Another Day with the Old & Gray

    I woke up this morning earlier than I wanted. I am still sick, still recovering, but I had a lot to do and no time to do it. My hopes that the mobile notary service would come first thing this morning were dashed. I contacted the original company I was going to use on Saturday, but they were booked solid. They gave me other company names and phone numbers that might have immediate openings. No one has called me back so far. Just because a company website says they are open 24/7 doesn't mean they actually are doing business 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. On call, emergency services, 24/7, that is usually just huff and fluff.

    It doesn't matter now anyway. I got it accomplished: I woke my father up at 9:00am and told him to get dressed. I was taking him to our Bank branch to have the car title notarized. I knew it would be a close thing, because the company that was picking up my dad's car would be arriving before noon. Our bank location is not very far from our apartment. Less than 1/2 a mile, actually. But because there is roadwork and repaving being done in our apartment complex, it was not as easy or direct as it would normally be.  

    I don't know who planned this repaving in our apartment complex, but they are idiots. You can see in the picture that the roads and parking is closed all around our apartment buildings. We are surrounded! We are blocked in! We are corralled! 

We are cattle! 

Moo.

    Because of all the displaced cars that are normally parked in these areas, I had to park my car on the far side of the apartment complex. There was no way my dad could walk that far, up many steps, and inclines. I had to walk to my car, drive it around the complex to as close to our apartment as I could (see the blue space at the bottom of the picture). Then, park it illegally (there were no parking spaces), walk back to our apartment, get dad, and walk him out to the car. We had to cross over the torn-up asphalt road to get over to where the car was parked.

I had to do the same thing in reverse when we returned home. Sheesh. My poor feet!

    I drove dad to our bank branch, where we had the title signed and notarized, just in time for the car company to call me to say they'd be there to pick up the car in 30-40 minutes. I also got a phone call from someone about setting dad up with Adult Day Services. I asked them to call me back in 20 minutes because I was walking my father to the car and couldn't talk right then. The person said, sure, no problem. 

    Since I had a little time to kill, I drove over to the Kroger Grocery Store that is close to that bank branch, and in fact is in the same shopping complex. Dad and I walked into the store, I got a few items, got dad a few newspapers, and we headed back home. 

    Dad went back to bed and that's when the Tow Truck driver called to say he was out in the parking lot by where I had previous told him dad's car was parked. I took the car title and keys out to him and pointed out which car it was. We got it jump-started and up onto the flatbed tow truck. I accepted the check for the car, snapped a picture on my phone of the paperwork, and it was a done deal.  It is finally over. The car is away, and I am sitting here resting my poor aching feet. 

    I am also overheated and out of breath. I wore double-masks and gloves because we tested positive for COVID-19 last week. I have passed the 5-day isolation period, and not showing any symptoms other than the slight cough and night sweats (or hot flashes). I am almost 100% sure we have the Omicron Variant. It is milder, supposedly, than prior variants, and I am thankful for that. 

😷

***

      The guy from the V.A. Physical Rehabilitation came out yesterday to evaluate my father for in-home rehab. After a lot of Q&A and tests, he said that dad did not qualify for in-home rehab. What dad should do is walk more, exercise more, and be more active. Basically, what he said was my dad was not decrepit enough yet to require those services. Ok. Good to know that my dad is not completely frail and falling apart. Good to know. 

    Adult Day Services has not called back yet. They, of course, called when I was out of the house and busy getting the notarizing and shopping accomplished. It never fails. You can sit in your house for days and no one calls you... until you are driving, or carrying something, or in a meeting, and that's when everyone (and their cat) calls you. If you sit in a chair all day there will be no calls, but the minute you sit on the toilet, you hear the phone ringer going off urgently. Never fails.

    I am sure that they will call back when I finally crash mentally and physically and am taking a much-needed nap. Or they will call right when I am spending 5 minutes to take a quick shower. If they call when I am using the toilet for #2, then they are out of luck for the next hour, because I ain't getting up unwiped for anyone, or anything. Tornado, fire, home invasion, I don't care. I'll be sitting right there until everything is over and done with. 

