Here's proof

Well, here's all the proof I need. I've always felt that when I'm out with a bunch of guys drinking that they began to act like a bunch of women.
The only difference is that the next day the guys are still talking to each other and laugh it all off.
My mom is driving me crazy. Yesterday she asked me to take her to the doctor on monday. At first she wanted to be there when they opened and wait until they could see her. I talked her into calling first and trying to get an appointment. Then I arranged for my son to take her. I called my sister but she couldn't get free. Later mom called and said that my sister was taking her after all. Then mom called and asked who was taking her. Then I called my sister who assured me that she wasn't available. Right now I don't know when she is going or who is going to take her. It's 5 in the morning and I gave up on sleep. Mom also assured me that her memory is as good as ever. riiggghhhtttt. thanks for reading.

So What!

This so much reminds me of my mothers' cat. I watched this frail old lady stand there for several minutes the other night holding the door for her cat. He was half in and half out. He was also obviously enjoying his power trip until I smacked him on the butt and made him go all the way out. She says she wants the cats put to sleep and buried with her when she dies. This is one cat I would be pleased to comply with.

I only worked 1/2 day Friday. Sinus infection got the best of me. Woke up with vertigo. I was puzzled at first, knew I didn't drink that much the night before. Lay around the house until my ears popped and the vertigo let up. Worked four hours, felt like crap warmed over, returned to house and went back to bed. Stayed there until this morning. Think I'll live.

This is so true. thanks for reading.

Meds

Well, mom did something really strange yesterday. On my way home I got a call from my sister "Mom is frantic because someone has taken her meds." I got home and went immediately to moms' house. She said that her meds were missing and that she dreamed someone had been in her house and taken them. I began to look for them while whistling absint mindedly. I thought the whistling would help her calm down. Only later did I realize I was using the Scarecrow song from the Wizard of Oz. You know "...if I only had a brain." I checked the canister set first because that's where I found the cell phone charger last week. It's kept in with the corn meal. I finally found them in her dresser with her purse. She was mystified. We talked for a while and when I told her I was going to hold the meds to give to my sister for the doctor visit on tuesday she suggested that I should put them in her dresser with her purse so she wouldn't forget to take them with her. Ten minutes after I got home she called my sister frantically saying she couldn't find her meds. I had beat her to the punch by calling my sister and telling her the story beforehand.

She insist now that we embalm her two cats and bury them with her when she dies. Riiiiiigghhhttt.

Well, all for now, I've got to go to the shop and rebuild Cash Acceptors today. Our Cash at Pump opton is real popular but it requires constant attention. People will put anything in those machines. I've found debit cards and coins, chewing gum and paper clips, etc.. thanks for reading.

On the road again

Well, I got called out again today. Someone made a programming error at one of the stores and when they had a shift change it locked up the computer. I called one of the other techs and he walked me through correcting the error. He's been doing this a lot longer than I have and has seen most all that could go wrong.

Mom told me this morning that her memory wasn't bad and accused me of lying to her about doctors' orders. She seems to accept the situation for the most part but has flashes of rebelliousness. She seems to think that I enjoy being in charge of her life. Nothing could be further from the truth. What I would really enjoy would be for her to have a sudden reversal and be totally independent once again. She enjoys talking about the past but makes up a lot of it as she goes. Days seem to morph into weeks for her and time has slowed to a crawl. When she had been out of the hospital for two days she insisted that 10 days had passed. She has a routine about taking her meds and I have to constantly remind her to take the ones that have been added since her fall. They are not part of the routine. She has been caring for herself really well and covering her condition for a long time. I've found that she did this by keeping a calender and med diary. Her routine had allowed her to appear to be in better condition than she was. Everyone was convinced that she only had slight memory loss. She actually was in Moderate alzheimers instead of Mild. She is a clever and intelligent person but close observation has revealed the real extent of the desease. If you have more than a casual conversation with her she will begin to say things that reveal her real condition. I had coffee with her this morning and thought that something was amiss. When I went to clean the coffee maker I found that she hadn't used a filter but had put the coffee straight into the filter holder. I admit that there have been times when I forgot to put water in or even forgot to put coffee in but this was really bad. This is part of her routine. Two days ago she forgot to take some of her meds. These are indicating that her routines are breaking down. I'll just have to take it a day at a time. thanks for reading.

