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Today I have mainly been v3

Quite warm down here - at last - so took a gentle stroll through park down to the seafront then a very pleasant swim round Hastings pier. Back home to a late lunch and snooze on the terrace under the umbrella. Dinner on terrace now - it's a hard life :) .
 
Today I have been mainly up a very tall set of ladders cleaning my gutters and soffits, I then attempted to clean the gable end fascias but only got so high, I literally was unable to go any higher, so the top peak is still in need of a wash - It’s a bit of a so and so being scared of heights.
 
I've got exactly the same issue with painting my gable ends and dormer tops. There is a point on the ladder beyond which I simply can't go.
 
PhilofCas said:
Today I have been mainly up a very tall set of ladders cleaning my gutters and soffits, I then attempted to clean the gable end fascias but only got so high, I literally was unable to go any higher, so the top peak is still in need of a wash - It’s a bit of a so and so being scared of heights.
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Rod Hull says hello.
 
PhilofCas said:
Today I have been mainly up a very tall set of ladders cleaning my gutters and soffits,
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When we moved into our current house I decided to get up and have a look at the state of the gutters.
I used the ladder left in the garage by the previous owner - it was only on the way down after my first foray that I noticed the extensive woodworm holes in the rungs ...o_O

Never again .... got a local window cleaner in to clean the gutters from then on.
 
The bill from the solicitor for dealing with Heather's estate arrived at last. Got on-line and paid it. Surprisingly found it liberating, I suppose it's an element of closure.

I'm back clearing out stuff in the house and garden that I can see no use for. This came to a halt after the bike accident.

Recovery from the accident continues to progress. I went swimming today for the first time since the accident. Boy, the water temperature was a bit of shock :eek: :eek:. For the last couple of months I've been used to 34.5C in the hydrotherapy pool! However I managed 20 mins which I thought was enough for a first session. At the end of the last hydrotherapy session I had the pool to myself and did a few minutes swimming to see how I got on with breaststroke just check how my left leg was going cope, this gave me the confidence to try today in the normal pool.
 
In my forties I stripped and replaced a roof. Even stood on top of the chimney stack: felt as mighty as a cockerel! I still clean the gutters out each autumn, but not for much longer. Age deprives you of fine movement and the instant strength to make micro adjustments. Pride comes before a fall.

ps: this was a proper house, not them effete bungalow things;)
 
I wouldn’t have done it without my mate looking after me, an ex mine deputy. He did all the ladder footing. I did the front of the house reasonably OK, it was only when resting the ladder onto the side of the house that had me beaten, I could only go so high until I simply couldn’t take another step, no matter how much reassurance and encouragement from below, I couldn’t move my feet onto the next rung, the difference being that as the ladder extended higher, it went from doubled up, to single, it was horrible on the single tier, like I say, I couldn’t overcome my fear and stopped.

Nevertheless, 95% job well done, go me :D.
 
I don't do high ladders. The only exception was when we got back from holiday, and neither of us could find our house key. Fortunately we'd left a bedroom window slightly open, so I borrowed a ladder off the bloke opposite, propped it against the wall, and climbed to the window. After a wobbly few minutes I got the window open wide enough to clamber through. I was hot from exertion and fear, took my top off, and the key fell on the floor. Presumably it had got entwined in my top somehow.

Anyway, after that, I never climbed higher than about ten feet.
 
PhilofCas said:
I wouldn’t have done it without my mate looking after me, an ex mine deputy. He did all the ladder footing. I did the front of the house reasonably OK, it was only when resting the ladder onto the side of the house that had me beaten, I could only go so high until I simply couldn’t take another step, no matter how much reassurance and encouragement from below, I couldn’t move my feet onto the next rung, the difference being that as the ladder extended higher, it went from doubled up, to single, it was horrible on the single tier, like I say, I couldn’t overcome my fear and stopped.

Nevertheless, 95% job well done, go me :D.
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At the first lockdown I repainted our gable end. It needs a ladder resting on a flat roof. For some reason I found that quite disturbing and only just managed to not bottle it. I decided not to attempt it again.
 
MUTTY1 said:
At the first lockdown I repainted our gable end. It needs a ladder resting on a flat roof. For some reason I found that quite disturbing and only just managed to not bottle it. I decided not to attempt it again.
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My mate told me a few stories whilst I was up and down the ladders, one was that one of his neighbours for some reason has to go onto his roof, like ours, a dormer style house, he then couldn’t get back on the ladder to get down, after causing quite a commotion (lots of other neighbours tried to talk him down) they had to call the fire brigade to get him down :).

