ShopTalk: Ure Plays Wine Receiver + Avoiding Falls

by

Worth having a discussion about senior housing accessibility for two reasons this week.  

First is wife Elaine who will have a hip replacement sooner, or later.  We went to “hip school” last week (more on this in a minute) and learned a lot about what to avoid.

Second was – when I went to the store on the semi-weekly food run this week – I managed to trip and fall in the parking lot.  Yeah – second pretty good fall, too, in as many months.  So let’s start there.  Ever see – was it Michael Douglas? – in Falling Down?

Winter Ahead, Fall Down

Pull into the pick up slot.  Out comes the cart with a couple of weeks worth of food on it.  We eat well, so there was a lot to pack in.  I generally mask and glove-up and put some of the delicate stuff in the back seat.

This week, the back seat had 3-bottles of champagne on the floor.  18-eggs and some breads on the seat.  And a 96-roll equivalent Mega of toilet paper.

But as I brought two gallons of wine over to the car, I didn’t see the long (black) handle on the shopping trolley.  Mask…fogged lenses…following?

Fell hard!

But, in one of those martial arts moments on the way down (with a gallon jug of wine in each hand) I had one of those great time dilation moments known to martial artists and people in serious accidents.

I remember thinking “…falling…ah yes.  With two gallons of wine in glass jugs.  Asphalt parking lot?  Could be bad.  Yes, this could also hurt.  Broken glass?  Greater risk…   How about we go for a right shoulder rolling impact, while  crossing the right-side jug of vino to the left, and get hands to decelerate the wine jug impact to just below breaking speed?  Shoulder?  Ready?  Hands…  hands????  Pretend this is the end zone play in  the Super Bowl… here comes that asphalt…

SMACK!!!

It was a pretty good hit, and roll, but the hands got the wine-slowing right and neither bottle broke…which was great.

I laid there for a half-second assessing things:   Knuckles of left hand?  Asphalt rash.  Right hand?  3/8th’s inch bleeder on the outside wrist bone bump.  Knees?  Left was fine…right one?  Asphalt burn, sore as hell.  Should???  Mobility was good (sort as hell).  Other?  A few stars from the impact, but you don’t want to lay on  a Wal-Mark parking lot too long!

No rips or tears in the clothing….but why a “second fall?”  What the hell’s going on, here?

In the car on the way home two potential sources of trouble:  One was the two falls had the same pair of shoes:  Sketchers, but on nice and snug.  Ah…what about the new glasses worn on both occasions?

Got home and put on the old glasses, then the new ones, then back and forth.

That nailed it:  The new glasses (almost black frame) kept me from seeing things about 3-feet in front of me.  Ah!  Now we can fix!

So popped online to the cheapo eyewear site.  Looked for reading (and going out) glasses which were (bottom) frameless.

They will be here in a couple of weeks.

Lesson?  Important!

Little things – which might not have been noticed when you were young – can bite you on the ass when you get older.

30-years ago, I would have done a great recovery from tripping over a food cart hand down on the ground…same color, or not.  The legs were a bit faster then.

But rather than chalk it up to growing clumsiness with 72-in touching range, I went looking for new causes.

And there it was.  Higher level of the lower glasses frame equals less seen.  Equals more falls.  As things sneak in under the see-dar.

Two things happen when you get older:  Your eyes change (and your prescription).  Many people find (as I have) that contacts mostly suck.  Especially when working in the shop or dusty activities like the garden or mowing.

So, in order to reduce the odds of a fall – from simply not seeing what’s in front of you – go with frameless lowers on your glasses.  Anything simple like this to tilt the odds in your favor is a good thing.

Grabbing the Shower

No picture, sorry, but there are some projects that are flat-out fun to do.

One reason is they are important and potentially useful.  Anther is they look good. Such was the installation in the master bath of a 2 Pack 16 Inch Anti Slip Shower Grab Bar Handle, ZUEXT Chrome Stainless Steel Bathroom Grab Bar, Knurled Bathroom Balance Bar,Safety Hand Rail for $36-bucks.