I won't make a shitty day shittier. 

It is, after all, my life in pants. 

Let's see what tomorrow brings. 

I am almost interested.

M. W. Van Dyke

My Body! My Decision! Unless You are a Woman

     If the States or the Federal Government in America tried to pass laws to control male masturbation (with ejaculation), every man would take up arms and yell, "You can't control my body! It is my body! It is my God given right to control my own body!" 

    There is a legal term named Moral Turpitude that refers to "an act or behavior that gravely violates the sentiment or accepted standard of the community", and it covers a very wide range of offenses, from crimes against authority, crimes against a person or persons, aiding and abetting those engaged in moral turpitude, and so on. There is a long list of offenses, not limited just to rape and incest and adultery.

     It has been used as a term of offense when, say, a schoolboy was caught masturbating in the shower of his own private room. It is a wide variety legal term that is used, basically, to say, "This goes against the moral beliefs of our community, our religion, and our personal opinions."

    Every sperm is sacred... right? Every sperm has potential. If a woman is not permitted to control and make decisions about her own body, then neither should any male. Outlaw sperm wastage! Make it a legal thing decided by each State. 

    What's good for the goose, is good for the gander.

The Dance of The Old Gray Honda

     Well, yeah, that didn't go as planned.

    The company, Al Blossom Auto Sales, that was supposed to be buying my dad's car via Peddle Dot Com this morning suddenly up and canceled. They didn't call me to let me know, they canceled the pickup with Peddle and Peddle Text Messaged and e-mailed me that "Due to a problem... we are assigning a new carrier to pick up the car." 

    A new company is now assigned to take the car for Peddle Dot Com. What the representative from Al Blossom Auto Sales told me on Saturday was that I didn't need to have the car title signed and notarized because it was being salvaged. I just needed to turn in the title, plates, and bill of sale to the county clerk. The new company, Vehicle Purchasing Solutions, that will be picking up the car tomorrow said that, no, I DO need to have the title signed and notarized. I was all set to do that on Saturday, but the Al Blossom company rep told me I didn't need to do it. So, I canceled the appointment with the mobile notary. She was set to arrive within 30 minutes of my cancelation. Pffft!

    I needed that car gone today because they are repaving our parking lot area in our apartment complex. Now I have to get it running again and move it to a different section of the parking lot. And I need to call the mobile notary to schedule a new appointment. I am sure they love me after I canceled at the last minute on Saturday. 

    I have a rehab person from Medisys Home Health coming at around 1:00 PM to evaluate my father. I am expecting other medical related phone calls too, but I have to get that car running and moved, and get that title notarized; I called and left a message. I am sure they are busy now. 

What a fiasco this has been. I hope that Al Blossom has great fecking day. 

Bleh

Honda Accords Last Forever... Until They Are Forced to Retire

     I spent the early morning working on my father's car. I used a portable jump starter to get the car going. I drove it around for 30 minutes to charge the battery up. I parked it and went inside the apartment for a little while. When I came back out to do more in the car, I discovered it wouldn't start even after all of that effort getting the battery recharged. 

       Ah, Dad's old but (mostly) reliable 1999 Honda Accord. Sure, the bumpers are falling down a little, and the environmental control panel no longer works (even with a replacement). It does drive smooth and is a decent get around the neighborhood car. I would not want to get stuck in traffic with it more than a few miles away from home though. I would not drive it at night, but only because one of the headlights is bashed in. I would not drive it much in the summer heat with the Air Conditioning not working, and never in the winter because the heater and defrost isn't working - both due to the control panel not working. If I were much younger, yes, I would drive it in those conditions. But not at my current age and physical disposition. Those days are behind me; The size of my butt should be a good indicator of that. 

