It’s been 4 weeks of recovery since my right hip replacement surgery. In this video I cover week 4, days 21 through 26. This video is no longer daily vlogs but is a summary of Week 4 which includes a Doctor follow up visit and first outpatient physical therapy.
Trying to catch this blog up with my YouTube channel vlogs. In this video, it’s been 3 weeks of recovery since my right hip replacement surgery. In this video I cover week 3, days 14 through 20. Improvement continues but is slow.
It’s been 2 weeks since my total hip replacement surgery. Follow along as I vlog daily and put it all together in this week summary. This is Part 4 in the series.
This video covers my right hip replacement surgery and week 1 of post operation recovery. Things are certainly moving but at a slower pace than I was expecting. The first week of post operation was a bit of a struggle. I was never in severe pain but there was definitely a constant aching and my leg was like a wet noodle requiring help to get it in and out of bed. I was using a foot hook, a walker, a shower chair and a raised toilet seat to help alleviate some of the pain. I have more videos coming as I progress along my journey to recovery from this hip replacement surgery.
Part 2 in my journey to get a better physical life. In this video I go over what’s been happening with my hip replacement journey. I started pre-op exercises, visited my Primary Care Physician for surgery clearance, stocked up on medical equipment and have a plethora of prescription meds for post-op.
It’s been some time since my last post. I’m neglectful. During the month of July I’ve been busy with a music camp called Kids Who Rock. Every July, for two weeks, a free music camp is held for kids 8-18 years. During camp they learn an instrument, participate in a band, write a song with said band, practice song and perform the song in front of friends and families at a showcase at the end of the week.
My involvement (2nd year) is as a Bass instructor and a band leader. I worked with 10-11 year boys for one week then 13-15 year old girls during the second week. It is a blast watching these kids learn and play music, even if it could be considered simple.
Besides the Kids Who Rock camps, I’ve been preparing for hip surgery. I’ll address the in another post.
Here is a video with an update on the Kids Who Rock camp, a non-profit organization.
I had to take another Field Trip to the Social Security Administration Office to deal with a matter that popped up. The last time I did this I thought I would never have to set foot in a SSA building again. I was wrong.
After making the 30 minute drive to the SSA office, and waiting for 35-40 minutes I was told that I needed a form SSA-131 for the issue. At no fault of mine, the SSA folks withheld information in February 2024 regarding the need for a form SSA-131 to be completed by my former employer stating that the income I received in 2024 (January to be exact) was payment for work performed in 2023, prior to my retirement date of December 31, 2023. Otherwise, the SSA was planning on taking back $1700 from me. This is a year and a half later!! WTF?? I was not happy.
When I spoke to a SSA representative in February 2024, she said to provide them the pay stubs for the income in question, which I promptly did. There was no mention of form SSA-131. Now, in June 2025, I get a letter saying I was overpaid due to me having income in 2024 and they wanted $1700 back! WTF?
Anyway. after the YouTube video below was created, my former employer completed the SSA-131, I put together what the SSA calls a “Request for Reconsideration” package contesting SSA’s actions and drove back to the office (30 minutes), waited in line (65 minutes this time) and hand delivered the documents to an agent who promptly scanned them into their system. I am now waiting for a letter with the result of reviewing my “Reconsideration“.
Two years ago, in April 2023, I contemplated hip replacement surgery. I went so far as to visit an orthopedic surgeon. The surgeon advised me to lose weight so the operation and recovery would be easier. So I did. I lost 65 lbs and my hip felt so much better. So I never went back for the surgery.
Fast forward two years, I’ve gained back 20 lbs which I’m sure isn’t helping, but I now have severely diminished range of motion, chronic ache and sharp pain in the right hip. It’s tough climbing stairs and I live in a two story house. I believe this is also causing me to have chronic back pain as well. So, it’s time to consider hip replacement surgery again.
The following video is me attending my first (actually second since it’s the same surgeon from two years ago) consultation with my orthopedic surgeon. Things are moving forward. I plan on documenting my journey both here and on my YouTube channel.
I’ve been playing with AI a lot lately. I have this idea to create a music video for one of my songs using AI. There are so many websites out there that allow you to create people from the ether or, even scarier, take a real person’s photograph and make them talk and say whatever you want. You can create a song from an idea and let AI write the lyrics, come up with the melody and create a complete pop song.
I had an idea to create a complete AI band and release my songs as if I were a band (think Gorillaz) but Timbaland has beat me to it. In the latest news, Timbaland (music producer and rapper) has created an AI female pop artist called TaTa and he is poised to release an album with music completely created by AI and sung by this completely made up female avatar. Scary, but kinda cool. I guess as long as you know it is AI made, where is the harm? If there are no copyright infringements in the music, what’s the harm?
So can we survive Artificial Intelligence? Can I get AI to write my blog posts? I may have to try that. Anyway, during my introduction and learning how to create AI videos, I created the following short video of me as a Pixar character introducing my YouTube channel. Enjoy.
In this video I provide a quick update on what I’ve been up to. This video includes a controversial subject – A.I. – and my opinion as it applies to being creative with music.
I’m Chuck. I am retired as of December 31, 2023. I like playing guitar, listening to music, recording music, reading books and comic books, portrait and toy photography, writing and playing Pokemon Go. I don’t miss work at all.
Retirement Ain't Easy 