Toms Diary

Archive for the ‘Thoughts’ Category

Today’s Business: 2011-02-15

Tuesday, February 15th, 2011

Today’s Activities

Shower. DONE.
Cat duty. DONE.
Do all (1) loads of pending laundry (bedding). IN PROGRESS. 26 loads done in the new washer so far.

Log

08:00 AM: I’m up.

09:00 AM: Mom is being moved to her new home today.

10:00 AM: Worked the Water Heater Replacement: 2010 project. Looks like I’m just going to pay the bill.

12:00 PM: Leaving now for lunch at an Altoona Indian restaurant with friend Mary Kay and [Emmy]. Back later.

02:10 PM: We’re back home.

03:10 PM: Watched today’s episode of The Young and the Restless on the DVR. Nap time now.

04:00 PM: We’re awake again, and [Emmy's] train is on time. So we’re heading out here in a bit.

04:15 PM: Leaving now for the train. Back later.

05:30 PM: I got back home to find sister Jojo here, getting a basket of Mom’s items together to drive up to her tonight. I’m going with her.

06:00 PM: Leaving now to visit Mom in her new home. I’ll be home later tonight.

06:20 PM: We’ve arrived at the nursing home. Mom just got here herself. She says that she likes it so far.

07:30 PM: The evening restorative nurse came by to interview Mom and ask us many questions about her meds, the level of care she typically receives, and so on. She says that Mom needs to drink more water, as this may clear up her itchy skin, her weak kidney function, dry skin, et al.

08:00 PM: She’s in a rather big room that was designed originally for two occupants. But when the state measured it after completion, they said that it’s too small for two, but plenty big enough for one. Plus, it has a private bathroom. In fact, it’s a totally private room; none of that semi-private stuff.

08:02 PM: Mom’s only two doors away from the nursing station, and a small but fully stocked galley-style kitchen is but one door away. They had all sorts of ice cream, yogurt, sherbet, pop, and pudding there for the residents, and more than once encouraged Mom to eat as much as she wished. Nice. Hers is like two rooms in one, and the second one is practically empty at this point. But Mom wants some lamps and perhaps few small tables to make it look more homey.

08:05 PM: Mom’s attending restorative nurse seemed very attentive and pleasant, even though she was just finishing up a 12-hour shift. She expressed concern over Mom’s chronic dehydration, saying that Mom will have to decide to drink more water herself if it’s ever going to come to pass. Then, she explained numerous symptoms of dehydration (weak kidneys, constipation, itchy skin, UTIs, and so on). Mom unfortunately suffers to a degree from all of these. So I’m hopeful that Mom will realize that water is probably her best friend right now and that to fully benefit from it, she’ll need to drink a liter or two a day of it.

08:10 PM: Got into a discussion on Facebook about hospital bed safety side rails and how all PA state-run nursing homes are removing these safety devices from their beds. Details here.

08:15 PM: Leaving now for home.

08:30 PM: I’m home.

09:30 PM: Talked with [Emmy] via the phone. She made it back to Pittsburgh and her place at around 8:30 PM. She had an uneventful trip.

11:10 PM: Watched the 2011-02-10 episode of Dr. Phil, called Desperate Measures on the DVR.

12:05 AM: Reviewed today’s traffic stats on my sites, and found that it actually decreased over the past few days. So I’m feeling none too hopeful at this pointabout these ever generating significant profit for me. But I’m not giving up. There was some good news: The number of key words that drive people to the sites has jumped from 250 to 255 lately, and my strategy lately has been to take whatever steps possible to increase this number. So what I’ve been doing has worked to a small degree anyhow. Further, this sort of writing is after all, my final career-oriented pursuit. So I’ll definitely keep at it until I retire — probably twenty years or so from now.

12:15 AM: Bed time. More later. Take care.

Tom Hesley