On or about 01-09-06 17:46, Ardith Hinton did engage James Bradley

 JB>  I may have mentioned an Aunt who lives in a chair?

 AH>           You did mention that your godmother had $600
 AH> worth of annuals in the ground... but come to think of it,
 AH> you didn't say whether or not she'd planted them herself!
 AH> Is this the same person??

No, her I just *called* Aunt. Imagine, TWICE I avoided putting the moves on an
admirer, because I called her parents Aunt and Uncle! 

No my true Uncle married this Aunt. She's the one that was about to get low
slung cupboards so she could reach glasses without leaving the wheels. The MD
told my Uncle, "NO WAY! She needs to use it or lose it."

 JB>  One day, my mom asked her how she was going to plant
 JB>  all the plants she was buying. After a little pause,
 JB>  her solution was to invite one of her sons over, or
 JB>  grab the first neighbour to pass by to do it for her.

 AH>           Whereas we built a raised bed so Nora could plant her own....


Solid thinking!


 JB>  For me - I don't think I'm breaking new ground here -


 AH>           Good pun... [chuckle].

Quite unintentional! 


 AH>           Yes, I enjoy playing in the dirt!  If you do it yourself you
 AH> know it will be done the way you'd like it done... and there's a
 AH> sense of satisfaction far beyond what you have when others
 AH> do it for you.  Much of our own work with Nora is managing
 AH> the environment so she can do things for herself.  I see
 AH> that as the role of a teacher, but I guess in a way it's
 AH> "engineering" too....  :-)

In my case, my plan was to prevent the fescue from encroaching by a steep drop.
That was dismissed as a stupid plan, so nobody bothered to implement it. The
slope had all but eroded, and grass had invaded a wildflower meadow. Luckily,
Roundup was more than effective, and the spade had a few extra digs.

Now, if anyone tells you a teacher can't be a great engineer, give them my
number. Do I have a few stories for them! 

 JB>  indicative of common problems. 

 AH>           I agree that he had a lot of good points there.  We've met
 AH> George... he's one of our BBS users & he came to visit Nora
 AH> after she had her stroke.  I can tell he has devoted some
 AH> thought to the matter & extends the understanding he'd like
 AH> for himself to other folks.  These things work both ways!
 AH> I've been following the echo for years & post in it on
 AH> occasion.  Another of the current regulars, however, is
 AH> probably more receptive to such ideas from George et al.
 AH> than she would be from me.  I have enough to do, and she
 AH> sounds so much like a person I mentioned earlier that I may
 AH> learn more by not getting involved.  ;-)

That can be a tough one. I know I suffer from over talking an issue, expecting
the recipient to see things my way. One day, a friend said, "I don't understand
any technology." You know, in one of those blissfully ignorant,
head-in-the-sand tones. 

Well, off I go trying to explain electricity by describing power levels, and
how one type of power remains constant, therefore 'direct current'...

I did it with two other friends present, and in a Professor Numb-nut
caricature, but it *is* part of my makeup to explain things, as a means of
including others in my excitement about how fascinating these things can be.
Like mom asking about her phone batteries, and why they weren't holding a
charge - it's too late once the cows are out of the barn! Trying to pump the
unwilling with info doesn't do it, and I had tried many approaches, but it just
wasn't getting through.


 JB>  of necessity.

 AH>           If you do it because there are limits to your energy, I don't
 AH> have a problem with that.  What I was referring to was the way
 AH> things were when I was growing up.  You might think you
 AH> knew a person and/or their family quite well, only to
 AH> discover some years later that there was another family
 AH> member who was seldom spoken of & who was often confined to
 AH> a single room... like Boo Radley, whose father felt
 AH> embarrassed & didn't know what else to do with him.  In
 AH> most cases these hidden people were mentally and/or
 AH> physically handicapped....  :-/

I knew that. I just like to watch you skate backward. [-|{

There *was* a real issue, and as short a time ago as this Saturday. The sister
from out of town, hadn't seen the strides I had taken in her absence. The
visits were going along, and I was doing what I could to keep up to them. I
guess I was doing a pretty good job of hiding the bad spots, because I got the
old twenty questions, about how to get my sorry carcass there for another B-Day
party.

If I could-a, I would-a... "No, you giving me a ride will not change anything.
Yes, I'd like to sign the card, but getting the gift yesterday played me out.
Yes, I should-a sent you out to do it, but you didn't know where the gift was,
or the deal that I got for myself the last time I was there... ... ..."

 JB>  It was survival that I had to immobilize myself for
 JB>  the length of time, not an unwillingness to leave the
 JB>  structure.


 AH>           Uh-huh.  You decide for yourself whether or not
 AH> to go out, and by so doing make it easier & more acceptable
 AH> for other folks to do the same....  :-)


When dad used to say, "It's up to you." ...Regarding an outing,
that I wasn't
able to attend, my retort was:

"No, if it was up to *me*, I'd go. The bloody HIP has the say, and *I* have to
listen!"

...But maybe, I'm just out to get your goat again. 


... James
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