Reporting In

First Huntley, then Brinkley and now Walter.  Another large chunk of my childhood is gone, along with any pretense of journalistic integrity.  News reporting hasn't been the same since Mr. Cronkite retired, it's more infotainment than informative and I don't trust very many of what passes for journalists these days.  Rest in peace Walter, you deserve it. 

As some of you may have surmised, I have been out spending the money now that B of A has let me have it.  The first thing I decided I needed was tires for my car.  What an adventure that turned out to be.  The original equipment tires are 2/5/R65 V 95s.  Well, I was able to find 215/R65s but that V rating turned out to be very troublesome.  It is sometimes called the speed rating and it turns out that they don't seem to make the V anymore.  Both Costco and Wal-Mart will not install tires of a lesser rating due to insurance issues (theirs) and were willing to let me drive around on the currently installed (and very bald) 205/R65s, which makes little to no sense to me.  I kept telling them that I was never going to drive 149 mph since I rarely go over 70, but it was still a no go.  Finally Big O Tires took pity on me and installed tires with an H rating, which means I can only go 139 mph.  Whatever.  I still have to go back on Wednesday and have the rack and pinion assembly changed since it has a small leak now and fixing it now while I can afford it will prevent it breaking when I don't.  She is also scheduled for a maintenance check/tune-up and then I will feel much better about driving her for the next five years.

Since I have the car back I feel like Morgan Freeman in Driving Miss Daisy.  All the old ladies like to have me take them to their appointments and to the casinos.  According to them, my car is the most comfortable and easiest for those who are handicapped to get in and out of.  I'm glad that somebody besides me loves that car.

Mom is becoming more unsteady as the days pass.  Last week she went to get up and did a face plant into the wall.  She looked like someone beat her up.  All those years of smoking has made her skin paper thin and she is constantly cutting and bruising herself.  On Friday she cut herself getting out of the car and when I wasn't looking took the band-aids off and turned a clean cut into a big hole.  It won't be long before I have no choice but to put her in a home.

I also bought a few new clothes which revealed another problem.  Besides being more overweight than I should be I can also see the damage that all the Prednisone did to what used to be an hourglass figure.  Now I look like I swallowed a beach ball and have normal legs and arms sticking out of it.  I hate the funhouse mirrors and the ugly lighting that they use in the fitting rooms. 

I purchased a pair of shorts that were rather snug, as in I could barely get the zipper up, and three hours later they were barely staying on.  They have become pull on shorts and if I don't pull them up constantly I look like I'm trying to show off next week's laundry or trying to look like the kids of today.  What's up with that?

Well, that's all the news that's fit to print since I've been ignoring politics and trying to get my life back into some semblance of order.  Now I'm off to buy a bed for mom and a computer desk for me.

BBB