It Looked Like Hoarders... Extreme Edition

 

The Son's Lifelong Friend Bridgette was in Town again, so they went out.  They've known each other since Childhood and we've always liked her, but Bridgette is Bridgette, and a little bit of that can go a long way, especially in Public.  She can be very "Hood", and Looks can be deceiving, she can Fight like a Man and easily gets into confrontations.  It tends to never end well tho' with those Two if they go to a Bar, coz she is feisty and a big flirt, always has been, and then he feels protective of her.  So, that usually ends up with him in a confrontation with someone who got out of line with her, it happens with going out with his Sister too, Bee and The Daughter are Wild, so he gets upset with them, but also Protective of them both.  The Daughter and Bee have gotten them kicked out of more than one Establishment.  *Winks*   Which of coarse is embarrassing to him, he can't Control them.  This time tho' The Daughter was with her Friend Stephen, but she knew her Brother and Bee had gone out and knew it probably would not End Well on account of Bee being Bee.  *Eye Roll*

 And so it was, so he came Home rather Psychotic and enraged, coz Bridgette had clearly done a Bridgette again at some Bar they had gone to... I'm thinking some Guy was involved.  Probably someone neither of them knew...   She's a Beautiful Woman and so she does attract a lot of Attention, she likes the Attention,  seeks the  Attention... most people do.   But sometimes then she dislikes it at some point and that's when shit tends to go Sideways and Left.  Not all flirting is Serious and most of it is harmless and in Fun, but Men often take it as being Serious and Imagine real Interest, that sometimes is not there to pursue, let us just say.  And everyone is having a Good Time, until they're NOT!  And so it always seems to go with Bee and The Son...   And, I don't know if they got kicked out of where ever they were this time if she got out of Control... or some Random did... I don't think he got into any actual Fight there... which is Good News... BUT... she dropped him off... AND... it got very Interesting then and woke me, and everyone else, from a Sound Sleep... coz...

He came Home "Fighting" and arguing loudly and angrily... with himself by then!    Not unusual for someone in a full blown Psychotic Episode, you would have thought several People were in a Room fighting amongst themselves... we all did!!!  I checked to make sure there wasn't anyone he was ACTUALLY fighting with, that I'd have to break up.  But... it was just him tho' in a Room alone, and all the Voices in his Head... ginned up by Bridgette's behavior that had gone sideways and then he wasn't having a Good Time anymore.  And he was really Mad.  It's Predictable, she's always gonna be her, he's always gonna be him.  The Gal knows she has her Problems, I Adore her and we've talked candidly of her consistent troubling Behaviors.  She's got a relatively Young Mom with Brain Damage she's Caregiver of... and she's been a Young Single Parent to her only Son, whose now an Older Teenager and becoming a handful for a Single Mom to manage as he's quickly becoming a Man.  And her Romantic Relationships have always been turbulent... and poor judgment... so, she's stayed Single.  The Girl has a full Dance Card... and not always Playing with a Full Deck either.

Anyway, The Son woke everyone up, his Sister tried to Calm him Down before he woke everyone up fighting with himself, or risked getting Kicked Out if I Snapped... but all of us in his Imagination were in this "Fight" he was having ... we all were in his Head apparently.  *LOL*  So, she recognizes Full On Crazy when confronted with it, anything he was upset about with anyone, was being Played out in a One Man Show.  So, The Daughter Exited Stage Left so as to not be Triggered and Escalate it.  Wise Move.  Princess T just turned "Sponge Bob Square Pants" up louder to drown out the Psychotic Theatrics going on.  She, as well as the rest of us, know when to just leave him alone and let him Work it Out Mentally.  Eventually he gets exhausted.  The next Morning The Daughter and I sat and talked it out with him, he didn't remember having the Psychotic Break, usually they don't, not unusual. 

