So long stumbling, ear ache, back to sucking, like the light, stupid south loves Santorum

I have to say it was nice yesterday being able to leave the gym without having to deal with a sputtering truck for the drive back to the office. Although I paid dearly to have the issue fixed, at least it is fixed.

Early yesterday afternoon I touched my right ear and felt pain.  I knew immediately I was once again developing an ear infection, something I do on a pretty regular basis.  I can only assume it was the end result of my 1600 swim on Sunday for which I did not wear ear plugs.

I typically never wear ear plugs when swimming in a pool, figuring the chlorinated water negates the problem.  When I swim in something like the gulf or ocean I would always try to use ear plugs.  I have a life long issue with ear infections / swimmers ear.  I guess the way the inside of my ear is laid out it makes it very easy for water to collect in there.

So anyway, I had no doubt I was on the road to yet another infection so I called our onsite employee clinic and was lucky to be able to get in right away.  The PA looked in my right ear and said it looked very red and inflamed already.  I was given a script for antibiotic ear drops which I started last night.

Despite catching the infection early and having two treatments of drops in my head already my ear hurts badly today.  The pain is radiating outward, into my jaw and even a little bit into my throat.  You know the pain you feel when flying and your ears won’t “pop”?  That is pretty much what it feels like full time.  I am hoping the symptoms start to improve instead of worsen soon.

After my series of failed repair attempts on the Tacoma I was due for a win.  I got it the other day when I successfully resurrected our Hayward Navigator although again, it took multiple tries to do so.

The pool vacuum has had an issue where it was hardly moving around the floor of the pool.  The first thing I tried was replacing the rubber feet.  Over time these harden and get smooth, losing their ability to push the vacuum efficiently.  The new feet did nothing to improve the problem.

The next thing I did was get a new set of hoses since the old ones were getting brittle on their ends with pieces of plastic breaking off. My theory was the hoses were leaking, causing inadequate suction.  A new set still made no difference.

My final purchase was a Navigator “tune up kit”.  This included new feet, wings, front/rear flapper and pods.  I didn’t swap out the feet and wings since they were still in good shape.  I did replace the flappers and the pods. I was quite happy when I saw the vacuum once again scampering quickly across the pool floor after the tune up.  I am pretty sure the actual problem was the pods.  When I took the old ones off a spring fell out in my hand.

I am happy we now have an extra hour of daylight in the evening.  It helps me get more stuff done on weeknights.  Last night I took advantage of the daylight by repairing the rear view mirror on the Tacoma (fell off) and giving the SSR a much needed bath after it inadvertently got sprayed with scummy sprinkler water over the weekend.

I am collecting info for the next SSR project which will be replacing the bent panhard bar.  It appears to be something I can replace myself utilizing jack stands and my floor jack however I will probably need to get a 4 wheel alignment after I am done.

I read this morning that Santorum won the Alabama and Mississippi primaries.  Supposedly it was somewhat of a surprise but I am not quite sure why since those states are breeding grounds for white trash stupidity.

Of course I am not saying that Mitt is a good choice either but people voting for Santorum is such a sad statement about the mindset of our country.  Check out this link if you aren’t sure why that is.

The absolute primary reason he is getting votes is because he is a bible thumper and precious little else.  If you look at his political track record you quickly see he has precious little else to offer.  There is a reason he was catapulted out of congress during his last reelection bid, he simply sucks.