Tzelik Hammar Posted September 3, 2017 Share Posted September 3, 2017 Hi. I'm Randell Warren, from Corona NM. I was a member of this board for a while before suffering a stroke and some minor brain damage. My tag was DocBlacklight. I have gone through a lot since then and after many helpings of humble pie, I am trying to move back into the wonderful world of smithing. During the last couple years my life has changed a lot and metalwork took a big backseat but I'm finally confident enough to give it another shot. I have a small coal forge, hand crank, and I've spent a lot of time reading voraciously. I look forward to talking to you all again, this time without a silly nickname or a wheelbarrow load of false confidence. Very glad to see this forum has flourished and grown so much! And Glenn... The answer was borax. Haha. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn Posted September 3, 2017 Share Posted September 3, 2017 Welcome back. If you have questions, just ask, and we can either answer or make a referral to a thread where the subject has already been discussed. Pack a lunch and a cold drink and visit when you can. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tzelik Hammar Posted September 3, 2017 Author Share Posted September 3, 2017 I'm stumbling around trying to soak in the knowledge here instead of asking a bunch of dumb questions this time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles R. Stevens Posted September 3, 2017 Share Posted September 3, 2017 I haven't met many dumb questions. Ignorant questions, and particularly lazy questions, but few true my dumb ones. Occasionally some fool will pose a false belife as a question and that's when things get bent all it if shape. Welcome back, I belive Jerry has a thread for servo its of traumatic brain injury, I would think a cerebral accident would be rather traumatic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted September 3, 2017 Share Posted September 3, 2017 Welcome back Randell, glad to see you again. (like I remember things like names. ) Stroke and TBI have a lot in common there are a number of us on the forum and once in a while we'll hash out issues and work arounds. Give a shout if you need to talk. Ask anything you need to, I certainly understand how stuff hides till you don't need it. Called aphasia, you blank on a word, place, thing, etc. happens to everybody but it really happens to TBI and stroke survivors. What really happens is, there are all those wrinkles and creases in you brain, right? Well those pesky words hide in them till you forget what you were talking about then they come out and taunt you by inserting themselves into sentences where they make no sense at all. THAT is what aphasia REALLY is, Honest, I figured it out myself! I can be serious though I laugh at the devil. I know about loss and hanging in there. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ausfire Posted September 3, 2017 Share Posted September 3, 2017 Thoughtful reply there, Frosty. I like the attitude Randell showed in his intro. I reckon he'll fit in real well here. Welcome back! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tzelik Hammar Posted September 3, 2017 Author Share Posted September 3, 2017 I had a tbi already {used to be a bouncer in Dallas and got laid out with a baseball bat) and aphasia. The stroke aggravated the symptoms and left me in pretty rough shape. My depth perception is still kinda iffy and my balance is... Well, gravity and I have disagreements. I have regained full control of everything but my left pinky, though sometimes I shake some and my left foot drags a bit if I don't focus on my stride. In the last three years I've lost my house to a fire, had a stroke (and recovered with therapy}, lost 217lbs through diet, exercise, and having most of my stomach removed, lost my dad to esophageal cancer and my uncle to COPD, found a good woman who will put up with me, and discovered that my previous lifestyle of a cranky hermit deprived me of the things that make life worth living. I love every second I get to play with fire and iron. I grew up living in fantasy worlds (through reading) and I've come to the conclusion that despite knowing the science behind how smithing works, it's truly magic. Taking base elements of fire, earth (ore/steel), water and air and combining them in different ways to create pure functional art is magic if I've ever read a definition of it. Every second behind the hammer makes me feel at peace and that is something I've never had in my life. It's truly wonderful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SLAG Posted September 3, 2017 Share Posted September 3, 2017 Randell, Welcome aboard. P. M. me if you ever need any information. Regards, SLAG. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted September 3, 2017 Share Posted September 3, 2017 Blacksmithing is truly excellent PT as it's iterative aspect helps retrain the muscle memory. I had 4 syncopes last year two resulting in the Head to concrete interaction resulting in concussions (and worse about a month apart) Now I'm lucky that they were not too severe but I di go through a very unpleasent time having to tell my employer that basically I needed to be retrained and that would take longer then the first time...Then I had non-related surgery and lost some more time. I'm on tenterhooks to see how review comes out this year... I'll answer the pm when I get back from the fleamarket and it gets hot---gotta do some forging while the temps are better! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles R. Stevens Posted September 3, 2017 Share Posted September 3, 2017 Any woman who will put up with the likes of us is a good woman by default. I am glad you have redescoverd life, it is certainly more than just survival. