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Old People Are Funny....
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My father-in-law recently moved from his condo 2 hours away to a retirement home 2 blocks from my house. Since he moved to the neighborhood there have been numerous calls for assistance - at least twice per week. The latest today is that his laptop computer is frozen...or as he calls it "my internet is down". He can move his mouse and see the flashing cursor but nothing else is happening. He is absolutely convinced they are spying on him.

When I checked it out, I used the touchpad to move the cursor and clicked to open his browser. Then I swapped out the battery in his mouse and all is good. Well, until the next call when his blinds are opened overnight without his knowledge or the kitchen light magically turns itself on and off throughout the day.

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I previously lived in a small community that had lots of retirees. I joked to my co-workers that when I retired, I was going to hop in my car and drive around town during rush hour at 20 kph with my flashing lights on so everyone would be backed up behind me and be late for work.

@Kid
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Re: Old People Are Funny.... [atkid] [ In reply to ]
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He just wants to see you.

Civilize the mind, but make savage the body.

- Chinese proverb
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Re: Old People Are Funny.... [atkid] [ In reply to ]
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My mom has short term memory loss. Ask her what happened 30 years ago and she'll tell you but ask her what happened yesterday afternoon and she's a little fuzzy. Sometimes she calls me twice in a day because she forgot she called me the first time. I don't mind. She can call as much as she wants. Your father-in-law sounds like a hoot.

"The great pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do."
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Re: Old People Are Funny.... [atkid] [ In reply to ]
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At 2 blocks away, you can jump in to see him anytime, that's cool. Good for you and him for making that decision...

My dad is struggling with dementia, they're having their house appraised tomorrow, going to move to an apartment with services and a doorman... They're about 30 min from me now, I've already begun discussions with my stepmom about moving him to the home a block from my house when the time comes...

Good on you for fixing his internet...
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Re: Old People Are Funny.... [atkid] [ In reply to ]
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What Duffy says. Be thankful the old man has an internet to be broken. Also, you can't know how much calm and contentment there is to driving without schedule and just under the limit. My wife has yet to reach that stage in life, and my plodding down the road drives her crazy. It is written into the Bill of rights for old folks, pursuit of happiness or something.
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Re: Old People Are Funny.... [gofigure] [ In reply to ]
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I'm pretty convinced folks over a certain age live in slower space-time than younger.

For them being out and about is like being in the asteroid belt in Star Wars.

not that that's you in your car -- that's a life choice.
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Re: Old People Are Funny.... [atkid] [ In reply to ]
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Treasure every minute, because you will miss him when he is gone.
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Re: Old People Are Funny.... [atkid] [ In reply to ]
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I checked in on a friend last night after hearing that his mom had an ER visit this weekend. Basically all caused by her not taking her meds. Friend said she has convinced herself that the meds (drugs) are cooking her brain referencing the fried egg/hot skillet commercial in years past.
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Re: Old People Are Funny.... [Duffy] [ In reply to ]
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Yeah, this could be a part of it. He does have a very active social calendar with new activities at his retirement home, almost daily visits from my wife/daughter, skype calls regularly with family & friends, visits us for dinner at least once per week, etc.

@Kid
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Re: Old People Are Funny.... [jkca1] [ In reply to ]
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He is a hoot! With 3 daughters and a wife looking after his every need for so many years, he is actually quite hopeless with day-to-day things. One example: last week he didn't like what was on the lunch menu at his retirement home. My wife had stocked up on some of those noodle soup bowls for him. All you do is add boiling water. We found out later he couldn't figure out how to "make" the soup so he skipped lunch that day.

@Kid
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Re: Old People Are Funny.... [vecchia capra] [ In reply to ]
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Yes I definitely will. He is an amazing person and has built up a great legacy. When you hear about "patriarch of the family", he is the ultimate embodiment of that.

@Kid
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Re: Old People Are Funny.... [tgrunnin] [ In reply to ]
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My father late in life went off his meds for a couple days and that put him into a tailspin that he never recovered from. He went full-on crazy and some of the stories he would come up with were actually quite hilarious.

Here's one example: I was visiting him and placed my coat and hat on his coat rack behind the chair I was sitting in. After a few minutes, my father asks "Who's that behind you?". I responded it was nobody. A couple minutes later, he asked again who was standing behind me. Again I responded "Nobody!". Then my father said "Well, he's a pretty big guy for being a nobody!" LOL

@Kid
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Re: Old People Are Funny.... [snoots] [ In reply to ]
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I did advise him not to Google the word "google" so he doesn't break the Internet, so we're all safe.

@Kid
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Re: Old People Are Funny.... [atkid] [ In reply to ]
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Just buy him an Alyssa (or Alesandra, Alegra, or whatever) and problem solved.





The devil made me do it the first time, second time I done it on my own - W
Last edited by: sphere: Mar 27, 19 13:25
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Re: Old People Are Funny.... [sphere] [ In reply to ]
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Perfect. I am a geezer, but damn old folks here in FL cannot drive worth a shit. Right on red has been permanently wiped from their memory banks. Shooting them a bird is futile......they'll never see it.
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Re: Old People Are Funny.... [atkid] [ In reply to ]
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My 94 yr old dad really still has his shit together except for two things 1) refuses to wear his hearing aids around his house and can't hear the phone ring and always forgets them when we go to a restaurant. 2) refuses to discuss one of those medic alert devices that will send an alarm if he was to fall. Says he'll wait until he falls the first time before he'll consider it.
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Re: Old People Are Funny.... [atkid] [ In reply to ]
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atkid wrote:
My father-in-law recently moved from his condo 2 hours away to a retirement home 2 blocks from my house. Since he moved to the neighborhood there have been numerous calls for assistance - at least twice per week. The latest today is that his laptop computer is frozen...or as he calls it "my internet is down". He can move his mouse and see the flashing cursor but nothing else is happening. He is absolutely convinced they are spying on him.

When I checked it out, I used the touchpad to move the cursor and clicked to open his browser. Then I swapped out the battery in his mouse and all is good. Well, until the next call when his blinds are opened overnight without his knowledge or the kitchen light magically turns itself on and off throughout the day.

*********
I previously lived in a small community that had lots of retirees. I joked to my co-workers that when I retired, I was going to hop in my car and drive around town during rush hour at 20 kph with my flashing lights on so everyone would be backed up behind me and be late for work.

@Kid

Duffy's right. He just wants company. Plus, since he's elderly -- and I give him huge credit for having a laptop computer, because my elderly father can barely manage one of those senior citizen-sized flip phones -- he may feel as if technology is speeding past him nowadays and that too many people are spying on him and trying to rob him of what independence it is he has left.

FWIW: My then-57-year-old biological mother couldn't even manage a double-click of the mouse on her 1999 EMachines 8GB desktop computer that I got her for Christmas that year from Circuit City. I'd come to her home, after a phone call about how the computer was "froze up," and find the blue screen of death every time. She never advanced past a Motorola StarTac flip phone herself. So some folks manage to stay up with all the latest tech and some folks finally throw up their hands and just let it all slide past them. And you can never tell just which person will do what when it comes to that phenomenon. Heh-heh.

"Politics is just show business for ugly people."
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