My dad seems to have had a tool obsession. When we moved him down from Seattle we could not believe how many of the same type of tool we found. Now that I have begun to go through the tool boxes he had it is apparent that he had a ridiculous obsession with tools.
We found (so far):
5 tool boxes
5 or more spools of solder
3 or 4 soldering irons
several pairs of needle nose pliers
3 complete sets of sears branded pliers and wire cutters (2 unused)
about 10 sets of drill bits
5 sets of precision screw drivers
several sets of Allen wrenches
Various and sundry pliers and wire cutters that he had when I was a kid
several small hack saws
screwdrivers up the wazzoo
dozens of large files
5 small tap holders
2 skil saws (one of which would not cut straight)
2 drills (one that is over 60 years old).
1 tap and dye set
3 small desk vices
1 electric sander
5 exacto knives
wrenches and sockets and ratchets (oh my)
hammer, hammers, and more hammers
10 wire cutter/crimpers
several hand operated drills
several miter saws
4 sets of jewelers files
coping saws
on the matter of electronic components and small parts:
Piles of various sized screws and nuts.
more zip ties than you would ever need to arrest people at an occupy protest
hundreds of left over wires and lights from train repairs
Dozens of small speakers
pile and piles of various train parts
springs galore
wire, wire, and more wire (spools)
resistors
diodes
switches
enough shrink tubing in various sizes to last me a lifetime
In addition to the normal tool boxes he had made several small boxes or tool kits for upgrading different types of trains although most of the kits had the same tools in them.
We sold, donated, or just threw out many of the crappier tools.
Up until about a year ago he was still buying tools and solder.
This does not take in to account all the tools he left in Seattle, like his lathe, drill press, band saw, and all sorts of precision tools.
This is (of course) NOTHING compared to what his ex-wife hoarded.
Sunday, January 31, 2016
Saturday, January 30, 2016
Some definitions
Confabulation is a memory disturbance, defined as the production of fabricated, distorted or misinterpreted memories about oneself or the world, without the conscious intention to deceive. Individuals who confabulate present incorrect memories ranging from "subtle alterations to bizarre fabrications", and are generally very confident about their recollections, despite contradictory evidence.
Delusion is a belief held with strong conviction despite superior evidence to the contrary. People with delusions will persist in their beliefs or actions no matter how detrimental they are to themselves or others. No matter how much logic or evidence is presented to a delusional person they will refuse to change their mind or ways. Anything that a person persist in doing (and the person thinks what they are doing is right) but which is physically, mentally, emotionally, or financially harmful to themselves is a delusion.
Dementia is a chronic or persistent disorder of the mental processes caused by brain disease or injury and marked by memory disorders, personality changes, and impaired reasoning.
Insanity is the state of being seriously mentally ill; madness. A more colloquial definition would be to do the same thing over and over but each time expecting the outcome to be different.
Delusion is a belief held with strong conviction despite superior evidence to the contrary. People with delusions will persist in their beliefs or actions no matter how detrimental they are to themselves or others. No matter how much logic or evidence is presented to a delusional person they will refuse to change their mind or ways. Anything that a person persist in doing (and the person thinks what they are doing is right) but which is physically, mentally, emotionally, or financially harmful to themselves is a delusion.
Dementia is a chronic or persistent disorder of the mental processes caused by brain disease or injury and marked by memory disorders, personality changes, and impaired reasoning.
Insanity is the state of being seriously mentally ill; madness. A more colloquial definition would be to do the same thing over and over but each time expecting the outcome to be different.
Bob is Wolverine
Or maybe Deadpool he seems to have this incredible ability to heal. The place on his wrist where the cancer was removed healed very quickly even though the bandage only got changed ever 2 or 3 days, and his forehead and nose have already healed from the fall.
He also is prone to to saying random weird things like Deadpool. The other day when we were visiting him the TV was on and he was watching the Andy Griffith show and talking about Opie. He was trying to remember the name of the other show he though Ron Howard was in. He thought it was called "Opie and the Beaver". I never heard of it, must have been a low budget porno.
He also is prone to to saying random weird things like Deadpool. The other day when we were visiting him the TV was on and he was watching the Andy Griffith show and talking about Opie. He was trying to remember the name of the other show he though Ron Howard was in. He thought it was called "Opie and the Beaver". I never heard of it, must have been a low budget porno.
Friday, January 29, 2016
Working on the Truck
Last night I replaced the AC vents in the center panel, drilled a hole for the USB extender and mounted it in the top center of the panel. I re-installed the radio and then spent about a half hour trying to figure out how to control it. I set the speakers to full rear since the front left one may be bad. Turned off the non existent sub woofer, adjusted the EQ to my liking, set some presets and I even managed to set the clock, no thanks to the badly written manual.
I took the truck to discount tires this morning and had them remove the nail from the one tire and rotate the tires.
Afterwards I used some denatured alcohol to get all the Bob juice off the steering wheel. Now it doesn't feel sticky anymore. I need to clean the interior of the truck, although he has taken it to be washed many times, it seems no one has really cleaned the interior.
