07:50 – This year has been just a continuing series of crises. It started in January, and the hits just keep on coming. I was expecting Barbara home regular time yesterday afternoon, but instead of coming in the garage she left her car parked at the top of the drive and came in the front door. We ate dinner on the fly and then she left to drive out to the nursing home in Clemmons to make sure that her dad had been moved to a new room–the first night he was in a room with someone who kept him awake all night–and that the nursing home had remembered to give him his IV antibiotic, which they seem to have a problem doing in a timely manner and sometimes not at all.
A few minutes after she left, the phone rang. It was Barbara. The woman driving in front of her had apparently hit a loose piece of pavement around a manhole, displacing the pavement. Barbara hit the hole and her tire started losing pressure. So she headed for Firestone, where we’d just had four new tires installed a week ago. It was just a couple minutes before Firestone closed, so she left her car there and I drove over to pick her up. I just called Firestone to check progress, and they tell me the wheel was bent. They’re going to hammer it out and then test it to make sure it holds pressure. Meanwhile, Barbara will drive my Trooper to work today, go to the gym after work, and then pick me up at home to head over with her to Firestone and get her car back.
Oh, yeah. When Barbara arrived at the nursing home yesterday evening, they’d just gotten her dad moved to a new room. They hadn’t transferred any of his stuff with him, so Barbara had to get it from the old room and carry it down to the new room. And he hadn’t had his antibiotic. The nurse said she had other patients to care for, so Barbara’s father would just have to wait until she had time to do it. The nursing home doesn’t seem very concerned about getting Dutch his antibiotic on time, or at all for that matter. He’s supposed to get it three or four times a day, Barbara’s not sure which, and he’s supposed to get it through this coming Sunday. It sounds to me as though Dutch isn’t getting a whole lot of care or rehabilitation at this facility. When Barbara got home around 9:30 last night, I told her that if it were me I’d pick up Dutch Sunday and take him back to his apartment. At least he’d have Sankie to keep an eye on him, and she can call 911 if necessary. That’s probably better for him than what he’s getting at this “care facility”.
09:19 – We started watching The L Word on Netflix streaming a couple weeks ago. The first season was good, well written and interesting, although it did start weakening in later episodes. It was a series about a group of women who just happen to be lesbians. But beginning with the first episode of season two, this series went completely off the rails. It’s now all-lesbians-all-the-time. Instead of character development and plot, season two focuses just about exclusively on the lesbianism of the characters. Now, I have nothing against lesbians. In fact, I’ve known many and I’ve liked almost all of them. But a one-dimensional program like this isn’t worth watching. This series jumped the shark earlier and more abruptly than any we’ve ever watched. Oh, well, it’s not like we don’t have lots of other stuff in our queue.
10:05 – I was out front with Colin when Paula, our across-the-street neighbor, pulled out of her drive. I asked if she’d mind giving me a ride over to Firestone so that I could pick up Barbara’s car for her and save her the hassle of doing it this evening. She said sure, so I picked up Barbara’s car and drove it home. When I called to let Barbara know, I told her I’d walked to the Firestone, knowing she wouldn’t believe me. It’s 1.5 miles (2+ klicks) from our house. Barbara knows I wouldn’t walk that far other than in a life-and-death situation, so I finally admitted that Paula had given me a ride.