An apartment building near me at one point had, um, less experience people hooking up the new gas stoves. One evening, there was an explosion ... in an unoccupied apartment. Took out part of that apartment's wall and a bunch of windows around it, but no injuries.

They switched contractors after that.

My mom's in the ER again. She swallowed a hearing aid battery, thinking it was candy. They're x-raying her to make sure it's not stuck in the esophagus. If not, it should pass through her OK.

She's been to the ER several times this year. She's confined to a wheelchair but sometimes she gets excited and stands up and falls.

Mom is in a nursing home near Madison, which means my sister has to deal with this stuff. I think I'll take my sister out to dinner to thank her.

Mom's memory is bad. She thinks my sister is one of her sisters.

Aw, tommyrot, that's hard.

From the perspective of the city, they probably don't want homeowners DIY-ing their sidewalk repairs to save money (or using "my cousin's friend Bob who knows a concrete guy") and risk fucking up something important underground.

I definitely get that. But people's objections were more along the lines of "This is a ridiculously small list of contractors. There are more licensed bonded contractors out there. This limited list feels shady." If it were a bigger list, even, it would feel less shady. As it is, it feels like these contractors are in City Hall's pocket.

Plus people are annoyed that the city won't fix the goddamn streets, so there are potholes that go to the center of the earth, but they want us to repair the sidewalks. I'm on board with keeping the sidewalks safe, because this neighborhood is promoted as being a walkable community (and it is; I appreciate not tripping over busted sidewalk slabs), but it feels like a poke in the eye when the city drops a repair bill on us out of the blue but then makes the shrug emoji reaction when we ask when the hell the streets are going to be fixed.

tommyrot, that really is hard. Is she in a memory care unit?

I'm basically on call today, as my boss doesn't have work for me at the moment because he's tied up fixing a client's Access database. I was really stressed out this morning so I took a hour walk. I've been doing a lot of walking lately to deal with stress, which is helping. Gotta get my bike fixed and/or rejoin the nearby health club to get better exercise.

My stomach's been feeling better lately. I've actually been doing things that I'd been putting off. Remember when I lost my glasses a year ago in March? I finally went to an optomotrist so I'll have new glasses with progressive lenses again. (I've been wearing a 14-year old non-progressive pair for the last 15 months. I often have to take them off to read.)

Been talking to a number of Kansas City IT recruiters thanks to Gud. I've gotten a lot of good advice and some job leads.

I still often feel like a case of baskets, and I have had lots of stuff to deal with lately, but getting things done is helping my mood.

tommyrot, that really is hard. Is she in a memory care unit?

Yes. We had to move her from Clintonville to Cottage Grove last year so she could be in a memory care unit.

OK, they found the hearing aid battery at the nursing home (with bite marks) so Mom didn't swallow it. She just ate part of someone else's hearing aid, but not the battery.

Hey, that sounds like you're doing a lot of good stuff, tommyrot! I think the mood/getting things done relationship can be a loop -- you start to feel better, so you can start doing things, so you feel better, etc.

Sorry about your mom, though.

OMG, that just reminded me of a horror story my uncle told about getting a bit of his hearing aid stuck in his ear.

I think the mood/getting things done relationship can be a loop -- you start to feel better, so you can start doing things, so you feel better, etc.

Exactly. Getting the loop started is a great thing. I'm sorry about the mom issues. It is good that your sister is close by. I'm sure it is difficult for your sister to be mistaken for her aunt, but it is no doubt a comfort for your mother to have her "sister" visit.