cbetts
NERD!!!
- Messages
- 3,188
- Location
- Rancho Palos Verdes, CA
So, I have been going through some serious stuff in my personal and work life lately, leaving very little time for Hummer related events. I am writing this only to let the members know why I have not been participating much lately. This is NOT intended to be a "feel sorry for me" post. It will however provide me a means of venting a bit.
Back in May on Mother's Day, I had just driven home from Flagstaff to attend a friend's graduation ceremony at NAU. I got in around 8:00 that night. I called my mother to wish her a happy MD only to be told that my dad was in the hospital in ICU for a heart attack that happened two days prior. Knowing that my parents normally tell me not to worry, I drove to the hospital directly to see my dad. They had him stabilized and doing well. I told that I was going home to go bring mom over since she is unable to drive. Unfortunately when I got to the house, I found her passed away.
My brother came into town to help me get things squared away at the house. We got things squared away within a week. The house was close to looking like a something from that show Hoarders. We got dad back home and back into the groove of life. He had a stent put in last month and is doing well. He is actually looking forward to going wheeling again now that he has been cleared for higher altitudes.
Well, I wish this is where the drama ends . . . not even close . . .
About two weeks after this mess, My mother-in-law, Gloria, gets a call from New York. Her sister was dying from cancer. Gloria caught a flight out the next day. A few days later, we get a call from Gloria. She had been unable to get hold of my father-in-law, Art. Ellen and I drove over and noticed his car was not there. We drove by all his usual places and could not find it. I decided we needed to go in the apartment and see if we could find any clues. Well, we found Art on the floor in the bathroom. Apparently there all night. It was currently 1:00 in the afternoon. We were still trying to figure out where the car was wwhen Ellen found a note on the table under his keys. Apparently, the cops brought him home drunk and he fell in the bathroom.
We called for an ambulance to take him to the ER since he hurt himself pretty bad that night from the fall. Turned out he also had a pretty bad urinary tract infection. We had to call Gloria, causing her to catch a flight back. You can imagine this was not going to be a good time. Art was in-and-out of the hospital for other things. He also had a 12mm kidney stone causing some issues. After about the third time of going to the ER, Gloria started having issues walking and had to go in the ER herself. Turned out she had a weird disease that impacted her leg muscles.
Ellen took a leave of absence from her job to help take care of her parents. They worked as on-site managers for an apartment complex, which Ellen and I had to take over during all this mess. We had one apartment getting revamped and another being evicted. I would head over after work every day to help out where I could.
Eventually, Art would also have more issues. We believe he had a mini stroke. He lost his ability to walk so back in the hospital he went. A few days later, Gloria would be heading back in from having anxiety issues. Turned out that they would be in the same room at the hospital for a while.
Ellen and decided that we need to get her parents out of the management business and into an assisted care facility. Fortunately, Ellen's sister and her husband came into to town to assist with the move. Good thing since I was having issues managing Art since he is now getting Alzheimer's. He is kinda a rude guy to begin with but now add memory problems with it. I had to round up all the firearms and car keys to keep him and others safe. We also had to really thin out their belongings since the new place was small. We also had to move during the heat wave. Most places here in Torrance do not have air conditioning so the 95+ temperatures were brutal. Also, Art did not adjust very well to the new place. Ellen and I were called regularly for the first two weeks due do Art flipping out on the staff. It was onyl recently that after a very tense fight that he is now accepting the new place.
So, now add all my work issues . . .
Those of you that work in IT, the market is flooded with companies looking for talent with Linux/UNIX and VMWare. Well, many of my coworkers left for "greener pastures", leaving me with all their tasks. In the mean time, I have been working with my management to hire more people, but the flood of Linux/UNIX jobs has made it difficult to bring in an advanced system administrator. Now we will have to bring in someone less experienced and train in house. I also support a flying testbed (727 converted into a flying datacenter) so I spend time there as well. Oh, I am one of a couple people that know multilevel operating systems.
With all this going on, I am also trying to find time to make needed repairs on the Hummer. I blew the front differential and had some power issues with the engine. Also add on that I am looking to buy a house. Somewhere between Mother's Day and the incident with Art, we had put an offer on a place and started escrow. Well, our inspector found the attic was infested with rats and had a roof leak, adding too much money to the cost of the house so we pulled out. I guess it was a good thing since we would have been moving at the same time we moved Ellen's parents.
I hope the everyone, particularly the SoCal group, understands my predicament and is patient while I get my life back in order. I am looking forward to getting back on the trails and enjoying the outdoors a bit. I miss the all the comradery!
