Rant for the Day (keep it clean)

[Magus]

they improve breathing when you have an attack.
they're mint. EXTREME mint.

 

[zannej]

Ah. Ok. I think my issue is mostly when I'm sleeping, but I think the feeling like I can't breathe without a fan is psychosomatic.

 

[Magus]

run a desk fan then.

 

[zannej]

run a desk fan then.

They are desk fans. I have two on either side of the bed. I usually sleep on my right side and face the fan on that side. Problem is that Princess climbs between my face and the fan to look out the window and completely blocks the air. I still can't sleep comfortably for long on my left side because my shoulder/arm is still not fully recovered. It's a LOT better, but still not 100%.

Need to get my ceiling fan working again. It's an Evergo with gold stencils on the blades from the 80s. I really like it but not sure if its not getting enough power or if the motor died. Really hoping it can be repaired bc the newer ceiling fans don't last worth crap these days. My brother's ceiling fan didn't even last a year before it died. My friend has had some that didn't even last a month.

I'm going to have to do some cleanup later as my brother never picked up the trash he spilled when removing the bag from the kitchen trash and he's been kicking empty bottles out of his room into the hallway again. After my nap I'll tackle that.

For now I'm cuddling with Rupert.

 

[havasu]

After my nap I'll tackle that.

Tackle him. It just may knock some sense into him!

 

[zannej]

I'd bounce right off.

Got kinda bummed bc a power supply unit for computers that was a good price and my friend thought would be good turned out to not even be UL listed & was on the expert's lists to avoid. Turns out the company its branded under didn't actually make it and it was made by a crap company. So, I need to get a more expensive one than I'd wanted. My current one doesn't have the right connections for all of the new parts. It's hard-wired (non modular).

I still need to refill the water for the dogs/cats in the living room when my back is cooperating.

 

[Magus]

Someone is trying to kill me AGAIN!
Last Thursday I went out and I was changing lanes, I hit my blinker, I looked in both mirrors, and went to go and the moron comes up beside me going 80! We were literally an inch from swapping paint! I still have no clue where the hell he came from! Today I went out and my accelerator locked wide open! I had to stand on the brakes after doing doughnuts in a parking lot a few seconds to reduce my velocity, and then I crammed it into park, I heard something click and all was normal again, I took it to the mechanic and he found nothing, so I had him pour it full of Lucas when I filled up. All my big bills hit this month, and now my computer is acting up again! The next trip it takes to the shop will be its last! On top of all else, my guts are acting up again even before all this crap.

 

[zannej]

Magus, that sounds like an awful day. I would have freaked out of my accelerator jammed like that. I don't know what it is with some people, but if they see you put on your signal to get over, they feel the need to speed up & try to stop you from getting over. I've nearly wrecked bc of people doing that. If I see someone with an indicator on, I will sometimes slow down to let them over so they don't get stuck in that lane. I feel you on the guts thing. My guts still have not adjusted to the change in meds.

So, yesterday I cleaned the litterboxes but last night, Itsy squatted and peed on the floor next to the litterbox instead of in it. Later on she had diarrhea on the kitchen floor. I went to get some paper towels to clean it up but the dog came over and licked it up. I did not let the dog lick my face or hands afterward, but I gave the dog some water to clean her mouth out. Yuck. A few minutes ago, Rupert zerged into the bathroom when I really had to go. When I got up to leave he hosed the door. He's neutered but he hosed like he was marking territory. It smelled odd so he might have a uti. He seems to feel fine though.

 

[Magus]

Cats act up when they're sick, have you had them inoculated for FIV?
One of mine barfed all over the place last night, but I blame cheap cat food.

 

[backlash]

I had a ford that would not decelerate when I lifted off the gas pedal.
The outer cable for the throttle was frayed and the inner cable that was actually the link to the pedal would jam and not retract. I went into a rest stop at 80 and had to shut the truck off. No power brakes or power steering and my camper on the truck. It was exciting for a while.

 

[Magus]

Ain't it? I'll bet that guy at that sample place freaked out when he saw me doing a two-wheel doughnut in his parking lot! It seems fixed, I cleaned and lubed everything I could reach.

