Medicine - A Procedure and a Book Recommendation

DH gets to have his first MRI today. He's had some issues with his knee, and his orthopedist thinks there might be a small tear in the muscle. I guess the only way to determine this with accuracy is by having the MRI done, so he'll get the opportunity for a high-tech test today. 

The MRI for our clinic is actually housed in a tractor-trailer that
moves on a regular schedule through three clinic locations around
the Twin Cities. Rather strange, but I guess it's also rather cost
effective. 

It's rather amazing how things have changed in the medical profession in our lifetimes, and I'm quite sure my parents felt the same way. After all, the 1900's gave us the flu vaccine, the measles vaccine, the smallpox vaccine and so many other things. As the century progressed, the more difficult and higher-mortality issues like cancer were tackled, and with a lot of success for increased survival of the patients. Children are surviving leukemia now where in the 1960's it was almost 100% fatal. That's progress, and it's progress I'm really happy about. 

I highly recommend reading "That Good Night" and
then making sure that your desires about how to
be taken care of when it all goes down and you
can't express your desires are clearly understood. 

I just finished reading a book I'm going to recommend to all of you, "That Good Night: Life and Medicine in the Eleventh Hour" by Sunita Puri. Doctor Puri practices in the field of Palliative Medicine, a field unheard of until the late 1980's, early 1990's. There were a few times in this book where I had to dry my eyes and reach for a tissue, but more than that, it really made me think a bit. In these days of expanded life expectancy, how far do we really go? Will you choose to extend your life despite the body's desire to shut down? And what about your family? If you don't want extensive measures taken to keep you alive, are they aware of that? Do you have a DNF on record? 

We can get a four-inch diamond blade for a 1/2" arbor for
as little as $15, so we won't be putting more than $50 all
told into The Machine (and a little bit of elbow grease).
If it can cut some of our smaller stone for us without
having to fire up the bigger saw, it'll be well worth the
cost. 

DH and I have decided we'll spend the money for a small four-inch diamond blade for "The Machine", and some new little rubber feet for the corners, but we'll leave the expense at that and see how it performs. It might well be the "Little Engine that Could" and keep performing for years ahead, but it also might burn its motor out within the first ten cuts. Still, we're pleased that we purchased it, it's resting next to the Cab-Mate as I write this and it seems to be quite happy. 

Have an excellent Tuesday and I'll be back tomorrow. Enjoy your autumn weather (or springtime for my friends in the Southern Hemisphere). 

We Went For Stone and Bought Equipment

DH and I went to the annual Minnesota Mineral Club show and sale yesterday. We've been there in the rain, in the snow and in the heat in prior years, but this year turned out just about perfect. It was cold when we got there, but had warmed up to shirt-sleeve weather by the time we left, and there was bright sunshine which brought out the people. All of the vendors we spoke to said they had a dynamite Saturday and Sunday was looking to be just as busy. 

We wanted to clean "The Machine" thoroughly before
bringing it into the house, so we set it onto the patio
table and started work. Here it is from the front. The
right side houses either a blade or a grinding wheel, and
a polishing pad or sanding wheel is housed across the
left side. 

I hadn't intended to buy any rocks (I have drawers and drawers full of them), but did end up with some Blue Lace Agate, several pieces of Selenite and two stunning pieces of Calcite which I'm hoping will cleave into windowpane slices without difficulty. I didn't spend a lot, so if it doesn't work, I'll live with it. DH bought quite a lot of varied stone, and bought some things for me as well. 

Here's the left side showing the polishing pad disk. This side needs
a bushing and we need to figure out what we would like to put onto
the pad, but we're thinking some fine-grip polishing papers for the
disc, for final shaping. 

The best find was the last one of the day. While we were looking at some Picasso Jasper and settling up with the vendor, I looked over his shelving unit of old tools, finding one of interest. I called DH over and he was intrigued also. It's small, it uses a 4-inch wheel, but what really attracted us is that it also accommodates a trim saw - it has a blade guard that gets attached for sawing - and it's a water-cooled blade. The owner fired up his generator and we plugged it in. It worked. We bought it. We figured we couldn't go too wrong for $25. 

