(Old) Water spots be us, our new MMP

[peedin]

My BIL has advanced Parkinson’s. My sister is his sole caregiver and told me she doesn’t know how much longer she can deal with him. He is ambulatory with a walker but sister insists on monitoring him every darn second. I GENTLY mentioned now is the time to look at an outside caregiver and was immediately met with “that wouldn’t be of any help”. They did have someone come in a few hours a day for 3 days a week but once again my sister said that wasn’t helpful.

OMG she has become my mother. My mother refused to entertain the idea of hospice for my father because she didn’t want a hospital bed in the house or GOD FORBID a stranger seeing her life at not the best moment. This is the stuff therapy is made of. I’m just venting.

It’s gonna be hot the next few days here in no. Illinois. Upper 80s today, hitting 99 tomorrow. My life will be more of the same. Hanging at the barn taking care of Ariel. I bring her into her stall around 1 ish so she can be out of the sun. Then it’s social time with my friends,

[Misnomer]

Started Typing: 9:39 AM ET
Clicked Reply: 10:27 AM ET

The mugginess/humidity here is not fooling around: when I woke up all of the windows in the house were fogged over, and going out back with Bailey felt like stepping into a rain forest. It’s only a little after 9:30am and the temp is already 82°F with a heat index of 91 (and 84% humidity); we’re expecting another triple-digit HI later on. There might also be some storms this afternoon. It rained a little around dinnertime and again overnight, but it just added to the overall dampness. It is…unpleasant outside.

Otherwise, though, my Sunday is off to a good start: the Lego botanical sets were delivered a little while ago!

https://i.ibb.co/bMmLyVjX/Botanicals-MMP.jpg

The Bonsai Tree has the most pieces – more than twice any of the others – and is the only one that will take more than just a couple of hours to assemble, so I’ll build that one at home and transport it whenever it’s done. I’ll take the other boxes to work, though, and put them together during lunch breaks/after hours this week. I’m looking forward to starting the bonsai today (maybe even before lunch); I hope to have a full window ledge and a photo by the time I leave the office on Thursday.

@The_Stainless_Steel_Rat

happy electioneering

Electioning. Electioneering is something completely different (which I never do).

@purplehorseshoe

I don’t know what she said, but that girl wouldn’t look me in the eyes all night.

Good! Hrmpfh.

@TokyoBayer

My aunt passed.

I’m so sorry.

That sounds pretty much exactly like how I imagine I’ll feel whenever my father’s youngest sister passes: I haven’t spoken to her in a couple of years, but at one time she was important to me. That’s who I’ll mourn.

Dad is also the second oldest of 6, but only two of the others ever had kids: so, for those grandparents there were only 6 grandchildren (my brother and me + 4 first cousins) and 4 great-grandchildren (so far). I’m the oldest of that group. I truly can’t imagine having 28 additional first cousins on that side! The oldest sibling – Dad’s big brother – died two years ago; the youngest is just 12 years older than me.

My mom (who died in 2015) only had one sibling, and he died three months after my Dad’s brother. His wife died a year later, so now I have no aunts/uncles on that side of the family…and those grandparents have both been gone for a while, as have their siblings…those cousins, my brother, and I still can’t quite believe that we’re now the “elders”!

@FairyChatMom

Home in my recliner, winding down before bed.

Welcome back.

@Taters

roofing supplies and roofers

Somehow I initially read this as “roofing supplies and hoofers,” and spent a split second imagining your place being a scene out of Fiddler on the Roof.

@LSLGuy

Took a beach and snorkeling boat tour yesterday. Which was rather ominously scheduled for three hours near some islands. Although the boat resembled the SS Minnow, we did indeed return.

Ha!

I’ve been meaning to ask you a (completely unrelated) question since Friday: the morning radio show I listen to mentioned a story related to a passenger who died on a flight. If you don’t mind a somewhat morbid topic, what happens to the remains of someone who dies mid-flight? I can’t imagine the body is left in a seat, and I’d also imagine it should be kept cool, so is it moved to the cargo hold? Somewhere else? Did that ever happen on a flight you were working?