A couple of other things (while bending the card a bit):  Anti-skid memory foam bathroom mats and one for Elaine’s side of the bed.

As long as we’re doing self-care….

Shop Towels

Since we’re in cleaning mode, a portion of this week was spent doing the “shop laundry.”  When you have a ton of projects going on, you invariably will find the need for lots of wipes.

Paper towels are fine – too expensive, though.  And while we are mostly off paper towels – having gone to Z-fold towels like Genuine Joe GJO21100 Multifold Towels, 9.5″ x 9.10″, pack of 16 ($23, Amazon) – in the house, there are still some things in the shop – especially plastic and glass work – where microfibers are the only way to go.

In order to not buy a new 50-pack a month, we set up a small cardboard box.  When it gets full, anything that’s been used in the shop gets tosses into its own “special washer load” with about double the usual soap and then double rinsed.

On the way back to the shop, there’s a stop wherever’s convenient (like the chop saw today) which is turned into a sorting station.

(By the way, notice under the saw is a scrap wood catcher and sawdust bin?  Measure and get one.  Anything for less work.

There are three piles:  Still like new, no lint.  These come to the office and electronics bench.  Middle pile:  Still suitable for plastic and glass.  Clean shop work. Right pile (kinda tacky, but good for hands.

Idea it that most towels will have four lives:  New/clean, recycled through the office, then through the shop, and then on greasy dirty metalwork or insecticides or whatever…from which they are retired.

No laughter about the white cotton gloves with the grippers:  Cool in summer sunshine and the diesel comes out of them if you run plenty of soap in the wash.

I try to do this load with Elaine’s a sleep.

Well, more to do with a big week ahead.  Have a second cup and take the rest of this half-hour off…

If KC wins today, the market’s done.

Write when you get rich,

George@Ure.net

53 thoughts on “ShopTalk: Ure Plays Wine Receiver + Avoiding Falls”

  1. I cringed as you described your fall. So pleased you survived, nothing broken – even the jugs of wine! You are one tough dude, my friend!

    • Another thought about shower precautions. It doesn’t hurt if you take conscious thought about stepping in and out of the shower. I consciously say to myself “Graceful and sure footed” as I get in and out of the shower. It makes me pay attention to what I’m doing. It’s not a bad idea when on stairs or when walking on ice, Try it.

      Ken

    • Glad you survived the fall, George. I can sure relate. Had 2 close calls this last month. After having my spine paralyzed in my coma (to keep me docile), my feet and lower legs just want to go one way, while my upper body is working on another way. I tripped over something in my husband’s shop and I went flying into a lift, and by the grace of God my arm went out and caught me before I ended head first into it. I pulled my back, and hit my toe, but I made it. The week before, I was stepping off the curb to take some trash out, and I lost my balance and hit the side of the building grazing my upper arm in a nice rash. Whew! Six years ago, when healthy at 54, I tripped over a raised part of a separated side walk, and landed hard, and actually skidded, right on to my face and it pushed my glasses up. I hurt my ankle and knee but got up to live to see another day.
      All I can say, is I haven’t fallen in 40 years! So, one thing that is so valuable for kids is to learn the laws of physics while they are young, and they can mainly do this OUTSIDE (except for jumping on the beds and crashing the slats)…. and that way, they too, can make it into their 50’s, 60’s, and 70’s, and beyond and SURVIVE falls; muscle memory.

      Grab bars in showers. When I took care of my Dad in our house, I had them installed. Who knew five years after he was gone that I, myself, would be using them, and his wheelchair, and his walker. Like I used to tell him, to encourage him, as his body changed and couldn’t do what it used to do. I would say, “Dad, these are just tools, just like you used tools in your professional life, these are tools to use as you age so that you can stay safe.” He liked logic, and he mostly cooperated.

  2. Sorry to hear about your fall. Why twice? Because things happen twice. It’s actually good you got the second fall out of the way now, could’a been a worse one later. Sometimes the universe is kind in that respect. No spilled wine, good save !! (that’s a good sign.) You heal up, work the soreness out and carry on. Stay healthy. We need you out here Buddy. Blessings.