Why two?

Here's a question for you. If your razor last forever why do you need two of them?? I guess you could give one to a friend. This just seemed kind of ridiculous though. I was watching this commercial on TV and said "I bet they give you a free one when you buy one." Lo and behold they do give you a free one.

Mom has now decided that she would have gotten better care after her fall if she could have driven herself to the hospital. Interesting to note that after the fall she had to crawl back into the house to call for help. She refuses to keep the cell phone on her person and rarely uses it even though her long distance bill on her land line was over $90.00 last month. Long distance on the cell is free. A good idea for a cell phone would be one that is modeled on a regular land line phone. This would be more acceptable to seniors and easier for them to use. Thanks for reading.

And they'll stay dead too!

Here's a novel way to release your frustrations. Go to the morgue and shoot everybody there. Shooting only the dead will lessen the charges against you. Take that you ugly dead person! I didn't know you but I bet that if I did I wouldn't like you. Probably a mexican, all the local criminals nowadays seem to be hispanic.

Got to start early today. One of the dealer stores accidentally shut down their pumps last night right before they closed for the night. They couldn't understand how to reset the breaker when we called them. Cultural and language problems. Therefore I've got to leave early to go by the store and reset a breaker. We've got a lot of stores operated by Middle and Near East immigrants. They have maintenance contracts with our company and often call us for the most mundane things. They are shrewd in business but often know very little technical stuff.

Here's a picture I found on the net of two guys putting a sealer on the sidewalk. Notice where the truck is parked.

Find Yourself

Used to be, when I was younger, that everybody talked about traveling or camping or doing something totally nonproductive for months at a time in order to "find themselves". Well, I discovered rather late in life that you are always there. You may deny your existence or put on a front to conceal yourself but you are always there. Actually some people would do the world a favor by concealing their true "Self". The spouse recently looked at my sleeveless tshirt and cutoff bluejeans and said " You're just a redneck!". I agreed but added "I'm an educated redneck.". She then opined that she would prefer a cultured redneck.

Well, mom finally did it. She took a tumble out the back door. I knew it was just a matter of time. After a couple of days in the hospital she came home and picked a fight with me on the way. That was yesterday. Today when I apologized for speaking ugly to her she said she didn't hear me or didn't remember our argument. One of the few benefits of Alzheimers. Whatever you do or say is forgotten in just a short while. Tonite she was very sweet and cooperative. Who knows what tomorrow will bring?

Paris Hilton

I've often wondered if I was a shaken baby. It would explain a lot of things.

I've had an 87 VW Rabbit convertible for several years and never get to drive it a lot. There is always something wrong with it. Yesterday I had to remove the water pump. The car has been running hot for about a year now and I couldn't pinpoint the problem. I finally found fluid seeping out the weep hole on the water pump. be nice to be able to drive it withour wondering if I'm going to make it home.

Here's a picture of my VW in a typical pose. I'm trying to figure out how to attach the ramps to the wheels in portable fashion so I don't have to get it home to work on it. I've spared no expense in the restore job. So far I've got more money in tools than in the car. The first thing the spouse says when we attempt a trip in the car is "Have you got your phone?" I recently mentioned the possibility of selling it and had several people tell me it was a collectors car. The only justification for that title would be its' value as the worlds' largest paperweight. thanks for reading.

Paris Hilton

Have you ever had days like this? I swear I've had whole years like this. Like the year my dog died. I had this mutt that was about 6 months old. I was working under my house and unbeknowest to me the dog followed me under there. I crawled out and shut the crawlspace door and locked it. The mutt got cold and clawed his way into the flexible duct pipe. He then followed it back to source of the heat. That heat source was 10 KW's of electric heat strip. When he stuck his nose into the electric strips he was immediately fried. His nose exploded and sprayed blood 6 or 7 feet down the duct. the he proceeded to cook. Too bad we're not Vietnamese. 3 days later when I came home from work I could tell there was something bad wrong in the ranch. Can you say disgusting? I thought you could. I had to literally shovel his bloated stinking carcass out of our ductwork. Compared to raising teens it was an easy task.

