Breakfast at Makebs (pronounced "Macabees"), 3 blocks away, claims to have NY style bagels. I had bacon, egg, cheese on a plain bagel and coffee. It was food.
I made it to the gym again.
Bus to the nursing home and fed my mom, including, a banana. This is a big deal. Staff is not allowed to give my mom a banana. When I ask for one in the kitchen they say "Mrs. Dorothy is not allowed to have a banana." Frankly - I give them credit for knowing and following diet restrictions they are told to follow. It's not THEIR decision.
The Speech Therapist makes the decision. Mom is on a "soft foods" diet, but not puree. For example, they chop up chicken.She gets regular vegetables and canned fruits. Sometimes a whole baked potato.
But NOT bananas - which she likes. Pretty odd. I always thought bananas were soft.
I questioned the therapist during a "special" luncheon. Her guard must have been down. She agreed that bananas are soft. (There is intelligent life.) The problem is my mother might bite off too big a piece of banana and choke on it. I "bit my tongue" while thinking..."Like no one can slice a banana for her."
It dawned on me that you can buy sliced peaches, pear, fruit cocktail, but I haven't seen pre-sliced bananas. Hence, no bananas for nursing home's soft-food residents.
Anyway.. for months I've been buying, bringing, slicing, and forking bananas to mom, sometimes dipped in yogurt or spooned with chocolate cake or icing - none of which she wants served alone, but enjoys in combination.
Day 44 Sunday 9/29
Day 45 Monday 9/30
I made it to the gym again.
Bus to the nursing home and fed my mom, including, a banana. This is a big deal. Staff is not allowed to give my mom a banana. When I ask for one in the kitchen they say "Mrs. Dorothy is not allowed to have a banana." Frankly - I give them credit for knowing and following diet restrictions they are told to follow. It's not THEIR decision.
The Speech Therapist makes the decision. Mom is on a "soft foods" diet, but not puree. For example, they chop up chicken.She gets regular vegetables and canned fruits. Sometimes a whole baked potato.But NOT bananas - which she likes. Pretty odd. I always thought bananas were soft.
I questioned the therapist during a "special" luncheon. Her guard must have been down. She agreed that bananas are soft. (There is intelligent life.) The problem is my mother might bite off too big a piece of banana and choke on it. I "bit my tongue" while thinking..."Like no one can slice a banana for her."
It dawned on me that you can buy sliced peaches, pear, fruit cocktail, but I haven't seen pre-sliced bananas. Hence, no bananas for nursing home's soft-food residents.
Anyway.. for months I've been buying, bringing, slicing, and forking bananas to mom, sometimes dipped in yogurt or spooned with chocolate cake or icing - none of which she wants served alone, but enjoys in combination.
Day 44 Sunday 9/29
Cereal for breakfast. I need to buy more lox or frozen breakfast because I wake before most people, and I can't crack an egg.
This is the only day I NEVER WALKED OUT THE FRONT DOOR ONCE!
I DID take another shower all by myself. So proud.
Jason and his girlfriend Morgan brought over steaks cooked on the grill. Meanwhile, Chris and Paige prepared fingerling potatoes and asparagus, and had bought a great Publix Asian-style cole slaw.
Photo taken after some eaten... and everyone got another meal out of the steaks - all grilled to order by Jason
We also got vanilla ice-cream with sprinkled cinnamon (Thanks, Nora, for that simple formula.)
Please don't mistake this for pandering: Asparagus is easy to find over-cooked or under-cooked, and over-spiced or under-spiced. Chris made it Goldilocks-style: just right.
Jason has lived in my garage apartment for ? 5 years. He's the only person in the Mango Promenade group that has a truly respectable job ... Accounts Manager for Northern Trust. He has an office on the ? 12th floor of the Phillips Point Building, at the foot of the bridge to Palm Beach.
He gets the Wall Street Journal, and has an understanding that I'll never have of the shenanigans that brought our economy down in 2006-08. And of the dirty ways Wall Street still operates.
What's cool about Jason is he was also up on my roof after 2004 hurricanes, helping to tarp. He was living in an apartment next door then - working for a bond trader.
And he'll ride a bike on paths in the Everglades that are here and there BLOCKED by alligators.
This is the only day I NEVER WALKED OUT THE FRONT DOOR ONCE!
I DID take another shower all by myself. So proud.
Jason and his girlfriend Morgan brought over steaks cooked on the grill. Meanwhile, Chris and Paige prepared fingerling potatoes and asparagus, and had bought a great Publix Asian-style cole slaw.
