Nov 25 2016 - Update on RV living.

10:00 Nov 24 2016

Thanksgiving Day

There are a zillion mosquitos flying around this morning. All over the RV windows and the cars.

Notice the word “cars”.

Next to the RV are my buddy's car he loaned me, and my other friends delivered my Metro from town yesterday. :-) I love my Chevy Metro. It is a great little car that gets great fuel consumption. But it is a manual transmission, and needs a left leg to push the clutch. :-(

It has been acting like a scarecrow in a friends driveway. To add to the impression that someone is home while she is at work.

There is something about me, that I am sure is not normal. When confronted with a possible action, I often think “Why would I want to do that?”

I analyze the “intention” of my actions.

It is not as if I need a “reason” to do something, but I do want to understand “why” I want to do something. Often when I do something to help someone, I do it because it makes “me” feel good to help them. I am not being nice because I want to be nice, I am being nice because it makes “me” feel good.

It is like my only purpose in being nice, is because I am selfish. Being nice, makes ME ME ME, feel good.

Yesterday, two of my friends brought my Metro out to the property. They both were very busy getting ready for a large Thanksgiving dinner and gathering, yet they took time to do something that was not pleasant, and time consuming. They did this for me.

I immediately question their motives. Why would they do that for me? What is in it for them? Do they also get pleasure from helping people? Are they just good people, and want to help others. Altruistic by nature. Motiveless giving. The world needs more people like these.

Having friends like this is a great thing, but I question my “worthiness”.

When it comes to being friends, I don't think I am very good at it.

--

I have many projects for the long weekend.

I want to install a wireless alarm. It will sound an alarm in the RV when ever anything goes through the property gate. The gate is about 100 yards/meters away from the RV.

I need to install 3 grab bars in the bathroom.

I have hooked up one of the living room lights to the voice controlled Arduino. I can turn on and off the living room light by voice now. I need to also hook up the hall and bathroom lights.

Wow! A hawk/eagle/big bird just attacked the bushes, it got a squirrel.

It's a hawk. Bare legs. Smaller than I thought. Bad luck for the squirrel, but good luck for the hawk. Life is not a “zero sum” game.

The biggest project for the weekend, is trying to figure something to do with the Metro. I spent a few hours online, trying to figure out some options. I want to be able to drive it, and tow it behind the RV.

Option 1. Make the Metro electric. This would cost about $5,000. Twice, what the whole car is worth. Electric cars don't need a left leg.

Option 2. Buy/install an electric clutch conversion kit. About $2000.

Option 3. Invent, and make a cable pulley system to allow hand operation of the clutch. About $200 for parts, plus lots of labor.

Option 4. Design and build a holder for the prosthetic foot onto the clutch pedal. Then use force on my stump to push the prosthetic foot, to move the clutch. $10.

Yesterday I tried to drive the Metro using my prosthetic leg to push the clutch. With the seat almost all the way back to minimize the angle and increase the leverage to push the clutch pedal. With correct placement of the prosthetic foot, I was able to push the clutch in, BUT...The knee locked. I was pushing the pedal with the prosthetic heal, so as soon as the leg went straight, it locked. I was jammed tight in the seat, and no way to release the knee lock.

I slid the seat all the way back, and used my cane to pry the prosthetic foot down far enough on the clutch pedal. Enough to put pressure on the toe, which broke the knee loose.

This solution will need lots of thinking, and planing to be able to use the clutch with the prosthetic leg in a fail safe way.

I also need to move the RV about 2 feet back. But first I need to fill in some holes. I dread shoveling sand into the holes. My balance seems to be the problem. I would make a lousy gardener.

--

I just learned that many Chinese stores, that specialize in women's things, have “man caves” for men to wait while their women shop.

--

Nov 22 2016 - The cost of doing things, has changed for me.

Sun Nov 20 2016 – 07:10

Brrr. 5C(40F) I am a wimp.

The bear outside my RV doesn't seen to think the cold is unpleasant.

There were bears outside when I went to bed, and there is a bear outside now.

Last night I had a good shower. I made out of some shelving, a seat between the edges of the bathtub. I can slide from the toilet onto the shower seat. Now I need grab bars.

--

Monday 21 November

On my buddy's property where I am staying, there is a shower. A very rustic shower, but well made, and it even has an electric hot water heater. It is used by people that camp or hunt on the property. 

There is a WW2 re-enactment next week, followed by a huge DJ party. The shower will be used lots.

I decided to get the shower all clean for those people. 

The ground if covered with tree debris from the hurricane. Normal walking is difficult, and walking with a prosthetic leg is very time consuming. Because of the high grass and the thousands of branches laying around, my prosthetic leg seldom swings forward enough to lock. I use a walking stick to smack the leg forward to lock the knee. This requires balancing on my good leg while pushing the prosthetic leg into lock. At least when I fall, it is on soft ground. The property is mostly clumps of grass growing in sand. Now everything is covered with a few inches of pine needles and branches.

First 10 minutes was walking between the shower and the shed trying to find the key to the shower. 

Next 10 minutes was getting the hot water heater on.

The inside of the shower was all moldy, dirty, and full of little green frogs.

There is a hose pipe that looks like it has not been used in years. It is all kinked, and the temperature last night was 38F (4C) so the hose was stiff. 

It took me almost 1 hour walking back and forth to unkink the hose, to get the water flowing.

Then I went back to the RV to get spray soap, my grabber bar, and a sponge. I sprayed the shower, (and frogs) and used the grabber bar to hold the sponge, and wiped down the inside of the shower.

Now the shower is much cleaner, and so are the frogs.

All in all, I spent 2 hours doing a job that would have taken 20 minutes a few years ago.

All this hard work reminded me about the Russian Socialist movement of many years ago. They figured that a fair pricing of an item should be a reflection of the amount of labor necessary to make the item, or complete the service. Equal pay, for equal work.

So, if it takes 20 man hours to grow 20 tomatoes, then each tomato should be worth one hour labor. If it takes 100 hours to paint a house, then you can compare tomatoes to painting a house.

