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This site is a member of WebRing. To browse visit here. Wednesday, March 28, 2007 What next Clarence was never the most stable person around, and since his stroke, he hasn't improved. He wants what he wants when he wants it, and if he doesn't get it, he has no inhibitions about making a scene, no internal controls on his behavior. He's like a two-year-old who has figured out that embarrassing his parents in public will get him whatever he was demanding. But a two-year-old is small enough to be picked up and removed if that's the only thing that works. A middle-aged grossly obese bald man can be not only spectacularly embarrassing, but dangerous.On the way back from Virginia Beach yesterday, I detoured into North Carolina to visit The Woolery, as I mentioned in the last post. One way to get back to our usual route home would have been to take I-95 north to Emporia and then head west. But the TomTom routed us a different way, and as it was still mid-afternoon and we had plenty of time, I didn't see any reason to argue. I headed west on whatever highway we were on, and when the TomTom said to turn south on I-85, I turned. That would bring us to Greensboro, and in 45 minutes or so from there, we'd be home.Clarence wasn't having any of that. "We're headed SOUTH!" he bellowed.I tried to tell him we were on the way to Greensboro. "NO! South will take us to Durham! I don't want to go to Durham!"I reminded him that I-85 and I-40 converge in Greensboro, which he knows as well as I do. I showed him the compass rose on the TomTom that indicated we were actually heading more west than south, regardless of the signage. Nothing worked. He subsided for a while, but after I got off the interstate to buy gas, he demanded that we turn down the adjacent street instead of getting back on the highway. "That's north," he announced. "That will take us back to Virginia."It was north, all right, but it led into a residential area where we wandered around for ten or fifteen minutes, turning every time Clarence thought we could get farther north. Finally, we came to another interchange with I-85, and the road also picked up US 15. "Take 15 North!" Clarence ordered me. "That'll get us home."Nothing I could do convinced him that taking 15 North would lead us way east of where we already were, and his violent gestures were beginning to interfere with driving. I don't think he would have been stupid enough to actually grab the steering wheel, but I didn't want to take the chance. So we headed north on 15, ending up in Clarksville, Virginia, about 60 miles east of where we had been, and an hour and a half later getting home.By the time I finished processing and uploading the paperwork and photos, it was 1:00am, and I had to be up by 7:00 this morning to get ready for today's trip. I told Clarence not to EVER give me directions again, but that's no guarantee it won't happen. Or if he feels that he can't order me around that way any more, he'll find something else, something possibly even more unpleasant. I am beginning to think I just can't deal with this any more, but a nursing home is not an option either. So I don't know where things are headed. Just taking it one day at a time, and knitting or spinning to relieve the stress. posted by Liz @ 10:29 PM | The template is set to display 10 posts. To see all the posts for this month, click on the month name in the Archive section RSS Feed PERSONAL Send email toliz at life-as-a-spectator-sport.com Home I'm a mother, grandmother, a computer professional, Democrat, Christian. I welcome politely worded comments and email, my spam filter throws the rest away, so don't bother to flame me WHY 'LIFE AS A SPECTATOR SPORT' "If you're lucky not to live in the gutters of a slum, but still can't afford to take vacations in the Alps, you're part of that enormous middle class who lives life through the medium of the television, further separated from "real" life by air conditioner, by automobile, by dishwasher, microwave and ice-in-the-door refrigerator, by automatic washer and dryer, and all the other appliances and conveniences that make it possible for America to live life at second hand. I'm not sure why Americans decided that televised drama was better than the real thing, that cardboard microwave food containers were an adequate substitute for real dishes, and their contents for real food, or that cooking, dishwashing and face-to-face conversation wasn't worth the effort and time it required. Someone fed this nation a plastic crate of out-of-season tomatoes and told us it was life and we took them at their word, and we're so much the poorer for it that it's hard to know where to start to list the shortcomings." I wrote this a couple of years ago, but I have to admit it's much less amusing than I thought it would be to see the artifical construct falling apart. THE NON-ELECTRIC HOME Cleaning, 1 Cleaning, 2 Cleaning, 3 KNITTING BLOGS Extravayarnza Knitting Heretic Mind of Winter Pie Knits Persistent Illusion See Eunny Knit The Keyboard Biologist Taleweaver's Ramblings TECHnitting Wendy Knits FINISHED PROJECTS -------FINISHED IN 2006------- Peruvian Cap Tutti-Frutti Socks Shelley's Socks Carol's Socks -------FINISHED IN 2007------- Chain Link Socks Baby Surprise Jacket Valerie & Friend Baby Bonnet Rainbow Baby Socks Girls Pixie Hood Mitred Square Heart Red & White Socks Coffee Cup Pot Holder Nubbins Dishcloth Garterlac Dishcloth Suede Booties Kate's Socks Norwegian Sweet Baby Cap Half Thumbless Mittens Red Mittens for Akkol -------FINISHED IN 2008------- SELF-RELIANCE AND THE FUTURE -- Blogs and websites -- Causubon's Book Club Orlov Food Storage Made Easy From the Wilderness In the Wake Listening to Katrina Survival Topics The Modern Homestead The Oil Drum Notes from a Hillside Farm -- Mailing Lists -- 12vdc Power Living on the Land Rainwater Refrigeration Alternatives Old Ways of Living POLITICAL BLOGS and SITES The political sites have moved BOOKS I'M READING How to Grow More Vegetables, etc. Small Scale Grain Raising ARCHIVES February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 August 2008 July 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005 February 2005 January 2005 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 September 2004 August 2004 July 2004 June 2004 May 2004 April 2004 March 2004 February 2004 January 2004 December 2003 November 2003 October 2003 September 2003 August 2003 July 2003 June 2003 May 2003 April 2003 March 2003 February 2003 January 2003 December 2002 November 2002 October 2002 September 2002 August 2002 July 2002 June 2002 May 2002 April 2002 March 2002 February 2002 Feedjit Live Blog Stats
