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My goodness, I have been up since 3:30 am wide awake and having coffee. Mom and rest are sleeping sound, that is a good thing. Sad news keeping me awake I guess. I am troubled with all the violence, wish we could live in a world of peace and harmony.
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Ah, yes! I tried doing daily cooking 3 times a day and had to come up with an easier solution. Decided to cook several different dishes for the entire week on Saturdays only. Picked 3 or 4 different meats and 6-7 different vegetables. Placed them in containers and labeled them. Each lunch and dinner, I pick and choose a variety from the containers. Just have to stick them in the microwave. Now I have instant hot meals.
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JuliaRose, I'm so sorry.  I know it's not the same, but maybe a stuffed kitty would be better than nothing?  They make some that move, purr & meow.  Google 'soft stuffed kitty that moves and purrs'
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Ok, this is a bit trivial, but I am so tired of people who are too selfish to NOT wear hearing aids. Tried to reason with Mom that hearing aids are no different than wearing glasses. She tried them a couple of times and just wouldn't use them. Luckily it was within the trial period and we returned them for a full refund.

I absolutely don't like yelling but she can't hear anything without my yelling and repeating at least 3 times.... then she gets mad at my yelling and misunderstands what is said and gets mad because she thinks I am saying something totally different and gets offended.

And THEN I made the mistake of yawning loudly, so Mom gets up in a huff with her walker and mutters all the way back to get ready for bed. That thing about caregivers not outlasting the person they care for..... tonight I am just tired and can't laugh anything off, and feel "done".
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Myownlife, I hear you.  That's not trivial, imho.  You're tired of being her ears!  No shame in that.
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My whine, I had cataract surgery on one eye back in December, the other eye was going to be in January. The C-19 changed that idea in a hurry. Hope people don't think I am winking at them, as I have to close one eye so I can read with the other.... and close the other eye so I can see in the distance :P
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Myownlife, many of us commiserate with you! Went through it with my dad. My
mom used get so annoyed because he always has the TV BLASTING! every time she said something, he thought she said something entirely different because he can’t hear. If she yells, he gets mad and says “you don’t have to yell”. When he mishears her, he gets mad because because he apparently hears her nagging or say something offensive to him? Either way she can’t win!
She used to say he wouldn’t admit he needed hearing aids. Then when he did admit it, he refused to get hearing aids! Well guess who needs them know and won’t admit it? And won’t get them? my mother! Shes not bad with the TV yet but she doesn’t hear me at sometimes and when she does head me, she hears me wrong! My dad finally got hearing aids but won’t wear them regularly....but it’s better than nothing. And now my mom can’t hear! So I feel ya. Tired of the selfishness!
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Aaargh. Found a deer tick in the house. Fortunately unfed.
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Golden, I had to google that. Google says 'Deer Tick is an alternative rock/folk band from Providence, Rhode Island'. LOL. Must also be a bug 🐜
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Check those kitties Golden!
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beatty - lol - It's a bug that can carry the bacterium that causes Lyme disease (10-20% chance here and growing). I don't need that!

Apparently, in our province anyway, it's a bad year for ticks (or good depending on your perspective). I guess my walks in grassy treed areas are going to be replaced by pavement walking for now. I have lived here 40+ years and walked in and beside the bush without an encounter that I am aware of. But being a bad year and having found one in the house I think it is prudent to be careful.

cw - I did check the kitties and haven't found anything but will need to check regularly as they are in and out all day. Pumpkin is not quite her usual bouncy self today Fortunately they don't go in the bush across the street which would increase their chances of picking one up. As if covid wasn't enough -sigh!

And I found out I am allergic to a brand of kitty litter we are using. Thankful it accounts for the bit of chest congestion I have been having So I guess it is masks until I have disposed of it all and then crystal litter for both boxes.
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Worriedincali, I knew my situation isn't unique, but as you point out, all too common. Sorry for you, too! Most of the time, I have patience, but especially at the end of the day, it gets to be too much to handle :(
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Wearing a hearing aid is VERY different from wearing glasses.

I think you might be assuming this is a matter of pride and refusal to "look old." But there's a lot more to it than that.

My older cousin pointed out to me that putting your hearing aids in is better compared to turning on an incredibly bright light than to wearing glasses. These are amplifiers: they don't sharpen sound, they make it louder. If you've never worn hearing aids and you put them in, it's like somebody turning up the volume on your iPod - very uncomfortable, so uncomfortable that you aren't either able to hear whatever it is you wanted to listen to.

The solution is patient practice, becoming habituated to louder sounds once again, re-training your brain to process different sounds, working with a good audiologist or technician to adjust the aids' microprocessors. It takes ages. It's worthwhile, or at least I think so, because the benefits aren't limited to improved hearing: they're also associated with maintaining all kinds of good mental function and mental health. But do not underestimate how much work is involved.
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I think one of the problems with hearing aids is that people don't think about getting them until their hearing loss is already advanced, even profound - to play off of CM's analogy I expect it's more like someone coping multifocal lenses after seeing the world through a thin gauze blindfold. I do know from people who use them that being bombarded with all those previously absent little sounds that most of us no longer notice (for example right now I'm hearing a noisy sparrow, my computer is humming as is my refrigerator, each keystroke is audible and somewhere in the distance someone is mowing their lawn) can be incredibly uncomfortable.

I've never used hearing aids myself but surely $5K digital ones have come a long way from their predecessors, which were indeed simple amplifiers.
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They have a come a long way yes - they're tiny computers which can select different wavelengths of sound to amplify or dampen, matched to the precise impairment of each individual wearer. Which is terribly clever, and worth the money, but you're right - the longer you leave it, the longer it takes to rebuild your brain's dilapidated hearing networks.