    So, I tried to get it a going, and got it going, but I'll have to repeat the battery jumpstart steps every time I want to move the car. It isn't doing it any good sitting in a parking space not being used. It is nice having a backup car, but at the same time the cost of that is too high. At my father's age his car insurance jumps up in price every time he has a birthday. His 89th birthday will be in August. His current monthly insurance payment is almost $150.00. That's nearly $1800.00 a year.

    The apartment complex management are having repaving performed on our parking lots this month. Our parking section is scheduled to begin in 3 days. I needed to get that car running to be able to move it to a different parking space. 

    

    I was actually in the process of clearing things out the car and trunk because I decided that we are sending the poor old soul to a junkyard as soon as we can. Dad can't and won't be driving anymore, and we don't need 2 old cars (mine is not a spring chicken either) that require constant and costly visits to the mechanic. Plus, since dad isn't going to be driving anymore, that $1800.00 expense for his car insurance would be a complete waste of money. Adding him as a listed driver on my insurance would be a waste too, because it would skyrocket my rates due to his advanced age. 

    I decided to give it a try to sell it to a junkyard site online. After some research I chose [Peddle.com]. The process was simple, straightforward, and very easy to do. I listed the year, the make, model, VIN, mileage, body damages, and hit enter for an offer. The offer for the car: $265.00 and free tow away. 

    The site informed me that we'd have to have the title signed and notarized. So, I called a local mobile notary [louisvillenotaryservice.com] and scheduled with a nice lady who was going to come to our apartment at 11:00am for a price of only $40; She called back shortly after and asked if it would be alright to come at noon. Sure, I said. 

    

    At 11:30am I got a call from a local auto company [Al Blossom Auto Sales] that is apparently buying the car via Peddle Dot Com, and who informed me that I didn't need to sign and notarize the title because it is going directly for parts and scrap metal. What I will have to do is take the title and the car plate to the country clerk's office, provide the receipt from the company that took it away, and say it has been sold for salvage. To have the title signed and notarized would be a waste of $40. So... I called the notary back and canceled the appointment. If she had come on time, we'd have had it done before the Auto place called me. Serendipity! 

[This has been updated in the next blog post. It didn't turn out as expected.]

*whew* 

    It was easy, but a lot of back and forth, and some wasted effort. But it is done. The Auto company will be here to get dad's Honda on Monday, give us a check, and all I will need to do next is go to the county clerk and turn the plate and title in. I am sure there will be some complications to THAT. I am 99.99% sure of it. LOL

    I wonder what the next week will bring to the mix. I have been a little overmixed this week, and this month. I am beginning to feel flattened out. But that is life sometimes. Not all pancakes are fluffy, and not all days in life are fulfilling or enjoyable or inflated, so to speak. The bubbles are not there in the Coca-Cola of life. Flat.

I hope your life is better today, not as flat, or not too fluffy. Fluffy can be a bad thing too, sometimes. *chuckle*

Best regards,

M.W. Van Dyke

  

After the Math, Or, After the Aftermath

     The nurse from the home health rehab came today at noon, as expected. Dad was in bed again, but she wanted to do the initial paperwork, check his meds, and so on. I had the meds out waiting in the kitchen and she checked those and updated the list on her tablet computer. Then she sat down to have me do a Q&A. She was masked, and I was masked. 

First question: "Have either of you been diagnosed with, or been in close proximity to someone who has COVID-19?" 

Err, I answered yes. Because dad was diagnosed at the hospital and my home test shows I have it now too. 

She was alarmed, and apologized, and had to leave.

Do doctors and hospitals and medical departments not share information? *smh* 

YES! We have COVID. We have COVID today!

    Waste of time coming here to do the initial paperwork. We could have done all that Q&A on the phone. And she should have known at least dad had it and it was in and around the house. Ofc, she wouldn't know I have it. She would have known if she had done the initial paperwork on the fecking phone instead of sitting here in the middle of it. Pfft

Yeah, not feeling good today, and for sure not feeling warm and fluffy and friendly. People! Bleh

Yes, We Have COVID. We Have COVID Today!

