Lunches

1. My care committee did some brainstorming about my transportation issues.  They mentioned I could change my lunch dates with Mary to dinner dates.  That didn’t work out, because we have conflicting commitments.  Mary said she was willing to pick me up and take me some place at lunch time.  We just went to Burgermaster.    The web site Alice set up allows me to request rides.  Alice sent around a letter letting people know about my general need.  I haven’t tried out the system yet, but will soon.     Carol said my blog missed the fact she was going to try to figure out whether she could make the universal remote work with our dvd player.  I think she was unsuccessful, this week. The present moment is mimosa blossom sweet.

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Spills

    Last night I spilled a bottle of zoloft with 14 pills in it.  Fortunately I got them up off the floor, so Pearl the dog isn’t having any unexpected mood changes.  I feel apologetic about having to ask Carol to add counting out my pills to her tasks.  She is a good sport about it.

    Since I’m not able to get to the bus, I am home a lot more than I had been.  Carol had picked up a dvd series of Helen Miren at the BBC.  They go back to 1974 and include some amazing range.  

    Carol thought it would work for me to watch them on our computer.  I had spilled some water on the machine, fortunately without doing any damage.  She suggested I keep the bottle on the other side of the table.  I have an irrational fear I am going to forget and bring the bottles to the computer side.  More rational is that I might hurt the drive getting disks in and out.

    We have a dvd player someone gave us along with our TV.  I hired our friend Michelle to hook it up, since neither Carol nor I knew how to do it.  Michelle had trouble getting the dvd remote to work.  Carol looked at the instructions and they indicated we should be able to use the TV remote to operate the dvd, but it didn’t work.  She also bought a universal remote, and programmed it, but it won’t make the dvd work either.  Carol has an individual dvd player that should work once she finds the cord.  She has put a lot of effort into this problem.  Meanwhile, I am watching Law and Order on Netflix.

    Carol also turned me on to The Hour, a TV program about the beginning of the BBC.  It is great.  I’m caught up on it.

    The present moment is cloudy.

Falls

In the past week, I have had three falls, which is concerning.  One was as I was getting off the bus, when I turned around to say goodbye to the bus driver and forgot to pay attention to my hands on my walker.  Another one was at a Storm game between where the usher took my walker and my seats.  The third one was on my way to Group Health to pick up some medication.  I overshot the bus stop where I was supposed to change buses.  I was in a rush, trying to make the connection.  Carol reminded me I can always wait for another bus.

I had been thinking, when I got to the point that I couldn’t use my walker, I would switch to a scooter.  My social worker told me the controls can be made less sensitive, so my movements wouldn’t be a problem.

Carol pointed out that I have a bit of disorientation that would get me into trouble faster, if I was moving faster.   She also said scooters require curb cuts, which aren’t universally out there.

I have stopped using the bus, since I can’t walk to the stops.  I am going to miss that independence.  Carol told my I qualify for the Access van, because I can’t use the regular bus.  I requested the paperwork, and it turns out to require two forms.  It is another bueurocracy that is going to take some time to navigate.  I understand the vans sometimes take a long time to arrive, since they pick up other people first.

My friend Dick is on an enviable trip to Italy, where he is in touch by email.  When I emailed him about stopping taking the bus, he responded that he is willing to negotiate rides to the gym together.  That is great, because I love getting my endorphins up.

I had to cancel my standing lunch with my friend Mary, because I’m not sure the Access van will be able to get me there close enough to her work schedule.  Fortunately, we also see each other at our monthly writing days.

The present moment is cool.