@peedin

I’m just venting.

!

[BippityBoppityBoo]

@peedin

My life will be more of the same. Hanging at the barn taking care of Ariel. I bring her into her stall around 1 ish so she can be out of the sun

Gentle muzzle pats for Ariel from the sun-scorched windswept Great Plains.

[missred]

@Johnny_L.A

@TokyoBayer

My mother is one of six siblings

Condolences.

My father was one of five siblings. He was the first to go due to injuries and whatnot. The youngest sibling, whose middle name came from an uncle, the chaplain on USS Arizona, is the sole surviving sibling. He used to be a Trump supporter, but he’s seen the light. Still a conservative ex-Navy Chief, but thank the gods he can recognise a Nazi when he sees one.

My dad was the fourth of five sons and at 87, is the last one standing. Mom was the fifth of 14 and the only ones left are the two youngest. There is also one uncle’s widow left.

Glad you’re back home to your own bed, Moooooom.

@Taters

Yay for progress on packing, red. I hope the carprofen and bitter apple continue to help, Nelson.

The carprofen helped some and there was improvement when I cleaned him up and reapplied the coconut oil / bitter apple mixture this morning. He spent the night nestled next to my right hip with no licking, so the bitter apple part is definitely a deterrent.

@LSLGuy

Your generation of your extended family numbers 34. Mine is 6 including me. Makes for fewer funerals. As I’m the second eldest of the crew, and most of the others are women, I may not have to attend any more funerals beyond my own. My prior generation is long gone.

This made me do the math. On Mom’s side, my generation totaled 37 with 27 of us still kicking. Dad’s side we were 20, with 15 of us left. That includes the three cousins that are on both sides of the family.

@Misnomer

and I still can’t quite believe that we’re now the “elders”!

And in charge of family gatherings! Scary, ain’t it?

Up, caffeinating, breakfasted and fixing to do KP. Just doing some packing today. Other than that, RDOS activities.

Stay safe and healthy y’all!

[LSLGuy]

@Misnomer

If you don’t mind a somewhat morbid topic, what happens to the remains of someone who dies mid-flight? I can’t imagine the body is left in a seat, and I’d also imagine it should be kept cool, so is it moved to the cargo hold? Somewhere else? Did that ever happen on a flight you were working?

There’s no inflight access to a cargo hold or cooler. Nor any concern for body preservation. Even on a long-haul flight they’ll arrive at destination before decomposition becomes an issue.

If there’s enough unoccupied seats, move the body to a row by itself, reshuffling passengers away from the area if necessary. Then seat-belt it in place, & cover it with a blanket. If the flight is full it can be moved to a lavatory & locked in there. For a full flight it’s simpler though to just move it to the window seat in the row where it is, then find 1 or two people who don’t mind sitting next to a very much non-talkative passenger. The lav is very much a last-ditch plan.

Eons ago I had one death aboard which occurred at the gate during boarding. Ancient lady had been pre-boarded in first class. Later during main boarding she let out a gurgle and collapsed onto the unrelated person sitting next to her, never to move again under her own power. Boarding stopped, paramedics summoned, yada yada. 90 minutes later with the body removed and any mess cleaned up, we recommenced boarding and launched with one fewer passenger than expected.

So on that score I’m just a little bit pregnant.

Aren’t you glad you asked.

[Johnny_L.A]

@The_Stainless_Steel_Rat

Flyboy, yeah, I remember a whale/dolphin watching cruise out of Myrtle Beach, SC, out for nearly 75 minutes and never saw a thing.

We departed at 1100 and docked at 1700.

@LSLGuy

one fewer passenger than expected.

Did anyone ask for an upgrade, since the seat was vacant?

[LSLGuy]

Not that I recall hearing about, but it was a flight from Palm Beach to La Guardia, so “entitled and demanding” pretty well describes every last one of them. Good bet somebody tried that.

