Well, fucking ugh to that. And also what Dana said.

Hi, Debet -- great to see you.

We're off to meet the dry-rot fixing window specialists.

Wish us smonsters!

(or at least people of comparable window expertise)

Good Gosh- Sam Sander's last episode of "It's Been a Minute" is a tearjerker!

Multiple women harassed by Christian Kane on the set of Leverage.

jesus fucking christ can we not have anything nice?

Right? Damn it.

Glad it's benign, I hope the pain gets figured out very soon and can easily be treated!

Cass, I'm sad about your reaction to bananas. But this?

What the heck, Rory? Why the food bork? Here we have perfectly normal bork reasons. For instance, I made a keyboard noise, doggo borked fool head off as if home invaded.

Yay for Hec-sister saying good, helpful things! And all the stars! And cool furniture choices!

UGH to news about CK. Dammit.

Dad update: After he made his friend R miserable all week being all upset that I was going to be here to take him to the doctor "like a child," he had zero issues today when I actually took him. At the second appointment, I even said, "Hey, if you want me to wait in the waiting room, that's fine," and he was all, "No, come on in!" Insert OMG dementia is crazymaking face here. So today was a lot less awful than it could have been. I'll take the win.

But his poor friend. R is 81 and in good health, but he's a super sensitive soul who keeps ending up getting in the thick of things with Dad while just trying to help. If Dad wasn't making R so miserable, I wouldn't be so worried about being out here so often. Well, that and worrying about Dad not taking his meds correctly. Anyway, I'm paying Dad's caregiver extra to work with R on therapeutic communication to help minimize the friction. I've also tentatively reduced my leave from three weeks to one, hoping that's all I will need for now. We shall see. Also, ain't no bureaucracy like state FMLA bureaucracy. So glad I have a good HR person to help me navigate it.

Less awful is good! That's so good of you to look out for R. I'm so glad your HR is helpful!

Apparently, Rule #7 does not apply.

Well, that's...there must be a word for that. Even more ugh. I have read the whole article now and I would like to start some fires.

Less awful is good! That's so good of you to look out for R.

Yes, but I will admit it's also selfish; if there's less friction with R, there's less need for me to fly back and forth quite as often when I get frantic texts.

Oh, and Dad's neurologist is putting him on a memory drug that should stabilize him a bit. The doc was quick to say it won't make things better, but it may stop them from getting worse for a time. So that's also good, so long as Dad takes it correctly.

I’m glad things were better than they might have been, Pix.

so long as Dad takes it correctly

Pix, does he use a smartphone?

The Medisafe app [link] was recommended to me a few months ago, and I find that I like it. I set up my daily medications in it, and now it reminds me when to take them, I can mark off the ones I take, when I take them, so that when I look back later I don't go through the "Wait, did I take that one already today?" confusion any more. I also set up refill reminders in it.

Check it out. You might have to do the set-up for him, but perhaps it could help keep him on track.

Myself, I'm up to eleven different kinds of pill each day, now. Sigh. I need the organizational help.

Thanks, dcp. I looked into the Medisafe app, but the issue is that it's too complex for him. He can't do any type of tech at this point. His caregiver and I stock his pill container (two-weeks with AM and PM slots) for him, and he often can't even understand the difference between the AM and the PM. I have reminders set on his phone to take his morning meds at 7:30 and his night meds at 6, and that works some of the time, but because the reminder lets him "snooze," he sometimes hits the wrong button and then thinks he has to take them again. It's really tricky to find the balance between how tech can help and how it can confuse him more.

Also, I'm sorry you have to take so many meds. I disapprove of aging and illness.