Coroplast greenhouse! :)

[Xist]

Mom said she felt exhausted for 4 days and had tightness in her chest and had me drive her to the emergency room on Monday, then take her home at 02.
Tuesday morning she read that she had a serious heard condition--and immediately felt tightness in her chest.
She had me drive her back last night.
As soon as the doctor said she doesn't have that condition she felt better and wanted to come home.
She had us retrieve her at 03.

When I was leaving Show Low to see my client there was a Camry with California plates stopped in the left-hand lane for no reason.
When I was approaching Snowflake a Previa with I think Minnesota plates passed a vehicle and then swerved towards me.
I served out of the way and then slammed on my brakes because I was halfway info incoming traffic.
Then the driver and passenger flipped off me.

I needed to explain to my client again that I am moving to the valley and will need to work with her through Zoom, probably at a different time.

She thoroughly dislikes change.

Imagine if the Previa driver had knocked me into incoming traffic!

With the hospital trips and taking care of my brother I had not signed up for utilities yet. So far I have electricity being turned on Friday, but water and gas not being turned on until Monday, and 140 mbps dialup next Thursday.

I still don't know how to sign up for garbage or sewage, both are through the City of Gilbert, but I cannot find any links.

I tried searching, but all of the relevant links were purple, because I already visited them.

I asked Bard and ChattGPT they also linked pages that I had already visited, although they claimed that I could click on specific links, which, of course, I could not find, even when I searched for specified words.

However, twice Bard made that "I don't know" sound without looking, much like my client in Holbrook.

I need to sign up for a mailbox in-person, since I need a key.

Maybe I mentioned it elsewhere, but the school gave me 7 days to get my doctor to sign a form stating that I have received a physical in the past year and am up-to-date on immunizations.

That nurse I took out said something like this, which is exactly what she wrote when I asked I asked the VA "Have I had a physical in the past year?"

"I will alert the MSA to make you an appointment VVC at 1130 slot and will ask them to convert appointment to CVT so you come in person to the clinic."

Okay, okay, I don't know any of those acronyms, but they want to schedule me for several weeks after my program starts, so that will not work, which I informed them, and they ignored it.

They kept having the same guy call to schedule even though I kept telling him there was no way the SLP program would wait that long.

I called the nurse line just to ask if I had received a physical in the past year.
It said the average wait time was 13 minutes.
After 14 minutes it sent me back to the main menu claiming the average wait time was 14 minutes.
After 15 minutes, another scheduler said they would relay a message to Nurse Wretched.

I downloaded a text file of my medical history, which is 620kb and 360 pages in Word, put it on Mom's old iPad, and tried to schedule an appointment with the closest urgent care clinic, but apparently the hospital chain that bought out the urgent care chain not only jacked up the prices for the same services, but closed the closest location.

The local hospital has a clinic down the street from the closed competitor, but they don't accept appointments, and the wait time was 90 minutes.

I scheduled an appointment with the urgent care in the next town, past the hospital, and they said they cannot do school physicals, but they gave me the number for a clinic in Show Low that scheduled me for yesterday.

However, then and only then the VA called and left a voice mail that was exactly like the previous several, but when I called and asked for them to cover a physical from that clinic they said "We tried calling you to schedule for Thursday, but you didn't answer. I guess it wasn't important to you."

I picked it up after one ring and they were already gone.

They kept saying September, but when I mention a community care clinic, suddenly they are available within 48 hours, but I am the obstacle?

They kept saying I needed to come in for telehealth from the Show Low clinic, but now I can do it from anywhere.

Fantastic.

Now I am sure that some nurse will answer the video call and ask if I am experiencing a mental health emergency.
"Yes, the VA is specifically designed to cause those."

Presumably the doctor will say "I see that you had a physical in November and are up-to-date on immunizations, why did you demand this appointment?"
"Please fill out the form, Doctor."

Day 2: Electric Boogaloo.
I wasn't able to see any clients. Bank of America isn't working. I needed to call 3 times to talk to a human, who hung up on me after 23 minutes.

