Toronto and Hamilton musicians and others are generally more progressive than the burbs and the boonies.

There were more not-Doug-Ford voters than others, but the two more progressive parties could not unite and defeat him.

I am troubled by the American health care system. As good as health care is, Ontario now has Doug Ford for premier (brother of the now dead, crack-smoking former Mayor of Toronto). He is cancelling renewable energy projects and taking both our sources of energy and high school sex ed curriculum back to the last century. Oh, Canada. Oh, World.

No Barkeeper in sight. I'll pour my own wine. Let's see - Barefoot Pino Grigio or Naked (Grape) Pinot Grigio?

June 15 As I mentioned in an earlier post, my mom slipped again and, this time, fractured her hip.

July 12 After almost a month in the hospital cheering everyone up with her positivity and gratefulness, they released her into my custody. The hospital case worker referred her to the community case worker who I haven't spoken to yet. An occupational therapist is supposed to come to the house (please, soon) and recommend bars put in certain places around my mother's downstairs washroom. She won't be going upstairs anymore.

I rented a hospital bed for the living room.

Even though I haven't talked to the community case worker, the personal support workers (PSWs) came right away. They have names like Aman and Jasbinder and Lakhvinder. They are lovely. The come in the morning and help my mother bathe and get dressed. They might straighten up a bit and then take off to their next appointment. The only problem is my mother is up at 4:30 or 5:00 a.m. and they tend to come around 10:00 a.m. Today, I managed to get one to come at 7:00 a.m. It was a good day.

This is all covered by the province. They also sent home two pieces of equipment free for a month: a commode and a walker.

The physiotherapist was at the house last Friday. The PSWs usually call the night before, but the physiotherapist called half an hour before coming. He did an assessment and gave her six exercises to do three times a day to build strength in her hip and legs. For example, stand on your good leg, raise your bad leg and hold for five seconds. Repeat 10 times. My mother obeys and cooperates but has trouble remembering what to do. I have to lead her through this.

She's also incredibly funny. One of the exercises is squats. The instructions say, "Slowly bend your hips and knees, then stand up tightening your buttock muscles." She squats down 1-2-3-4-5, and then stands up loudly saying "And tighten your buttocks!" Then she laughs and laughs.

The first week for me was all improv. I had no idea what I was doing. My mom had been living independently at 91, but at the hospital they suggested that she needed "supervision" going forward. Siblings checked in from far away, but it looked like I was the supervisor for now until something more permanent could be arranged.

Now, I am organizing some paid helpers to come to the house an hour after the PSW leaves. They will help her with exercises, meds, making lunch and then help her into bed for a nap. I'm putting together a schedule from now until August 20 when my older sister is coming from three time zones away for two weeks while I'm away.

My younger brother will be back from a trip and he and my sister can contemplate longer term plans. My mother's wish is to be able to stay in her own home where she's lived mostly since 1962.

As some of you know, I live in Canada. The only bill I saw was $45 for the ambulance. That's the only bill I will see for surgical, medical, and 28 days in the hospital. The level of care my mother received is available to all Canadians. She does not have any personal health insurance plan. Her plan is The plan.

Not only that, but she agreed to participate in a research study that was looking at what would happen if people suffering from hip injuries were fast-tracked into surgery and operated on within seven hours, compared to those who were put into the normal surgical stream and waited 12-24 hours for an operating room, anaesthetist, surgeon, etc. to be available. Those in the study had a 50-50 chance of getting fast-tracked and my mom won the lottery.

mivasairski steve

it is rarely the case that the answer presents itself lickety split.

Yes, I see you're point. There is much to learn and as we change and grow, we look at past events in new lights and learn new things.

I have friends in HS that I'm hoping to drop in on. I guess LP is Lower Penninsula are maybe Left Penninsula. It looks pretty upper to me. I imagine that I'll drive in through the Soo. Are you in the thumb of the mitten? We'll probably head over to Canada through Sarnia. It looks like we are able to not drag the U-Haul and get everything shipped instead so that will make cross-country a bit easier.

Have you heard of Harbor Springs? I hope to be passing through the UP of MI at the end of August.

I spend a lot of time contemplating my future, and mulling over the past, and I wonder if it gets in the way of the present too much.

Attempting a creative feat is good.

Complaining about life is understandable.

Imagine a Venn Diagram in which "fuck everything" (anger, numbness, inaction) intersects with "high empathy" (caring, listening, observing). The overlap is probably a very creative space. Add design and it should be interesting.

Is there anything in particular about the unreliable witness, in fiction and life, that interested you?

That's a very powerful video.

That's okay. Someone else is sure to turn 2000 soon. I decided to donate to a loyal hubskier instead. Same thing. Kinda.

“We were shocked because we didn’t understand how such a small matter like breast-feeding could provoke such a dramatic response,” said the Ecuadorean official, who asked not to be identified because she was afraid of losing her job.

Yes, obviously the edits to the resolution are directed by corporate interests. I also see it as part of the many ways legislative bodies involve themselves in controlling women.

Some countries ban women's face/head coverings. Some countries INSIST on certain body/head/face coverings for women.

I imagine there are countries where men must where a hat -- or are there?

Abortion? Well you know. By the way, Argentina just legalized abortion last month. I'm wondering if this was widely known by you.

ooops fell down the hubski-rabbit-hole again. and it's filling with water. I'll need to swim out.