What did you do in the shop today?

[Paul TIKI]

Been too cold outside, but yesterday was better, so it was a shop cleanup.  

OK, that's totally misleading.  The 'shop' is the backyard and with 4 dogs ranging from 60 lbs to 120 lbs, well, lets just say some messes needed to be dealt with.

then it was tax filing time.  After paying off some bills, paying the property takes, and dumping some into savings, there will be some left for tools, maybe a new anvil from the scrap yard.

TP, I feel ya on the balancing blood sugar thing.  Mines been running high, and I'm starting to think the meds aren't keeping up with it.  Not on Insulin yet, and don't want to be.  I'm sure shedding 50 lbs or so will help. 

[ThomasPowers]

Type 2?  I am "Adult Onset Juvenile Diabetes" AKA Type 1.5 or LADA.  Took them a while to figure that out as everyone assumed I was type 2 until finally my third Endocrinologist actually looked at the lab result and said "These are antibodies against your Beta Cells; you are Type 1!"  Originally diagnosed as Type 2 Feb of 2000; correctly diagnosed 15? years later.

If you can stay off of Insulin; I'd suggest it just from the cost standpoint alone.  My insulin pump cost more than my pickup and at non-insurance covered prices I go through about $1000 a month. (Of course it costs the makers about $100 a month but since I die without it they can charge whatever they think they can get away with.)  Why I haven't retired yet as I have to hold out for Medicare at 65.

[Paul TIKI]

Yeah, Type 2, diagnosed about 4 years ago.  I changed my diet and started exercising and was doing great for a while.  Dropped about 30 lbs (50 still to go) but then my eating habits started to drift back to the old ways.  Now I can't seem to get the same reset.  It's driving me nuts, because the weight loss plateaued as well.  I did just get an Exercise bike and that helps though

[BillyBones]

My dad is diabetic, not sure if it is 1 or 2, from exposure to agent orange in Vietnam. He does not take insulin but he is quite vigilant on his diet and keeping track of his sugar. Walking is his daily exercise, or if to cold he has a tread mill. 

Diabetes does not run in my family, so that aspect i am lucky. What kills my people is high blood pressure. I have to take 3 different meds for mine, not to mention the crazy pills (PTSD), and 2 years ago i was taken to the ER from the doctors office when they checked my BP. 

[ThomasPowers]

What kills diabetics is heart attacks and strokes, my Doctor back in 2000 started me on statins and BP meds; I didn't need Insulin for the first 5 years, then I started to lose weight while eating more; lost 20 pounds before getting my Dr here in NM to refer me to an Endocrinologist in the City.  He explained it simply: I was losing weight because I was dying; my body couldn't process food and so I was starving while over eating.  Started Insulin that day!  Only thing having a "correct diagnosis" earlier would have done was to have me on insulin sooner. (And make me feel better about myself because autoimmune is NOT "my fault."

Blacksmithing is still possible I just need to watch my BG/Insulin/Activity levels and NOT try to skip meals when I get busy.  My wife encourages my "forge pals" to keep an eye on me when I'm out in the shop. As one explained it "We are more scared of Her than we are of You if we let anything happen to you."

[Paul TIKI]

Yeah, the type 2 kind of runs on my mom's side.  On dad's side I get the triple whammy of BP, cholesterol, and Triglycerides.  Cookie Poisoning, as dad used to call it.

I'm getting better at listening to my body with the sugars, I can tell if it's getting too high, but it's more than a little scary.  What really gets me is that I need to significantly alter my diet.  I love Breads and potatoes and starches, so since that drives up the ol' glucose, I have to really reduce or eliminate them.  Makes me a little cranky.

[ThomasPowers]

I'm the only diabetic in my extended family; but autoimmune issues seem common. (My Endocrinologist once told me that when you have one autoimmune issue you tend to "collect them all" over the years.")  But hey I've made it long enough that my grandkids will remember me!  I'm trying to round out my tool collection so all 8 of them can have a set up from my estate.