  3. Well George, Dionysus, aka Bacchus, aka Liber Pater, was definitely smiling down upon you. So was Carlo Rossi. Ure’s truly being precisely two years shy of 70 and not known to be ballet/gymnastics nimble, I understand the amazing agility and good fortune required for you to emerge that foible relatively unscathed! I hope that you avoid the all too common day two pain explosion, as it seems to now take the neurons in impact regions that long to understand what the brain is telling recently happened. Most of all, I’m glad to hear your head avoided ground terminal velocity impact, which is all too common for such falls. That could’ve been tragic for all of us, but especially for you and Elaine!

  4. Junior (George)

    “But rather than chalk it up to growing clumsiness with 72-in touching range, I went looking for new causes.”

    Speed is a killer! Not only on the road but on your body. As I hit 72 tomorrow, happy birthday to me, I have found that I still try to operate my bod as if I were 20. I have to make an effort to slow down and think through actions I used to do automatically. If you don’t slow down you can put your body in a configuration that leads to a fall. That and a lack of visual acuity could lead to a permanent stop it you get my meaning!

    Note: As I must be on the road tomorrow attending to family business I will be celebrating my Birthday today. As for you Monsieur George Happy Birthday in advance. I hope that a chocolate cake show up today!

  5. Hmmmmm

    Did U see the cover of this month Gay Quarterly ? Creepy joe on cover with a guitar – fingering A -Minor?

    -sitting on a Indian blanket ! is this a clue – signalling the produce selling pirate a super bowl victory(corn/buck an ear)

    How gay is creppy ? – look at some of those photo shopped images in the issue – almost as gay as obummer..alright maybe not THAT gay, but gay none the less, not that sexual orientation should matta…

    what did ole creepy say when he first met mayor buttigeig in a DC bar? mind if I push Ure stool in?

  6. George,

    Can appreciate the glasses thing. Even though it is not the current style, I buy the largest lens size I can find and for non-working glasses, no lower rim. On the farm I get full metal frames (large lens) with safety lens. Have several cast away pairs that have huge scratches or dings from flying metal, but the eyes survived. Learned that the hard way years ago when the doctor had to extract a piece of metal from my eye and use a small “buffer/grinder” to erase the rust stain from the eye. Not a pleasant experience, and not one to repeat.

    Will soon have to have cataract surgery for two reasons, cataracts and angle closure glaucoma. Already had laser holes bored in both eyes 15 years ago for the glaucoma, but doctor says cataract surgery will eliminate problem completely. Time is near because I am beginning to see “rainbow halos” around headlights at night. Doctor says that is a good sign that cataracts are about ready. (along with his visual exam).

    Falls seem to go with age, especially with arthritic knees, decreased agility, and generally being clumsy. My biggest problem is that I am constantly peeling the hide of the back of my hands or forearms. Does not matter if I wear gloves or not, seems the skin is going to pop. Pull off gloves and it looks like I have been butchering a steer. Have found that powdered alum (pickling spice) will stop the bleeding pronto. Much cheaper than “bleed stop” products at pharmacy and available at grocery. Same chemical as old fashion “styptic pencil” for shaving cuts.

    Bifocals compound the problem of depth perception, but learned that years ago.

    Hope your new glasses help with the problem. I am afraid that you and I both have that disorder known as AGE.

    • Lloyd —

      Your issues are more than age. You need better nutrition! Your skin problems show that clearly.

      You need meat, vegetables and some carbs and good quality oils like olive oil. You also need vitamins — B-bits, Vit E, Magnesium and a Multi-Mineral capsule.

      Plenty of info on the web, and good prices at http://www.Swanson.com.

  7. SAVE THE WINE! SAVE THE WINE!
    Thank God, you had me worried for a moment.
    Try boxed wine, it keeps the air out and they are good for weeks.
    (Do you guys get those down there?)
    Plus they can take the fall LOL

    • “Try boxed wine, it keeps the air out and they are good for weeks.”