I looked for the aftermarket seat armrest storage thingy he had in the center of the seat and could not find it in the back of the truck I hope it is in storage and that he did not throw it away.
I took the truck to discount tires this morning and had them remove the nail from the one tire and rotate the tires.
Afterwards I used some denatured alcohol to get all the Bob juice off the steering wheel. Now it doesn't feel sticky anymore. I need to clean the interior of the truck, although he has taken it to be washed many times, it seems no one has really cleaned the interior.
I looked for the aftermarket seat armrest storage thingy he had in the center of the seat and could not find it in the back of the truck I hope it is in storage and that he did not throw it away.
Tuesday, January 26, 2016
What is your support system?
What is my support system?
Support system?
This question was asked of me recently by a social worker at my dads Alzheimer's doctor, and by the social worker at my dads apartment complex.
What is a "support system"? Well it seems to be people and services that help take the burden from having to take care of a person who can't do it themselves.
I never thought about what MY support system is. I never knew I needed one. Now I wish they had never asked me because it was then that I realized I had no "support system" (apart from my wife).
In fact I am the support system for several people.
I have 2 sisters that want nothing to do with Bob and do not know he is living here, 1 brother who had to take care of our mother and does not want to take care of another difficult to deal with old person (I don't blame him), 1 other brother who cannot help for various reasons, and 1 other sister who could help but lives too far away and has a mean, self centered, spiteful, elderly mother-in-law that lives with her which she and her husband have to deal with. There is my nephew but he is just starting his adult life, his work schedule is 180° out of phase with everyone else, and he needs to get his pilots license which will take up most of his remaining spare time. I would not think of putting this burden on him. My wife helps quite a bit but she has to help her elderly mother and obnoxious brother who both have serious medical problems. My wife also has no "support system" except for me.
What is my support system? it's just me and my wife.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Today I met with the ALTCS case worker at the rehab center. I gave her some papers from 2 doctors stating that Bob needs to be in an assisted living facility, a copy of the paper from the Alzheimer's doctor that says Bob is not capable of making informed decisions, and a detailed list of all the things that we have noted that Bob cannot do or problems he is having.
She asked him some simple questions:
What is his name? he answered that correctly.
What is my name? (she pointed at me) he answered correctly.
What day of the week is it? he did not know.
What is day of the month is it? he did not know.
What month is it? he did not know.
What is the room he is in called? his response was "A joke", she re-asked the question and he did not know.
What is the name of the facility he is in? he did not know.
How does he keep track of the time and date? initially he did not know, but then he remembered the special clock I got for him that has the date, month, year, and day of the week (an Alzheimer's clock).
What time is it? He looked at his wrist watch and then looked confused, he said the big hand was on the 6 and the little hand was on the 10, but could not figure out what that meant. This was something new I had not noticed that he has trouble telling the time from a non digital clock.
He then told her the story of how he had lost his license (as he remembered it) which was of course mostly made up.
The case worked did tell me that based on what she saw he would have no problem qualifying for ALTCS, she would have to type up the report and file it, which would take a bit and I should not worry if I don't hear anything for a while.
Before all this I spoke with the doctor there and they changed his antibiotics since it appears he is allergic to the one that he was given originally. The swelling in is right hand was almost gone but he still has cellulitis in his left leg.
Support system?
This question was asked of me recently by a social worker at my dads Alzheimer's doctor, and by the social worker at my dads apartment complex.
What is a "support system"? Well it seems to be people and services that help take the burden from having to take care of a person who can't do it themselves.
I never thought about what MY support system is. I never knew I needed one. Now I wish they had never asked me because it was then that I realized I had no "support system" (apart from my wife).
In fact I am the support system for several people.
I have 2 sisters that want nothing to do with Bob and do not know he is living here, 1 brother who had to take care of our mother and does not want to take care of another difficult to deal with old person (I don't blame him), 1 other brother who cannot help for various reasons, and 1 other sister who could help but lives too far away and has a mean, self centered, spiteful, elderly mother-in-law that lives with her which she and her husband have to deal with. There is my nephew but he is just starting his adult life, his work schedule is 180° out of phase with everyone else, and he needs to get his pilots license which will take up most of his remaining spare time. I would not think of putting this burden on him. My wife helps quite a bit but she has to help her elderly mother and obnoxious brother who both have serious medical problems. My wife also has no "support system" except for me.
What is my support system? it's just me and my wife.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Today I met with the ALTCS case worker at the rehab center. I gave her some papers from 2 doctors stating that Bob needs to be in an assisted living facility, a copy of the paper from the Alzheimer's doctor that says Bob is not capable of making informed decisions, and a detailed list of all the things that we have noted that Bob cannot do or problems he is having.
She asked him some simple questions:
What is his name? he answered that correctly.
What is my name? (she pointed at me) he answered correctly.
What day of the week is it? he did not know.