 I just told him that if something is Triggering, perhaps Opt Out and don't engage in being Invited if you know things might go South.  He Adores his Friend, but he also knows how she is and it frustrates him.  He can't protect her from herself, it might seem Noble to try, but it's futile and causes unnecessary Issues for him.   And she and him, tho' extremely close, have had their Love-Hate Issues with each other, she once broke The Son's Nose!  But then again, when she heard Gypsy James, also a Lifelong Friend of them both, and a Fighter by Nature, had provoked a Fight with The Son, she went over and broke his expensive Sunglasses right on his Face, giving him a Black Eye!   She's not one to trifle with and of coarse the other Friends had video recorded the now infamous Fight between The Son and Gypsy James that lasted so long their Video storage ran out on their Phones!!!  It was a stalemate, The Son has avoided being provoked by his Friend for Decades, coz Gypsy James always wanted a Match, to see who might Win.  The Male Ego and sense of Machisimo knows no bounds, does it?  Couple that with Crazy... and... well... shit happens... *Eye Roll*

He knows The Son has never started a Fight, but has always Ended one with a flourish when provoked enuf to be forced into Fighting.  It was like a Scene in Fight Club from what The Daughter remembers of it, and she was the reason it started actually.  She's gotten Crazy, at Gypsy James House, she wouldn't leave voluntarily once on The Crazy Train, so he tried to Make her leave.  Ruh Roh!  Wrong Move.  She didn't have a chance to start laying Hands on Gypsy James, her Brother came at him like a Rouge Elephant.  James got the Fight he'd always wanted... or thought he did anyway.  He knew The Son was Holding Back and not putting his Heart into the Fight, but it lasted over an Hour and a Half according to bystanders... 'til James just couldn't Fight anymore and gave up and Tapped Out.  Coz The Son will keep going even if he doesn't wanna truly Hurt you, and could, he won't Stop either.  I'm like that, which is why folks will hesitate to provoke me to the point I would Need to React.  The Son is the same way, he's Protective of those he Cares about and Loves, but he'd rather walk away if possible... it's not always possible... especially in some Bar and if Drink has been involved... which, in a Bar... Duh!!! 

But anyway, nobody got Hurt last Night and The Daughter said she was Proud of her Brother for Walking Away and just re-enacting Fights in his Head instead of laying Hands on anyone.   Tho' it made Sleep challenging for everyone coz he was having Loud Fights in his Head.  Finally I did have to tell him to Tone it Down and Calm Down... and he did... he was fairly spent Emotionally, Mentally by then anyway, so... by Morning it was as if nothing had ever happened.    He made everyone Breakfast coz it's his Day Off and all was Right with his World now.  *Whew*  So... I'm glad we just let him Work thru it without running interference.  And so off to Cardiac Rehab Orientation we went, I had to sit thru it with The Man and not just drop him off coz he got really Anxious, Confused, and it was a lot to Process, even for me actually.  He's Scheduled for around 35 Visits Twice Weekly that have been Approved. 

 We had Questionairres for me to fill out for him, he couldn't have waded thru all that paperwork or answered it Truthfully either.  *Winks*  Sometimes he just tells them what he thinks they want to Hear, and that's not Helpful.   Chris, the Female who was Assigned to him has a Wicked Sense of Humor, so that was very Helpful to put him at ease.   The Room on the 5th Floor is set up nice and they only have 7 at a time having Sessions on Rotations pretty much all Day for Four Days a Week and on Fridays only in the Mornings.  We picked Monday and Wednesday 9:30 a.m. Schedule for the most part, with a few adjustments.  It consumes the Calendar which meant I had to cancel my Dental Appointment, it's just a Cleaning but was on one of his Cardiac Rehab Days they could only get him in on this 1st Week, and I didn't wanna try to Re-Schedule it, easier to Cancel my Dental Cleaning.  I can Re-Schedule that when things Calm Down.