The right side houses the blade or grinder. It came with a grinding
stone, but we're looking for a good 4" trim saw to use
instead. It's a water-lube, getting the water for cooling and
lubricating the blade from the pan at the bottom. It was
worth the $25 gamble. Small trim saws cost $400 new. 

We brought our findings home to bag and label the stone and clean "The Machine" as we're currently calling it. We spent a while getting everything cleaned up using water, WD-40 and a few tools. It's now free of built-up mud and dirt and we're searching for a trim saw for a 1/2" arbor. The Skil-craft Gem Maker Model 940 dates from the 1950's-1960's and is typical of the higher-end children's toys of that era. I remember chemistry sets that would set the house on fire or send caustic smoke through a house, and rock tumblers that did what they still do today. Toys of that era taught adult skills, sized down for small hands. This is one more example of what children were allowed to play with. I assume there were some cut or abraded fingers because of this equipment, but for us it's a nice addition to our workroom. It will be able to handle small pieces of stone without having to fire up the bigger trim saw. We're looking forward to using our $25 bargain. 

On that note, I'm out of here. It's a busy day today and I can't laze around - LOL. Have an excellent Monday and I'll be back tomorrow. 

Destruction Can Be Constructive

Yesterday's tasks were all centered around destruction - very controlled, but destruction nonetheless. I did get to play with my equipment and grind stone - very fun and there's nothing like turning rock into mud, but my major project for the day was my stamps.

I have been cleaning my craft area, and wanted to tackle my stamps and other supplies that I use for my annual holiday cards. They were totally out of control, I couldn't find things, and items were getting ruined because of how I had to store them. That had to change.

Wooden backed stamps are effective, show the image well, and
usually transfer that image clearly. But they take up a LOT
of space and they are a variety of thickness and dimensions. 

One major shift that I did was begin the process of pulling all of my wooden-backed stamps off their wood blocks and remounting them onto pressure foam to be used with acrylic blocks. This doesn't sound like a major task, but it actually is. It's sticky, it's very time consuming to separate the rubber stamp from the block or any cushioning it already has, and then there is the storage issue. I still don't have all of the answers, but I have a large bag of stamps that are in process.

New backing material is purchased in sheets. Here, she is
applying the rubber stamp to a new foam core. This stuff
is VERY sticky. But it holds beautifully. A full sheet
costs a bit under $4. There are several brands available, but
only one that I like and it's hard to find. 

I could be really stupid about the process, just rip off, stick on, trim and be done, but I actually want to know (need to know) what the stamp is - what the image is. That means more prep. In this case, as in many other cases, StazOn pads and ink are my friend. I've used the ink for years with my metal etching work. It makes an impression that is permanent and won't rub off, unlike any other ink.

StazOn ink is pretty amazing. I've used it as a resist for
acid etching for years and it's also the only ink that
can successfully be applied to the back of the new
foam sheets without smearing off immediately. 

Stamping each stamp onto the back of the new foam and letting it dry completely - at least 30 minutes, more if you can - leaves a permanent image. Then, strip the stamp, cut out the new backing, pull the protective sheet from the adhesive and put the stamp on its new backing. Trim, and you're done. Easy, right? Actually, yeah - pretty easy, but not a fast thing to do. The difficulty comes with the quantity. I have more than fifty stamps that need to be remounted - a slow process. So, some of them will come with me to work today and I'll start working on a few every morning to get them finished. Then to figure out a good way to store them.

I have a bunch of stamps that I'm removing from their wooden
backs and remounting onto sticky foam. Then the question
comes - how to store these new stamps so that they stay
perfect? That's the next thing I'm going to have to figure out. 

Unfortunately, the original wood backs of the stamps are toast. I don't have any need for them, and neither does DH. Can't have everything. Yesterday was fun, though, and I did get to play with my equipment for a bit, to bring my project to the next stage which will take place at the shop. Hopefully I'll have an update and a finished project by the end of the week.

Happy Thursday, everyone! Back to the grindstone for me ...