 

[Neb]

Quick rant

What I dislike most about the China flu and associated vax is they they somehow manage to infect threads on what would otherwise be interesting threads.

Boring!

Quarantine the vax/ flu and stop it from spreading.

Done with rant.

Ben

 

[Amish Heart]

I'm sick of the vax talk. Would you believe I got a call from mom's nursing home last week asking permission to give her yet another covid booster, a flu shot, AND the RSV vax. I told them that she's on hospice and to leave her alone. They'd probably give her all three at the same time and kill her.

 

[dademoss]

I'm sick of the vax talk. Would you believe I got a call from mom's nursing home last week asking permission to give her yet another covid booster, a flu shot, AND the RSV vax. I told them that she's on hospice and to leave her alone. They'd probably give her all three at the same time and kill her.

I'm not taking ANYTHING, anymore, I don't know who to trust or believe, so I will skip it all.

 

[Amish Heart]

Yep. You're a good man, Dademoss.

 

[Heartbroken]

Today's rant - Demands for my personal information.
Trying to get internet at the new place. Current company was a big fail, even after I put up a tower. That gets the antenna up over my trees, but I guess there's another woods between my place and the tower. Panic time, I work remotely and get all my entertainment from the web.
Called AT&T. Got a nice guy who said, yep, we can provide the fixed wireless for your location, let me send you to our specialized team. After ten minutes on hold I got a guy who sounded exactly like a scammer from India. Had to keep interrupting his script reading to demand answers to simple questions. What kind of speeds can I expect? Umm, welll, ma'am (Used after repeated demands for my full name and phone number) that would be 350 gig. Rolling my eyes. That's data amount, not speed, are you telling me there's a data cap? More hemming and hawing and finally a yes. So I hung up.
Called a local place. No response, left message, never called back.
Called another local place. Sure, looks like we can provide internet there. Ok, send a tech out to check and see. Oh, sorry, can't do that till you place an order. Ok, take my order. Sure, what's your birthday? Whaaaat?
Yep, turns out he wouldn't take my order without having my birthdate, social security number, and driver's license number.
How absolutely over the top.
I refused and told him exactly why - I'm not about to give you all of that information, just to have a tech come out to see if it's even possible to sign up with your internet!!! I gave him a piece of my mind and said that's too bad, you just lost a potential customer.
Do people actually just calmly hand that information out to whoever asks? Why is that even legal?
Last two chances would be starlink or tmobile. Reading tmobile's website I found "credit check required" in the fine print. So again, there goes my SS number and my personal information. That really just grinds my gears.
I have a small side business that I finally got around to putting into an LLC a couple years ago. So I called tmobile and asked for business internet. Yep, had to do a credit check but I could give them the business EIN instead of my SS. And the guy on the phone actually spoke English. It took some time, but he was able to get the order through and supposedly I'll get the gateway thingy delivered tomorrow. Here's hoping it actually works, I don't know what I'm going to do if it doesn't.
Amazing how I can't live without something that wasn't even invented til just lately.

 

[Weedygarden]

I'm sick of the vax talk. Would you believe I got a call from mom's nursing home last week asking permission to give her yet another covid booster, a flu shot, AND the RSV vax. I told them that she's on hospice and to leave her alone. They'd probably give her all three at the same time and kill her.

I think there is going to be more demand and push for it now.

 

[Weedygarden]

