homepage
  roll on christmas  
click here to find out more about ship of fools click here to sign up for the ship of fools newsletter click here to support ship of fools
community the mystery worshipper gadgets for god caption competition foolishness features ship stuff
discussion boards live chat cafe avatars frequently-asked questions the ten commandments gallery private boards register for the boards
 
Ship of Fools


Post new thread  Post a reply
My profile login | | Directory | Search | FAQs | Board home
   - Printer-friendly view Next oldest thread   Next newest thread
» Ship of Fools   » Community discussion   » Hell   » Difficult relatives (Page 32)

 - Email this page to a friend or enemy.  
Pages in this thread: 1  2  3  ...  29  30  31  32  33  34  35  ...  45  46  47 
 
Source: (consider it) Thread: Difficult relatives
tessaB
Shipmate
# 8533

 - Posted      Profile for tessaB   Email tessaB   Send new private message       Edit/delete post   Reply with quote 
Beloved husband and I are lucky enough to have a holiday cottage near Rye. Told my dear mother today that we would be going down for the weekend and taking son no.1 with us. Mother 'So if I fall and die I should just phone for an ambulance, is that it?' Me 'Yes mother, if you fall and die call an ambulance [Roll Eyes] '
Talk about guilt-tripping! And no, she wasn't joking!

--------------------
tessaB
eating chocolate to the glory of God
Holiday cottage near Rye

Posts: 1068 | From: U.K. | Registered: Sep 2004  |  IP: Logged
Lord Jestocost
Shipmate
# 12909

 - Posted      Profile for Lord Jestocost   Email Lord Jestocost   Send new private message       Edit/delete post   Reply with quote 
Phoning the ambulance before dying would be more constructive but she probably wasn't in the mood to hear that.
Posts: 761 | From: The Instrumentality of Man | Registered: Aug 2007  |  IP: Logged
orfeo

Ship's Musical Counterpoint
# 13878

 - Posted      Profile for orfeo   Author's homepage   Email orfeo   Send new private message       Edit/delete post   Reply with quote 
Just lock her in a padded cell for the weekend so she can't fall. Simples.

--------------------
Technology has brought us all closer together. Turns out a lot of the people you meet as a result are complete idiots.

Posts: 18173 | From: Under | Registered: Jul 2008  |  IP: Logged
Kelly Alves

Bunny with an axe
# 2522

 - Posted      Profile for Kelly Alves   Email Kelly Alves   Send new private message       Edit/delete post   Reply with quote 
quote:
Originally posted by tessaB:
Beloved husband and I are lucky enough to have a holiday cottage near Rye. Told my dear mother today that we would be going down for the weekend and taking son no.1 with us. Mother 'So if I fall and die I should just phone for an ambulance, is that it?' Me 'Yes mother, if you fall and die call an ambulance [Roll Eyes] '
Talk about guilt-tripping! And no, she wasn't joking!

My mom and dad used to vacation a lot. In hindsight, I think my mom would get really nervous about actually traveling, and her way of dealing with it was to pick some stupid fight with me or sis, escalate it to Chernobyl levels, then scream stuff like," DO YOU REALIZE I AM GETTING ON A PLANE? DO YOU REALIZE THIS COULD BE THE LAST THING YOU SAY TO ME?"

--------------------
I cannot expect people to believe “
Jesus loves me, this I know” of they don’t believe “Kelly loves me, this I know.”
Kelly Alves, somewhere around 2003.

Posts: 35076 | From: Pura Californiana | Registered: Mar 2002  |  IP: Logged
mark_in_manchester

not waving, but...
# 15978

 - Posted      Profile for mark_in_manchester   Email mark_in_manchester   Send new private message       Edit/delete post   Reply with quote 
Thanks Kelly. Posts like yours help me find the blessing in my old man's refusal to acknowledge my presence at what looked two weeks ago like Mum's death bed. She's rallied, and it looks like this time his silence around me may be permanent. My worrying about this must be down to my not knowing a blessing if it bites me on the arse.

--------------------
"We are punished by our sins, not for them" - Elbert Hubbard
(so good, I wanted to see it after my posts and not only after those of shipmate JBohn from whom I stole it)

Posts: 1596 | Registered: Oct 2010  |  IP: Logged
Tubbs

Miss Congeniality
# 440

 - Posted      Profile for Tubbs   Author's homepage   Email Tubbs   Send new private message       Edit/delete post   Reply with quote 
quote:
Originally posted by Macrina:
This is more of a grumble than a hell rant but I am sad and frustrated. I emigrated out to live in NZ in July 2013 from the UK and made the move permanent with a residency visa in early March this year. I've been back to see my parents in November last year and would again but for money and difficulty with getting time off work.

