11805 Tuesday

11/8/05 Tuesday
     This will be an interesting day. I start out taking Fred to Barb’s and then taking her to the dentist. This dentist always takes an extended amount of time so I will be sitting in the car with Fred for an hour or so. I like Fred but we don’t have much to talk about so it’s weather, aches and pains, the “That’s not right” venting of his current frustration, and other fun stuff. I doubt I will be able to get on this laptop during this wait.  BUT WAIT! There’s more.
     Yesterday Fred told me that after the dentist he would like to take Barb to cash her check and then to buy food. I am happy to see that Fred had listened to me regarding that. This way she has food and no cash, or at least less cash to potentially buy drugs or whatever well it is that swallows her money. However ever since I started telling Fred things like the TV disappearing there has been lots of tension, in fact she is downright angry. I need to keep things settled but that is hard when I say just what I think.
     Now here’s the problem. I am to take Wayne to the Zeph Center where he will meet with his new case worker. Yesterday Wayne told me she was the head psychologist for Zeph Center and that she told him “I am the boss”. This is a change from his first report where he didn’t mention her status. It will be interesting to meet her. But I digress…Wayne is to be at this appointment at 2:00 and Barb’s check usually doesn’t arrive till 1:00 so that will make it hard to do. Actually when I consider that Fred really shouldn’t go with us because I would have to leave him alone for a while, it is impossible. I foresee a conflict coming. I already told Fred that Wayne’s making this appointment took priority over taking Barb to cash her check. It is his car and he may demand I take him and Barb around. Tough spot to be in so I hope it doesn’t work that way. So that’s the juggling act. Nothing compared to what others do daily.
     I put one of the poems I wrote when we were asked to wander away by Cedar Creek church on my whattaboutbob.blogspot.com blog. Check it out. I am still trying to find a way of organizing this website stuff. So far all I have done is make a confusing mess. That’s what happens when you forget what you had in mind when you see it again. “Now what was I up to here? What the hell was I doing?” is a common thought with me.  
     My ears are ringing now and I have that kind of strange sensation on my upper body I have had before. With it comes a kind of light headed dizziness and a shift in the feel for the day. It is hard to explain in a way that will give others a taste of it, just a taste. It is like trying to describe what chocolate tastes like to someone who never tasted chocolate. They will never know till they taste it.
     You would think these symptoms should come with a slowdown but it is quite the opposite. I am running about an 8 right now which is up from my average which is 7. But I am getting tired. I took my pill at 7:30 or so. It is 9:14 now and Fred wants to leave at 10:30. I hope I am doing better then, if not I will have to drive carefully. Perhaps I should lay down. Really dizzy and finger tips are tingling. I will take some aspirin. I did slow down.
     It is 4:55 at this moment. I just got home and need to record this day before it vanishes. I laid down and Fred called. That’s beginning to have a ring of familiarity to it, you know Fred calling when I lay down. In his usual push to get things done he say’s “I told Barb we will be there at 10:30”. So I says “Her appointment isn’t till 11:15 and we will leave here at 10:30”.
     I crammed a bowl of cereal down as I packed up the laptop in case I could bring it out and work on it. Fat chance of that happening. On the way to Barb’s I let Fred know again what my schedule was and that getting Wayne to his appointment was a top priority. Barb was not ready when we arrived so Fred went up to the door. I could see him through the storm door as he talked to Barb and couldn’t tell if he was coming or what.
     At last Fred comes out the door and I half expected Barb not to go but she followed him to the car. Barb had nothing to say so I said “How you doing Barb?”. She just said “OK” and that was about it for the day. We get to the dentist and Barb goes up while Fred and I settle in for the wait. Fred tries to keep a conversation going with little success. There just isn’t much we can talk about.
     An hour goes by which I expected but after an hour and a half I am starting to watch the clock to insure I will get Wayne to the Zeph Center. As it gets close to a do or die time I told Fred that I would have to get Wayne soon. I went up to the dentist’s office and when I rolled open the glass door at the reception area I could see Barb in the dentist chair. I asked how long she would be and got a general “It won’t be long” response. “How long?” I asked and watched them hedge around. The dentist came by and said they were waiting on Barb’s X-ray and would then know if she needs her tooth removed or what. I explained I was her transportation and needed to get moving so the doc asked if I wanted to reschedule. I said yes and waited in the lobby for Barb.
     Barb didn’t come so I slid open the glass and got their attention again. Now the doc had already shot Barb with Novocain and was going to start on Barb’s teeth despite me telling her Barb had to go. Now I got upset and told them that Barb either leaves with me now or they could take her home. They said it would just be a few minutes so I went back downstairs to the car. I told Fred that getting Wayne to his appointment was a priority so I would be leaving. He got upset and I told him I could come back for Barb later. It wouldn’t hurt her to wait a bit. Finally I told Fred that I was starting the car and leaving now so he could either go with me or go upstairs and wait with Barb. He elected to go in and wait with Barb so I took off.
     Halfway to Wayne’s my cell phone rang and it was Fred saying Barb was done now so I made a u turn and came back. I picked them up and took Barb home. I talked with Fred and explained I would have to go in with Wayne so Fred would have to wait for maybe another hour or so. We decided to pick up Wayne and then take Fred home. Then I would race to get Wayne to Zeph as close to his appointment time as possible.
     Wayne was ready and talkative when we got there. After dropping Fred off Wayne got onto this new caseworker thing that his mind had blown out of proportion. He kept talking about how she was a bitch and pushy and I would keep telling him to cool his jets about it. “We’ll see” I would say as he planned on her being mean to him. “Come on Wayne, Just relax a bit will you”
     We got there and his case worker was an absolute sweetheart. She quickly let us know what could be available for Wayne and gave us some phone numbers to call. It was generally good and I made a point of letting Wayne know how wrong he had been and that he needs to be more easy going.