I call you on the phone. "Hello! How are you today?"
You hesitate. And then you say, with obvious distress, "The phone in the bathroom doesn't work".
"The phone in the bathroom?", I say. "There isn't a phone in the bathroom".
"Yes there is", you reply. "there are several"
"I don't think so", I say. "I am on my way to your place, I will be there in 10 minutes, and we can look at it then".
"Get Bruce to come." you say, "I need him to fix it.".
What could this be, I think to myself? Do I dare go there alone, after the negative commentary about me following the donut event? He is obviously confused. I call Bruce and ask him to meet me there.
We arrive, to the continued smell of burnt plastic in the air, now 3 days after the donut event. The look in your eye scares me a little bit.
The bathroom sink cabinet door is open, with the contents of cleaning solution, removed, sitting on the bathroom floor.
Your rotary style electric razor sits on the countertop, disassembled. The sink drain stopper, removed, sits adjacent to the razor head parts. You continue to obsess about the razor parts on the countertop, and about the visible sink drain base (a normal part of the drain, but that you had worried about and tried to remove from the kitchen sink last summer)
Now I think I understand? The "phone" in the bathroom is actually your electric razor?
You then state "the phone numbers don't work.". "None of the phone numbers work." As you repeat similar statements I realize you are talking about the phone numbers that are written on the refrigerator, my phone number, my cell phone, my office phone, Bruce's phone number. I also discover that the receiver for the phone in the dining room is missing. The receiver for the phone in the living room is off the hook. I test them, everything works normally.
Bruce re-assembles the electric razor.
"Don't worry dad. Everything is going to be OK. There's nothing you need to worry about".
For the first time I see a slight smile of relief and comfort.
******************************************************
What you meant to say was you were unable to use the electric razor in the bathroom, and when you went to call me to complain about it, you were also unable to use the phone.
Thursday, November 13, 2014
Monday, November 10, 2014
Happier Delusions last week
"you were with the girls last night, weren't you?", he asks me, with a smile of recognition.
"Huh? What are you talking about?" I think to myself.
"Girls were visiting last night?", I say. "who were they, where were they from, were they too loud?"
"No, they weren't loud. They went downstairs to look at the room and they didn't come back", you say.
"The room for what"?
"Where they were going to play", you say.
"Play what? "
"Basketball", you say.
Ahhh.. Basketball -- Of course, a girls basketball team visited this man who never had any interest in sports. Of course they would be coming to the senior condo to play basketball (there is not a basketball court in the building).
**************************************
"When I went to bed they were there", you tell me.
"all of them?", I ask.
"yes", you say.
"Oh really? Was there room for you in the bed? Did you sleep OK with them all there", I ask.
"Yes, I fit in my space", you say.
"They were gone this morning. You can't even tell they were here. They didn't even eat breakfast"
"Huh? What are you talking about?" I think to myself.
"Girls were visiting last night?", I say. "who were they, where were they from, were they too loud?"
"No, they weren't loud. They went downstairs to look at the room and they didn't come back", you say.
"The room for what"?
"Where they were going to play", you say.
"Play what? "
"Basketball", you say.
Ahhh.. Basketball -- Of course, a girls basketball team visited this man who never had any interest in sports. Of course they would be coming to the senior condo to play basketball (there is not a basketball court in the building).
**************************************
"When I went to bed they were there", you tell me.
"all of them?", I ask.
"yes", you say.
"Oh really? Was there room for you in the bed? Did you sleep OK with them all there", I ask.
"Yes, I fit in my space", you say.
"They were gone this morning. You can't even tell they were here. They didn't even eat breakfast"
Pen in my pocket
What's that spot on your pants?
Its a 3 cm diameter spot of dried blood, dotted onto the surface of the right knee.
Where did it come from?
Oh NO!! What happened to your hand?
The hand is caked in dried and gelatinous blood -- a 1 cm superficial laceration continuing to ooze.
"I had a pen in my pocket", he said.
The parchment skin of the frail old man could't withstand the friction of the pants pocket, along with the unexpected sharp point of the pen, piercing the skin.
"it bled a lot", he said.
