Whoosh!

Getting the shaft back into Nelleke is turning out to be more of a challenge than I had thought that it would. What I had thought would be the most difficult, namely sliding the shaft in through the hull, cutlass bearing and stuffing box was all done in a jiffy. Sliding the end of the shaft into the transmission coupling is turning out to be quite a different thing. When the shaft is installed it is in a very awkward place to try to hammer on the coupling, there simply isn’t any room to swing the hammer. As it is, after spending most of the afternoon and after several conversations with the fitters at the Lunenburg Foundry and at their recommendation, I took the coupling off. At about the same time I discovered that all the exertion had re-aggravated the healing process after my last kidney stone procedure so I figured I had better give things a rest before continuing, perhaps next week sometime. Man, this whole kidney stone business is starting to become the nightmare that never ends! It all started back in February 2010 and it is still going on. I have spoken to several medical types plus former patients and they all tell me that this is normal. I just wish that someone had told me some way to avoid it way back before the whole thing had started. Apparently there is both a genetic predisposition plus dietary considerations. Well, I couldn’t do anything about the genes (although I don’t quite understand that as no one else in my family has a history of the little beggars) but I sure could about the diet part.

At any rate we have made some progress and will make more as soon as the old carcass settles down and gets itself healed.

I did beg off going into work on Saturday, my one day a month, and drive back home to surprise Barb. Instead, apparently I scared her half out of her wits as she hadn’t heard me drive up.

Whoops.

I’ll try to do some stuff around the house, maybe get the living room floor done, and I’ll toddle over to my accompanist’s abode to see if he wants to get some rehearsal time in.