what did you do today? (2008-2015) (closed)

[REWahoo]

After 14 years of wear and tear, I started the project of repainting the interior woodwork. I'd like to shoot whoever came up with the idea of crown molding...

[easysurfer]

After putting up with a drill/driver that couldn't keep a bit in place, decided to change the chuck today. A new chuck with a racheting action did the trick big time. I'm a happy camper now.

[W2R]

Quote:

Originally Posted by REWahoo After 14 years of wear and tear, I started the project of repainting the interior woodwork. I'd like to shoot whoever came up with the idea of crown molding...

That's hard even for a professional painter. After mine finished my crown molding a couple of years ago, he looked really beat. This despite the fact that he had been a pro boxer in his youth and is very fit. When he was finishing up I pointed out that with the newly white crown molding, the nail holes showed up. So, he had to go back and fill them and touch up. Luckily he has a very mellow personality.

[bbbamI]

Thanks y'all for the positive remarks about rotten EKGs.

I read one (only one) article about abnormal EKGs. It stated a large variety of reasons for why this could happen.

Meanwhile, DH got his blood work results this a.m. His bad cholesterol is low, the good cholesterol is high, and his liver, kidney and thyroid are just fine. His blood pressure was normal yesterday as well.

He said he was pleased about the blood work results...now if only he could keep his heart from exploding....



Yep, he and I can get pretty twisted at times. Got to hang on to as much humor as possible don't ya know.

[freebird5825]

I went to see the latest James Bond 007 movie, Skyfall, in a real theatre today. I went to the 12 PM showing. It was almost like being at a private showing with only 20 or so people in the theatre.
The movie was fabulous. Daniel Craig is the next best thing to Sean Connery if that is at all possible.
Both surely make my motor hummmmm.

[pb4uski]

We saw the new Bond movie Wednesday night. I thought it was one of the better Bond flicks (but I actually like them all).

[Nords]

Back at the end of August, Dad ended up in the hospital for a week of physical exams and a change of medications. That all turned out fine (so far so good) but now the hailstorm of medical bills is raining down. Emergency room screenings, CAT scans, transportation... I'm surprised that I didn't get one for the food or the toilet flushing.

The challenge is that the care providers snail-mail(!) half of the bills to Dad's care facility and the other half to my brother's address. Every piece of the care picture has been farmed out to a separate contractor, none of whom paid any attention to the Medicare supplemental insurance information that my brother provided. Most of these guys don't even have a toll-free customer service phone number, let alone a website.

When I was on the Mainland in September, my brother and I went through a pile of Dad's family photo albums. I bought a cheap scanner to use in my hotel room with my laptop and then I gave the scanner to my brother to use in his business or to resell on Craigslist. The unanticipated benefit of this is that he found it very easy to scan in the bills to e-mail to me, so I didn't have to wait for weeks until he got around to sending them by snail mail.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Moemg I had the same thing happen . I then had a stress test & passed .

I think an abnormal EKG is a stress test all by itself. Having to wait for the followup is an even harder endurance test.

[Walt34]

We had a long day yesterday. FIL is now out of the hospital and in a rehab center but does not look well at all. When admitted to the hospital he had a blood sugar level of 856. It's surprising he was conscious. I suspect this did a lot of damage. He cannot now even stand up on his own. I'm not sure how lucid he is, he doesn't talk much.

This is the guy who last week could climb a flight of stairs - albeit slowly - several times a day.

Work continues on the house to prep it for sale. New roofing shingle bundles are on the roof and I guess they'll put the new roof on next week. The weather forecast is good for that.

DW's brother had FIL's car inspected for a Maryland inspection (required of a used car for registration to a new owner) and as I suspected it is essentially scrap - it would need almost $2k of work and the car isn't worth that much. So that will probably be donated to either a junkyard or a tech school if they want it.

The whole thing feels like settling his estate. DW is, to put it mildly, depressed. I suppose the next thing is to move his stuff back out of the independent living apartment. I don't know where to - the house is going up for sale when the roof/kitchen are done and it is pretty clear to me that he's not going back to an independent living apartment.