Photo taken after some eaten... and everyone got another meal out of the steaks - all grilled to order by Jason
 |
| Where's Chris? Oh. Behind the camera. |
We also got vanilla ice-cream with sprinkled cinnamon (Thanks, Nora, for that simple formula.)
Please don't mistake this for pandering: Asparagus is easy to find over-cooked or under-cooked, and over-spiced or under-spiced. Chris made it Goldilocks-style: just right.
Jason has lived in my garage apartment for ? 5 years. He's the only person in the Mango Promenade group that has a truly respectable job ... Accounts Manager for Northern Trust. He has an office on the ? 12th floor of the Phillips Point Building, at the foot of the bridge to Palm Beach. He gets the Wall Street Journal, and has an understanding that I'll never have of the shenanigans that brought our economy down in 2006-08. And of the dirty ways Wall Street still operates.
What's cool about Jason is he was also up on my roof after 2004 hurricanes, helping to tarp. He was living in an apartment next door then - working for a bond trader.
And he'll ride a bike on paths in the Everglades that are here and there BLOCKED by alligators.
I bought a 31-day bus pass at the Government Center, Olive and 2nd street. $60. Unlimited rides for 31 days beginning on day of first use. Price rises to $70 next week. I might get another one.
Fares pay only 5% of the bus system costs, according to a rider who truly seemed knowledgeable and encouraged me to attend a monthly meeting of a sparsely-attended Palm Tran Service Board Planning Subcommittee. He says Federal and State grants provide 90%!
I soon used the bus pass to go to Hall hardware, seeking something to cover the pins of my external fixator. Two nights earlier, one of them scratched my face in the middle of the night, even though I had my arm in "the sponge".
The pins managed to stick up above the top. Hall Hardware sold me two rubber leg chair tips, each to cover a pair of the pins that are screwed into my bones. Ultimately, I feared using them because they were tight on the outside of the pins, tending to squeeze the pins together (though I could not detect any movement or bending). I IMAGINED that overnight, they would cause a minute spreading force on the pins INSIDE, in my bones! It spooked me.
I tried things to loosen the tips, but nothing satisfactorily assuaged my paranoia.
After the hardware store I walked to City Diner, had a pastrami sandwich for lunch, then took a bus back to the condo.
I napped. Then walked to Publix to buy a banana for mom, and to the bus station to get to nursing home. I also walked to Chick-Fil-A for coleslaw, then nursing home. Fed mom.
After bus back to ITC bus station, another bus to get cheap cigarettes from a 7-11 on Belvedere Road.
The "cigarettes" are Phillies brand in a white pack, costing only $11.65 including tax for a carton (10 packs of 20).
They are technically "filtered little cigars" containing cigar tobacco, thus circumventing Federal taxes on cigarette tobacco. They have white paper like a cigarette, not cigar-leaf brown.
I buy these for Jean, the Frenchman (and former chef at the Breakers) who - along with Theresa - were my father's close buddies for several years at Darcy Hall.
I think that without them he would have soon entered an extreme state of depression during the years that he spent most of his time there, caring for mom.
I also think that Theresa may know more about my dad than I do! They talked more.
PS: Jean will happily PAY for the cigarettes, about 67% cheaper than anything in a store near the nursing home.
After buying cigarettes, I walked to my house where I picked up mail. Chris showed up to use a weight bench. He drove me home.
I made dinner of leftover steak (Thanks, Jason), potatoes, and salad.
Day 46 Tuesday 10/1
Went to gym.
Bused to nursing home. I ate the coleslaw that I bought for mom because they gave her salad! Probably a mistake though I don't know why they don't do it more.
Bused back to condo.
Neither Chris nor Paige wanted "free movie night" so we all stayed home.
My cousin Debbie sent a link to a segment of a Ted Talk. It concerns a behavioral study with Capuchin monkeys, and - as presented - it has political overtones. But it's so interesting I'll risk slighting anyone's political leanings. Besides, I can easily imagine opposing arguments to the political under-current.
So enjoy. From a TED talk by Frans de Waal, a primatologist, ethologist, and professor of primate behavior at Emory University.