What is day of the month is it? he did not know.
What month is it? he did not know.
What is the room he is in called? his response was "A joke", she re-asked the question and he did not know.
What is the name of the facility he is in? he did not know.
How does he keep track of the time and date? initially he did not know, but then he remembered the special clock I got for him that has the date, month, year, and day of the week (an Alzheimer's clock).
What time is it? He looked at his wrist watch and then looked confused, he said the big hand was on the 6 and the little hand was on the 10, but could not figure out what that meant. This was something new I had not noticed that he has trouble telling the time from a non digital clock.
He then told her the story of how he had lost his license (as he remembered it) which was of course mostly made up.
The case worked did tell me that based on what she saw he would have no problem qualifying for ALTCS, she would have to type up the report and file it, which would take a bit and I should not worry if I don't hear anything for a while.
Before all this I spoke with the doctor there and they changed his antibiotics since it appears he is allergic to the one that he was given originally. The swelling in is right hand was almost gone but he still has cellulitis in his left leg.
Monday, January 25, 2016
You have chosen the way of PAIN!
I realized the other day that Bob (for the last 20+) years has made decisions that would result in him NOT being comfortable. He seems to have a subconscious need for discomfort.
He chose an apartment to live in (in seattle) that was in a terrible location. Close to a major street that always has heavy traffic, the streets around it were all on an incline. The parking was terrible there was nothing convenient nearby (no stores or good restaurants). To get in to the apartment you had to either go up a set of wonky steps then down a few steps, or down several steps then up several. Initially he did not have a bathroom for almost 7 years he used a filthy shared bathroom in the hallway. They began adding bathrooms to the apartments and made him move to an apartment with a bathroom and he was not happy about it because it meant less room for his stuff. He never used the heating unit but instead chose to use his oven to heat the apartment, in the summer there was no AC just open a window and an ineffective ceiling fan. His apartment was filled with trains and books to the point that you could barely walk through it. His cursed bed was almost 15 years old when he got it, it was held together with metal cloth hangers. It made horrible noises when you moved even slightly. It was not even remotely comfortable. I know because I slept in it for 3 weeks.
He drove a Chevrolet Suburban he got around 1978. He only got rid of it when he got the C2500. His old Suburban was filthy and rusted and completely trashed when he junked it in 2008.His new truck while looking nice is not comfortable to drive, the seat cannot move back or tilt, it is a bench seat. The cab always smells like engine oil.
His old job was a 45 minute drive one way through bumper to bumper traffic.
He never spent more than about $40 per week on groceries, he bought:
Cheap bread
Cheap meat
Cheap fish
Frozen vegetables
Canned fruit
Ice cream
He had a rented storage about an hours drive from his seattle apartment. He spent almost $230 per month to store his fire truck, hundreds of trains, books, pictures, old furniture he never was going to use. All told he spent almost $39,000 to store a fire truck he bought for $1000 and put $9000 in to. He never batted an eye at this waste of money but pay for a lunch program at his apartment "that's outrageous".
Even now he fights spending any money on personal comfort. His apartment has no couch or comfortable chairs. I got him a nice comfortable computer chair and he got rid of it in favor of an old 1960's style office chair with a low back and no way to sit comfortably in it. The only other chair in the apartment is a folding auditorium style chair that he reluctantly keeps for company. There is no place to sit comfortably when visiting him. He isn't going to like it but when he moves to assisted living he is getting a couch and the train layout is going bye-bye.
He wears t-shirts with button up shirts no matter how hot it is, but complains that they are hot, and he won't wear anything else. He wears big clunky heavy over sized shoes because of his horrible over grown toe nails.
He chose an apartment to live in (in seattle) that was in a terrible location. Close to a major street that always has heavy traffic, the streets around it were all on an incline. The parking was terrible there was nothing convenient nearby (no stores or good restaurants). To get in to the apartment you had to either go up a set of wonky steps then down a few steps, or down several steps then up several. Initially he did not have a bathroom for almost 7 years he used a filthy shared bathroom in the hallway. They began adding bathrooms to the apartments and made him move to an apartment with a bathroom and he was not happy about it because it meant less room for his stuff. He never used the heating unit but instead chose to use his oven to heat the apartment, in the summer there was no AC just open a window and an ineffective ceiling fan. His apartment was filled with trains and books to the point that you could barely walk through it. His cursed bed was almost 15 years old when he got it, it was held together with metal cloth hangers. It made horrible noises when you moved even slightly. It was not even remotely comfortable. I know because I slept in it for 3 weeks.
He drove a Chevrolet Suburban he got around 1978. He only got rid of it when he got the C2500. His old Suburban was filthy and rusted and completely trashed when he junked it in 2008.His new truck while looking nice is not comfortable to drive, the seat cannot move back or tilt, it is a bench seat. The cab always smells like engine oil.
His old job was a 45 minute drive one way through bumper to bumper traffic.
