Monthly Archives: October 2019

Joint Replacement Awareness Day

I participated in this event, sponsored by BoneSmart, on May 4th, 2019. BoneSmart is the largest joint replacement forum in the world and is one of the online resources I used for support before and after my surgeries. It is a repository of a wealth of information on all types of joint replacements and includes user forums for support.

I was honored to be asked to create a short video of my experience for this event and to participate via a live Internet feed on a panel. I just received this link to the videos capturing the whole day and wanted to pass it along for those of you following my blog. There are a number of surgeons presenting all the latest information on joint replacements, as well as patient testimonials.

Here is the link: Joint Awareness Day Videos

My testimonial, including a nice video montage of what I can do now, appears in Session 10 at about the 1/2 way point. The patient panel I participated in live is recorded in Session 11.

I would encourage those of you getting ready for joint replacement to have a look at the videos. In the upper right you will see a menu option for accessing the 2018 JRAD videos.

I think it’s fun that this link was sent to me right before my one-year anniversary: October 31st. That was the day I had my cerclage cable removed in 2018 and when my recovery really took off. I’m happy to say that I am back to my normal self at last! I had a really great rest of my summer camping and hiking (reasonably), having learned from my earlier over-exuberance!

September 2019 Solar News

The String of Pearls: Hybrid Toyota Highlander, American Teardrop Trailer, Nissan LEAF
Our solar panels on the roof

Our Online SolarEdge Panel. Click to see what we are producing with our rooftop solar array!

The Summary

It was another strong month of production. Our solar system generated approximately 1.3 megawatts of power. We used 654 kilowatts. We banked 485 kilowatts.

The Data

I decided it would be easier to understand the interpretation of the data if I just wrote it on the bill. Hopefully, you can read my chicken scratch handwriting!

We had a light month of use on the LEAF, as we were on our teardrop trip for the first two weeks of September.

We received a notice about a recall from Nissan on the bonding plates which hold the battery in place. The original plates apparently were easily corroded by salt on icy roadways (an issue in Reno). I just took her in for this service and within a few hours had her back free of charge! They even threw in checking the brakes, which are perfect! Given our average mileage, it’s unlikely she will need anything until her 30,000 mile service sometime in 2020.

So far, the promise of low maintenance costs has been true!