Exchanges with People that Make Your Brain Hurt

[Kimblee]

*snip*

Kimblee, may I say if I'm ever sick, I'd want you (or someone like you) to look after me? You combine compassion, cleverness and common sense so well.

Sounds good. Just move to north Texas and gimme a call when you need me.

I like taking care of sick people. It give me something peaceful to do and I'm really pretty good at it. I've done everything from sick baby care (the mirror trick works great with toddlers and kids that have flu too.) to sick elderly care. (Which is when I found out I can indeed change an adult diaper. But that I prefer getting them to the bathroom instead.)

Oh, and want a real brain hurter? The home care nurse who I was "helping" (That means doing the job of because she was leaving my kinda-grand dad on his back long enough to get sores) told me to let him go in the diaper because its easier than getting him to the bathroom. I managed to resist punching her, but it was hard. My white trash roots run deeper than I thought.

I need to find a profession I would be useful for. Nursing is out because its not a one-on-one kind of care. And I'd probably lose my mind in the paperwork. A friend is an RN and she says she does more paperwork than sick people care. I wonder how much education it takes to be a home care aide.

Have you considered HOSPICE? 

You know, I really never have. But now that you mention it, it does sound kind of like it would be a good fit.

I think I'm going to call some of the local ones Monday and ask what qualifications they look for. Thank you.

[Kimblee]

Kimblee, my aunt runs a company where she does home visits (and nursing home visits) to elderly people.  Some of them live alone and are mostly okay, but they need somebody to come by and help them wash their hair, or run the vacuum, or things like that.  Others are people who need a lot more help, some are even in nursing homes, and they are normally getting that help, but their family wants to go on vacation for a week or two.  The family doesn't want their elderly mother to sit in the nursing home alone with no visitors for those two weeks, so my aunt or her employees go by the nursing home and spend a couple of hours visiting the elderly person, chatting, bringing things to them, reading to them, taking them to the bathroom or for a walk, etc.  That would be an awesome job for you!

Yeah, that sounds like what I used to do foir kinda-grandpa. Any idea what that service might be called so I can find out if there's something similar around here? (sorry to unrail the thread with these questions, but this actually sounds like a job I would enjoy a lot.)

B/G on Kinda-Grandpa, since I've mentioned him twice: He was my evil grandmother's ex-husband and while my cousins were his grandkids, he and I didn't meet until I was an adult. I went to his house several times a week to unpack his groceries, make sure his medicine box was stocked correctly and change the afghans on his furniture. And some weeks to take care of him because his home care nurse was being a [word I really shouldn't say].

I also went to the VA hospital with him, although my aunt was his main caregiver for that. i was just there because I have a strong back and could help him on and off the toilet. Auntie just couldn't handle that with her bad back. Plus I got to hang out in the motel and be away from my "real life" for a few days. Everyone won on that situation.

[Dr. F.]

A good friend of mine does elder-care. She's EXTREMELY good at it, and quite well-paid (which, as her husband has been working on his dissertation for 5 years, is a good thing). I don't think she's had any specific training, aside from basic first-aid and CPR types things. She gets clients through word of mouth, and is in high demand. I can ask her if you're interested - PM me if you want me to ask her.

Kimblee, my aunt runs a company where she does home visits (and nursing home visits) to elderly people.  Some of them live alone and are mostly okay, but they need somebody to come by and help them wash their hair, or run the vacuum, or things like that.  Others are people who need a lot more help, some are even in nursing homes, and they are normally getting that help, but their family wants to go on vacation for a week or two.  The family doesn't want their elderly mother to sit in the nursing home alone with no visitors for those two weeks, so my aunt or her employees go by the nursing home and spend a couple of hours visiting the elderly person, chatting, bringing things to them, reading to them, taking them to the bathroom or for a walk, etc.  That would be an awesome job for you!

Yeah, that sounds like what I used to do foir kinda-grandpa. Any idea what that service might be called so I can find out if there's something similar around here? (sorry to unrail the thread with these questions, but this actually sounds like a job I would enjoy a lot.)