I'm discussing when I can give an intro to smithing class at the Fine Arts Metals program.  Looks like I'll be good to go around the last week of March; three weeks after the second of the "Double Tap" covid-19 vaccine shots.  Luckily social distancing is easy when folks are running around with 2' of orange hot steel in their hands.  Have to do one person per anvil and draw a chalk circle 6' from each anvil. It will be a bit slower as folks can only approach the gas forge and post vise one at a time.  Each person will also need their own set of tools.

[JHCC]

BillyBones, your "Diabetes does not run in my family" reminds me of a story I just heard last week: the husband of an old friend from college was recently diagnosed with colon cancer and is currently being (successfully, to all appearances) treated for it. He was encouraging his two brothers to get screened. The younger one replied, "Cancer doesn't run in our family", whereupon his wife glared at him and said, "It does now." He got screened, and they found the early stages of a much more deadly cancer than the one my friend's husband has. He's being treated now, and the prognosis is good.

[BillyBones]

My dad is one of those people who had bread with every meal, he ate bread with bread. He also used to snack constantly, he would literally get up from the dinner table, get a bag of chips and go sit and watch TV. The other thing he had to cut out that was hard for him was beer. 

JHCC, i know that does not mean i will not get it, just my chances are lower than someone who does have a family history of it. 

[Paul TIKI]

I was kind of the same.  I love my bread machine.  I love my salty snacks.  Someone says "Nachos" and I find myself in the kitchen in a fugue state with chips in one hand and cheese in the other.  I can go to a mexican restaurant and put a serious dent in the chips and salsa supply.  One of my favorite things as a kid was when mom would cook a roast was just a piece of bread on the plate covered in gravy.  So yeah, I'm having some troubles. 

The twist of the knife comes from the fact that a normal substitute for chips is pork cracklins or pork rinds and I hate those.  and don't talk to me about kale chips.

At least they have not tried to take away my coffee.  There might be fatalities if they did

[Frosty]

I was diagnosed diabetic June of 2000. How's that for coincidence Thomas? It was a few tests later they determined I was type II. 

I love bread and baked goods in general, it's not easy limiting them but it's a big benefit to controlling blood sugars. I grew up with home made bread and heck everything, we virtually never visited a bakery, doughnuts rarely. 

Bread and gravy, we finished off dinner with a splash of gravy, a slice of bread covered with gravy. We called it pie. Mmmmmm pie. 

Since the pandemic kept us home all the time my food discipline started slipping, my last A1c had jumped to 8.9 from 7.7! That was a wake up call and I'm back to being extra strict on myself. I try to hold bread to my bedtime snack but sometimes nothing but a sandwich will do. No Texas toast with dinner, no toast with breakfast. No pasta, I'd started to have raman for lunch 4-5 times a week. YIKES. I'll occasionally make something with pasta in it for dinner but Deb's not happy about it not being once a week, often. 

I'm good with potato if I don't get carried away so we split a baker. On and on. Oh well it gives me something to do besides worry about the pandemic, weather, crazies running amok on the roads, what's on special at the market, what to fix for dinner. Oh wait it's part of fixing dinner, never mind. 

Bouncy blood sugars are a good indication you're coming down with something. 

Is that a silver lining? 

Frosty The Lucky.

[ThomasPowers]

And may go up with vaccinations too.  Did you read the Consumer reports article about Diabetes and Covid?  We did and upped the intensity of our isolation.

[Paul TIKI]

Well, then.  I know we stay pretty isolated.  Once weekly town runs, masked up, lists made, get in and out as fast as possible, and then cook most meals at home,  

That's the theory.  we had been eating out more often for a while, but now, it's back to the hidey hole.  

[Irondragon Forge ClayWorks]

Yep... Keep your head down.

[JHCC]

4 hours ago, BillyBones said:

JHCC, i know that does not mean i will not get it, just my chances are lower than someone who does have a family history of it. 