Day 47 Wednesday 10/2
Fares pay only 5% of the bus system costs, according to a rider who truly seemed knowledgeable and encouraged me to attend a monthly meeting of a sparsely-attended Palm Tran Service Board Planning Subcommittee. He says Federal and State grants provide 90%!
 |
| It may not look it in photo but my arm from elbow to wrist is inside of a hollow space in the center of "the sponge" |
I soon used the bus pass to go to Hall hardware, seeking something to cover the pins of my external fixator. Two nights earlier, one of them scratched my face in the middle of the night, even though I had my arm in "the sponge".
The pins managed to stick up above the top. Hall Hardware sold me two rubber leg chair tips, each to cover a pair of the pins that are screwed into my bones. Ultimately, I feared using them because they were tight on the outside of the pins, tending to squeeze the pins together (though I could not detect any movement or bending). I IMAGINED that overnight, they would cause a minute spreading force on the pins INSIDE, in my bones! It spooked me.
I tried things to loosen the tips, but nothing satisfactorily assuaged my paranoia.
After the hardware store I walked to City Diner, had a pastrami sandwich for lunch, then took a bus back to the condo.
I napped. Then walked to Publix to buy a banana for mom, and to the bus station to get to nursing home. I also walked to Chick-Fil-A for coleslaw, then nursing home. Fed mom.
After bus back to ITC bus station, another bus to get cheap cigarettes from a 7-11 on Belvedere Road.
The "cigarettes" are Phillies brand in a white pack, costing only $11.65 including tax for a carton (10 packs of 20). They are technically "filtered little cigars" containing cigar tobacco, thus circumventing Federal taxes on cigarette tobacco. They have white paper like a cigarette, not cigar-leaf brown.
I buy these for Jean, the Frenchman (and former chef at the Breakers) who - along with Theresa - were my father's close buddies for several years at Darcy Hall.
 |
| Jean and Theresa at Dad's 90th Birthday Party |
I also think that Theresa may know more about my dad than I do! They talked more.
PS: Jean will happily PAY for the cigarettes, about 67% cheaper than anything in a store near the nursing home.
After buying cigarettes, I walked to my house where I picked up mail. Chris showed up to use a weight bench. He drove me home.
I made dinner of leftover steak (Thanks, Jason), potatoes, and salad.
Thought I'd go to school but running too late after my typically slow shower. Walked 2 blocks to Russos. Ate a chefs salad.
Went to gym.
Bused to nursing home. I ate the coleslaw that I bought for mom because they gave her salad! Probably a mistake though I don't know why they don't do it more.
Bused back to condo.
Neither Chris nor Paige wanted "free movie night" so we all stayed home.
My cousin Debbie sent a link to a segment of a Ted Talk. It concerns a behavioral study with Capuchin monkeys, and - as presented - it has political overtones. But it's so interesting I'll risk slighting anyone's political leanings. Besides, I can easily imagine opposing arguments to the political under-current.
So enjoy. From a TED talk by Frans de Waal, a primatologist, ethologist, and professor of primate behavior at Emory University.
Pin care in the morning by Angela.
Renate and Axel dropped off Stuffed Peppers for our dinner, then took me to 264 in Palm Beach for lunch. I had a coupon: $25 off of $50.
The waitress would not accept it, saying it was for dinner only. Renate is a long-time acquaintance with the half-owner, Patti Gatti, and did not want to create a riff, so we accepted the waitress' story.
The owners of 264 have a good story. They were a waitress and a chef under the previous owner. He valued their ethic so much that he offered to hold a mortgage if they wanted to buy the business when he got out of it.
I want to believe that this is my prejudice about Palm Beach, not about race. Whatever. I confess that I would not have suspected that this man, Chef Avery Watson, was half owner of this well-established Palm Beach restaurant.
Renate and I had Navy bean soup with kale while Axel strugggled with the typical rubbery cheese of French Onion soup.
Renate had a pear salad. Axel had a generous lobster salad roll, and I had grouper. We all enjoyed lunch - though not impressed with cheesecake that we shared.
264 does Jazz some nights. Dancing some nights. It gets pretty filled with regular ritzy customers .. not riff-raff like us who do lunch or early-bird.
I managed a nap before once again...bus to nursing home with a banana and Chick-Fil-A coleslaw for Mom.
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Random Internet Photo #4
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Day 48 Thursday 10/3
I was up early for breakfast and bathroom and got out of the condo. I walked to the bus station and had an option for my route to school:
1. Take 43 west on Okeechobee to Military, then wait for a #3 to 45th Street (actually, Shiloh)
2. Take the #31 on its circuitous route via Tamarind, 26th to Australian, east on 45th to County Health Clinic and St Mary's, west on 45th to TriRail (at old Jai A'lai Fronton), and Northpointe loop, leaving me 3/4 of a mile from school.