Today's rant - Demands for my personal information.
Trying to get internet at the new place. Current company was a big fail, even after I put up a tower. That gets the antenna up over my trees, but I guess there's another woods between my place and the tower. Panic time, I work remotely and get all my entertainment from the web.
Called AT&T. Got a nice guy who said, yep, we can provide the fixed wireless for your location, let me send you to our specialized team. After ten minutes on hold I got a guy who sounded exactly like a scammer from India. Had to keep interrupting his script reading to demand answers to simple questions. What kind of speeds can I expect? Umm, welll, ma'am (Used after repeated demands for my full name and phone number) that would be 350 gig. Rolling my eyes. That's data amount, not speed, are you telling me there's a data cap? More hemming and hawing and finally a yes. So I hung up.
Called a local place. No response, left message, never called back.
Called another local place. Sure, looks like we can provide internet there. Ok, send a tech out to check and see. Oh, sorry, can't do that till you place an order. Ok, take my order. Sure, what's your birthday? Whaaaat?
Yep, turns out he wouldn't take my order without having my birthdate, social security number, and driver's license number.
How absolutely over the top.
I refused and told him exactly why - I'm not about to give you all of that information, just to have a tech come out to see if it's even possible to sign up with your internet!!! I gave him a piece of my mind and said that's too bad, you just lost a potential customer.
Do people actually just calmly hand that information out to whoever asks? Why is that even legal?
Last two chances would be starlink or tmobile. Reading tmobile's website I found "credit check required" in the fine print. So again, there goes my SS number and my personal information. That really just grinds my gears.
I have a small side business that I finally got around to putting into an LLC a couple years ago. So I called tmobile and asked for business internet. Yep, had to do a credit check but I could give them the business EIN instead of my SS. And the guy on the phone actually spoke English. It took some time, but he was able to get the order through and supposedly I'll get the gateway thingy delivered tomorrow. Here's hoping it actually works, I don't know what I'm going to do if it doesn't.
Amazing how I can't live without something that wasn't even invented til just lately.

Everyone wants your/our information. How in the world can we trust these people? We cannot! Everyone wants our money, our wealth. The world is full of scammers, crooks, thieves, liars and cheaters. What in the world happened to honesty and integrity?

Recently I started getting so much email spam. I'm talking 100's of spam emails a day! I'm wondering what in the world happened? So I go through and block every email, and it comes back and says it bounces back to them. Yay! Then I delete the spam. And some of these jokers are sending so many emails every day! How is it that I am block Joe Blow and he can send me dozens of emails a day, even if I have blocked him? I must have done something recently, that put me on spammers lists.

 

[Pearl]

Quick rant

What I dislike most about the China flu and associated vax is they they somehow manage to infect threads on what would otherwise be interesting threads.

Boring!

Quarantine the vax/ flu and stop it from spreading.

Done with rant.

Ben

It's already infected everything

 

[Supervisor42]

. And some of these jokers are sending so many emails every day! How is it that I am block Joe Blow and he can send me dozens of emails a day, even if I have blocked him? I must have done something recently, that put me on spammers lists.

I get very few spam emails. EarthLink carves most of them out into a folder called: "Known Spam". At the top is a wonderful button called: "Delete All".
Click, BOOM! All gone in one second .
I keep a few gun-related ones still coming thru that I might want to read and so I can tell that my email has not stopped working. Works great, less than 2 minutes per day to catch up.
One exception: Bed Bath and Beyond went bankrupt, right? Oh no!
That vampire has risen from the tomb and is firing on all 8 cylinders, sending me 3 spams per day.
I have 3 different ways to vaporize them, just haven't picked one yet.
Lemme see now, sunlight, stake, or holy-water?

 

[Magus]

KILL IT WITH FIRE!111

 

[Haertig]

Bummer. I buy this Costco ham a lot. Not for a few months though (they didn't have any last time I was there, but it was on my shopping list). Don't know if I'll be able to buy it again without worrying...

https://www.foxbusiness.com/lifesty...teria-contamination-discovered-california-lab

 

[zannej]

I don't know if my mother is in mental decline or if it was, as she says, because she was tired or if she just doesn't listen or a combination of things, but today was a bit frustrating with her. First off, she whined that she couldn't go because she needed to get the tangles out of her hair and it would take too long. So I helped brush her hair.

Then there was an envelope on the center console in the truck. She looked at it and asked why it was for an adjacent box and for another person. I told her they put it in our box by mistake and I was returning it. A few minutes into the drive I'm focusing on the road and she's griping about getting something from dishnetwork in the mail. I didn't realize until I got to the post office and went to take the letter in that I realized she forgot it wasn't our letter and opened it. I went in and explained to the postal working that Mom is a numnutz and opened it and she said it was fine since it was obviously a mistake & the letter shouldn't have been in our box.

