Cool Weather

Here's a sample of an old comic I used to enjoy back in the day. The writer has had her website "under construction" forever. If she ever gets it up and running I'll buy her products.

We had a meeting this weekend and decided that mom should stay in the nursing home. She is too easily upset for us to try to care for her. Late meds or upset routine throw her into a bad mood and make her very hard to handle.

The medicaid people said that we could rent her home but they would get the money. Riiigghhht, I'm gonna put up with all the crap of being a landlord and the state gets the money. I don't think so. We'll just close the house, turn off the power and gas and let it rot. The state is gonna end up getting it anyways so why should I take care of it?

We're getting some cool weather now and I had to turn on my heat. I just installed this gaspack last summer and didn't realize the gas valve had an off and on positional switch. The spouse asked me turn the heat on. I didn't let on that I thought it was already on. I turned the switch on and sat back, nothing...then I noticed the blinking green light. I thought "green, that's good, better than a red blinking light." I noticed then that the light was blinking in a pattern. I looked on the back of the access door and found the chart. 6 blinks and then 1 blink. Timed out because of failed ignition. Then at the bottom, Reset by cycling power. I tripped the breaker and lo and behold, Heat! Troubleshooting is 90% observation and 10% perspiration.

Thought I'd include this pic for all of you who are gonna be traveling in the coming holidays. The Japanese have a way with English. They just don't get the subtleties. This poster indicates that the airline doesn't have lot of confidence. Why else would they wish you good luck? thanks for reading.

More Stuff

I think Cliff is on to something. Buffalo theory would explain a lot of things. Now if you could tie in the liver is evil, it must be punished with the Buffalo Theory you would cover all arguments for a snootfull.
Well, more in the continuing saga of Mom. She still packs her things every day in the expectation of going home. The stuff she packs seem to be multiplying. Lately they have included some of the Halloween decorations from around the nursing home and perhaps some of her room mates things. She told me recently that the water pitcher in her bag was a "Steal". She claims that it keeps ice all day! She needed a Kleenex the other night and said that they wouldn't give her any. I found the Kleenex in her bags, packed up and ready to go. I'm meeting with the sibs this morning to discuss options on her future. A touchy and emotional issue. The stress level is at 9.5. Another good excuse for a snootfull. thanks for reading.

More Mom

This is the feeling I get sometimes. No matter what I come up with someone else beats me to the punch.
I took my grandson to visit mom yesterday and she was thrilled. She gets everyone else mixed up but she knew who he was. She started crying when she saw him and was afraid it would upset him. I explained to him that it was tears of happiness and he was fine with it. they talked and had a good visit. He really acted mature for a 6 year old.
We have until the end of the month to get a room ready for her at my brothers' house. She is real excited to be going there. She will eat good there, my brother likes to cook and enjoys preparing meals for other people. This is so strange, Mom has been hostile to his family for 6 years and now she is going there. Mom has an entire new attitude while on the proper medicine. The trick to making this work will be getting her to take her medicine.
We helped my wifes' mother move yesterday and Friday and got really stressed. I always dread moving someone else's belongings. Something always gets broken or scratched and then the qeustion, do I offer to pay for it?.
I mean, you volunteer to help and if something goes wrong you get a guilt trip free of charge.
Oh well, we gotter done and My part of it is over. Just seeing all her crap made me want to come home and throw away some stuff. I will keep sentimental items but not to the extent that my home is cluttered. Except for furniture I like to keep personal items down to what will fit in a suitcase. I like to spend my spare time roaming the house looking for things to discard. Those pictures of traditional Japanese homes where everything is so Spartan make me envious. The Spouse mentioned decorating the house the other day and I was confused. I mean, there's paint on all the walls, what more is needed? Beige paint. I'll probably spend some time today getting rid of some clothes too. All my clothes should fit in no more than two washing machines. I've accumulated some extra clothes this summer and it's time to thin 'em out. If the men in the black Chevy Suburbans ever come for me I can pack and go out the window faster than they can sneak in the back door. thanks for reading.

Events

Here it is 4 am and I'm wide awake. Mom is doing ok, by that I mean she is in good physical health but her mind is still gone. She is no longer so beligerant and is a lot easier to get along with. My brother and his wife are going to take her home in a couple of weeks and try caring for her at thier house. I wish them the best. I know it's gonna be hard.

Today I'm gonna be the only tech in the area and I've already got several calls to start the day. We got a little rain last night, I woke and heard it and thought "what is that noise?". We've so little rain recently that it sounded strange. thanks for reading.

A While.........

It's been a while since I blogged. We had another all nighter this week and we've got two next week. I thought you might like these two ads I found recently. the top one makes me want to brew a whole pot and the bottom one is totally understandable. I think there have been times that my wife would have not asked questions if I had vanished for a week or two. She would have just wished for the worst and gone on with her life.
Mom was justifying her stay at the Living Center by believing that she was at work there. After her retirement party (birthday party) she had to find a new reason to be there. She now thinks she is in a TB Sanitarium. I don't think there have been any of these facilities in the US for around 50 years. I think her room mate has a cough and mom has somehow turned it into TB. We attended the Alzheimer's Association meeting the other night and heard one woman relate that her mom wants to go home even though she is already at home. She gets her into the car and rides around aimlessly looking for this mythical "home". Our nation is turning into a Lunatic ward. The Jihadist just need to be patient and when all the boomers get dementia we will be an easy conquest.
The grandson had a loose tooth with another already poking through the gum. Naturally his dad called on Gramps to come pull the tooth. I'm the only one in the family mean enough to hold a 6 year old down and pull his tooth against his will. The granddaughter is getting to be a real handful now. She likes to play rough and really enjoys pulling my beard and screaming along with me.
My tattoo artist son is staying really busy now and usually has several appointments going all the time. I'm gonna post more tatt pics soon. He did a very nice Jesus tatt the other day, very realistic. Since he started doing this full time he has really improved. Some people reach a stage of competency and stay there but some just continue to get better and better. These are the artist and I like to think he is one of these. thanks for reading