I did vow to get my hearing checked when I turned 55. Mm. I will! - just as soon as lockdown eases up... 😐
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I wear hearing aides and honestly, cm, they are not such a huge adjustment. Yes you hear some extra stuff sometimes, but you can tune down the volume. I find changing the batteries every 5 days and replacing the filters more of a pain. They are coming out with rechargeables which will be my next set.

My whine today - found the basement flooded again this morning. The guys who mowed the lawn didn't put the downspout extension back in place and we have had some heavy rain. I am investigating hinged extensions which can be flipped up out of the way for lawn care. Sil came over and helped me move some stuff around and up off the floor.I borrowed an air purifier from them. The floors are pretty good now but I will do a final clean once things dry out more. I've done my share of mopping for a while. I need a break!
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Ahhh, golden, what a pain. You do need a break.

I have had some drainage problems too. No flooding in the basement but window wells that become aquariums. Buider blame landscape. Landscaper has put in corrugated pipe from downspouts to replace extensions. Still needs to come bury it and finish landscape. But the corrugated pipe seems to be working.
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A vigil by phone for my loved one two hours away. 😟
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🙏🤗 Send
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Could someone please explain to me how someone can come on this site to do nothing but belittle and berate those of us that find compassion and support here??
It's so hard to comprehend!!
Rhetorical question I know, but I am truly disheartened by the disturbed people that make their way here, only to spread their caustic rhetoric!!
Just want to say that you all(excluding the Martyrs) have helped me tremendously through this past 8 months!! Caregiving, regardless of how you're doing it, is life altering and stressful.
So a HUGE THANK YOU!!
I appreciate you all!!
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Some folk may have been burnt to a crisp & now want to ER dump anyone with a grey hair. Some folks world view seems so narrow I wonder about their upbringing - I picture a child only playing with one colour of Lego bricks. Sad.

We all need compassion ❤️. I think finding that place on the spectrum between martyr & charcoal is a hard, life changing experience. And very personal. Some folk have even found they could care for one relative (easy going frail) but not another (aggressive, lack of insight) & face guilt over this. Our own situation & health changes too.

Shake off the haters & dance 😀.
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A friend of mine is having a birthday and her daughter is putting together a video that I've been asked to contribute to (god save us from the tech generation). I hate having my picture taken and I really, really hate this. Umpteen takes and I've still got nothing.
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So I made the effing video, uploaded it to my PC but I can't attach it to the email. @#%$& ..... &%#$@!!!...... I sent my regrets. Bah humbug!
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Lol@ Willie. Well at least you tried cheerfully.............!

I sympathize. My hubs has several pics of me with my hand blocking my face so I get it.
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CWillie,
Awwwe technology!
Ya gotta love it!! Lol
Just what you needed, more frustration!
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Got no gumption these day so I am taking a staycation.

I guess I am banned from the friendly neighbour club. A lady walking her dog stopped in front of the house to let him smell my junipers. I asked her not to let him pee there. She glared at me, yanked her dog off the bushes and strode down the street in a huff. Gosh, there is a wide green belt and forest across the street for them to go on. Maybe it's time to get out the ammonia bottle and mark the edge of my property. I kept away a bunch of cats that way years ago. They were "going" under the concrete stoop in front as the fill had settled and gave them access. I trickled ammonia around the property and they never came back. I think they figured a really BIG scary cat lived there. 😹
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Golden, I have a similar situation awhile ago. A lady was walking her dog and lets her dog poop and pee in our front yard. I was looking out the window and wondering what dog was doing this, so one day I stood out the front and watched her, did not say a word. She kept on going and since has not been back with her dog on our lawn. I really do not care. I had a black Lab for 15 years and would not think of letting my dog do his duty on a neighbors lawn. It is really not pleasant stepping in poop walking barefoot on ones own lawn. Glad you spoke up, good for you!!
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Earlybird & Golden,
I don't have to worry about people walking there dogs cuz I live in the country. I do however have deer! They eat all the pretty stuff I plant.
Do you think that ammonia would keep the deer away from my hydrangeas? Is it safe for plants??
I've tried spoiled milk, vinegar and even a motion sensor skeleton dog that I found last fall. Lol
Nothing works!!
Guess maybe I am the unfriendly neighbor too! Lol
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early bird - glad you went out and the dog stuff stopped happening. They wouldn't like it on their own lawn,

xray - deer are another problem. They used to eat one of my cedars every winter till we finally sawed of the lower branches so there was none they could reach. Since the fire in 2016 I haven't seen any thankfully. Never did find anything that worked with them though I didn't try the ammonia. In small amounts I don't think it hurts the soil -least it didn't when I used it. The Fish and Wildlife guys said put an old coat or something with human smell on the tree and that would keep deer away. I didn't as I figured the coat would disappear pretty quickly. 🤔
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Another whine. I thought I could get one company to do all my yard work. I was dreaming. So far I got company A to do a mowing and feeding. but they don't do a weed treatment I got company B to do weed treatment and booked them to overhaul my beds later in the year. Then I need just regular mowing and whipper snippering. Company A is fairly busy and not cheap. Company B is busy with bigger jobs, Sil did it once but honestly he doesn't do a good job,(not that I told him), so today I hired company C as they seem to have some space in their schedule.

Now the anti-whine, Company C is a father and 3 sons operation keeping the boys busy in the summer, of which I approve, so I think I will stay with them. They will also do dump runs and generally be helpful if I need muscle Dad supervised the son and worked with him which was nice to see. The price was "What you want to pay." He's a good business man. I think (hope) I have a good resource here.

I thought I could just set one company up to do the work. Somehow I didn't think it would be that complicated. It seems to be all off the cuff up here.
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