I popped in quick to the Antique Mall, or, so I thought, our Showroom was wrecked, we'd clearly had the Ferals in.  Shirts all over the Floor, broken Hangars, even a Screw pulled out of the Wall that a Shirt is Displayed on!!!  WTF?!  But, Sales were off the Chain Strong so I had finished off last Pay Period SUPER STRONG and will get a nice Check.  This Pay Period also began SUPER STRONG with Expensive Merch moving.  Pretty sure it's Soccer Fans and International Pickers, so it could be a Strong Summer in Sales, Hallelujah!!!  So, I was pleased with my Sales, had to do a lot of Work on the Room and had The Man in the Truck with the AC on, he's in no condition to be dragged around anywhere right now and just the Orientation had him pretty spent, me too actually, it was over an Hour long.  I brought in some Fresh Merch and will do more work in the Showroom and Locked Case another day.

Talked briefly with my Co-Worker Friend Deb, who just had Arm Surgery on her Right Hand/Arm, she's Right Handed and had to return to Work before her Doc really wanted her to.   She's a Senior and Divorcee so her Social Security doesn't cover expenses and she's one who will have to continue Working to make the Ends kinda meet.  I enjoy Deb a lot, she's a good Friend, her Hand/Arm is Healing well but she had it all rebuilt and a lot of Hardware put in, she said it was a real mess.  She'd had both Knees done last Year, I told her she's gonna be practically Bionic before she's done!!!  She also has an Adult Daughter living with her coz her Adult Kiddo can't afford Rents around here either and Deb has Owned her Home since before her Divorce many Moons ago.  The Ex let her Buy out his Share and when she still had a good Corporate Job and the Money, she did that.  But, like most Corporations, hers had a lot of incantations and Senior Employees were let go without the Golden Parachute as they "restructured" and Cost Cut by Laying Off long time Workers, Older Workers, and those with higher Salaries.  Capitalism doesn't really trickle down Economically, that's a Myth.

So, The Daughter deep cleaned my whole Kitchen so it looks good and smells nice.  She's now doing all of The Young Prince's Laundry while he's gone.  So, we Hope to see his Floor again soon.  *Le Sigh and Eye Roll*  I don't know that he's done Laundry in Weeks, we didn't even know what was Clean or Dirty so she's just washing it all.  A lot of Hangars were broken coz they were on the Floor and got stepped on in the piles/Hoard of possessions of his on the Floor.  She's trying to Clean and make some Order of his Space, he wants to do it but doesn't seem to have the Capacity to do it on his own.  She can Clean well, it's her Super Power when she's lucid, but, she too can end up with a Living Space similar to his so I do Welfare Checks on the 5th Wheel Interior Condition often.  If it gets bad then I Help her too, coz clearly she's struggling.  Other times it's spotless... so... either looks like a scene from Hoarders or is Immaculate. 

 With him, it always looks like a scene from Hoarders, Extreme Edition.   I did inform the Social Security folks that on the Paperwork I filled out for him.  Keeping his Space Safe and Sanitary is a Full Time Job coz he can't.  And I think they should Assign him someone to Professionally Organize and do some Housekeeping for him, should he Qualify for some Services In-House.   He requires much more Care and Services than I can possibly provide, but, I don't mind giving him a place to Live and looking out for his Well Being, it's the least we can do tho', he Needs much more than that.   And Social Services is gonna hafta step up and meet him at his Point of Need in at least some vital areas that are Essential to be Safe and Sanitary Enough for a Humane Existence.  We Treat Domestic Animals better in America than we Treat the Seriously Mentally Ill Human Beings in our Country, it's disgraceful and Inhumane really.

