BUBMLEDOOR AND THE BATTERY

 If Harry Potter were a car mechanic he would probably have put a disappearing spell on The Man when he came to charge the battery on The Man's car.  As it was I could see the mechanics frustration as he was working under the hood and The Man was standing RIGHT on top of him.  If I had a magic wand I would have used it !   POOF !!  Good-bye mister annoying.   Once again I got to experience the lack of workings of the male mind.

About a month ago The Man got into his car and it would not start.  Because I have a Triple A membership I get to call for roadside service, even though it is not my car. About an hour later Pete's Roadside Service arrived. The mechanic, who was not Pete, opened up the hood, looked inside and said, "You need a new battery".  To which The Man replied, "No I don't. Just charge it up and it will be fine." How The Man knows this is beyond me but it is his car so he makes the decision.  The mechanic looked at me, I shrugged and he charged up the old battery.  The Man's car is a 2019. The battery in it is the original one that came with the car.  Batteries are only supposed to last 4-5 years.  You do the math.  

But as always,  The Man knows best !

From the time that the battery was charged by a mechanic, not named Pete, to today the car has only been driven ONCE.  Between that one ride that we took to West Palm Beach the car has not moved from its parking spot.  (The Man is not driving because he can't walk the distance from the condo to the parking lot. If he had a scooter he would be able to get out there and take a ride but don't get me started on that. Just read my previous blog.

It was then that I was given the job of going out every so often when The Man thought about it to start the car.  His "orders" were to just turn the motor on and let it run for a few minutes while I collected the mail. I took it. upon myself to drive it around the community for 5 minutes or so just to give it a better charge.  Yet even with all this the battery died again.  No surprise there !!!!    

 Today when The Man requested I go out and run his car engine for a few minutes I was not the least bit surprised when all I got was dead silence.  I returned to the condo and informed you know who that his battery was dead.  He was SHOCKED !!!!!  How could that be ?   (I could have told him exactly how that could be but I chose to just remain silent and see where this was going.  As if I didn't know.) The Man continued to mumble under his breath while I called AAA once again.  Help was on the way.     Now I had  to get the new wheelchair out of the shed, (another story for another time), get The Man settled in the chair with his oxygen tank in his lap and push him out to the parking lot where he can supervise Pete's mechanic who's name is Johnny.    I  positioned The Man and wheel chair about 4 feet back from the front of his car because I KNOW he will want to have his head stuck under the hood to make sure Johnny doesn't pull a fast one on him.  Sure enough as soon as the hood of the car goes up . . . The Man is out of his wheelchair and standing two INCHES away from the mechanic.  I am now sitting IN the car because I don't want to be part of this.  The Man is watching every move Johnny makes and when the battery tester reads D E A D !!!  The Man tells Johnny to just jump it and it will be fine.  (Where have I heard that before ?)

I don't know how or what Johnny said to The Man but the next thing I see is a new battery going into the car!!!  (Maybe Johnny had a magic wand?).   As Johnny is leaving he looks at me and grins. I read that to mean, "Good luck Lady, Your man is a pain but I won this one,"   

Unlike the previous battery incident where The Man swore up and down for days after he was NOT paying that kind of money to buy a new battery when this one is just fine . . . I have heard NOTHING! There has been no mention of why he decided to make the purchase now when just a month ago he swore he wouldn't spend his money on something he didn't need.     I say NOTHING !!!

THE SCOOTER

 I am taking a deep breath before I write this blog.   I have put off writing about "The Scooter" because every time I think about it my blood pressure rises about  200 points. Today I have taken my medication with hopes that I can make it through this without having a stroke or killing some one.  (Can you guess who that someone might be?)