Hours later I received a useless e-mail.

The VA isn't working. I waited 30 minutes for my doctor to connect, it automatically disconnected me, and I thought that we finally got on-track, but I don't have any idea when my doctor will sign my form.

Mom and my brother aren't working. I unloaded both lockers, almost singlehandedly, dropped off the dolly in front of the gate, and backed into the driveway with the 20' truck.

Mom claimed that she wanted to donate a great deal of the stuff from her locker, but she didn't go through it then, and she didn't go through the stuff the guys from Church helped me move into the driveway.

The thrift store doesn't open until 10 and I plan on donating all of my old Army gear, but I cannot imagine Mom coming to tell me what to donate.

I need to get her and my brother to pack for an extended stay, meet the landlord at a reasonable time, and then unload when it will be over 100‎°.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by freebeard

I think the era of carbon fiber subs is over, taking a place alongside screen doors.

My mother had a dog who destroyed a screen door in '99 at the house where we lived at the time. Not sure if the new windows which were retrofitted to that house more recently even have screens, yet the place had so many mosquitoes I wouldn't even consider getting rid of screens if I ever had to live in that area once again...

[Xist]

I think that I stopped trying to load the truck at 1400, I was just trying to secure everything, although I saw a couple of my boxes in the garage and put them in the truck.

Mom spent hours telling us to put more and more things in the truck, but we drove down safely.

There are about 10 miles at 65 MPH north of Payson, but I was not driving faster than 55 until we got to Rye.

My last girlfriend sent me a picture of elk in Payson, but soon after you leave you go down some big hills and hit Rye, which is apparently at 3,133 feet, but Payson is above 3,000.

Gilbert is at 1,237 and will hit 113°.

I once looked into man-made mountains, thinking that if someone could buy a vast tract of land east of Phoenix and dump millions of pounds of, well, anything I guess, but dumped dirt on top, and compacted everything, well, everything would settle, but if you could make it a mile high while still being relatively close to Phoenix, that would have many advantages.

The problem is that you would need twenty miles at a 5% grade. If you just need one flatter side, how steep could the other sides be without risking a landslide?

25%?

So, if you had a one-square-mile city, it would be 25 miles wide and nine miles north-to-south.

I don't know how to calculate that volume and I don't want to look it up. In theory you could mostly make it out of garbage, but who would want to live on that?

When I was twenty someone mentioned you could have a spiral road going around a hill, so let's say that you have a square-mile city with a 20% grade and a spiral. I don't have any idea how to calculate the angle of a spiral path around a cone, but if you can make it 5 times as long in order to achieve the 5% grade, maybe you could achieve everything with a 9x9 man-made mountain, although one long ramp sounds much safer than a spiral.

I did find examples of man-made mountains.

Oh well.

Anyway, the landlord said that he would put the key in a lock box, but we thought he meant Friday night, not Saturday morning, so I looked all over, and Mom looked in the same area repeatedly, and had me help her look in a few different areas and then back again before she let me get us a hotel.

I bought the three of us breakfast at Denny's, which was the only time that I sat still the entire day, having woken up at 6.

Breakfast cost over $80.

The hotel was supposed to cost something like $105 and it came with a pretty nice breakfast.

I tried booking on-line, but had some difficulty and just decided to drive the truck and trailer over, walk inside, and see.