     Bleh. I don't feel very perky. And I have a swollen lymph Node under my jaw. I need to get in to see a dentist because I have a sore and loose front tooth. Might be the reason for the Swollen Lymph. Dunno. Sheesh. I need to do another COVID test at home. That could be a cause too. 

    I laid down for a couple of hours. I turned off my phone ringers because of those damned "Your car warranty" calls. Ofc, during that time is when the rehab nurse called and said she was coming over. This was out of the blue, because no one called to set up a schedule with us or anything. Just "I am coming over now." and not "Hey, what is a good time for me to come this week?" Bleh

    So, dad was in bed, I was in bed, and we didn't hear her at the door. Ofc, we didn't. I called her when I got up from my nap and she is coming back tomorrow at noon. I will know to have dad up and ready and alert. 

    What a week I am having. 

Update:

    The COVID-19 home test shows I am positive for the virus now. I will do another test tomorrow, but I don't think this time was incorrect, not a false-positive. 

*sighs* 

Dad Update 4 - Aftermath of the Catch & Release

    At the bare minimum, the V.A. Hospital should have kept my dad a few days longer. Why they released him on Juneteenth, an official federal holiday, when all of the departments had been closed over the weekend and on that Monday due to the holiday, is beyond me. 

    To be perfectly honest, I didn't realize it was a Federal Holiday when I went to bring him home. I had no memory of what Juneteenth was or is. Now I know it was made an official Federal Holiday last year. I only realized most of the hospital was shut down once I got there and had to go in through the emergency room because the other entrances were locked. No signs on the doors. Me and other visitors didn't realize the doors were locked until after we had parked our cars and walked up to them. Pfft.

    Weekend doctors and holiday staff, I am not a fan of. I don't believe those people should be allowed to make patient release decisions. There was no one there to do a physical or mental assessment on my father. He had been in bed for 4 days straight with no activity. All of the departments that contacted me prior to the weekend were closed. The Physical Rehab department, the Geriatrics department, and the Social Programs departments, and others, none of them were operating that day. Pfft.

    Once I got dad home, as I have written about prior, I had a hard time getting him from the car to our apartment. I had to use a rolling walker with a seat on it (Rollator) to bring him most of the distance from the car. I also wrote that either the Emergency Transport or the V.A. Hospital had misplaced (lost) his IDs and cellphone. Both of these issues relate to what happened next.

    Over the next 4 hours my father repeatedly kept looking for and asking me where his cellphone was. I told him more than 14 times that it was lost at either the V.A. hospital or it was in the ambulance. I told him I was waiting for a callback from the V.A. and the ambulance service. I finally wrote a note for him because it was getting to be ridiculous. 

    I took a shower. When I came out, dad was sitting in the living room chair breathing hard. I worriedly asked him what was wrong, and he said, "I don't know what's wrong with me." Then I noticed he was wearing shoes. I asked him why, and if he has gone out of the apartment. He had. In looking for his cellphone he decided to go out to his car, which was parked next to my car, and search the trunk because his cellphone might be in there. This was after I wrote the note, and he hasn't been in that car in months. He had walked to the car, searched the trunk, and walked back, when just a few hours before I had to use that Rollator to get him from there to the apartment. *smdh*

    I took his keys and locked them up. My energy finally gave out at 9:00 PM and I crashed. I went to bed and slept most of 8 hours. I am up this morning, already woke him up to take his morning medications and drink a glass of water. Later I will badger him into drinking a meal replacement Protein Shake. I saw that he didn't eat the soup I made for him last night for dinner, so today I will need to make him eat more and supplement that with the Protein Shake. He went back to bed for now, but I will make him get up in a few hours. 

    I have a lot to do today. I need to make lots of calls, try to find out about the home health and rehab, when they are coming, if they are coming, and if not, then we need to have dad sent to an in-patient rehab. I also have to find out if anyone can find his IDs and phone, and if not, report the phone and order a replacement. I will worry about the replacement of the IDs later. 

