Ulog date 7.1.18 Day 32
My Father in Law's landline didn't work yesterday. He has a new cell flip-phone. He bought it because he lives alone, likes to take walks, has fallen, and is in need of a phone in case of emergencies.
The temperature yesterday was 95F/35C along with it being ungodly humid all day. A day people over 80 should stay inside and not be working in the yard. From my experience, most people over 80 just do what they want anyway because they are, well 80. They have lived and survived more in their lifetime the most ever will.
I don't have a problem with that until what they chose or not chose to do becomes unsafe for them.
Seven months ago My Father in Law finished making, all by hand, a present for my son, his Grandchild. He was going to send it down to Colombia, South America so @ecoinstant and @ecoinstane would recieve it in time for Christmas. A very confusing long story then happened and the package ended up back at our house three months later.
Jump forward a bit and we found out Ecoinstant and Ecoinstane were coming home, well, now. We decided it was safer to leave the Chrismas present here until they could open it up then trying to get it to South America again.
Yesterday, all of us ended up with some free time, in the evening, where we all could be in one place. The Christmas present could finally be opened! We called my Father in Law to tell him my husband would be picking him up at 6 pm so he could see the grand opening of the present he had worked so hard on.
But..........We could NOT get a hold of him.
Many of you already know if you have your cell phone turned all the way off it doesn't work. If you only turn it on to make a phone call from your car, leave a message, then turn it off again, no one can return your phone call either.
Sigh...
Worried, we all piled in the truck and drove over to his house yesterday to make sure he was alright. He, thank God was. I, on the other hand, almost burst a blood vessel.
We, well I, have tried to explain to him over 30 times that if he falls, he might not have the time to turn the phone on, wait for it to boot all the way up, and then finally hit the very large '911' emergency button on his phone. His safety is why he got the cell phone in the first place. One of the hazards of living alone at 80 years old.
I was NOT the sweetest person to him yesterday when I was telling him that he NEEDS to keep his freaking cell phone on.
I called his cable company. Nothing was his fault. The cable company was already working on the problem of the area outage. I let my Father in law know that if it was fixed before 9 pm they will call him so he doesn't have to keep checking his phone.
Story edited here for sanity reasons
My Father in Law is the sweetest man there is. He loves his family. He was a widow before one should have to be and now his family is his world.
The time comes, finally, the six-month-old Christmas present get's opened!
I will end this Ulog with 2 thoughts.
While all of the above was going on, the photo below was what was happening to my computer.
If you have a cell phone and lived alone, always keep it turned on and near your side.
Your loved ones will thank you for that many times over if you do.
Trust me on that one!!
Share a smile today. It cannot hurt!
Love,
Snook
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it is so worrisome. My mom lived alone until she passed away and she fell twice and wasn't found until a few hours later. We had her on a service that called in the morning and in the evening. If she didn't answer, they called a neighbor we had given a key to and she checked. And if that didn't work, they send someone from their office to check.
The second time she fell, she even had her alert bracelet on but was too confused to push the button...
That sounds horrible...........and yes, what I worry about too
On F. I. L.' S side, he has been doing his thing long before these modern inconveniences called cell phones were invented, He Wasn't worried about coverage, just the modern kids who cant think of being without that worry.
Then you will have to remind him to keep it charged up.
A quick, once a day, " hows it going" call, then you know he is on and can check that he is pumped up, as an idea to calm your nerves.
I do agree with what you are saying to a point. <3 he already get's a phone call once a day from his daughter and he get's a call as much as his son's job allows him time.
He will call me sometimes 4 times a day.......
He lives alone in a 125 year old house. counting the attic, that he goes up to, it is 4 stories tall plus an old cellar basement....... plus an old 'servant' staircase that runs from the bedrooms to the kitchen. He uses those every day......some are not the safest, no handrails and such......
If he would have to leave that house he would have to leave ALL of his workshop stuff, over 600 clocks, a room full of pinball machines, Edison record players .........and the list goes on.
He is not a hoarder. He knows where EVERYTHING is.
If he gets hurt and has to leave that house and his toys and projects he will die. plain and simple.
He is blind in one eye..........but he has fallen on more the one occasion ......he is getting older, slower. It IS dangerous for him to live in that house.
someone takes him food shopping each week because he knows he should not be driving but still does in town when he feels he has to......he takes the back roads......
