The view from my window

The view from my window
The view from my window

Thursday 25 February 2021

"Grab a handful and start stuffing!"

I guess everything is relative but, "relatively speaking", it's all go here at the moment. On Monday afternoon my friend who lives opposite me called and asked if I could come over as she wasn't feeling very well. She was complaining of having a pain like a really tight belt wrapped around her chest (oh, oh), but on the right side of her body, not the left, saying it was becoming hard to breathe, it was so painful. Thinking back on it, oddly enough covid didn't even pop into my mind, I guess because I know this friend has probably even less contact with the outside world than I do. So no, my first thought was "heart attack", not covid. I could see that she was having a hard time holding it together so I asked her permission to call the emergency services and she agreed. That alone told me that it was serious because "stiff upper lip" and all that. When I called them they asked to speak to her and she tried to explain her symptoms to them - but when she was put on hold for what seemed like ages, we hung up and decided to just take her straight to hospital ourselves. To be fair they called back almost immediately but we told them that we'd make our own way there. I would say she was admitted in less than 15 minutes, so the hospital was very impressive. And that was the last I could do because, of course, I wasn't allowed to go with her. Thankfully André was waiting for me back at the parking lot so we were able to make it home before curfew, although I think under those kinds of circumstances we wouldn't have got into trouble for being out after 6 p.m. Despite poor internet connection, she managed to send me a message later that night to say they had done a scan and discovered a pulmonary embolism and were keeping her in. I managed to get hold of her sister in Spain through FB and let her know what was going on, and she, in turn, kept the family in England in the loop - although maybe a little less "in the loop" for her mom and dad who are both 91 and who she didn't want to worry, since both have their own health issues. Next day mom called me to find out the latest news, so I told her they were keeping her in again to do more tests and promised her I would call her back when I knew something. So with my friend's permission I called mom later and told her about the embolism and that they thought it might have some kind of link to the fall she took on the ice recently. Who knows - I don't know how these things work. Anyway, they kept her in for a third night and it turns out she was also in the early stages of pneumonia so hell it was a good thing we took her in when we did! I called mom this morning to let her know that I was just leaving to pick her up and bring her home and that my friend would call her later. I know some people have mixed feelings about letting family know, but having been on the receiving end of not being informed when my dad was (frequently) in hospital because of being in Switzerland, I know that I would always prefer to be kept informed. At the very least I could call every night to find out how he was doing right? I obviously wasn't going to tell mom anything without my friend's permission but I do feel very strongly that it was the right thing to do! Anyway, it'll be all anticoagulants, antibiotics, blood tests and more check-ups for my friend for the foreseeable future, but at least she is now receiving the treatment she needs!

And while we're on the subject of hospital stays, M, I don't suppose you're out of hospital just yet but I bet you're glad that's over too aren't you. Get well soon mate!

In other news I realized this morning that I think I might be turning into my dad. When we lived in Birmingham our house was at the end of a short path that led down to just three houses, but it seemed like every time dad heard footsteps on that path he bobbed up out of his chair to see who was there. While I was living at home it was a poor, but not particularly rough area, but I understand it changed quite a bit (i.e. became rougher) after I'd moved to Geneva, so I guess I know why dad did it - and why they were both so relieved when they inherited a little money and were able to leave the inner city for a quieter coastal area! But now I seem to find myself doing the same thing. Oh I'm not worried about being murdered in my own bed, it's just that I have this terrible habit of going to look out the bathroom window when I hear a car stop outside. I think it's because I tend to live on the first floor and the door bell always makes me jump and then start dashing downstairs to answer it. But still, yeah, I think I might indeed be turning into my dad!

The other day I heard the expression "the silent to-do list", meaning all the things that you keep thinking "oh I must get around to doing ..." and yet you never seem to get round to - and it bugs the hell out of ya because it's constantly going through your mind. One of my main bugbears is my basement and yet I have been clearing it bit by bit - although admittedly not lately. Then there's the box of my ex's papers to go through and that's just sitting there looking at me screaming "sort me, sort me". So today when I returned from the hospital I decided I needed to get back to spending about an hour a day on what I now refer to as my silent to-do list. An hour really isn't very long is it, especially for someone who's retired. So here's hoping it'll stick this time!

