On Sep 23, 3:14=A0pm, Robatoy <[email protected]> wrote:
> Some stuff just strikes me funnier than other stuff. A frame-of-mind
> thing maybe.
> I absolutely love dogs of all size and breeds and I am convinced they
> have a sense of humour.
> This dog had me in tears, literally.
>
> http://www.wimp.com/hikingbooties/
Well, I really liked Lee's vid, but I thought I was going to swallow
my cigar I was laughing so hard at that dog on your video. If there
was ever a case of tolerance to the Nth degree, that was it.
God love 'em.
Robert
On Sep 24, 3:01 am, "Lew Hodgett" <[email protected]> wrote:
> Robert,
>
> How are things with your parents?
>
> Lew
Lew... what an unexpected and thoughtful question.
Mom and Dad are making the most of their time in their rest home
facilities. They have finally accepted the fact that they will never
go back to their house of over 40 years. It has been tough on them.
They miss the freedom to do what they want, even though in the last
few years they did little. But it was the thought that they could if
they wanted to that made them feel independent.
Dad is actually accepting this better than my Mom as he can no longer
walk. Mom can walk, but doesn't always know where she is going. I go
by and pick them up every once and a while and take them out to their
favorite barbecue joint (or TexMex) and for them it is a big slice of
heaven. Their monotonous diet is one of their biggest complaints. In
their home they get two meals a day and they don't get anything
remotely spicy. It is killing my Dad. He told me it was like eating
cafeteria food every day.
So Texas barbecue brisket with fresh white onion slices, dill pickles,
pico de gallo, and a slice of pecan pie seems like the finest gourmet
meal he has ever had.
I have to take them to some of their old haunts as they aren't all
easily wheel chair accessible. He is only about 165 now, so I can
pull him up stairs by leaning him back like he is in the Mercury
orbiter. His eyes get big and he hangs on for dear life when I tilt
him back to lower the center of gravity while stair climbing, but he
is willing to take a chance on a tumble to just get out.
Although it hurts him a lot, it is actually easier on me to have him
chairbound as I don't have to stand over him for as much as a half
hour to get him from the car to the inside of our destination.
Sadly, my Dad is mentally aware enough to realize what is going on.
Mom isn't. Dad told me the other day that he felt like he was in a
"storage warehouse for old people". He knows he is slowly slipping
away.
There is plenty to do there at their home, but Dad doesn't want to
play nickel bingo with the old ladies, canasta with old people that
can't hear you when you talk, and won't go to movie night since "there
hasn't been a good movie made since 'Patton' ".
I know this sounds selfish, but the best thing is that it has calmed
down a lot for me. I control most of their money (by leading the
committee of the siblings), their legal affairs, their medical
decisions, and am now working on the disposition of their property.
Taking over that load alone has helped me since I can *organize* it
all, AND taken the pressure off my Dad. At 85, he gets confused and
upset pretty easily. Now he passes the people involved to me and I
tell him how he is doing.
He is worn out and tired, and wants to be left alone. He can't cut up
his own food, (he gets a kick out of having me cut up his food with my
work knife when we go out), can't bathe himself, and can't clean
himself after he soils a diaper. Not much good going on in his life,
but he hangs on...
Mom on the other hand, is doing just fine. Her normal litany of small
illnesses dominate the conversation as well as her normal complaining
of "not knowing what to do with your father". With her pacemaker
tuned up, her diabetes under control, and balance classes, Mom is
actually doing OK. She gets around fine by herself, but likes to hang
on to me while going through the home so she can let everyone know
*her* son comes to visit.
This last couple of years have been a melancholy and sad experience.
I am actually glad that I have been able to get rid of or handle some
of their problems for them.
<<As an aside - one of the Medigap predators that was pushing my Dad
to buy another policy told him he had never run into anyone so short
tempered and foul mouthed as me. Dad got a real kick out of that.
Others old folks predators have found that out as well. He never gets
tired of hearing about it though, especially if they call HIM to
complain. The uglier I am to them, the more he likes it.>>
Looking at the length of this post, it is obvious to me that it is on
my mind more than I think it is, even now. I don't feel like I ever
get too far from it all.
