Thursday, October 14, 2010

Trouble and Mayham

The next time I end a post with I'm going to cause trouble and mayham, please stop me.  Wait, that's right you can't. Right after I hit publish post, I stood up to get more coffee. My feet were wet. At first I thought I might have left my tea mug on the futon hand rest over night and the cats knocked it over marauding in my yarn bin. I must have been so tired when I went to bed, I forgot to put the lid on. Some time during the night, I got up to stagger to the bathroom and tripped over a large spider web.  It was quite actually my yarn.  The wet was too big to be what was left in a tea mug.  It was getting progressively worse.

We pulled out my rocker and there was a warm pond. I went to the manager next door and he and D pulled back the carpet.  There was a pond forming in the concave of the concrete right next to his wall.  He went and pulled back his carpet and he had a bubbling pool coming up from a crack in his concrete.

From Knitting Kitties

This morning, the workers came and sledge hammered out a hole on his side and found a pipe running from the community hot water heater.  Luckily, there was the leak right next to the wall.  He said last year, there was a leak in one apartment that the water flowed under the concrete and came up through a crack in another apartment and flooded it.

After a morning of the water being shut off.  Why is it that when the water is off you can find a million uses for it?  I'm now sitting here with a fan blowing dry the musty wet carpet that is probably older than I am.  Why is it my bunnies had to choose that corner under the secretary to spread their doots?  Not a good time.  Hopefully it will all be over soon.

You know for living in the desert, where there is supposed to be no water, I've seen more floods than all my years in watery Western NY.

From Knitting Kitties

From Knitting Kitties

I finished my first skein this morning and joined the new one with a Russian join.  It was really quite easy and you can't see the join in the knitting at all. I keep thinking of various residents I've known while working as a nurse.  I try to imagine the lady who will be receiving this one and hope she enjoys the warmth it will bring, it's so cuddly, snuggly soft. As you can see I got over 13 inches from the first skein, so I'm thinking maybe half again the length with the second, it should be 20 inches at the longest point.  I think this should be good for someone sitting in a wheelchair.

For those of you who might want to make things to donate to long term care centers, they're not just for old people any more.  I've seen my share of residents my age that are in with Multiple Sclerosis, ALS, Downs Syndrome and even strokes.  Basically, any long term condition where the person requires such extensive daily care that can't be at home.

My suggestions are: lapghans, about the size of a baby blanket only in more grown up colors.  Snuggly shawls for women and hats for men.  Fingerless mitts (for oh so cold hands) in very soft yarn, something like the Bernat Satin I'm using for the shawl would be good. Older peoples skin is tissue paper thin and the smallest scratch can quickly turn into a skin tear. I've bandaged many a tear caused by just a bump against something hard.  Slipper socks are good for non-ambulatory patients.  Bags for wheel chairs and walkers are good.

As you can see, I much on my hands right now.  Hopefully my next post I'll be in a better position.

2 comments:

Liz in Ypsilanti said...

You poor thing! I am so sorry for your water problems. That looks like a really nasty, uncomfortable mess. I hope the landlord is quick about getting things all right again.

behind the ivy said...

Yikes, that leak sounds like a nightmare. Hope it's sorted soon.

I love Russian joins, so simple and no ends to weave in! That's always a plus to me :)