      OH NO…. HEAVEN FORBID boxed wine…. Now I have done that in the past.. and I even have the plastic bottles for smaller ones to keg into.. but if it is at all possible.. bottles of wine are the best.. and even better if you can get it in charred oak barrels..

  8. Thank god you saved the wine George.

    Seriously, the balance is also not what it used to be when you reach our age. Remember when you could stand on one leg and put a shoe on the other foot. A very large percentage of folks over 70 are in nursing homes because of falls. Be very careful.

    I am really impressed with the lightning speed of your mind though. Most of us would have at least broken one jug of wine and probably cut an artery in the wrist.

    Enjoy the Super Bowl and best of luck to Elaine in the upcoming surgery. My brother had both hips done and it worked out fine.

  9. I fell on ice a few years ago while on a daily walk, happened so fast I did not achieve any of the self-protective (and wine-protective) movements George did. Landed flat on the back and was out of commission several days but not a “serious” injury. Am pushing 70 and it shook me up, and I could see healing at this age takes 3 times longer than healing 40 years ago. My parents lived self-sufficient in their own home until aged 87, we had encouraged them to downsize and travel, finally my mother fell seriously and they finally decided on assisted living, thank God, but the travel has been cut down compared to what it might have been. As empty-nesters, we are inclined to hop in a van soon to get more travel in, as soon as this pandemic is over in a year or two. But this 3 x healing reminds me, it also takes 3 times longer to recover from a hangover, takin’ it easy on the booze on Superbowl Sunday here!

  10. Get healed up soonest friend.
    Wiki’s can be compiled and Encyclopedias written regarding aging and mobility. The first page should contain instructions on self-assessment and spending more energy and thought on how am I going to avoid falling and busting my a$$ or worse. I cannot seem to multi-task as well as I used to so now what would normally take one trip, no pun intended, takes as many as needed. Took a header recently over the baler tongue when I moved it a couple of feet farther back into the shop for some work. Similar to you, carrying an awkward box and could not see where my feet were going plus the big door was closed and the lights were off, set up a double whammy.

    I now realize why my dad got to be so slow in his later years. He was measuring every step. He told me once he did that because it just might be his last.

    73

  11. Well it is game day… the mini me is asking me to make curls…. so I thought I would share the recipe…

    [This was too good a post to waste on game day…when everyone is snockered by noon-thirty. So look for it next Sat. – g]

  12. Practice balance and ankle strength, between mattresses if you must. I used to ice skate a lot and it really stayed with me. Before covid, I was blading with 20 year olds. A touch of boron(borax) never hurt anyone, and there’s info on the net as to its efficacy in producing stronger bones. YMMV. A bigger problem for myself is that I’m not the speedy one that I used to be, so I’m trying to up my clock rate. I can think deeply but when it comes to running all over the place, I just don’t feel it.

    Congratulations on the save, of both Ure body and Ure wine! It would be terrible to hit the ground and be saturated in red wine and surrounded with broken glass!

    Regarding glasses: I personally like contacts for the field of view. It’s a nightmare to get them in or out, though others seem to be able to do it for me in a heartbeat. Wearing glasses always restricts the field of view, and the worst is peripheral vision. Avoid at all costs frames which cover your side view! I have some sunglasses like that and they’re annoying when driving. I need to remember to keep the head on a swivel. Wraparound lenses are the best. Being outdoors on a sunny day here without sunglasses is a very bad idea, due to the intensity of the sun – especially May-August.

    Best wishes for both Ure healings!

    • I’ve got oversized “pilots” in clear, dark Polaroid, and “shooter’s glasses.” I wear the “shooter’s” when driving in crap weather or when storm-spotting, especially at night (we’re not supposed to spot after dark, but nobody explained that rule to the tornadoes…) I have to be in really bright sun, with water, white sand, or snow, to justify wearing the dark shades, because even as a seasoned Citizen, I’ve really good peripheral vision and I depend on it to keep my butt out of both natural and man-made slings. Dark glasses obliterate it. Oversize lenses, with really thin titanium frames, make for very little blockage of vision. Oh, and they’re single-vision because for me, the convenience of bi- or tri-focals isn’t worth the blot on my FOV…

  13. Well George, glad to hear you survived the experiment. Oh…you didn’t know you were running an experiment? Sure you were, and the result is….GRAVITY STILL WORKS!