My parents now semi retired want to come and see me. Great.

Except they haven't given me any dates and have swung wildly back and forth between September 15 and April 2016 and all places between. I have tried to explain to them that I need dates to book time off work so I can see them and have made several suggestions and done research for them into the cost of accommodation and options to reduce it.

This has all been ignored in favour of booking the holiday around when they can arrange an ad hoc house exchange with another couple in NZ. They nearly managed to book something some 450km away from where I live despite my repeated explanation that this was not practical - luckily I've managed to avert that but they're still swinging on dates.

They were going to come at Christmas which is awesome as there's lots of leave available but now that's all changed under my feet. I explained to them the dates they've most recently suggested don't really work and I can't get time off then but was met with 'well a few hours a day is better than no time at all'. I feel frustrated and sad. I live a long way away and this will probably be my one chance to see them in several years. And I feel selfish too for feeling this way.

Wanting your parents to come at a time where you're able to spend time with them isn't selfish. You may have already tried this, but have you explained it to them in reverse?

Give them some dates that you can do and explain to them that if they can come on those dates, it would be prefect. You want them to come when you can spend more time with them, not when you're grabbing a few hours in the evening here and there as that will be no fun ... And maybe direct them to areas to stay that are easy for you to get to ...

Good luck!

Tubbs

--------------------
"It's better to keep your mouth shut and be thought a fool than open it up and remove all doubt" - Dennis Thatcher. My blog. Decide for yourself which I am

Posts: 12701 | From: Someplace strange | Registered: Jun 2001  |  IP: Logged
Tubbs

Miss Congeniality
# 440

 - Posted      Profile for Tubbs   Author's homepage   Email Tubbs   Send new private message       Edit/delete post   Reply with quote 
quote:
Originally posted by Baptist Trainfan:
My late mother was always complaining that we didn't come to see her at weekends. Not easy when you're a full-time Minister!

She didn't have any problem with my wife's working hours as a teacher, though.

To visit just on a Saturday meant more than 4 hours of non-relaxing driving each way - we did it few times but it was tiring.

My in-laws, who attend church regularly, still occassionally ask if we're coming to stay over Christmas / Easter or if we can come for a long weekend. And still sound disappointed when we explain we can't because Rev T is working. My parents, who are wedding and funeral church attendees, get it. Ah well ...

Tubbs

PS You going to the BU conference in a few weeks?

--------------------
"It's better to keep your mouth shut and be thought a fool than open it up and remove all doubt" - Dennis Thatcher. My blog. Decide for yourself which I am

Posts: 12701 | From: Someplace strange | Registered: Jun 2001  |  IP: Logged
ExclamationMark
Shipmate
# 14715

 - Posted      Profile for ExclamationMark   Email ExclamationMark   Send new private message       Edit/delete post   Reply with quote 
quote:
Originally posted by Tubbs:
... You going to the BU conference in a few weeks?

Spend a day with a lot of Baptists? In Peterborough?

[ 07. May 2015, 15:42: Message edited by: ExclamationMark ]

Posts: 3845 | From: A new Jerusalem | Registered: Apr 2009  |  IP: Logged
Doc Tor
Deepest Red
# 9748

 - Posted      Profile for Doc Tor     Send new private message       Edit/delete post   Reply with quote 
Someone has to...

--------------------
Forward the New Republic

Posts: 9131 | From: Ultima Thule | Registered: Jul 2005  |  IP: Logged
jacobsen

seeker
# 14998

 - Posted      Profile for jacobsen   Email jacobsen   Send new private message       Edit/delete post   Reply with quote 
Bullying by exclusion?

(I personally exclude hands-in-the-air charismatics, and doorstep evangelists of whatever persuasion.)

--------------------
But God, holding a candle, looks for all who wander, all who search. - Shifra Alon
Beauty fades, dumb is forever-Judge Judy
The man who made time, made plenty.

