About two weeks ago the Check Engine light came on in the Outback. The car was running fine and once before it came on because of the gas cap not being tightened enough -- DH didn't know that it had to go click-click-click.
I had filled up my Subaru Outback at a gas station near work that I don't usually use. It had Costco-like gas prices and I didn't have time to run over to Costco and I had no other Costco-related errands so I used this station. Either there was something with the pumps, which are in the running for the world's slowest gas pumps, or I didn't put the gas cap on tightly enough (doubtful, after 85,000 miles I think I can get that right) or it was just a thing...
I removed and tightened the gas cap and kept my fingers crossed that the light would go out within a tank or two of gas. The Outback has a March inspection date so I couldn't let it sit forever. DH offered to work from home and take care of the issue. He called the Subaru dealer and they said come in on Friday and we'll put it on the machine for $110. I suggested AutoZone since he didn't want to wait until Friday. I took his car to work and he took my car to AutoZone over lunch. On the way to work, the check engine light in his car came on. Yikes! Oh, it as 15% of oil life is left. Annoying but not problematic. (Note to self, if getting Honda Fit, make sure that they can turn that annoying thing off at the dealer. I can remember to change the oil by myself, thankyouverymuch. I really only want my car to tell me if there is a problem.)
AutoZone checked the Outback, determined that it was nothing and reset the computer for a whopping $0.00. Yes, for nothing. DH took the car across the street to the state inspection place and they couldn't read the car's computer. They did not charge him but said that he needed to drive the car around for a while to get everything to reboot. DH ran an errand and came back and the Outback now sports a spiffy March 2009 inspection sticker.
Kudos to AutoZone and the state inspection center for being so nice about everything.
A big thumbs down to Subaru for not being as nice.
Friday, March 28, 2008
Emma visits Grandma
Last night, Emma and I visited Grandma at Rex Rehab. Grandma isn't a huge dog fan. She grew up on a farm in Wisconsin and to her dogs are outdoor creatures, not family members. She does tell the story of one of the farm dogs that would scratch at the back door to be let in at night, and yes, their training went well and the dog slept inside. Why bring a dog to visit someone who isn't a dog person? I brought Emma for two reasons:
My parents did a ton of research in a short period of time and selected a facility that will help her with rehab to get out of the wheelchair. Nursing homes do rehab but to keep from getting worse, not rehab to improve. Grandma is scheduled to move to The Oaks at Carolina, near the NC Farmer's Market, on Friday. My parents felt that this would give Grandma one more shot at getting to Abbotswood, the independent living retirement community that she had planning on moving into in April. With the broken hip and the need for 24 hour care, though, that move is on hold.
Grandma should be at The Oaks for at least a month.
- Change of scenery from Grandma. It was an excused to bring her outside on a beautiful spring day. It was about 70 degrees out and I wheeled her out to the front porch area and then went to the car to get Emma who made herself available for petting.
- The Other Grandma has a dog visit her. My Uncle Phil's family brings a dog to visit his mother-in-law who is in a nursing home after having not one but two hip fractures within a few weeks (she broke her wrist too). This way my Grandmother can report the Phil and his family that yes, in fact, a dog has visited her as well. Grandma will like that.
My parents did a ton of research in a short period of time and selected a facility that will help her with rehab to get out of the wheelchair. Nursing homes do rehab but to keep from getting worse, not rehab to improve. Grandma is scheduled to move to The Oaks at Carolina, near the NC Farmer's Market, on Friday. My parents felt that this would give Grandma one more shot at getting to Abbotswood, the independent living retirement community that she had planning on moving into in April. With the broken hip and the need for 24 hour care, though, that move is on hold.
Grandma should be at The Oaks for at least a month.
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Monday, March 24, 2008
Grandma's Easter weekend
This weekend we gave Grandma an Easter basket and took a few pictures when we saw her.