He never spent more than about $40 per week on groceries, he bought:
Cheap bread
Cheap meat
Cheap fish
Frozen vegetables
Canned fruit
Ice cream
He had a rented storage about an hours drive from his seattle apartment. He spent almost $230 per month to store his fire truck, hundreds of trains, books, pictures, old furniture he never was going to use. All told he spent almost $39,000 to store a fire truck he bought for $1000 and put $9000 in to. He never batted an eye at this waste of money but pay for a lunch program at his apartment "that's outrageous".
Even now he fights spending any money on personal comfort. His apartment has no couch or comfortable chairs. I got him a nice comfortable computer chair and he got rid of it in favor of an old 1960's style office chair with a low back and no way to sit comfortably in it. The only other chair in the apartment is a folding auditorium style chair that he reluctantly keeps for company. There is no place to sit comfortably when visiting him. He isn't going to like it but when he moves to assisted living he is getting a couch and the train layout is going bye-bye.
He wears t-shirts with button up shirts no matter how hot it is, but complains that they are hot, and he won't wear anything else. He wears big clunky heavy over sized shoes because of his horrible over grown toe nails.
Sunday, January 24, 2016
A visit and a problem
We visited Bob in the rehab place today. We drove his truck since I wanted to see if it drove better with properly inflated tires (I could not tell). When we arrived he was asleep, a plate of some kind of nasty looking sauce and some not appetizing looking peas was on his table.
I woke him by barely touching him and he jumped. We brought his shaver and had him shave, I had to help him since he did not have a mirror, he had not shaved in almost a week.
We gave him a chocolate milk and my wife checked his leg. His left leg was swollen yellowish and bruised, it was very warm to the touch, he had a rash of some kind and if you pressed on his skin the area you pressed would turn pale but instantly turn pink again when you let go.
We notified the nurse before leaving and the last we heard the doctor she was in contact with wanted a picture.
The whole time we were there he had this distant, melancholy, and apathetic manner. Although he did think it was hilarious when my wife got upset and yelled at me because she could not find the cap to the pen she was using to mark his clothes with.
I woke him by barely touching him and he jumped. We brought his shaver and had him shave, I had to help him since he did not have a mirror, he had not shaved in almost a week.
We gave him a chocolate milk and my wife checked his leg. His left leg was swollen yellowish and bruised, it was very warm to the touch, he had a rash of some kind and if you pressed on his skin the area you pressed would turn pale but instantly turn pink again when you let go.
We notified the nurse before leaving and the last we heard the doctor she was in contact with wanted a picture.
The whole time we were there he had this distant, melancholy, and apathetic manner. Although he did think it was hilarious when my wife got upset and yelled at me because she could not find the cap to the pen she was using to mark his clothes with.
Crime scene clean up
Yesterday the wife and I went on a date, to my dads house to clean it. YAY!
The maintenance people had been back and put his bed back together which was annoying because I had to take it apart again. They had also opened a window.
Either maintenance had done some cleaning or the breeze blowing through the apartment blew the dried blood in to a pile? Anyways!
I swept up most of the dried blood. Seems that blood on vinyl flooring peels up on it's own when it dries. I used a mop and bleach water to clean up the rest. I vacuumed under his bed then with the help of the wife we cut the old bed bug proof mattress covers open and immediately put the mattress and box springs in to new ones. There were no bugs inside the mattress covers.
I noted that my dad has wet the bed on a couple of occasions.
Then I mixed up the Temprid at about triple strength and put the frame on end against the wall. While wearing rubber gloves I doused the frame in Temprid. Then I put down the bed bug traps for the bed frame legs and drenched those. I placed the bed frame legs in the traps and drenched the top of the bed frame. Then Drenched the bottom of the box spring before putting it on the frame. I did the same with the mattress and placed that on the box spring. Then I sprayed the sides of the bed and the surrounding floor and wall.
I cleaned the kitchen sink and stove and did his dishes that looked like they had not been done in a while.
The wife cleaned the worst of the blood out of the bathroom. How he got it up on the wall we are not quite sure. I also mopped the bathroom floor with bleach water.
While we were cleaning his apartment Al (the neighbor across from him) stopped in and asked about Bob. Al is deaf as a post, 80 something years old and still drives (a point that bugs my dad). Al does not have Alzheimer's. He said he would be visiting Bob and wanted the address. He also asked for some reading material from Bob's apartment (to take to Bob). We gave him a Fire apparatus magazine. He wanted to know if Bob would like grapes or grape juice. No not really, but we told him to take him some chocolate milk. Al asked what year my dads truck was, and I told him. Then he asked what we were going to do with it? sigh™ Vultures! I told him I own it (which I do).
We did his laundry there and while waiting for it I made a sign for him telling him not to put his bed against the wall and to leave the traps under the legs of the bed frame.
I also ran updates on his computer.
We noted that with the window open and a nice breeze blowing through the apartment it no longer smelled like dirty old person.
The wife also cleaned out the fridge a little bit.
I took his laptop since he has not used it since he left Seattle.