The problem was, of course, that if someone grows tomatoes in a computerized, hydroponic system, then each tomato only costs 10 minutes. So you had tomatoes at the market for 1 hour cost, right next tomatoes for 10 minutes cost. Both are fair prices, and both are worth what they are charging. But which would the people buy?

I used to earn about $100 an hour. So for cleaning of the shower, I should be compensated about $200. (R 2600). 

My buddy could have got someone to clean the shower for the price of a beer.

I struggled for 2 hours, and fell, and got wet, and probably got a blister on my stump, and all that effort is worth the price of a beer. 

Because of cancer, and an amputation, my labor has gone from being worth $100 an hour, to about $1 an hour.   

My labor is worth about 1% of what it used to be worth. 

Of course sometimes, the labor is worth it. Last night the football game was on, but my TV antenna on the RV roof was pointed the wrong direction. So in the dark and cold, and with the prosthetic leg on, I climbed up onto the roof of my RV, and re-pointed the antenna. This is something that 2 years ago would have required caution, and planning. But now it was exhausting and dangerous. 

I think that sometimes I get so fed up with being useless, that I just don't care about the risk, and do stupid things.  

This shows that I should concentrate my energies on thing that I can still do with the same effort as a few years ago. So instead of cleaning showers, I should be setting up DNS servers. :-)

--

Tuesday 22 November 06:30

Temperature inside the RV is 4C.(about 40F)

I no longer take care to be quiet in the RV just because there are bears around. They seem to be getting used to the noise.

This morning is a mother with one small cub standing under the big tree. I gave up trying to tell them apart. It could be the same bear over and over :-)

A small cub came by all by itself. I wanted to capture it and give it to a friend. :-)

I have 5 credit/debit cards that don't work. I'll sort out the ones I can today.

I will also get my guns and spears from the shop.

I need to install my grab bars.

My mind is full of thoughts about my car. I tried to drive the beetle in Pretoria. It was not possible to push the clutch. I want to try to drive my Metro, but it has a foot clutch also. I love that car.

I might be able to build a hand operated clutch.

I might be able to make it electric.

My buddy has loaned me his car for a few days. I need to zoom around lots to get thinks done. His car is a Ford escape Hybrid. It is one of the very few automatic transmission cars that can be towed with all four wheels on the ground. I like playing with the electric drive part of the hybrid system.

The Escape get about 30 MPG (7 L/100km) which is good for an SUV.

Later

Nov 19 2016 - At Deland Fl.

07:07 Friday 18 November

I am listening to the Daytona Beach news on the radio.

I am safely in my RV on my buddy's property way out in the boondocks near Deland Florida.

The temperature is cold. About 6C (45F).

I was very fortunate, that the last night I spent in the RV, 2 years ago, must have been a cold night, because I had left winter sheets and many blankets on the bed. Very welcome last night. I was too tired to do any housekeeping. I did a quick cold water sponge bath and went to sleep. I slept 11 hours.

Sleeping in the RV is similar to camping. I usually have all windows open, I can hear all sounds.

It is so quiet this morning, I can hear branches breaking on the many trees. This property is magical. How my buddy can own this property, and NOT live on it is one of life's mysteries.

My buddy had the RV electricity plugged in, and the water and sewage hooked up.

The truck battery was bad, so he replaced it. Aren't friends nice? :-)

The two large house batteries are both dead. I will try to add water, but I think they are not recoverable.

OH!!!..A mother bear and 3 cubs just walked past. That must have been the noise of the branches breaking.! I love this place!!

The cubs ran and raced WAY up into a big tree.

It is amazing how paranoid the mother is. She jumps at every noise or sound, yet ignores the fact that the cubs are hanging from a branch way off the ground.

I can't see the cubs, they are way up a tree. The mother is just walking around under the tree.

The flight was long. I had the prosthetic leg on for about 38 hours. For most of the flight, I had the socket very loose, and pulled almost off.

Last night when I took off the silicone liner, I found 4 blisters. One is a blood blister. Today will be a rest day for my stump.

This morning my whole stump is sore. It was abused for sure.

The radio says that this weekend will be cold. Low about 4C (40F) and the high 20C (65F).

The cubs are still playing in the tree. Chasing each other around from branch to branch.

Delta Airlines was great. They assumed command of me the whole way. Traveling by wheel chair is very limiting. All their wheel chairs are built so the passenger can't get in or out of the chair easily, and the brakes are controlled in the back by the pusher. When they parked me someplace, they say that someone will come to get me, there is actually no option except to just sit. I did no shopping or anything fun on the trip.

The only way to pee was to ask the pusher to take me to a toilet.

The out bound flight from Johannesburg had 36 wheel chair passengers. This causes quite a problem for the airlines. I was talking to the Air hostess, and she said this flight is called the miracle flight. She said of the 36 wheelchair passengers that get on in Johannesburg, only a few will be in wheelchairs when the flight lands. The others will just walk off with the other normal passengers.

Sure enough, when we landed at Atlanta, there was a whole fleet of wheelchairs waiting, but only 8 of us used wheel chairs from the airplane in Atlanta. The other “patients” were miraculously cured during the flight. People take advantage of anything they can.

Handicap services is actually more of a “Fat and Lazy” services.

All the cubs are coming down from the tree.

They are running into and out of the thick brush. They definitely are NOT in stealth mode.

Does a wild bear shit in the woods? Absolutely, positively, 100%, without a doubt, a wild bear DOES shit in the woods. More precisely, a wild bear shits by the passenger door of an RV, that is parked in the woods.

I can also confirm, without a doupt that bears don't like it when you make coffee in a microwave.

--

A friend just called. She is bringing over a picnic basket for me. Essential foods. :-) Aren't friends nice. :-)

Yesterday I drove my buddies car to WalMart for a quick shopping trip. My stump had shrunk lots, so I put on 2 stump socks while still in the parking lot. As I walked into Walmart, a lady came up and told me, “Your leg is too long, go see these people, they can help you.” She handed me a business card. Volucia County Amputee Support Group. Cool. I would like to try some of the Amputee training events. The have obstacle courses, and show you the best way to conquer each obstacle.