Posts: 8040 | From: Æbleskiver country | Registered: Aug 2009  |  IP: Logged
North East Quine

Curious beastie
# 13049

 - Posted      Profile for North East Quine   Email North East Quine   Send new private message       Edit/delete post   Reply with quote 
A few months back, a relative was in hospital. My parents told me what what wrong, I sent cards and a present, my parents kept me updated with her progress.

Now they're saying that she was actually in hospital for something completely unrelated i.e. a mental health issue, as opposed to a physical issue.

WTF did I write on those cards, when I thought she was physically ill? Did I write something inappropriate inadvertently?

What can't families be straightforward? Why all the complicated layers of who knows what about whom?

Posts: 6414 | From: North East Scotland | Registered: Oct 2007  |  IP: Logged
Lamb Chopped
Ship's kebab
# 5528

 - Posted      Profile for Lamb Chopped   Email Lamb Chopped   Send new private message       Edit/delete post   Reply with quote 
Mine did this too. I say "did" because my sister and I have decided that there's no way in hell we're going to carry on that particular family behavior, so we instantly call the other siblings when something comes up and give them the truth. Or at least, if we can' wriggle out of it, the heads-up that "something else is going on, I've been put under oath but you'd better talk to Mom till she tells you" which is just as effective.

After a few years of this Mom seems to be adapting. Somewhat. I hope...

--------------------
Er, this is what I've been up to (book).
Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down!

Posts: 20059 | From: off in left field somewhere | Registered: Feb 2004  |  IP: Logged
Tubbs

Miss Congeniality
# 440

 - Posted      Profile for Tubbs   Author's homepage   Email Tubbs   Send new private message       Edit/delete post   Reply with quote 
quote:
Originally posted by Doc Tor:
Someone has to...

Well yes. It was actually quite fun, but mainly because we spent a lot of time catching up with people Rev T had been at college with. So much so, we missed part of the newbie Ministers bit. Which was why we'd gone for the first time ever [Hot and Hormonal]

Tubbs

[ 27. May 2015, 20:47: Message edited by: Tubbs ]

--------------------
"It's better to keep your mouth shut and be thought a fool than open it up and remove all doubt" - Dennis Thatcher. My blog. Decide for yourself which I am

Posts: 12701 | From: Someplace strange | Registered: Jun 2001  |  IP: Logged
Welease Woderwick

Sister Incubus Nightmare
# 10424

 - Posted      Profile for Welease Woderwick   Email Welease Woderwick   Send new private message       Edit/delete post   Reply with quote 
Had a sort of showdown with MiL - very hard on her son who was the interpreter - and threatened financial sanctions if she doesn't buck her ideas up. No idea if it will do any good but it did work once a few years ago and over a similar issue.

--------------------
I give thanks for unknown blessings already on their way.
Fancy a break in South India?
Accessible Homestay Guesthouse in Central Kerala, contact me for details

What part of Matt. 7:1 don't you understand?

Posts: 48139 | From: 1st on the right, straight on 'til morning | Registered: Sep 2005  |  IP: Logged
Jane R
Shipmate
# 331

 - Posted      Profile for Jane R   Email Jane R   Send new private message       Edit/delete post   Reply with quote 
TessaB:
quote:
Mother 'So if I fall and die I should just phone for an ambulance, is that it?' Me 'Yes mother, if you fall and die call an ambulance [Roll Eyes] '
Talk about guilt-tripping! And no, she wasn't joking!

You could suggest she gets an alarm pendant... and make sure someone other than yourself is the designated person to call if it's triggered, otherwise she'll be pushing the button every time she wants a lightbulb changed. "Well, of course I'd LIKE to be the person they call but it's for emergencies, and if you have an emergency then Jim and Doris next door can get to you faster than I can..." [Two face]
Posts: 3958 | From: Jorvik | Registered: May 2001  |  IP: Logged
tessaB
Shipmate
# 8533

 - Posted      Profile for tessaB   Email tessaB   Send new private message       Edit/delete post   Reply with quote 
The really stupid thing is that she lives in a flat for over 60's which means that there are already alarms fitted. But she won't use the pendant one because 'I don't think I'm ready for that yet dear!' No mother, at 83 with a dodgy heart and low blood pressure there are years yet before you may need it!!! (tessaB crumples to the ground wailing 'years.....Oh God....years')

--------------------
tessaB
eating chocolate to the glory of God
Holiday cottage near Rye

Posts: 1068 | From: U.K. | Registered: Sep 2004  |  IP: Logged
Brenda Clough
Shipmate
# 18061

 - Posted      Profile for Brenda Clough   Author's homepage   Email Brenda Clough   Send new private message       Edit/delete post   Reply with quote 
My m-i-l had one of those pendants. She went out into the side yard to put seed into the bird feeder, and fell. Did she push the button? No. She lay on the walk for two hours until her daughter came home and called an ambulance. She forgot the pendant's existence.

