Saying “Goodbye” and “Hello

I’m sad to report we had to say “goodbye” to our baby “Marco” in December. He developed a brain tumor which began to grow in size, and eventually took him from us. A week before Christmas, and we had to say goodbye to one of the best and sweetest babies in our brood. I can’t begin to express how heartbroken I was to help him across the Rainbow Bridge. He was part of me, and a delight to love. His sweet and gentle nature, his loving personality, and his way of talking to us made him a treasure I will never forget. He loved going to the cabin and riding in the golf cart (even though he couldn’t see anything due to his blindness). I think he just loved being with his daddy and feeling the breeze blowing through his fur.

My sweet boy “Marco”.

Jamie and I didn’t have too long to mourn the loss when a dear friend emailed asking if we knew anyone that would want to “foster” a 16yr old Cocker Spaniel they had just taken in (3 days before Christmas). Seems the owners, who had the dog for much of its life, decided to turn him in when he nipped at their 2yr old because the child was messing in the dog’s food while he was eating. While I didn’t necessarily need to discuss it with Jamie, as I knew what the answer would be, I did give him the details. There was only one question. “When do we get him?”

The boy’s name is “AJ”, and while he is definitely a senior dog, we were told he was house trained, loved people and very well-trained.

“AJ” joins the Cutchins/Rolison household.

“AJ” jumped right into the brood and didn’t hesitate a minute. Fell into the other’s routine and fit right in without the first hiccough. To our surprise, for 16 years of age, he is spry, energetic and loves his new place (I think he likes being rid of the 2yr old, to be honest).

While we will forever miss our “talkin’ boy” Marco, we welcome “AJ” and will work to make the years he has left the best they can be. We’ve decided “AJ” stands for “Always Joyful”, which sums his nature up to a tee. By his sunny disposition, I think he’s going to like being with us, going to the River House and having other buddies to play with. More pictures and stories to come, for sure.

Laying by the Christmas tree dreaming of all the treats Santa will bring.

“Grandpa” Update

“Grandpa’s” new exhaust

“Grandpa” had his exhaust replaced – from downpipe to tailpipe. Ordered from Swedish Car Parts, the system has been installed, and the car sounds great. This is not a performance exhaust, so it’s not designed to make this 4-banger sound mean. It’s meant to take care of the exhaust leak issue that was discovered between the downpipe and the first leg of the exhaust run. To avoid issues down the road, it was decided to simply replace the entire thing.

New headlights have been installed to replace the old, yellowed originals. A new center bearing is replacing the old, given the car has a “whine” indicating it’s time. And finally, the turn signal stalk was bad, so a used replacement has been located, ordered and should be here in time to get the car done by February 1st. The turn signal stalk contains the switch for the high beam headlights, the cruise control, and of course, the turn signals.

After Randy gets these items addressed, he will be turning the car over to me where I will then work on the outside aesthetics and bringing the old, tired and filthy paint back to life. It seems these old 2-stage paint systems used on cars “back in the day” proved durable, proving restoration to be within reach if one is willing to invest the time, energy and systems to bring it back. This was proven true with our first sedan, which was heavily oxidized after seeing no real in-depth care for many years. The result of my efforts on “Granny” proved the car could look almost new with time and energy invested. This is how “Granny” looked after a 3-day weekend, 10 hour days working to restore her finish.

“Granny” after her 30-hour restoration, looking quite sharp and shiny.

I am also pleased to report I finally got the opportunity to drive “Grandpa”. Stopped by Randy’s shop and he suggested we take a drive. I was more than delighted to do so – given it would mark the first time driving the car since I purchased it at the beginning of October, 2022. It started right up, felt like a 240 and drove extremely well. With the completely redone front seats, it was super comfortable. For a 33-year old car, it actually had some spunk.

Once the outside is done to my liking, I will return the car to Randy to install the lower refurbished plastic trim. Under the previous owner, the lower plastic trim had begun to come away from the car. Their response was to drive several sheet metal screws through the thin plastic molding into the door. YIKES!

So, replacement trim for those fouled pieces has been acquired. The remaining trim removed, and all pieces refurbished and repainted to the original black color the car was delivered with. These items will be placed back on the car, and then it’s time to simply enjoy driving another classic 240.

Oh… I guess before we can truly enjoy “Grandpa”, he’s going to need a new sound system. We’ll get that done soon after we’re finished with the other items.

