Fogbow

Foggy wrote: ↑Mon Sep 25, 2023 7:36 am
So that's today. I am gonna get him hooked up, or my name isn't ... wait, my mom used to put nametags on the inside collar of my shirts. Whoever.

That explains a lot. Maybe Alex Bob Todd (is that right?) kept bringing other kids’ clothes home by accident.

You’re a good son.

Ol' Wifehorn points out, the facility should be responsible for internet and TV, too also. Which doesn't exactly let my idiot siblings off the hook, but I may have a quiet word with the management when I get back there today. I can't get in to see him until 10.

Remember months ago, when ol' Wifehorn and I gave him a new microwave oven and an industrial kitchen table to put it on, because he couldn't reach up to the existing microwave in his kitchen?

Well, he's giving both those things back to us, because no room at the inn and he can't cook food anyway.

So we will have two people in the house and three microwave ovens.

It's a nice table, tho ...

Foggy wrote: ↑Mon Sep 25, 2023 7:36 am And to leave him alone for weeks with no internet or TV! Why didn't they just take his phone, too also?

That's just bullshit. Serious bullshit. I mean, even though my husband and daytime caretaker live here, too, I really spend a LOT of my time alone - most of it, really. If I didn't have internet and TV I'd go stark raving mad in a very short period of time. Those are my lifelines to remembering there's a world outside my walls. It's easy to forget that when you're so isolated.

I'm really quite furious on your father's behalf.

If I lived within an hour of a parent, maybe even more, they'd have a visitor every weekend.

Foggy wrote: ↑Mon Sep 25, 2023 8:22 am Ol' Wifehorn points out, the facility should be responsible for internet and TV, too also. Which doesn't exactly let my idiot siblings off the hook, but I may have a quiet word with the management when I get back there today. I can't get in to see him until 10.

Remember months ago, when ol' Wifehorn and I gave him a new microwave oven and an industrial kitchen table to put it on, because he couldn't reach up to the existing microwave in his kitchen?

Well, he's giving both those things back to us, because no room at the inn and he can't cook food anyway.

So we will have two people in the house and three microwave ovens.

It's a nice table, tho ...

Think of the cats

That's infuriating. Good luck getting him set up. You're a good son.

It is infuriating, and I wish he had told me about it earlier. Anyway, three new developments:

1. As discussed but not promised (so I hadn't mentioned it before) my first cousin Dick is coming in from Sacramento to visit me and my dad. I haven't seen him since 1974 or so. He's a few months older than I am. Spent his career as a city planner. It will be interesting to see him.

Dad: "I think he works for the County of Sacramento."
Me: "Actually, he's older than I am. He's probably retired now."
Dad: "Oh yeah."

2. And my brother Ed has magically appeared from, I think he lives in Corvallis still. Ed will pick Dick up at Ronald Reagan Airport and drive him to to my dad's place, so all I have to do is show up. I haven't seen Ed since 2008. He's not part of my life, either. But it will be interesting.

3. After I explained a couple things, Comcast is sending a tech out today between 1 and 3. There will be four grown men in the room in addition to my dad. We don't have to let the tech go home until he gets my dad internet and TV.

So all in all, it's going to be an interesting day today.

Nope.

Move along, nothing to see here.

I almost made a fox paw, but I stopped my self in time.

Thanks Obama!

Yeah, the last time I saw Dick, Richard Nixon was still in office. He asked me which party I belonged to, and I said Democratic Party.

Then he asked, "Does [our grandmother the die-hard Republican] know?"

"No, why would I upset her like that? She doesn't need to know that."

Our fambly was 110% Republicans. We ate dinner every Xmas Eve at my cousin (first cousin, once removed) Bill's house. Uncle Bill was the former governor of Pennsylvania, and the former ambassador to the United Nations. If you were old enough to write - all by yourself - and deliver a funny song or a funny speech, then you were old enough to sit at the grownups table for Xmas Eve dinner. I got there when I was 6. Left some 8 and 9 year olds sitting with the kiddies. Made my parents SO PROUD. You didn't see that one coming - Foggy, the budding Republican superstar.

Didn't pan out, in the end.

Bill Scranton? I grew up in a working-class union family. I remember liking him, though.

That was when republicans had integrity and were still sane.

We had an Allegheny County commissioner/executive/leader. I can't remember the title he held, but he was the top officer of the county. He was a republican, but a truly decent man, and I voted for him twice. I'd guess in the late 80s or early 90s. Once he left office, I lost track of him. But he popped up a few years ago, still a republican, and as batsh*t crazy as any of them. I was shocked.

I've often wondered what John Heinz would have become had he not died in the crash. I'm glad I have my memory of him, another republican, as he was, not as he might have become.

Of course, I was not particularly politically aware back then, so maybe there was always something there I didn't see.

And no republican will ever get my vote again.

Yes, Bill Scranton. My mother's father was his mother's brother. Super nice guy, but I'm glad he didn't live to see Trump and Trumpism. He endorsed George, which was bad enough.

But he came to my college graduation, and I will always treasure my friendship with him.

My dad now has a working TV, a cable network (coaxial cable, of all things), and a good strong wireless connection to the Intartubez.

My work here is done, which is timely, on account of how ol' Wifehorn decided she doesn't want to spend another night alone (after tonight), so I will be driving traveling early mañana.

But she's holding on (to three cats) for tonight.

And I found the few tools my idiot brother-in-law left him, but they did not include a screwdriver or a few other things that I gave him from my personal toolbox.

Oh, darnit. Now I have to buy some new tools to replace what I gave my dad.

I hate when that happens.

Oh wait, I call that a win-win.

