Friday, March 20th, 2020 06:46 am
Well, if you are in the south east, expect inches of rain this weekend because i left the sprinkler running in the garden all night. It got at least three or four inches of water because the basin i set out to measure by is overflowing. It's a miracle the well isn't dry and the pump burnt out.

When i went out in the dark to turn it off, the headlamp i wore illuminated the pollen streaming in the air. Yay, allergies. Just what's needed on top of health worries.

--== ∞ ==--

Working out some worries here.

One) Dad needs help caring for Mom. My sister has been bathing Mom and exercising Mom. I've been giving bits of respite. I think i have a greater understanding of what my dad means when he says things: an understanding of exaggeration, a better sense of tall tale and "entertainment" intention. My sister suspects and distrusts. I think he finds conversation with me more comfortable and that means he can also be more honest. My sister is worried Dad's applying rubbing alcohol to Mom's tender parts when changing her; he says he's not. The prompt of the worry is that he is cleaning both their hands with rubbing alcohol and sponging mom with rubbing alcohol since before COVID-19 was a concern.

Two) On top of Mom's cognitive decline and the paralysis in her right arm and right leg, Mom's lungs have been damaged over the years by an as yet undiagnosed autoimmune issue. So respiratory issues are a double worry for her.

Three) My sister reports that someone at her husband's company has tested positive for COVID-19.

My concern about seeing them is balancing the concerns we have about Dad's care for Mom and making sure some of the gaps in his ability to care are filled with being a transmission vector. Mom needs to be bathed and Dad needs a break. And we need to deal with this over months not weeks.

Dad and i -- before my sister's status was known -- had agreed i'd come spend the day Wednesday, the 25th. He's going to do his grocery shopping at the base, where the PX is taking extreme care to sanitize and enforce distancing. Dad trusts the military to have the discipline to get it right.

If i see them on the 25th, it will be a week after i'd been to the grocery store. Not a magic number but enough we might have a clue if i'm safe. Also, Christine and i should have a decent thermometer by then: i'll start monitoring my temperature. (A friend described explaining to his daughter just how careful she needed to be with their mercury thermometer so that she could inherit it. Oh for the one i broke in college!)

My last exposure to my sister was Friday night, the 13th: We met outside at her place, probably got closer than 6 ft as we walked around her yard, but the only think i touched that she touched was the can of beer she gave me. We were still taking care due to my niece having Flu B.

The last time L bathed Mom was Thursday the 12th, when Mom wouldn't tell me she needed assistance and had an accident.

So i'm just 24 hours more recently exposed to my sister than my mother.

That is what it is.

--== ∞ ==--

My sister's family is getting a satellite internet set up at her house this Saturday, after which my brother in law can work from home. I guess a two week clock starts for them this coming Saturday.

There's a good deal of anger in the county about the lousy internet offering the vast majority of the county has to deal with. I am so glad our connection is reliable. It may not be broadband but it is reliable and i can work with it.

Our state legislature has blocked "socialist" efforts to provide internet and wrote laws that enforce letting the market take its time. Our state representative says there's enough votes to overturn the stupid legislation, but the state leadership isn't letting it come to the floor. The tea party is damaging it's own that way. I can't believe the shortsightedness. Maybe now the law will be repealed, or even better, legislation that ensures everyone has access to affordable internet access.

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