Rusted Sky

One last trip today to K-Mart, to get a couple of storage units that could be used as nightstands temporarily, a couple of towels to put on top of them, a bathmat, an alarm clock, toilet paper and paper towels. (Supplies are provided, but having extras doesn't hurt.)

Total time in store - 15 minutes. Man, it's such a RELIEF when I can shop by myself!

Ran coax around the room to the TV, ran a phone cord around the room to the little table between the chairs, unpacked and assembled three lamps, found out one was broken so it got repacked for return to Home Depot. Moved chairs into position, put throws over the chairs, put away some of the stuff I took over, cleaned up the room and called it good...

Then I came back to the house and picked them up... and got them there in time for lunch. (BBQ pork sandwiches, coleslaw, and bean salad. They liked it.) They were pleased with the room.

Had a couple more errands to run, got the lamp swapped out and a couple of prescriptions filled, went back around 4 and listened to how things were going. Overall, Mother's fairly pleased... though this idea of scheduled meal times isn't to her liking. (Breakfast at 7:30, lunch at 12, dinner at 5, snack at 7) Father looks more relaxed than he has in a long time.

Tomorrow Mother wants to go to Walgreens. Well, once more into the store....

Overall? I'm fairly pleased with how things have turned out. Mother and Father are pretty happy. I kept thinking I could/should have done more, but I don't know what I realistically could have done. Got them here, got bank accounts set up, got them around to let them select a place, and get them furniture, and a lot of the little things - filled out endless paperwork to get them in, carted luggage, furniture, lamps, a TV...

I'm satisfied. Things didn't end up as first envisioned, but that's life. The end results were satisfactory. I'll go with that.

J.

As some of you know - my folks moved here a couple of years back to go into an 'assisted care' facility. They've been doing okay, kind of... but recently Mother's started a severe decline. Father is concerned - and I'm glad I arranged to get my brother out here next Friday for a visit.

On the way back, my lovely bride called - her van is having problems - running very rough with the check engine light alternately flashing and on solidly. After replacing the radiator last week (crack in the plastic - but at 100k+ miles you expect that sort of stuff) we were hoping for a respite. We'll see. It's currently at the shop - hopefully it'll be fixed tomorrow. So plans changed, and we went out to dinner.

We get home - and there's a smell of gas. For some reason I can't smell the odorant they mix in - never have been able to - but it went away when we lit the fireplace. When it's off - it's back. I shut the valve leading to the fireplace pipe - and the smell went away. I'm REAL leery of gas plumbing - if I can't smell it, it's hard to tell if it's safe and I'd really hate for things to go 'boom'. But it looks like the gas starter valve (which naturally is bricked into place) has a seal that isn't sealing. THAT will be a joy to fix, you betcha... I don't know if the valve comes apart like a water valve or not - I'll examine it tomorrow.

Sigh.

Spent the evening watching Dr. Who through Netflix on the XBox - the last of season 2. It's funny, I seem to remember an ad in the late '90s that showed kids sitting down 'in the future' to watch a movie on demand - looks like the future is here... Anyone recall the ad, or the company?

J.

About a month back, my mother fell and hurt her hip - since she’s 91 with osteoporosis she was immediately shuttled to the hospital. We were there in the ER for about 4 hours, and thankfully, a CAT scan and XRays showed nothing was broken, but they kept her for a couple of nights for observation.

One of the political memes these days is that the insurance companies are forcing hospitals to turn away the uninsured. We didn't see that this visit.

In the next bay of the ER, we had an entertaining (if short) succession of people. One was a young guy, in his 20s or so, who dropped an air conditioner on his bare foot. He didn’t have insurance - but he got things arranged with a case worker. He was actually kind of amused to get his foot xrayed - he said he’d broken his leg, his arm twice and his ribs several times, but never his foot. Stitches and novocaine, and he walked out of there.

The next customer was ‘Frank’ - who didn’t have insurance, didn’t have a job, was in a ‘program’ which was supposed to help him with something unspecified, wanted to see a case worker to get a machine that he could stick himself with, was in the ER last week because he passed out and they gave him some pills for his diabetes, but he didn’t know what they were. He was also thirsty, and wanted some ginger ale.

When asked if he’d been eating regularly, he said he had some meatloaf yesterday at the lake with some friends, but after that he took one of his pills and then he was feeling shakey, and he had some hot dogs this morning. The doctor examined him, asked him if he was using any illegal drugs.