I can't imagine how Nords did/does this from the distance he does.

[Nords]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Walt34 DW is, to put it mildly, depressed. I can't imagine how Nords did/does this from the distance he does.

My brother lives 20 minutes away from our Dad, but my brother and I each feel as if we have the easier job.

When an emergency like this disrupts the plan and the "routine", you end up putting your entire life on hold.

You and your family might have taken this as far as you can do it on your own. A geriatric care manager can be a big help in working with the rehab facility's discharge coordinator to recommend whether you still want to try "independent" living (with a team of visiting CNAs and nurses) or whether you want to look for a full care facility.

The GCMs have a pretty good handle on which nursing agencies and care facilities have the better reputations and which are struggling. Hiring a few hours of their experience, education, and reassurance is ridiculously cheap compared to DIY.

[ERD50]

Quote:

Originally Posted by REWahoo After 14 years of wear and tear, I started the project of repainting the interior woodwork. I'd like to shoot whoever came up with the idea of crown molding...

I seem to be better at woodworking than painting, so in many rooms, I ended up painting, and leaving the edge between ceiling and wall 'rough', and then putting up crown molding (finished/painted before it goes up), which hides the line.

The hardest and most frustrating part for me, and near impossible to do to my standards is 'cutting in' that line. I'd rather do the molding.

Of course, next time around, it will be a bear - but I'll probably hire someone. Though, the molding can maybe give you a better line to tape if you go that route?

-ERD50

[Moemg]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Walt34 The whole thing feels like settling his estate. DW is, to put it mildly, depressed. I suppose the next thing is to move his stuff back out of the independent living apartment. I don't know where to - the house is going up for sale when the roof/kitchen are done and it is pretty clear to me that he's not going back to an independent living apartment. I can't imagine how Nords did/does this from the distance he does.

You may be surprised . My Mom who is 96 fell and broke her right shoulder & had a subdural hematoma in September . She has been in rehab & then a nursing home with physical therapy . It looks like she will be returning to her independent unit before Christmas . Of course with the elderly it is like Shoots & Ladders. One step forward & two back !

[NW-Bound]

I spent a couple of hours downloading a tax program for 2012, then playing a bit with the numbers to see how much equity I can sell to take advantage of the low taxes on cap gains that may go away. As I stopped my part-time work earlier this year, this is the first time my income drops to the level where I can realize some cap gains without paying any taxes. Nice!

I did not know about this tax break until I saw someone mentioned it on this forum. So, I told my wife that my time spent BS'ing and hanging around here really paid off. Thanks, y'all.

I will "Sell, sell, sell" between now and the year end. Need to keep an eye out for wash-sale rule though. Darn, that makes market timing ever more difficult to buy back. This is the first time ever that I look to sell gains instead of losses. It feels weird!

But as I messed around entering "guesstimates" into the tax program, I got a bit hot under the collar. Our tax rules are way too complicated. Why didn't we fire all the congressional critters and start over?

Oh, it's because the new guys may take away some of the "good deductions" that we have been counting on. Sigh...

[BrianB]

My understanding is that wash-sale doesn't apply if you have a profit, so you can buy back the next day if you want. What would the IRS do - call it income twice?

[NW-Bound]

Damn! You can see that I was still locked into the "tax loss selling" mentality...

Heh heh heh... Sell sell sell... Buy buy buy... It's a day trader's delight!

I've got to make sure I do not go overboard on this.

[braumeister]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bbbamI Thanks y'all for the positive remarks about rotten EKGs. I read one (only one) article about abnormal EKGs. It stated a large variety of reasons for why this could happen.

It really is amazing. When I was on active duty (USAF) I went for a routine physical and the doc got really intense about my abnormal EKG. Set me up for the first available appointment with the nearest military cardiologist.

I was freaking out, and the appointment was three weeks away. Totally rotten time for me.

