Tuesday, March 29, 2011
25th Wedding Anniversary Coming Soon!
Wow, time flies when your having fun! Now I need to figure out something get Sweetie other than the usual household appliances. A new vacuum probably won't be adequate even if it is silver plated. I could take her over to the Silver Saddle Steak House for a meal, maybe run over to Silver City for a weekend, buy some silver coins to play with, or stand on the corner and count the silver cars as they go by. The silver picture frame is another common item but you have to figure out what picture to put in it. How about the very thrilling and exciting silver paperweight? There are all kinds of sterling or crystal flutes but Sweetie does not drink. I am having a hard time coming up with something other than the typical engraved silver platter. What the heck does anyone do with those silver platters? They have good stuff for guys like the crowned silver frog engraved "you are my prince". How about the Penthouse 25th Anniversary Pet of the Year Spectacular? The 25th anniversary commemorative issue of a any weapon is the best idea, bar none.
Friday, March 18, 2011
Another MI Run
I finally got word that the 99 Windstar I bought from mom had the new rear axle installed. It had been resting at the dealer since October. A one-way airline ticket was purchased to go collect the van and drive it back to AZ. During the time gap of purchasing the airline ticket and actually travelling, I received another recall notice. This one involves some of the undercarriage support brackets. Sheesh. I called the Ford dealer in MI. The Windstar had passed this exam. This means that the additional bracing can be installed under this recall - when spare parts are in - again. I called a dealer here and no problem with doing the install here - when they get parts. It was deemed safe to drive so off I went.
While speaking of taking time off from work, it turned into one of those "while your up" conversations. A side trip to Belding, MI and Dayton, OH were scheduled for some equipment inspections. This turned out well as I now could turn some of the costs in a reimbursable expenses.
Thursday night (3/3) was move all the furniture that did not sell in the estate sale from the upstairs/downstairs to the main floor. Salvation Army does not do stairs. Friday was picking up the vehicle and moving furniture day. Some shirt-tail relatives and neighbors showed up that were now interested in some of the furniture. All I could say was to make an offer before the SA gets here as they have already been scheduled. You would hear some of the typical questions, "Can I make a call and let you know later if they are interested." My answer, to the dismay of some, was an emphatic NO. I goes out now or it goes to the SA. I have limited time to be here and will not make another airline flight for some piece of furniture or your convenience. I made a couple of Goodwill runs after getting the remaining large stuff out.
I finally got over to see mom Friday evening. This is difficult as she is unsure if I am her son or brother. The stroke related dementia continues to progress. The stroke had physical impacts and also hammered speech centers. You will need to get into charades and twenty questions to figure out what the topic is. Don't say yes to anything unless you are quite clear on what the topic is. My moron cousin was nodding and saying yes when she was asking to come live with him and for he along with his wife to take care of her. This is a 24/7 event and is why we had to go to the eldercare. I had to interrupt , take him off to the side, let him know what he was agreeing to, and tell him that the answer is "no" or "I don't understand" until you do understand. It then falls to me to explain to mom that he was not agreeing to her moving in. Thanks a bunch for that added task.
She says that I am too old to be her son and calls me by her brother's name. But, she is very aware of the fact that I am the one who put her in assisted living and the attempts at manipulation start immediately. This will last about an hour before you can get around to visiting. It starts over at each visit even if you were there 4 hours ago as she no longer has a good concept of time.
Saturday and Sunday were composed of visiting with mom and making runs to Goodwill. I also cleared out the storage area I had rented of the things that I was going to transport to AZ. On Monday, I traveled to Belding, MI which made a nice test run of the van prior to heading across country. Tuesday morning found me loaded up and in Dayton, OH and then heading west to St. Louis. I wanted to get halfway on Tuesday but due to some heavy rain and then some fog, I ended up spending the night in Joplin. I only made 800 miles that day. Wednesday was my 1200 mile day. I crawled into Tucson after midnight. The trip was uneventful in general. I am getting too old or maybe less willing for the 2,000 mile 2 day trips. For some reason, I really did not feel like getting up and going to work the next morning! I would rather drag through a day at the office than burn another vacation day. I need those vacations days for fun things like hunting.
I could be done with the last major task if that house would sell. It is not a great time to be trying to sell a house.
While speaking of taking time off from work, it turned into one of those "while your up" conversations. A side trip to Belding, MI and Dayton, OH were scheduled for some equipment inspections. This turned out well as I now could turn some of the costs in a reimbursable expenses.
Thursday night (3/3) was move all the furniture that did not sell in the estate sale from the upstairs/downstairs to the main floor. Salvation Army does not do stairs. Friday was picking up the vehicle and moving furniture day. Some shirt-tail relatives and neighbors showed up that were now interested in some of the furniture. All I could say was to make an offer before the SA gets here as they have already been scheduled. You would hear some of the typical questions, "Can I make a call and let you know later if they are interested." My answer, to the dismay of some, was an emphatic NO. I goes out now or it goes to the SA. I have limited time to be here and will not make another airline flight for some piece of furniture or your convenience. I made a couple of Goodwill runs after getting the remaining large stuff out.
I finally got over to see mom Friday evening. This is difficult as she is unsure if I am her son or brother. The stroke related dementia continues to progress. The stroke had physical impacts and also hammered speech centers. You will need to get into charades and twenty questions to figure out what the topic is. Don't say yes to anything unless you are quite clear on what the topic is. My moron cousin was nodding and saying yes when she was asking to come live with him and for he along with his wife to take care of her. This is a 24/7 event and is why we had to go to the eldercare. I had to interrupt , take him off to the side, let him know what he was agreeing to, and tell him that the answer is "no" or "I don't understand" until you do understand. It then falls to me to explain to mom that he was not agreeing to her moving in. Thanks a bunch for that added task.
She says that I am too old to be her son and calls me by her brother's name. But, she is very aware of the fact that I am the one who put her in assisted living and the attempts at manipulation start immediately. This will last about an hour before you can get around to visiting. It starts over at each visit even if you were there 4 hours ago as she no longer has a good concept of time.
Saturday and Sunday were composed of visiting with mom and making runs to Goodwill. I also cleared out the storage area I had rented of the things that I was going to transport to AZ. On Monday, I traveled to Belding, MI which made a nice test run of the van prior to heading across country. Tuesday morning found me loaded up and in Dayton, OH and then heading west to St. Louis. I wanted to get halfway on Tuesday but due to some heavy rain and then some fog, I ended up spending the night in Joplin. I only made 800 miles that day. Wednesday was my 1200 mile day. I crawled into Tucson after midnight. The trip was uneventful in general. I am getting too old or maybe less willing for the 2,000 mile 2 day trips. For some reason, I really did not feel like getting up and going to work the next morning! I would rather drag through a day at the office than burn another vacation day. I need those vacations days for fun things like hunting.
I could be done with the last major task if that house would sell. It is not a great time to be trying to sell a house.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