Frank asked “Wha?” Patiently the doctor explained “Cocaine, Pot, Marijuana, speed, hash, you know.” Frank replied “Nah, they check us once a week to see if we’ve been drinking. On Sunday. I’m in a program, and we ain’t supposed to do stuff like that, they’ll tell my probation officer. Can I see a caseworker? And I’m almost out of those pills I got last week.”

Two folks, no insurance (and in ‘Frank’s’ case, I’m not sure he could keep track of an insurance card if it was surgically attached) who got the care they needed.

But anyway... to continue the update.

Recently it's been necessary to move my folks from Winnwood off the Marietta Square to a different assisted living facility. Mother Did.Not.Want.To.Move. Father said, basically, "too bad, we can't afford this place much longer and we need to stretch the money." Mother whined, barely audibly, that she was too tired to move. Father told her that's what "Two Men And A Truck" is for - they're pretty much the gold standard for assisted living moves in and out of Winnwood.

Come moving day, Father had everything ready. Curtains were down, everything was boxed up - the movers arrived on time, wrapped everything, got it over to the new place, set things up as ordered. There was a note on the door welcoming them, and a goodie basket... which was more than they got at Winnwood.

Overall, they've been very pleased at the standard of care they've been getting there. Everyone's friendly and helpful, the food is better, (Mother loves their fried okra...) and there's more to do there. Last Friday they threw a surprise 'luau party', complete with whole roast pig for the residents - and contacted a local dance group for hula work.

(And this place cost significantly less than Winnwood. Go figure.)

So - Mother and Father are happier now. Mother's happy because the food is better, Father's happy because it costs less. We're happier because it's a lot closer (about 5 minutes away) and the little guy's happier because he can see them more often.

Win-win all around - what a concept!

J.

... was also one he's waited years for, likely wouldn't have wanted when he was better off - and didn't even realize he could get until about six years ago, when he and Mother started having real health problems.

It's the VA Pension with Aid and Assistance benefits.

The qualifications are pretty steep - it's a 'benefit paid to wartime veterans who have limited or no income, and who are age 65 or older, or, if under 65, who are permanently and totally disabled. Veterans who are more seriously disabled may qualify for Aid and Attendance or Housebound benefits. These are benefits that are paid in addition to the basic pension rate.'

As I said, we started looking into this about six years back - but they had too much money in savings to qualify, as well as a house. They sold the house, moved here to Atlanta about three, four years back, and have been living in assisted living facilities ever since. With Father's tiny AT&T pension, and social security, and Mother's social security benefits, they've been bleeding the savings at a pretty good rate. Recently (well, last August) they moved to a less expensive facility (which actually has been treating them better) and that's stemmed the bleeding some - but the damage was done.

Last March we decided to try the VA route again. We got the paperwork together, sent it off, and were told to wait until around Christmas to call the VA for progress. (Government wheels turning slowly and all that...)

I called before Christmas - figuring to get good news. After all, who doesn't like knowing a present is coming?

The VA up in Washington had no record at all of Father's case. Or his application. Instead of a full stocking of treats, Father got a big friggin' lump of coal to chew on.

After Christmas, I called the local VA Assistance office - and the woman there tracked things down to the Atlanta office. I received 4 calls in two days on her progress - and THEN things started to move. I received three calls in one morning from a guy in Virginia working on the case, first *apologizing* for the paperwork being lost, then another for clarification, then another to let me know they were still checking things out...

And I got two more calls from the LOCAL office again, letting me know things were moving.

The next day Father got his case approved. Less than 72 hours after the local office was notified that there was a problem - Father's pension was approved. (Why was I told to wait 9 months before checking? Who knows - but there's one more surprise coming.)

One very pleasant provision on the pension... it's retroactive from the time the paperwork is filed. We got the paperwork in before April, so Father got a lump-sum check with 9 months of benefits in it.

And it arrived on his birthday. (Well, actually one day after - but it got there before we had his birthday party, so technically it's under the wire. It arrived on his birthday, and don't argue!)

Running the numbers - he's good now. The lump sum alone would keep things going for a year and a half, if the income they have now doesn't change. Add in the monthly check, and he's assured of a place to stay that'll take care of him from here on in... He's assured of his independence, as long as he can get around.

And that's a wonderful present, as far as I'm concerned!

J.