When I finally got to see the cardiologist, she simply looked at the EKG and said "You're probably a runner, right? We see this a lot in healthy athletic types. Nothing to worry about. Have a nice day."

Much later, after retirement, I have had the same experience with civilian doctors who take EKGs. It's always the same anomaly, and I always have to explain to them that it's "normal for me."

[bbbamI]

Good to hear you're doing well braumeister. Even tho DH is not a runner, I can see what would be abnormal for some may not be for others.

I assumed our PCP listened to DH's heart after the EKG. I confirmed that with him tonight. DH said our doc noticed a 'pulse' that was coming in at the wrong time.

So, he'll have it checked out. If there is a problem, I'm hoping it can be remedied easily.

[Walt34]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nords You and your family might have taken this as far as you can do it on your own. A geriatric care manager can be a big help in working with the rehab facility's discharge coordinator to recommend whether you still want to try "independent" living (with a team of visiting CNAs and nurses) or whether you want to look for a full care facility.

This may be the time to look into a GCM, as you're right in that normal life has come to a screeching halt. Our thought is that once the house is sold much of the detail work will go with it. DW does have POA so that is helping a lot to make things smoother.

Looking at him yesterday I don't envision him ever going back to independent living but I've been wrong before so maybe he will.

[Nords]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Walt34 Our thought is that once the house is sold much of the detail work will go with it. DW does have POA so that is helping a lot to make things smoother.

True. The first week my father was in the hospital, I spent about three days (20+ hours) sorting through files and newspapers and other "collectibles". A couple months later my brother and his GF put in about two-three weeks to empty the 2BR apartment and turn the keys back over to the landlord. They do this for a living but I was still glad to escape that part.

We got lucky on the SUV-- a '99 Ford Explorer in decent shape. Last year Dad sold it to my brother for a buck and these days Dad feels right at home being driven around in it. When I was visiting a couple months ago we spent $750 on five new tires... some of the old ones had made it for nearly a decade.

Your spouse probably has a better handle on the finances than I did, but at the beginning I was averaging 1-2 hours/day on paperwork and e-mails and phone calls. Today it's down to about 1-2 hours/week, although some projects (conservator's report, tax returns) can suck up 10-20 hours. (Friday was "Medicare supplemental insurance claims filing" day.) I spend most of my effort streamlining routine tasks.

As the word gets around on your FIL's condition, financial institutions may begin to balk on the POA. Notaries will be difficult to work with, too. Hopefully your spouse has an updated list of website account logins, passwords, and security questions. The more you can do online (and the less you have to do in person) the better. Lately I only tell the financial institutions what they absolutely need to know, and contrition is a lot easier than permission.

I don't know the best way to track down a GCM, but friends & neighbors can help find referrals. The hospital's discharge coordinator and the independent living facility may be willing to recommend some names. You end up shopping around for someone you'll bond with, because you're going to be swapping a lot of late-night and weekend phone calls with them for fast response and quick decisions. The price becomes secondary to peace of mind.

[NookWine-n-Tinker]

Rode the scoot up to the Intl Motorcycle Show in San Mateo yesterday. The day started as drizzly and nasty and I had to ride thru some rain to get up there, but by early afternoon the skies had cleared and the sun came out. Toured the displays and drooled over some of the bikes. The show seems to get a little smaller each year, but it is still fun. BMW had their new scoots, which looked really cool, but retail for about 10.5k!

They had some killer show bikes sponsored by JPCycles and I especially liked the ProStreet models.




Ran

[NookWine-n-Tinker]

iPad acted up before I could finish!

Once the weather cleared, they were doing the test rides and I rode 5 of the HD models. I liked the Switchback and the CVO Roadking, but was not crazy about the Trike. Definitely would take some getting used to that bike.

The star was the Ultra Classic Limited (the top of the line touring model) and it rode and felt like buttah!

Well a guy can dream!

Now if I could just recover from that session with the personal trainer at the gym and be able to walk normally, without pain, that would be great! Damn fit kids!