More word salad

Its Saturday night.  I give you the choice of lasagna or pot pie for dinner.  You choose the pot pie.  Tonight I cook it in the special box for 6 minutes, instead of 5.  I serve it up on a plate, and sit quietly, watching you eat.

"This muffin is really good", you say.

A few minutes later you say, "This sandwich is what?"



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Its Sunday night.  Its very cold today and you have wrapped yourself in 1 blanket.  I point out that there is also a 2nd blanket that you could use, and I place on your lap.  Soon, once again, we are talking as you eat dinner.

"This magazine is warmer than the other one", you say, followed by a gasp!  "Why did I say that?"

I know what you mean. The 2nd blanket has added significant warmth.

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Late night auto-dial on the phone

This is my mistake.  I moved the phone to the right side of the chair a few days ago, thinking it would be easier to reach.  However, you have been confusing it with the TV clicker since then.

Its New Years Eve, after midnight.  Its time for bed.  You get up, turn off the TV, leave the room, and then return. It is apparent you are trying to turn the TV back on.  But, instead, you have the phone in your hand.  I can hear the tones of the different numbers as you push the buttons, randomly.  Unfortunately, because of auto-dial, you call someone:

"Who is this I am calling?", you say.

Its like the adults who speak in non - word tones on Charlie Brown's The Great Pumpkin- we hear the tone of the person on the other end, but we don't know exactly who it is, we can't hear exactly what they are saying.

"I was just playing with some shoe devices here on my table, I didn't call you intentionally....But, you know, I have 2 pair of slippers... " (and from there he goes on into a long explanation about how the slipper doesn't quite fit -- and how he used to sell slippers.  This is an old shoe store merchant talking.  He goes into great detail about the slippers....eventually volunteering to give one of the old slippers to the husband of the person he has called.  The conversation goes on about 5 minutes).

OH NO __ WHO HAS HE CALLED??? I HAVE TO STOP THIS -- GET IN THE CAR AND GET OVER THERE AND GET HIM OFF THE PHONE!!

"How did I call you on this??  ........I've got these dialing deals, I 've got 2 of them on my table here, and I just hit the one, and you answered"

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We get in the car, but  en route realize that you have turned off the lights and are in bed.
We turn around and return home.

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I play it back

I hear the person say "go to bed" and you say " Oh yeah, I am going to bed".  And, with that, after several failed attempts of dialing nobody,you hang it up, turn off the lights, and go to bed.

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Tomorrow we commit to making the old fashioned phone reach the chair.   No more fancy auto-dial-capable-wireless  phone / TV clicker look-alike devices for you.


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Notice the "word salad" - replacing the correct word with another word -  "shoe devices" and "Dialing deals" in reference to the TV clicker and the phone.
Here is a link to other examples  http://www.lbda.org/node/362

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How easy it is to mess up the equilibrium/routine of a person with dementia -- as the dementia experts all know.

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spaceship boat rides

"That boat in the sky is still there", you tell me this morning.

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This evening you say "That spaceship across the street is running again".

"Are they still giving rides, do you actually see them giving rides?", I ask.

"Just short ones................

..............This has got to be a good thing for that building.  Money making, and you can see it from street....."

"Do you think this is just for the holidays, or will it be permanent?", I ask.

"I think it is just for the holidays"


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http://seniorfraud.blogspot.com/2014/11/across-street.html

http://seniorfraud.blogspot.com/2014/12/tip-for-press.html

The phone in the bathroom doesn't work

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.

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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.