Number 6's Blog

Broke my heart

August 23, 2023

Gwen broke my heart today. She asked “Am I going to be in a wheelchair the rest of my life?” What do I tell her? Lie and say oh no you will be up and around soon or you have PSP which start with “Progressive” meaning yes you will most likely be consigned to a wheelchair the remainder of your too short, for me, life.

What happened?

Today we brought a man out to fit her for a custom wheelchair which Medicare will pay for every five years. He told her she needed a 60 pound wheelchair which reclines and is very comfortable. She is pretty darn smart and connected all the dots – “I’m in a wheelchair forever and it’s really heavy so no more MDX SUV. From now on it’s the wheelchair accessible Chrysler minivan. Plus he told her he went to A&M but we could see he was not wearing the ring so we both thought he was lying.

What are we going to do? I don’t know. I did not really like the guy either but I don’t like anyone very much. We have an appointment with UTSouthwestern on September 5 for a wheelchair fitting. Maybe we will wait until then?

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Posted by molson46

A Saturday Morning in the life of a care giver

August 19, 2023

Aug 19, 2023 at 1:43 PM: This was my day until 1:30 this afternoon.

Gwen up at 7:00
Fixed breakfast for both of us and ate
Prepared vitamins for Gwen and gave her vitamins
Exercised Gwen’s arms outside before the heat set in
Washed Gwen’s face and cleaned her teeth.
I took a shower and got dressed
Drove with Gwen to the Eataly in Northpark to buy bread. They have her favorite bread.
On the way home ordered Ice Tea and French fries for her at McDonald’s. It was 10:50 and they don’t server fires until 11:00. So we waited in the parking lot for her fries and then got in line to order them
Gave Gwen a shower
Shaved Gwen’s legs
It’s 1:30

This a typical day in the life of a care giver. I hate to be someone like her who needs this much attention in a nursing home.

I’m taking my first break of the day for a cup of coffee.

Then’s us make her lunch and do more exercises.

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Posted by molson46

July blooms in my front fowerbed

July 24, 2023

It’s July in North Texas and it’s hot. Very hot! But some plants don’t seem to mind the heat and are starting to bloom as they do every July. I am blessed to have two such plants in my front flowerbed:

* Black Eyed Susan
* Limelight Hydrangea

Both just started blooming earlier this week

Some tell me Black Eyed Susan’s are not hardy in North Texas and give up the ghost after a couple years. This specimen is in the third year and still going strong

Black Eyed Susans

I had never heard of Limelight Hydrangeas until the Nursery suggest I try them in a Sunny spot at the front of my home. I thought all hydrangeas needed shade to survive our Summers but these babies seem to thrive in the Sun

LimelightHydrangeas

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Posted by molson46

Old Fence Posts

July 1, 2023

Taking a walk in the neighborhood I stumbled upon some old fence posts – all that’s left of an old fence.

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Posted by molson46

Around the Neighborhood

June 23, 2023

Walking around the neighborhood this morning and admiring Nature

This is probably GardenPhlox (Phlox paniculate L.)

This of course is a Crepe Myrtle

And this is an Orange Daylily (Hemerocallis fulva)

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Posted by molson46

Hibiscus in bloom in North Texas

June 21, 2023

This beauty is brilliant for two weeks each June. The remainder of the year it’s still an excellent plant.

Lord Baltimore Hibiscus

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Posted by molson46

Gwen’s first outing since the Accident

June 18, 2023

Jun 17,2023: Gwen’s first outing and first meal at a restaurant since the January accident. Andy and I took her to a Ranger game and to eat at Spazzio’s, her favorite Italian restaurant. All in all I think it went very good. This was basically the whole day. I spent the morning preparing Gwen for the day which normally takes 2 hours and then preparing for the game. The game was at 3:05PM. We picked Andy up at 1:30PM in the Blue Mesa parking lot. Once we parked we were picked up and transported to the stadium in a golf cart.

Once in the stadium we quickly found the nearest family restroom for Gwen. With her it’s best to know where all the family restrooms are anywhere you go.

A strange observation. We find that when we have to wait most people coming out of the family restrooms are lone 30ish males.

Our seats are the first row down from the walkway. We still struggled getting Gwen to her seat. After the 3rd inning an usher offered to seat us in the ADA area where Gwen could stay in her wheelchair. Much better. I need to figure out a way to procure those seats.

In the hast to get get to the stadium after we parked I left her pills, hat, transistor radio, and heat pad in the car. Shortly after we moved to the ADA area her hand pain intensified. Therefore I walked back to the car to pick up the pills and heat pad.