    I am thinking that we need to junk his old piece of junk car to remove the risk of him driving, as well as the unneeded expense. Dad is not going to be driving anymore. We don't need 2 cars that need constant repair. The only ones using his car now are, apparently, a family of wasps.

Yes. I found another wasp nest. I discovered several wasps flying out from the dislocated rear bumper! First in the car door, now in the bumper. I wonder what I will find if I lift the car hood up to get the dead battery going again. Sheesh. Sheesh. Sheesh. And double Bleh. 

Let's see how long I can manage before I can't manage it anymore.

Father Update 3 - The Release

    My dad is home. I think they released him too soon. He is weak and unsteady and a little dazed. For sure he was not ready and able to make it from the car to the apartment unassisted. 

Pfft

    It took me a long time to get him into our apartment. I eventually brought out the Rollator walker w/ seat that I bought to keep in my trunk for emergencies a few years ago. We got him sat, and I rolled him inside. It is not a wheelchair, but it works in a pinch as kind of one. Thank God, I kept it and didn't give it away when a certain family member kept asked me to give it to her because she liked it better than one she already had. She wasn't planning to swap them out, mine for hers. She wanted both of them. 

Pffft

    On top of that, either the hospital or the ambulance misplaced my dad's IDs and cellphone. Both said they don't have them. 

Pffft

I can already tell that it is going to be a very long week.

Father Update 2 - Pending Release

 Dad update:

    My dad is doing better according to the doctors at the hospital. His U.T.I. is under control, he appears to be mentally clear and can walk by himself. And so, they are releasing him today. I am waiting for the call to let me know when I can come and bring him home. 

I assume they are setting up in-home health and rehab. He still has to remain in self-isolation until he tests clear for COVID. They did offer the option to send him to a rehab for 3 weeks, and I said I didn't think he'd like that; He'd be in isolation for 2 weeks due to the COVID. That's why I am bringing him home. If it doesn't work well with him doing it as home, we will send him to the rehab. 

Happy Father's Day

    Happy Father's Day to my dad, Guy Van Dyke. He will be 89 this year, and he has lived a rather remarkable and active life. He wasn't the soft and cuddly TV Sitcom kind of dad, but he was always there when we *really* needed him. He paid a lot of dues in this life, and also paid a lot of dues for his family too, which I think needs to be remembered and honored.

    I went to the hospital today to see my father, but he is still under quarantine. I wasn't able to go in and speak with him, but I saw him asleep in the bed through the glass door. I wrote a note saying Happy Father's Day, love you, hope you come home soon, etc. 

The nurses said that he is eating, and is improving, so let's hope that continues.

Feeling Poorly Today

     I have been feeling poorly the last few days. Tired, runny nose, slight sore throat, tickle of a headache, dry mouth and sour taste. Nothing too bad, but at the same time concerning since dad was positive for COVID. I picked him up off the floor and walked him around on the day he was taken to the hospital. Because I was in such close intimate proximity to him, I have to self-isolate for at least 5 days. 

    The COVID home test result was negative, but it could take days to a week or more before it might show up as positive. Or it might never show up as positive. I will see how long this condition lasts. It could be a simple head cold, or seasonal allergies. I will do another home test on Monday. If it reports negative and I still feel poorly mid-week, I will call my doctor and arrange for a full test.

Bleh

Father Update - After the Catch

 Dad update: 

    My father is doing better. They are keeping him in the hospital for now. No surprise there. He is stable, but still slightly confused and weak. They need to get his U.T.I. under control before they will release him. They are doing many different types of tests. It will take a while to get the results and have those all correlated. 

    I've spoken to many doctors in many departments over the last days. Different ones call and ask me the same questions over and over that the others ask, but I don't mind. A lot of potential options being thrown out into the ether. I won't write about those until they are actually in action. 

    I can say that he is being screened for memory issues and dementia. They are considering sending him for a 30 day stay in a physical rehab to build back his strength. But that is not certain, and it is possible that he will be able to get in-home health, and in-home rehab, or none of the above. Nothing is certain yet. 