Before that, when we were leaving Walmart I told her "We're going to the DMV to renew my license and then stopping at the post office". She said "Ok". Two minutes later as I'm turning off to the DMV she asks "Where are we going?" and I said "To the DMV. I told you 2 minutes ago we're going to the DMV and then to the post office". Now, one thing with her is that she has NEVER been a good listener. It's like she either doesn't care enough to listen to what you're saying and can't remember bc she only half-heard it as she was off in her own world or who knows what. But I had to keep repeating things to her. I'm hoping its not any sort of dementia setting in. That's the last thing I need. It seems to be getting worse with age and I don't know if its bc its harder to remember things as you get older or if she's just not listening or both. Things go in one ear and out the other it seems.

Then we get home and she's fine but then she suddenly yells at me about a nightgown I got her that she doesn't want to try on bc its 3x and she's not THAT fat. I explained to her that the brand runs smaller and that what they call a 3x is the same as a 2x in other brands and that I had to get 3x in that brand. Asked her to try it on to at least see if it fits but she had a tantrum about it and refused. Wanted me to take it back, but I don't have the receipt. I don't get what her deal is. I checked how big it was in the store-- its just the right size for her. But I don't know if she's self-conscious about it or what. She gets 3x in jackets and sweaters. Sometimes she's ok with stuff and other times not. I'm hoping she will try it on at least. If not, I'll wear it-- although I'm not really a nightgown person.

Then not too long ago she walked into the hallway and mumbled something at me. I have fans going and couldn't hear her. I got up and walked into the room to ask her what she said in the hallway & she got angry. She said she was hungry & wanted food. I told her that I couldn't hear her over the fans and she huffed. I cooked for her and she was calmed down after that. She was in a good mood when I left the room. But she will go from happy to hellbeast in a split second. But she's always been like that. Sort of wonder if she has undiagnosed bipolar disorder or something.

Nothing too bad though and overall the rest of the day was pleasant and we had good conversation. Just those few incidents got frustrating.

 

[Amish Heart]

It's hard to deal with moms that are losing it. I get to the point that I just agree with my mom or change the subject, move it along, then she's not so agitated. When I'm visiting with her, and I have to go, she'll ask why, and gets angry if I say I have to cook dinner, or check on husband, or go to the store, or anything. So I tell her I'll see her tomorrow, or in a little while. Because she'll forget I was even there after five minutes. You'll find ways to pacify her if you think about it, and try not to take it too seriously. It's hard.

 

[Pearl]

I don't know if my mother is in mental decline or if it was, as she says, because she was tired or if she just doesn't listen or a combination of things, but today was a bit frustrating with her. First off, she whined that she couldn't go because she needed to get the tangles out of her hair and it would take too long. So I helped brush her hair.

Then there was an envelope on the center console in the truck. She looked at it and asked why it was for an adjacent box and for another person. I told her they put it in our box by mistake and I was returning it. A few minutes into the drive I'm focusing on the road and she's griping about getting something from dishnetwork in the mail. I didn't realize until I got to the post office and went to take the letter in that I realized she forgot it wasn't our letter and opened it. I went in and explained to the postal working that Mom is a numnutz and opened it and she said it was fine since it was obviously a mistake & the letter shouldn't have been in our box.

Before that, when we were leaving Walmart I told her "We're going to the DMV to renew my license and then stopping at the post office". She said "Ok". Two minutes later as I'm turning off to the DMV she asks "Where are we going?" and I said "To the DMV. I told you 2 minutes ago we're going to the DMV and then to the post office". Now, one thing with her is that she has NEVER been a good listener. It's like she either doesn't care enough to listen to what you're saying and can't remember bc she only half-heard it as she was off in her own world or who knows what. But I had to keep repeating things to her. I'm hoping its not any sort of dementia setting in. That's the last thing I need. It seems to be getting worse with age and I don't know if its bc its harder to remember things as you get older or if she's just not listening or both. Things go in one ear and out the other it seems.