--------------------
Science fiction and fantasy writer with a Patreon page

Posts: 6378 | From: Washington DC | Registered: Mar 2014  |  IP: Logged
Lucia

Looking for light
# 15201

 - Posted      Profile for Lucia     Send new private message       Edit/delete post   Reply with quote 
Likewise my husband's great aunt had a pendant to call for help in an emergency but didn't wear it, so that when she fell in her bedroom and somehow rolled and trapped herself under the bed she was trapped there for four days before someone found her, very dehydrated and in a very poor state. It was amazing that she recovered. Just having a pendant in the house is no good, you have to wear the thing all the time!
Posts: 1075 | From: Nigh golden stone and spires | Registered: Oct 2009  |  IP: Logged
Amanda B. Reckondwythe

Dressed for Church
# 5521

 - Posted      Profile for Amanda B. Reckondwythe     Send new private message       Edit/delete post   Reply with quote 
My father: 95 years old, unable to walk more than 15 feet or so, legally blind (although he does have some vision), incontinent, cannot bathe or dress himself, but still of sound mind (thank God). Diagnosed with prostate cancer and bladder cancer, both of which seem to be responding to treatment (thank God again).

He's been living in an assisted living facility that recently changed ownership. Ever since the change, the quality of care has gone precipitously downhill. My father constantly complains about the food and the care. All attempts to bring his concerns to the attention of management have met with: "Let us know right away if anything is upsetting you." "So-and-so is upsetting me." "Well, we can't do anything about it -- we're short-staffed right now." Either that or no one is in the office when we go down there.

My sister and I have found another facility that can take him right away and where his care will be immensely better. My sister, a retired nurse practitioner, is familiar with this facility and its reputation and vouches for it.

Trouble is, my father is being stubborn. He has taken a lady friend for himself, and he does not want to leave her (or she him). He's allowing affection to blind him to his physical needs.

We've tried to explain to him that he needs to get his priorities straight, and that if he decides to stay put he'll have to live with the consequences. My sister and I do not want to hear his litany of complaints. We're not going to force him to do anything -- he's still mentally competent and he is, after all, the head of the family (I guess that's the Italian in me talking).

At least we've been able to get him to agree to go look at the new facility. We have an appointment next Monday. My gut feeling is that he isn't going to like it. My sister feels differently.

I guess we'll see. Prayer, please?

--------------------
"I take prayer too seriously to use it as an excuse for avoiding work and responsibility." -- The Revd Martin Luther King Jr.

Posts: 10542 | From: The Great Southwest | Registered: Feb 2004  |  IP: Logged
lily pad
Shipmate
# 11456

 - Posted      Profile for lily pad   Email lily pad   Send new private message       Edit/delete post   Reply with quote 
My nan had one and when she had a big fall she landed at the door to her apartment after going to check the mail. She didn't press it but the couple who found her knew what it was and they pressed it for her.

My mom had insisted that it was a condition for nan to stay in the apartment. She got to where she would talk to the machine saying, "Good morning!" and "Good night!" when she would do the required check ins.

It is sometimes very hard to get these things to be accepted but they can become a real comfort too.

--------------------
Sloppiness is not caring. Fussiness is caring about the wrong things. With thanks to Adeodatus!

Posts: 2468 | From: Truly Canadian | Registered: May 2006  |  IP: Logged
Lyda*Rose

Ship's broken porthole
# 4544

 - Posted      Profile for Lyda*Rose   Email Lyda*Rose   Send new private message       Edit/delete post   Reply with quote 
Miss Amanda? If the place is so bad for everyone, perhaps his lady friend would like to resettle, too. Just a thought.

--------------------
"Dear God, whose name I do not know - thank you for my life. I forgot how BIG... thank you. Thank you for my life." ~from Joe Vs the Volcano

Posts: 21377 | From: CA | Registered: May 2003  |  IP: Logged
Amanda B. Reckondwythe

Dressed for Church
# 5521

 - Posted      Profile for Amanda B. Reckondwythe     Send new private message       Edit/delete post   Reply with quote 
quote:
Originally posted by Lyda*Rose:
perhaps his lady friend would like to resettle, too.

