Chapter 73 - Speed on Wheels
Down to Hot Air City on Thursday to collect her scooter. We probably dived in the deep end because we went over to one of the larger shopping centres for a trial run for an afternoon of shopping. She had looked forward for so long to independently browse the shops without my help. Me too, as I had a gift voucher & award points in my pocket for a book I am sure many we know would consign to hellfire & ashes if they caught me reading it. Things didn't turn out that way. She quickly found that pedestrians did not care, just walked in front of the scooter; scared her repeatedly, one fat woman laughed at her, "Saying you missed me!" maybe as a joke. She baulked at attempting the moving walkway up to the level of the bookshop so I hurried up there, found my book on the "Latest Releases" shelf, paid for it with only a little real cash & returned to her parked against a wall (a case of "bookshopus interruptus", most unsatisfying to say the least). Then into a supermarket to buy a few food items. Then we escaped homewards. I must say driving around that city with GPS is to be recommended, since the place was designed with politicians in mind unable to lie straight in bed or perhaps my sense of direction is failing.
In early evening she decided we needed the supermarket again. I sat outside reading my book; she zipped around inside. Several kind people helped gather things for her. The scooter basket is small yet deep enough to lose her mobile phone within. Fortunately I looked up just as she neared a checkout. The day stressed both of us; bed was welcoming, yet still at our usual late hour.
Friday being the day we celebrate the rape & pillage of our (is it really?) sunburnt land we had friends over to a snag sizzle and they shared a bottle of red stuff, pear flan with us & we in turn cheap cask plonk and cheese etc. She was uncomfortable & stressed all day. I don't think she had slept well. Her tremors failed to let up all day. She had agreed for us to gather with a tribe of other villagers in the once grassed area where now there are more ants than grass leaves. She proudly drove her scooter the 100 yards then used it as her seat. She said later "I would not have gone if I didn't have the scooter." So the wheels are already of benefit to her. However, being sociable did nothing for her tremors (not obvious, she attempts to control them, makes matters worse) and by late evening her lower back was giving her hell. She shuffled stooped around the house. Seated on the side of her bed sometime late, I attached the TENS machine electrodes to her lower back. Some relief. Around 2 am she called out; she had her old problem where she was sure her feet were extending over the edge of the bed; from my viewpoint they weren't but I pushed her knees an inch or two towards the centre of the bed. "Perhaps my head needs to be closer to the edge" she suggested. I pulled her shoulders a little. Later she called out in her sleep a few times. Somewhen her legs ached from trying to separate them. I moved the upper leg, her left a little "That OK?" "Much better", we slept.
In early evening she decided we needed the supermarket again. I sat outside reading my book; she zipped around inside. Several kind people helped gather things for her. The scooter basket is small yet deep enough to lose her mobile phone within. Fortunately I looked up just as she neared a checkout. The day stressed both of us; bed was welcoming, yet still at our usual late hour.
Friday being the day we celebrate the rape & pillage of our (is it really?) sunburnt land we had friends over to a snag sizzle and they shared a bottle of red stuff, pear flan with us & we in turn cheap cask plonk and cheese etc. She was uncomfortable & stressed all day. I don't think she had slept well. Her tremors failed to let up all day. She had agreed for us to gather with a tribe of other villagers in the once grassed area where now there are more ants than grass leaves. She proudly drove her scooter the 100 yards then used it as her seat. She said later "I would not have gone if I didn't have the scooter." So the wheels are already of benefit to her. However, being sociable did nothing for her tremors (not obvious, she attempts to control them, makes matters worse) and by late evening her lower back was giving her hell. She shuffled stooped around the house. Seated on the side of her bed sometime late, I attached the TENS machine electrodes to her lower back. Some relief. Around 2 am she called out; she had her old problem where she was sure her feet were extending over the edge of the bed; from my viewpoint they weren't but I pushed her knees an inch or two towards the centre of the bed. "Perhaps my head needs to be closer to the edge" she suggested. I pulled her shoulders a little. Later she called out in her sleep a few times. Somewhen her legs ached from trying to separate them. I moved the upper leg, her left a little "That OK?" "Much better", we slept.
posted by Kilpike | 8:55 am
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