Someone who lives in my house with me has been getting weaker and weaker. Some days his breathing is OK and other days he is dragging butt.  When his breathing is bad he can't move from the couch to the kitchen without pausing every other step, Around the house this isn't a problem because the condo is not huge and there are lots of places to sit on the way to the bedroom or kitchen.  BUT when we have to go to the VA to see a doctor the journey becomes almost impossible.  We have changed many  appointments to video chats but there comes a point when a doctor needs to SEE The Man in person.  (It is SO frustrating to make the journey to the VA only to have a doctor make you wait an hour and then not even physically examine you.  Don't you think a pulmonologist appointment would involve at least listening to your lungs??????  Apparently not ! )  

One of the major problems with visiting the VA is having enough oxygen to last the entire trip and visit.  One tank of oxygen only lasts about 2 hours and even less when The Man has to turn up the flow rate because he is exerting himself by getting in and out of vehicles and wheel chairs.  It is also a problem because I am pushing the wheel chair while The Man is rolling the oxygen tank in front of him. It is ridiculous and exhausting for both of us.  We no longer drive ourselves to the VA because it is too much on me hauling the wheelchair in and out of the car, we now use VA transportation.  That is working well. They arrive, wheel him out to a van, strap in the wheel chair with him in it and I get to ride along.   When we get to the VA they get The Man and wheelchair out, push us up to what ever floor our appointment is on.  When the visit is over we call the transport company and they send someone to pick us up.   Unfortunately the last visit we had we ended up waiting 2 hours for our ride.  We had to go back into the building, go up to the 5th floor to get a full oxygen tank because ours had run out.  The VA is very accommodating so that isn't a problem, except for the push back and forth.  The elevators are a real challenge for me as I may have written about previously.

Considering all this I thought it would be a GREAT idea if The Man got a scooter.  The VA will provide an electric wheel chair or a scooter for anyone who qualifies.  THREE years ago I started planting seeds in The Mans head.  I would whisper in his ear, "SCOOTER". I would find articles in magazines and on the internet that talked about different types of vehicles available. Every time we were out and there was a  person zipping along on a scooter I would casually remark " Look at that guy ! He's got a scooter!  WOW!  Look at him go !"   Of course I would finish with, "THAT COULD BE YOU!!!!!"   All my hinting and seed planting were ignored.  I will give The Man credit that he never yelled, "WILL YOU PLEASE STOP TALKING ABOUT SCOOTERS !!!!!!"  He just let it all fall on deaf ears. Until 2 weeks ago.  The Man had a phone call with his VA social worker. He complained about how difficult it is getting around so they suggested he apply for a scooter.  It was like he had NEVER heard this before. The Man got off the phone and said, "You know, I should get a scooter!"    DUH !   What have I been talking about for 3 years ?????   

The social worker set us up with an appointment with the wheelchair clinic and off we went to meet with someone who would access our needs.  The young woman, Kate,  was lovely and very helpful.  She showed us all the things that were available to The Man.  He chose the one he thought would work best for him.  He sat on it, drove it around a bit and the young lady started writing up the order.  It will be delivered to our home in 4-6 weeks.  The VA will build a ramp for it to get into the house.  They will instal a lift in the car that will pick the scooter up and swing it into the back of the van.  We were ALL SET TO GO !!!           NOT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It was at this moment that The Man looked at me and said, "WE have to talk".   OH GOD !  NOW WHAT ???       But I knew exactly what the problem was.  We never mentioned to Kate that The Man will be returning to MI in about 6 weeks, probably never to return to FL.  (The trip back and forth has become too much for hm to handle.)   That was my signal to step in and say that The Man was leaving FL to return to MI in about 6 weeks.  Would it be better if we waited until we got to MI to order a scooter from the VA up there?  

OF COURSE IT WOULD BE BETTER TO GET ONE IN MICHIGAN WHERE HE LIVES !!

And so all of our time and energy to get to this meeting was a waste.  Well, I guess not really. At least it gave The Man a chance to find out what was available so that when he gets home he has a starting point.  

Will all this actually happen ???? Who knows.  Guess we have to wait for the next blog.