10:21 – The good news is that Barbara’s dad is doing pretty well, better than anyone expected. He still can’t walk very far and is pretty much limited to their apartment, but he’s doing better both physically and mentally. The bad news is that Barbara’s mom is very fragile mentally. She’s getting very little sleep, because she’s terrified that Dutch will die. She’s also hovering over Dutch constantly, pestering him, which upsets him. And, to top it off, she’s afraid to be alone in the apartment at any time, and she’s afraid to be in the apartment at night, even with Dutch there. Or perhaps especially with Dutch there. What she really wants is for Barbara or Frances to be there 24X7, which obviously isn’t going to happen. Barbara and Frances both have lives, jobs, and families.
Frances called us this morning just before 0700, while Barbara was in the shower. She and her husband, Al, were over at Dutch and Sankie’s apartment because Sankie had panicked. Barbara thought about heading over there this morning, but decided to wait and go over this afternoon. This simply can’t go on. The stress on Barbara and Frances is incredible. About the only good thing about the situation is that they got their parents moved to the retirement village. If they were still in their house the whole situation would be completely unmanageable. Even so, Barbara’s mom is under such severe stress that I’m afraid she’s not far from a complete breakdown. That would be disastrous.
16:20 – I’ve been busy today. Among other things, like cutting POs, I shipped three BK01 biology kits, two SK01 slide sets, and one FK01 forensic science kit. We also received a check from a university for four FK01 forensic science kits, so I got those ready to ship out tomorrow. That takes our inventory down to a handful of biology and chemistry kits, and zero forensic science kits, so I know what I’ll be working on the rest of this week.
Shipping the forensic science kit today was a bit strange. For US shipments, I print a postage label on a half-sheet (8.5×5.5″) sticky label. For Canadian shipments and in the past for APO/FPO shipments, I’ve had to fill out several screens on the USPS shipping web site. Then, instead of a half-sheet postage label, I get four half sheets. The first one is the actual postage label, and the others are various customs declarations. I print those on ordinary paper and then insert them into a plastic sleeve with a sticky back. Presumably, various people along the way pull out and keep one or another of the half sheets. But for the APO/FPO shipment today, I got a single screen that I’d never seen before. When I printed the postage label, it was just one half sheet, but it looked completely different than the US half-sheets. I commented on it to the mailman, who said he’d seen those before. I told him as long as it’d be delivered I didn’t care what it looked like, and he just commented that it looked easier for me.
I hesitate to bring this up, but having dealt with similar episodes with a dad who had early-0nset Alzheimers and a mom with Pick’s Disease now, me and my siblings got to see that very sort of high-level anxiety and panic. It may be worthwhile at this point to consult with the doctors about an anxiety-reducing sedative med. Ordinarily I don’t push drugs as a solution to anything, but sometimes that’s what’s called for.
Our best wishes from Retroville; we sympathize deeply.
Thanks. Yes, I suspect that Dutch and Sankie both are suffering from mild Alzheimer’s or something similar. Sankie is taking Xanax now, and I suggested to Barbara that she talk to her mom’s doctor about increasing the dose. Like many old women, Sankie is a worrier.
We were very fortunate with my dad and mom. With my dad, it was a bad couple of months, but he didn’t linger nor lose his mind. My mom was disabled with rheumatoid arthritis when she was in her 30’s, but she remained sharp right up until the end. The day before she made her final trip to the hospital she was doing the NY Times Sunday crossword. Given the choice of physical problems versus Alzheimer’s, I’ll take the first every time.
Agreed, 200%.
We celebrated by mother’s eightieth birthday on Saturday. All six of her kids were there, along with six of her eight grandchildren and her two great grandchildren. My mother is not in perfect health, although she swims regularly and can usually beat me at Scrabble. She regularly plays Mah Jong, a game that entirely baffles me. I almost didn’t go to the party as I have a nasty cold and didn’t want to decimate the local Mah Jong circuit. It was a good party.
Rick in Portland
I agree with everything above. For my wife and myself, both in our 70’s, we are past the parental issues.
However, we are still subject to the tragedies that may befall children and grandchidren. Being unexpected, they can actually be harder to accept.
Oh yeah, I also did a restaurant review today:
http://www.quicktopic.com/21/H/8FGv9BQiQeT
Your review is too late. My wife, daughter and I were in Southern California for nine days over Christmas. We ate the traditional Jewish Christmas dinner (Chinese) but I would have liked to have tried some Western.
Rick in Portland
There is always next year, Rick.
“We also received a check from a university for four FK01 forensic science kits, so I got those ready to ship out tomorrow. ”
Do you wait for “checks” to clear or just send the goods straight away and put it down to experience if it bounces?
I was wondering if there’s an option to display W-S time and local time…
This is the first time we’ve accepted a check. I told them we’d ship on receipt of their check. I’m not concerned. It’s a major state university system. We’ve had many queries from public high schools and universities about whether we accept purchase orders, which we don’t. But there’s a big difference. Ordering something on a PO and then not paying is a civil matter (a bad debt); writing a bad check is ultimately a criminal matter.