I drove the truck and trailer over after 10, found the lock box, and got in. Since Mom and my brother don't really help and sometimes get in the way I just went to park the truck, but before I finished, a new neighbor was yelling and cursing at me.
I start emptying the truck into the garage. Mom said that my sister would bring her sons to help unload, but she just took her kids to swim in the hotel and yelled at me when she brought Mom, my brother, and their bags--but not mine.
I unloaded the truck into the garage mostly by myself. My brother did move some boxes, but perhaps several out of dozens. My sister told him to help and I was carrying a box, so I said "Brother, please take this box, take this box, why are you walking away from me?!" and did not try again, but Mom did.
Bizarrely, my sister's family allegedly would have helped unload the truck, but they did not have any interest in moving the boxes from the garage, which is out of the sun and cooler than the outside, into the house, where we actually want them.
The house did not come with shower curtains or rods, so I took a bath in my giant tub.
I swear that bathtubs are designed for people 4’ tall. Mine is designed for morbidly-obese Oompa Loompas.
I rinsed out my clothes, wrung them out the best I could, and unhappily put them back on, but they quickly dried--inside.
Dad had two cabinets that Mom had me put in storage years ago and wanted me to donate, but I asked if she wanted one for the television, and she told me to bring in the smaller one.
My niece and nephew tried to set up the television, but the feet were too wide for the smaller cabinet, so they reversed them, and they angle inward.
It looks weird!
My sister and her husband brought a couch from the guest room.
I don't have any idea where they will put their clean laundry now!
My sister wanted us to buy mattresses from Costco, but I wanted to go to the store with the largest selection of mattresses so we could buy the one that was best for each of us.
Mom had me drive to the Mattress Firm and we didn't go anywhere else.
The salesman said that it takes 30 days for a new bed to... tenderize(?) and for Stockholm Syndrome to set in, plus I bought one of those expensive adjustable bases, but I wanted to go to bed long before I cut the plastic off and put down the sheet that was free with my $2,700 purchase.
Mom needed me to help her and my brother put the bottom sheet on her bed.
She shared a king with Dad, but replaced it with a queen when we lost him.
My then-girlfriend and I replaced that with a firm one when Mom was out shopping and Mom never noticed, but she stopped complaining that she woke up with a broken back.
The Mattress Firm does not actually carry mattresses, we drove to Tolleson, about 40 minutes each way, in a horribly-loud Uhaul, to get ours.
She is still sleeping, but my brother got up and laid in his recliner, so maybe we could have just taken him to Big Lots, although they might not have had a twin xl in-stock.
I wish that I had asked about a military discount for Mom and my brother, but their mattresses were $950 each. Mom didn't seem bothered and could have said "Actually, I need to return our mattresses and buy them again with Xist's discount" if she wanted to.
I had my brother buy a twin xl, but I wouldn't let Mom buy $250 boxes of lies, and I need to order Mom a platform bed and bring down mine for my brother.
I woke up several time and laid there partially awake for a while, but I did not really toss and turn, which was interesting.
I did not feel that I slept well and I sure feel sore!

[freebeard]

When I was approaching Snowflake a Previa with I think Minnesota plates passed a vehicle and then swerved towards me.

Was the Previa Okay?

I just went to park the truck, but before I finished, a new neighbor was yelling and cursing at me.

Off to a good start, tehn?

I once looked into man-made mountains,...

https://www.weirduniverse.net/images...51_.22_PM_.png

[Xist]

Originally Posted by freebeard

Was the Previa Okay?

Originally Posted by Xist

Then the driver and passenger flipped off me.

Arguably, they never were.

Originally Posted by freebeard

Off to a good start, tehn?

I have a way with people!

That tower looks like a nightmare.

Why would you drive to the top?

I moved the household boxes in the garage into the house so I could clear a path to remove the trailer.

Mom kept complaining about me making a mess, but I said “They didn’t help me unload the truck. They can deal with boxes in the entry way. Maybe they will help put them away.”

They did not. They played a little and left.

Sunday was my brother's birthday.

The house did not come with shower curtains or rods, among many other things, so I ran to Target to get those so we could shower. I grabbed other things that we needed that I passed and paid over $500, picking up breakfast from Cracker Barrel on my way home.

That cost over $100, but I ordered six different meals because I didn't know what my brother would want.

He only ate two pancakes, but I have been enjoying it!

I already knew three people at Church. It looks like one of them got divorced. I keep visualizing his wife, having attended school with her, but I fear that did not work out.

I wish that I could have stayed and talked to more people, but I needed to return the truck. I swept out the metal box sitting in the sun the best I could, but the broom that Mom bought didn’t work very well.