Later that day we went to visit him in the rehab place and he was eating dinner. He claimed that no one fed him breakfast and he did not eat lunch till about 4pm. I have no idea if this is true. He says the food sucks. His right hand is very swollen and he was not using it. When I looked at it his hand shook the whole time, even when I had him relax, it only stopped when he put it down on the bed. His left hand shakes as well when he uses it.
We brought him a chocolate cake, some chocolate milk, and his shoes.
We told him that some people he knows at the apartment will be visiting him on Monday. He was surprised by this. A few minutes later he informed us of the same thing. sigh™
Today I worked on his/my truck a bit. I aired up the tires, the were all very low. I found a nail in one but it seems to have not gone through the tread. I need to get it fixed and the tires rotated, who knows when they last were.
I looked behind the seat and under it for anything of value or unusual. I found a nickel, and that a gallon of water had spilled but most of it was soaked up by a roll of paper towels behind the seat.
2 days ago I removed the radio and center section of the trim so I could work on the AC vents, while trying to fix them I broke both of them sigh™. I ordered replacements from ebay.
The maintenance people had been back and put his bed back together which was annoying because I had to take it apart again. They had also opened a window.
Either maintenance had done some cleaning or the breeze blowing through the apartment blew the dried blood in to a pile? Anyways!
I swept up most of the dried blood. Seems that blood on vinyl flooring peels up on it's own when it dries. I used a mop and bleach water to clean up the rest. I vacuumed under his bed then with the help of the wife we cut the old bed bug proof mattress covers open and immediately put the mattress and box springs in to new ones. There were no bugs inside the mattress covers.
I noted that my dad has wet the bed on a couple of occasions.
Then I mixed up the Temprid at about triple strength and put the frame on end against the wall. While wearing rubber gloves I doused the frame in Temprid. Then I put down the bed bug traps for the bed frame legs and drenched those. I placed the bed frame legs in the traps and drenched the top of the bed frame. Then Drenched the bottom of the box spring before putting it on the frame. I did the same with the mattress and placed that on the box spring. Then I sprayed the sides of the bed and the surrounding floor and wall.
I cleaned the kitchen sink and stove and did his dishes that looked like they had not been done in a while.
The wife cleaned the worst of the blood out of the bathroom. How he got it up on the wall we are not quite sure. I also mopped the bathroom floor with bleach water.
While we were cleaning his apartment Al (the neighbor across from him) stopped in and asked about Bob. Al is deaf as a post, 80 something years old and still drives (a point that bugs my dad). Al does not have Alzheimer's. He said he would be visiting Bob and wanted the address. He also asked for some reading material from Bob's apartment (to take to Bob). We gave him a Fire apparatus magazine. He wanted to know if Bob would like grapes or grape juice. No not really, but we told him to take him some chocolate milk. Al asked what year my dads truck was, and I told him. Then he asked what we were going to do with it? sigh™ Vultures! I told him I own it (which I do).
We did his laundry there and while waiting for it I made a sign for him telling him not to put his bed against the wall and to leave the traps under the legs of the bed frame.
I also ran updates on his computer.
We noted that with the window open and a nice breeze blowing through the apartment it no longer smelled like dirty old person.
The wife also cleaned out the fridge a little bit.
I took his laptop since he has not used it since he left Seattle.
Later that day we went to visit him in the rehab place and he was eating dinner. He claimed that no one fed him breakfast and he did not eat lunch till about 4pm. I have no idea if this is true. He says the food sucks. His right hand is very swollen and he was not using it. When I looked at it his hand shook the whole time, even when I had him relax, it only stopped when he put it down on the bed. His left hand shakes as well when he uses it.
We brought him a chocolate cake, some chocolate milk, and his shoes.
We told him that some people he knows at the apartment will be visiting him on Monday. He was surprised by this. A few minutes later he informed us of the same thing. sigh™
Today I worked on his/my truck a bit. I aired up the tires, the were all very low. I found a nail in one but it seems to have not gone through the tread. I need to get it fixed and the tires rotated, who knows when they last were.
I looked behind the seat and under it for anything of value or unusual. I found a nickel, and that a gallon of water had spilled but most of it was soaked up by a roll of paper towels behind the seat.
2 days ago I removed the radio and center section of the trim so I could work on the AC vents, while trying to fix them I broke both of them sigh™. I ordered replacements from ebay.
Friday, January 22, 2016
ALTCS Interview
I just did the ALTCS interview for Bob over the phone. Lots of questions about what he can, cannot, will, and will not do.
Lots of questions about his health and who helps him with stuff.
I will be meeting with the ALTCS case manager (next week) at the rehab facility that Bob is currently at.
Lots of questions about his health and who helps him with stuff.
I will be meeting with the ALTCS case manager (next week) at the rehab facility that Bob is currently at.
Wednesday, January 20, 2016
Wait what?
I got a call yesterday morning from a local hospital asking for updated information about my dads meds. I was like "ok sure", but then I was like "wait hold up here!" "My dad was not in your hospital since October".