As I recall, you observed in a earlier post to be thankful for every
day your feet hit the floor and you are up and around. An astute and
timely observation. I agree completely. Somehow, after being with
them for a few hours, life seems pretty good.
I truly appreciate you asking about them, Lew.
(Even though now you know more than my family members!).
Robert
"Robatoy" wrote
> Some stuff just strikes me funnier than other stuff. A frame-of-mind
> thing maybe.
> I absolutely love dogs of all size and breeds and I am convinced they
> have a sense of humour.
> This dog had me in tears, literally.
>
> http://www.wimp.com/hikingbooties/
Funny stuff. Like many animals, two legged and four legged, he just doesn't
like change!
If you like funny dog related stuff, have you seen the latest OK Go's music
video. It was an item on the news. Apparently they moved to Corvallis,
Oregon to spend some time training with the dogs to shoot this video. It is
pretty funny. I wonder who trained who? Here it is;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHlJODYBLKs
Look for the goat at the end!
<[email protected]> wrote:
Well, I really liked Lee's vid, but I thought I was going to swallow
my cigar I was laughing so hard at that dog on your video. If there
was ever a case of tolerance to the Nth degree, that was it.
God love 'em.
Robert
-----------------------------
Robert,
How are things with your parents?
Lew
<[email protected]> wrote:
> Lew... what an unexpected and thoughtful question.
------------------------------
Glad it helped.
---------------------------
> Their monotonous diet is one of their biggest complaints. In
> their home they get two meals a day and they don't get anything
> remotely spicy. It is killing my Dad. He told me it was like eating
> cafeteria food every day.
----------------------------------
Time for you to show up with a bottle of hot sauce in your shirt
pocket<G>.
---------------------------------
> "storage warehouse for old people".
--------------------------
Those were my exact words when I went to see my mother's 2nd husband
at 87.
------------------------------------
> There is plenty to do there at their home, but Dad doesn't want to
> play nickel bingo with the old ladies, canasta with old people that
> can't hear you when you talk, and won't go to movie night since
> "there
> hasn't been a good movie made since 'Patton' ".
------------------------------
Tough mindset.
Need to find the right social worker to get him motivated which might
be a big challenge.
--------------------------------------
> <<As an aside - one of the Medigap predators that was pushing my Dad
> to buy another policy told him he had never run into anyone so short
> tempered and foul mouthed as me. Dad got a real kick out of that.
> Others old folks predators have found that out as well. He never
> gets
> tired of hearing about it though, especially if they call HIM to
> complain. The uglier I am to them, the more he likes it.>>
----------------------------------
A freebie to be used as you wish.
An Engineer/Mathematician would say:
Why don't you perform aerial fornication with a rotating annular
spheroid?
Street Lingo translation:
Why don't you take a flying fuck at a rolling donut.
-----------------------
> Looking at the length of this post, it is obvious to me that it is
> on
> my mind more than I think it is, even now. I don't feel like I ever
> get too far from it all.
-------------------------
Glad to help.
--------------------------
> As I recall, you observed in a earlier post to be thankful for every
> day your feet hit the floor and you are up and around. An astute
> and
> timely observation. I agree completely.
----------------------------
Close.
The salesman in me thinks of everything of terms of money.
My earlier comment when something like:
You wake up in the morning, both feet hit the floor, and both lungs
are working, you got a shot at another day.
Every thing else that day is bonus money.
BTW, if you are a drinking man, 5:00PM starts another "new" day<G>.
------------------------------
> Somehow, after being with
> them for a few hours, life seems pretty good.
-------------------------------
Enjoy the best of what is left.
---------------------------
> I truly appreciate you asking about them, Lew.
-------------------------------
You are welcome.
Lew
On Sat, 2 Oct 2010 13:26:56 -0700 (PDT), "[email protected]"
<[email protected]> wrote:
>So again, I am off to the races.
