The Long and Unnecessary

I got up to pack this morning and started to take a shower, but then I thought I heard Julie scream “LET ME OUT” from somewhere across the house. The next thing I knew, Mom was up the stairs looking for her. It didn’t take us long to realize she was just screaming about hot and cold water shifting due to a flushed toilet. I continued packing until it was my turn to shower, and then I came downstairs to help clean up the food we had in the fridge. Julie made omelettes, and I ate mine with some leftover hot pepper oil and the last of the injera.

We got everyone loaded up and out of the house just in time for our late checkout, and someone we presumed to be a housekeeper pulled up just as we pulled out of the driveway. We went to get some food for Bác Tuấn and let the adults go in while Julie and I unloaded the goodie bags we made the night before.

I left her to chat, and when I got back to them, Uncle Tuấn had started feeding himself really well. I thought he was going kind of fast though, and after a little while we realized he was just packing his mouth with food but not swallowing. Bác Trân had him spit out a HUGE wad of food that nearly filled an entire plastic cup, he rinsed his mouth out with some water, and we gave it a rest for a bit. Otherwise he was in good spirits though, and was very lucid.

Dad and Julie spent nearly the entire time talking to the staff to get the real story of what happened to bring us across state lines, and we basically learned that we were there due to poor communication across the board. Lan was visiting fairly regularly and making an effort to care for him, but was not doing a great job of rehabilitating him. Nobody held this against her because she was simply not an occupational therapist, or a doctor, or a professional caregiver. Instead, she was simply acting as a traditional Vietnamese wife trying to do her duty to care for her ill husband. Unfortunately, what we did witness was her loading him up on low value, non-nutritional treats because that’s what he would eat without any fuss. She didn’t want to hear any feedback from us though.

Bác Tuấn was very capable of feeding himself, but did have trouble swallowing. The biggest problem was that he didn’t like the cafeteria food and had been steadily losing weight. From our family conversations/fights, it seemed like Lan, though well-meaning, was doing more to interfere with the care that was being given by the facility. She felt like they were stealing his clothes, and she said she told him not to take all of his medicines. On the other hand, his level of care did allow him to refuse their food and starve himself out. At least Lan was bringing him “things” that he would eat.

We were happy to see that he wasn’t on the brink of death, but the family drama that ensued all week was incredibly frustrating. They had the best intentions, but every single one of the Asians wanted to interfere with the staff who were operating like a fine-tuned machine. Diaper changing times and inspections were done regularly, but not at the pace the family wanted, so they would interrupt staff while they were trying to work elsewhere. I had to chase Bác Trân down constantly and wrangle him away from getting in the way. Not a single one of them wanted to trust the system, but on the other hand, nobody wanted to accept the fact that they would have to pay substantially more for more involved care that Bác Tuấn may not really need in the first place. Instead, the perceived meddling in the situation immediately put Lan on the defensive and made everyone combative. On the other hand, Lan can’t play the poor-English miscommunication card and then turn around and make her own decisions on the best care for him.

We didn’t have very long before Bác Trân’s flight, so Mom called Lan and had her meet us in the parking lot as we were leaving. For some reason, they told her about the gift bags we made for the staff, and she didn’t like that at all. She immediately wanted to interject on our simple act of kindness, and wanted to redistribute them as she felt appropriate, which simply wasn’t the point. Furthermore, it was our act of kindness to perform, with or without her. We had already spoken with those in charge, and were assured the gift bags would reach all of the souls who directly care for our loved one at all hours of every day.

Eventually we were able to shove off and made it to the airport. Bác Trân was able to navigate himself from the drop point, and we killed some time at a restaurant called Paris Bánh Mì. The others had more traditional sandwiches, but I had one on a croissant. I would not recommend that because of how greasy and soggy it got. The sugarcane drinks were good, but may have been from a mix and not actually from fresh sugar cane. Overall I thought it was a super cute place though, and I thought the food was pretty good. They even had Korean corn dogs, so Julie and I split a half sausage/half cheese dipped in Hot Cheetos. She didn’t like it, but I did.

After we ate, we stopped at what was easily the cleanest Oriental grocery store I’ve ever seen. It didn’t smell funky, but had all of the usual goods. Mom said she wanted snacks, but didn’t buy anything, so we headed on back to the airport and waited a few hours for our flight.

While we were waiting, another flight was waiting for a whole new crew. The lady at the desk misspoke and said they were still waiting on a captain, which got a chuckle from everyone in the area. Bác Trân’s flight was delayed and then later cancelled, so he ended up staying the night in the airport hotel. Our flight came in quite a bit later, but we eventually got loaded up and flew home. It was a long flight and everyone was pretty tired, but Julie got us home without incident. I had her stop at the old house so I could turn off the light that the restoration folks left on all week. Then we dropped her off and they took me home.

The dogs knew something was up, so I went out to see them first. They were super excited, but behaved well and just laid down and nuzzled my feet while I scratched their bellies. Summer was asleep, but I let her know I was home and eventually made it to bed after an exhausting week.

Ring around the rosie…

Flight Plan

Even Summer thought I should get out of the house a bit today, so I got up this morning, fed the dogs, had a burger, took a shower, and called Dad to meet up. I went to his house and we flew the FPV drone around the neighborhood, and then we were going to go see Kevin at the airport.