[SCAdian]

Current info at NWS is blank, but the expected high is 78 ferrets with a 40% chance of the sky’s falling. (It’s a fine Navy day – just look at that haze-grey sky!) 70 tonight, followed by a heat advisory from 1100 tomorrow until 2300 Tuesday. I don’t know who’s in charge of the weather round here, but they’re not doing a very good job.

Nothing much else to report here. Maybe I should try going outside more than two or three times a week…

@LSLGuy

Your generation of your extended family numbers 34. Mine is 6 including me.

I’m the youngest of nine, but five are gone now (all three of my siblings, plus two cousins). The other three cousins – only one of whom I’ve ever met – all live west of the Mississippi (TX, CO and GU), so I won’t be going to any of their funerals. Fourteen (minus two) in the next generation, twelve (minus two) in the next, and so far one of my sisters has a dozen or so great-grand children.

[TokyoBayer]

I’m one of five, and I only have four nephews and nieces.

SenWife is one of three sisters but the only one who had kids, let alone got married.

So my kids only have four first cousins but they have four second cousins on their maternal grandfather’s side. SenWife isn’t close to her mother’s extended family.

On my side, they have over 100 second cousins but have only met some of them once.

On my mother’s side, two great grandparents grew up in polygamous families. One had 8? siblings and another 20 half siblings. That family org is huge.

[FairyChatMom]

@peedin

I GENTLY mentioned now is the time to look at an outside caregiver and was immediately met with “that wouldn’t be of any help”.

I wonder if she feels like it would be cheating to let someone else help shoulder her burden - does that make sense? As if accepting help marked her as weak or incompetent, maybe. I understand the mindset, tho I don’t (I hope) share it. I may find out some day.

I have no more aunts or uncles - just my mom who is 91, and FCD has only one aunt and uncle - she was born 13 years after MIL, so she’s a relatively young 79 (or 80?) I have several cousins older than she is - it’s weird thinking that we’re the oldest tier. When did that happen? I’ve already lost two cousins (one had a number of health issues, the other had an opioid addiction) and one cousin lost a son. Plus my nephew died 3 years ago - at the risk of sounding harsh, he’d ignored several symptoms for years, never bothered with doctors, and died at 29 with an enlarged heart.

Daughter brought her spawn over and we gave them their souvenirs. They were headed out to buy stuff to do experiments!! Tobias is going to squeeze a lemon over baking soda, and Roxy is going to put a white flower in colored water. I love their scientific curiosity!

Second load is about to come out of the dryer, so down the stairs I go.

[peedin]

Free nose boops/muzzle nuzzles courtesy of the cutest chestnut mare in the world.

[Album] imgur.com

[swampbear]

Howdy Y’all! We deheathenated. I verged and didn’t set the place on fire so that’s a win. Served with my oldest acolyte for probably the last time. He’s headed off to kolledge in a couple of weeks. Gonna miss Bob. He likes my mad grillin’ skilz. From the time he was a wee lad he has always said he likes it when he gets to eat stuff I grilled. But I digress. We had a stoner lunch and achieved nappage and day drinkin’. The biiiiiig trash can has been hauled all the way down to the road for pickup tomorrow. It’s way hawt outside, so I am glad to be inside in the a/c.

[peedin]

Never mind

[FairyChatMom]

Last load is just about to come out of the dryer. We had t-boomers move thru the area with a serious downpour, followed by a less-serious shower. Now it’s just ridiculously humid.

Time to heat up some soup for supper. Yes, soup, because it was easy to pull out of the freezer to thaw, and anyway, it’s full of veggies.

[susan]

I can’t keep up!

{{{{TokyoBayer}}}}

Welcome home to those who were traveling. Good job on various confrontations, floral Lego purchases (pretty!), venting, etc.

We’ve had 8 days of guests, but I am now working on the antipenultimate chapter (12 of 14). The novel has now surpassed my dissertation page count.

My lovely wife just told me we’re getting a new washer and dryer. Fine by me!

So far, American hasn’t recinded the reinstatement of my flights that they booted me from for unknown reasons.

