Sunday, January 25, 2015

Winter Thoughts

Update on my Mom:  She went to see an orthopaedic surgeon regarding her leg lump.  He said it looks like a schwannoma (the benign option), but he's seen one just like that that turned out to be a sarcoma (malignant) so he wanted to do a biopsy just in case.  My Mom was not keen on a biopsy, because, as the growth is part of the nerve sheath, there is a risk of nerve damage during the procedure.  They compromised.  She's going to have a second MRI done in 3 months.  If the lump has grown, they'll worry.  If it hasn't, I guess they'll just continue to keep an eye on it.  I'm happy enough with that outcome.

I would tell you of my latest adventures, if I'd had any.  I'm doing a great job of hibernating this winter.  Good for me!  I love spending time in our cozy condo.

My floor is getting old.  I have laminate flooring, with an expected lifespan of 10-25 years, installed in around 2004 (before I moved in).  Little bits of the top layer have started chipping off here and there.  When it gets bad enough to need replacing, Ken and I will essentially need to move out of our home during the repairs, because this flooring runs everywhere except the kitchen and bathrooms.  Every time another little chunk breaks off, I worry about it.  How long can we hold off?  Can we squeeze another 15 years out of this cheap laminate?  We'll see.

In fact, many things in our home are aging.  Our stacked washer and dryer are almost 20 years old.  Of course, the washer is a top-loader.  Should I wait until one of the machines breaks down before we replace them, or is it time to get a new set?  What's your advice?

We have a dishwasher, but we have literally never turned it on.  It's not installed to code.  The drain is jimmied with a length of rubber garden hose.  Because there are just the two of us, we don't make enough dishes to load a full dishwasher every day.  Maybe we could use one of those little half-sized ones, but we don't care enough to replace the one we have.  It just sits there, taking up valuable space.  Every once in a while I open the door to see if any rats or snakes have crawled up the drain.  So far, nothing.  I suppose if we ever sell this place we'll have to replace it.

What's the state of your home?

8 comments:

Granny Annie said...

Our house needed so many repairs and much remodeling when we purchased it. Ron saw that a lot was done before he died, but there is still much work needed. However, I love it a lot. I can barely walk through my house one single day without rejoicing in the changes that Ron made and how comfortable he saw that our house would be for me.

DarcKnyt said...

We live in an apartment, so we don't have to worry (too much, anyway) about the repairs and maintenance of our stuff. But my wife's blog lays out a nice history of the things we've had to (fight harder than we should to) have replaced over the last couple of years.

I'll keep praying for your mom, Spark. And I celebrate your hibernation. I'm doing a fine job of it myself too. :)

Ginny said...

I would wait for either the washer or dryer to go. If it's running ok why replace it?

I will admit that we have a small dishwasher and despite the two of us we use it. I don't know what I did before a dishwasher. Well I did, I washed the dishes by hand I just hated it.

Warped Mind of Ron said...

I live in terror at the thought of my washer giving in to the years of abuse. I'm not made to haul stuff to a laundromat.

Lynn said...

All my appliances sort of went at once, so I got a new fridge and dishwasher (in that order) and shortly after got a new stove, because the old one was ugly. :) I wish now I had gotten stainless steel - I'll do that next time, but am not borrowing trouble by wishing the current ones would hurry up and break. :)

Same thing with the washer and dryer - these have lasted about 15 years now. I'm hoping they last a long time.

I had a sort of unplanned biopsy on a possible skin cancer on my leg last week - it was over before I knew it. The healing of that will take at least a month, I'm told. No one mentioned nerve damage. Hmmm.

Sparkling Red said...

Lynn: Oh dear, that's no fun. I wish you all the best with your healing and the results.

Nerve damage was only an issue for my mom's type of biopsy because the lump is growing on the sheath that covers a nerve.

Jenny Woolf said...

I wouldn't replace the washer and dryer if they are working OK. In the past I have replaced things that work OK and found the new one goes wrong really fast!

Vanessence7 said...

Continuing to pray about your mom. Doctors are so afraid of lawsuits now that I guess they just go to the extreme to cover their behinds, too. Several years ago a doctor gave us a cancer scare over a sinus infection that Dane had.

Hibernation is a wonderful thing, I think! We tend to do it nearly all Winter, and most of Summer, too, as we don't like the extremes in temperatures, and it gets so muggy here in Summer. Score for climate controlled environments! And I so admire your bravery in facing down the bare weather up there in Winter! You are truly Canadian. :D