Pain, Pain, Go Away!

Home Improvement Projects I'm finally finished painting. There are still a few places where water is getting in during rain storms; I'll be darned if I know where how it's getting in. On the next warm, dry day (we get a few in Indiana during the fall and winter), I'll go around with a fresh can of foam when the wood is dry and hope for the best.  My garage and vegetable garden. The window sill and the front door on my house are fixed, too. The sill, facing west, got badly weather beaten; the door is just old. I fixed the rot at the bottom of the door, put on a new sweep and numbers, painted the door and spray-painted the hinges with Rust-oleum. The deadbolt broke and I had to do quite a bit of retrofitting to install a new one. I bought and used a wood chisel to make room for a new strike plate. I think I learned how to use one in junior high shop class--one of those "useless" classes going by the wayside--but oddly, I don't remember what project I used it...

I had a pleasant surprise when I got out the sawzall today to finish repairs on the front door. Not the way it cut the new door sweep--I probably should have used the jigsaw. It was how easy it was to put the blade in. You have to turn a part on the saw, which I could barely do two months ago when I had nails to cut off . Today--probably thanks to spending my spare time since August working saws, sanders and paintbrushes--it was no harder than turning a knob on the stove.  So I've built up some strength in my hands and probably elsewhere, but my adrenals aren't keeping up with cortisol production. After a day's work (well, three or four hours, to be honest), my neck, back, jaws, and sinuses all hurt and they don't feel better until use a dab of hydrocortisone. Other pain relievers don't help much. This isn't normal muscle stiffness--the kind you get from working out--it feels like I'm inflamed. Last weekend in particular, after a flu shot and a few days of p...