"Oh he's here now". "uhm why?" said I.
"He got a bad nose bleed that would not stop and his legs are swollen"
Seems that the night before around 9pm his nose started to bleed and he could not stop it so instead of pulling the emergency pull in his apartment he went down stairs and had the security guard call 911.
so the rest of my day was phone calls back and forth from me to family and doctors to me.
Later in the day after visiting him in the hospital we stopped by his apartment to put any food that needed to be frozen in the freezer and make sure all his lights were off and to check on his bed.
Well the apartment maintenance had taken the bed apart and sprayed. The floor in the kitchen and bathroom looked like a crime scene with blood spatter EVERYWHERE!
I turned out the lights so the bed bugs would come out and hopefully get poisoned, put up some of his food grabbed some clothes for him and we will deal with the mess later. I also took home his pill dispenser. His apartment was broiling hot so I turned on the AC.
I ordered some Temprid so that we can change out his bed covers and spray for bedbugs on a regular basis. Temprid is supposedly the best stuff for killing bedbugs.
"Oh he's here now". "uhm why?" said I.
"He got a bad nose bleed that would not stop and his legs are swollen"
so the rest of my day was phone calls back and forth from me to family and doctors to me.
Later in the day after visiting him in the hospital we stopped by his apartment to put any food that needed to be frozen in the freezer and make sure all his lights were off and to check on his bed.
Well the apartment maintenance had taken the bed apart and sprayed. The floor in the kitchen and bathroom looked like a crime scene with blood spatter EVERYWHERE!
I turned out the lights so the bed bugs would come out and hopefully get poisoned, put up some of his food grabbed some clothes for him and we will deal with the mess later. I also took home his pill dispenser. His apartment was broiling hot so I turned on the AC.
I ordered some Temprid so that we can change out his bed covers and spray for bedbugs on a regular basis. Temprid is supposedly the best stuff for killing bedbugs.
Monday, January 18, 2016
Nobody listens to me
It's really pissing me off.
The persistence of people bound and determined to make their own lives miserable astounds me.
My wife went over to Bob's apartment tonight to loan him a heating pad for his banged up knee and while there she changed his sheets. Guess what she found? YUP bed bugs.
When he moved in to the new apartment he got a new bed, new box spring, new bed frame and new bug proof bed covers. We put his bed legs in the little bed bug traps and kept his bed away from the wall like the guy who treated his old apartment said. I told Bob to not bring any books back until they had cooked in the cave of wonders all summer.
Did he follow my instructions? NO! HE HAD TO HAVE HIS FUCKING BOOKS!
Did he leave the bug traps on the bed legs? NO! HE THOUGHT THEY WOULD NOT DO ANYTHING!
Did he keep his bed away from the wall? NO! HE KNOWS MORE THAN ME!
It would have helped if the new apartment would have let me treat his apartment for free like the company who did the old one said they would do. BUT NO! the new apartment complex only uses environmentally friendly chemicals and they could not verify if the company I used did that. HOW FUCKING STUPID ARE THEY! WHO THE FUCK CARES IF IT'S ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY I WANT THE BED BUGS DEAD!
Now I have to contact the apartment complex and have his apartment treated AGAIN!
I swear almost everyone I know is like this:
Me: hey don't touch that red hot stove.
Them: oh what do you know... (touches stove) OUCH! hey that's red hot!
Me: Don't poke that bear!
them: what? the bear likes it (pokes bear) ROAR! help a bear is attacking me!
Me: here are detailed instructions on how to live your life, please red them carefully, follow them and you will be happy.
Them: tldr (tosses instructions away), why am I always miserable?
Bob is the king of doing everything wrong. If there is any way a wrong decision can be made that will negatively effect him now or in the future I guarantee he will make it.
I got a call from the ALTCS case worker on Friday and will be calling her tomorrow. I have got to get Bob in to assisted living. I have got to get away from all the people in my life that are dragging me down with them.
I am fucking tired of holding everyones head above water.
The persistence of people bound and determined to make their own lives miserable astounds me.
My wife went over to Bob's apartment tonight to loan him a heating pad for his banged up knee and while there she changed his sheets. Guess what she found? YUP bed bugs.
When he moved in to the new apartment he got a new bed, new box spring, new bed frame and new bug proof bed covers. We put his bed legs in the little bed bug traps and kept his bed away from the wall like the guy who treated his old apartment said. I told Bob to not bring any books back until they had cooked in the cave of wonders all summer.
Did he follow my instructions? NO! HE HAD TO HAVE HIS FUCKING BOOKS!
Did he leave the bug traps on the bed legs? NO! HE THOUGHT THEY WOULD NOT DO ANYTHING!
Did he keep his bed away from the wall? NO! HE KNOWS MORE THAN ME!
