Life as a Spectator Sport

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Wednesday, May 04, 2005

In the fast lane

No posting for a while, due to being over my head in work—not all of it being the financially renumerative kind, unfortunately, though there is enough of that to keep me busy full time all by itself.

What it comes down to is that there is simply more work here than one person can do. Nick is a lot of help, but he needs supervision for most things. I can't just say, "The trees growing into the power lines need to be taken down, because if we don't do it, AEP will, and they may remove some trees we want to save, not to mention all the blackberry bushes growing along that section of driveway." Nick is old and capable enough to remove the trees, but not discerning enough to realize that what he is cutting is not one of the fast-growing poplars, but an autumn olive that we could prune short enough to keep the power company happy, and therefore preserve. So everything he does has to have my presence whether I'm involved in it or not.

The garden isn't half tilled yet, and weeds are beginning to grow up in the untended sections. Everywhere needs to be mowed, or weed-whacked, or cleared, or something, and there just aren't enough hours in the day.

The hardest thing to deal with right now is Clarence. He is close to being bed-ridden, not because he can't walk, but because he can't get out of bed, or up from chairs, by himself. I've installed everything I know of to aid him in getting around, but the less he tries to be active, the less he is capable of. I suspect we're looking at the point very soon where he must have someone with him all the time, and I truly do not know what I'm going to do when that happens. Shelley wants to buy a house somewhere nearby, where Mike, her boyfriend, and Nick would live, so Nick will not be here much longer. The thought of having to take Clarence and the dog with me on my inspection trips is truly awful. Between the two of them, we'd be stopping every half hour to let someone go to the bathroom, if nothing else.

I'm feeling sorry for myself today, obviously.
posted by Liz @ 11:43 AM     |


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