Monday, January 11, 2016

Taking Dad To The Doctor and What I Did Sunday Afternoon

Every morning I wake up around 4 AM. I usually take a leak (wash my hands) and get Dad's meds for the day together. He is usually up and around and making some coffee by 4. This is the way old guys and farmers are about mornings. Dad is an old guy, pushing 80 and he used to be a farmer in his youth. His sleep cycles are all messed up because of the Alzheimer's, but he still manages to be awake at 4 AM.

This morning I gave him his pill container and reminded him that we were going to see the cardiologist at about 1000 today. He has afib and they like to check it out every six months. After that, I had intended to go back to bed for awhile. It was a long time until 1000 AM.

But alas, this was not to be. Once Dad knew that he was going to the doctor, he had to get ready immediately, even though he would be all dressed up with no where to go until 1000. It's easier to surrender to this than to fight it. Had I gone back to bed, he would have been visiting me every 15 minutes asking about when he should get ready and when we were going to leave, so I got him herded into the shower, rinsed off, dried off with his compression socks on and then helped him put on the sweat suit du jour.

Now I have all this time on my hands before the appointment and he is still asking me when we are going to leave. So here I am doing something productive...ya right. I complain a lot on this blog don't I?

Really, I think that's what it's for. I vent. Strangely, it always, and almost without exception, makes me feel better. It's probably got something to do with putting it all down in words. It's my way of talking it out. Whatever.

Yesterday was relaxing. I skipped Sunday school after church and visited the grocer and then went home to prepare lunch. Dad seems to like those Hy Vee take and bake pizzas. I usually buy a medium with the hot Graziano's Italian Sausage and then add a couple of things like a box of fresh, sliced mushrooms and some green peppers for Dad's portion. After that, I took an accidental nap.

When I was younger, I could not fall asleep sitting up in a chair. Now it all seems kind of natural. I think this is a talent that is acquired as one approaches senior status. Anyhow, after that, I cranked out a few emails and posted some videos to my YouTube channel. I really had not done much with it since I started it 5 years ago, but it's looking a little better now. While I was on YouTube, I looked up some people from church and work to see if any of them were there. Yep, sure enough.  Creativity blossoms outside the sanctuary and cubicle.

It seems like everyone has some kind of internet presence. I suppose some people might think it borders on creepy when they find out they have been Googled, especially if they do not know you all that well. And if you leave your footprints in the form of a comment, that could be freaky too, but you know what? The internet is not a private place. If you plaster your name all over it, others will find you and is that not the idea to begin with? I think it has as much to do with who you want to communicate with and what your original vision was when you set up your internet presence. Managing expectations is hard to do in a public place.  There are people that come to this blog from all over the world. In most cases I imagine they were not even looking for TDGH, but they got here anyway through some word search on a search engine that landed them in the middle of a related subject that I wrote about. My thought is, "come on down". I can sort you out and ban your ass if you get troublesome. I suppose something of that nature is what happened to me yesterday. Sorry if you felt like I was on your turf. It's the internet man! Oh well.

Small talk was never my strong suit anyway. I wish you the best. 

That's funny. I can ramble on here, talking through my fingers with very little to say, but doing it in person is a whole other enchilada...probably chicken with some Monterrey Jack, but I digress. I think what I need to do is type out all my proposed conversations a day in advance. Then I can turn them over to the conversation victims for them to answer in kind. They can answer in person or in a typed format of their choosing, but I will only respond on paper or other electronic media and only when necessary.

That is just crazy talk (or typing as the case may be). But what did you expect from The Daily Ground Hog?