Live from NY � It�s Monday Morning!
2008-01-28, 1:36 p.m.

Day 1255

First, lets review bowling from Thursday night. Team did well, took 6 of 8 points from a team not too far below us in the standings. Didn�t bother checking on how teams near us did so we don�t know how the standings are going to shake out. We were 1 point behind 2nd, but also only 2 points ahead of 4th.

In what may be the first time ever, or at least in recent history, Ken (youngest brother) and I both beat Dave (Lefty). By a whole bunch of pins. It was a very weird night. Ken & I were never more than 10 or so pins apart for the entire evening. In the end, our total scores were tied. Ken shot a 182, 211, 236 for a 629. I got there by shooting 181, 214, 234. Dave? Started good, but couldn�t find a consistent line to the pocket. He uncharacteristically struggled all evening. Felt kinda bad for him, but at the same time, we kicked his ass!! That does not happen very often, so we have to bask in the warmth for the one whole week it�s going to last. This week? I think we�re in for a thrashing. But that�s ok � it�ll be good for the team.

In other news, well, we�re committed. Cindy & I. About the kitchen remodel. It�s time. Our kitchen, as it is, is an accident waiting to happen. Traffic flow sucks, it�s too small, poorly lit, it�s hard for two people to work in there at the same time.

We re-did the dang thing 8 years ago. It�s much improved from what it was, but is still lacking. We can still get cabinets of the same style, wood and finish as what we bought before. We�ve also had a bit of a windfall recently, and combined with tax returns and the Shrub�s economic stimulus package, we think we can swing it.

Regardless, I have plans drawn up and have figured out what we need for new cabinets. We visited one of the big box retailers and have their price on the cabinets. Tomorrow I have an appointment with a local remodeler that�s a representative of the outfit that makes our style cabinets. Now I�ll have the opportunity to try and engage these folks in a bidding battle.

Also tomorrow is our appointment with the estate attorney. Hoping to get some solid info there. We�ve started a list of questions we�d like to get answers too, but the bottom line is how do we protect against the BIL from doing an end run and getting The Bob to sign off on a new PoA, then abusing his funds?

Speaking of The Bob, we took him to a follow up appointment with a Geriatric Care doctor. Very interesting visit. We got to go into the exam room with him, more to satisfy our own interests. Cindy had been in once before, but she wanted me to tag along to absorb what was done and maybe ask questions that she might not come up with.

I guess it was a pretty typical session for someone suspected of having Alzheimer�s. The patient is asked a laundry list of questions and is asked to perform some simple tasks. The questions are used to determine how well connected the patient is with current events on several levels � personal, local, national. It starts out with things like �Where are we � what building are we in? What city? What county? What�s the date? Who�s president? What medications are you currently taking? (They know already, Cindy & I told them)

They try to get a gauge of his emotional state (depressed, up beat, even keeled, prone to anger, frustration, anxiety, etc). After asking Bob all this, they also asked Cindy & I about his emotional state. Right in front of him. Gulp. While generally up beat, we did have to tell the doc that he is prone to anxiety, frustration, occasional acting out on the frustration and some mild paranoia at times. Fun. I�m sure he�s forgotten we ratted him out by now. Hell, he probably forgot about it by dinner time.

Two of the more interesting tests involved motor skills & perception. He was handed a sheet of paper. On it were a bunch of things. One of them was the phrase �Close your eyes�. Doc pointed to the phrase and asked Bob to �do that�. Bob did. (one of the few things he did successfully all day). Also on the paper were two pentagrams, oh wait, scratch that, they were pentagons. No satanic testing going on.

Anyhow. Two pentagons, stacked one above the other, the upper one pointing down and overlapping the lower one a wee bit. Bob was supposed to re-draw the figure in an open area of the paper. Didn�t go well. First, he drew a pentagon that sorta intersected with a circle that was already on the paper (that was to be used for the next test, but he didn�t know that yet). After Bob struggled with that for a bit, the doc re-explained what to do. After that, Bob re-drew a pentagon out in free space, but couldn�t quite figure how to get the second one in it�s proper place.

What was the purpose of the circle? Bob was asked to put the numbers of a clock on the circle. Make the circle look just like a clock face. Man, it was hard to watch. Instead of putting 12 at the top, 6 at the bottom and filling in the blanks, he just started with 1 at the top and proceeded in a clockwise direction until he ran out of space. He stopped at 10. Or so. The doc then asked him to draw some clock hands so it looked like it was 11:10. Maybe it was because his clock face was kinda hosed, but he struggled with that task too. It occurred to me to ask him to look at his watch and tell me what time it was, but it wasn�t my show, so I kept mum. Too bad I did. It may have provided an important distinction. Maybe next time, which will be in 8 weeks. We�re trying a new medicine, Nemenda, along with the Aricept. Between the two of them, maybe some of the old memory pathways will get re-established. If not? Nothing�s anymore lost than it already was. The saddest part of Friday was that it was Bob�s second time through that battery of tests. He did them about 4 weeks ago, but did a little better that time. I�m really curious to see how the next one will go.

Oops � simulations done. Time to go see how it did.

Hmmm. It done good. The simulation that is. I see where things go kaflooey, just have to come up with a fix that isn�t worse than then the original problem.

Better go think.

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