It would have helped if the new apartment would have let me treat his apartment for free like the company who did the old one said they would do. BUT NO! the new apartment complex only uses environmentally friendly chemicals and they could not verify if the company I used did that. HOW FUCKING STUPID ARE THEY! WHO THE FUCK CARES IF IT'S ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY I WANT THE BED BUGS DEAD!
Now I have to contact the apartment complex and have his apartment treated AGAIN!
I swear almost everyone I know is like this:
Me: hey don't touch that red hot stove.
Them: oh what do you know... (touches stove) OUCH! hey that's red hot!
Me: Don't poke that bear!
them: what? the bear likes it (pokes bear) ROAR! help a bear is attacking me!
Me: here are detailed instructions on how to live your life, please red them carefully, follow them and you will be happy.
Them: tldr (tosses instructions away), why am I always miserable?
Bob is the king of doing everything wrong. If there is any way a wrong decision can be made that will negatively effect him now or in the future I guarantee he will make it.
I got a call from the ALTCS case worker on Friday and will be calling her tomorrow. I have got to get Bob in to assisted living. I have got to get away from all the people in my life that are dragging me down with them.
I am fucking tired of holding everyones head above water.
Saturday, January 16, 2016
Wearing him out
I took Bob down to the cave of wonders today. I told him when we got there that we were not there for show and tell.
When we got there and I opened the door he began rooting around and complaining that boxes were empty that he thought should not be and pissing and moaning. I got fed up with it and told him that if he did not stop we would get in the car and take him home.
He finally got down to business of looking at books to decide which ones to keep and which ones to sell. When he would start to show me something I would just tell him I don't care and make him move on.
Since he was cooperating I gave him a chair to sit on. He kept going through books and if it had color pictures he generally wanted to keep it. After about an hour of this he began to get tired and I told him that we weren't going to stop till we looked at them all. He continued on but a few minutes later he said the magic words "I don't care what you do with the rest of them".
I put everything back in the cave of wonders and since he was such a good boy I told him we would go get Mexican food. He bought of course, he didn't know that, but since he was always weaseling out of paying, I paid using his card.
We went to the bank to cash his small pension check. I tried to get him to deposit half of it but he wanted all of it.
Then we went to the grocery store. I tried to get him to do his own shopping but he did not even know what he needed. So I told him to stay put and I zipped around the store and got his stuff.
When we got to the dairy section he said he wanted 2 gallons of chocolate milk. I tried to tell him he did not need 2 gallons since he only uses 1 per week. He started getting mad and saying "I want 2!" fine whatever.
Then I took him home.
When we got there and I opened the door he began rooting around and complaining that boxes were empty that he thought should not be and pissing and moaning. I got fed up with it and told him that if he did not stop we would get in the car and take him home.
He finally got down to business of looking at books to decide which ones to keep and which ones to sell. When he would start to show me something I would just tell him I don't care and make him move on.
Since he was cooperating I gave him a chair to sit on. He kept going through books and if it had color pictures he generally wanted to keep it. After about an hour of this he began to get tired and I told him that we weren't going to stop till we looked at them all. He continued on but a few minutes later he said the magic words "I don't care what you do with the rest of them".
YES!
I put everything back in the cave of wonders and since he was such a good boy I told him we would go get Mexican food. He bought of course, he didn't know that, but since he was always weaseling out of paying, I paid using his card.
We went to the bank to cash his small pension check. I tried to get him to deposit half of it but he wanted all of it.
Then we went to the grocery store. I tried to get him to do his own shopping but he did not even know what he needed. So I told him to stay put and I zipped around the store and got his stuff.
When we got to the dairy section he said he wanted 2 gallons of chocolate milk. I tried to tell him he did not need 2 gallons since he only uses 1 per week. He started getting mad and saying "I want 2!" fine whatever.
Then I took him home.
Wednesday, January 13, 2016
It's Quiet!
Too Quiet..... is what I was thinking this morning. I had not heard from Bob since the weekend. I know he is around because the script I wrote sends me an email every time he turns on his computer.
About 2pm I get a call from his apartment complex. Bob had fallen in the parking lot. The fire department wanted to know if they should transport him or would I? and what hospital to take him to?
I told them and turned my state vehicle around and headed back to the office. I had the kid meet me in the parking garage on level 2. I dropped off my vehicle gave him the keys and my laptop and headed off to ADVENTURE AND EXCITEMENT!
I got there and went in to his room to see this:
He had landed on his knees, his right hand was bruised, and he face planted on his nose and skidded on his forehead.
I stayed to give them the information they needed but had to leave for a doctors appointment of my own. When I came back almost 2 hours later he still had not had his stitches but he'd had a cat scan, and xrays.
They did not find any broken bones or signs of a concussion. The gave him a tetanus shot, stitched him up, and sent him home.
He is going to be sore in the morning. his left knee is swollen and there is a bruise on his right palm.
He talked about an old newspaper article he has that features him, his wife (at the time), me and one of my sisters. He said that he could not figure out who the children were in the pictures. I told him it was me and one of my sisters. He said he thought I was an only child.
