Tag Archives: family

Rushing to Brain Surgery

It’s a funny thing. Not everybody is rushing to get in a traffic jam.

I had a conversation this morning that made me want to write this posting. A young guy was behind a slower car, and he was carrying on like someone stole his Maserati. He was just on his way to do a chore that had no precise time to arrive; he was not a doctor heading to do life saving brain surgery. It turned out, the person slowing him down was a senior. Thank goodness his mom was on the line with him, reminding him about reality.

He said, “You’re right Mom; it was an old person.”

I know. I used to be one of the angry drivers too. But here’s the truth. Every single one of the angry drivers will be old one day, if they are lucky. If they are lucky, all of them will have failing vision, they will have no need to break the speed limit, and they will be cussed at by young people, who, by the way, have zero reason to be in a hurry. The angry ones are just full of hormones, have been conditioned, and have no manners nor compassion. If you pass on that hill, there might be a school bus coming up the other side of it. If you survive the collision, how will you explain yourself? Will you say, “I was on my way to do brain surgery?” Hardly.

That old person may have built the road you’re on while giving them the finger as you pass and get in line behind another slow car. The senior might have been a surgical doctor or nurse who helped save your father. Old people didn’t just get dropped off on the planet; they worked, they gave birth to your fathers and mothers and grandparents. They helped build this country, fought in wars to keep you free. It is a stain on society that our seniors are treated so poorly. It wasn’t always that way, and for some of us, it still isn’t. By the way, trust me on this. That senior doesn’t want to be failing, becoming invisible and unvalued.

Maybe that senior is on the way to eye surgery to improve their vision. Maybe they are unwell and trying to get to the doctor. Maybe that senior has NO choice but to drive because they have nobody to help them and no money for Uber.

You say, “Then they have no business driving.” Well, are you going to run over and take them to the grocery store, take them to the doctor, drive them to church? No? Will you even bother to check on them when they are not driving? Or would you just like them do die in their homes so you can hurry to the grocery store?

Didn’t think so. Not only do you not even THINK about their life story and condition; you think anything you are doing is more important than another human being. It is not, by the way, so here’s my wish.

My wish is that you get to experience the exact social interaction AS a senior, as the one you GIVE to elders now. It is not fun for them to become suddenly and irrevocably unvalued and invisible, even despised, just because they lived longer. After all of the years of service they gave, suddenly they are just a burden.

My generation will pass on, but while we’re here, we will remember to respect our elders. But when the ill mannered get to be seniors, I wonder if they will even be allowed to exist. It depends on how society continues do degrade. It wouldn’t be beyond the scope of reason to think there will be a little pill administered to the elderly when you become one.

Let me just add this: nobody on Earth will be more grateful to you for your help and kindness than an old person. They didn’t have electronic devices in their day, but you hold that against them as though they’re dumb. They are not dumb. Just help them! They invented the entire car you are driving. They came back from war and invented the conveniences you use every day but can’t understand how they work. Why does your microwave oven have that little grid on the door glass? See what I mean? (If that wasn’t there, you wouldn’t be peeking in to see when your microwave meal is done, I can promise you that).

Try kindness. And have some manners. What goes around comes around.

How to Make Your Vacuum Cleaner Work Better, Longer

This is not a sexy post, and I actually couldn’t get an AI image of my Shark Rocket Deluxe Pro vacuum, because it’s too old, I guess. It’s still performing well because I change the filters often. There are three of them. Yep, I said 3. On a stick vacuum with a CORD. And I will use it until it dies a natural death. This image is of a much NEWER vacuum cleaner, but I don’t need a new one.

How is that possible? That I have an old vacuum that can still compete with the expensive big-dog brands, you ask? Maintenance.

In the age of penny pinching, it pays to take care of the appliances you use nearly every day, because they are not cheap to replace. I got my first Shark from the retail store where I worked part time. Someone brought it in and got a refund because it wouldn’t suck. LOL. From the looks of it, nobody EVER got near that thing to do maintenance and they MIGHT have used it to vacuum an unpaved driveway. It looked rough. But I got it for something like 20 bucks, took it home, cleaned it up, washed the filters, let them dry for a day, and vacuumed my living room. I figured it had not gotten any love, and I hoped that with a little bit of love, it might work. It did. For years, until I just wore it out. And I bought another one just like it. A stick vacuum touted for being able to clean up pet hair. Perfect.

There are two filters right under the great big word “SHARK” on top, where you stare while you vacuum. There’s a mysterious lever just above that word, that would cause most people to say, “Hm, wonder what that’s for?” Well if you lift the lever, you see A filter. One. But if you lift it out, there’s ANOTHER one under it. Both are washable with water, and after a 24 hour drying time (air), they are good to go! OR, you can buy them on…you guessed it…AMAZON. Thing is, when you get the pack of 6 filter sets, there are THREE filters in each set, one very small and very thin. Wow, the mystery deepens. Wonder where that goes?

Well, it’s trapezoid shaped, so there’s one clue.

Just under the handle, opposite side of the big “SHARK” word, there’s a trapezoid shaped grill! Well imagine that to be a hint. Now, it’s not easy to figure out how to open that vent cover…which is what it is…but if you look at the bottom of the cord where it attaches to the unit, there’s a little slide lever. Push that down a bit and voila! You’re in! You can lift the dirty old filter and pop in the new one. Easy peasy.

All vacuums have a simple motor and it’ll almost work forever if you keep the filters clean. If you don’t, you overwork the simple little motor and then you discard a perfectly good vacuum cleaner, who did nothing wrong. It’s on you. So. Give your little vacuum motor some love and save several hundred bucks while you’re at it.

If you have a NEWER stick vacuum, of COURSE your filters will be different, but for goodness sake, Google it. Take care of your vacuum and don’t go running to the store griping. If I’m in the store, I’m going to pop open the filter compartment right there in front of you, and look at you over my glasses with that, “Are you kidding me?” expression. Everybody there will know what the deal is, just saying.

Oh, and…no way I vacuum every couple of days. Just a confession. I hate vacuuming. I did a small calculation of how many, many times I’ve vacuumed in my life and it’s NO WONDER I hate it now.