Its a 3 cm diameter spot of dried blood, dotted onto the surface of the right knee.
Where did it come from?
Oh NO!! What happened to your hand?
The hand is caked in dried and gelatinous blood -- a 1 cm superficial laceration continuing to ooze.
"I had a pen in my pocket", he said.
The parchment skin of the frail old man could't withstand the friction of the pants pocket, along with the unexpected sharp point of the pen, piercing the skin.
"it bled a lot", he said.
I am so sorry that happened
http://seniorfraud.blogspot.com/2014/11/the-room-smells-like-smoke.html
I am so sorry that happened .... because I know what it might mean for you and I know it is not what you want or even what would be best even now, at this point.
This is not what I want for you.
Why did you try to cook today when you haven't gone near the stove or microwave in at least a month? (and why didn't I disable them before -- I know why -- because I didn't think it would come to this)
The implications are painfully clear to me instantly.
The stove and microwave need to be disabled today. Its for your safety. Its to try to help you stay here, because I know you don't want to move to a nursing home.
How am I going to deal with the Senior Building bylaws requiring one to be oriented x 3, to be able to use the appliances, to be able to manage one's affairs. Even living with you isn't enough if you burn donuts to char in the microwave when temporarily alone.
*********************************************************
"Nothing happened to that plate"
"Nothing happened to that donut", you say.
He says to the man --
"Tell HER (meaning me) not to come back " "SHE is crazy".
"I could have a truck here and move out of here by noon tomorrow" , he says.
I am so sorry that happened .... because I know what it might mean for you and I know it is not what you want or even what would be best even now, at this point.
This is not what I want for you.
Why did you try to cook today when you haven't gone near the stove or microwave in at least a month? (and why didn't I disable them before -- I know why -- because I didn't think it would come to this)
The implications are painfully clear to me instantly.
The stove and microwave need to be disabled today. Its for your safety. Its to try to help you stay here, because I know you don't want to move to a nursing home.
How am I going to deal with the Senior Building bylaws requiring one to be oriented x 3, to be able to use the appliances, to be able to manage one's affairs. Even living with you isn't enough if you burn donuts to char in the microwave when temporarily alone.
*********************************************************
"Nothing happened to that plate"
"Nothing happened to that donut", you say.
He says to the man --
"Tell HER (meaning me) not to come back " "SHE is crazy".
"I could have a truck here and move out of here by noon tomorrow" , he says.
THE ROOM SMELLS LIKE SMOKE!
I arrive to the strong smell of smoke - its an almost electrical kind of smoke smell.
Where is the smoking coming from? !!!!
You walk with me to the kitchen, near the stove and microwave.
You tell me that the "ring" in the microwave is broken.
.JPG)
The ring in the microwave is broken? No - -- that is not what I see.
The plate in the microwave is missing. Where is the plate and where is the smell of smoke coming from?
You look sheepish, unable to explain.
I say "What were you doing? " "What were you doing"?
"I was heating up my cereal", you say. (heating up coco puffs, I think??). The cereal bowl nearby is empty. It doesn't make sense.
"A man from the building came - he found out that the smoke detector isn't working", you say.
"What? A man from the building? Did the smoke detector go off? How smoky was it in here? What time did this happen?", I say.
"No. the smoke detector did not go off. ", you say.
Still the cause of the smoke is not clear -- what is the source of that electrical burning smell? Where is the plate for the microwave? Its not in the garbage. Where is it??
Ahhh..... Here it is -- inside the old empty Coco Puffs bag in the sink. The broken microwave plate -- and what is attached to it?
.JPG)
Oh yes I recognize the donut -- it had been delivered by Meals on Wheels a week ago, remaining in its saran wrap cover, growing harder by the day, in the refrigerator.
"I had to go to the bathroom", you say.
The microwave must have been set to minutes far longer than it would take to heat a donut.
Perhaps the saran wrap cover was never removed. It got so hot it broke the plate.
It got so hot it turned the donut to nothing but a piece of char -- stuck to the broken THICK glass microwave base plate.
What time did this happen?
It happened this morning. Yet the room still smells so strongly of that electrical kind of smoke smell at 7 PM.
