View source for Blog/August 2021/Aug 27th

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Well, we certainly had a busy week!

Mom fell twice while moving around. We managed to get her upright both times, and comfortably back in her bed, but she complained of feeling weak. I was all for letting her recover on her own, but Esther said I should ask her doctor what we should do, which I did. He immediately gave us a referral for an ambulance to take her to the emergency room (!).

Once there, she was interviewed (as was I) numerous times, inquiring just what had happened, why she was visiting the ER, how she felt, and so on and on. They determined she was dehydrated, so started an IV while they continued working out what was going on. Eventually, they determined she’s got an intestinal infection and poor kidney functioning. After an overnight stay rehydrating and starting a course of antibiotics, she was released in the morning.

The release instructions were for her to continue the course of antibiotics, to see her own doctor ASAP, and to ''drink copious amounts of water''. 

Getting Mom to drink even a few sips of water is difficult, at the best of times; getting her to drink “copious” amounts of anything is a supreme challenge. A challenge which, I’m sorry to say, is beyond our capabilities to overcome. So we’re doing what we can, with a rather recalcitrant patient.

During the course of handling a semi-prostrate mother, Esther and I discovered that neither of us is as young as we used to be, and both had the brilliant flash of inspired thought: “perhaps we need some help?”. So we started the process of getting someone to assist us (with Mom), and hopefully within a week or so we’ll have found a solution… one can hope.

Various and sundry:
* [https://bariweiss.substack.com/p/after-the-fall “After the Fall”] - are there any competent leaders left?
* On free-speech and the [https://www.piratewires.com/p/american-taliban American Taliban].
* China has gone from the “one-child” to the new [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-58277473 “three-child” policy]. Now that there’s all that land up for grabs to their west, you see?
* How Soviet methods of character assassination [https://legalinsurrection.com/2021/08/character-attack-based-scandals/#%5Bii thrive in the new media environment].
* Bosch says the semiconductor supply chain in the car industry [https://www.cnbc.com/2021/08/24/bosch-says-semiconductor-supply-chains-in-car-industry-no-longer-work.html no longer works]. Guess what? “Just in time” ordering is very susceptible to disruption! And, that oldie but goodie: “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket”.
* As if Cuomo wasn’t in deep enough trouble, the AP reports [https://apnews.com/article/andrew-cuomo-health-coronavirus-pandemic-7312b49695e726eda8d59848e82271c5 an additional 12,000] COVID deaths were concealed from official figures during his administration.
* And: air-conditioning [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90j54PANSKo is racist]. I still like it, though.


Now, I know that some of you live in areas which are prone to hurricanes or other violent storms. To help you out, the American Centers for Disease Control [https://www.cdc.gov/nceh/features/hurricanepreparedness/index.html provides instructions on how to prepare] for such an event. I am intrigued, though: why is “Get a COVID-19 vaccine” the second item on the list (or on the list at all, for that matter?). OK, someone pointed out the list seems to be alphabetically arranged (itself a curious thing, since such lists are generally arranged in order of urgency or importance). But why COVID shots, and not, say, tetanus shots? I mean, in the aftermath of a violent storm, you’re surely more likely to step on a rusty nail or the like than to get sneezed upon by some random person?

This week I didn’t get around to the gardening work I ''must'' complete very very soon! So next week I’ll try to do enough each day (though it will also be a busy week), to get the job done before the start of the New Year (in just over a week’s time). I’m woefully unprepared.

Our weather has been more of the same: hotter than before, but still normal for the season. ''Shabbat'' will be hot and humid.

This ''shabbat'' we’ll try out:<br>
''ḥalla'',
''gondi'',
chicken ''cacciatore'',
various ''salatim'',
other stuff probably,
and banana cake.

Until next time,<br>
''shabbat shalom''!

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