Then we get home and she's fine but then she suddenly yells at me about a nightgown I got her that she doesn't want to try on bc its 3x and she's not THAT fat. I explained to her that the brand runs smaller and that what they call a 3x is the same as a 2x in other brands and that I had to get 3x in that brand. Asked her to try it on to at least see if it fits but she had a tantrum about it and refused. Wanted me to take it back, but I don't have the receipt. I don't get what her deal is. I checked how big it was in the store-- its just the right size for her. But I don't know if she's self-conscious about it or what. She gets 3x in jackets and sweaters. Sometimes she's ok with stuff and other times not. I'm hoping she will try it on at least. If not, I'll wear it-- although I'm not really a nightgown person.

Then not too long ago she walked into the hallway and mumbled something at me. I have fans going and couldn't hear her. I got up and walked into the room to ask her what she said in the hallway & she got angry. She said she was hungry & wanted food. I told her that I couldn't hear her over the fans and she huffed. I cooked for her and she was calmed down after that. She was in a good mood when I left the room. But she will go from happy to hellbeast in a split second. But she's always been like that. Sort of wonder if she has undiagnosed bipolar disorder or something.

Nothing too bad though and overall the rest of the day was pleasant and we had good conversation. Just those few incidents got frustrating.

You will need every ounce of patience in the future!! Your job as caretaker will only get harder! My mom had her mind, but it was still a challenge caring for her!

 

[Haertig]

When dealing with the elderly that may have cognitive issues, just remember "YOU move into THEIR world, do not try to pull them into YOUR world". Even when your world is the more logical or normal one. You will be much happier once you accept this. Truth be told, you simply can't drag them into your world. It won't work. And you'll just get frustrated. So if they ask the same question twice, answer it twice. Without pointing out to them that it's a repeat - because that explanation will not help them, and will gain you nothing. It will just frustrate both you and them.

As far as the 3X nightgown thing. Simple fix - cut off the tag that says 3X and tell her it's a "different one". Which it technically is - the new one doesn't have a tag. But you don't need to cover those kind of details in conversation.

 

[zannej]

She's still got the mental capacity to notice if I cut the tag off and realize its the same one. She hadn't gotten much sleep so I'm hoping it was just from her being tired. I can't remember things if I'm tired. She seems to remember a lot of things better than I do-- IF she actually listens. My whole life she would always misconstrue things or get things wrong because she wasn't actually listening/paying attention when people were talking. I think most of the issues are that she tunes people out and is thinking about what she's going to say next or about something completely different. She'll ask a question with a followup comment in mind and not actually listen to the answer. Even 20+ years ago she was doing that. Like, we were in a store in line and the people in front of us mentioned Singapore. She asked them a question about it, expecting the answer to be different from what they said and she proceeded to babble something at them about Singapore without realizing they had said "No" and what she was saying didn't apply. I think she asked if they were moving there and she was babbling about how to find a place to live or something and I pointed out to her they said they were just going to visit for work but she wasn't paying attention. She often talks at people rather than with them.

And now I got news that my uncle's wife is dying. I was never very close with her but I know my uncle and cousins love her and it's going to be hard for them. My uncle is in his 80s and has been a caregiver for her for the past few years.

 

[zannej]

I don't know if it was something I ate or what but my stomach hated me today. No call back from Uncle Jim so I'm guessing his wife is still hanging on. I know the decision to pull the plug was not an easy one for him, but he doesn't want her to be in pain. From what he said, she's pretty much in a medically induced coma to prevent pain.

As an update on Mom and the nightgown fiasco: When my sister called last night I was telling her how Mom was refusing to try on a nightgown I got her because she didn't believe me that the brand ran small for size. Mom then moved a blanket she had over herself to show me she was wearing the nightgown. She woke up sweating and needed to change out of the nightgown she was wearing and the new one was the closest thing to put on. She said it fits perfectly and I got to say "I told you so". So she's happy and I'm happy.

Edit: I guessed wrong. My uncle must have been too upset to call me. My cousin posted 7hrs ago that her mom passed away.

 

[dademoss]

This is me today:

 

[zannej]

Yeah, I think I was awake until about 5am last night. Couldn't get comfortable. Getting leg cramps.

My brother has body aches all over, stuffy nose, headache and flu symptoms. I hope he didn't pass it on to Mom and I. Last thing I need is to be down with the flu. And don't need Mom to have it bc she might need to go to the hospital. Need to make sure she stays hydrated.