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[Certificate of Excellence]

Day 3 being on prednisone for this ..

Due to removing these from our 20 year on-off wildflower fields

Here’s to 2026 looking like this again, here’s late 2010’s / early 2020’s look

Holy cow. What the heck did that to you? Is that poison ivy or some bity bug like mosquitos? That looks so painful 😖

*just saw your response! Wow, what a battle from those roots! Best of luck to you

I hope you get nice wildflowers in 2026!

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Just learned of the death of a close neighbour, a chap with whom we grew up - he had been ill, but it happened all too soon (he was a soccer coach and had been a teacher - his brother, with whom we were also very close growing up, also a schools coach and teacher, died suddenly - cardiac arrest - last year); shocking.

Today would have been my mother's birthday.

 

[Apple fanboy]

Just learned of the death of a close neighbour, a chap with whom we grew up - he had been ill, but it happened all too soon (he was a soccer coach and had been a teacher - his brother, with whom we were also very close growing up, also a schools coach and teacher, died suddenly - cardiac arrest - last year); shocking.

Today would have been my mother's birthday.

All happening there. Sorry to hear that.

Currently away with friends and it’s surprising how often the conversation turns to someone else who has died in our circle.

Got extremely wet on our hike today. Struggling to dry my boots for tomorrow’s walk. Not sure what plan b is.

 

[jbachandouris]

Mom has now been 'upgraded' to Stage 6 Dementia. There are only 7 stages. Stage 7 is full blown Alzheimer's. She is 85.

 

[Apple fanboy]

Mom has now been 'upgraded' to Stage 6 Dementia. There are only 7 stages. Stage 7 is full blown Alzheimer's. She is 85.

Tough. Good luck with it and look after yourself.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

All happening there. Sorry to hear that.

Currently away with friends and it’s surprising how often the conversation turns to someone else who has died in our circle.

Got extremely wet on our hike today. Struggling to dry my boots for tomorrow’s walk. Not sure what plan b is.

These two lads were our age, - okay, they had moved away, but we were very close to them as children and teenagers, they were our mates, we grew up with them - and both of them - well, they were both soccer coaches (and were both very good ones, enthusiastic, passionate, engaged) were also fit and looked after themselves; my brothers and I have been chatting (mostly by email) today, shocked and upset by this.

And that it is (was) my mum's birthday today, also.

Well, I shall raise a glass to her - and to her memory - tonight - my first beer this week.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Mom has now been 'upgraded' to Stage 6 Dementia. There are only 7 stages. Stage 7 is full blown Alzheimer's. She is 85.

Ah, my sympathies.

My mum - whose birthday would have been today - also suffered from that condition; you have my sympathy, this is not easy to have to experience.

The very best of luck.

 

[goldmac2006]

Just learned of the death of a close neighbour, a chap with whom we grew up - he had been ill, but it happened all too soon (he was a soccer coach and had been a teacher - his brother, with whom we were also very close growing up, also a schools coach and teacher, died suddenly - cardiac arrest - last year); shocking.

Today would have been my mother's birthday.

I’m so sorry to hear about your loss, @Scepticalscribe. Sending you all my love and prayers during this difficult time.

 

[goldmac2006]

Day 3 being on prednisone for this ..

Due to removing these from our 20 year on-off wildflower fields

Here’s to 2026 looking like this again, here’s late 2010’s / early 2020’s look

Cosmos flowers? And o dang did some poison ivy or something allergic get on your skin?

Better take care of it before it gets worse.

 

[Apple fanboy]

So put the heating on to dry the boots for today’s walk. They aren’t bone dry, but much better. Less rain forecast today anyway.

Only away for three days, but already looking forward to getting home. I really don’t enjoy company the way I used to.

Supposed to be leaving at 9. The other two I’m sharing with aren’t even up yet.

Tomorrow I will get up and be on the road by 6 am I’m guessing. The earlier I leave, the earlier I get back. I’m half tempted to leave tonight after the meal out, but I don’t like to drive tired.

 

[mtbdudex]

Mom has now been 'upgraded' to Stage 6 Dementia. There are only 7 stages. Stage 7 is full blown Alzheimer's. She is 85.

I truly feel for you….
Treasure each moment, up till the end you will find “moments” of connection with her, I did with my mom.