>
>I know many have gone through all of this and much worse before, and
>many follow after me. I just wanted to thank you guys for thinking of
>me and mine. No doubt that warm fuzzy will come to me again while in
>front of the vending machines looking at dinner.
Good luck, tomorrow I head to Chicago to spend a few days with my
parents. They have been in a Rehab Nursing place. Short story dad fell
broke his hip, mom had fluid build up went into hospital ended up at
same rehab in the same room. They get out Sunday my sister the nurse
is there now with her spouse, but she has to head home to Colorado
Monday. My spouse just got back from a week with her mom in Chitown,
she had a bad resistant infection ( C-diff ?), after hip replacement.
So I have empathy for you Robert. Just not real good at such things I
guess.
Mark
[email protected] wrote:
> On Thu, 23 Sep 2010 13:14:50 -0700 (PDT), Robatoy
> <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> Some stuff just strikes me funnier than other stuff. A frame-of-mind
>> thing maybe.
>> I absolutely love dogs of all size and breeds and I am convinced they
>> have a sense of humour.
>> This dog had me in tears, literally.
>>
>> http://www.wimp.com/hikingbooties/
>
> I was in New York City a couple of weeks ago and saw a poodle with
> boots like that. Guess they didn't want the animal to track in dirt
> from the city streets. Wonder if the owner takes off his/her shoes
> before entering the apartment?
Rescue dogs wear boots to protect their feet from broken glass, sharp
objects, toxic chemicals, etc.
Perhaps the dog you saw was on its way home from work, though I'll admit a
poodle-cut is not usually seen on a pit bull. I'll bet he gets a lot of
jazzing from his fellow workers.
On 2010-09-27, HeyBub <[email protected]> wrote:
> Perhaps the dog you saw was on its way home from work, though I'll admit a
> poodle-cut is not usually seen on a pit bull. I'll bet he gets a lot of
> jazzing from his fellow workers.
There was a guy on Dogs 101 (Animal Planet) extolling the virtues of
poodles. Apparently, he was widely known around Hollywood for walking
his two pitbulls and one std poodle. He said the pitbulls were
certainly the bouncers, but the poodle would be barking an intruder
alert 5 mins before the pitbulls had a clue.
nb
In article <[email protected]>,
<[email protected]> wrote:
>On Thu, 23 Sep 2010 13:14:50 -0700 (PDT), Robatoy
><[email protected]> wrote:
>
>>Some stuff just strikes me funnier than other stuff. A frame-of-mind
>>thing maybe.
>>I absolutely love dogs of all size and breeds and I am convinced they
>>have a sense of humour.
>>This dog had me in tears, literally.
>>
>>http://www.wimp.com/hikingbooties/
>
>I was in New York City a couple of weeks ago and saw a poodle with
>boots like that. Guess they didn't want the animal to track in dirt
>from the city streets. Wonder if the owner takes off his/her shoes
>before entering the apartment?
>
It also helps prevent cut foot-pads from stuff like broken glass, or other
'foreign object damage', in urban environments.
<[email protected]> wrote
> Wonder if the owner takes off his/her shoes
> before entering the apartment?
>
I do. I've always taken my shoes of at the door or near it. Saves tracking
in dirt and is more comfortable in stocking feet. I take my shoes off at
work too, probably half the day.
"[email protected]" <[email protected]> wrote in news:3d01987c-
[email protected]:
> Mom and Dad are making the most of their time in their rest home
> facilities. They have finally accepted the fact that they will never
> go back to their house of over 40 years. It has been tough on them.
> They miss the freedom to do what they want, even though in the last
> few years they did little. But it was the thought that they could if
> they wanted to that made them feel independent.
Seems very similar to my experiences. Wakes up memories of flying back and
forth to Holland often to keep tem company for a few days (and my sister
much more often from Paris). Treasure your memories, and don't forget to
ask your parents about their past, as we forgot to do much of the time.
They'll treasure going back to the memories, even if they weren't always
nice. And you will know more about your parents' experiences and
motivations.
Best of luck, Robert!