I took the 31. I doubt I'll do it again, but interesting how much activity it gets.
I was carrying a Physics textbook, planning on giving it to the Physics teacher since I doubted enough copies existed at the school for the single section of Physics that was offered. Instead I learned that the Physics teacher - hired 3 weeks after school started - had already quit. His other 4 classes were probably 9th grade Biology or Earth Science.
The Physics class was disbanded. Only had 9 students. C'est la vie.
Better news, one AP (Assistant Principal) had moved to County Office; his position was taken by Mr. Seepersaud who was officially in charge of textbooks; a new guy took Seepersaud's place and he was getting gung-ho about textbook matters ... leaving me feeling free of any obligation to keep working them.
I spent time updating a program that assists assigning substitutes every day. It's used by the front-office secretary Mrs. Kaufman.
I also re-created a Room Assignment sheet that got lost in computer heaven.
Terry Brosseit offered me a ride home (5th time), but instead only had to leave me near the nursing home...an easier route for her.
After feeding mom, I took the bus back to the condo, and had dinner that Paige had prepared: a meatless one with tofu, vegetables, and quinoa. It was delicious and we're all vowing to start doing one meatless day per week.
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Parental Warning - sexual content
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Sam Joke #4 (adapted from internet)
After his heart surgery, rehab in the nursing home was tough on Sam. At first, in the new, unfamiliar surroundings, he lost his appetite, and - of course - his libido. Neither one a big loss. Sam affirmed what he once read somewhere: "Age doesn’t seem fair: You give up all your bad habits and you still don’t feel good."
Staff, residents, and guests provided a constant stream of odd goings-on.
One day a new resident, Shirley, began running up and down the halls, flipping up the front of her dress and announcing “Supersex!” As expected, she was mostly ignored, soon to move on to another place.
Sam felt a hint of his lost self when Shirley got to him. She raised the hem of her dress and repeated the proposition, “Supersex!”
Sam considered for a moment, then decided, “I’ll take the soup.”
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Day 49 Friday 10/4
I woke early enough for breakfast, bathroom stuff (including shower), and was ready for Angela to do "pin care" at about 9 am.
I walked to 2nd and Olive...County Government center to buy another 31 day bus pass before the price rises $10. I won't even need it until October 31st. If I'm already driving (doubt it), I'll give it to Dave, a "street" person I've known for almost 30 years.
Here's a photo of him a few years ago when - after lots of hoops to get him a birth certificate (found his mom in Missouri!) - I also paid for his "Drug and Alcohol class", got him to take restricted test and finally get a State of Florida Driver's License.
Of course, he can't afford to keep a car (had one for a few months). He's been riding bikes around WPB forever. Does handy-man work and - rarely - pan-handles on street corners. Anyway he now has real ID which has allowed him to get other things and jobs.
After purchasing the bus pass, I had early (11:30) lunch at "Tina's", which rents space in the Government center. Urban Spoon gave them 92%.
They advertised Soup and Salad bar for $8 and I enjoyed the variety of stuff there. Not "out of this world", but I would eat there again.
FYI: The woman who sold me the bus pass recommends the turkey sandwich. She said it contains real on-premises slices of turkey.
I managed to grab a nap before the nightly nursing-home bus rides.
Since learning to use buses on Sept 25, 10 days ago. I've been there with banana and/or coleslaw 8 times.
I FORGOT to go early enough to visit the optician near Darcy Hall to fix the nose piece that came undone from my new eyeglasses.
Have to go Monday.
For sentimental reasons, here's a video from December, 2011 when my cousin Debbie visited at the nursing home.
Out of nowhere Mom began spouting lyrics to an old song...It's a Sin to Tell a Lie.
She recited the whole song, but we managed to video her repeating only a few lyrics. I tried my first-ever video upload to this blog. It failed. Then I tried my first-ever upload to YouTube. And it worked.
Renate and Axel dropped off Stuffed Peppers for our dinner, then took me to 264 in Palm Beach for lunch. I had a coupon: $25 off of $50. The waitress would not accept it, saying it was for dinner only. Renate is a long-time acquaintance with the half-owner, Patti Gatti, and did not want to create a riff, so we accepted the waitress' story.