After the game, we left after 5 innings, we stopped by Spazzio’s on the way home. Spazzio’s is her favorite Italian restaurant. The staff were elated to see her and all of them gave her big hugs. They even remembered her standard order. Wow! Everything was most excellent as usual.

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Posted by molson46

Wicked Problems and Righteous Solutions

June 17, 2023

Hot, Flat, and Crowded by Tomas Friedman (2008): started me pondering upon wicked problems and how to solved them. It been 15 years since I read that book. During that interval I’ve identified a host of wicked problems but have not untangled a single problem.

I’ve been thinking about this post for months. Naming on three problems is an impossible task. I started out by just noting down a list of problems which took me about 10 minutes:

Population
Russia
Extremism
Guns
Hackers
Abortion
Illegal Immigrants
China
Terrorists
Invasive species – plant and animal
Water or lack there of
Pandemics
Climate
Republicans vs Democrats
China
AI
WWWIII

I knocked out Population because it’s so general most of the problems facing us today are children of population. Besides what can we do about the number of people on the planet. We certainly can’t euthanatize 3/4 of the population! If I had to name the ONE problem it would be population.

So, the problem has to be one we can solve.

I crossed out Hackers because they are a nuisance and at least for now don’t affect most of us.

So, the problem has to be one that affects the general population.

Since I live in the USA the problem should be one that greatly affects the USA. For example, the war in the Ukraine is a terrible event but a long way off for me.

To cut the number to three I did a mini-trade study. The criteria were;

Solvable
Affects everyone
USA specific

Abortion

It was a tough call between Abortion and Illegal Aliens but in the end Abortion won out. First, it’s been a problem since at least Roe vs. Wade back when Gwen and I were just in love 50+ years ago. Secondly, Its a touchstone between the religious right and the liberals. If they can come to agreement on Abortion then then the lions and the lambs can live together.

And just maybe the Democrats and the Republicans can agree on a few tings

Water

There is no new Water on the Planet unless a large comet strikes which makes the problem mute. Water was a surprise winner for me. The American West is in the middle of a 1,000 year drought. Texas ranchers can’t draw water from the Brazos because Dow Checmial father down stream at Freeport needs it all to create chemicals. They win because the TCEQ says so. Millions maybe billions don’t have clean water to drink. Meanwhile the almond crop in California is sucking the Colorado River dry.

Climate Change

Climate Change affects us all not only the USA but everyone in the planet. However we can’t even agree there is a climate change. Republicans deny it because they believe it will hurt business. Democrats profess to believe the climate is changing but when in office they don’t do anything about it.

The end

i’ll think about this and post an update soon. I don’t like the winners. Just doesn’t seem right for some reason.

In the meantime anyone who can solve one of these problems deserves the Nobel Peace Prize

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Posted by molson46

Social Media Fast Results

April 13, 2023

I’m pretty much done with social media fasting. I consider the fast over and I’ve settled into a routine that does not include any social media. During the fast I also quit the TV, Internet news services, the New York Times, and The Economist. There is nothing I can do about the news anyway and watching/reading/listening to it just upsets me. Instead I’m reading the local newspaper for about a half hour every day.

The previous posts were:

I can honestly say I only miss Instagram. I followed several friends and interesting authors on Instagram. It was a wonderful app. I could catch up in 5 minutes a day. Plus I love photography and that’s what Instagram was all about. Sadly it’s veered off course. Someday I may check it our again but today is not that day. For now I’m getting my photography fix on Flickr.

Well, that about wraps up my social media fast. The fast is over and I’ve transitioned into a no social media lifesstyle.

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Posted by molson46

Austin Diagnosed with Perthes Disease

April 11, 2023

Apr 10, 2023: A Very bad day. Austin diagnosed with Perthes Disease.. Why Austin Lord? Why? We are taught there is a reason for everything but I can’t see the rationale. A good boy who lived for sports and he is now sidelined for a long, long time!

Perthes disease is a rare condition in which the ball-shaped head of the thighbone (femoral head) temporarily loses its blood supply. As a result, the head of the thighbone collapses, and the area becomes inflamed and irritated.

As the condition runs its course, the body will absorb the dead bone cells and replace them with new bone cells. The blood supply will eventually return and the femoral head will heal. But the shape of the femoral head will have changed and no longer move smoothly in the hip socket. If left untreated, Perthes disease can cause arthritis later on.

The long-term prognosis for children with Perthes is good in most cases. After 18 to 24 months of treatment, most children return to daily activities without major limitations.

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Posted by molson46