Wow!  What a time I've had!

Shortly after I last postd here I delivered the Wurlitzer cloth to the man who had commissioned it.  I met him at his workshop on 12/29/12, AKA Jukebox Nirvana.  I took a picture of the nearest thing he has to the model for which I had been weaving.  His collection is astonishing and every machine has been restored to perfection. 

Often the machine is worse than derelict when Steve obtains it.  No detail is too trivial:  the workings of the player are often rusted so he cleans them up by blasting them with tiny glass beads in a glove box to get down to clean metal.  Steve is a grahic designer and makes decals when needed, pieces wooden pieces and refinishes everything.

When I had delivered the cloth I started preparing to re-paint my living room  First, the walls needed to be washed using TSP (tri sodium phosphate) and then rinsed by wiping it down with clean water.  Once dry, any repairs were made and then paint was applied.  Of course all that work meant moving a lot around to clear a place for my trusted ladder.

Alas, my ladder was not deserving of my trust.  I was up near the (11 foot) ceiling on 1/3/13 when I felt the ladder torque beneath my feet and I knew I was headed down.  It seems I never do anything half-way and this was no exception.   I landed on my right arm shattering the humerus (the upper bone) into several pieces.  At the same time I landed on a board with a nail protruding 3" that the ladder had conveniently moved into position.
The gash in my leg bled freely so when I was able to sit and scoot toward the kitchen and a phone I took a freshly washed terry cloth hand towel which I folded over the wound before pulling down th telephone to dial 911.

When I could scoot to the front door to open the deadbolt (not a trivial act, either one) to let in the EMTs, things started to get better.

I got to the hospital at 5:15 PM and was moved to a room at 11:45.  Surgery to put my humerus back together was performed the next morning.  I received very good care at the University of Utah Hospital and went from there to a nursing facility (the one where I volunteer every week) to start recovery.  I can't use my right arm at all because the bicep muscle had to be removed from the bone to repair the bone and then put back.  Not only does the bone need to grow into the plate and screws but the muscle (tendon) needs to re-attach.  How long will all that take?  TWELVE WEEKS! 

Ouch.