We're working on that. It's between her and her daughter, though.

--------------------
"I take prayer too seriously to use it as an excuse for avoiding work and responsibility." -- The Revd Martin Luther King Jr.

Posts: 10542 | From: The Great Southwest | Registered: Feb 2004  |  IP: Logged
Stercus Tauri
Shipmate
# 16668

 - Posted      Profile for Stercus Tauri   Email Stercus Tauri   Send new private message       Edit/delete post   Reply with quote 
There should be a limit on those pendants, such as 3 calls in a month, and we don't believe you can care for yourself any longer. My sister kept getting calls for our Dear Old Mother via the emergency centre around 3 AM, and developed a friendly/anguished relationship with the local ambulance crews. The DOM is now in a nursing home that she and we all like, but it's another one that suffers from under staffing rather than short staffing.

--------------------
Thay haif said. Quhat say thay, Lat thame say (George Keith, 5th Earl Marischal)

Posts: 905 | From: On the traditional lands of the Six Nations. | Registered: Sep 2011  |  IP: Logged
Jane R
Shipmate
# 331

 - Posted      Profile for Jane R   Email Jane R   Send new private message       Edit/delete post   Reply with quote 
My mother-in-law has one, but as she has dementia she often forgets to wear it and if she had a fall and couldn't get to the phone she might not remember to press the button even if she was wearing it. I wouldn't describe her as difficult, though - the difficulty with her is getting her to tell you what she wants, because she doesn't like arguments.

Tessa, your mother sounds like my grandmother - who was perfectly comfortable with the idea of getting her daughter to do a 15-mile round trip in the middle of the night to change a lightbulb, but refused to call the warden of her sheltered flat even when she really needed help...

Posts: 3958 | From: Jorvik | Registered: May 2001  |  IP: Logged
The Kat in the Hat
Shipmate
# 2557

 - Posted      Profile for The Kat in the Hat   Email The Kat in the Hat   Send new private message       Edit/delete post   Reply with quote 
My F-i-L could press the buttons (or pull the cords) in his sheltered accommodation, but couldn't answer when they called to check via the intercom - which meant we would then be called out. At least it was just over the road.

--------------------
Less is more ...

Posts: 485 | Registered: Mar 2002  |  IP: Logged
basso

Ship’s Crypt Keeper
# 4228

 - Posted      Profile for basso   Email basso   Send new private message       Edit/delete post   Reply with quote 
I've resisted posting on this thread, but today I have to.

I got up this morning and checked my email before running off to work. One there from my sister, whose birthday is the day after mine. It was nice to see her name in my email.

quote:

I’ve been going through some hard times with S. I don’t know if I told you she had a stroke in February?

Umm. No, you didn't tell me. Anything else you've neglected to pass on??

I can't get in touch right now, so I don't know how things really stand, but it sounds like there are some tough times. If I can get my sister to cough up some contact info, I'll be able to find out more, and find a way to get up there to visit.

I'm not the best example of a caring family member in the world, ("what was your part in this, basso?") but this just baffles me.

God, families suck.

Posts: 4358 | From: Bay Area, Calif | Registered: Mar 2003  |  IP: Logged
basso

Ship’s Crypt Keeper
# 4228

 - Posted      Profile for basso   Email basso   Send new private message       Edit/delete post   Reply with quote 
I need to double-post to add the information that S., who had the stroke, is my other sister.

Wasn't very clear about that!

Posts: 4358 | From: Bay Area, Calif | Registered: Mar 2003  |  IP: Logged
cliffdweller
Shipmate
# 13338

 - Posted      Profile for cliffdweller     Send new private message       Edit/delete post   Reply with quote 
quote:
Originally posted by basso:
I need to double-post to add the information that S., who had the stroke, is my other sister.

Wasn't very clear about that!

Yeah, my brother did the same thing when he suffered a stoke... we found out months later, from an ex of his. Led to some messy complications since he was responsible for mom's financial and legal affairs and suddenly stopped paying all her bills (including those of her assisted living home)-- w/o letting us know (we found out when she was on the verge of eviction). All very very messy. I have a lot of theories re what was going on/behind his reticence/ inability to tell us what was happening, but they're all just speculation, since obviously we're not in his confidence.