My mom went thru Dementia to Alzheimer’s 2015 - 2021 passed, left us at 84. Her sister (my aunt) 2009 - 2023 same.

We’ve walked the Detroit Alzheimer’s walk since 2018, with her loved ones in support. Below from 2021, 8 of her 10 grandchildren, which 2 of my 3 children are there.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Today, I purchased some bread from the French bakery - sourdough and a baguette, as well as some cheese, and salted French butter from Normandy, from the cheesemonger, plus some bacon rashers, pork sausages and pork chops, from a nearby (and more than a century old) family owned pork butcher's.

 

[rm5]

Really ready to head back to school, excited to meet all the new first-year students. These last couple weeks of vacation always go really slow. I have a few more gigs left, but that's pretty much it. Not doing much else.

 

[mtbdudex]

@mtbdudex been there, can feel your... well, not pain as such.

For me it was from clearing regular English ivy from a sort of thicket area in a previous home. Any time I did yardwork after that experience, I made sure to wear long sleeves, gloves, and never ever shorts. Even so, I still would use some isopropyl cleaning up after being done outside, just to be sure.

And hope you can get some sleep, prednisone kept me up late.

Btw, I was staying away a few days but today did another zone. Cooler lower humidity wore thin long pants and whicking long shirt.
Still afterwards took your advice and wiped down some exposed areas that made contact with rubbing alcohol .
And yes it’s almost 1am and hard to sleep on prednisone.. Down to 2 pills a day, they prescribed as 4-4-3-3-2-2-1-1 per day

 

[Scepticalscribe]

I truly feel for you….
Treasure each moment, up till the end you will find “moments” of connection with her, I did with my mom.

My mom went thru Dementia to Alzheimer’s 2015 - 2021 passed, left us at 84. Her sister (my aunt) 2009 - 2023 same.

We’ve walked the Detroit Alzheimer’s walk since 2018, with her loved ones in support. Below from 2021, 8 of her 10 grandchildren, which 2 of my 3 children are there.

@jbachandouris, having gone through this with my own mother, I cannot stress how absolutely correct @mtbdudex is, when he writes about those "moments of connection".

They do continue, right up until the end, but they are unpredictable - because you never know when they will happen - and all too fleeting, for they don't last long. When those moments of connection occur, (invariably unexpectedly), seize them, cherish them, and treasure them.

Music can help; my mother adored ABBA, and (thankfully) never remembered that she had just heard it; thus, we had a CD of their greatest hits playing on an almost continual loop, simply because she loved it, and listening to it put her in a good mood. I am so grateful to that group. Other music (the Carpenters, for example, which she used to like when she was still well) made her depressed, and feeling sad, thus, after some experiments, we just played ABBA for her.

Likewise, re food; many people with dementia lose their appetite completely, and thus, become almost emaciated as they do not wish to eat (or drink) anything.

My mother didn't, but that was because we surrendered (completely) on the subject of healthy eating and just gave her what she wanted to eat.

Thus, sausages, chips, (fries) and roast potatoes and dessert featured regularly because she loved them, vegetables were disdained, whereas anything that tasted sweet - (developing a sweet tooth seems to be a feature of dementia, prior to developing this condition, my mother's strong preference had been for bitter and sour food - gooseberries, rhubarb, black currants, tart apples, and so on, a taste I share, whereas, once her dementia became pronounced, she developed a very marked preference for food that tasted sweet, such as almond croissants, chocolate croissants, apple tarts with cream and maple syrup and so on) was devoured.

The very best of luck with it.

 

[rm5]

Been told to stop taking several medications a week before my appointment next Thursday. This last Thursday was the last time I took them, and REALLY suffering today. Suffice to say, it's really bad. No way I can endure this for five more days, so I am going to keep taking them at least until Wednesday. I know this is against their advice but there's just no way. WAY behind on the Desenclos piano accompaniment (been so busy with other things, and then all this came up)... hoped to learn at least 5 pages of it today but I literally couldn't.

I have a recording session tomorrow morning and then going out to lunch with some people, then have a rehearsal. Currently in no shape for that, but SHOULD be better since I just took the medication again tonight. Real question is whether I will sleep tonight--I need to get up at 6:30 tomorrow morning. Thought this year would be good health-wise. Nope.

 

[BotchQue]

...These last couple weeks of vacation always go really slow.

