Chapter 46 - Mattress Matters
I had just settled down to scribe this waffle when she called me on the radio. "I have to get up. My feet want to stick out and my legs have pains in them. And they're stuck together." Some 10 minutes earlier I had settled her back into bed after she needed the loo when I came back from a shower. I think I told you that her feet migrate from beneath the covers then she is unable to retract them. One would think the same mechanism was involved in walking. Different sub-routine I suppose. Anyway, as she came back "You're not wearing those trousers are you?" "I'm dressed for church." "Well, don't put anything in those pockets, they're ugly." Referring to those low-down pockets where one keeps pieces of string, stones & such if one was still young. "I don't care just so long as I'm not ugly." Enlightening conversation at 8am. So she is now having some breakfast to make use of the time when she is unable to do much else.
Earlier she was snoring disturbingly before and after her 7am meds. Since I was not called for between midnight & 7am I assumed she had had a good night. Not so, she had been up & down seeking comfort 3 or 4 times during the night. We have been for long walks (long for us, 20 minutes or so) this week & I suspect the exercise has helped. During the week more experiments with bedding. Foam underlay in the shape of an egg crate(loaned by a friend), blow-up air mattress retrieved from where it was stored in the ceiling and now resides in the garbage bin. When I pumped it full of air several of the internal struts broke, also when she was laying on it - she thought she had been shot, the sound quite loud & sharp.
So at lunch time on Friday we left for the town-of-hot-air to visit a mattress shop we had researched on the net. I was pleased to find that the shop contained only beds; no sign of plastic potted palms, nor of surround sound entertainment systems for bedroom use, nor heavy furniture of rainforest timbers in dark brown. Just beds. The well-trained youngish woman queried our budget by asking how much we wished to pay for comfort. "It's more like the cost of pain" I said. With that we were guided straight to the most expensive demo model. The patient road tested (what a stupid imported expression that is; I shouldn't use it) the mattress & then asked me to help her roll onto her back. Brilliant! Normally, she is unable to lay on her back without needing to raise both legs to ease pain down both. On this mattress though there was no sign of pain. "If you can remain there on your back with legs straight for 10 minutes then we'll buy it." The attendant returned to check on our testing. We told her of our experiment, then waited out the time. Successful. Another mattress was tested just to say we had completed a satisfactory evaluation. Unfortunately, no free deliveries to our town. The mattress can be bent to fit the rear of our "truck" so we will return for it in the coming week, since a king-sized single was not in stock.
As I finish this on the radio the voice of that boof-head who relies on bigoted, right-wing, conservative, literal, inerrant self-serving "Christian" principles (I don't call them Christian) to decree that US Federal funds must not be used for stem cell research yet out of the other side of his empty head he justifies the murderous adventures into Lebanon by that parasitic Western created "nation-state" his kind supports with their excessive military production. What is the price of life? I wonder why so many in his country fail to understand why what they stand for is hated so much by human beings of other faiths. They who see themselves as gods giving enlightenment & democracy to the world. What does He think of what they do in His name?
I notice the time! I find her on the side of the bed in tears unable to put on her bra. Then as I stoop to put on her shoes I sense a tear falling on my hair. We will get to church late today.
Thirty minutes later. This is real time blogging. She cleaned her teeth; I helped her on with her jacket; she was badly stooped; I helped her straighten. "No, it's no good. I can't go. Help me sit down." She sits in her chair, sipping hot chocolate, watching talking heads evaluate the chess-like acts of the players in the Middle East. Soon a more enlightening and peaceful programme to watch.
Earlier she was snoring disturbingly before and after her 7am meds. Since I was not called for between midnight & 7am I assumed she had had a good night. Not so, she had been up & down seeking comfort 3 or 4 times during the night. We have been for long walks (long for us, 20 minutes or so) this week & I suspect the exercise has helped. During the week more experiments with bedding. Foam underlay in the shape of an egg crate(loaned by a friend), blow-up air mattress retrieved from where it was stored in the ceiling and now resides in the garbage bin. When I pumped it full of air several of the internal struts broke, also when she was laying on it - she thought she had been shot, the sound quite loud & sharp.
So at lunch time on Friday we left for the town-of-hot-air to visit a mattress shop we had researched on the net. I was pleased to find that the shop contained only beds; no sign of plastic potted palms, nor of surround sound entertainment systems for bedroom use, nor heavy furniture of rainforest timbers in dark brown. Just beds. The well-trained youngish woman queried our budget by asking how much we wished to pay for comfort. "It's more like the cost of pain" I said. With that we were guided straight to the most expensive demo model. The patient road tested (what a stupid imported expression that is; I shouldn't use it) the mattress & then asked me to help her roll onto her back. Brilliant! Normally, she is unable to lay on her back without needing to raise both legs to ease pain down both. On this mattress though there was no sign of pain. "If you can remain there on your back with legs straight for 10 minutes then we'll buy it." The attendant returned to check on our testing. We told her of our experiment, then waited out the time. Successful. Another mattress was tested just to say we had completed a satisfactory evaluation. Unfortunately, no free deliveries to our town. The mattress can be bent to fit the rear of our "truck" so we will return for it in the coming week, since a king-sized single was not in stock.
As I finish this on the radio the voice of that boof-head who relies on bigoted, right-wing, conservative, literal, inerrant self-serving "Christian" principles (I don't call them Christian) to decree that US Federal funds must not be used for stem cell research yet out of the other side of his empty head he justifies the murderous adventures into Lebanon by that parasitic Western created "nation-state" his kind supports with their excessive military production. What is the price of life? I wonder why so many in his country fail to understand why what they stand for is hated so much by human beings of other faiths. They who see themselves as gods giving enlightenment & democracy to the world. What does He think of what they do in His name?
I notice the time! I find her on the side of the bed in tears unable to put on her bra. Then as I stoop to put on her shoes I sense a tear falling on my hair. We will get to church late today.
Thirty minutes later. This is real time blogging. She cleaned her teeth; I helped her on with her jacket; she was badly stooped; I helped her straighten. "No, it's no good. I can't go. Help me sit down." She sits in her chair, sipping hot chocolate, watching talking heads evaluate the chess-like acts of the players in the Middle East. Soon a more enlightening and peaceful programme to watch.
posted by Kilpike | 8:30 am
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