--------------------
"Here is the world. Beautiful and terrible things will happen. Don't be afraid." -Frederick Buechner

Posts: 11242 | From: a small canyon overlooking the city | Registered: Jan 2008  |  IP: Logged
cliffdweller
Shipmate
# 13338

 - Posted      Profile for cliffdweller     Send new private message       Edit/delete post   Reply with quote 
I have no idea what board would be appropriate to post this on/ process it on, but given the way this thread has veered from the hellish to the heavenly as we griped and cared for one another, perhaps it's the best forum for the very mixed emotions I have right now.

Just learned (from his wife) that my ex husband died this morning. Lots of history, lots of baggage. Neither I nor daughter unit had heard from him in more than a decade. Not sure what I should feel or do feel. Not sure what I want from anyone in response, but just feeling the need to get the news out there, and facebook just doesn't seem like the place.

So. Here it is. Out there.

--------------------
"Here is the world. Beautiful and terrible things will happen. Don't be afraid." -Frederick Buechner

Posts: 11242 | From: a small canyon overlooking the city | Registered: Jan 2008  |  IP: Logged
L'organist
Shipmate
# 17338

 - Posted      Profile for L'organist   Author's homepage   Email L'organist   Send new private message       Edit/delete post   Reply with quote 
So sorry to hear your news, Cliffdweller.

However long ago it all was, and even if you'd more or less lost touch, this was someone you once cared for enough to make a child together.

Maybe just write it all down to get it out of your system? [Votive]

--------------------
Rara temporum felicitate ubi sentire quae velis et quae sentias dicere licet

Posts: 4950 | From: somewhere in England... | Registered: Sep 2012  |  IP: Logged
cliffdweller
Shipmate
# 13338

 - Posted      Profile for cliffdweller     Send new private message       Edit/delete post   Reply with quote 
quote:
Originally posted by L'organist:
So sorry to hear your news, Cliffdweller.

However long ago it all was, and even if you'd more or less lost touch, this was someone you once cared for enough to make a child together.

Maybe just write it all down to get it out of your system? [Votive]

That's as good a suggestion as any. I have the weird sensation of the absence of feeling. Talking with my daughter yesterday, it seemed like she was having a similar experience. A bit disorienting. I'll try journalling and see what comes up.

--------------------
"Here is the world. Beautiful and terrible things will happen. Don't be afraid." -Frederick Buechner

Posts: 11242 | From: a small canyon overlooking the city | Registered: Jan 2008  |  IP: Logged
jbohn
Shipmate
# 8753

 - Posted      Profile for jbohn   Author's homepage   Email jbohn   Send new private message       Edit/delete post   Reply with quote 
cliffdweller - [Votive]

--------------------
We are punished by our sins, not for them.
--Elbert Hubbard

Posts: 989 | From: East of Eden, west of St. Paul | Registered: Nov 2004  |  IP: Logged
cliffdweller
Shipmate
# 13338

 - Posted      Profile for cliffdweller     Send new private message       Edit/delete post   Reply with quote 
thinking maybe today the eerie absence of feeling is a confirmation that I have forgiven. Hope so anyway.

--------------------
"Here is the world. Beautiful and terrible things will happen. Don't be afraid." -Frederick Buechner

Posts: 11242 | From: a small canyon overlooking the city | Registered: Jan 2008  |  IP: Logged
Marvin the Martian

Interplanetary
# 4360

 - Posted      Profile for Marvin the Martian     Send new private message       Edit/delete post   Reply with quote 
quote:
Originally posted by cliffdweller:
thinking maybe today the eerie absence of feeling is a confirmation that I have forgiven. Hope so anyway.

It's certainly confirmation that you've moved on.

--------------------
Hail Gallaxhar

Posts: 30100 | From: Adrift on a sea of surreality | Registered: Apr 2003  |  IP: Logged
Golden Key
Shipmate
# 1468

 - Posted      Profile for Golden Key   Author's homepage     Send new private message       Edit/delete post   Reply with quote 
Re emergency pendants:

I've seen TV ads for one--Phillips' Lifeline, IIRC--that has an automatic fall alert. Per the ad, the pendant can tell when you've had a fall, rather than getting down on the floor or something, and will automatically alert whoever.

FWIW.

