maybe a silver alert?

so, a week ago i had a bit of weirdness…

…it was supposed to be a simple, albeit stacked schedule, day.

the saturday prior my uncle had turned 88. i called him but got no answer (typical), but got a call back from him later (atypical) and we had a nice chat, so i was really surprised when the very next day david calls saying arthur was insisting on getting dressed and babbling incoherently.

i told him to call 911. instead he called me back, and tried to get me to speak to him, which was pointless, so i reiterated my instructions and hung up on him. nik pointed out that if i was having issue understanding david, and i talk to him every couple of weeks, chances are a 911 operator might have issue as well, so i called them. after explaining to lockhart 911 the difference between “del valle” (community between austin and bastrop) and “THE valley” (southern border of the united states) i got to the right folk only to find out that david had, in fact, called them, and they were on the way. they took down my name, number, and relation to the senior they were going to check on, saying they’d let me know what happened from there.

they didn’t. fast forward to tuesday night.

i was just getting done with the route when david called to tell my arthur was refusing to take his meds. when i suggested that, once again, he call a paramedic as i wasn’t going to be able to do anything about this, he said that wasn’t neccessary as they were already in a hospital. so i redirected my statement to focus on the nurse’s station. that was when we also confirmed that our usual “every other wednesday errands” wouldn’t be happening, so i’d have the following day mostly free, as i already had a 10am thing. i’m not gonna lie, this was pretty good news as i have plenty of shit to do.

so i was really surprised when i got the call the next morning at about 9:30 or so, again from david, saying he needed help. he stated that he had to retrieve some paperwork and personal effects to take to the hospital, so he had taken a cab about thirty miles home instructing the driver to “wait while i run inside”, but she instead had taken off while he was inside and now he was trapped out at their place while arthur was still at the hospital and he needed to get back.

i told him to give me five minutes.

i called my 10am, rescheduled for later in the day, and called him back saying i was on my way.

forty-five minutes later i pulled up and he came out with a large tote bag stuffed with everything from paperwork to slides. we drove to the hospital and he retold the story adding extra details, including the fact (and this was the part that made this all make ZERO sense) that he had told the lady he’d pay for the round trip, in full, upon them getting back to the hospital. he never presented a credit card and never gave her cash. these guys have no electronic payment methods at all (they don’t even realize you can “tap” credit cards) and so she made this trip for literally nothing. what daphuk?

when we got to the hospital and i dropped david at the curb, he spun around on his heels and said, “hey, take this – it was supposed to go to her but she took off, and you really came through in an instant, so it should be yours” and handed me the cab fair cash.

and that’s what filled the gas tank and the dining table that day!