Then, not having a piñata stick, I had my niece and nephews use the broom handle, bending it several ways, but I bought a replacement from Dollar Tree.

Mom dropped a smoothie in the truck and threw a bunch of chicken bones on the floor. I threw away everything I could see, wiped down all of the surfaces, removed the floor mat, hosed it off, and threw away everything else I saw, including many things from previous renters.

Uhaul said that we would save $47 by dropping off the truck in Mesa, but then we paid $60 to rent it another day so we could pick up our beds. Google says it was 80 miles roundtrip and Uhaul charges 89¢ per mile, so Uhaul charged us $131.20 to keep the truck an extra day and drive it to Tolleson and back.

Supposedly the truck gets 10 MPG. I drove the speed limit to Tolleson and back, but not down the mountain, through elk and horse country, at night, in that noisy truck, so I may have used an extra 8 gallons, which cost $3.799 each, totaling $32.39, bringing the grand total to $153.59, but can you really put a price on sleep?

Yes, yes, yes you can, and I already did.

I am just hoping that it works out.

I let my sister know when I was leaving for Mesa, dropped off the truck, walked a mile to my old 99¢ store, summoned a $18 Uber ($171.59) bought a $2.14 Gatorade ($173.73), used the bathroom, and kept thinking how much better my ride home would be if the driver didn’t talk.

I showered and my sister brought her kids.

She invited the prodigal step-daughter who didn’t invite my brother or I to her vow renewal.

You would think that she wouldn’t care about his birthday and apparently she didn’t, but I worried that she wouldn’t pass up the opportunity to make something about herself.

It was all right, but it was kind of weird when they left and I wondered how to spend the rest of my brother’s birthday.

I have not looked into cable or anything. Mom talks about me needing to provide entertainment, but I don’t watch television, and it is counterproductive.

If she wants to pay for television I will not stop her, but I wish that I had bought a coaxial cable instead of an HDMI cable.

Supposedly you can get local channels for free.

When they connect the Internet on Thursday I can finally set up the Roku.

Mom keeps asking why I didn’t and I keep reminding her it runs on the Internet.
“It isn’t because you are too cheap to get us cable?”
“It doesn’t use cable, Mom, Internet-only.”

On Monday all of us slept in. It seemed like we were becoming accustomed to our new beds, but none of us slept 8 hours last night.

Maybe we caught up on sleep, partially because we weren’t accustomed to them the first night.

Mom kept talking about going to Spencer’s Scratch-and-Sniff Appliances. She said they had a Mesa location, but moved it to Phoenix.

Apparently she made up that last part.

I searched for Spencer’s Scratch-and-Sniff Appliances in Phoenix and saw Spencer’s and Scratch-and-Sniff Appliances in Phoenix and didn’t realize that it wasn’t Spencer’s Scratch-and-Sniff Appliances in Phoenix, it was a small discount store with appliances--with 30-day warranties, which I didn’t find out until Mom said “This neighborhood looks dangerous. Go in and see if it is safe.”

I saw 30-day warranties on every appliances, rushed back to my car, and wanted to be anywhere else, but Mom said “Before you go, stop at Bahama Buck’s.”

I ordered my brother the largest Bahama Rama Mama. I asked the nonverbal man which flavor he wanted and he didn’t answer. Mom asked “Cherry or root beer” and he didn’t answer.

I held out one hand and asked “Cherry?” and held out the other and asked “Or root beer?” and I believe that he gave me ten, so he got half an half.

I got a video of me giving it to him because I expected his eyes to light up, but he didn’t really react when I handed him the single largest desert that I have ever seen.

He didn’t finish it until today.

We called Spencer’s and found out that they don’t have a location exclusively for scratch and sniff appliances, each store may have some.

I started to leave and Mom threw her smoothie on the floor--on the one floor mat I had already cleaned!

Fortunately, there was a water machine right there, so for 25¢ I rinsed off the floor mat and put it in the trunk, worrying about what Mom would do to the actual carpet.

Mom wanted to go straight to the Mesa location, but we thought it was best to see what the Phoenix store had first.