One thing at a time.

Welcome “Grandpa”

It’s time to introduce “Grandpa” to the group. He’s a mirror image of “Grandma” (our newly refurbished ’92 Volvo 240). At the time of purchase, “Grandpa” didn’t run, and was in rough shape. But, like all Volvo 240’s, he had good bones, and great prospects for a brighter future in the hands of someone who wanted to invest in that future. Read a much more detailed writing on the acquisition and initial assessment of “Grandpa” on the new page dedicated to his revival. Read more….

Meet “Granny”

Meet Granny

“Granny” – 1992 Volvo 240 GL

She is a 1992 Volvo 240 GL. I purchased her back in early-March out of the Washington DC area. She has 246,000 miles and is complete. That’s not to say she was in stellar shape when we bought her, but she was complete and had good bones.

A 30-year old car inherently will be a vehicle that requires extra TLC, but “Granny” was a bit neglected. While she is a southern state Volvo, which means she hasn’t seen the volume of road salt and tough winters like her more northern cousins, she wasn’t without problems. Lacking the usual rust of the more northern 240’s, they are well known for being nearly indestructible, especially the “red block motor”. Parts are easily available and exhaustive knowledge regarding their continued upkeep is out there.

Fortunately for me, there are still a handful of very knowledgeable service businesses with “old school” mechanics that can work on them, some even specializing in the 240’s.

My history with the Volvo 240 goes back to 1988 when I purchased a brand new 240. It was a nice deep red, and was a beautiful machine. I owned it for a couple of years, and l loved that car. However, not unlike most 20-somethings, the next flashy car passed by and I traded in the 240. A decision I would quietly regret for 30+ years.

Summer 1988 – My first 240

Fast forward to 2022, a pandemic, and some time on my hands that had me looking at pictures of my old car that I still missed. I got to thinking….(my husband would say that’s where the problem starts). And here we are with “Granny”.

I immediately dropped it off with one of those old school mechanics who was well versed in the 240. I told him “make an exhaustive punch list”. He did just that. The critical items. We actually knocked all of those items out in one visit (2weeks). New brakes, rotors, bushings, headlights, etc. Still not able to pass a state inspection due to a pesky “SRS” warning light.

Enter mechanic #2. We got that pesky light issue addressed, and another lengthy punch list addressed to include things like the power antenna, new taillights, windshield washer nozzles cleared and aimed, all new dash/console lights (not a single light in the dash worked when purchased), countless bushings from front to back.

Most important to my husband, we woke up the long forgotten air conditioning system. And like a bow on a new gift, we got the much coveted State inspection sticker. She’s legal!

During the short break between mechanics visits, I took a Sunday and washed, clay bar’d, compounded and waxed the old girl. Brought back quite a shine to her. I’m nowhere near finished, but it’s a start.

First layer of dust and oxidation removed.

So, without further ado, meet “Granny” – a refreshed and ready to go Volvo 240. I think this time around, it’s here to stay.

Proudly standing by my newly purchased 240 (just outside of Washington, DC)

Recovery: 2021

What a journey. Closing in on 60 years of age, it has been a tradition for as long as I can remember, odd years are better years for me. Given 2020 involved so much, I just knew 2021 was going to be a stellar year for me. As it turns out, things did improve. I was privy to an early vaccination, which brought me peace of mind from COVID-19, and the business my husband and I own began to see improved revenue as a result of improving pandemic conditions.

What I didn’t count on was a sudden difficulty in walking. In late-March, I began noticing a real discomfort when I would walk. Not lengthy walks, but walking from my office to the car. Or, when Spring began to show early signs in late-March, I noticed a significant difficulty in completing a simple mowing of the yard. It felt as if my left leg was seizing – almost like a “charley horse”. When the community where we have a small summer place opened at the end of March, I went up to do the first “clean up”. I was barely able to finish mowing our postage stamp-sized yard before I had to sit down and rest. I knew something was up.

Doing a little research, I made an appointment with a vein and vascular specialist to determine if I had a blood clot in my leg, given I had all the classic signs. As it turned out, xrays confirmed a sizeable clot just behind my left knee cap, which was blocking significant blood flow to my leg. The immediate course of action was to go in and get the pesky clot before it moved elsewhere. While at it, the specialist surveyed the rest of my body to determine if she could find the source of the clot. Nowhere in my body did it seem to originate, as there were no signs of a “clot breeding location”. Perhaps just an anomaly. Regardless, the clot had to be removed if I was to walk with ease again.

