Some days you just shouldn't get out of bed, and yesterday was definitely one of those days. And I've got it easy compared to my mom (who really isn't getting out of her bed) and my brother, who's watching over her in the hospital in Florida.
The good news is, she seems to be doing better. Because this is first and foremost a case of the flu, it just takes time to treat. But they are giving her antibiotics for her UTI and it sounds like that's under control, at least. The pneumonia is the scary part -- as my brother said, "Pneumonia and 85-year-olds don't mix." But he said Mom is watching TV and laughing and interacting, as well as coughing to clear her lungs, so that's promising.
I wrestled with whether to get on a plane yesterday. Weirdly, the biggest mental hurdle for me was the Covid test required to enter the USA, even though getting one really isn't hard and I could do it at the airport. It just seemed like the bit of bureaucracy that broke the camel's back -- I could buy a ticket and get myself to Heathrow but having to deal with that test within the required time frame seemed HUGE. And like magic, the US has just announced that as of midnight tonight it will no longer require them. Perhaps someone at the CDC sensed my psychic stress.
I do feel like I should be there, even though I'm not sure how much practical purpose it would serve. But I probably won't go, not as long as Mom continues on her upward trajectory.
It's not often that I get a chance to take a Ms. Moon-style photo of laundry on the line, but yesterday was so dry and sunny that I could hang my freshly washed shirts outside. That's a rare gift in England, let me tell you!
Anyway, aside from Mom drama, we also had some drama here in London. I got a text at lunchtime, while I was at work, saying that we were more than £4,000 behind on our rent payments! WHAT?! The management company for our flat sent us a notice a couple of months ago that they were changing systems and also bank accounts, and we were to begin paying our rent into a new account. I dutifully made the change and included the stipulated reference number for our specific flat.
So when I got this text I immediately had a flash of panic. Had we somehow been scammed? Was I paying our rent to Vladimir and Lyudmila in some tiny dark-web office in Murmansk?
Getting ahold of the management company was a challenge but I eventually spoke to someone who said they didn't have record of us paying any rent since April. So I had to leave work, come home, make screenshots of the bank statements showing the payments being made, as well as the information about the account I was paying into. I e-mailed all that back to the management company.
And their response was, basically, "Oops." They had our payments after all. They just hadn't been properly crediting them to our account.
So, crisis averted. We are not being evicted and the rent is being paid to the right place. Hopefully now they'll keep better track of it. I didn't even ask whether this was going to affect my credit rating. I just couldn't go there.
By this time it was 2:30 p.m. and I would normally leave work at 4:30 p.m., so my boss told me to just stay home. I caught up with blogs and did the above-mentioned laundry and caught up on some other stuff around the house. At 5 p.m. I made myself a therapeutic and necessary gin & tonic.
Oh -- here's a funny fact about that. In one of my Craft Gin Club boxes several months ago I got a couple of tiny, tiny bottles of Angostura bitters. I sometimes add a couple of drops to my G&Ts but it was still taking me ages to get through these ridiculously small bottles. Only yesterday did I see this:
I must be seriously under-bittering my cocktails. I bet I've gotten ten drinks out of this thing, at least, and it's still a third full.
Olga was a ball of fire this morning, licking our faces at 5:30 a.m. and thumping her tail and otherwise saying GETUPGETUPGETUP until we did, in fact, get up. And now she's sound asleep on the couch. (Insert unamused emoji here: 😒)
(Top photo: A dandelion seed stuck to one of the ornamental sage flowers in our garden.)
Phew! Thank goodness you weren't scammed. The way that banks and financial institutions are beginning to insist on electronic statements and doing all business online, and making it difficult get paper copies and look back at past records, is making this all too easy. Unless you assiduously print things out every month and spend hours doing house admin. you aren't sure what's going on. Easy for them, dangerous for us.
ReplyDeletePlease to hear your mum is improving.
I have an old-fashioned recipe for sponge cake that has a few drops of angostura bitters included, to give a nice flavour. I've never tried it, but one day I'll get a bottle and see what difference it makes to the cake.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you got the rent payments sorted.
Thank goodness they got themselves sorted! But it does sound like you need to keep an eye on them. Perhaps they ought to send an email receipt when rent is paid?
ReplyDeleteYour shirts could go out on the line here this morning...but I doubt that they would stay there with nearly 40mph winds!! The good thing is that clothes dry quickly!
Hope your mum continues to improve.. like you say, coughing is good to clear one chest..but keeping active is also important to avoid pneumonia
Arghg, my idea of a series of nightmares here. I'm glad you sorted a couple of them.