    • Sign found at the exit door of a skydiving school: “REMEMBER… THE LAW OF GRAVITY IS STRICTLY ENFORCED!”

  14. Dam George.. you are lucky.. the good lord was watching over you..
    The most embarrassing fall ihad was getting the mail.. I stepped wrong and down I went. A lady with her walker in her eighties leans over and asked if I needed a hand up.. I said no just let me crawl away in shame..
    It’s so easy to break a bone.. your very fortunate..

    • I look back at my flying, sailing, life, and farm adventures and I have to admit there may b e something to this “carrying good karma into the next life. I musta done some “solids” on the previous go-round, for sure.

    • Except in Texas, where we still can find clean outdoors places in the woods that the bears missed before moving north. Making Texas un -BEARable to some…

      • The pun police will be right there. And it’s about time you got a ’round-tuit’ to install the bath grab bars! My volcano ranch is single story flat on a slab and the grab bars were already installed by a prior owner. When the family elders were having issues, I also installed the bars for their shower and toilet areas ASAP.
        The other issue I’m dealing with now is my blood pressure… lower. After my weight loss and surgery I find that my blood pressure is now lower in the range my Docs like. But I have to be extremely careful getting out of bed or up from a chair. Too fast and I get a flash dizzy spell. So I have become adverse to sudden movements now. Wait for the pressure to stabilize. Which brings up another concern…
        Are you on blood pressure meds? Single biggest ‘side effect’ of BP meds is…. FALLS! I experienced this some years back when I was too heavy and my Doc put me on BP meds. I did not do well on them. I found my feet did not always do what I told them to. I had trouble stepping off a curb and landing flat on my foot, on balance. Took a terrible fall at work just stepping down a single last step. Finally told the Doc to take the pills… I quit. Losing weight lowers blood pressure naturally.

        • On lo BP – aren’t you only a 15 min drive from the home of Kona coffee? My consigliere says 4 cups a day is good for prostate health – but I would be 500 over 250 at those levels…

  16. You did right with the fall. Just roll with it, don’t try to catch yourself; that’s when you get hurt. But do try to protect your head. Falls come out of nowhere when you least expect them. I learned to do that before a hip replacement 20 yrs. ago at 50. Should have had it 5 yrs. sooner. Farm injury as a teenager, learned to live with it.
    Best wishes to your wife, she will have a new lease on life. She will be doing things she hasn’t done in years. It’s scary for you both, but the surgeons do this everyday. Just be careful, Do what the Dr. says, let it heal, and don’t expect the new hips to work exactly like the originals. I had a difficult 6 hour surgery and was working on the roof in 6 weeks. Back to clutching a semi in about 10 weeks. It’s lasted thru 20 years of farming and trucking. The Doc said to only expect 10 years, but it’s still hanging in there.
    Been reading your column since around 98-99? Been awhile.

  17. Happy Super Sunday,, I’m surprised no one has posted this video.. It’s about the stunning theft of our recent election, mostly by China. It was released on Friday, and of course has been banned by YT & Vimeo. It’s by the My Pillow Guy,, and for part of it, the audio and video don’t sync.. Please don’t smirk at the source,, because the people interviewed are cybersecurity experts, computer scientists (including the prof. that ‘invented email’), investigative journalists, and a retired General.

    https://www.simonparkes.org/post/absolute-proof

    and don’t scoff that it’s on Simon Parkes website.. it keeps getting taken down other places. It’s starts off with Mr. Lindall, but gets right in to interviews with folks that seem credible.. decide for yourself..