--------------------
Blessed Gator, pray for us!
--"Oh bat bladders, do you have to bring common sense into this?" (Dragon, "Jane & the Dragon")
--"Oh, Peace Train, save this country!" (Yusuf/Cat Stevens, "Peace Train")

Posts: 18601 | From: Chilling out in an undisclosed, sincere pumpkin patch. | Registered: Oct 2001  |  IP: Logged
Doc Tor
Deepest Red
# 9748

 - Posted      Profile for Doc Tor     Send new private message       Edit/delete post   Reply with quote 
I thought for a moment that you were asking for an emergency pedant, and that my moment in the sun had finally arrived.

But no... [Frown]

--------------------
Forward the New Republic

Posts: 9131 | From: Ultima Thule | Registered: Jul 2005  |  IP: Logged
Golden Key
Shipmate
# 1468

 - Posted      Profile for Golden Key   Author's homepage     Send new private message       Edit/delete post   Reply with quote 
LOL. I'll put you on my resource list, in case I'm ever in need.
[Biased]

--------------------
Blessed Gator, pray for us!
--"Oh bat bladders, do you have to bring common sense into this?" (Dragon, "Jane & the Dragon")
--"Oh, Peace Train, save this country!" (Yusuf/Cat Stevens, "Peace Train")

Posts: 18601 | From: Chilling out in an undisclosed, sincere pumpkin patch. | Registered: Oct 2001  |  IP: Logged
Zoey

Broken idealist
# 11152

 - Posted      Profile for Zoey   Email Zoey   Send new private message       Edit/delete post   Reply with quote 
My behaviour has just been described as 'slightly obtuse' by the least emotionally intelligent and sensitive living* relative I have. Unfortunately, I don't think estrangement from this relative whilst maintaining some connections to my less fucktardly relatives is possible, which means I'm currently still going for damage limitation rather than estrangement. AAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGHHH.

(* Never worked out whether this person or one of my late grandparents would have got the prize for most insensitive and emotional-damgage-causing of my relatives - it was a very close-run thing.)

And now, I shall try to get on with my day ...

--------------------
Pay no mind, I'm doing fine, I'm breathing on my own.

Posts: 3095 | From: the penultimate stop? | Registered: Mar 2006  |  IP: Logged
L'organist
Shipmate
# 17338

 - Posted      Profile for L'organist   Author's homepage   Email L'organist   Send new private message       Edit/delete post   Reply with quote 
Chin up, Zoey.

And you must give the response, to whit:
Only slightly obtuse, eh? Memo to self: must try harder

--------------------
Rara temporum felicitate ubi sentire quae velis et quae sentias dicere licet

Posts: 4950 | From: somewhere in England... | Registered: Sep 2012  |  IP: Logged
Jemima the 9th
Shipmate
# 15106

 - Posted      Profile for Jemima the 9th     Send new private message       Edit/delete post   Reply with quote 
Probably too whimsical a question for Hell, really, but if anyone knows how to deal with the constant retelling of the past in a way that has only a tangential relationship with reality, I'd love to know.........

I mean apart from handling the resulting fury and impotence (on my part) via alcohol.

Posts: 801 | From: UK | Registered: Sep 2009  |  IP: Logged
Doublethink.
Ship's Foolwise Unperson
# 1984

 - Posted      Profile for Doublethink.   Author's homepage     Send new private message       Edit/delete post   Reply with quote 
Patronise the teller ...

"Yes dear, of course you were the one who held us all together - here, have a hob nob - (aside) she really does believe it Phil bless her"

They will be infuriated and you totally undercut their narrative.

Alternatively, assertively converse only on current trivia.

--------------------
All political thinking for years past has been vitiated in the same way. People can foresee the future only when it coincides with their own wishes, and the most grossly obvious facts can be ignored when they are unwelcome. George Orwell

Posts: 19219 | From: Erehwon | Registered: Aug 2005  |  IP: Logged
Doc Tor
Deepest Red
# 9748

 - Posted      Profile for Doc Tor     Send new private message       Edit/delete post   Reply with quote 
quote:
Originally posted by Jemima the 9th:
alcohol

Ah, the cause of, and the solution to, all our problems.

L'chaim!

--------------------
Forward the New Republic

Posts: 9131 | From: Ultima Thule | Registered: Jul 2005  |  IP: Logged
Lamb Chopped
Ship's kebab
# 5528

 - Posted      Profile for Lamb Chopped   Email Lamb Chopped   Send new private message       Edit/delete post   Reply with quote 
I violently wrench the topic of conversation to Something Else.

