30 AA Batteries for $2.99 - Black Friday

 The only thing I bought on Black Friday were these three packs of 30 AA batteries at Menards for $2.99 each.

I look forward to stocking up on AA and AAA batteries for the year. While these are a “cheap brand” I found they were actually pretty good! I bought them two years ago and they did a great job! So again, it was time to get a bunch.

I store them in the refrigerator. That is best to keep them fresh. But warm them up to room temperature before using them.

117 Degrees of Flexion... I Want At Least 120 Degrees Without Help

 

Measurement taken with my JAS knee brace on... 117 degrees. I measured 104 degrees without it. I would like to get back to at least 120 degrees without the brace. I had hit 115 degrees on my own in the past and 130 degrees when pushed hard by the physical therapist.

My Second Haircut with the Oster Fast Feed

My second haircut from my wife was about two months after the first one that she did for me.

We decided to use the modified guard for the top, but nothing got cut because the top never grew to 1-7/8" of length yet.  She then used a number 8 guard for the sides and back and then finally a number 6 for the lower portions.  Finally, she used scissors to trim around the ears.

The back was cut a bit too rounded in our opinion.  We can fix that next time.  Because the Oster Fast Feed is not "Zero Gapped", you can really trim off all the small hairs below the edge or the cut.  I am debating if I want to modify the Fast Feed to be a zero gap cutter.  Doing so would mean that any accidental movement of the clippers without a guard could cut me!  We'll see if I do it or not.

Overall, the cut is better than the first time.  A bit longer is better I think.  However, we thought that perhaps a number 4 at the very end of the hair would be even better.  Next time!

Making My Own 1-7/8" Oster Fast Feed Clipper Guard - (Equivalent of a Number 15 Guard)

Like many other people, with the Covid-19 lockdown, my hair was getting too long.  Because of this, I decided to buy some clippers and scissors to have my wife cut my hair.  I can't wait for my normal hair salon to open up and even if they do, I am not sure I want to go in!  After all, they are in contact with a lot of people and so social distancing is going to be hard to do.

My wife cut my hair two weeks ago using the clippers and did a great job cutting the sides and back.  But she didn't really cut the top much at all.  She used scissors which many stylists do (she's not a hair stylist), but it was still too long and the top hairs would flop over to my parted area on my left side making for a rather distinct and noticeable separation from clipped hair and scissored hair.

I wanted the top shorter, but I also did not want to bother her in doing it again.  In fact, after watching a bunch of YouTube videos on the topic, I felt that if I could only clipper cut the top as well as the sides myself, I wouldn't need to bother her going forward and would only to ask her to fine-tune my cuts by trimming around the ears and the back of the head.  That would be minimal time for her going forward.  Besides, there's something about being able to do the entire cut myself that appeals to me.

Well to try what I learned from the YouTube videos, I decided to cut the top hairs two weeks later myself with the clippers, but I only had a maximum of a one inch clipper guard (a number 8 guard).  I searched all over the internet and while there is such a thing as a 2 inch guard, it was made for the Wahl brand but not Oster.  I decided to go forward and just cut it one inch in length and hope for the best.  By the way, the numbering system is based on an eighth inch system.  8/8 is 1 inch so that's a number 8 guard.  4/8th's is 1/2 inch, so that's a number 4 guard.

Well, because I have a rather high forehead, the short hair makes it look like my hairline is receding, which it is not!  So, I now know, I need at least 2 inches on top.  Thinking it over, I thought that if I could only stack two guards together, I could create the distance needed for a 2" guard.  Hey!  I had a 7/8" guard which I'll never use on its own (a number 7 guard) and I also had a 1" guard that we used to groom our pet Maltese dog when she was alive.

Taping the two together made for the distance needed to get a 1-7/8" equivalent guard!  Based on the numbering system, 1-7/8" is really 15/8ths, so that's a number 15 guard.

I can't wait to grow my hair back so that I can try the newly constructed guard.  It took one short cut to make me think through what I needed to do to fix the problem.

I'll post a final result after my hair grows back and I get to cut all of my hair on my own.  It probably will take a while though!  If this combination is too long, I'll just take a lower number guard and tape the 1" guard from our dog to it.  I have options!

Edit Note:  I finally got to try my contraption... it DOES NOT WORK!  I was hoping it would, but it doesn't!  I am going to make another version that will use the 1" as well as a 1/2" guard.  Hope this one works.

Here is a 1" with a 1/2" guard.  Hope this one works...

114 Degrees and 130 Degrees!

On Friday, Feb 21, 2020, I was able to get 114 Degrees of Flexion on my own and I matched the doctor's knee manipulation under anesthesia amount of 130 degrees when the physical therapist pushed me to major screaming levels!

I am shocked at the 130 degree flexion because I never thought I'd ever be able to get that far.  It may be the one and only time I will get this since the pain was so great when he pushed me that far!  Remember, the doctor was only able to get it when I was knocked out in the operating room.

Let's hope I am able to get that 114 degree number to at least 120 degrees.  This only happens after the therapist has "prepped" me by pushing on my leg several times first.  Each of those time are screaming times as well.

I'd say if I were just to try it on my own without any prep work, I probably can do only 90 to 95 degrees.

I still can't walk well though.  I walk terribly still.

Where Have I Been?

It's been a long time since my last post here on my blog.  Where have I been?

Well, on September 19, 2019, I had a left knee replacement.  It hasn't gone well.  Recovery has been very long and as of this post, it's been almost 5 months of pain.  I've gone through over 70 physical therapy sessions and each one is filled with pain from the PT pushing on my leg to get the knee to bend more.

With all this work, I am currently able to bend my knee as much as 112 degrees on my own and 124 degrees when the PT pushes me to the point of screaming in pain.  I need to be able to do it to at least 115 to 120 degrees on my own and have enough leg strength to walk properly on my own.

The leg strength seems to be a big challenge for me.  I know I still have a long way to go.

So, if you want to keep track of me, go to my YouTube channel called "Russ Is Right" and subscribe. I put most of my online efforts now on the YouTube channel over this blog.  Be sure to subscribe and hit the bell icon so you will know when new videos come out.  The subscription costs nothing to you, but make a huge difference for me.

youtube.com/c/RussIsRight 

Thanks everyone!