It’s a beautiful warm day of ~75 ferrets and sunshine, leading to a bit of yard work and possibly dragging a lounge chair out.

[SCAdian]

@susan

My lovely wife

Do you also have a non-lovely wife? Enquiring minds want to know!

[susan]

I do not, but thank you for asking. In the Star Trek TOS mirror universe I do have an unlovely wife, and both of us have beards.

[missred]

@peedin

Free nose boops/muzzle nuzzles courtesy of the cutest chestnut mare in the world.

:boop:

I got the carton from the kitchen that I began packing yesterday done and took most of the hooks / nails / screws from the walls. Other than the pegs that hold grocery bags, keys and Nelson’s assorted gear, the only ones left are in the laundry room. Those will remain until closer to the move to come down because of stuff that’s stored on the wall.

I made one of my last homemade meals (and the last that isn’t too weird) today: eggroll soup. Because I didn’t want to buy fresh ginger, I used ground and got a bit too much. That just meant that I had to have a SF pudding cup for dessert to cool things down.

[The_Stainless_Steel_Rat]

And a good late afternoon to all. Lawn is mowed and 5 bags of clippings are at the curb, soccer has been watched (the English women beat the Spanish in overtime penalty kicks) and some additional exercise has been partaken of. Rewarded myself with two Dolly Madison mini apple pies and will have a couple sammiches a little later. Filled up my gas tank and since I had extra discounts from Kroger (I refilled my larder post-trip on 4 July and then did the August stockage on 25th July, both Fridays and they give you a 4X bonus points for that day). Upshot was my gas cost me 0.49 cents/gallon and the entire fill-up ran $11.50…felt like I was back in the 1970’s…

But inside now and no plans to leave my domicile the rest of the day. Still about 91F outside so with soccer starting in about a week, I’d better make sure I have plenty of water and Gatorade on-hand.

22 messages are in the scroll, 22 messages to scroll…I look at one and answer some and there’s 21 messages still in the scroll…

Taters, maybe one of these days I will get a pedicure. Maybe. And good on ya for thinking about the working folks in this heat.

As for families, all my relations on both sides of the family are gone except for one I haven’t heard from in many years, he was 10-12 years older than I so he may be deceased by now. Except for brother and his family, I’m out here all by myself.

Pilot, thanks for the additional Carmax info, I still need to test-drive my options but when it gets to buying time I’ll stop in there. And sounds like a fun time is being had. And thanks for the interesting…policy…for dead people on a plane. Never have had that happen to me (albeit I wouldn’t have minded some of my fellow passengers dropping dead…)

boo fae, have a good time in Frankfurt; I’ve been through the airport there but never visited the city.

wet one, sorry about the family issues, people tend to get wedded to a way of doing things and some of them simply cannot be broken away from that. You and Ariel stay cool. And BOOP!

Oopsie, happy plant building.

@Misnomer

@The_Stainless_Steel_Rat

happy electioneering

Electioning. Electioneering is something completely different (which I never do).

I sit corrected.

FCM, hope you’re getting adjusted back to your time zone. And hope the experiments go well for the kiddos.

lily, hooray for the new washer/dryer and the progress on your book. Hopefully AA will get their act together.

@SCAdian

Do you also have a non-lovely wife? Enquiring minds want to know!

@susan

I do not, but thank you for asking. In the Star Trek TOS mirror universe I do have an unlovely wife, and both of us have beards.

Thank you for the belly laugh.

red, I imagine the place looks kind of empty now. Very soon…

OK, time for those sammiches. Have a good evening all.

[Chefguy]

@missred

ETA: I see that she was just being picky.

She was at it again this morning; wouldn’t touch the seafood mix. I found an old can of turkey/giblet pate and tried that, which she deigned to accept.

Supposed to get some T-storms this evening, but so far it’s just a weather watch, not a warning. They may just pass south of us. Hot weather again tomorrow. We stuck some cardboard in behind the shade in the kitchen, as that’s the hottest room in the apartment. Helped quite a bit. AC is running full tilt.