--
Best regards
Han
email address is invalid
"[email protected]" <[email protected]> wrote in news:cc410e10-
[email protected]:
> Han, Dave and Lew:
>
> Thanks for the kind words. I thought about them last night while I
> was at the hospital emergency room with my folks. Another fall
> injury, this time he almost broke his wrist.
>
> As it was, it was a massive embolism in the wrist joint. It was
> causing him A LOT of pain, and since he broke the skin, there was
> enough air and bacteria to allow infection. They drained it, scoped
> it again for another look. He is so frail and damaged they have a
> hard time just finding the exact location of the problems, so they x-
> ray, fluoroscope, and anything else they can to see what is going on.
> It takes hours.
>
> They decided to give him massive amounts of antibiotics orally, so
> after his preliminary dose I went to the 24 hour pharmacy to get the
> rest of his script so they would have it when they woke up. I arrived
> back home and was in bed by about 5:30 am.
>
> But just now as I am typing this, I have another call, and apparently
> the antibiotics they gave him to stave off the infection have done
> nothing. His hand is more swollen than before and he is unable to
> close it. I was warned at the hospital about septicemia spreading
> through his weak and aged body, and how something so small could
> permanently damage him (or worse) if it was allowed to spread.
>
> So again, I am off to the races.
>
> I know many have gone through all of this and much worse before, and
> many follow after me. I just wanted to thank you guys for thinking of
> me and mine. No doubt that warm fuzzy will come to me again while in
> front of the vending machines looking at dinner.
>
> Thanks.
>
> Robert
Swelling can be just from the injury, and the atempts of the body to
repair itself. There does not have to be an infection caused by invading
bacteria, although that is certainly a possibility. If there is
infection that ould be accompanied by redness and raised temperature.
Sometimes oral antibiotics may not be sufficient and IV antibiotics could
be better. I'm not a doctor, and above all don't kno all the
circumstances, but I'd hope Dad ill get the best treatment possible ...
Thinking of you and yours ...
--
Best regards
Han
email address is invalid
> He is worn out and tired, and wants to be left alone. He can't cut up
> his own food, (he gets a kick out of having me cut up his food with my
> work knife when we go out), can't bathe himself, and can't clean
> himself after he soils a diaper. Not much good going on in his life,
> but he hangs on...
You know, when I read this, I realize that I was fortunate in some ways.
Both my parents died from different forms of cancer and although it was
difficult for them (and me) to go through it, it was relatively quick in
many ways. I know that both my parents would have hated to waste away bit by
bit in a long drawn out process. My father was one of the most intelligent
people I've ever known and to see his mental capabilities gradually diminish
would have been sheer agony.
My sympathies on what you're experiencing Robert.
Dave
On Sep 27, 4:10=A0pm, "HeyBub" <[email protected]> wrote:
> [email protected] wrote:
> > On Thu, 23 Sep 2010 13:14:50 -0700 (PDT), Robatoy
> > <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> >> Some stuff just strikes me funnier than other stuff. A frame-of-mind
> >> thing maybe.
> >> I absolutely love dogs of all size and breeds and I am convinced they
> >> have a sense of humour.
> >> This dog had me in tears, literally.
>
> >>http://www.wimp.com/hikingbooties/
>
> > I was in New York City a couple of weeks ago and saw a poodle with
> > boots like that. =A0Guess they didn't want the animal to track in dirt
> > from the city streets. =A0Wonder if the owner takes off his/her shoes
> > before entering the apartment?
>
> Rescue dogs wear boots to protect their feet from broken glass, sharp
> objects, toxic chemicals, etc.
>
> Perhaps the dog you saw was on its way home from work, though I'll admit =
a
> poodle-cut is not usually seen on a pit bull. I'll bet he gets a lot of
> jazzing from his fellow workers.
To get the look of a poodle cut on a pit bull, you'd need hair
extensions...... nttiawwt.
On Sep 29, 12:40=A0am, "Lew Hodgett" <[email protected]> wrote:
> <[email protected]> wrote:
> > Lew... what an unexpected and thoughtful question.
>
> ------------------------------
> Glad it helped.