*********************************************
The room still smells like smoke almost 3 weeks later
Where is the smoking coming from? !!!!
You walk with me to the kitchen, near the stove and microwave.
You tell me that the "ring" in the microwave is broken.
The ring in the microwave is broken? No - -- that is not what I see.
The plate in the microwave is missing. Where is the plate and where is the smell of smoke coming from?
You look sheepish, unable to explain.
I say "What were you doing? " "What were you doing"?
"I was heating up my cereal", you say. (heating up coco puffs, I think??). The cereal bowl nearby is empty. It doesn't make sense.
"A man from the building came - he found out that the smoke detector isn't working", you say.
"What? A man from the building? Did the smoke detector go off? How smoky was it in here? What time did this happen?", I say.
"No. the smoke detector did not go off. ", you say.
Still the cause of the smoke is not clear -- what is the source of that electrical burning smell? Where is the plate for the microwave? Its not in the garbage. Where is it??
Ahhh..... Here it is -- inside the old empty Coco Puffs bag in the sink. The broken microwave plate -- and what is attached to it?
Oh yes I recognize the donut -- it had been delivered by Meals on Wheels a week ago, remaining in its saran wrap cover, growing harder by the day, in the refrigerator.
"I had to go to the bathroom", you say.
The microwave must have been set to minutes far longer than it would take to heat a donut.
Perhaps the saran wrap cover was never removed. It got so hot it broke the plate.
It got so hot it turned the donut to nothing but a piece of char -- stuck to the broken THICK glass microwave base plate.
What time did this happen?
It happened this morning. Yet the room still smells so strongly of that electrical kind of smoke smell at 7 PM.
*********************************************
The room still smells like smoke almost 3 weeks later
Sunday, October 26, 2014
pseudoscience scam and the Ebola outbreak
The Ebola outbreak compels me to step beyond the "senior" focus of this blogspot. The focus remains to speak out against fraud in our world.
Last week I unfriended someone on facebook because of their negative comments about immunizations and a possible Ebola vaccine.
This week, as the world situation further heats up over Ebola, it is more apparent that the long percolating lack of respect for expertise in medicine and science is manifesting in public policy (now with New Jersey holding a well (ie, not sick) international aide worker nurse in an in-hospital tent quarantine as she returns from Sierra Leone) and in the expressed beliefs and fears of the public.
I am alarmed at the health-related statements made by some of my facebook "friends" --- modern, supposedly educated people, statements that could have life-threatening consequences for individuals, even the world. These are lay people (ie, not scientists or health care workers) who grew up in the same education system as I did. Yet, their pseudoscience statements and beliefs (in particular about immunizations for common childhood killer infectious diseases), and the religiosity in which they express them, emerge as if they have as much factual validity as truth. They come with complete disregard for the years of education and dedication required for true science / public health expertise, what comes from studying all the fine details of a topic for a career lifetime. There is also careless disregard for those who have literally placed their hands on the process against public health threats, infectious disease such as the Ebola virus, and risked their lives for the care of us all.
Disrespect of science, as if science is one opinion, of equal standing with any other lay (especially celebrity) opinion and the now emerging discrimination against health care workers who are willing to go the heart of the Ebola outbreak in Africa, or discrimination against the unfortunate souls who have had loved ones who were sick from or who died of Ebola (such as Louise Troh) will ultimately backfire and lead to a worldwide disaster.
Politicians making policy in isolation from world health expert council and approval qualifies as another form of societal fraud, which, in the currently perilous environment, could devastate mankind for all time. This is the fraud of political extremism or partisanism, which we have already now seen rear its ugly head in the Ebola crisis debates. In the extreme effort to gain power for one political party or group, false statements and beliefs are perpetuated. While such actions are not historically new, in the context of a viral epidemic that could wipe out a significant percentage of the world population, such false beliefs, and the actions they support, come with perilous consequences.
In this time of world crisis we need politicians to be the LEADERS to embrace the advice of colleagues who are experts in TRUE science (in this case public health infectious disease), and in true world wide public health interests. We do not need more pseudoscience, non expert fear opinion, or interests that are believed to exclusively represent one country or another.
