I've not posted in quite a while, and there's lots to tell.
Janie got her nephew, Keith La Tulip, to come from North Carolina to help with the 'heavy lifting' part of the work on the trailer. He has been a life-saver.
He has changed out all of the windows in the trailer for new, double-insulated windows. While we had the windows out, we stuffed insulation into the walls as far as we could.
We put some imitation glass block windows in the bathroom and the hallway to give light, but keep privacy, as the trailer is in a mobile home park. They are both larger than the windows that were there, and are real glass blocks, but are set in panels. They don't open, but sure are an improvement over the old, leaky, roll-out windows that were there. The former owner had, at some time in the past, put plastic over the screen frames to try to cut down the drafts, but it was quite weathered, and actually crumbled into little bits of white dust when we started to remove it.
We put lovely white, roll-out windows in the kitchen, above where the new sink is. The old sink had been very near the front door, and Joy, Janie's sister, wanted it in the end of the eating area. I had found a really cute corner sink to install there, and it will be nice that Joy will have a bigger, better kitchen, with those nice windows above the sink. The former kitchen is to be her dining room, and we got her a larger window for that area that has internal breakfront grids. She went wild for it when she first saw it. Janie and I found a beautiful crystal light fixture for above the window. It sparkled like new money when I was there today.
Joy doesn't like panelling, so I had let her come and pick out whatever wallpaper she liked that I had. She made some nice choices, and it will lighten and brighten her home even more. She has a nice beige paper for the kitchen, with little teapots.
There were three bedrooms, but we took out the wall between two of them, and made her a long (but narrow) bedroom, so there's only two now. There's new windows there, too. They're sliders, but you can't tell unless you're operating them. We put a washer/dryer area in a closet in the end of that room, with plans for only folding doors. It kept down the costs, and works just fine. When this old trailer was built, there were only spaces for washers, and they were in the bathroom.
We're going to use that space for some drawer cabinets in the bottom, with open storage above, unless I can find some type of door that suits her, and she wants closed storage.
We put a new ceiling in the kitchen, which is better-looking and will keep down the costs of heating and cooling. We're super-insulating everything. I have even insulated the back walls of her cabinets and closets, as well as the ceilings and floors. I used foam floor puzzles. They're cheap at rummage sales, and are quite dense, providing maximum R-value with minimum loss of cabinet space.
The bathroom was the best room in the home, so we're leaving it pretty much as it is for now, but I have plans to re-line the shower, as it is coming apart from previous leaking.
Last Friday evening, which was Steve's birthday, I was in the master bedroom, laying on the floor, half into the closet, reaching past the water heater and into the space under the bathtub to seal a hole in the floor so I could insulate there, and I had a massive heart attack.
I knew immediately what was happening, but didn't want to excite the workers too much.
I got up, walked into the living room, sat down on a folding lawn chair, and was there, gasping for every breath, when Janie came in to talk with me about something. She asked if I was alright, and I said, "Yeah, I think so, or I will be."
I sat there for a few minutes, and Janie asked if I wanted her to take me to the hospital. I said no, that I might soon feel better. I knew I wouldn't, but she and Joy are easily excited, and I wanted to lead them gently into what was happening.
I asked her for water, and she brought me a bottle of water. Then I asked her to get a foam rubber mat from the master bedroom, and I laid down on it. By this time, she was catching on to the fact that I was quite unwell. She sat down and cradelled my head. I then told her that I was having a heart attack, and to call 911, but, under NO circumstances was I to be taken ANYWHERE until Steve was there. He was working on-line at Creekside, as it has a faster internet connection.
As luck would have it, all the Grainger County Ambulances were 'somewhere else', but they told Janie to stay on the line.
She and Joy then started trying to figure out how to get hold of Steve, as only my cell phone had his number programed in, and Janie was on it. I told them to call the Creekside house phone.
Finally, Janie got tired of hanging on the phone with the operator, and hung up. She then called Steve on my phone. He was there in just a few minutes.
Not so for the ambulance.
They took almost 25 minutes to get there. I was badly needing oxygen, and Janie was screaming at them to bring me oxygen, and Joy was screaming at them to hurry hurry hurry.
They finally got me into the ambulance, and asked me which hospital I preferred.
I told them to take me to Jefferson Memorial, as it was the closest. We got started off, with Steve following behind.
After we got through the most winding part of Hwy. 92, the man who was tending me in the rear of the ambulance leaned around the partition and yelled, "Step it up! Step it up!"
Later, Steve told me that they were going 70MPH. There's almost no conditions (ever!) that merit going 70 on Hwy 92, as it is basically a glorified goat path with pavement. I guess this time was an exception.
We got there, and they wheeled me right into a cubicle, where they continued treating me. They were giving me so much IV medication that they were about to create another emergency. They had me constantly chewing baby asperin, and were alternately putting nitroglycerin under my tongue. It stung badly.
But the only cardiologist that serves Jefferson Memorial was out of town for two weeks.
They asked me for the name of another hospital I desired, and I told them Fort Sanders in Knoxville.
They called ahead to them, and they said that they wouldn't take me, as Jefferson Memorial should be able to handle my needs.
This was becomming a comedy of errors.
I finally relented to St. Mary's in Knoxville, but I don't like them.
It's a inner-city hospital, and it was Friday night.
Even I couldn't imagine just how bad it would be.
I hate a cliff-hanger, but I'm tired, my fingers hurt, and I will just have to have you all look for the details of my hospital stay in my next post, which I will fervently try to get done tomorrow. I'm supposed to be on bed rest, so time at home (for a change) is not so rare.