(I won’t recount the other one, other than to say his mates dad died falling off a roof :().
 
Don't take chances with ladders, one of my former bosses husband was cleaning gutters, he fell off resulting in a brain injury. He previously ran his own consultancy business, Jean ended up having to change her job to be near home as he could phone up any time asking what to with the letter the postie had delivered.

My brother in law fell from a ladder two years ago and suffered a fatal brain injury. The circumstances are unclear as the ladder remained against the wall but that doesn't matter.
 
I've never had problems with heights, even on sites where was walking on the (finely perforated roof liner sheet - marginally rated for such -) watching own shadow on the floor >>15m below, all swaying in the wind. Fine with such.

No, the funny thing that is upon me.. is a new , growing sense of claustrophobia never previously experienced. No idea what is behind it, but .. yeah.
In my early mid 20s I really enjoyed caving, I enjoyed some likely quite-daft grovelling around in quite liminal spaces. But all, actually, well supervised/ safe/group activities, with back-up. I was also into diving at the time, even got moderately interested in combining the two interests... which is , a high-risk activity.

Now c. 25 yrs later, If one of those caving memory scenes recurs to me in the night now - instant wake-up, cold sweats. And I am .. less comfortable in small spaces in extant buildings. [ Don't even suggest I might like to try, let alone live, on a narrowboat - indication of level.]


But - no such feelings for the wholly-positive diving side, quite the opposite.

Wwhat is that about ?!
 
My weakness is water. I’ve been able to swim since my father bribed me with a ten Bob note to swim across a large pool left by the receding sea, I was eight. But even in my forties I used to swim lengths of Falmouth beaches each day but couldn’t get over the unease when sand underneath turned to weed.
I now Kayak on the open sea but will often travel miles and find some excuse not to launch. I’m obviously attracted and frightened in equal measure. Queer is folk;)
 
I hate ladders. Luckily we have a Tower Scaffold at work so any gutter/roof level stuff I get the boys to put the scaffold up there, although they usually just pop a ladder up themselves and do it for me!

I spend a bit of time on scaffolds but don’t mind them, I feel secure because the ladders are properly attached.

Cheers BB
 
I used to clean the top gutter and the canopy gutter at the front every December as I put up Christmas lights. No longer. I have a young chap who cleans all guttering plus soffits etc, for around £100.
Gutter at back gets hardly anything in it as moss doesn't grow on the south facing roof.
 
martin clark said:
I've never had problems with heights, even on sites where was walking on the (finely perforated roof liner sheet - marginally rated for such -) watching own shadow on the floor >>15m below, all swaying in the wind. Fine with such.

No, the funny thing that is upon me.. is a new , growing sense of claustrophobia never previously experienced. No idea what is behind it, but .. yeah.
In my early mid 20s I really enjoyed caving, I enjoyed some likely quite-daft grovelling around in quite liminal spaces. But all, actually, well supervised/ safe/group activities, with back-up. I was also into diving at the time, even got moderately interested in combining the two interests... which is , a high-risk activity.

Now c. 25 yrs later, If one of those caving memory scenes recurs to me in the night now - instant wake-up, cold sweats. And I am .. less comfortable in small spaces in extant buildings. [ Don't even suggest I might like to try, let alone live, on a narrowboat - indication of level.]
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I've never felt the need to go into a cave, but on holiday recently we encountered a 'thing' called the Fairy Steps; a narrow cleft in a cliff face that you can just about squeeze through. Mrs H struggled, but got up OK with a final shove from me. Then I had to get up, with no-one to help. For one horrible moment I really thought I was going to get stuck halfway up, but finally managed it.

Here it is, from the top. I'll always remember it as The Devil's Arse rather than Fairy Steps:

IMG-1693.jpg
 
Having established that I really don't like taking liquid Morphine to help me through knee exercises, I switched to Codeine.
Was O.K. for a day or so but Codeine too is now getting problematic Yesterday I took a total of 75 mg Codeine. 45 mg first thing then 30 mg 5 hours later. This is around a third daily recommended maximum but I ended up calling 111 last night as I was struggling to stay awake and had heart rhythm issues.
This morning I only took 30 mg Codeine at 07:20. Side effects peaked four hours later and are now fading but I'm not taking anymore.
Does anyone know whether alternatives such as Tramadol might be better?
I had a fair bit of Oxycodone in hospital. Much of the first couple of days is a bit of a blur....but I never felt like this.
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