Dad Update & Seven of Diamonds
Sunday, December 4th, 2022 07:28 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
snoozefestaudioDad's car had been sitting in the DMV parking lot since Friday morning, so today, after walking Yvette, I called an Uber to take me there, then got in Dad's car, and drove it over to the hospital to pay him a visit.
I brought with me, the Sunday newspaper, and his new shoes... the pair Colleen & Sheila had bought for him back during their visit in early October.
Had he been wearing those shoes on Friday, he'd have been fine!
But he waited two weeks to even bother wearing them for a day and then complained they weren't as comfortable as the old ones.
I had told him he needed to break them in... and of course, he blew that off, like he blows off everything I say, and never wore them again.
--<>--
So, I put the new pair of shoes in his hospital room closet and put the old pair in my bag to take back home... and throw away.
He seemed more aware and alert today, but over the course of the visit, no nurses, doctors, or physical therapists came by. So, nobody could tell me what kind of progress he'd made today... but I suspect it wasn't much.
I suspect that, because, as we talked, his body was slowly listing toward the left bedrail, as his ass drifted toward the bed foot, and while he began to complain about his awkward positioning, he did nothing to try and right himself.
A PCT came in to help, but... only readjusted his pillow and then shoved a second pillow in there to stop him from listing all the way over to the left bed rail.
--<>--
He said he was walking just fine and thought he would be able to get back to normal life at home in a day or two, but... that was his wishful thinking.
I related a story to him from Tim (my younger brother), who had bought a pair of shoes once that were slippery, and after falling in them twice, the third time, he fell and hit his face on somebody's front stoop and got a black eye.
After that he threw the shoes away.
Dad didn't see the connection to his own shoes. And even after I pointed it out, he... kinda questioned the similarity of the two situations.
I related a second story about Tim's daughter, Veda, who was hit by a car when she was 18 and broke her pelvis. She too had to endure the early days of physical therapy to get back on her feet and walk again.
He reacted to that like... Poor Veda... as if the story were just a total non-sequiter that had nothing to do with his current situation.
I tried to be a bit more direct about the idea that his return home depended on his cooperating with the physical therapists here in the hospital now... and I did tell him that I would not fight them if, in a few more days, they recommend he go to a rehab center.
Cheifly because he needs to be able to do his business in the bathroom by himself at home, like normal.
Because... and I did not spell this last part out... I am NOT going to be assisting him in taking shits.
That was left unspoken, but... it wasn't more than a minute after I told him I wouldn't fight the PTs this time, if they decide he's not ready at discharge... than he said he was getting tired and wanted to take a nap.
--<>--
So I wished him a good night and told him I loved him... then took his old shoes with me back to his car in the hospital parking lot.
I drove his old blue Dart to Walgreens to grab some cat food before bringing it back home to the driveway, where it belonged.
I walked Yvette again, first thing after getting home. She recognized that Dad's car was back and gave it a good sniff. Then back inside, I let her sniff his old shoes... to try and communicate to her that I'd been to see him.
He was still alive out there, somewhere.
--<>--
After two days, I've given up on the idea of letting the cat's be downstairs while I'm gone. I let them downstairs to hang with us while I did my laundry this evening and Yvette sat herself down in the hallway to block them from entering the kitchen, where I was sitting... growling at them if they even came close.
She truly despises those cats, and would rather suffer downstairs in solitude than have their horrid company.
She'd also rather starve than eat the dog food I'm trying to switch her over to... now that Dad's gone, again.
--<>--
So, in a nutshell... While Dad's in denial about the seriousness of hip surgery, and likely refusing to cooperate with PT, his dog's back here refusing to cooperate in any way with me... by either eating her dog food, or warming up in any way to the cats.
And tomorrow begins another week of work.
Hooray!
------------{=0=}------------
I'm trying not to let this latest nightmare kill the inspiration I had for the Calendar Cards last week.
And over the past two nights, I did manage to create a nice Seven of Diamonds!..
The seven-cards, are the midpoints between the solstices and the equinoxes.
And of the four midpoints, Halloween is the most recognized and celebrated today.
OCT 29 - NOV 04 covers Halloween, All Saints Day, and All Souls Day... also known as Dia de Muertos (Day of the Dead).
From here, I'm gonna tackle the other midpoints, 7 of Spades, Hearts, and Clubs... and try to give them the same level of detail that this card has.
It's a lot more detail than I did for the Aces. So, when I've got working drafts of all the sevens, I'll have a better idea of how to treat the twos, threes, fours, fives, and sixes.
But there is the matter of astrological sign weeks... Taurus & Gemini, Leo & Virgo, Scorpio & Saggitarius, and Aquarius & Pisces.
So I will tackle them after the midpoints.
That should help me determine how to deal with other spot cards, as well as other holidays.
And then the suit cards will be a different challenge, further down the line.
------------{=0=}------------
If the art is engaging enough, and has a uniform look and feel throughout the deck, then I think this is an idea that could sell... because it has the novel function of being a useful calendar, in addition to being another deck of picture cards.
But it would need to come included with a little rolodex type device to flip the cards as pages, in calendar mode... and then... a little section in the handbook for how to use them in divination.
Because... you can't NOT use a deck of picture cards for divination!
--<>--
I mentioned a companion moon phase deck last week, and that would be a perfect follow up, or addition to this deck. A, "Lunar Arcana," to add in.