That would help me lots.

The mother bear just walked out of the bushes, then around the RV, then back into the bushes.

Her and the cubs were within 20 meters of the RV for over an hour and a half. :-)

--

11:10

Three grown up bears just walked past the RV. Not near as cute as the cubs earlier.

I have very limited cell phone coverage out here on the property. I usually have 0 bars, but everyonce in a while, I get 1 bar and stuff gets downloaded.

--

11:30 A big male bear just walked past.....I guess it is a male. It asserts itself like a male.

Wow 8 different bears in 4 hours.

--

21:15

Another single bear...Maybe the same one...it is hard to tell. I need a paintball gun, and then color code them :-)

18:05

A friend came over and brought some food for me. :-)

We chatted for a long time. She is a keen cyclist, and also does war re-enactments. In a few weeks a WW2 training re-enactment will be held on this property. It is German versus Americans and New Zealanders. She will be a German Nazi Bicycle message delivery expert.

I will be right in the middle of WW2. I need a Swiss neutral flag for my RV, or a big white flag. :-)

The news says it will freeze this weekend

--

Saturday morning 07:30

Brrr...

I see hunters are here on the property. It must be deer season.

There are many squirrels. I used to feed them.

Last night, my buddy brought by his car for me to borrow for a few days. I have lots of shopping and running around to do today.

I need to make some changes to the RV. Some things are very hard for me. I removed the shower doors, and the door to the bathroom. I still need at least 2 grab bars to be able to safely get onto the toilet. I want to build a seat across the bath tub to allow me to sit in the bathtub to shower.

I better get my leg on and start the day.

I'll mail this blog from one of the many wifi hot spots in town.

---

Nov 14 2016 - Leaving for America...Flight Cancelled....Now to Plan "B"

07:00
Up early getting things done. I am still waiting for authorization to get 6 months of medicines from the medical aid people. I fear I'll be going for 6 months, with only one month of drugs.

I just did laundry.

I should be at the prosthesis place in an hour. For a last check and tightening of everything.

I am finding the air bladders to be more uncomfortable than using stump socks. Stump socks distribute the weight all over the stump, where bladder only press where the bladders are. It is far easier to just pump the bladders when the socket becomes loose, or my stump goes down inside to far, than it is to put stump socks on, but there is more discomfort. The bladders are great for when I am in a store, or someplace that is inconvenient to put on another stump sock.
If I give a pump every hour or so, then the stump never gets too far into the socket, and when the bladders get uncomfortable, I release the bladders, and put on a stump sock.

Of course the whole bladder/stump sock thing is for when I am just walking short distances. On a long walk it would be different. If I plan my day for only short walks, then I can manage quite well. I have not used a cane for 2 days, and have been wearing the prosthesis for about 10 hours a day.

Every evening when I take off the liner there are blisters on the stump. The blisters go away over night, and by the morning they are usually gone.
Blisters can have many reasons for forming. But they form easier in hot and moist conditions. Like inside my silicone liner. I am paranoid about any chemicals inside the liner, and I wash the liner every time I take it off with special bacterial soap that has no added chemicals, and I rinse the liner well.
I don't think the majority of my blisters are caused by friction. Some are caused at the edge of where I put slippery lubricant. The skin gets a shear force where the lubricated area ends, and the sticky silicone begins.

Little blisters on the end of the stump are caused by the suction sucking water out of the skin. Those go away in a few hours when the suction is reduced.

The worst blisters are at the edge of the air bladders. It is like the increased force of the bladders makes that skin slide less than the skin right next to the bladders, and that shear force causes blisters. They don't go away so quick, and can sometimes still be there the next morning.
--
Nov 15 2016 - Tuesday 08:10
I got up early, and re-re-rechecked my suit case. Made coffee, then checked online for mail. First thing was a letter from Delta Airlines saying my flight for today has been canceled. The incoming flight didn't happen because a truck hit the plane while loading the baggage in Atlanta.
They rebooked me, but there is no "wheel chair" accessible flights available this week.
I sent a mail to my travel agent, making it her problem. Now I wait.

Yesterday I spent 4 hours with the prosthetic people. They were great. I got tons of spares and foam, and tape, and glue, and screws, and bolts. They showed me how to do every thing to repair the prosthetic leg if necessary.

The Medical aid came back saying that since my medication was on their Oncology plan, I could not get advanced medication. I can only do that on "Chronic" medications, so they are transferring all my Oncology medicine to Chronic. This can take a week, so I was leaving today with only one month of medicines.

I will have to eat out till the next available flight, because I ran my house out of food, planning on leaving the fridge off and open from this morning.

--

In the old days, the only thing in life, that was out of your control, was nature.
It used to be that a person worried about the weather, getting eaten, volcanoes, meteorite strikes, and earth quakes. Now a person's life is affected by SWAT teams, legislation, traffic congestion, bureaucracy, and corporate greed, in addition to nature.
I guess that is why some people prefer to live in Northern Alaska or Canada. There you only contend with nature.  What a refreshing thought.

--

16:30

Delta just called and said they will give me the same seat and wheelchair access tomorrow. So maybe I'll only be a day late.

--

Nov 10 2016 - Visiting the Oncologist.

Yesterday I did a blood test.
Then, I did X-rays of the chest and abdomen.

I fasted last night, and today I did a sonogram of the chest and abdomen.
The sonogram lady was cute. She measured all my organs, and checked for tumors.

Then I ate a huge breakfast, and read my book.
Then I went to the hospice. They have a good used book store, and lots of cheap "junk". I bought a book and 2 steak knives.

Then I went to the local library. I have not been in there for 10 years. It was so empty. They had one computer for people to use, but it was "un-serviceable".
I sat and read about Windjammers. Big old sailing ships. Cool things. The big ones had 1.7 acres (.68 hectors) of sails.