We give him his dignity and respect that is due him. We also know, as he does, he needs to stay in that house because he can not afford anything else big enough to be able to take all and I mean ALL his treasures with him.
My Mother in law has been gone over 15 years. He still talks like she passed away yesterday. for that alone the memories of her and that house......he will stay.......
so please don't think we don't love and respect him as we do and do for him as best we can but ...... yes, we worry about him as he worries about us.......
Thank YOU for being honest as always. I always know I can count on you to 'tell me like it is' and I love you for that!!! Your sons are very lucky to have you for a father!!
my wife and one of her sisters do a "check up call" on each other each day.
they also ring the rest of her family [she is the oldest of 10 kids]at least once a week.
the daily call is covered up by "What is the latest gossip/scandal??"
it has become a joke, "Oops, the checkup is late today/ [or early] , they chatter away for a couple of minutes, and they are right for another day.
[maybe they use it like a Catholic Confessional Box]
Sorry for being too old to be PC. at least you know my thoughts.
Any chance of "re-training" him to use the main stairs?, the ones with handrails? mind you the servant's ones are probably quicker.
my kids are running a "Worst Kid gets to clean out Dad's shed. but it is nowhere near F I L 's collection.
This cracked me up because it's so true and I have no idea or care if it's PC that was FUNNY! :D and true LOLL
you hit the nail on the head! so thinking no loll but why I get upset about the flip phone.....so was easy to use and has HUGE real buttons he can see....... in case he falls and then doesn't lay there......
I will have to go over and take some photos. of his house. It's like a museum. full of really cool things but just so MANY cool things. A lot of them he has made from scratch like the whirlygig above..... or the original Edison player...... so you tell your kids they have it easy!! Oh and don't forget ALL the family heirlooms too that you can not get rid of LOLL
Yup going to have to go over and film his house for you :D
He is a REAL 'Tool and Die Maker........ * from Wikipedia ~ Traditionally, working from engineering drawings developed by engineers and technologists, tool makers lay out (mark out) the design on the raw material (usually metal), then cut it to size and shape using manually controlled machine tools (such as lathes, milling machines, grinding machines, and jig grinders), power tools (such as die grinders and rotary tools), and hand tools (such as files and honing stones).
it would be very interesting to see, wait until after the Kid s go, then you are on, lots of pickies please,
My mother does the same thing with her cell phone. It's frustrating since she bought it for emergencies to begin with and I've tried to explain the same thing to her. Glad everything worked out and that he was okay.
The gift he made is terrific! Such a bright and happy paint job and I think adding his signature was a really nice touch.
Try to keep cool in this heat hon! 🍨
It really was and the best thing was he got to see how happy they were :D
now they will be gone a few days so I can get caught up on sleep loll
Oh my goodness, that can't have been good for your blood pressure! I completely feel for you - my dad is a recent widower... and he is a beekeeper... and has an allergy to bees. And he decided to be out of contact for a whole day! Turns out he'd gone off on his motorbike in the mountains and left his phone in his saddle bags when he went off to explore. Did my noggin in!!
That is an awesome piece of craftsmanship- really beautiful, and will be treasured for years, no doubt.
And your poor computer!! I hope it has recovered from its open-diode-surgery?
Sending love,
E xx
I know it's hard for them, at their age to think about people worrying about them but they need to realize we love them as much as they love us.......
and yes, what he made was really very cool. me made by hand all the gears in it too :D
EXACTLY! Argh. Seriously- when I read your post, I really felt for you in that moment!!
Just amazing, a brain that can work out the gearing and how to create something so beautiful. Thank goodness you got it back from its postal mishap!
I'm glad everything worked out okay. That is such a great present. He did an excellent job.
Is your computer getting an upgrade?
:D he did and the 'kids' were both so happy about it so made me happy.
and yes :D My son got a new computer from my friend that helps me when I have troubles on my computer...he runs a computer store. I have been saving money since Christmas too to upgrade my graphic's card because I was running into trouble on Sims 4 and want to start streaming more, plus @simgirl and I are going to do something if we ever feel good at the same time again lol
so as long as Lucas was going to be here anyway..... I had Christmas too :D but I have not been able to try anything out yet LOLL but it's in finally ::D
My landline is also not worked for 3 days.😢
I am very sorry to hear that :(
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How very cool! I'm glad they had a chance to see the gift! Much better when the maker is there to explain it. Glad you got the new graphics card too!