When I told him I had 2 brothers and 3 sisters he was very confused even after I said the names.
While I was there I threw out 2 packages of pork chops that were a month old, some gravy I gave him about 3 weeks ago, and some ham my wife gave him new years day. he had not eaten any of it.
On the plus side his arm had healed where the skin cancer was removed.
About 2pm I get a call from his apartment complex. Bob had fallen in the parking lot. The fire department wanted to know if they should transport him or would I? and what hospital to take him to?
I told them and turned my state vehicle around and headed back to the office. I had the kid meet me in the parking garage on level 2. I dropped off my vehicle gave him the keys and my laptop and headed off to ADVENTURE AND EXCITEMENT!
I stayed to give them the information they needed but had to leave for a doctors appointment of my own. When I came back almost 2 hours later he still had not had his stitches but he'd had a cat scan, and xrays.
They did not find any broken bones or signs of a concussion. The gave him a tetanus shot, stitched him up, and sent him home.
He is going to be sore in the morning. his left knee is swollen and there is a bruise on his right palm.
He talked about an old newspaper article he has that features him, his wife (at the time), me and one of my sisters. He said that he could not figure out who the children were in the pictures. I told him it was me and one of my sisters. He said he thought I was an only child.
When I told him I had 2 brothers and 3 sisters he was very confused even after I said the names.
While I was there I threw out 2 packages of pork chops that were a month old, some gravy I gave him about 3 weeks ago, and some ham my wife gave him new years day. he had not eaten any of it.
On the plus side his arm had healed where the skin cancer was removed.
Saturday, January 9, 2016
Powers of Attorney ACTIVATE!
It is official my Powers of attorney are activated pretty much permanently until Bob passes away.
Today my brother and I went down to the cave of wonders and finished sorting and re-boxing all of his books. It is a good thing to, because with all the rain some of the boxes got wet but only 1 or 2 books were ruined. All the boxes are now up off the ground on metal document boxes or wood planks.
The record for the number of times he stamped his name in a book is 8!
This is the letter that activates them.
Today my brother and I went down to the cave of wonders and finished sorting and re-boxing all of his books. It is a good thing to, because with all the rain some of the boxes got wet but only 1 or 2 books were ruined. All the boxes are now up off the ground on metal document boxes or wood planks.
The record for the number of times he stamped his name in a book is 8!
Wednesday, January 6, 2016
No it's not the same
A couple of weeks ago I was talking about my dad to a person I worked with, and telling him about all the problems we are having.
His response was "well at least you still have your dad, mine passed away".
No....No we do not "still have our dad", there is very little of our dad left in Bob. No... when someone has dementia you do not "still have them". You have their body, but it has been taken over by a future stranger. Every day that goes by they are less and less the person you know.
Soon Bob will be replaced with an old man that is genetically related to me/us, but he will not be "Bob".
His response was "well at least you still have your dad, mine passed away".
No....No we do not "still have our dad", there is very little of our dad left in Bob. No... when someone has dementia you do not "still have them". You have their body, but it has been taken over by a future stranger. Every day that goes by they are less and less the person you know.
Soon Bob will be replaced with an old man that is genetically related to me/us, but he will not be "Bob".
Saturday, January 2, 2016
Bath day
Today I went down to storage, my brother and I started working on reboxing the books he has, we only made it through 8 boxes, every damn book had his name, phone number, and city/state stamped in it up to 7 times with the occasional hand written name.
I mean come on is he 12? and he has been doing this for his whole life. We had to mark each one out with a black marker.
Later my wife and I went grocery shopping for him and when we got to his apartment he was nowhere near out of food like he claimed. He had 10 hamburger patties, 2 unopened packages of pork chops, 2 packages of ham, the fish I bought him 2 weeks ago, 1 gallon of chocolate milk, bread, cookies, canned soup, and much more.
My wife cleaned the apartment, I reloaded his pill dispenser. I bugged him constantly and he finally took a shower, the first one in over a month.
We broke the news to him that we would no longer be doing the sunday night "thanksgiving dinners" he was disappointed but the citalopram was working and he did not get mad.
I re-affirmed that he would be selling the stuff in his storage unit and he seemed to understand this.
Why would a grown man have to stamp his name in all his books more than once? or at all?
I mean come on is he 12? and he has been doing this for his whole life. We had to mark each one out with a black marker.
Later my wife and I went grocery shopping for him and when we got to his apartment he was nowhere near out of food like he claimed. He had 10 hamburger patties, 2 unopened packages of pork chops, 2 packages of ham, the fish I bought him 2 weeks ago, 1 gallon of chocolate milk, bread, cookies, canned soup, and much more.
My wife cleaned the apartment, I reloaded his pill dispenser. I bugged him constantly and he finally took a shower, the first one in over a month.
We broke the news to him that we would no longer be doing the sunday night "thanksgiving dinners" he was disappointed but the citalopram was working and he did not get mad.
I re-affirmed that he would be selling the stuff in his storage unit and he seemed to understand this.
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