In the spirit of dealing with irritating things, I took more pictures of my heating system in the basement which is yet again, leaking. It's not a tremendous amount of water - more leaking condensation I would guess, and it will dry, but I thought nope, Max, you've got to come back and get this sorted. Jordan seems to think he needs to put a more powerful "condensation pump" in than the one he installed, but either way, he's got to come back and deal with it. So I sent him the pictures with a "guess what" text and we'll see what happens. Then this morning, just as I was about to leave for the hospital, I saw that my neighbour's cleaning lady yet again parked partially blocking my driveway. At first I asked André to move his car, which would allow me to pull out, but then I thought nope, she can park her bloody car like a grown up because we shouldn't have to move two cars to be able to get off our driveway. Why the hell she parks like that I have no idea - I mean, it's not like there isn't tons of space here to park. Hell, she can even park in the driveway of the neighbours whose house she cleans! So I sent Isabelle a text message asking her to ask her cleaning lady to move her car because I couldn't get out. I don't know where Isabelle was but she didn't get back to me immediately so we ended up again moving our own two cars. This bloody woman does it every damn week! Eventually Isabelle got back to me, apologizing for the delay and said she will ask her cleaning lady to park properly in future as she hadn't realized that was how she dumped her car!

My driveway is off to the left but by parking
like this she blocks me up against
a wall/hedge. Hell, why doesn't she park in front of 
the black car? Her car's small enough and that's
the house where she's cleaning!

Anyway, the good news is that I received my carte de séjour (resident's permit) from Annecy after just 15 days, thereby confirming me as "legal", and I now have everything I need to apply for citizenship. So thinking I'd start checking off paperwork, yesterday I went on the naturalisation site and just started uploading the documents they requested at each step. They didn't want the whole shebang first time round but they would need all 27 pages of my divorce decree because wouldn't you know the stamp that shows it was a notarized copy issued in the last three months is on the last page. Do you ever have that sinking feeling when you're dealing with officialdom, you've got all your paperwork together and you hit "upload" and then sit there biting your nails hoping page 18 of your bloody divorce decree doesn't "crash" the site? Well luckily it didn't and hopefully I can upload the next stage shortly while my time-limited documents are still valid!

And finally, André had to weigh himself the other day in order to fill out forms relating to the life insurance necessary for his new mortgage. When it turned out he was 10 kg (22 lbs) heavier than he thought I just cracked up. Well that was until I realized my usual pair of jeans have just about had it so pulled out an old pair from the cupboard - and nearly cut off my oxygen supply when I tried to zip them up! Cue André's turn to laugh, but I told him not to be so smug because if my zipper went when I exhaled I reckon the shrapnel would kill anyone within a 10 metre radius! It was just like the scene in The Big Bang Theory where Howard's (never-to-be-seen) mother, Mrs. Walowitz, goes clothes shopping and yells from the changing room "It's this dress. When I put my front in, my back pops out. When I put my back in, my front pops out. It's like trying to keep two dogs in a bathtub. We're gonna have to work as a team. Get in here, grab a handful and start stuffing ...!" Maybe Karl Lagerfeld was right when he said women who wear sweatpants have "just given up"!


28 comments:

  1. Glad your neighbor is doing Ok but especially glad you ere able to offer her some quick help.
    I would love to laugh about the "grab handful and start stuffing" thing, but like Lagerfeld said: I have just given up because I am, reading this in a tee and sweat pants (my covid uniform)

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    1. I think sweat pants have become my retirement uniform, not just my covid uniform! Whaddaywannado?

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  2. good thing your neighbor called you and you acted! And very nice of you to keep her mom apprised of it all. I have a feeling if it were me and a box of papers had been sitting that long from an ex, I wouldn't even bother taking the time to look through them - I'd just burn 'em LOL

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    1. I know I have no responsibility towards the ex for these papers but my feeling is if anything happens to him and my sons have to deal with stuff in the States from over here, some of that paperwork will be important, or at the very least useful. So I do it for them really!

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  3. Good you were persistent with your friend. How scary. I'm living in leggings and yoga pants, upscale sweat pants I guess. I am going to cut my hair soon- apparently it has come up in working from home conversations by colleagues. Not in a mean way, but a "woah, have you seen how long her hair is" way.

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    1. I think the yoga pants business is normal, only to morph into shorts and T-shirts in the summer. Heck I reckon I could get rid of 3/4 of my wardrobe when I start on the next round of my "silent to-do list"!

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  4. It's always better to keep people notified of health issues, because you know if something had gone wrong they'd be saying "you should have called us." And I wouldn't have sent a text, I'd have gone and knocked on the door and asked her to move her car, but then sometimes my patience wears thin.

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    1. I think it's only fair to keep family informed and it seems I was right. As for the cleaning lady, I just don't get why she parks like that. Up until now I've rarely needed to go out for the few hours she's here, but that's not really the point is it. But then I never understood why my other neighbour frequently parked in front of my garage either, although with André also having his car here now that's stopped - finally!

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  5. A pulmonary embolism is life threatening. Good for you for helping your neighbor get the medical attention she needed right when she needed it!

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    1. It wasn't a difficult decision actually because when someone like that (i.e. stoic) agrees they need medical attention, the decision is already made!

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  6. Good on you, and your neighbor, for quick action.

    I'm kind of glad that we now live on a large piece of property because we don't have cars going closely by, or people walking near the house, because I'd constantly be up and peeking through the drapes!!