Nothing.

My sister kept telling us about their refurbished location, I informed her that it closed at 1700, and she sent me two angry messages because I can never win.

Google absolutely would not give me directions to the Gilbert location. Mom insisted that she knew the way and I pointed out that she had just given me incorrect directions, but I didn’t know where it was.

Mom gave me some incorrect instruction, I closed Google Maps, opened it, and it gave me directions to Spencer’s in Gilbert.

The valley has a loop 101, a loop 202, and a loop 303, although I don’t know if they ever finished the 303.

The 101 is a huge loop that goes through Chandler, west Mesa, and Phoenix, looping through Glendale and various other cities far from anywhere that I want to be.

The 202 is a half-loop, going east through Mesa and Gilbert.

It is called the Red Mountain Freeway in Mesa and the San Tan in Gilbert.

The 303 is way out west and I think that I only drove on part of it once.

I got on the 101 to take the 202 and Mom said “You got on the wrong 202. This one goes south. You need the one that goes east” and kept telling me to get off the 101 (thinking it was the 202).

I got on the 202 and she demanded that I got off, had me drive to the Chandler Fashion Plaza, and kept saying that everything was wrong, describing some mall in Gilbert.

I finally convinced her that she made me stop in Chandler, but we had not even entered Gilbert yet, let alone gotten anywhere near Spencer’s.

Every single time she told me to make a random turn I said “Google says…”
“I don’t care what Google says! Google is wrong!”

I asked “Can I finally follow Google’s directions to Gilbert?”
“Well, I guess!”

They had the same selection as Mesa and nobody talked to us, so Mom had me drive to Target because we were still missing things, but that location didn’t have the things that I had not been able to find in the store by us.

Mom told me to have my brother pick out a present and we walked through the toy section a few times. I kept asking “Do you want anything from this aisle” and he didn’t respond.

She didn’t make it too far into the store and said that she needed to go to my car and get on oxygen.

Apparently she just ran the engine and air conditioning, though.

So, we drove to Non-Spencer’s in north Phoenix, she threw her smoothie on my floor, we drove to Spencer’s in Phoenix, Gilbert, and Mesa, passed their refurbished location, which closed at 5, and didn’t buy any appliances.

I finally got the friend with cancer’s friend to tell me where my friend with cancer was, so I stopped by, but all that she did was whimper and try to sleep.

The friend said it was a waiting game.

My sister took Mom to another appliance place in Mesa and helped her buy, bring home, and install the washer and dryer, but my brother-in-law put a hole in the dryer hose, so I bought foil tape to patch it.

I stopped at Winco and Walmart and found most of the things that I need.

I still need a replacement sink stopper, I have Mom’s steak knife holding my drain open.

She isn’t happy about that.

There are various poorly-patched holes and someone left behind tons of drywall anchors.

When I figured out what was wrong with my sink I felt impressed by the finished plywood bottom--until I saw water damage.

I keep hearing my brother using the plunger and I needed to use mine dozens of times after one visit.

One of the kitchen cabinets is missing a shelf and the pins to hold it.

There is a large area of sand in the back yard. I don’t have any idea why.

I have never seen a sand pit at a house.

Many homes have gravel, but sand?

I need to document everything, but right now I need to get to bed, although I laid down when I came home and ate most of a salad.

I may not be able to get to sleep again, at least for hours.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by Xist

I have never seen a sand pit at a house.

Many homes have gravel, but sand?

I have seen it, and even stayed at some houses with a sand pit in the backyard. Of course most were on coastal areas...

[freebeard]

I must have had a pretty spiffy childhood. We had a raised box for the sand. With bench seats on the ends.

[Xist]

I have seen sandboxes, although I don't remember seeing any in a backyard, but this was 35-40 years ago.

[freebeard]

Sandboxs are good clean fun. Keeps 'em out of the mud.

[Piotrsko]

I thought the raised side sandboxes were for keeping the sand kinda inside the box and not all over the rest of the yard. Seen sand pits where the sand was spilled over most of the playground.