A phrase I've never read before...

 

[Apple fanboy]

A phrase I've never read before...

Agreed. But I don’t think I’ve had more than 7 days vacation in a row this century. They always fly by.

I’m back to work tomorrow after a week off. Fortunately I only have to endure 1 day in the office, then 4 WFH.
Then off for another 5. Yay!

 

[Scepticalscribe]

A phrase I've never read before...

Agreed.

Only the young could come out with such a phrase.......

In my experience, @rm5, not only is it not the case that "the last few weeks of vacation always go really slow", but, in fact, time actually seems to accelerate, and they fly by.

 

[Apple fanboy]

Agreed.

Only the young could come out with such a phrase.......

In my experience, @rm5, not only is it not the case that "the last few weeks of vacation always go really slow", but, in fact, time actually seems to accelerate, and they fly by.

Agreed. Maybe once they leave academia and realise the holiday you have as a student will never be repeated in the rest of your working life. Even if you become a teacher you don’t get quite as much time off (although significantly more than most).

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Agreed. Maybe once they leave academia and realise the holiday you have as a student will never be repeated in the rest of your working life. Even if you become a teacher you don’t get quite as much time off (although significantly more than most).

The thing about teaching that nobody seems to realise is that the actual classroom time is only a part of it; preparing (researching) classes also took up a lot of time, in my case, roughly two to three hours of prep for each actual hour of teaching. Okay, for first years, probably - as I grew a lot more experienced - an hour of prep per classroom contact hour was fine, but, for second, third, year, degree classes, there would have been at least two to three - sometimes four - hours prep in advance per class taught.

Moreover, when I was a teacher, whole weeks would be taken up with grading assignments, essays, term papers, and further whole weeks would be taken up with returning the graded papers to the students, in one to one sessions with each student, and, in the summer, (when the students had finished for the year) - I (and everyone else) would spend the best part of three weeks doing nothing but grading exam papers, all day, all evening, and half the night.

 

[AVBeatMan]

Agreed. But I don’t think I’ve had more than 7 days vacation in a row this century. They always fly by.

I’m back to work tomorrow after a week off. Fortunately I only have to endure 1 day in the office, then 4 WFH.
Then off for another 5. Yay!

I've been off all week. Back in the office Tuesday. In for 7.30 then have to leave at 10.45 to drive all the way back home for a physio appointment then finish off at home. Why I have to go in for 3 or so hours is beyond me? We are moving to 3 days in the office and 2 at home from next week.

 

[Apple fanboy]

I've been off all week. Back in the office Tuesday. In for 7.30 then have to leave at 10.45 to drive all the way back home for a physio appointment then finish off at home. Why I have to go in for 3 or so hours is beyond me? We are moving to 3 days in the office and 2 at home from next week.

We moved from two days to three in April in the office. But as I had taken on a load of extra work for no extra money, I negotiated to cut back to one in the office.
At the same time I’m off all over the country (and beyond) for the company a lot more than I used to. But it’s not every week.

Good luck with the physio.

 

[Apple fanboy]

The thing about teaching that nobody seems to realise is that the actual classroom time is only a part of it; preparing (researching) classes also took up a lot of time, in my case, roughly two to three hours of prep for each actual hour of teaching. Okay, for first years, probably - as I grew a lot more experienced - an hour of prep per classroom contact hour was fine, but, for second, third, year, degree classes, there would have been at least two to three - sometimes four - hours prep in advance per class taught.

Moreover, when I was a teacher, whole weeks would be taken up with grading assignments, essays, term papers, and further whole weeks would be taken up with returning the graded papers to the students, in one to one sessions with each student, and, in the summer, (when the students had finished for the year) - I (and everyone else) would spend the best part of three weeks doing nothing but grading exam papers, all day, all evening, and half the night.

I would also say that I have rarely worked 9-5:30 either. Teachers aren’t the only ones that work late into the night. But they certainly get a lot more holiday than most professions.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Had lunch, a great chat, (and a few coffees) - in an old, established, restaurant, with Decent Brother.

We were attending part of the funeral for our (former) neighbour - a lad with whom we grew up, and, as kids, we were close to both him and his brother, who had died unexpectedly last year (they were both excellent teachers, and the pair of them were inspired and respected soccer coaches); these guys are (were) our age; very, very sad.