More about my father

Well, more details on what's going on with my father. He's no longer in ICU, as I mentioned, but collectively, the concern about his situation at home with my stepmother has increased.

After I posted the entry last night, I called my oldest half-brother, who is now 36. I talked with him for about half an hour, getting more of the medical details and information about my father's care. At one point, I asked him, "ok, straight up: is she self-medicating?" He was pretty straightforward about it... he didn't see that her current state is due to alcohol, but more due to exhaustion, but did feel it was a problem. He didn't see an immediate solution, though...

I had also talked to my favorite aunt, and she felt that we should take matters into our own hands. Suzanne, who did hospital chaplaincy, is going to see if she can contact someone at the hospital and kind of look after my stepmother... and today, I got a voicemail from my sister, who'd also gotten a call from my aunt, and she said she was going to talk to a social worker at the hospital to "do something so Dad doesn't go back into the same situation at home."

What that means, I don't know. My sister sounded pretty dire yesterday about what things are evolving into... she said it was to the point where someone was liable to get an adult protective order so that someone else could take care of my father at home and get my stepmother some help.

I have to say, my sister's voice on the voicemail this afternoon was different than I think I'd ever heard from her. She was really emotional after having talked with my aunt, and thanked me several times for putting her in touch after quite a few years.

Of course, if my stepmother realizes we're trying to intervene like this, there'll be hell to pay, but as I told my aunt, "look, he may be her husband, but he's our father, and we've known him a long time. Practically our whole lives!"

Heh.

Today, I was something of a slug. I did let the new megawabbit out into the fenced area of the yard so he could tear around and get his legs working, and also sample the grass and experience the outdoors, somewhere he's never really been. He was quite enthusiastic, even though it was misting out.

Now, it's raining pretty heavily out there, and since the downspout is still damaged, I expect the basement to get damp again. Fucking Lowe's and Home Depot don't stock round downspouts! Practically every house built before 1960 has round metal downspouts and half-round metal gutters, but all the crap they had at the store was that plastic square shit. I won't have it. Fortunately, I've got some spare round metal downspout material from when a few gutters on the back of the house were replaced some years ago, and all I need is about a one-foot section. But in a Lowe's world, I guess I should just rip all that 80-year-old solid metal guttering off the house and put up cheap-shit vinyl crap.

Eat me, purchasing agents of the world.

Suzanne was actually at work today. She went in to write some legal stuff after church, and didn't get back until after 9pm. She has this one dress she wears to church in the summer, a sort of sleeveless blue patterned sheath dress that comes above her knees, and black heels we found at Macy's last summer. It looks sexy as hell and reminds me of one of the things that's very pleasant about living with her.

My back is getting fouled up again from the work I've been doing around the house lately. Having insane sex with Suzanne straightens it out right away. It's quite amazing.