ReplyDeleteI need a day off and a gin and tonic (with an appropriate amount of bitters) simply from reading this. I hope your mother continues her upward trajectory. Sending you abrazos, which are so much better than English hugs.
ReplyDeleteSending best wishes for a speedy recovery to your mum. Hope she will continue to improve. I can well imagine how that effects your normal run of things. Stay positive and thank goodness for the healing benefits of G&T
ReplyDeleteReceiving a notice like that makes heart attacks. What seriously deficient basic bookkeeping.
ReplyDeleteGood to hear your mother is dong better than holding her own.
I usually skip adding bitters to any cocktail I make so that bottle would last me even longer.
ReplyDeleteWe pay the water bills on our rentals because if the tenants get behind, it becomes the owners responsibility. Unfortunately you can get no information from the water company until the bill is seriously delinquent and large sums of money are owed. At that point, the owner is notified, and they expect you to cough up the money immediately. (And it does negatively affect your credit score). So. We always pay the water bills, just to insure we do not find ourselves in this predicament ever again (once was enough for us, thanks). In any case, we get water bills to multiple properties, and I can tell you that they ROUTINELY apply the payment to the wrong address. The worst part is that there is no simple way to get in touch with them.
ReplyDeleteThank goodness you were able to get the rent payment sorted. How stressful and anxious that would have made me! Glad your Mom is improving.
ReplyDeleteOh my, that would have made my heart pound. It seems like stressful situations seem come in bunches these days.
ReplyDeleteI heard about the lifting of the COVID testing requirement to enter the US. Too late for my friends who got stuck in Paris a few weeks ago when they tested positive but weren't sick. They had to spend a week in an airport hotel.
Dropping the requirement for a negative covid test is just in time for my trip on the 20th. Given that people (as happened with you) often test negative when they do indeed have covid makes a negative test result completely worthless anyway. Glad to hear that your mother is doing better.
ReplyDeleteI hope your mom continues to recover and get through this bout of pneumonia. It's good to know that she is watching TV and laughing. That's the best news.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad things worked out with the rental agency. What a crazy error they made,
I like Olga's early morning energy!
Glad your mother is doing better. Pneumonia is a threat for sure to the elderly.
ReplyDeleteI love the shot of your shirts hanging in the garden!
I'm curious- do you use bitters AND lime or lemon?
Your panic with the payment situation reminds me of my problem with the debit card activation I had on Monday. Why are these things so difficult?
If two bitters works, all the better! But nice to know you can add more.
ReplyDeleteThe mom thing is so hard, Steve. Pneumonia combined with age is really tough, even though she's looking better. But wouldn't you rather see her when she can see and interact with you than if she's on a ventilator or in a coma or just too miserable to even sense your presence? Of course, it's very expensive, but I remember my cousin's words when my mom was ill -- she said, "I'm coming now but I won't be at a memorial. I want to see her when I can be with her." Your visit might be the boost she needs. (That said, fast plane reservations are always hugely expensive but at least the covid situation is better.) Good luck with whatever you choose. It's a tough choice.
PS -- Anthony Horowitz wrote "The Magpie Murders" and a sequel with "Moonflower" in the title and then a series where Anthony Horowitz-the-writer is also a character who teams up with an Inspector Hawthorne. He brings lots of himself to those books, including his work with "Foyle's War," (among others) and they're rather fun! (It has you googling as to who is real and who isn't!)
ReplyDeleteLife gets busy sometimes. we keep dithering between different issues not being able to make a decision. I hope your Mom continues to improve.
ReplyDeleteI think even that little bottle is too much for two drinks!!
ReplyDeleteOh man, your adventure with the rent payment made my heart race, I felt all of the horror of that through and through. The fear of being scammed, having gone there is real. I have gotten so many "NEW" credit cards lately because of some mistake. Love the shirts on the line, are you fond of blue and white?
ReplyDeleteGin and tonics are my go to summer drink! I hope your mother continues to improve. What a mess with the rent. I would have been freaking out!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad to hear your Mom is on the mend, Pneumonia is scary for anyone and especially in our Senior Years. As for International Travel, I don't blame you, it would intimidate me to even jump thru the Hoops required now due to Pandemic Protocols. I can barely stand going thru what we must at Home to ensure we don't all have Musical COVID running thru the household in spite of all our precautions. With Three Generations under one Roof it's a challenge. That Rent thing would have alarmed me too, so many Scams now... glad it wasn't one and they found their error and I do Hope it doesn't have any Credit Rating Issues over something their fault.