When leaving the Library a woman and daughter came up to me and asked if I could explain to them how the prosthetic leg works. I love talking about my leg, so I chatted till they kept saying goodbye over and over. :-)

Then I went for my appointment with the Oncologist lady. She looked at the X-rays, blood test, and sonogram. Then said that there is absolutely no indications that I have, or ever had cancer. She said that I am in remission. That is the first time she has used that word. She then cautioned me that AngioSarcoma is a sneaky cancer, so I am best to be vigilant and a little paranoid.
She then looked at my foot and leg. She said that it is swollen and the toenails are falling off. Duh!
She then said that she thinks is more likely from the Toxal chemo than from diabetes or cancer. She said that AngioSarcoma likes to grow in stressed parts of the body, so I should work at keeping the inflammation down in the foot and leg, with massage or compression stockings.

Then I went home. The rainbow socket worked great. At the oncologist my stump started hurting up near the groin, but when I inflated the air bladders, my  weight was distributed different, and I made it home with no problems. This rainbow socket is not very comfortable, but it doesn't hurt.

With all the oncology out of the way, I can start packing seriously. This time next week I should be in the RV watching bears with my Florida buddy. :-)
--

The U.S. elections are over. HRC lost. I think America dodged a bullet there.
Most people I talked to didn't vote "FOR" Trump. They voted against the high debt, against big government, against the corrupt politicians (that is called a redundancy), against slack immigration policy, and against silly wars.
If anyone can sort out the U.S. finances, it should be Trump.
I like that he is a corporate negotiator, and may prevent hot wars by negotiation, I just hope he doesn't create trade wars.
Good Luck America.
--

Nov 07 2016 - New Rainbow socket

I spent a few hours at the prosthetic place today, and finally, got my new              "RAINBOW"

socket.

It fits tight. Good tight. Not perfect, but the best fitting socket I can remember, and this is number 11.

It has 2 air bladders. Both on the left side, one above the other. The top one will be for when my stump shrinks, and can be used instead of putting on more socks. This means I can make a plan for a shrinking stump without taking the leg off.
The lower bladder is for better feel. (proprioception) The socket was designed to be tight, but not over tight. It does exactly that.
If the bladders fail now, I could still walk quite a ways without pain. My last white socket with the two bladders I had put in, was such that, I needed to inflate the bladders to be able to use it. Those bladders took about 10 pumps each. My new socket takes 1 or two pumps till it is tight. That means my stump can shrink quite a bit before the bladders will become ineffective.
Bradley, Bi and I spent quite a bit of time adjusting the leg today. I finally told them to go stop fussing, because I couldn't find anything that they could possibly do, to make it any better. They have done a wonderful job.

It is a very clean and pretty socket, compared with my last one.

I still have to figure out the best way of stowing the tubes for the pump.
You can see them sticking out in the top picture.
--
For my trip next week, to the States, airport security wants a letter from my doctors confirming I have had my leg amputated.
They say that, "Absence of a leg is not considered proof."
That statement gets lots of laughs.
Then I got online, and found that their concern was if a terrorist is willing to blow himself up, then he would also be willing to have a leg removed, so he could fill the empty socket with explosives. I guess a terrorist would be too stupid to also fake a letter from a Doctor.

I have a busy week. Appointments with the prosthestist, the Oncology lady, the Surgeon, blood tests, and x-rays.
I have not even thought about if any test is bad, and I have to cancel my flight. If that does happen, then loosing the money for the tickets will probably be the least of my worries.
--

Nov 3 2016 - Power Failures and Failures of Those in Power.

Nov 1 2016

No electricity power here since yesterday morning. 36 hours now. Also no water. I guess they could not pump the water up into the towers.

Lack of power also took out all cell towers after their batteries ran down. So no electricity, cell service, water, or internet.

Most houses can't open their security gates. Dead batteries. Also all home security systems batteries are down, so many people aren't going to work, but staying home, because robberies are way up from 2 days ago.

My house is solar powered, so of course MY gate works, :-) and MY food is cold, :-) and MY security system is up, :-)  and I have 70 liters of drinking water if I need it.

A hot shower would be nice though. :-)

Today's high temperature is 36C (97F). Low last night was 29C (84F) in the house. 

I had my ceiling fan on all night, so it wasn't so bad. :-)

I just drove 20 km to an open shop and bought lots of food, that I don't have to cook. (mostly health candy bars)

I could run my micro wave off of the batteries, but I am trying to conserve the batteries for important things.......like refrigerator, computer games and TV. :-)

I live in a gated security village. When the power goes off, the security firm doubles all personnel, so within our little area, there was no crime. But outside of any security areas, saw a big increase in break ins.

It turns out the problem with the electricity was more complex than I had thought. I live in a suburb of Centurion, which has grown into, and joined Pretoria (now renamed to Tshwane).

The municipality shut down a large sub station for planned maintenance. Centurion (Pop. 250,000)  was to be without electricity from 06:00 to 12:00. 

During this time some cable thieves raided an off line substation in my neighbor hood, and stole some cables. They break into the substation, 

and cut the cables,

 then hook a big truck to one end and drive away. 

Pulling the cables from the ground. 

 (These are some pictures of a cable theft from last year.)

When the planned maintenance was finished, Centurion came back online, but my suburb was still off. They then spent a day fixing the damaged substation for my suburb, only to find another sub station near my house was damaged as well.
Over all, there was about 200 houses without electricity for 36 hours.

During the first scheduled shut down other cable thieves also stole cables in another part of Centurion. This suburb has the water tower in it.

A few years ago, they started color coding cables. They made fiber optic cables a different color so thieves wouldn't remove and steal fiber cables, only the copper ones. Then some "brilliant" idiot in government decided that since thieves never stole Green cables, they should make the new copper cables green also. Now thieves rip out all cables. Duh!

------

Nov 3 2016

Yesterday,I spent 4 hours at the prosthetic place, trying to get the new socket right. 

Today, I spent 3 hours at the prosthetic place trying to get the new socket right.

It seems as if the addition of the air bladders has compromised the shape of the socket to my stump, and we are unable to get a suction to hold the leg on. 

Once again I am on the socket that I put the bladders into. I think everyone at the prosthetic place is embarrassed when I wear the leg into their place. Usually they make very nice artistic sockets.