> ---------------------------> Their monotonous diet is one of their bigges=
t complaints. =A0In
> > their home they get two meals a day and they don't get anything
> > remotely spicy. It is killing my Dad. =A0He told me it was like eating
> > cafeteria food every day.
>
> ----------------------------------
> Time for you to show up with a bottle of hot sauce in your shirt
> pocket<G>.
> ---------------------------------> "storage warehouse for old people".
>
> --------------------------
> Those were my exact words when I went to see my mother's 2nd husband
> at 87.
> ------------------------------------
>
> > There is plenty to do there at their home, but Dad doesn't want to
> > play nickel bingo with the old ladies, canasta with old people that
> > can't hear you when you talk, and won't go to movie night since
> > "there
> > hasn't been a good movie made since 'Patton' ".
>
> ------------------------------
> Tough mindset.
>
> Need to find the right social worker to get him motivated which might
> be a big challenge.
> --------------------------------------> <<As an aside - one of the Mediga=
p predators that was pushing my Dad
> > to buy another policy told him he had never run into anyone so short
> > tempered and foul mouthed as me. =A0Dad got a real kick out of that.
> > Others old folks predators have found that out as well. =A0He never
> > gets
> > tired of hearing about it though, especially if they call HIM to
> > complain. =A0The uglier I am to them, the more he likes it.>>
>
> ----------------------------------
> A freebie to be used as you wish.
>
> An Engineer/Mathematician would say:
>
> Why don't you perform aerial fornication with a rotating annular
> spheroid?
>
> Street Lingo translation:
>
> Why don't you take a flying fuck at a rolling donut.
> -----------------------> Looking at the length of this post, it is obviou=
s to me that it is
> > on
> > my mind more than I think it is, even now. =A0I don't feel like I ever
> > get too far from it all.
>
> -------------------------
> Glad to help.
> --------------------------> As I recall, you observed in a earlier post t=
o be thankful for every
> > day your feet hit the floor and you are up and around. =A0An astute
> > and
> > timely observation. =A0I agree completely.
>
> ----------------------------
> Close.
>
> The salesman in me thinks of everything of terms of money.
>
> My earlier comment when something like:
>
> You wake up in the morning, both feet hit the floor, and both lungs
> are working, you got a shot at another day.
>
> Every thing else that day is bonus money.
>
> BTW, if you are a drinking man, 5:00PM starts another "new" day<G>.
> ------------------------------
>
> > Somehow, after being with
> > them for a few hours, life seems pretty good.
>
> -------------------------------
> Enjoy the best of what is left.
> ---------------------------> I truly appreciate you asking about them, Le=
w.
>
> -------------------------------
>
> You are welcome.
>
> Lew
Reading all of these makes me realize how fortunate I was. I was still
in the Marines when my father died of cancer of the throat--thank you
Lucky Strikes! Mom cared for him, along with some help from an early
stage hospice (this was in '61). Mom was an RN, so was used to doing
what needed doing. She also worked full time while he was ill, which I
guess was where the hospice came in. I wasn't home enough to know, and
my mother always felt her kids should be at least partially protected
from extended periods of bad news. Wer knew he was sick, but not that
sick.
I was in my early 50s when Mom died. She was puttering in her garden
in late fall, but by Christmas felt kind of weak. In January, she went
into the hospital, where she died. Again, a cancerous tumor, but this
one pressed on her aorta and shut her down quickly. The idiot doctors
never found it until after she died. On the whole both she and her
children did well by it being so quick. She just faded, all really
within one week. My father's death could have been rough on us, but my
brother and I were both stationed out of Cherry Point, NC, and my
sister lived up in Maine. That created a wave through income and
savings a couple years after my mother died, because Donna was
diagnosed with breast cancer, after being told she was free of it. I
spent a lot of time driving and flying from Virginia to Maine for
eight or nine months, if memory serves. Cancer got her at 54. You can
bet that when it comes time for a colonoscopy, I don't miss the
appointments, as unpleasant as they are. Cancer is our family
tradition, I guess. I've already had prostate cancer, remaining free
of the problem now for a couple of years. I don't argue about the
tests, either.
