I'm on a gadget buying spree lately

 I get lost in web searches trying to find out about transportation services or whatever and decide "eh if I buy this gizmo I think I can transport dad myself"  or whatever.   But I think the latest gadget which is a slider deal for getting in and out of a vehicle will be useful and something that will probably be appreciated as a donation later.   

Now I have to contact dad's ear doctor and try to get an appointment for next week or see if they say "take him to his GP doc"  

p.s.   Booked an appointment for him online for Monday at 2:30.   I hope the car gizmo arrives on Saturday as it is supposed to.  I should also put up grab bars in doorway to porch.  I think they would fit there and be somewhat useful.  

Great, now dad can't get his hearing aids to work

 Or his hearing loss has gotten much worse.   And can I find a transport service?   There are many, but most seem to be tied to medicaid or designed for completely bed-ridden people and sound crazy expensive.   I want an outfit that has a van or SUV and big strong drivers with training to help tottery patients in and out of the vehicle.  I don't want to pay for a stinking ambulance ride.  Maybe I can manage myself.  I suppose I could check the height of car seats.  I don't guess pickups are an option with dads balance issues. 

Mainly I just don't want to mess with any of it.  Dad may find himself shoved into a nursing home although that would suck for him when he can't even use a phone now.  

Bless his heart

 Dad just offered to take me out to eat somewhere for my birthday.   NO WAY, I'm not going to risk injuring my back trying to get him out of a vehicle but bless his heart for trying to be nice. 

p.s.  Dad fell in the bathroom last night and I had to call the neighbor to get him up.  I have got to see if I can find the gizmo I swear I saw online and didn't buy several weeks ago that was a chair that would sit flat on the floor and then could be jacked up.   Possibly I could get Dad off the floor with that.  I don't want to mess with a Hoyer lift, I'm sure its footprint is too big for it to be workable in this house. 

pps.  Found the gizmo.  There is a 450 dollar version that I bought instead of the nursing home versions that cost 4-5 times as much.    MAIDeSITe Electric Chair Lift | Get Up from Floor | Floor Lift | Can be Raised to 20” Help You Stand Up Again | Weight Limit 300 LBS | Item Weight 30 LBS

Sold by: Maidesite-QB.

The downside with this chair lift is it has no arm rests to help standing up.  But I think from 20 inches I could maneuver the walker close enough and help dad up.  There is just no way I can get him up from the floor.  

I'm going to punt going in to be in person for the work meeting friday

 Mostly because I find it annoying when they only give a few day's notice for stuff like that.  SOME of us have a lot of responsibilities at home and having less than a week of notice to line up folks to cover all that is not so easy.   I *could* have called the health aide service to arrange someone to come for the 9-10 hours and then I could have just fed the horses extra hay early in the morning and schlepped to Boulder to be gone until 4:30 or 5 pm that evening but I don't want to mess with all that in cold December weather on just a few days notice.   So I will respond that I will attend via google meeting and they can live with it. 

I'm still punting on communicating

 I don't know what my mental block is on sending a text or making  a phone call.   Fear of rejection for reaching out to buddies about riding is part of it; but I punt on making a simple appointment and stuff like that too.  Perhaps its partly from hearing my recorded voice from a low quality tape recorder decades ago.  Cringe worthy squeaky excited school girl pitch or tone or whatever.   But I have got to get over it.

I finally replaced two fence posts in the paddock I have Tanza, Lady and CJ in yesterday and put the sagging wires up on some other posts.  The fence looks passable now.   The weather was lovely and I wanted to be outside but I didn't feel like trying to take a longer ride so that project was just right.   My right arm and shoulder were whinging loudly last night but seem pretty well over it now.  Thank goodness for arnica cream and ibuprofen.   I also took a short little ride on Sadie.   I was half chilled riding even though I put on a nice dry sweatshirt before catching her so I cut the ride super short but at least I got a little saddle time.

Dad is getting around better with the walker and the tray I got for it, I no longer feel so anxious running a couple hours of errands in town.  But I still need to either get a senior care person out at least every other week or line up some other housecleaning assistance.  I'm trying to be more efficient but I don't come close to keeping up and it shows both visually and nasally.  I don't feel like I can ask the neighbors to come over to eat greek food and have dad give the kiddos  the stuff he bought them with his Cabalas card points without getting the place in better order but I'm too tired to keep the house decent all the time to be ready on short notice if they texted X evening would work for them. 

The senior care place was supposed to be set up for auto pay from dad's checking account but they sent an invoice with a note that the auto pay had been rejected.   I need to text the coordinator and see if that can be straightened out.   I thought it was just a record of the autopay and didn't open the envelope for over two weeks after they sent it.  BOA never did get set up with a login.  They had said they would mail a temporary password and I never saw that envelope.  I may try to just switch dad's cell and directTV payments to the Cabalas card so there is just no activity on the BOA.  I was late seeing their bill and writing a check for dad to sign so he'll get a late fee penalty and then I used the monthly due w/o interest, noticed when I put the check in the envelope to mail it and just decided to let it be that way.  

Ooh la la.

All the gourmands are bragging about their prime rib, standing rib roasts etc Xmas traditions and fancy make a month ahead of time special dishes.  I just barely restrained myself from jumping in with "usually have ham"  "chex mix if I want nostalgia."    I don't need to be a bore and repeat stuff I posted last year.   

Dad thinks I gave him food poisoning with fried cod last night.   Its not the first time he has had a bit of dire rear the last month or so; so I don't think there was anything really off about the fish or the way I cooked it.  But everything is always my fault.   When bro was sick "probably not used to the spicy Chinese food" bro picked the entree he wanted, and I think he is used to spicy food and didn't really seem like he had a stomach upset so much as a virus.  Whatever.   

With the shower bracket I got installed, showing dad how the dial worked to shut off the water and holding the shower curtain shut while he just took a quick shower managed to avoid flooding the bathroom so that is an improvement vs last time.   I should clock the time I spend on this crap and deduct that from any making dollar amounts even out of this house when I execute his will down the road.  Of course that assumes that the stupid overheated front range real estate stays hot and the property brings a good amount in spite of the house being so outdated.   

Dad is using his electric bed

 He seems to be doing somewhat better.   I think too late to restore any real health, but he is not eating tons of sweets lately that I can tell.   Perhaps having a real meal offered every day has changed his eating habits vs him looking in the fridge and cupboard for options when he got hungry.  Mind he HAD heathly options in the fridge or freezer, just had to heat them up but he wasn't much for leftovers and he used to eat whatever good meal I'd cook on weekends and then still eat a bunch of junk food last thing that night, so I had no motivation to cook more often.  

I keep punting on scheduling a home health aide to come out again.  I don't know what my mental block is.  I need to text B and see if she has a day she prefers to try to ride if the weather allows.  I've been holding back from contacting M and J.  I keep remembering him telling me about K running really late to meet them and then "wouldn't even hang out afterwards" and thinking that I while I enjoyed their company back in 2021 I wouldn't want to linger long after a ride now cuz I'd feel bad about costing dad $40/hr just to visit and drink beer.  Plus I'm fairly sure they decided Tanza and I are too wild or rude to ride with; I tried to be a good riding companion; but I don't even know what the problem area(s) for them are.  

Saturday update.   Ugh,  lots of urine last night.  Overflowed the capacity of the pad I had over the sheet and there was even a small wet spot on the carpet.  I might be risking fall hazard for dad to put pads on the floor, but I really don't want to have the carpet reeking of piss.  Just when I think, oh things are going better something like this happens.   God grant me the serenity, courage and wisdom to navigate this.