants nearby.

* Nearby = 40+ miles.

* Perhaps that should have been indication of local interest in Asian food?

* Business very slow at first, picking up now.

* As previously mentioned, food = excellent (aspargus basil shiitake mushrooms with grilled shrimp).

* Must re-visit restaurant; many other items of interest on menu.

 

That's enough for today. Go now and enjoy the rest of your weekend!

† The winning item was a sweater knit by a woman whom I know slightly through the local fiber guild. I didn't read the entry card beyond her name, but I expect that she spun the yarn (wool/llama blend, I think, and from her own animals). It was an Icelandic-style, fair isle circular yoked pullover, thick and warm enough to substitute for a winter coat. The other sweater -- knit by the woman with whom I chatted -- was a deep red lacy pullover  with a shawl collar in wool/mohair/alpaca blend. Both sweaters were lovely and definitely worthy of the winning ribbons. It was the rest of the entries that failed to impress me.