B/G on Kinda-Grandpa, since I've mentioned him twice: He was my evil grandmother's ex-husband and while my cousins were his grandkids, he and I didn't meet until I was an adult. I went to his house several times a week to unpack his groceries, make sure his medicine box was stocked correctly and change the afghans on his furniture. And some weeks to take care of him because his home care nurse was being a [word I really shouldn't say].

I also went to the VA hospital with him, although my aunt was his main caregiver for that. i was just there because I have a strong back and could help him on and off the toilet. Auntie just couldn't handle that with her bad back. Plus I got to hang out in the motel and be away from my "real life" for a few days. Everyone won on that situation.

[Black Delphinium]

Kimble, I used to work in a private care home as a Direct Care Provider. No certification needed, minus First Aid and stuff.

We did meals and baths and stuff. It was both nice and awful. Some days were awesome and some days drove me to drink, but on the whole it was lovely.

[MommyPenguin]

It's sort of like this, Kimblee: http://www.homelifecareinc.com/services.htm  So possibly look up "personal care services" or "home care aide," etc.  Respite will get you lots of hits about foster care, so I probably wouldn't start there.  In general, the type of company seems to be a "home care agency."

[ladyknight1]

Not an exchange, but something I saw that made my brain hurt.

I was at Target recently and saw a toddler-sized onesie with "Single and LOVING it!" written on it.

WHY?

See, that actually amuses me and I usually hate that kind of thing on babies/toddlers (or adults for that matter). Possibly because my brain interprets it as a mockery of the whole idea of writing your relationship status across your chest, but maybe that's just me.

It sure beats the 50-something woman I saw today, whose shirt read "I <3 BOYS!"   

[Twik]

Kimble, I used to work in a private care home as a Direct Care Provider. No certification needed, minus First Aid and stuff.

We did meals and baths and stuff. It was both nice and awful. Some days were awesome and some days drove me to drink, but on the whole it was lovely.

Not to mention, from someone whose parent needs this help from time to time, it can be a real lifesaver.

[SheltieMom]

Kimblee, I just sent you a PM about a program in Hurst, which I think is pretty close to you. It's a one month course that will train you to pass the exam to be a Certified Nursing Assistant. I'm trying to talk my DIL into taking it.

[Nikko-chan]

Not an exchange, but something I saw that made my brain hurt.

I was at Target recently and saw a toddler-sized onesie with "Single and LOVING it!" written on it.

WHY?

See, that actually amuses me and I usually hate that kind of thing on babies/toddlers (or adults for that matter). Possibly because my brain interprets it as a mockery of the whole idea of writing your relationship status across your chest, but maybe that's just me.

It sure beats the 50-something woman I saw today, whose shirt read "I <3 BOYS!"   

Oh dear...

[robobecky]

Couldn't get the quote tree to work right.   Kimblee, another option is Visiting Angels if they have that in your area.  My mom does it, and she goes to senior's houses, talks with them, helps with meals and light cleaning, transportation to appointments, and for one woman, spends 2 nights a week with her since she can't be left alone.  This agency is a good option for families trying to keep their elderly relatives out of nursing homes but who can't be on their own all the time.

[Lynn2000]

My mom has caused me plenty of brain-hurting moments with computers, too, so I feel your pain, Miss Tickle. She really, really tries and has actually learned to do some stuff on the computer on her own, that I don't know how to do, because she really wanted to do it. But then she'll call with a problem and can't really explain it to me with words I understand, and can't answer the questions I ask, and can't do simple things like copy and paste or type an address into a browser, and we both just end up really frustrated.  I'm not at all a computer person, I just use them a lot more than she does, so I really don't want to be "responsible" for her computer use and maintenance, but I also don't want to be totally unhelpful.

I apologize if someone else has pointed this out, but if I don't post it while I'm reading this post, I'll forget. You can download a program called "Crossloop" onto your computer and your Mom's computer (next time you are at her house). With this program, it's really easy to link to her computer over the internet and you control her computer. Makes fixing things much easier without having to leave your house!