You don't already have three of every tool known to man? My husband did.

Yes, but I'm a conservative. I only use one tool at a time.

I just couldn't stand to see my dad with no tools. But it turns out he had a few, just not enough.

It inspired me to call ol' Wifehorn - "When I'm too old to use my tools, don't get rid of them, because I want to look, and remember."

And I wasn't even a professional. I wonder what Big D Cognito thinks about his tools today.

Foggy wrote: ↑Tue Sep 26, 2023 7:26 pm Yes, but I'm a conservative. I only use one tool at a time.

I just couldn't stand to see my dad with no tools. But it turns out he had a few, just not enough.

It inspired me to call ol' Wifehorn - "When I'm too old to use my tools, don't get rid of them, because I want to look, and remember."

And I wasn't even a professional. I wonder what Big D Cognito thinks about his tools today.

Hey look, he can have some of my screwdrivers.

I gotta crap ton of old rusty and/or chipped ones that are useless for anything up to and including prying the lid off paint cans. You can have those.

I gotta crap ton of new ones that aren't worth anything at all, have never been used, and it is a mystery about why I bought them in the first place. You can have those too.

I got several pretend screwdrivers that are supposed to be great for the computer hobbiest but are mostly just worthless dust catchers. You can have them, but I don't know why you would bother.

I got one complete set that are in good condition and well built, and seldom used. You can't have that one.

And I got three (3) count'em three battery operated hammer drill motors that are in perfect shape with about a hundred different bits, 2 or 3 of which I use all the time. You can't have those ones either.

Yeah, the first thing was to connect him to the world again. He has no friends in Assisted Living, so he needs to be able to go online when he's down there, and to watch the Tee Vee news, and I was not leaving him until those things happened.

But they did happen, and he's very, very happy about that.

And I took his tools and laid them out for him, and added a few screwdrivers and other things. He has the basics. PLUS, I found his box of electronics projects, which is how he loves to keep his mind active.

So, umm ... y'know ... I was only there part of Sunday, plus Monday and Tuesday, but it was enough. He's thrilled to have his TV and his computers (I mentioned, he has a brand spankin' new Mac Mini but he hadn't had email for 3 weeks ) and now he has his books and tools and electronics projects, and he is 100% self-entertaining.

I should mention, even though he has no friends down in the Assisted Living center - he told me they're all a bunch of zahmbies and weirdos - he has plenty of people who still live in their apartments, and he has a busy social life, he just uses his Zoomer chair and the elevator and he goes to dinner, to lectures (they have some super interesting lectures) and all kinds of stuff. He's not going to be a model prisoner in Assisted Living, he's gonna be a mean motor scooter.

And his heart is still kicking strong. He wants to see Trump go to prison.

I love your tales of Admiral Dad. Please let him know about his Fan Club.

OK, I have neglected to tell y'all what's going on, because so many other people are going through struggles of their own, and because i wanted to wait until things were sort of understandable. Like, "My dad's in the hospital again but nobody knows why" is not really understandable information, even if true. I waited until I knew it was pneumonia, and he was septic, and he had a bunch of infections. He's in the hospital again, y'all. With a bunch of infections.

And I kept telling everybody like my wife and my sister, if his heart holds out, they know how to beat infections. I suspect he's going to pull through this one again, like he does. I told my sister the RN that. I told ol' Wifehorn that. Nobody believed me.

His heart held out, and they beat the infections, and he sounded good today. They're talking about sending him home tomorrow. I am enthuse.

BUT here's the problem. He's now totally immobile. They don't want him in the retirement community where he has lived for almost 20 years -- even in the assisted living unit where he's been lately -- unless he can get out of bed and into a motorized scooter with only one person helping. Same with shower, et cetera. They're going to want to kick him out of the assisted living program, and that's the last option at the retirement community. So ... what next?

Well, that's the good news.

Ol' Wifehorn has decided to bring him here and put him downstairs in our dining room, and we agree 100%, and when she has a plan, look out, because she is going to implement her plan. Ol' Wifehorn gets an idea in her head, that idea is going to come to fruition, unless the FSM seriously decides to interfere.

We had a long discussion at the restaurant tonight on date night at our favorite local joint.

This thing is happening.


Details to follow. I'm watching football.

I'm happy he is coming home. I had a similar situation with my mom. Best thing we ever did.

Here are the reasons this makes sense:

1. Ol' Wifehorn and I have done this before. Her mother was given less than six months to live and put on hospice in the previous century. We kept her alive for 3.5 years. We're good at this. My father will live longer in our care than he otherwise will.

2. This will make him happier during his remaining time on the planet. He loves ol' Wifehorn to the end. He and I get along, too also. She has a special relationship with that man. Nobody else in my family can do this, or wants to do it. They're all ready to inherit. I'd rather have my dad around. This will ruffle some feathers. That's a good thing.

3. This will save money. He's paying a huge amount already for the assisted living joint, and the next step is full time skilled nursing, but with the amount of money he's paying, we could provide everything he needs, with a lot left over.

There's probably more, but that's what we discussed and agreed on last night. Whew, being married to this lady is a wild roller coaster ride sometimes, but I am ALL IN.

That is darn brave of you and Wifehorn. I have a padded transfer bench for the tub/shower looking for a good home, plus too also two adjustable walkers, a wheelchair, a folding three wheel strollerator, a folding four wheel strollerator (that converts to a wheelchair in a pinch), a lifetime supply of gabapentin, a mattress warmer, a memory foam mattress topper, a 24 inch Roku TV with built in wifi and DVR, a handrail kit for the commode and bathroom, and a carton of lidocaine patches for treating bed sores.