I have friends whose parents are on the serious decline now, and it is
rough on them, especially when the process extends over years. In two
cases, at least one parent is senile or eaten alive by Alzheimers.
That is truly rough on them.
On Sep 27, 4:23=A0pm, notbob <[email protected]> wrote:
> On 2010-09-27, HeyBub <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> > Perhaps the dog you saw was on its way home from work, though I'll admi=
t a
> > poodle-cut is not usually seen on a pit bull. I'll bet he gets a lot of
> > jazzing from his fellow workers.
>
> There was a guy on Dogs 101 (Animal Planet) extolling the virtues of
> poodles. =A0Apparently, he was widely known around Hollywood for walking
> his two pitbulls and one std poodle. =A0He said the pitbulls were
> certainly the bouncers, but the poodle would be barking an intruder
> alert 5 mins before the pitbulls had a clue.
>
> nb
Also standard poodles kick some serious dog-ass.
Han, Dave and Lew:
Thanks for the kind words. I thought about them last night while I
was at the hospital emergency room with my folks. Another fall
injury, this time he almost broke his wrist.
As it was, it was a massive embolism in the wrist joint. It was
causing him A LOT of pain, and since he broke the skin, there was
enough air and bacteria to allow infection. They drained it, scoped
it again for another look. He is so frail and damaged they have a
hard time just finding the exact location of the problems, so they x-
ray, fluoroscope, and anything else they can to see what is going on.
It takes hours.
They decided to give him massive amounts of antibiotics orally, so
after his preliminary dose I went to the 24 hour pharmacy to get the
rest of his script so they would have it when they woke up. I arrived
back home and was in bed by about 5:30 am.
But just now as I am typing this, I have another call, and apparently
the antibiotics they gave him to stave off the infection have done
nothing. His hand is more swollen than before and he is unable to
close it. I was warned at the hospital about septicemia spreading
through his weak and aged body, and how something so small could
permanently damage him (or worse) if it was allowed to spread.
So again, I am off to the races.
I know many have gone through all of this and much worse before, and
many follow after me. I just wanted to thank you guys for thinking of
me and mine. No doubt that warm fuzzy will come to me again while in
front of the vending machines looking at dinner.
Thanks.
Robert
In the winter time the boots help keep the feet from getting cut on ice.
And salt in a wound isn't nice when a walker has a dozen dogs on a leash.
Martin
Martin H. Eastburn
@ home at Lions' Lair with our computer lionslair at consolidated dot net
"Our Republic and the Press will Rise or Fall Together": Joseph Pulitzer
TSRA: Endowed; NRA LOH & Patron Member, Golden Eagle, Patriot's Medal.
NRA Second Amendment Task Force Originator & Charter Founder
IHMSA and NRA Metallic Silhouette maker & member. http://lufkinced.com/
On 9/27/2010 11:30 AM, [email protected] wrote:
> On Thu, 23 Sep 2010 13:14:50 -0700 (PDT), Robatoy
> <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> Some stuff just strikes me funnier than other stuff. A frame-of-mind
>> thing maybe.
>> I absolutely love dogs of all size and breeds and I am convinced they
>> have a sense of humour.
>> This dog had me in tears, literally.
>>
>> http://www.wimp.com/hikingbooties/
>
> I was in New York City a couple of weeks ago and saw a poodle with
> boots like that. Guess they didn't want the animal to track in dirt
> from the city streets. Wonder if the owner takes off his/her shoes
> before entering the apartment?
>
On Thu, 23 Sep 2010 13:14:50 -0700 (PDT), Robatoy
<[email protected]> wrote:
>Some stuff just strikes me funnier than other stuff. A frame-of-mind
>thing maybe.
>I absolutely love dogs of all size and breeds and I am convinced they
>have a sense of humour.
>This dog had me in tears, literally.
>
>http://www.wimp.com/hikingbooties/
I was in New York City a couple of weeks ago and saw a poodle with
boots like that. Guess they didn't want the animal to track in dirt
from the city streets. Wonder if the owner takes off his/her shoes
before entering the apartment?