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted September 3, 2017 Share Posted September 3, 2017 I see we're on the same page in a number of ways Randell: I learned to read because Mother turned me onto Sci Fi when my teacher told her I was below average and might make a good janitor. I wasn't reading up to the level of the other kids. Truth was Dick and Jane books were too stupid to hold my interest, the idea was to teach by constant repetition. See Dick see Dick run, see Dick run on grass, see Dick run up the hill. on and on. Not forgetting the next page where Jane runs. Anyway, Mother wasn't going to have a below average kid so she brought home a book she knew I'd be interested in, "The Spaceship Under the Apple Tree." Anyway, I read constantly I have a library of paper back that weighs too much for a single load in a 3/4 ton pickup. The science books used to take up their own book cabinet. When I could have book shelves, cabinets, etc. I got married, built a house and don't have room anymore. You and I feel the same about smithing. To take mankind's oldest tools, fire and something to bash with and have our way with the backbone of modern human civilization is soul deep satisfaction. The real magic, to me anyway, is the clever monkeys with thumbs and a big brain have made all this REALLY cool stuff from refined dirt. Same page? I have eye hand and depth perception issues, nerve damage to the left side. The wobblies decrease as my physical condition improves, nothing like almost a year in bed to build couch potato bad habits. I'm up to spending 2-3 hrs at a time in the shop and gaining on my eye hand issues. A bad left eye still really gets in the way I'm working on trying to train my brain into either recruiting more circuitry to compensate or switch more duties to my right eye. We'll see. (Yeah, I'm a shameless punster. ) There are a LOT of us Brother and we're ALL pulling for you. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles R. Stevens Posted September 3, 2017 Share Posted September 3, 2017 Jerry, have you tried putting a patch over your right eye? I have a lazy right eye, part of the physical therapy was to patch my left. Might talk to a good optometrist about PT. All those weird visual illusions, sometimes I acualy have to change my visual focus to make them work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted September 3, 2017 Share Posted September 3, 2017 I wish Charles, its nerve damage probably 50% of the nerves to my retina are dead, called "retinal palor" in the pics IIRC. Could be worse, imagine how miserable I'd be if I couldn't tell a joke! Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles R. Stevens Posted September 3, 2017 Share Posted September 3, 2017 Birch squish that grape? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted September 4, 2017 Share Posted September 4, 2017 No wine from me. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted September 4, 2017 Share Posted September 4, 2017 21 hours ago, Frosty said: Could be worse, imagine how miserable I'd be if I couldn't tell a joke! And how much less miserable the rest of us would be! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SLAG Posted September 4, 2017 Share Posted September 4, 2017 Hammer Man, That joke was nasty . You may have hurt Frosty's feelings! SLAG. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted September 4, 2017 Share Posted September 4, 2017 Remember that was CRS and so he probably *meant* the "asynchronous syndication of fructiferous transmogrifiers"---or something else. (The voices in my head are arguing over what it is; those that are not playing ultimate fizzbin with my Mandolin Obligato. or was that my Miraculous Oubliette???? I'd give it some Thoth; but I'm such a bird brained know-it-all... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tzelik Hammar Posted September 4, 2017 Author Share Posted September 4, 2017 I'd prefer a miraculous omelette. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted September 4, 2017 Share Posted September 4, 2017 I'm up for a medulla omelette frittata gravy boat regatta. I'll bet everybody's expecting me to take a return shot, probably some crack about how we're all less miserable after a trip to the John. Nope, not going to do it, that's too cheap a shot even for me. I'm taking the high ground this time. Rolling on. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tzelik Hammar Posted September 4, 2017 Author Share Posted September 4, 2017 And btw frosty, we're on the exact same wavelength. I'm here to spy on the wizards! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted September 4, 2017 Share Posted September 4, 2017 Is that better than french fry lizard? I don't know about the exact same wavelength, I'm FM, frequently modulated. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tzelik Hammar Posted September 4, 2017 Author Share Posted September 4, 2017 Oh, I'm AM, adequately medicated Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted September 4, 2017 Share Posted September 4, 2017 Better than Frequently Moderated! Now can you sing O Fortuna to the tune of Oh Susanna? Or will you just give it Orff? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles R. Stevens Posted September 4, 2017 Share Posted September 4, 2017 Na, I'm the one "frequently moderated" lol. Last couple of weeks has seen questionable spelling, typos and brain farts... And lest we forget, a rousing descusen about the proper use of hit tongs to des leave the abuse of inocent anvils. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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