    We older people have learned over the years that when it comes to the medical profession(s), there are always a lot of suggestions, ideas, and promises that are offered up, but most never seem to materialize. 

    I've worked on getting dad's medications organized and categorized. He has fewer active prescriptions than I expected. Many of his bottles of meds were long since expired. I also organized his paperwork from the V.A. and got a list of current meds, time to take them, etc. Made up forms and checklists and purchased an appropriate pill minder. I am ready for when he comes home to begin his medication routines. 

    I've also cleaned the entire apartment, stripped the beds, washed the sheets and his clothes, disinfected the entire place, due to the COVID determination. The Lysol company made some money off me this week, that's for sure. 😛

That is where we are at for now.

The Mind, The Matter, and the Truth (of ME)

    The below link goes to a good, but perhaps too short, article. I agree with the statements in it. I've had many psychiatric diagnoses over my lifetime. I've been labeled this and then that, and then another thing, only to have it all taken back, revised, and reapplied. I like this quote in the article: Allen Frances, former chair of the DSM-IV Task Force, said “diagnoses should be written in pencil.”

[Op-Ed: I received six psychiatric diagnoses in 25 years. They were a Dead End]

[Opinion by Sarah Fay]

    I've been through the same thing a lot of people have after being diagnosed. I said to myself:

"Oh! That's it! That's why I am the way I am. That's why my brain floods me with these random pop-up thoughts. I know who I am now! I have an official confirmation! A diagnosis!" 

    Which usually turned out to not be the case. I had to discover it myself, but I am a little bit of this, and a little bit of that, and a whole lotta the other thing... this year. Next year, I will be more of that, and less of this. The truth of me is, I am a human being. That's it. 

        The problem for many (not all, of course) is taking that diagnosis from a singular person to heart and mind. Their opinion, which is based on their observation and what you have told them in that moment, is not measured in the quantitative. Their interpretation is mostly based on the opinions they have read by others in their field, those who live in New York or Burbank California, the capital cities of neurosis and Woody Allen. 

    It is really not much better than reading advice given on a Blog or Twitter account by someone who believes they found the solution or remedy to the condition in question. What happens to a lot of people is they are diagnosed as "THIS" and then they become even more "THIS" because they were diagnosed as "THIS."

    Except in extreme cases of mental illness, like full blown mental and chemical schizophrenia, most people are not just "THAT". They are a little of this, and a little of that, and a whole boatload of insecurities. In a year or two, they will be more of that, and less of this, or something else completely.

    Me, I am a little bit obsessive-compulsive (O.C.) in very specific ways. Not in all ways, just in this and that way. But I am that today, but next week, I will probably be too tired to do all of that. I will skip it that week. 

    I am manic-depressive, but not all day long. I have strange thoughts that pop into my head, out of the blue, that make me wonder where all of that came from. I know now, later in life, that those strange thoughts would make a good line of dialog in a short story, or a full-blown storyline. It is called having a creative brain. It creates things you want it to create, and things you don't want it to create; Things that might embarrass and even disgust you to have conjured up. I am sure writers like Stephen King sometimes wonder at what their brains come up with.

*chuckles*

    I have been to a psychiatrist who told me I was THIS. I went to another who told me I am not THIS, but I am more THAT. I went to another one who told me I was both things, and yet another who told me I was neither. He said I was just tired, overstressed, and a chain smoker; I could benefit from drinking more soothing green teas and less coffee. 

    Don't be, and become, the psychiatric label the person who is billing you puts on you today. Perhaps that doctor is feeling the people in world are more O.C. than they were yesterday, or their opinion is colored because they had a bad experience this week with their mother, or wife, or husband, or friend. It could even be that they read something that Oprah said that opened their eyes to a pop culture diagnosis. 

Yes, medical doctors and psychologists and therapists are human too, and as such, imperfect, prone to impulse opinions and conjecture, just like you are. They just read more on the topic from official psychiatric textbooks than you have (probably). Of course, what they read, that is also written by humans who... do the same thing as other humans. :)

Have a great day, everyone! 