Surgery was scheduled with the mission to go in through catheterization. Having experienced a heart attack the year before, and the placement of two stents, I knew about catheterizations. My heart cath was performed by going through my wrist. The blood clot cath would have to go through my groin. I wasn’t looking forward to the 6-8 hours of lying completely still afterward to enable the site to clot back up and avoid “bleeding out”. When the surgeon entered the vein, she discovered the clot had embedded itself into the vein, making it near impossible to remove it. She decided to try administering medication directly into the cath site for about 24 hours to see if it would clear the debris (plaque build up) and loosen the clot. She did not want to damage the artery. The medication cleared the vein, and left the clot for her to remove. Again, she attempted removal, but it had somewhat “grown onto” the wall of the vein. Removing via cath was not the best option. She removed the sheath and I had to lie there again (for over 24 hours) to get the site to close. Immediately, I noticed a considerable “lump” there. She stated it was not uncommon to get a small hematoma, especially since she had been inside that area twice.

We moved onto the next option (“Plan B”) – actual surgery. This would involve a 6″ cut into the side of my leg, going through the calf muscle and getting to the artery that way. The surgery was scheduled immediately.

She performed the surgery and was able to get nearly all of the clot, but had to leave a very small fragment that had embedded deeply into the wall of the artery. She stated once a vein or artery has been exposed to a clot the area is prone to them again because the vein/artery has developed ridges and a roughness that can be a great breeding ground to catch debris (plaque/clots). The blood thinner Xarelto was immediately prescribed.

Following this surgery and a short stay, I went home.

Soon afterward, I noticed a continued slow swelling in the leg, and a growing inability to put any weight on it. The thought of simply hanging my leg off the side of the bed was excruciating. Eventually, the discomfort prompted a visit back to the specialist. The remedy was back to the operating room to open the site back up and clean out the fluid and any other debris which was causing fluid retention.

Following that surgery, I went home.

Not long after, swelling began again. A revisit to the surgeon prompted another surgery. This time, the surgeon went in and cleaned out the area, and installed a wound vac to continually keep the fluid pulled from the site, and to promote a more proper healing given the size and depth of the wound. The 3rd surgery appeared to make a big difference.

In the meantime, the hematoma from the original cath site began to grow in size, and became more uncomfortable. The site also began to open up and bleed. The first two episodes had me shuffling off to the ER. Eventually, we discovered simple pressure seemed to stop the bleeding, but you could almost set your watch to the fact that every 24 hours, the site would open. Sometimes it would be a reasonable amount of blood, and other times, it would look as though I had been stabbed nearly to death. My laundry basket looked like I had committed some heinous cringe,.as nothing I wore didn’t have some amount of blood on it. However, I knew something wasn’t right about the growing size of the hematoma and the fact the site was opening up so frequently. A home health nurse came to tend to the leg wound, and upon hearing my tale, and seeing the size of the hematoma, recommended I call my doctor right away. I did just that. Upon explaining the situation, the doctor’s office nurse told me to come in right away, and not to worry about an appointment. I was given an ultra sound. It was determined I had developed a pseudo aneurism. Remedy? You guessed it. Surgery. Not only surgery, but immediate surgery. I was advised to leave the doc’s office and immediately go to the hospital. They operated and cleaned up the site, put a stitch in the artery, and placed a small Jackson-Pratt drain to keep fluids out of the surgical site and to promote healing.

Things were going well until one evening, I woke up to find the drain full of blood, and the surgical site large and very painful. I knew something was wrong, and I needed immediate attention. Remember, we’re talking main artery here. A breach, and I could’ve bled out rather quickly. At 3am, I woke Jamie up and off to the emergency room we go. By the time I got there, I was covered in blood, and appeared to be losing it pretty steadily. Jamie ensured I got taken right away through a little foot stomping and louder-than-usual insistence. I was immediately given a room? Based on the ER physician’s initial assessment, it appeared I was not in immediate danger of bleeding out. The thought was to wait for the surgeon’s arrival in the morning, despite the enormous pain I was in, and the growing size of the bleeding area. About 20 minutes later, I began to feel lightheaded as though I was going to pass out, and Jamie noticed my blood pressure had dropped to a very serious low. He stepped out of my small room and hollered, “I need help in here right away!” The ER doctor came in with the nurse, noticed my condition and stats, and decided he would need to call the surgeon in “stat”. While we awaited the surgeon’s arrival, they quickly sent me for an MRI. I was also given a blood transfusion to compensate for the blood loss.