    If you get tired of the interviews,, skip to 1:36.0.. Reporter Mary Fanning shows a spread sheet,, with terabytes of info.,, documenting the intrusion into 2995 counties in the US (we have 3200 from my dim memory). The logs record origin IP addresses and origin computer ID’s. Then they show the target IP, and the target computer ID,, the time stamp, the type of intrusion, and whether it was successful,,, AND the number of votes flipped from T to b.. There are thousands of pages to this spread sheet. T had over 80 million,, b 68 million.. Consider all the down ballot races that were also flipped??? Dem control congress and senate????

    At about 1:50,, Retired Army General McInerney comes on and sums it up. 2/3 of the attacks came from China.. They have corrupted our politicians, judiciary, and the media to a stunning extent. They are winning WWIII, for pocket change and no bullets.

    So let the skeptics here on US have at it.. My mind has been made up for months. It’s incredible how this has all been suppressed,, and how we have been cowed by the MSM,, cause they have the pervasive voice.

    Who knows what’s the solution?? Righteous Military?? Ignore it because b will do a great job, and it will all be fine?? Public indignation?? (I have an extra pitchfork).

    I’m glad I’m old,, and lived in this country when it was great (at least I believed it was great).. I fear for our future.. looking over the last 3 weeks with a leader who is trampling our Constitution,, and authority looking to criminalize the majority of our population?? We’re doomed unless something happens soon..

    For an astute look at our situation, read this.. In TASS, on Jan. 15, 2021,, and editorial by Dmitry Medvedev (remember him?)(2nd most powerful man in Russia) about the state of the US election:

    https://tass.com/opinions/1245253

    The whole world (except for the ignorant in our country) knows the election was stolen,, (and that we have been meddling in other countries elections for decades),, and they also know if we can’t even be honest with our own people,, that any agreements with the USA are worthless..

    Is that enough? I could say more, but the rest is between the lines. Thanks for reading..
    (Chiefs (I live in Kansas) by a landslide,,, but wait,, I thought T would win by a landslide)

  18. Two things George’
    did your consularie recommend 4 cups of caffeinated coffee or would De-caf work , Of course there is no caffeine BUT all of the other alkaloids are still there?? and some of them border on being very tasty.
    second. When you wash the gloves does the diesel not affect your septic???

  19. My Pillow sued (and lost) for false advertising and tax avoidance:
    https://www.consumerreports.org/my-pillow/my-pillow-health-claims-lawsuit-settlement/

    His products are dropped by major retailers after his election fraud claims:
    https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/mypillow-ceo-mike-lindell-says-products-were-dropped-major-retailers-n1254676

    OAN, who broadcast Lindell’s video, can be sued, along with Giuilani and Fox News, for billions of $$$, for their false fraud election claims:
    https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2021/02/dominion-voting-mike-lindell-mypillow-oan-trump/

    • All the justice money can buy. Lawsuits have NOTHING to do with Truth and lawyers rarely care which way they’re aligned.

      Do they ever give you something interesting like Rice-a-Roni or are you still on the plain white stuff level?

      • Bill, you hit that nail on the head! The Troll prefers to read the lying/controlled so called news sources, like his white rice is stripped of any nutritional value, his news is stripped of the whole truth and is White washed to hide the little hidden lies, he so readily consumes
        He prefers Mother Jones over OAN, like the idiots lined up at McDonalds take out window

    • THE FACT THAT YOU REFERENCE MUTHA JONES IS ALL I NEED TO SEE TO REALIZE THAT YOU ARE FROM THE DARK SIDE. NUF SAID

  20. Three bottles of Champagne and two gallons of wine. Boy it sure is a mystery why a person would fall twice in one day. Trekker Out

  23. just like to send wishes to rick ackerman . one of the real good guys who i think maybe in poor health .. just thought i would pass that on to the shower of sh@@t gibberish crowd here led by ure fearless leader .

  24. Good find concerning the glasses. I’ve wondered if anyone ever looked for a correlation between new bifocal wearers and falls, since you have to relearn depth perception and head/eye tracking.

  25. Brookshires across the street, has people to carry out your groceries for you. “Curmudgeon Curb Side” if you will.
    So sorry about the bad luck.

Comments are closed.