As has been pointed out by one of the most respected experts in American public health, America will not be immune to the Ebola outbreak if the world does not support continental Africa aggressively.
osterholm-protect-new-yorkers-stopping-ebola-epidemic-west-africa-article-1.1987405
The world response to Ebola needs to be to send MORE health care workers to Africa, to express gratitude and praise for those who are willing to step up to help protect us all, and to arrange for their comfortable re-entry back to American society (not unjustified punishment and waste of resources to keep a well person in a hospital isolation tent). Perhaps a compromise of voluntary quarantine at home for 21 days, ala similar to what Louis Troh or Nancy Snyderman did, could be reached for these individuals. Or, perhaps even this is not logical. Does this mean that Dr Anthony Fauci (world renowned infectious disease expert at NIH who also now cared for patient Nina Pham) should now also be in tent quarantine? Or the health care workers in Nebraska, or the next place we see a patient with Ebola in America?
As a health care worker I am tired of negotiating with people for their own good, as if the "truth" is debatable. Usually this is only a matter of patient personal choice/ health care autonomy, however, Unfortunately, in the case of Ebola, it is more than a matter of personal choice - what happens next will eventually affect us all in a very profound way. If the front line health care leader experts and hands on workers are disregarded, ostracized or discriminated against, and /or, if we health care workers choose to hide or walk away from the problem in pure frustration, the whole world/ history will lose .
If we quarantine our health care workers we will soon have no health care workers to care for any of us. Is this really what we want? To my facebook "friends" - perhaps you will then remember that I told you so.
**************************************
Update, Feb 2015:
It is interesting to now see the response on Facebook about immunizations in the face of the Measles outbreak.
I am no longer friends with anti-immunization advocates (or at least not with any that are outspoken about it on Facebook).
All of my "friends" support immunization, where possible, for communicable disease.
Last week I unfriended someone on facebook because of their negative comments about immunizations and a possible Ebola vaccine.
This week, as the world situation further heats up over Ebola, it is more apparent that the long percolating lack of respect for expertise in medicine and science is manifesting in public policy (now with New Jersey holding a well (ie, not sick) international aide worker nurse in an in-hospital tent quarantine as she returns from Sierra Leone) and in the expressed beliefs and fears of the public.
I am alarmed at the health-related statements made by some of my facebook "friends" --- modern, supposedly educated people, statements that could have life-threatening consequences for individuals, even the world. These are lay people (ie, not scientists or health care workers) who grew up in the same education system as I did. Yet, their pseudoscience statements and beliefs (in particular about immunizations for common childhood killer infectious diseases), and the religiosity in which they express them, emerge as if they have as much factual validity as truth. They come with complete disregard for the years of education and dedication required for true science / public health expertise, what comes from studying all the fine details of a topic for a career lifetime. There is also careless disregard for those who have literally placed their hands on the process against public health threats, infectious disease such as the Ebola virus, and risked their lives for the care of us all.
Disrespect of science, as if science is one opinion, of equal standing with any other lay (especially celebrity) opinion and the now emerging discrimination against health care workers who are willing to go the heart of the Ebola outbreak in Africa, or discrimination against the unfortunate souls who have had loved ones who were sick from or who died of Ebola (such as Louise Troh) will ultimately backfire and lead to a worldwide disaster.
Politicians making policy in isolation from world health expert council and approval qualifies as another form of societal fraud, which, in the currently perilous environment, could devastate mankind for all time. This is the fraud of political extremism or partisanism, which we have already now seen rear its ugly head in the Ebola crisis debates. In the extreme effort to gain power for one political party or group, false statements and beliefs are perpetuated. While such actions are not historically new, in the context of a viral epidemic that could wipe out a significant percentage of the world population, such false beliefs, and the actions they support, come with perilous consequences.
In this time of world crisis we need politicians to be the LEADERS to embrace the advice of colleagues who are experts in TRUE science (in this case public health infectious disease), and in true world wide public health interests. We do not need more pseudoscience, non expert fear opinion, or interests that are believed to exclusively represent one country or another.