Friday, March 21, 2008
Energy conservation, not in a good way
Eating. I'm not sure that I should blog about this or not. I hope that it helps someone else because I honestly thought that this was a myth and that I have been doing the right thing. Eating fiber and fruits and vegetables and lean protein in addition to 10-12 hours of exercise a week. I have not understood how other people can eat so much when I can eat so little.
The beginning seems like a good place to start.
In 2003 we got a puppy named Emma. People took pictures of me with Emma. I looked at the photos and said, "Who is that fat lady with my puppy?!" A few weeks later, we went hiking. I had problems hiking, more unflattering photos. Checked BMI. Holy Cow?! No way. Rechecked BMI. Got a program called BalanceLog and started to eat less and move more.
Fall 2003. The weight is pretty much gone. 80+ pounds of it. Woo hoo!
This is where the problem may have started. I may not have increased my calories enough when I moved to maintenance mode.
In 2005, I had an injury. My brain said moving less = eating less so I ate less. Again with the not increasing intake appropriately.
In 2006, I had a surgery. Moving less = eating less plus now there was a hormone change. I ate even less. Recovery from surgery was slow and I struggled. Would eating more have helped? Who knows.
2008, very sick of being hungry all the time. I am thinking, "I'm dong a metric century on the bike each weekend and I've done that before but it was mostly with supported rides, maybe I need to revisit this whole eating for long rides thing." I contacted a nutritionist and scheduled testing of my RMR. When I saw that my RMR was 720, I freaked out. It was not a pretty picture. I had expected it to be more like 1200. When I showed the results to my nutritionist, she said, "I don't understand this." The nutritionist and everyone else seem to think that I've managed to put myself into an energy conservation mode.
The good news is that the fix is most likely to gradually eat more. I welcome that. If someone is going to tell me to eat more, I'm not gonna argue! I hope that's the solution and that an visit to an endocrinologist is not in order.
I'm a bit surprised that with all that, no one had asked me what I eat until this week. Odd since I did have amenorrhea before my surgery. Odd since I actually told a medical authority that I wanted to "gnaw my arm off." Frustrating because I have been trying hard to do the right thing.
The beginning seems like a good place to start.
In 2003 we got a puppy named Emma. People took pictures of me with Emma. I looked at the photos and said, "Who is that fat lady with my puppy?!" A few weeks later, we went hiking. I had problems hiking, more unflattering photos. Checked BMI. Holy Cow?! No way. Rechecked BMI. Got a program called BalanceLog and started to eat less and move more.
Fall 2003. The weight is pretty much gone. 80+ pounds of it. Woo hoo!
This is where the problem may have started. I may not have increased my calories enough when I moved to maintenance mode.
In 2005, I had an injury. My brain said moving less = eating less so I ate less. Again with the not increasing intake appropriately.
In 2006, I had a surgery. Moving less = eating less plus now there was a hormone change. I ate even less. Recovery from surgery was slow and I struggled. Would eating more have helped? Who knows.
2008, very sick of being hungry all the time. I am thinking, "I'm dong a metric century on the bike each weekend and I've done that before but it was mostly with supported rides, maybe I need to revisit this whole eating for long rides thing." I contacted a nutritionist and scheduled testing of my RMR. When I saw that my RMR was 720, I freaked out. It was not a pretty picture. I had expected it to be more like 1200. When I showed the results to my nutritionist, she said, "I don't understand this." The nutritionist and everyone else seem to think that I've managed to put myself into an energy conservation mode.
The good news is that the fix is most likely to gradually eat more. I welcome that. If someone is going to tell me to eat more, I'm not gonna argue! I hope that's the solution and that an visit to an endocrinologist is not in order.
I'm a bit surprised that with all that, no one had asked me what I eat until this week. Odd since I did have amenorrhea before my surgery. Odd since I actually told a medical authority that I wanted to "gnaw my arm off." Frustrating because I have been trying hard to do the right thing.
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