But it's not immediately clear what the structure of a lunar calendar deck would be like.
------------{=0=}------------
If I can prevent my entire life from going to Hell over the next year... I've got a fun side project to keep me busy for a couple years, that could make me some money one day!
°¦}
https://soundcloud.com/snoozefestaudio
I brought with me, the Sunday newspaper, and his new shoes... the pair Colleen & Sheila had bought for him back during their visit in early October.
Had he been wearing those shoes on Friday, he'd have been fine!
But he waited two weeks to even bother wearing them for a day and then complained they weren't as comfortable as the old ones.
I had told him he needed to break them in... and of course, he blew that off, like he blows off everything I say, and never wore them again.
So, I put the new pair of shoes in his hospital room closet and put the old pair in my bag to take back home... and throw away.
He seemed more aware and alert today, but over the course of the visit, no nurses, doctors, or physical therapists came by. So, nobody could tell me what kind of progress he'd made today... but I suspect it wasn't much.
I suspect that, because, as we talked, his body was slowly listing toward the left bedrail, as his ass drifted toward the bed foot, and while he began to complain about his awkward positioning, he did nothing to try and right himself.
A PCT came in to help, but... only readjusted his pillow and then shoved a second pillow in there to stop him from listing all the way over to the left bed rail.
He said he was walking just fine and thought he would be able to get back to normal life at home in a day or two, but... that was his wishful thinking.
I related a story to him from Tim (my younger brother), who had bought a pair of shoes once that were slippery, and after falling in them twice, the third time, he fell and hit his face on somebody's front stoop and got a black eye.
After that he threw the shoes away.
Dad didn't see the connection to his own shoes. And even after I pointed it out, he... kinda questioned the similarity of the two situations.
I related a second story about Tim's daughter, Veda, who was hit by a car when she was 18 and broke her pelvis. She too had to endure the early days of physical therapy to get back on her feet and walk again.
He reacted to that like... Poor Veda... as if the story were just a total non-sequiter that had nothing to do with his current situation.
I tried to be a bit more direct about the idea that his return home depended on his cooperating with the physical therapists here in the hospital now... and I did tell him that I would not fight them if, in a few more days, they recommend he go to a rehab center.
Cheifly because he needs to be able to do his business in the bathroom by himself at home, like normal.
Because... and I did not spell this last part out... I am NOT going to be assisting him in taking shits.
That was left unspoken, but... it wasn't more than a minute after I told him I wouldn't fight the PTs this time, if they decide he's not ready at discharge... than he said he was getting tired and wanted to take a nap.
So I wished him a good night and told him I loved him... then took his old shoes with me back to his car in the hospital parking lot.
I drove his old blue Dart to Walgreens to grab some cat food before bringing it back home to the driveway, where it belonged.
I walked Yvette again, first thing after getting home. She recognized that Dad's car was back and gave it a good sniff. Then back inside, I let her sniff his old shoes... to try and communicate to her that I'd been to see him.
He was still alive out there, somewhere.
After two days, I've given up on the idea of letting the cat's be downstairs while I'm gone. I let them downstairs to hang with us while I did my laundry this evening and Yvette sat herself down in the hallway to block them from entering the kitchen, where I was sitting... growling at them if they even came close.
She truly despises those cats, and would rather suffer downstairs in solitude than have their horrid company.
She'd also rather starve than eat the dog food I'm trying to switch her over to... now that Dad's gone, again.
So, in a nutshell... While Dad's in denial about the seriousness of hip surgery, and likely refusing to cooperate with PT, his dog's back here refusing to cooperate in any way with me... by either eating her dog food, or warming up in any way to the cats.
And tomorrow begins another week of work.
Hooray!
I'm trying not to let this latest nightmare kill the inspiration I had for the Calendar Cards last week.
And over the past two nights, I did manage to create a nice Seven of Diamonds!..
The seven-cards, are the midpoints between the solstices and the equinoxes.
And of the four midpoints, Halloween is the most recognized and celebrated today.
OCT 29 - NOV 04 covers Halloween, All Saints Day, and All Souls Day... also known as Dia de Muertos (Day of the Dead).
From here, I'm gonna tackle the other midpoints, 7 of Spades, Hearts, and Clubs... and try to give them the same level of detail that this card has.
It's a lot more detail than I did for the Aces. So, when I've got working drafts of all the sevens, I'll have a better idea of how to treat the twos, threes, fours, fives, and sixes.
But there is the matter of astrological sign weeks... Taurus & Gemini, Leo & Virgo, Scorpio & Saggitarius, and Aquarius & Pisces.
So I will tackle them after the midpoints.
That should help me determine how to deal with other spot cards, as well as other holidays.
And then the suit cards will be a different challenge, further down the line.
If the art is engaging enough, and has a uniform look and feel throughout the deck, then I think this is an idea that could sell... because it has the novel function of being a useful calendar, in addition to being another deck of picture cards.
But it would need to come included with a little rolodex type device to flip the cards as pages, in calendar mode... and then... a little section in the handbook for how to use them in divination.
Because... you can't NOT use a deck of picture cards for divination!
I mentioned a companion moon phase deck last week, and that would be a perfect follow up, or addition to this deck. A, "Lunar Arcana," to add in.
But it's not immediately clear what the structure of a lunar calendar deck would be like.
If I can prevent my entire life from going to Hell over the next year... I've got a fun side project to keep me busy for a couple years, that could make me some money one day!
°¦}