Dad had someone coming out to quote some tree removal at the old house, so we had to go there first. Then Summer wanted something to eat, so I picked up some Burger King for her before we finally made it to the airport.

The hangar was pretty impressive. I’d only ever seen the main area, and never been through the offices before, but Julie rented the whole space for their new business. Kevin was hanging out while some glue dried, but we got to see him put a couple strips of fabric down after we got a quick tour of the place. Julie eventually showed up after work and did a walkthrough herself. Dad and I left shortly after that, and I dropped him off before going home.

The girls would be out late, so I finished up the aged burrito stuff. Then I took the dogs out on a hard walk. I finally put together the reason they pull so hard on some of our walks. Today was trash day, and there were drips, spills, and smells absolutely everywhere for them. Stilgar even found a whole Milk-Bone, which I broke in half for them. We eventually made to to my parents’ house again, and Mom got home from a long day of work while we were there.

On the way back home, I happened to run into James as he was driving home, and he gave me back my Ember mug power adapter. He said they sprung a presenter on him with just a three-minute notice, and I had to chuckle inside. That place will never get better.

Summer was home and nearly passed out on the couch when I got back home. She had a long and hard day at work, so we talked for a little bit before she went to bed. Eaddie went to the gym and then got home late for a shower and bed. I did my best not to stay up too late, but I still found time to order some more “free” junk on Amazon.

That is incorrect.

Ready for Takeoff

I got up early today so we could go hiking on Petit Jean with Tom, Angela, Brandan, and Nikolle. They brought Cutie along as well, and she really enjoyed running around outside. I thought Eaddie was going as well, but she stayed home and slept instead. Summer and I met the others at the Cedar Falls Overlook. That was barely a walk at all, and then we went to the lodge for a restroom break before going to the Bear Cave Trail. That was more climbing than walking, but I think they had fun. Our last stop was the gravesite, and I let Tom drive the Model 3. We weren’t there long before we had to get back to town because Uncle Rick’s family made it into the airport.

I raced home with Summer and had Eaddie load the Model Y for us so we could do a quick swap and go. We loaded up some food and went to get some ice, and met everyone at the airport. Julie rented a big room there where everyone could sit and eat, but everyone eventually spread out across the whole building and outside, particularly while Kevin was giving airplane rides.

I finally got to go flying with him, and it was exactly what I had imagined. I’ve always wanted to fly, but never put any effort into it. The regulations and formalities just sort of made it less fun, which was sort of the same way I felt about ham radio. We flew along the river toward Petit Jean, which was way faster than driving earlier that morning. We scared some birds, skated on some water, and got eye-level with a buddy of his that had flown to a sandbar for a night of camping. I got to fly while we climbed for a while, and then he took over for a couple maneuvers before we landed.

I was the last one in the air, so I got to see the beautiful sunset. The girls had left earlier because Summer was feeling sick and Eaddie wanted to go to the movies with some friends, so they didn’t get to see any of it. I also got brave enough to try out Kevin’s Onewheel, and did way better than I expected. I tripped up trying to get off a couple times, but didn’t fall until I had already ridden around with a little bit of speed. When I did finally fall, I think it was because I was trying to start out on a slightly sloped surface.

Dad finished up the night at the airport with a short magic show, and then everyone helped us load up to go home. Julie and Kevin locked up at the airport, and my parents and I waited for everyone else to make it back to their house to pack some food for their trip home. Then once they left, Dad took me home.

Summer was in bed, and Eaddie and Eli were at the house watching TV, so I showed them a clip from my flight before going to the office to research Onewheels and EUCs. It was tempting to order one at Black Friday prices, but I don’t guess I’d really have much occasion to ride one. It really was fun, though.

The Need for Speed!

Cleared for Lunch

This was our last quiet Friday for a little while, since people are starting to filter back in next week. I spent the morning in my office tinkering with a few things before lunch. Then Gary, Kyle, and I met Brody at Zaxby’s for national wing day, where Brody and I both got BOGO orders of boneless wings. I ate way too much and still took some back with me.

I had to run to the middle school for a topcap before I could meet Kyle at Oakland to run a video and touch line in the new kindergarten alternative learning environment. I still can’t quite wrap my head around stuffing a bunch of poorly-behaved kindergartners into one room together. The 50-foot optical HDMI cable wasn’t long enough to go up into the rafters and back down, so we had to re-run it right on top of the ceiling tile. That kept us there quite a bit after quitting time.

After work, I went home and had to help Bác Vân add a new entry to her iPad’s address book. We couldn’t get it to recognize it as an iPhone number though, so I’m not sure it will work for her until we can figure out what kind of device that person has.

Summer went to the gym after she got back into town, and then I met her and my dad at the aquatic center, where the paramotorist he had been talking to was about to go up in the air. We watched him take off and then make a few loops around the area before heading up north. Then Summer and I headed to Linh’s for dinner. I decided to stop by the shop for some ice along the way, and happened to run into Melissa, who was giving Sandy some moving boxes out of the Transportation office.

I finally made it to dinner where Summer satisfied her craving for an eggroll salad and boba tea, and I had a fresh bánh mì. She wasn’t certain, but she thought she saw her ex, but she didn’t seem too incredibly bothered and the moment passed. We finished up, they started closing the place down, and we headed back home.

I ran back next door for some more iPad training while Summer took a shower, and she was in bed watching TV by the time I got back. She passed out pretty early, and I tried not to stay up too late.

Icy crunch.