Blooming Idiots Floral Events

05/31/2024

05/31/2024

JL

11/05/2022

687 An Unexpected Day

Yesterday took an unexpected turn of events that was totally unexpected, yet greatly appreciated!

As you may recall from yesterday, I wanted to go to a viewing for a dear friend of mine's mother. I tried like crazy to find a ride, including multiple calls to RTA who unfortunately, just travels within Montgomery County. I also tried Lyft and Uber, but Lyft quoted me $166 ONE way, which meant going there would cost me roughly $200 each way including tip! Needless to say, $400 for a round trip fare was way out of my budget! After calling Project Mobility three times, and Lyft, I was going to try Uber, but couldn't get through. I figured they were pretty much be in neighborhood of what Lyft charges, so I decided it just wasn't worth it. All this was accomplished by 10:00!

I then thought of one other option, I had a low-cost cab service that I used to use all the time pre-second stroke, so I decided to call them, but then realized I couldn't think of their their name, so I thought about it for a while and finally came up with it. But, by the the time I finally remembered their name, it was going on 2:00, plus I didn't know if they had any normal, non-SUV vehicles I could get in, because I have difficulty getting into vans and trucks! The family was already prepared that I wasn't going to be able to get there, so I was covered.

Then this morning is when my story took on new dimension of weirdness. Having missed the viewing, I didn't see any way possible that I was going to make the funeral!

But dear Mindy, the activities director came into my room at 8:15 Tuesday morning and asked me if I wanted to go. I, of course, said yes, but I didn't know how I could. She talked about taking the van which I knew had a step up to get in I knew from previous attempts this was very difficult for me. So Mindy said she would go talk to the therapy to see what they could do. She came back about 10 minutes later and told me that one of the therapists would be down to practice with me, and that we would leave around 10:30 for 11:00 funeral. I told my aide about the funeral, and he said he would be back after a serving breakfast. I felt that would give me a chance to change clothes, since I was in a multicolored stripe top which I know was wildly inappropriate! What I didn't realize until halfway through the service was that I had on one of my headbands! Finally, at 10:15 I realized I had to get going! As much as I hated it, I was forced to go without going to the toilet, changing clothes or anything else I needed or wanted to do!

On my way down to the lobby, I ran into Mindy, who was looking for me so we could get going. After a few practice runs, I was in the van so I could be buckled in. We then began our half hour trip to West Milton. We alternate between being on time, a minute early, or right a minute late. Ultimately, we arrived a minute or two late, because by the time we got me out of the van and into the wheelchair and wheeled me in the funeral home, the service had already started. It was a nice service that lasted a little over half an hour. After that Mindy wheeled me up to where the family was seated so we could pay our response in person. I could tell Keith and his father were shocked to see me, but appreciate the effort we made to get there, as was Daffy, all of whom send seemed generally surprised to see me. But they knew, like Mindy how much it meant to me to be there. I have been part of their family for close to 25 years and felt I knew it to them to be there.

Mindy and Daffy then wheeled me back out to the van and loaded me in. Mindy and I then started our half hour trip back home. Since we're going to missed lunch, so we decided to stop walking stop at a fast food restaurant for lunch. Ultimately, we stopped at Mickey D's, where we both had a McRib sandwich. As normal, it was very good. We then made our way back home, so we could enjoy the afternoon activities.

All in all, it was a lot of fun just being out in the real world and doing what I felt I should be doing!

Thanks to Mindy and Lori in therapy for all their help and dedication to 1making this event a reality for me! I literally couldn't have gotten there without them!

08/15/2022

860 World's Worst Aide

I told the tale of the previous world's worst aide a couple of years ago when the aide and I got into a disagreement in my room one night! That incident pales in comparison to the aidecI encountered last night!

This woman, whose name I forgot to get, never came in to check on me, in fact, about a half hour after I put my light on to go to bed, meanwhile another nurse came in to check on me and she asked if the aide had been in yet. When I told her no, she said, "Don't worry, she'll be right in." Much to my surprise, she was, and then the real fun began! This woman acted like she had never done this job before, as she struggled taking off virtually every piece of clothing I was wearing, especially the ankle brace on my right foot, at one point, she threatened to just leave it, my socks, and my compression support hose (that I wear to reduce swelling). Unfortunately, I'm not much good at helping the aides with the brace, since I have never had to put it on myself, and couldn't begin to if I had to! I mentioned that there were 2 long straps one either side of the brace and I could only see one, so I told her that and she looking for the second strap which she soon found, then she began to play around with the brace again and found the second strap, which she began to loosen. Soon, the brace was loosened enough to slip off, along with all of the other gear I was wearing (yes, there is a lot of it!) I swear, between my right arm, leg, and wheelchair, I wear so much stuff, it isn't funny!

Anyway, as she was struggling with my foot brace, I reminded her that I was an early morning get up, to which she replied, "I know that." OK, I thought, will see what happens in the morning!