"Yes, dear, that's nice. So what are we having for dinner tonight?"

--------------------
Er, this is what I've been up to (book).
Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down!

Posts: 20059 | From: off in left field somewhere | Registered: Feb 2004  |  IP: Logged
Palimpsest
Shipmate
# 16772

 - Posted      Profile for Palimpsest   Email Palimpsest   Send new private message       Edit/delete post   Reply with quote 
Consider it a dramatic fan fiction and appreciate the art. Feel free to chip in with supporting non factual details that are clearly untrue, but agree with the narrative.
Posts: 2990 | From: Seattle WA. US | Registered: Nov 2011  |  IP: Logged
Huia
Shipmate
# 3473

 - Posted      Profile for Huia   Email Huia   Send new private message       Edit/delete post   Reply with quote 
Palimpsest I wish I had thought of this when my mother was alive. It is brilliant.

Huia

--------------------
Charity gives food from the table, Justice gives a place at the table.

Posts: 10382 | From: Te Wai Pounamu | Registered: Oct 2002  |  IP: Logged
Jemima the 9th
Shipmate
# 15106

 - Posted      Profile for Jemima the 9th     Send new private message       Edit/delete post   Reply with quote 
Imaginatively evil. Yes I could work with these! Thanks.
Posts: 801 | From: UK | Registered: Sep 2009  |  IP: Logged
jacobsen

seeker
# 14998

 - Posted      Profile for jacobsen   Email jacobsen   Send new private message       Edit/delete post   Reply with quote 
And then publish. Fiction of this kind can fund your retirement.

--------------------
But God, holding a candle, looks for all who wander, all who search. - Shifra Alon
Beauty fades, dumb is forever-Judge Judy
The man who made time, made plenty.

Posts: 8040 | From: Æbleskiver country | Registered: Aug 2009  |  IP: Logged
Lamb Chopped
Ship's kebab
# 5528

 - Posted      Profile for Lamb Chopped   Email Lamb Chopped   Send new private message       Edit/delete post   Reply with quote 
quote:
Originally posted by Palimpsest:
Consider it a dramatic fan fiction and appreciate the art. Feel free to chip in with supporting non factual details that are clearly untrue, but agree with the narrative.

Love. This.
[Overused]

--------------------
Er, this is what I've been up to (book).
Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down!

Posts: 20059 | From: off in left field somewhere | Registered: Feb 2004  |  IP: Logged
Ferijen
Shipmate
# 4719

 - Posted      Profile for Ferijen   Email Ferijen   Send new private message       Edit/delete post   Reply with quote 
So my family are not as bad as nearly all of the ones on this thread, but I need to just say

[Mad] [brick wall] families

When does a pile of irritating crap, mostly as a result of thoughtlessness, turn into the reason to Have The Family Row That Will End It All.

Posts: 3259 | From: UK | Registered: Jul 2003  |  IP: Logged
L'organist
Shipmate
# 17338

 - Posted      Profile for L'organist   Author's homepage   Email L'organist   Send new private message       Edit/delete post   Reply with quote 
It depends on the family, Ferijen. In the case of my closest birth family, there is no time to have the row that ends it all because there is never any chance that someone won't come back with another moan/ accusation/ whatever.

There are some of us - you may be one - who may reach a stage where we have to decide on damage limitation, especially if we have children of our own, and cut off contact for the sake of sanity and emotional good health, plus (in my own case) I refused to accept that a family in a constant state of war was better for my young children than no family.

--------------------
Rara temporum felicitate ubi sentire quae velis et quae sentias dicere licet

Posts: 4950 | From: somewhere in England... | Registered: Sep 2012  |  IP: Logged



Pages in this thread: 1  2  3  ...  29  30  31  32  33  34  35  ...  45  46  47 
 
Post new thread  Post a reply Close thread   Feature thread   Move thread   Delete thread Next oldest thread   Next newest thread
 - Printer-friendly view
Go to:

Contact us | Ship of Fools | Privacy statement

© Ship of Fools 2016

Powered by Infopop Corporation
UBB.classicTM 6.5.0

 
follow ship of fools on twitter
buy your ship of fools postcards
sip of fools mugs from your favourite nautical website
 
 
  ship of fools