I've thought about doing something like this--I know there are several similar programs. My mom gets really excited whenever I mention it, which kinda turns me off doing it... I don't want to be called upon to figure out every little thing, just because I have the magic program that can take over her computer, you know? I can see it now: "I can't figure out how to move these files from one folder to another. Can you just do it for me?" 

On a related note, my cousin posted on Facebook that she was now officially an "old parent," because her six-year-old had to help her download and install something on her phone. I like to think the people of my generation are now passing the brain hurt of technology onto the next generation.

[2littlemonkeys]

[snip]



On a related note, my cousin posted on Facebook that she was now officially an "old parent," because her six-year-old had to help her download and install something on her phone. I like to think the people of my generation are now passing the brain hurt of technology onto the next generation.

LOL!  I hear you.  I'll never forget the day my then 4-year-old showed me a much simpler way to switch between the cable and DVD player.   

[Virg]

lilfox wrote:

"So, in an effort to forestall the budget removal, our project manager just sent an email saying essentially "Spend to your plan!"  But we can't because nothing is as budget-intense as data collection, which we simply can't do now.  And because the system won't let us move the money out to when we'll need it, it now looks like we have buckets of unused money."

Spend the money hiring a consultant to do data collection.  Have that consultant start the data collection when the time is right, and then pay the consultant now to reserve their employment.  You should also consider the possibility of moonlighting as a data collection consultant.  I hear at least one company in your area is looking to hire.

You're welcome.

On a serious note, though, if your data collection involves third party consultants or companies, just contract with them now for services on X date.  It's an ages-old method for moving money around in the budget when time is involved.  Have a discussion with your favorite accountant for all the details.

Virg

[Shalamar]

This conversation with a co-worker made my brain hurt.

The background is that she had created a problem ticket saying that a file which should have been created on Saturday wasn't created.  I knew that the system which was supposed to create that file was having issues on Friday and Saturday, so I needed to find out if those issues had been resolved before I could try to get her file for her.

She called me just now, and we had this conversation:

Her:  How's it going getting that file for me?
Me:  I have to see if the Blah System is working first, then I can get your file restored for you.
Her:  Okay.  Oh, by the way, it's not the Saturday file I want after all.  It's the Friday file.
Me:  ... okay.

I have to ask - shouldn't she have led with "I asked you for the wrong file before"?   

[2littlemonkeys]

I was going to post this in the Special Snowflake thread but then I realized it was more brain hurty than anything.  Though the guy was still kind of SS-y for the attitude.


In our city, every car must have a City Sticker.  And depending upon what street you live on, some residents are required to have a residential parking sticker if they wish to park on the street.  The City Sticker isn't cheap, they run about $75 per year for your average car (they cost more if you have a large SUV or pickup truck).  The residential stickers are $25/year.  The stickers go on sale in May or early June and they're expected to be on your car by June 30.  This is not a secret and is heavily advertised.  If you buy your sticker after the deadline, it's another $40.  And if the local PD pulls you over or spots your car on the street and it doesn't have a sticker on it, you get a $120 fine. 

So we had this tenant who suddenly absolutely refused to buy a city sticker or residential sticker.  He'd bought them before but decided they were stupid and he just wasn't gonna do it anymore.  I get it, we do a little moaning and eye rolling over it sometimes but it's a requirement for living here.  We're all free to live elsewhere.  No one is being held hostage.

So June 30 came and went and he started getting tickets.  He chose to ignore them and racked up a few tickets.  Then his car got booted (you get the boot when you ignore your 3rd ticket).  It cost $60 to get the boot removed but you have to pay your tickets before they'll do that.  Leave it too long and you get towed.  And THEN you get to pay for the impound to spring your car.

So he got towed.  By my estimates, he now had to pony up at least $580 in boot/tickets/impound PLUS the $100 PLUS the $40 late fee because he didn't want to pay $100 to have the proper stickers.  And he really needed his car for work, so he HAD to get it out.  And he complained about it every minute we saw him.