Hi all. Sorry I haven't been active for a while.
It's been an interesting year.
Took a trip to China with T back in May. Great fun and the people were awesome.
We used a service that provided private local guides throughout our trip. The guides were fantastic.
As Brian noted, I'd been frustrated a bit with machining and haven't been doing much. Nor have I done much with a model train layout, mainly because I haven't figured out space for it.
I've spent a lot of time doing what I do best. Programming. I have a platform with a number of stepper motors and other features and have been having fun with that. Some tools I developed include a graphics package to display a robot in a workcell, a 'C' interpreter, and a real time operating system that uses events rather than messages.
On the down side, I've spent some time in the hospital. An old problem with the left lobe of my liver that had been injured when I was younger. It has atrophied to the point that it's given me even more trouble.
The first time I got admitted on a Friday. My youngest daughter was admitted the next day in maternity. I was able to visit her.
On Sunday she provided us with a grandson. She was discharged on Monday and I was discharged on Tuesday. They couldn't really do anything for me except give me pain meds until the stones and sludge passed. (I have no gall bladder. The issue is a stricture of a bile duct.)
I was surprised they found I was in AFIB.
I was surprised by my daughter. The grandson's middle name is Alexander...as is mine. That was nice.
Two weeks later I ended up in the hospital again. This time they transported me to Philly where I had an ERCP to get the stones and sludge out.
Tomorrow I go in for surgery and have the offending left lobe of the liver removed. I'm fortunate that Philly has a premier hospital that deals with livers.
For a number of years I knew this day was coming. It should put an end to the periodic hospital visits to wait for a stone to pass.
After recovery I hope to drive to Missouri and bring my folks out to visit the family. I suspect it will be the last trip they make. Dad is 93 and Mom is 91.
Having a life scare helps put things in perspective. When I get back and recovered I hope to get back to serious play in the shop.
It will probably be a while before I'm back on the forum. I hope you all are doing well, having fun, and making things.
Thanks for thinking of me. I do think of you all quite often. I just suck as a member.