But by FAR the most important thing about this ratty socket is... It does not hurt!

---

Later

 Nov 3 2016

This morning the "State Capture" report was released here in South Africa.

Did I hear you say "Huh?"

South Africa has some very good things, that most countries lack. I am thinking specifically about the Office of Public Protector. 

Wiki says:

The office of the Public Protector has the power to investigate any conduct in state affairs and any level of government, should there be any allegations of maladministration. The Public Protector is the only institution that has the power to take appropriate remedial action against any impropriety or prejudice made by government.

I think the American people would benefit greatly by a Public Protector.

Thuli Madonsela has been Public Protector of South Africa for 7 years, and she has changed South Africa for the better. 

I remember something she said in the past, something like, "If I can't say something as a fact, I won't say it."

She retired today, after handing in her latest report about allegations of "State Capture".

Wiki says:

State capture is a type of systemic political corruption in which private interests significantly influence a state's decision-making processes to their own advantage through unobvious channels, that may not be illegal.

The South African government often makes decisions that aren't in the best interest of South Africa, but favor a few rich people. The "Few" are usually big corporations. 

One of the big corporations is headed by a guy named Gupta. Thuli Madonsela's reports into allegations his family had captured key politicians and civil servants to ensure government tenders went their way.

The Treasury was a "stumbling block" to the Guptas' business ambitions and the family asked Deputy Finance Minister Mcebisi Jonas to sack its Director General, Nene. This was done, and sent the Rand currency plummeting.

Here are some quotes by Thuli while interviewing President Zuma during the preparation of her report:

Thuli Madonsela to President Jacob Zuma:

“We want honest answers that are coming from your heart, not prepared answers.”

“This is not a criminal justice process where you have the right to remain silent.”

“I am concerned though that President, you are the President of the Republic of South Africa and you are employee number one. Normally when we are dealing with people who are responsible for the State, we deal with them and the lawyers they come in where necessary. It is you who is accountable, Sir. It is you who are employed by the State as its most important employee.”

“What difference would it make between today and any other day in how the President recalls these issues? If we are starting with, for example, why did you remove Minister Nene, why do you need somebody to legally advise you, because that is a decision you took yourself without legal advice? You took that decision, exercising your power as an Executive.

“ No, but it is a decision you have already taken, so you don’t need to be advised why you took it, because it is a decision … somebody advised you, you accepted their advice, you have already executed it, sir. So now you just have to tell us why did you take that decision? Now why do you need a Lawyer to be able to tell me why you removed any of those Ministers?”

Madonsela to Zuma’s lawyer Michael Hulley:

“No, Sir, you are here to support Mr President, but President Zuma is the one who is employed by the State of South Africa in this capacity. You are employed as his advisor, but not as his mouth. Mister President, I am requesting that we proceed with the answers you can give.”

“No, sorry, sir, the President has a right to legal assistance, not legal representation. You have made that representation. I have now made a ruling that we are going to proceed, but we will focus on the things that the President is going to answer. I’m sorry sir, I cannot be bullied by you.”

http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/statecapturereport-hard-hitting-quotes-from-the-madonselazuma-interviews-20161102

http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/statecapturereport-live-the-public-protector-has-been-ordered-to-publish-the-state-capture-report-20161102

South Africa will miss her. A very sharp, intelligent and moral person. 

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Oct 30 2016 - Yellow toenails and failed ParkRun.

Oct 30 2016
On Friday I spent 5 hours at the prosthesist trying to get my new socket to fit. We totally failed, and I ended up walking out with the old socket that I had put the two bladders in. I really wanted to use the new socket to do another 5km Park Run. That was not to be.

I had planned to do the Park Run with some friends. But with this older socket, I seriously doubted if I could do 5 km. I sort of wanted to cancel, but my friends wanted to go anyway, so we went, and pitched up in plenty of time for the start.

My friends started walking with me, and we watched everybody else zoom off into the distance. At about half way, I stumbled a few times.  I was gasping and wheezing, and having problems with my cane arm. I was not able to get the cane forward enough to help with balance. Maybe from my sore wrist. So with a heavy heart I quit.
We slowly walked back to the car. I was sad. Total distance walked was 3.1 km.

At home I showered and went straight to sleep for 3 hours. I have numerous blisters and am sore everywhere. My right shoulder and wrist are the worst.

My good foot is always swollen. Everybody asks if I have diabetes. I massage it every day, and keep it elevated. There is a problem with the circulation, and the foot is always cold.
I have also been worried about my toenails. They are turning yellow and flaking off. 

At first I thought they had a fungus, but now I am sure that it is "Yellow nail syndrome". Our "google friend" says:
Many of the symptoms of yellow nail syndrome are commonly associated with malfunction of the lymphatic system including yellow nails, lymphedema, and breathing (respiratory abnormalities). The lymphatic system is a circulatory network of vessels, ducts, and nodes that filter and distribute certain protein-rich fluid (lymph) and blood cells throughout the body. Researchers believe that in yellow nail syndrome, lymphatic fluid collects in the soft tissues in and under the skin (subcutaneous) due to obstruction, malformation, or underdevelopment (hypoplasia) of various lymphatic vessels. Researchers have also speculated that abnormal of leakage of fluid through very tiny vessels (microvascular permeability) may also contribute to the development of lymphedema in yellow nail syndrome.

I see the Oncologist next week. I'll ask her about the foot and the toenails.
--

I have been thinking a lot about double above the knee amputations. I believe in the near future, it will be the norm to take off both legs, not just one. Until then, I will gladly keep my one good leg. :-)

With a little bit of electronic aid, there could be certain advantages to being a double amputee.