Also, feel free to ask questions about anything you read here. I had to learn the hard way on how to handle many of these events. I had no idea about all the laws that are entailed when a person dies in a house. I was forced to make several hard decisions about my mother on my own. Also, there are some great resources to get help when having to find a home for those that need extra care.
Back in May on Mother's Day, I had just driven home from Flagstaff to attend a friend's graduation ceremony at NAU. I got in around 8:00 that night. I called my mother to wish her a happy MD only to be told that my dad was in the hospital in ICU for a heart attack that happened two days prior. Knowing that my parents normally tell me not to worry, I drove to the hospital directly to see my dad. They had him stabilized and doing well. I told that I was going home to go bring mom over since she is unable to drive. Unfortunately when I got to the house, I found her passed away.
My brother came into town to help me get things squared away at the house. We got things squared away within a week. The house was close to looking like a something from that show Hoarders. We got dad back home and back into the groove of life. He had a stent put in last month and is doing well. He is actually looking forward to going wheeling again now that he has been cleared for higher altitudes.
Well, I wish this is where the drama ends . . . not even close . . .
About two weeks after this mess, My mother-in-law, Gloria, gets a call from New York. Her sister was dying from cancer. Gloria caught a flight out the next day. A few days later, we get a call from Gloria. She had been unable to get hold of my father-in-law, Art. Ellen and I drove over and noticed his car was not there. We drove by all his usual places and could not find it. I decided we needed to go in the apartment and see if we could find any clues. Well, we found Art on the floor in the bathroom. Apparently there all night. It was currently 1:00 in the afternoon. We were still trying to figure out where the car was wwhen Ellen found a note on the table under his keys. Apparently, the cops brought him home drunk and he fell in the bathroom.
We called for an ambulance to take him to the ER since he hurt himself pretty bad that night from the fall. Turned out he also had a pretty bad urinary tract infection. We had to call Gloria, causing her to catch a flight back. You can imagine this was not going to be a good time. Art was in-and-out of the hospital for other things. He also had a 12mm kidney stone causing some issues. After about the third time of going to the ER, Gloria started having issues walking and had to go in the ER herself. Turned out she had a weird disease that impacted her leg muscles.
Ellen took a leave of absence from her job to help take care of her parents. They worked as on-site managers for an apartment complex, which Ellen and I had to take over during all this mess. We had one apartment getting revamped and another being evicted. I would head over after work every day to help out where I could.
Eventually, Art would also have more issues. We believe he had a mini stroke. He lost his ability to walk so back in the hospital he went. A few days later, Gloria would be heading back in from having anxiety issues. Turned out that they would be in the same room at the hospital for a while.
Ellen and decided that we need to get her parents out of the management business and into an assisted care facility. Fortunately, Ellen's sister and her husband came into to town to assist with the move. Good thing since I was having issues managing Art since he is now getting Alzheimer's. He is kinda a rude guy to begin with but now add memory problems with it. I had to round up all the firearms and car keys to keep him and others safe. We also had to really thin out their belongings since the new place was small. We also had to move during the heat wave. Most places here in Torrance do not have air conditioning so the 95+ temperatures were brutal. Also, Art did not adjust very well to the new place. Ellen and I were called regularly for the first two weeks due do Art flipping out on the staff. It was onyl recently that after a very tense fight that he is now accepting the new place.
So, now add all my work issues . . .
Those of you that work in IT, the market is flooded with companies looking for talent with Linux/UNIX and VMWare. Well, many of my coworkers left for "greener pastures", leaving me with all their tasks. In the mean time, I have been working with my management to hire more people, but the flood of Linux/UNIX jobs has made it difficult to bring in an advanced system administrator. Now we will have to bring in someone less experienced and train in house. I also support a flying testbed (727 converted into a flying datacenter) so I spend time there as well. Oh, I am one of a couple people that know multilevel operating systems.
With all this going on, I am also trying to find time to make needed repairs on the Hummer. I blew the front differential and had some power issues with the engine. Also add on that I am looking to buy a house. Somewhere between Mother's Day and the incident with Art, we had put an offer on a place and started escrow. Well, our inspector found the attic was infested with rats and had a roof leak, adding too much money to the cost of the house so we pulled out. I guess it was a good thing since we would have been moving at the same time we moved Ellen's parents.
I hope the everyone, particularly the SoCal group, understands my predicament and is patient while I get my life back in order. I am looking forward to getting back on the trails and enjoying the outdoors a bit. I miss the all the comradery!
Also, feel free to ask questions about anything you read here. I had to learn the hard way on how to handle many of these events. I had no idea about all the laws that are entailed when a person dies in a house. I was forced to make several hard decisions about my mother on my own. Also, there are some great resources to get help when having to find a home for those that need extra care.