As has been pointed out by one of the most respected experts in American public health, America will not be immune to the Ebola outbreak if the world does not support continental Africa aggressively.
osterholm-protect-new-yorkers-stopping-ebola-epidemic-west-africa-article-1.1987405
The world response to Ebola needs to be to send MORE health care workers to Africa, to express gratitude and praise for those who are willing to step up to help protect us all, and to arrange for their comfortable re-entry back to American society (not unjustified punishment and waste of resources to keep a well person in a hospital isolation tent). Perhaps a compromise of voluntary quarantine at home for 21 days, ala similar to what Louis Troh or Nancy Snyderman did, could be reached for these individuals. Or, perhaps even this is not logical. Does this mean that Dr Anthony Fauci (world renowned infectious disease expert at NIH who also now cared for patient Nina Pham) should now also be in tent quarantine? Or the health care workers in Nebraska, or the next place we see a patient with Ebola in America?
As a health care worker I am tired of negotiating with people for their own good, as if the "truth" is debatable. Usually this is only a matter of patient personal choice/ health care autonomy, however, Unfortunately, in the case of Ebola, it is more than a matter of personal choice - what happens next will eventually affect us all in a very profound way. If the front line health care leader experts and hands on workers are disregarded, ostracized or discriminated against, and /or, if we health care workers choose to hide or walk away from the problem in pure frustration, the whole world/ history will lose .
If we quarantine our health care workers we will soon have no health care workers to care for any of us. Is this really what we want? To my facebook "friends" - perhaps you will then remember that I told you so.
**************************************
Update, Feb 2015:
It is interesting to now see the response on Facebook about immunizations in the face of the Measles outbreak.
I am no longer friends with anti-immunization advocates (or at least not with any that are outspoken about it on Facebook).
All of my "friends" support immunization, where possible, for communicable disease.
Sunday, September 14, 2014
stop the junk mail and how to get revenge
How to get out from under the junk mail-- this is by FAR the best advice I have seen anywhere, and I can see others like me who have responded to it
http://drowndinginmail.wordpress.com/start-here/
Bloggers addenum to original post:
Recognize that the junk mail that is targeted to the vulnerable and seniors usually sells
WORTHLESS products/
get rich quick schemes,
pyramid schemes,
secret health formulas
-- all too good be true.
At a minimum, the VICTIM who responds to this junk mail pays for shipping and handling to cover MORE junk mail promotional items, veiled as the free product. In addition, the victim may fill out forms containing personal information which is then sold to sucker lists or used for other scams perpetrated by the same individuals but under cover a different products.
http://seniorfraud.blogspot.com/2013/09/what-is-sucker-list-and-who-is-sucker.html
The JUNK MAIL route is just ONE route of access into the homes of the vulnerable. Once the Junk mailers have an email address they can continue to send their product without the cost of postage.
Once the junk mailers have an email adresss and/or a phone number they can build a relationship which is the foundation for many a successful CON/ Scam of the vulnerable (see my November, 2014 postings related to this- "How to understand it all")
http://seniorfraud.blogspot.com/2014/11/how-to-understand-it-all.html
http://drowndinginmail.wordpress.com/start-here/
Bloggers addenum to original post:
Recognize that the junk mail that is targeted to the vulnerable and seniors usually sells
WORTHLESS products/
get rich quick schemes,
pyramid schemes,
secret health formulas
-- all too good be true.
At a minimum, the VICTIM who responds to this junk mail pays for shipping and handling to cover MORE junk mail promotional items, veiled as the free product. In addition, the victim may fill out forms containing personal information which is then sold to sucker lists or used for other scams perpetrated by the same individuals but under cover a different products.
http://seniorfraud.blogspot.com/2013/09/what-is-sucker-list-and-who-is-sucker.html
The JUNK MAIL route is just ONE route of access into the homes of the vulnerable. Once the Junk mailers have an email address they can continue to send their product without the cost of postage.
Once the junk mailers have an email adresss and/or a phone number they can build a relationship which is the foundation for many a successful CON/ Scam of the vulnerable (see my November, 2014 postings related to this- "How to understand it all")
http://seniorfraud.blogspot.com/2014/11/how-to-understand-it-all.html
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