She also didn't know how to work my CPAP machine and had no interest in learning, so I didn't wear it!

The next morning, I expected her to come in around 6:15 to get me up, because I told her I would need some extra time because of all the stuff I needed to put on. Unfortunately, I never saw her. Finally, at 6:35 I put my call light on. Then, at 6:50, ten minutes before her shift ended she finally came in to find out what I needed. I told her I was ready to get up, and she said it would have to be a quick one because it was time for her to go home. I reminded her that I was an early morning get up, to which she replied "No one ever told me that!" To which I replied "You knew about it last night when I told you!"

Sensing that she wasn't one to stay over, I just told her to go and I would have 1st shift get me up. She put up no argument, and turned and walked out. A few minutes later, the nurse came in and told me "You'll have to be patient. No one has shown up yet." Fortunately, an aide showed up a moment later, and my day was back on track!

Hopefully, I will never see that woman again! I already told two different nurses about the incident and will talk to the DON this morning! At worst, I don't want her back in my room, at best, since she was an probably an agency aide, I hope we never let her in the building again! We don't need an employee who lies like she did!

07/26/2022

Happy Birthday, Keith! Hope you have a great day! Your present is on order, but hasn't arrived yet. Hopefully will be here on Thursday!

06/17/2022

Stop and talk to your friends or a professional! You don't need to go through life like this!

06/17/2022

811 Game Inventor

Back in my mid-30's I embarked on a project with a good friend from work to create a game we both knew would be a huge success during the upcoming holiday season! I don't recall the name of the game, but it was about work and what it took to be successful. We worked tirelessly on it, working nights to bring our creation to fruition.

We stopped our work on the project when her husband told us "You two must have some serious issues with work! You guys are so negative!" We, of course, didn't know what he was talking about, until we took a second look at our pet project. Then suddenly we saw what he was talking about! Our game board was filled with pessimistic questions that showed us just how antagonistic we were being! We could have changed course and corrected our error in judgment, but we decided it was best to call it a day on this project and cut our losses!

She was a good friend over the years and we worked on several different projects together both at work and independently of it! I would often babysit her dogs, Kelly and Red Dog if she and her husband were going away for the weekend. She also invited me to attend several polo matches over the years, and if you have seen *"Pretty Woman"* you may remember the scene of the patrons cleaning up the field in between the periods of a match, called chukkers? It's all true!

Barky and I undertook several different moneymaking schemes, including a line of pet scarves we called "Arf Scarfs", aimed obviously at dogs, although I know we would have come up with a version for cats, such as "Meow Mufflers", or "Kitty Kerchiefs". Yes, we would have had a year-round business if we tried full of fun fabrics, furs and more! Heck, by now we would have also had a line of jewelry, called something like "Canine Carats", "Puppy Pendants", "Lynx Links", "Jaguar Jewelry ", or "Kitty Karats", for example!

We had the sizes down and we were looking at fabric swatches for design ideas, which we then had a friend mock-up some samples of so we could try them on Barky's dogs. This idea was a surefire moneymaker, if we had just followed through, but of course, we didn't! But we should have!

We had a couple other projects we worked on through the years, but "Arf Scarfs" was always our best idea!

06/03/2022

805 Motivated by Price, Brand, and Rating

I have noticed that I am influenced by several factors when I shop for products. I never realized it until recently how brand conscious I am! Don't get me wrong, I always wanted what I perceived to be the top brands when shopping, but it wasn't until yesterday that I realized that it was that important to me!

First, I search the web for whatever product I was looking for to determine the price range. Then, I would narrow down my choices based on brand and price, doing research to find the best combination, then I would go back and eliminate most of my saved items unless I had a good reason to save it, such as I found a better deal somewhere else, or I liked a particular product better! Sometimes it was nothing than a brand that I trusted, such as Sony, Dyson, or Panasonic. I will admit that Daffy was quick to point out that I always had to go by the Dyson vacuum cleaners when we were out shopping, a habit I was unaware of, but when I thought about it, I knew he was probably right!

After narrowing my list down, I would waver back and forth on it, ordering it as soon as I had the money.

As soon as I had the money, I would make one final review and place the order. Most of the time, the products would arrive in a day or two. Most of the time, I was pleased with the purchase, although I will admit to making a few mistakes over the years. Without a doubt, my biggest boo boo was an Epson printer I purchased a year or so ago. This was one product I didn't do the proper investigation of. I thought I did, but I was more concerned about finding the best price rather than the best product. I failed to see that the product was used or that it had a limited warranty, both nono's in my book. I fought with the seller for weeks/months and got all the experts I could find here involved but no one could get the darn thing to work! Since the stupid printer was already out of warranty and would have cost too much to repair, I opted to throw it away, rather than invest more money into it. Hopefully, I will find a good deal on a new one at the end of this year. It would be a big help to have copies of the stories I have written, rather than searching for them in Facebook! It can be done, but it takes a lot of time!