The owners of 264 have a good story. They were a waitress and a chef under the previous owner. He valued their ethic so much that he offered to hold a mortgage if they wanted to buy the business when he got out of it.I want to believe that this is my prejudice about Palm Beach, not about race. Whatever. I confess that I would not have suspected that this man, Chef Avery Watson, was half owner of this well-established Palm Beach restaurant.
Renate had a pear salad. Axel had a generous lobster salad roll, and I had grouper. We all enjoyed lunch - though not impressed with cheesecake that we shared.
264 does Jazz some nights. Dancing some nights. It gets pretty filled with regular ritzy customers .. not riff-raff like us who do lunch or early-bird.
I managed a nap before once again...bus to nursing home with a banana and Chick-Fil-A coleslaw for Mom.
*********************************************************
*********************************************************
Random Internet Photo #4
*********************************************************
*********************************************************
I was up early for breakfast and bathroom and got out of the condo. I walked to the bus station and had an option for my route to school:
1. Take 43 west on Okeechobee to Military, then wait for a #3 to 45th Street (actually, Shiloh)
2. Take the #31 on its circuitous route via Tamarind, 26th to Australian, east on 45th to County Health Clinic and St Mary's, west on 45th to TriRail (at old Jai A'lai Fronton), and Northpointe loop, leaving me 3/4 of a mile from school.
 |
| Small black arrows indicate where I exit the bus |
I took the 31. I doubt I'll do it again, but interesting how much activity it gets.
I was carrying a Physics textbook, planning on giving it to the Physics teacher since I doubted enough copies existed at the school for the single section of Physics that was offered. Instead I learned that the Physics teacher - hired 3 weeks after school started - had already quit. His other 4 classes were probably 9th grade Biology or Earth Science.
The Physics class was disbanded. Only had 9 students. C'est la vie.
Better news, one AP (Assistant Principal) had moved to County Office; his position was taken by Mr. Seepersaud who was officially in charge of textbooks; a new guy took Seepersaud's place and he was getting gung-ho about textbook matters ... leaving me feeling free of any obligation to keep working them.
I spent time updating a program that assists assigning substitutes every day. It's used by the front-office secretary Mrs. Kaufman.
I also re-created a Room Assignment sheet that got lost in computer heaven.
Terry Brosseit offered me a ride home (5th time), but instead only had to leave me near the nursing home...an easier route for her.
After feeding mom, I took the bus back to the condo, and had dinner that Paige had prepared: a meatless one with tofu, vegetables, and quinoa. It was delicious and we're all vowing to start doing one meatless day per week.
*********************************************************
Parental Warning - sexual content
Sam Joke #4 (adapted from internet)
After his heart surgery, rehab in the nursing home was tough on Sam. At first, in the new, unfamiliar surroundings, he lost his appetite, and - of course - his libido. Neither one a big loss. Sam affirmed what he once read somewhere: "Age doesn’t seem fair: You give up all your bad habits and you still don’t feel good."
Staff, residents, and guests provided a constant stream of odd goings-on.
*********************************************************
Day 49 Friday 10/4
I woke early enough for breakfast, bathroom stuff (including shower), and was ready for Angela to do "pin care" at about 9 am.
I walked to 2nd and Olive...County Government center to buy another 31 day bus pass before the price rises $10. I won't even need it until October 31st. If I'm already driving (doubt it), I'll give it to Dave, a "street" person I've known for almost 30 years.
Of course, he can't afford to keep a car (had one for a few months). He's been riding bikes around WPB forever. Does handy-man work and - rarely - pan-handles on street corners. Anyway he now has real ID which has allowed him to get other things and jobs.
After purchasing the bus pass, I had early (11:30) lunch at "Tina's", which rents space in the Government center. Urban Spoon gave them 92%.
FYI: The woman who sold me the bus pass recommends the turkey sandwich. She said it contains real on-premises slices of turkey.
I managed to grab a nap before the nightly nursing-home bus rides.
Since learning to use buses on Sept 25, 10 days ago. I've been there with banana and/or coleslaw 8 times.
I FORGOT to go early enough to visit the optician near Darcy Hall to fix the nose piece that came undone from my new eyeglasses.
Have to go Monday.
For sentimental reasons, here's a video from December, 2011 when my cousin Debbie visited at the nursing home. Out of nowhere Mom began spouting lyrics to an old song...It's a Sin to Tell a Lie.
She recited the whole song, but we managed to video her repeating only a few lyrics. I tried my first-ever video upload to this blog. It failed. Then I tried my first-ever upload to YouTube. And it worked.
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