---Imagine a car mechanic with knees that bent the wrong way. He could easily spend all day bent over the hood of a car.
---Or if the knees would bend all the way backwards, and had motors to control how far they bent, then with feet flat on the floor, as the knees bent, the body would lower, So a painter could lower himself to the floor to paint there, then raise himself up to paint the ceiling.
---Put on real long legs, and you could take huge steps while walking. Or work on house gutters all day without ladders.
---With extensions to the sockets in the rear by the ass bone, and a longer shin, shorter thigh,  and an ankle that bends about 120 degrees, it would be possible to fold them all so it would form a seat like structure, made up of your legs. That would be great for people that get up and down from sitting all day.
---How about a fish tail suit to make you look like a mermaid, or merman. Some ex Navy seal just swam 300 meters underwater on one breath, with a fish tail.
---How about combat aircraft pilots. Less place for blood to flow during high g maneuvers. Or astronauts needing less nourishment, and room during space travel.
---Maybe build legs that could split from the knee to form 4 legs with feet. This would be very steady for sailors working during rough seas.
--- And my favorite. What about two sockets bolted onto a Segway. A wheel chair that keeps you eye to eye with others, and can't fall over.

My Birthday is coming up soon. :-)
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Oct 25 2016 - Pubic hair removal

09:30
I am battling with my current socket.
When I put it on first thing in the morning, it is great. But soon the stump goes farther and farther into the socket, and puts more force on the stump end. Inflating the bladders helps, but I feel I need many more bladders. Especially up high in the back of the stump. This is where I need to add stump socks a few times a day. Yesterday I had on 4 socks by the end of the day. That means 4 times during the day I have to take off pants, take off leg, add sock, then put leg back on and then get dressed again.
Around the house I only wear my underwear. It makes life a lot easier.

I wanted to find a more permanent solution to the problem of the silicone liner pulling my pubic hairs as I walk. I tried shaving, and that sort of works, but stubble is worse than hair, so I have to shave every day.

Yesterday I went shopping at the Pharmacy.
I went straight to the "wrist brace" department, and tried on different braces to make my cane walking easier. I wore it from then on, and bought the empty box.
I stopped a white lady in her 50s and asked her about removing pubic hairs. She advised hair removal creams, because the new hair that grows, is not a stubble, but new hairs.  I bought some.
Then I got my prescription drugs from my one legged buddy pharmacist. We chatted a bit.

When I got home I wanted to test the hair removal cream.
The box says to first test the cream on the inside of my elbow to see if there is any allergic reaction. The box also says to...
 "Leave the cream on from between 3, and 10 minutes. Don't guess at the time, use a watch to make the time accurate."
So, I used a watch to make sure I was precisely accurate between 3 and 10 minutes. :-)
There was no rash or pain, so I smeared some on my crotch hairs, and 5 minutes later wiped the brown, sticky, goo off. It seemed to work, and this morning I did not put on a pair of cut up pantyhose before the liner. I'll have to wait and see if it is a good thing or not.

--
Oct 26 - 03:40
I went to bed at 23:00, and woke up at 03:00. My stump itches, and I have a burning pain below where my left knee should be.
I don't know where this PLP came from, and the itching isn't from where I did the hair removal.

 Yesterday was an easy day. I drove to the mall where I had lunch with a friend. We then did a short walk to a knife store and a book store. Then back home.

Sometimes if there is a bit of glycerin or cream inside the silicone liner, there will form blisters. Where the skin and the silicone are stuck to each other, and where the skin slides next to the silicone will form blisters from the stretching of the skin between the two areas. I think that is what happened. There was no sign of discomfort as I walked today, but now there are blisters about half way up my stump on the outside of the stump. Why is nothing ever easy?

My buddy has high speed internet, and downloads financial news videos for me. I have a few Kaiser reports I can watch till I feel sleepy, or the pain quits. I did some drugs again. I thought the drug use was over. Not so.
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Oct 24 2016 - PLP and can't sleep.

01:15
There are many reasons why I can't sleep.

I have been trying to increase my daily walking to get ready for another park run before I go to the states. This socket really hurts on my ischail bone, and I have blisters and a rubbed raw spot. The prosthesis place is making a new socket with air bladders inside it. I so hope it works well. The new socket should be ready by Thursday.
This next socket will probably be the one I go to the states with, so it better be good enough for 6 months. I seem to average about 3 weeks per socket. Needless to say I am concerned about that.

I walked about 1.5 km every day last week. Any farther is very painful. The whole air bladder thing is good because it allows me to change the fit of the socket. But with the increase flexibility come increase complexity. The best way for me to inflate the bladders is through the zipper in front of my shorts. It is a little shocking to other people. They see me unzip, play around inside there, then starts pumping a rubber pump.  They all have dirty minds. :-)

On Friday, I was walking back from the shops, and my Achilles tendon started hurting. I had that a few years ago, and had to wear a moon boot for a month to fix it. I don't think I could use a prosthetic leg AND a moon boot at the same time.

I walked slow and gentle the rest of the way to the house. I was almost to the front door, when I fell in the driveway. As usual, I don't know why. I was walking, then I was face down. I hurt my right wrist. I'm sure it is just sprained. It is swollen a bit and tender, but everything seems to work OK.
Now I can't use the cane or the crutches. Even the wheel chair is difficult. I have to use the wrist bone to push on the tire.
With blisters on my ischail, sitting in the wheel chair sucks a bit, add to that a sore wrist, and I decided to play computer games all day Sunday.
I had planned on buying food this Sunday, because I am so close to being on a forced diet. For real food, I only have eggs and Muesli. But getting around with this wrist means I couldn't shop.
I did find some old, unopened bran self raising flour, so I made some flat pan bread. Not healthy, but tastes good with enough peanut butter and jelly on it. Actually anything tastes good with enough peanut butter and jelly on it.   :-)  If my wrist doesn't get better soon, I may find out how eggs and peanut butter taste.
(and Muesli?)

I went to bed at about 22:30 and couldn't sleep. When I turn out the light, I start a one hour white noise generator. I have not heard it quit in a month. I am sound asleep by then. But tonight I was still awake when  it quit. I started it again.
For some reason I was having PLP. First time in a long time. My wrist also hurt when I moved in bed.

Having only one leg means it is harder to sit up in bed. I used to just hold both feet in the air, with my legs straight, and I could sit up. Now nothing happens when I do that. I now have to roll onto my side, then push up sideways with my arms, until I sit. I didn't think about my wrist, and I hurt it.