The surgeon arrived, assessed the situation and called for immediate, emergency surgery (#6). The results of the MRI confirmed a vein or artery had been breached and was creating a cavity in my groin, filling it with blood. They got me prepped for surgery, and she went in to fix the problem. She found an ancillary vein had ruptured and was producing the blood. She stitched it closed, cleaned out the site, and installed a wound vac to that area. I was admitted to a room, where I remained for 5 days for recovery and observation. Given the fact that both surgery sites had given me such a fit closing and healing, she wanted to make sure this surgery didn’t also end in complications.

Before any of this, I was taking a daily regimen of Plavix and a low-dose aspirin. This was prescribed as a result of the heart attack in 2020. When the surgeon added the Xarelto (another anti-coagulant, similar to Plavix), she began to suspect the combination as being too much thinning/anti-coagulating going on in my body, and creating these situations in which the surgical sites could not appropriately heal. There is strong evidence to support a reoccurrence of a heart attack if Plavix isn’t taken once stents are placed, so she was not able to remove that from my regular prescriptions. For a short period, she removed all but the Plavix to allow my body to heal the surgical sites. Eventually, there will be the add-in back of the low dose aspirin. We will not be returning to the Xarelto. It has been made way too apparent it is simply too dangerous in combination with the other medications. While she would like to have more than a simple low dose aspiring to ward off future clots, anything more is “too much”.

Two procedures and six surgeries all going after one clot. What’s so crazy is the clot was gotten relatively quickly. It has been my body’s inability to heal from the surgeries that has been so problematic. We are not a week out from my discharge, so I’m far from declaring victory just yet, but things appear to be looking good. Time will tell, and time (a considerable amount of it) will be required to recover from all this. My body has definitely been put through the wringer over the last 3 weeks. I’m hoping it will be able to recover and return to normal in time.

Happy New Year

Well, this web site came to life in January of 2016, and here it is January 2020. Hard to believe 4 years have passed by. It’s also hard to believe how much has actually changed for me in the past 4 years.

In March of 2016, as witnessed in one of my first blog posts, I purchased a beautiful bronze BMW X1. Since then, that car was traded in for a very nice 2015 X5, and once again, here in January 2020, that vehicle was traded in for a gorgeous 2017 white x5.

In 2017, we purchased our business, which has really taken off, nearly tripling in both size and sales. Check it out here.

Going forward armed with better tools with which to keep this site more current and relevant, I hope to share much more in the weeks and months to come.

Best wishes to all for a terrific new year filled with love, happiness and prosperity.

-Rob

Vinyl Definitely Making a Comeback

With vinyl records seeing quite a resurgence in recent years, my ailing 1976 Technics SL-20 turntable, while not dead, has been determined to need some service assistance. Since I really wanted to be able to play vinyl reliably, I decided it was time to give the Technics a break, and look to an actual NEW turntable. Enter the Fluance RT-81…

Fluance, a Canadian company best known for its nice speaker systems, ventured into the turntable world through a Kickstarter initiative. They make available two offerings. I purchased the better of the two (RT-81 with improved cartridge).

I have to say, I’m thoroughly impressed with the build quality and sonics. I have to readily admit, it definitely bests my aging Technics (despite having identical cartridges).

One great lp to test on a new turntable is Perspectives in Percussion. A 1961 lp, aimed at bringing some great arrangements to vinyl, but with a heavy influence on percussion, and the use of channel separation to promote “STEREO”.

This 56-year old lp really sounds quite amazing. I wonder if it even sounded this good back then. Technology has definitely improved since then, but regardless, it gives the Fluance a chance to strut its stuff. Interesting in that I have this same recording on an original reel-to-reel tape, and it sounds amazing in this format. Not sure which one sounds best.

Very pleased.

New Year! New Domain!

With a new year upon us (2016), and the past year marking the end of our boating life, I felt it appropriate to let go of the “classiccommander.com” domain, and initiate one that was more reflective of where I am now with my hobbies – which has ALWAYS included music, and the machines that reproduce it. We’ll talk tape decks and music, and a whole lot more.

Welcome to Rob’s Reelz!