M.W. Van Dyke

Bad Day with Dad

        Ah, today has not been a good day. My father would not get up from bed today. I woke him at 11am, then again and again over the next few hours. I finally heard him moving around at 2:30pm. I went to see if he was ready to eat at 3pm and discovered him on the floor, unable to get up. He was weak and shaky, as well as slightly disoriented. I had to get him off of the floor and onto the bed. 

    After a while I helped him get up and stand, had him put his hearing aids in, and walked him out to the family room to sit in his chair. I've been having him drink water and a nutritional milkshake. We will see how he progresses. If he doesn't get more stable, I will need to call emergency services to take him to the hospital for evaluation. 

    He was on his stomach on the floor, but I noticed a scrape and a little blood on the back of his head. I think he passed out again. No way to tell. He doesn't remember.

    He stayed in bed too long. I am at the point where I will need to force him to get up in the mornings. That is obvious. I can't let him not get up when he doesn't want to. Sheesh. Here is where we are now. People never see this coming when they are younger. A step closer, and another closer, and then we are here. 

*sigh*

UPDATE:

Dad is still so weak that he cannot stand up from the chair, so I am calling EMS.

UPDATE 2:

EMS just left with him. They are taking dad to the Robley Rex V.A. medical center E.R. to be evaluated. He is too weak and not sure of what meds he took or didn't take already today. I suspect they will keep him overnight or even for a day or two. We will just have to wait and see.

UPDATE 3:

The last doctor I spoke to, which was a very long Q&A, said on top of the other issues with dad they think he has COVID. I can't imagine how he has it. But if he does, it is not affecting his breathing, so that's a plus. Of course, they will know for sure tomorrow after doing all the tests and bloodwork. He might need home or in care physical rehab. Nothing is certain yet. I will know when they let me know.

I went to bed and left my cellphone ringer on in case of a call from the hospital about dad. Of course, even though I told her not to call, my eldest sister called me after 11pm and woke me up wanting to know more about day. I don't know more! They need to do the tests! Sheesh. Now I will be struggling for hours to get back to sleep. I am not a happy camper. I had a tough day and will have a long day tomorrow. Being a lifelong insomniac is not easy, especially when people keep waking me up when I finally get to sleep.  

Toxic People. They never change. Bleh

    When the doctor told me that dad probably has COVID, I use a home test kit on myself to make sure I don't have it too. I do not. I will do a second test tomorrow to be sure. Dad only got the original vaccination. I had that and all of the booster shots too.  Dunno if that made a difference of why he might have it, but I do not. I hope dad doesn't actually have it. We will have to wait and see.

Political Correctless

     I grew up watching Richard Pryor, George Carlin, Mel Brooks, and Don Rickles. The jokes they performed were so outrageous and over the top, offensive to a funny degree, and today if anyone else told similar jokes they'd be hounded and attacked and crucified. My brain still to this day jumps right to what is considered inappropriate humor. I make no apologies for this. What I think of that is funny to me is not hate speech, hate thought, dismissive of someone else (unless they are an ass).

The fascism of political correctness today, I will never understand. Funny is funny, and also sometimes true is true, even if it offends someone, or everyone.

Lady Sherlock: Circle of the Smiling Dead

    This is a very entertaining book. Funny, engaging, and a wonderful reimagining of Doyle's vision of Sherlock Holmes. And like in most of life, the women are truly smarter than the men. [*chuckles*]

[Lady Sherlock - Circle of the Smiling Dead on Amazon]

    It is very well written, with wonderous usage of words and concepts. This is an enjoyable read from start to finish. It was written by Brooks Arthur Wachtel, an Emmy Award-winning television and feature film writer. When you read his writing you get the full sense that he loves words and usage, and is very knowledgeable on the subject matter, genre, and in life itself.

I highly recommend the book and look forward to the next volume, which is now in development. Can't wait to read it! :)