The Son and I had to tell Gypsy James we can't take the Bunny he'd Promised us.  I just can't take on a precious Animal's Care right now and tho' The Young Prince wanted one, if he's spending most of the Summer out of State, he wouldn't even be here to Care for it anyway.  So, no Bunny.  Princess T had already said it would be a Mistake to get it, she often regrets pushing to have another Cat, I resisted for a whole Year after her Old Cat, Miss Priss, Died... but when Anthony's Aunt was allergic to Eli as a Stray Kitten they Adopted, we were the Suckers who agreed to take him in coz they couldn't find anyone else who would take on a Kitten not considered "Pet Material".  Pretty sure he'd been Born to either a Feral or Stray, coz he wasn't Socialized at all and still it's what you'd call a Pet Quality Feline.  If he didn't have us he would likely be considered Unadoptable too.  *Winks... just like The G-Kid Force were.*

We've done Four Loads of Laundry already of The Young Prince, The Daughter said you can see some of the Floor now in there.  She's done most of the Work, I've helped her fold once it's out of the Dryer.  We're putting all Clean Laundry in Banana Boxes we're stacking up in my Room for right now, but once his is tidied, we'll just put in there and try to empty any Bureau's in there so he has a way to Organize them to use.  But he has to keep up on his Laundry better and not just put Dirty things on the Floor... or just all things on the Floor, we don't know what's Clean, or Dirty, no way of knowing when it's just down there in a big non ending pile that just gets higher and deeper if we don't address it.  He usually looks well dressed, so you wouldn't necessarily know by looking at him, how he lets his Environment go to Hell and spiral into total Chaos.  I'm prone to Clutter, so I understand to some extent that with limited Space finding Placement is sometimes challenging.  He moved in, we could only prepare a Private Space for him so much on short notice where he'd be displacing a Room occupied by someone else.

Well, even tho' I'd told our Manager earlier in the Week I couldn't Work the Two Shifts for this Week he offered, the Asst. Manager called me Tonight to ask if I'd fill in on a sudden Wednesday Night vacancy?  I had to decline, for all the same reasons, Health related Issues not resolved yet.  I'm just not pushing myself when the Calendar is so full and my own Health right now so Questionable.  Once I know what's Wrong then I can assess better what I should, or should not, be doing, and Why.  For now I know I lack the Energy, Stamina and Bandwidth to do very much of what is required of me just right here at Home.  So anything "Extra" is really just out of the Question even tho' the Comped Space Rent would come in handy and glean some extra Income kept from Sales and less for Overhead taken out of profits.  Whatever... se la vie.

As for Such Is Life, Princess T hit me with some Truth that I kinda knew was coming.   She hadn't wanted to say it and risk upsetting me, but felt she should say it and see how I responded.  She seemed relieved that I already got the Vibe anyway, which is why I had put off even bothering to pursue a Living Trust and put her in Charge.  Turns out, she doesn't wanna be put in Charge of everything, including the Property and Estate, should something happen to me.  She feels that everyone doesn't get along and play well with others now, and I'm still Alive!!!   So, she's certain she won't wanna Deal with it and how much worse would they ALL be once I'm Gone?   I can't take Care of the Property or all of them Gramma, so, I don't know what's gonna happen to any of them?  I will just have to find somewhere else to Live and try to make it on my own I suspect.  She probably always knew that.  I know I did actually.  It's why I've tried to Last as long as possible, but I can't Control that... Fate will.

 She doesn't wanna contemplate my demise, but, it is the Elephant in the Room too, which we tiptoe around coz nobody wants to think about my Mortality at all.  Nobody wants to fill my Shoes or wear all the Hats, I don't blame them.  Four of the Five aren't even Competent to... so, she was the only one the Baton could be passed to.  If there's nobody else in the Race to pass it to, most of what I'm doing is for Naught really... the Plan won't Work.  When you have Loved Ones with Extreme Disability you try to have a Plan for when you're no longer around... for their sakes.  I've adjusted Plans often due to Changes you never can predict or Plan for.   My recent Medical Results have bottomed the Family out completely, it's hard to Feel Positive about any Bad News Medically.  Even before you know everything you might Need to know.  When it doesn't sound good, it's probably not good.   I've had Bad News Healthwise before... so... I chalk it up to Living long enuf, and shit just happens and you roll with whatever comes up as the challenge to stay above dirt.  If you're so inclined.