Clarence was never the most stable person around, and since his stroke, he hasn't improved. He wants what he wants when he wants it, and if he doesn't get it, he has no inhibitions about making a scene, no internal controls on his behavior. He's like a two-year-old who has figured out that embarrassing his parents in public will get him whatever he was demanding. But a two-year-old is small enough to be picked up and removed if that's the only thing that works. A middle-aged grossly obese bald man can be not only spectacularly embarrassing, but dangerous.On the way back from Virginia Beach yesterday, I detoured into North Carolina to visit The Woolery, as I mentioned in the last post. One way to get back to our usual route home would have been to take I-95 north to Emporia and then head west. But the TomTom routed us a different way, and as it was still mid-afternoon and we had plenty of time, I didn't see any reason to argue. I headed west on whatever highway we were on, and when the TomTom said to turn south on I-85, I turned. That would bring us to Greensboro, and in 45 minutes or so from there, we'd be home.Clarence wasn't having any of that. "We're headed SOUTH!" he bellowed.I tried to tell him we were on the way to Greensboro. "NO! South will take us to Durham! I don't want to go to Durham!"I reminded him that I-85 and I-40 converge in Greensboro, which he knows as well as I do. I showed him the compass rose on the TomTom that indicated we were actually heading more west than south, regardless of the signage. Nothing worked. He subsided for a while, but after I got off the interstate to buy gas, he demanded that we turn down the adjacent street instead of getting back on the highway. "That's north," he announced. "That will take us back to Virginia."It was north, all right, but it led into a residential area where we wandered around for ten or fifteen minutes, turning every time Clarence thought we could get farther north. Finally, we came to another interchange with I-85, and the road also picked up US 15. "Take 15 North!" Clarence ordered me. "That'll get us home."Nothing I could do convinced him that taking 15 North would lead us way east of where we already were, and his violent gestures were beginning to interfere with driving. I don't think he would have been stupid enough to actually grab the steering wheel, but I didn't want to take the chance. So we headed north on 15, ending up in Clarksville, Virginia, about 60 miles east of where we had been, and an hour and a half later getting home.By the time I finished processing and uploading the paperwork and photos, it was 1:00am, and I had to be up by 7:00 this morning to get ready for today's trip. I told Clarence not to EVER give me directions again, but that's no guarantee it won't happen. Or if he feels that he can't order me around that way any more, he'll find something else, something possibly even more unpleasant. I am beginning to think I just can't deal with this any more, but a nursing home is not an option either. So I don't know where things are headed. Just taking it one day at a time, and knitting or spinning to relieve the stress.
The template is set to display 10 posts. To see all the posts for this month, click on the month name in the Archive section
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PERSONAL
WHY 'LIFE AS A SPECTATOR SPORT'
"If you're lucky not to live in the gutters of a slum, but still can't afford to take vacations in the Alps, you're part of that enormous middle class who lives life through the medium of the television, further separated from "real" life by air conditioner, by automobile, by dishwasher, microwave and ice-in-the-door refrigerator, by automatic washer and dryer, and all the other appliances and conveniences that make it possible for America to live life at second hand. I'm not sure why Americans decided that televised drama was better than the real thing, that cardboard microwave food containers were an adequate substitute for real dishes, and their contents for real food, or that cooking, dishwashing and face-to-face conversation wasn't worth the effort and time it required. Someone fed this nation a plastic crate of out-of-season tomatoes and told us it was life and we took them at their word, and we're so much the poorer for it that it's hard to know where to start to list the shortcomings." I wrote this a couple of years ago, but I have to admit it's much less amusing than I thought it would be to see the artifical construct falling apart.
THE NON-ELECTRIC HOME
Cleaning, 1 Cleaning, 2 Cleaning, 3
KNITTING BLOGS
Extravayarnza Knitting Heretic Mind of Winter Pie Knits Persistent Illusion See Eunny Knit The Keyboard Biologist Taleweaver's Ramblings TECHnitting Wendy Knits
FINISHED PROJECTS
SELF-RELIANCE AND THE FUTURE
POLITICAL BLOGS and SITES
BOOKS I'M READING
How to Grow More Vegetables, etc. Small Scale Grain Raising
ARCHIVES
February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 August 2008 July 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005 February 2005 January 2005 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 September 2004 August 2004 July 2004 June 2004 May 2004 April 2004 March 2004 February 2004 January 2004 December 2003 November 2003 October 2003 September 2003 August 2003 July 2003 June 2003 May 2003 April 2003 March 2003 February 2003 January 2003 December 2002 November 2002 October 2002 September 2002 August 2002 July 2002 June 2002 May 2002 April 2002 March 2002 February 2002
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