Accessible Gardening: #19 Practical Matters for Physically Challenged Gardeners , 2 by seacanepain

seacanepain wrote:

It's very good to hear the doctors gave you thumbs up on the last test, Carrie. I am registering with Patients like Me. The drug industry, doctors and researchers need patient reality checks. The patient tech who handles my back brace said his input caused the manufacturers to change the design. He says he is still a little surprised they looked at his plans and implemented the changes. I guess sometimes we can make a difference.

What bugs me most about the spinal stimulator is the only evidence I have it is doing anything is the light on the controller, but coping with the wires, leads, batteries and belt clip never allow me to forget it is there. It wouldn’t be so irritating if I had some evidence from other patients who have used it that it is worth the trouble.

We’re just glad to have you back. Beth. Okay, I am scratching Albuquerque. Off the list for sure. Besides, who wants to listen to the Bugs Bunny joke the rest of their life. “Naaa, I knew I should have taken the left at Albuquerque. It’s heartening to look at your pics. It’s been raining virtually every day here. Between that and the heat, everything in the garden is turning to mush. The angel’s trumpet bloomed. That was strange. It usually doesn’t bloom until October. Marigolds and zinnias are still hanging in despite everything and the elephant ears are thriving. Echiveria are usually very sensitive to being overwatered, I am amazed at how well they are still doing in ground. Kay’s had her hands full lately and hasn’t got them all potted up yet.

There is an online program called Weird News (Formerly, it’s now What The F--- Is Wrong With You) Florida is something of a joke on there. “Can you guess where this news story is from?” It’s always Florida.) I hadn’t heard the Arizona story, but I think that is only because Weird News refuses to cover stories where anyone gets seriously hurt. That story doesn’t qualify. Why the dogs? Never mind. Trying to get into the mind of an irrational person can put you in the loony bin. Nadi keeps up with Weird News. I asked her why someone with Depression would watch something so depressing. She says it makes her feel sane and smart. Lol.

Okay, so Nadi would never break into a stranger’s house naked and start cooking or try to sneak large numbers of dangerous reptiles into the country by hiding them in her pants to get through customs. That is good for someone her age, but we are encouraging her to set the bar a little higher.

I wish I always knew what the right thing to do for the emotionally and psychologically damaged is. Like most people dealing with chronic pain, I’m on anti-depressants so I am marginally among that number. A little more than marginally some days. Mental hospitals cost, but when the government complains about the expense I can’t help but think about all the money they waste on ridiculous things. Forcing people to take medication is a little scary to me but when someone has been proven to be a danger to society, the civil rights of society should trump those of the individual. I can’t count how many times I’ve had social and mental health case workers tell me their hands were legally tied when what to do looked blatantly obvious to my eyes.

My hat is off to the neighbor of the mental case couple. You can get into some crazy situations by reaching out and I think that is what most people are afraid of. I’ve never felt in physical danger, but I have found myself in some odd situations. I actually don’t have any biological children, but Kay has three daughters and six grandchildren I’m not sure how many kids (Sorry. Young people.) call Kay Mom and me Dude. Kay’s eldest daughter has a drinking and drug problem and most of the young people we sort of inherited because their bio-parents bailed as soon as it was legal have emotional or psychological problems to some degree. (Three have problems serious enough to have landed them in a behavioral medicine ward. None are violent and only a danger to themselves and other people’s sanity.

I’ve really lucked out so far where father/grandfather names are concerned, haven’t I. Dude and Grump-Pa Bear. I hold Nadi responsible for the Dude thing. She almost called me Dad once not long after her father died, but caught herself and turned it into Dude. “Can I borrow the car, Dad….Dude?” It stuck. I’ve been friends with Kay since I was about seven. Her kids have always known me and called me J.W. Since they had two Uncles named Jim. Only the eldest started calling me Dad when Kay and I married late in life. Well, she actually only started calling me Dad after I bailed her out of some legal trouble. (It seemed her behavior was understandable at the time. She destroyed some of her husband’s girlfriend’s stuff. Now, she tells me I was enabling her alcoholism. Who knows). I now define the role of mother and father as the people you can always blame everything on. Ahh, yes, the ties that bind. All the non-biological, heart and hearth kids (sigh. Young people) call me Dude thanks to Nadi’s slip of the tongue. I did draw the line when one of these girls brought her boyfriend here to meet me and he called me “Mr. Dude”.

Kay got stuck with Mimi as her grandmother name. Her eldest GD is named Amymone and Kay originally called her Mimi for short. Amymone decided when she was four she wanted to be called Amy instead. Grandma said, what’s wrong with Mimi. I like it.” Amy replied. “Okay, from now on you can be Mimi and I will be Amy.” All the GC to come followed Amy’s lead and called their grandmother Mimi.

Love all the cacti pix. They are so not-mushy. There’s something green growing on the house. No kidding. We’ll have to break the bleach out tomorrow.

(Jim)

Pix Theses aren't Mush