Well mom hasn't done anything weird lately except that she thinks my sister is out to steal her property. Absolutely no basis in fact but no amount of argument would convince her otherwise. Three weeks ago she was convinced I was calling her a liar. That is her big thing right now. "Are you calling me a liar?" Imagine Marty Macflie being called a coward. Same emotion and same rationality or lack thereof. Thanks for reading.

Paris Hilton

This is why you should be tech savvy.

The continuuing saga of mom. Tonite she announced that she was going to the pharmacy. I had my truck parked in her yard repairing the corner of the carport she knocked off a couple of weeks ago. She eyed my truck, and then said "If I hit something as big as that I shouldn't be driving." I returned to my painting and BLAM! she hit my truck. Fortunately all she did was scratched the bumper a little. She then leaned out of the window and said "Did I knock off much paint?" I responded in the negative, she rolled the window up and roared out the drive. Later she came to the house and instead of apologizing for slamming my truck she was all agog over how wonderful her medicine was. It's like living in a bad novel. thanks for reading.

Paris Hilton

Actually, Paris Hilton has nothing to do with this blog but it might get me noticed by the search engines.

This photo is a lot like my mother and my siblings and me. She called us the three stooges last night when we tried to discuss her alzheimers with her. Can you say "Extreme Denial?" She actually called the sheriffs' dept. The officer who came out was very understanding. Says he sees this all the time. She is just aware enough to continue to care for herself but on the edge of being a danger to herself. I guess we just have to wait until she gets so hopelessly lost that she has to admit there is a problem. She keeps trying to justify our behaviour by accusing us of trying to steal her property. If I was trying to steal her property I would be sucking up to her instead of antagonizing her. If I had my choice I would just hit the road instead of facing this. Thanks for reading.

4rth

Had the family over for the 4th. Everyone didn't make it so there were only about 20 here. One of brother in laws drove his baby over and parked it in a showplace position in the front yard. After a swim with her dad my grand daughter had to catch a snooze. Typical American 4th of July. Lots of food, drink, sun and talk.

Brother and Sister are coming over today to help me deal with mother. She missed a doctors appt yesterday because she got lost. We are going to insist that we carry her to future appts on pain of losing auto. Doctor said he would agree to taking away her driving privileges if needed. She can still drive safely. We followed her and observed. She just forgets where she's going. Got to be extremely traumatic. She has always been VERY independent. We would like to stall taking away the car until she gets so lost that she has to call for help. This is how we dealt with dad when he went through the same thing. The ability to reason goes first so you cannot argue them into submission. You have to wait until they have an example to convince them. When you talk to her she is often so lucid and reasonable that you can't believe anything is wrong and then suddenly she will come out with something totally off the wall. Well, more later. Thanks for reading.

Nature trail

Here's a pic I tookrecently at Lake Keowee. the redhead is my grandson and the other one is his step-brother. You can probably see that it's a double handfull of trouble. This was the first time my spouse ever used a porta toilet. She was astounded at the fact that there was no way to flush it. She was also amazed at the smell. the grandson is staying with us tonite. Tomorrow his parents will be here for the fourth. We expect about 30-35 family here for the celebration. The other day my brother called to see if I had the buns and wieners for the hotdogs. I thought he said Buds and Liters. I understood 48 Buds but I thought 48 Liters was kind of over the top. If you're reading this and you are American then Happy 4th. If you're reading and you're not then TFB. thanks for reading.

Nuttin

Actually all you have to do is have in-laws.

We've been getting ready for the 4th. We've also been getting ready to have the house appraised for a re-finance. The list were endless but we are beginning to see the light at the end of the proverbial tunnel. Just visited with the neighbors. Seems that many of the same problems we have also afflict them. Small world. They also have an elderly parent that is difficult to deal with and they also have problems with rain washing the yard away and they also have problems with taxes and paying bills and ............... you get the idea. I'm reminded of the words of a very wise man, Red Green, "We're all in this together, I'm pulling for you!"

Got a call this morning. One of the stores has Air Conditioning problems. The clerk said she was going to start taking her clothes off. I took care of it promptly by calling the AC guy. Sales at that store are bad enough without driving any customers off. Thanks for reading.