When the noise generator quit the second time, I just got up. I took some pain drugs for the first time in many weeks, and I am now waiting for them to kick in. I don't know if I took the drug for the wrist pain, or the PLP, or the ischail blisters. I guess it doesn't really matter.

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Oct 19 2016 - Putting Force Sensors inside my prosthetic socket.

I have been building a sensor system to show the forces between my prosthetic socket and my stump.

I am using some force resistive pads as sensors. They change resistance as the force on them changes. They can measure from 0 to about 20 kilograms of force.
I sense the change in resistance with an Arduino computer, and then use the Arduino to vary the power to 3 LED lights.
The LED lights are two color ones. Red and Green. I am using Green to show that things are on and working, and the red to show the pressure.

It looks like this.

I put the 3 force sensors that I had, and their wiring,  in-between two pieces of thin hard, clear plastic. I put the wiring for the LED's, and the LED's  in similar plastic. I then connected the two pieces of plastic so that when the plastic with the sensors is inserted into the socket, the LED's will always be in the same spot on the outside of the socket, where the sensors are on the inside of the socket.

 I tested everything.

Then I slipped the sensors into the front of my socket. The lower sensor should be down by the end of my stump, and the top sensor at the top of my socket. The middle sensor is about where I have my inflatable air bladders.
Then I test if it all works, by standing in front of the mirror.

Then I inflated the air bladders.

All my walking with the sensors never lit the bottom LED. This means there was never any pressure on the lower part of my stump.  I don't know why I need lights to tell me that. Pain usually does that job. :-)

To be really effective, I would need about 50 sensors in the socket, and a way of recording the forces, so it could be played back and studied. Tomorrow I go to visit my prosthistist. I will show him my invention.
He and I need to talk lots about me going away for a few months to America. I fear it will be on my old Mauch Knee. :-(  I am spoiled from wearing the Total Knee 2000.

--

Oct 15 2016 - Life getting Real.

I have just spent lots of money, and bought plane tickets to the USA.
 I leave South Africa in the middle of November, for Daytona Beach Florida. I should be back in South Africa by May-ish 2017.  I bought tickets that I can change the return date up until November 2017. That would be a whole year away.
If I feel that I can return to my old life style of 6 months SA and 6 month USA, then I would want to be in both places in summer, NOT winter. That means staying till November 2017 would put me back in the right cycle.

I have some Oncology tests next month, on the 9th Nov and the 10th Nov. Assuming these are OK, then by the following week, I'll be in Daytona Beach.
My Florida buddy says he will fetch me at the airport, and take me to the RV.
His House, and the RV both survived the Hurricane.
 Some guy on TV in South Carolina, was asked if his house was damaged by the strong wind from the Hurricane. He answered that there was no wind damage at all, because his whole house had been under water. :-)

I am very concerned about wearing my prosthetic leg for so long during the flight.  It will be 34 hours from my Pretoria house, to the RV in Florida. After about 5 hours, I usually want to take it off. :-)
I will need many stump socks to enlarge the stump as it shrinks.
I have spent a lot of time with Delta Airlines on the phone, trying to get a good seat, and arranging everything. They want to take the prosthesis and check it in as baggage. I definitely don't want that.
I will start wearing it longer and longer each day, to try to be ready for the trip. If I get a seat with plenty of room, then I will be able to take the prosthesis off and hold it in my lap. If I get a seat with very little room, then I will still take the prosthesis off and hold it in my lap. :-)

I haven't planned enough regarding my transport while I am in the USA. I'll never drive my car there again.  It has a manual transmission. I really like that car.  :-(
Maybe I can convert it to an electric car. :-)

I am debating just renting a car at the Daytona airport when I arrive, and having that problem solved for the first week. I will need to do shopping and probably buy parts for the RV. So much, depends on so much. I hate that.

I am actually quite nervous about this trip. I have done all I can to arrange wheelchairs and baggage trolleys at the various airports. All the airports say that wheelchairs are available on a first come first serve basis. That could screw me over during the Atlanta connection. That is one reason I am flying all flights Delta.

I am only taking clothes, toys, my prosthetic leg, and a cane. No crutches or wheel chair. I need to see what will be necessary for living in the RV. I may buy crutches, or maybe a wheelchair once I am there. Unfortunately, the time I'll need them most, is the first few days in the RV. I fear my poor stump will want a few days rest after the flight.
 I also am worried about the prosthetic leg while walking on the Florida property. Walking on uneven ground is a real bitch, and that ground is all uneven. Clumps of grass growing in sand. Moving around on the property may be easier with crutches.
I am excited about getting to see the bears again. They roam all over the Florida Property. I wonder which is best for running away from bears, crutches, or a prosthetic leg.
Here is a picture of a bear and cubs taken from inside my RV during my last Florida visit..

And here is a picture of my RV and a Bear with cubs.

The ranch in Texas will be better for walking, if I stay on the roads. I'll still be paranoid, because I'll be slow. Being slow, AND being in the food chain is a bad combination.

 Inside the RV will be problematic. The passage is to narrow for crutches or a wheelchair. I have racked my brain to try to figure out how to get into the bathroom in the RV. I am so dependent on grab bars everywhere. The grab bars I have in this house would rip the walls apart in the RV.  Here in Pretoria, I also have a very strong bar going across the ceiling in the bathroom.

 Wheelchair ramps are only useful for wheel chairs. They are counterproductive with a prosthetic leg. I am very concerned about the steps up into the RV.

 I am so worried about a thousand things. But that is what will make "everything" I do exciting. Maybe not pleasant, :-) but definitely not boring.

 The life I had a few years ago, was designed and built by me. It was how I wanted my life to play out. That has changed. Fate, did not listen to my desires.

 I still want to live on the cheap. But I may have to throw money at any problems like hotel, car rental, buying  wheelchair, crutches, or even a different RV if necessary. Spending money for non-toys gives me hives. I am allergic to it.