I think I just must ramp up the Great Edit and Purge to Bank as much Profits from Downsizing as is possible while I'm on this side of Time and Eternity.  Princess T solidly feels like everyone will have to fend for themselves and pretty much will be Screwed when something happens to me anyway.  So, she thinks everything of Value that can be Sold, I should just do it now and go for myself and her Grandpa.  Well, I told her a Couple is too expensive unless you're independently Wealthy, so, only One of us qualifies for any possibility, however remote, of ensured Long Term Care.  I don't think I'd be the One.  The Man would potentially be the more likely candidate thru VA Eligibilities for anything parsed out should he end up with no Caregiver able to fill the Void should something happen to me first.  I never expected any Happy Ending for myself actually, so, my expectations being practical, means, I can't really be disappointed.  It's not Pessimistic, nor entirely Fatalistic, I think it's just Realistic, based on Evidence of what just IS.  When there's no Fairy Tale Ending, you really don't Care how long the Story lasts or Ends.  I should Care, but, I don't.  I'm very Pragmatic like that and Unemotional about what perhaps should evoke Emotion, but just doesn't.

When we were at The Man's Eval and Orientation for his Cardiac Rehab, his Truthful Answers to the Questions were not Positive at all.  So, I've known he's been struggling a lot, how Bad I suspected was worse than he was letting on, and it is.  We just barely avoided him being sent down to Psychiatric by her rather than enrolled in Cardiac Rehab.  Only coz he didn't have a Plan.  Which is rather Ironic to me, coz, you don't have to or Need to have a Plan, that's a fallacy.  He's Tired of being so Sick and slowly losing himself in layers, it is frightening to him and he knows it's stressful for me.   I do try to stay Stoic so he sees zero Emotions, but, it is very difficult to Play Off that it's not at all Stressful and I've Got This.  And can adeptly continue to juggle a Chainsaw, Bowling Ball, Flaming Tiki Torch, and a Rattlesnake at the same time, while riding a Unicycle on a Tightrope without a Safety Net, over a Moat filled with Crocodiles, and not have anything go Wrong with that Act.  *Winks and Laughs*

I found a bunch of Old Photos, just about everyone in them... isn't around anymore.   I've not felt like even Blogging about a lot of Positive stuff coz it's been too difficult to have much of it to convey and I rather keep it 100% on here like I always have.  I don't tell the half of it actually, so, you are getting the more edited and cleaned up version of the Daily Grind involved.  I really just don't wanna Deal with MORE Stuff that isn't Positive... but the Negative is really multiplying.  The Daughter said it's almost like those Cult Classic Dark Comedy fuzzy Gremlins that when they got Wet... or fed after Midnight... and keep them out of bright Light too... or you end up with them multiplying and transforming into little Monsters.  That's how the Negative stuff is transforming and multiplying lately.  Even taking great Care not to attract it and to remain Positive and do the Right thing.  It really complicates an already difficult Situation to navigate Life thru.

I think I told you I Bought myself a way early Birthday Gift coz the Seller gave me a Deal on it... and accepted an Offer that I felt was too low so didn't really expect to have it Accepted, but, what the Hell.  I Hoped it wouldn't Offend the Seller, and it apparently did not.  In fact, she was very Happy to know I Collect the Line and have since it's inception in 2001... and about 3 Years before it expanded to a Clothing Line too.  Back when the Designer Created each piece by Hand herself, and this was an Older Piece from probably around 2001-2002, I can easily tell the difference by her Tags used to Label each piece. This piece has one of the early Original Tags/Labels.  It's shipped already, can't wait to receive it.

*******

Wading thru Life and heading towards what seems like the Deep End... Dawn... The Bohemian