    I wish my to-do lists would stay silent!

    I might leave a note on the car saying it'll be towed if it continues to block a driveway.

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    1. I think the only reason I want to know if someone is coming to my house is so that I don't have to run down the stairs to get the door but it did dawn on me yesterday that I was turning into dad. As for that car, heck it's so small I could probably pick it up and move it myself. At least now I know the neighbours will deal with it!

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  7. My sister's boyfriend when they first started dating would park on our driveway, it drove me MAD! I was always coming home, and his car was parked there - and SHE would get mad that he had to move it or she did (it gets me worked up to this day)

    I am so glad you took your neighbour in and she was not stubborn about going, phew. As for the weight gain, my work pants are barely holding on 🤪 very few folks have escaped some kind of weight gain.

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    1. I'm usually pretty easy going and if someone visiting my house parks on my driveway it's no problem - they'll be leaving anyway right? But when my one neighbour was forever parking in front of my garage (because it's flat I guess), even after I retired, it got on my nerves. As did the time when he had a friend with a huge truck park in front of my garage in order to do work on his car. I think he's learned now though. As for the neighbour's cleaning lady, I just wonder what she's thinking. Oh well, I've actually written it in my diary to park in "her spot" next week if she messes me around (tee hee). And I think my weight gain (or lack of weight loss) is through having my son here and enjoying having someone to cook for. Hell, we're both starting to look like two boiled eggs on legs!

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    2. Oh, that would aggravate me too if they never left. And that was the issue with her boyfriend - he was over nighting, and I parked there while she parked in the garage. So I would come home, his car is in the driveway, and hers is in the garage. Etiquette was to have him park on the road (but I digress) I would park in her spot too, haha!! I am a big muncher, I love snacks and it has only increased during the pandemic - there is a bit more of us to love ;)

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    3. "There's a bit more of us to love" - I like your thinking lady, you'll go far!

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  8. I hear they're even making designer sweatpants now like they do jeans. My daughter picked me up a couple sweat tops the other day and I was like, oh goodie. When I can actually start going out among the people again I'm gonna have to redo my wardrobe. Or maybe I should start now ...I am glad to hear your neighbor bit the bullet snd went to said doctor.

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    1. Retirement didn't do my dress wardrobe any favours of course, but rarely seeing anyone because of covid makes matters even worse. Heck I'll be wearing a one-size-fits-all kaftan before long if I'm not careful!

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  9. I can't believe that 911 put your friend on hold but I'm very glad you got her to the hospital so quickly Pulmonary emboli can be fatal, they come from a blood clot in the legs often and then travel to the lungs. They block blood vessels in the lungs and can cause tissue death and death. Yikes!

    I'd be pissed if someone kept blocking my driveway.

    And Karl Lagerfeld sounds like an ass. Sweatpants are comfortable and maybe designers should take that into consideration when designing women's clothes, or just clothes in general. And yes, I know he's dead but that remark was still ignorant.

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    1. The emergency services call sounded like it had gone dead, to be fair, and they did call back immediately but it just seemed easier to take her right to hospital ourselves. She has suffered from flebitis in the past and of course there was that fall, but I didn't realize the connection, and I think we're both only now realizing how close it probably was to being something much worse. And you're right, Lagerfeld was a pompous ass - but I kinda think he was right about the sweat pants. They cover a multitude of sins!

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  10. You're a good neighbour. Well done on getting help for your neighbour. We often get cars parking across our driveway when they come to pick up their kids from school, it drives me nuts! Particularly when I arrive home and I indicate I want to go into my drive and they sit and look blankly at me! Then they see the nasty side of me lol. Lack of pupils recently has been bliss for us! I said to my friend the other day that if I don't lose weight soon I won't even fit into my sweatpants, they are feeling tighter by the day and easter is coming!! There is chocolate everywhere! Help!! x

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    1. Oh the hell of living near a school. I remember the parking situation at my kids' school and felt really sorry for the locals because, of course, precious kids who go to expensive international schools can't possibly be dropped off further up the road and walk (my kids caught the train)! As for your sweatpants, do you reckon if we prototyped front-pleated sweat pants we could be on to something?

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  11. You are a good neighbour..well done. I'm turning into my Pa myself in certain ways...it's unavoidable I suspect!

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    1. To be honest I think I'm only just now realizing how serious it was (well, we didn't know that then of course), but when someone who normally wouldn't dream of asking for help actually asks for it, you know it's serious right? I think we also become aware that we're becoming our own parents when we hear our kids quote back to us something we've just said too!

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  12. I hope your neighbour makes a full recovery and thank goodness you could stay calm, drive and get your car off the drive too.

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    1. She's doing much better right now, but of course she's got lots of follow-up also!

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  13. Wow you were there at the right time good for you!

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    1. I know, but I only just realized how close it was!

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