ReplyDeleteI've been reading your blogs, telling Olga I love her and all good stuff.(lol) So sorry to hear about your mother.I hope she get better soon. You've had her in your life for a long time now. No matter what though that is Mom. What a good Son you are and your brother too.
ReplyDeleteIt's good you pay from your bank. I will do the same and I also have a home accounting sheet where I record confirmation nnumbers. I keep a record on all my financial transactions. Be careful since everything is costing an arm and leg every one is trying to cheat for free money.(lol)
Tell Dave and Olga hello for me. I know it's been a while but I have been running around a lot.
What a day!! I'm glad you got it all sorted out. I'm also glad your mom seems to be improving some.
ReplyDeleteI don't think I've ever tasted bitters since the only mixed drink I ever make is a margarita. Honestly, I'm a beer person.
Electronic payments seem like such a good idea until it gets screwed up.
ReplyDeleteIt's so frustrating when automatic payments get messed up, especially when it elicits panic on your end and a mere "oops" on theirs.
ReplyDeleteIt's not fair when those with some kind of authority over someone's life can basically say "oops" while their oversight or mistake has cost the person worry, or sleep, or money - or all of those. I'm glad on your behalf that it's settled now.
ReplyDeleteAnd it's good to hear your mom is feeling at least somewhat better. My father had COPD and developed pneumonia a number of times in his later years. The medical system always pulled him through. It's amazing what drugs and oxygen can do.
I'd suggest to just continue using the bitters in your drinks as you have in the past. Any more might just make you bitter. :D
ReplyDeleteYour mom and my father in law sound like they're in the same boat.
ReplyDeleteI just took a covid test because my daughter's boyfriend tested positive on Thursday and we spent all week with them. It was negative.
My husband is tired and grumpy because we spent the whole week with a three year old. What did he expect 😳
We enjoyed the trip with Jack but we are tired.
I'm glad your mom is doing better. I would like to go visit my friend in Canada, though I have no idea if that's even allowed yet, but the thought of flying always puts me off.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad the company had your rent money. Hope your mom continues to improve.
ReplyDeleteLove,
Janie
Tasker: At least there's an electronic record of the payment, so I can always go back to that. But yeah, we trust the people who receive the payments to credit them correctly!
ReplyDeleteRiver: Oh, that's interesting. I've never heard of using it in cake. It has a very strong taste, so I can't imagine using more than a few drops!
GZ: I'm not sure I'd hang them out in that kind of wind!
Boud: It was definitely "one of those days."
Mitchell: Abrazos IS a much better word, isn't it?
Sabine: Thank goodness is right!
Andrew: What annoyed me is when I talked to them about it, they accused me of not putting my reference number on my payments. And it IS there!
Ed: I can take 'em or leave 'em.
Debby: How annoying! How do they manage to do that ROUTINELY? Once you could understand, but...
Ellen D: It nearly have me a heart attack at work!
Sharon: Ugh! What a nightmare! And expensive too, I bet.
Wilma: Yeah, the whole testing thing is kind of a sham. I think it just makes people feel more secure.
Robin: Apparently she's watching Hallmark movies, which probably don't take a whole lot of mental energy, but still!
Ms Moon: Yes, I use a couple of drops of bitters plus lime. But I probably wouldn't be using bitters at all if they hadn't sent them to me.
Jeanie: As it turned out, the pneumonia was relatively mild. When I heard that she was awake and laughing I wasn't too worried. She was never intubated or suffering low oxygen levels or anything like that. Thanks for the Horowitz info!
Red: Thanks for the good wishes!
Bob: I can taste even a couple of drops, so I can't imagine using much more than that!
Linda Sue: Like, you're receiving actual credit cards in the mail? That DOES sound like a scam.
Michael: Oh, I was, believe me!
Bohemian: I can't imagine how stressful it must be having multiple generations all in one household and trying to keep a lid on Covid!
Angelicastar: Glad to hear from you! I'm glad you're "running around" and staying busy! LOL
Kelly: I'm mostly good with wine and beer, but I do love an occasional gin. I wouldn't be using the bitters if the Craft Gin Club hadn't sent them to me, but they're not bad in small doses.
Allison: Exactly!
Margaret: They DID apologize, actually, so I guess it was a bit more than an OOPS. But still.
Jenny-O: It's true. It's amazing how well medicine has learned to cope with the ravages of age.
Catalyst: And I'm already bitter, so I can't imagine how much worse it could be! LOL
Pixie: I'm glad the Covid test was negative, at least!
Ellen: Once you do it one time it will seem less scary.
Janie: So am I! And yes, so far, so good.