## Message to a friend who I was sending periodic trip updates, just
## after arrival to the relevant area in FL.


Date: Mon, 12 Sep 2022 21:26:47 -0500
Subject: discoveries of the day

Well, this trip certainly has some unique aspects.  First, I've never seen
that upper segment of US 301 south of I-10 in any time other than midday -- I
was so far ahead of the game that I came through there around sunset, and was
astounded to see the number of *trucks* snugging in for the night -- a solid
half-mile of them, lined up down *both* sides of the road, down from the big
plaza with the TA and Pilot that's a big nexus anyway.  And I don't know if
you ever heard of the "Lawtey -- SPEED TRAP" billboards, you could probably
look up the story.  The billboard is gone now, but last night I saw the Lawtey
speed trap in action!  I tooled into town at well below the staged-down limits
as I know all about that setup, and spotted Mr. Gendarme tucked into a corner
of a school field or something at the roadside.  I floated past him and
stopped at a light, and somewhere behind me the rollers came on ... but he
was nailing the van that was behind me, not me.  So they're still doing it.

Anyway, the important stuff ... next morning I rolled into town, and went
straight to the hospice house where Mom is.  Expecting to find a burned-out
shell with no spark of her left in it ... but surprise surprise, she is much
more lucid than any of the phonecalls last week let on, she knew who I was,
we talked for quite a while, although whatever the episode was has definitely
taken out parts of her brain and memory so she's fixating on unachievable
things, such as going back to the house to live.  Anyway, she's not dead yet,
which puts this entire trip into even more waiting-game questionability.
And now I'm getting it from the hospice people that their facility is not
really designed as a long-term living situation, and they're trying to work
with the nursing-care side of the CCRC to work something out.  After all,
Mom did buy into the whole continuing-care game, so even if we have to dump
all her stuff and she moves to a hand-and-foot-and-butt assisted "living"
situation, to use the word loosely, it is somewhat owed to her by contract.

Tomorrow I go to the bank with all the paperwork to make sure I'm really an
authorized co-trustee on her account and can pay bills and stuff on her
behalf.  I expect that will eventually turn into the estate account when
the time comes.  Yes, there will be excruciating doc on the process, unlike
anyone else on our list has deigned to produce during their own journeys.

So this is where we're at.  There is far more to it, but logistics calls.
I figured out how to forward my cell on being "unavailable" to Mom's landline,
so I can get calls without having to go outside on the back veranda and hope
I'm in the right position.  So I can just put my cell in airplane and poof,
calls ring on the house phones.  Texts would just get buffered up until I
pop back on the T-Mo network.

I'm now solo at the house, settling in and figuring out how to get organized.
Whether Mom was here or gone, the same steps would have to occur, and I've
got sort of a three-phase plan for disposal.  Consignment for value items,
where they could come in with their truck and pick up; then maybe have the
"free yard sale" offering to the local facility residents if they'll let me do
that, and then finally donation and/or dumpstering.  She was no hoarder, but
there are still quite a few bits that would be a shame to toss but are very
difficult to determine objective value of.  I'm intending to bring home ONE
groanin' Kona-load and declare that to be *it*, we'll see how that goes.

I left some *lovely* early-fall weather in NE and am now back in the
oppressive humidity and daily thunderstorms and everything bad about Florida
summer weather, yuck, meh, piffle.  I got one hike-let in at Harold Parker
before having to zip out of town again.

Oh, and there are wasps or something building a nest in the ceiling just
above where I've set up camp at Mom's office desk; I can hear them buzzing.
There's a piece of the soffit screen loose and hanging down on the outside,
at the right spot which would be conducive to that.  So I have to call the
Maintenance people for pest removal tomorrow ...

_H*