My apologies: I had not intended my remark as a personal rebuke, merely as a tangent brought to mind by the words you used. I'm very sorry if it came across that way.

[George N. M.]

I was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes in 1995 as a result of Agent Orange exposure in Viet Nam (50% VA disability).  Over the years my A1c has crept up and I have been on insulin for the past 10 years or so.  Since last March we drastically modified our diet, minimizing fats and carbs, and I have been able to reduce my insulin from 55 units/day to 12 units/day.  Also, I have lost about 25 pounds and am close to my target weight.  My last A1c in Oct. was 6.7.  I'd like to get it below 6.

Yes, I still have cravings for high carb things like pie or cookies but I am generally able to resist.  I suppose that it is like being a smoker or an alcoholic, the cravings may fade but never go away completely.

I have to give my wife, Madelynn, much of the credit.  She is a motivator to keep me away from things I crave and she is a very good cook.  I am happy to eat what she prepares that is good for me.  She says that it is self interest on her part because she wants to keep me around as long as possible. 

Yes, your quality of life is a bit reduced by not being able to eat what you want but it is the quality that is reduced, not the life.  I'd rather have more years without cake and pie than fewer years with the sweets.

"By hammer and hand all arts do stand."

[BillyBones]

9 hours ago, JHCC said:

I had not intended my remark as a personal rebuke

Oh, my no, you did not at all. My apologies also if you took it that i took it that way. I had actually said a bit more but back tracked, then got distracted getting ready for work and just posted real quick like. Actually i meant to add that your friends wife sounds a lot like my mom saying something like that. Anyway again, sorry if you took me as short. It some times takes me awhile to put a post together, i am on about 10 mins already, but i got in a hurry and did not finish. 

See here i had to go back and make an edit.

George, my mom researched a bunch of stuff that she can make for my dad. So a lot of the stuff he has to satisfy the cravings she makes. She is also a pretty darned good cook. I can not think of many snacks she has made but this weekend she made him chocolate fudge and it was pretty danged good. 

Edited February 3, 2021 by BillyBones
Forgot to add something

[natkova]

I tried to make something as tongs , they look like tongs but they kinda dont work as expected

 

To be honest I used skme flat bar and tried to do some experimenting but yeah I got this.

One thing is theory other thing is when you work and see it in practice how it wont go as somebody drawed.

 

You allways have that "disoriantation feeling in hand when you try to grab something, it more want to be scissors than tongs, even if you bend jow and round handles, boss somehow turn it to be like scissors.

[SLAG]

Folks,

A good tutorial for making those tongs can be accessed at BP001 Easy to make tongs

The article is well illustrated with step by step instructions.

SLAG.

[natkova]

Thanks I will check it

[BillyBones]

Natkova, on of the things that jump out at me it that you made "left handed tongs". Which is ok if you are left handed, but feel weird if you are right handed. The top reign when holding them in your tong hand should be on the side facing your hand, not your thigh. The idea is that if you loosen your grip the tongs should fall towards the palm of the hand not the finger tips. 

The fix is simple, twist them the other direction. If you hold the tongs in your left hand twist clockwise instead of counter clockwise. I know that just confused you didnt it? Left and right handed refer to the dominant hand, hammer hand, not which hand you hold the tongs with. 

I have a set like that i made years ago for my first tongs. I still use them. Mostly when i just have nothing else that fits, i heat up the jaw and shape it to what i need. 

You may need a left handed monkey wrench to make that twist though.  

[Chimaera]

I was recently asked (jokingly of course) if the crescent wrench I was using was metric or imperial. Little did they know that it was, in fact, both. It had a 6" handle but the jaw opening width was metric.

[ThomasPowers]

I'd go with "Egyptian Royal Cubits, meh niswt" of course!

[natkova]

I think i will have to make tongs from wood   just to feel how they should be lol right made.

[BillyBones]

I believe the royal cubit is how the Egyptian left hand latch wrench incremented. I also think i may have a set of anvil horn wear gauges that are in cubits but i am not sure if it is royal or not.