 I may have to ask my friends for help in hooking the RV up. Electricity, water, and sewage. So much depends on the health of my stump. I hate being totally dependent on something that is so variable and nebulous. I can not wrap my mind around hooking up the RV sewage pipes, while in a wheel chair, on sand while in Florida, or on rocky ground while in Texas.
 A sore on the stump may mean a month without a prosthesis. Only a wheelchair or crutches. Of course, if I would lower my life expectations, and be happy with just reading a book, and looking out a window, then it wouldn't matter as much.

 I need to visit my Brother in Washington..
 I would like to drive the RV to Texas, but I'll fly to visit Washington.
I think I'll spend a few months in Florida, with good friends, then drive the RV to Texas, and spend a few more months with good friends.
If I need help driving, I'll ask someone to drive with me. Something simple like a sore stump, and bad phantom pain would mean drugs and not driving till it gets better.
I could get stuck in someplace like NOLA indefinitely. (This is a good lead in, for a talk on suicide.) :-)

Another patient I knew from my chemo days has died. He had colon cancer. He was healthy on a three month check up, then dead before the next three month check up.
 I also am sort of stuck in South Africa because of my Medical Aid. I am so sad that I don't see me living in America. :-( I should be with bears, and coyotes. I understand them better than people.

I just noticed how almost every paragraph of this blog, starts with the word "I". That should tell you what the blog is all about. :-)
The word "I" is used 84 times. Please don't tell my Buddhist teacher.

 I have now expressed some of my fears and worries. (85)

Since being diagnosed with Angiosarcoma, and having my leg amputated, I have kept myself securely encased in my small world. A world of easy wheel chair movement, lots of grab bars, and everything in easy reach. Now I will experience real life. On it's terms, not mine. (87)
I feel like this is where all the "theory" of daily prosthetics use, gets real. (88)

Oct 9 2016 - Donning, an Air Bladder Socket

My newest socket has air bladders in it It is great, but takes some getting used to. I designed and built the air bladder part myself.

I went to Bradley to see if he had any air bladders that I could put between the flexible liner, and the fiber glass socket. He had some cool air bladders. They are about 2 inches by 4 inches. (5 cm by 10 cm).
I got 2 of them. Each comes with a valve to trap the air pressure, and a pump.

Here is what the bladders look like.

The bladders are supposed to take 100 kg (220 pds) of force on them when full of air.
It is not easy to see on the picture, but the one end of each bladder is double the thickness of the other end.
I only have only one pump, but the pump attaches to the bladder with a quick fitting adapter, so I can carry the pump in my bag rather than on the leg.

During the construction and designing, I had many failures :-)
DON'T do it like this :-)

If you remember earlier this year, I was complaining about it taking 10 minutes to put my leg on. It now takes much, longer, and requires more parts and accessories. But it doesn't hurt. That is vital and SSOOOO important.

Here is my morning procedure:

1. Take off the stump compression sock that I sleep in.

2. Put on part of a lady's large pair of tights. I had to cut away most of them. Their purpose is to stop my pubic hairs from getting pulled by the silicone liner. I tried shaving, but the stubble was worse than the hair being pulled out.

3. Next I smear glycerin over the end of my stump. This is to ensure that the silicone liner does not pull the skin on the stump end. Any pressure or force on the stump end is painful.

4. Now I liberally spray a mixture of alcohol, glycerin, and distilled water into the inside out silicone liner. This makes it easier to roll the silicone liner onto the stump.

5. Gently roll the liner onto the stump. I have to be very careful doing this. Any time I pull the liner toward my hip it hurts.

6. Now the liner is on, and the top part is over a part of the tights. The liner has small silicone ridges around it, down the length. On my last few sockets, these would form a seal for the vacuum in the lower part of the socket. This socket with the variable volume, caused by the inflatable air bladders is unable to form a vacuum seal with these small ridges.

7. Put on a sealing ring.

8. Now I put on a thick wool stocking on the top part of my stump because the top part is not adjustable using the bladders. The bladders only are on the bottom part of the stump, but not near the end of the stump. I need a little more security at the top part, so I put on a thick sock. I make sure the vacuum seal will not be broken by the wool sock.

9. Now I inspect the hoses, valves, and bladders. The bladders need to be fully deflated. I have replaced the metal hose clamps with Velcro. The Velcro strap wraps around the socket 4 times.

10. I now tuck the hoses out of the way, and get the valves in a place where I can reach them when the socket is on the stump.

11. Now I inspect all the pieces of foam I have inserted between the flexible liner and the socket shell. These will put pressure where I can not put the air bladders. I use 3 types of foam. They are color coded by compress-ability. White, Red, and Blue.

12. Now I liberally spray the inside of the socket with the same spray I used to put the silicone liner on. With out lubrication, the sealing ring will not slide against the inner flexible socket liner.

13. Now spray the sealing ring, and the whole silicone liner to make it slide easily into the socket.

14. Put the stump into the socket.

15. Push, shove, and bounce to get the stump down as far as possible into the socket. This is the part that scares me most. Any friction causes the silicone liner to try to move up the stump, and forces against the end of the stump. This can be very painful. It is pushing HARD, but gently. Duh!

16.   When the stump is as far in as I can push it, it is still not in far enough. This is a bad time, because since the stump isn't far enough into the socket, the leg is way too long, and not steady or supported well. Walking is very difficult.

17. After about 30 minutes of bouncing and walking around the kitchen, the stump is far enough into the socket.

18.  I check by sticking my finger in the vacuum valve hole. This way I can feel exactly how far the stump is into the socket.

19. Now to attach the pump to the bladder and pump. The bladders push securely on the sides of my thigh, and hold the femur very tight. The Proprioception increases dramatically. I can feel every movement of the foot.

20. Now I struggle and battle, to get my shorts on. Then I wait for my Buddy to drive up and take me to lunch. :-)

--

One of my readers sent me the links to some interesting sites about bionics. Cool stuff.

http://www.cybathlon.ethz.ch/en/

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqGx-eUykZLDKjjrwRhfilQ/feed

Thanks for that. :-)

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