Monthly Archives: April 2021

My dad is dead

My dad is dead. It might not be the most cheering topic to write about, but it is a natural part of life. It has a beginning and an end. This blog begins with the end.

I had told my parents that I wouldn't call them Monday and Tuesday because I had consultants at work and would be too tired. I had been given the task to sell my mom's old iPad, and I wanted to do it Monday, but I got held up at work, so the store was closed when I finally got there.

Luckily, Tuesday was only a half workday, and I stopped by the store. To my surprise, I got a very good price for the iPad. I was so proud that I had to call my parents when I got home. While we were talking, a bird hit one of my parent's windows, and my mom went outside to keep an eye on the groggy bird. She didn't want the cat to eat the bird.

I kept talking to my dad, and all of a sudden, his voice changed and got lower and more unclear. I asked if he was okay, and he confirmed that he was feeling fine. He started making sounds that sounded like hiccups, and I've never heard him have hiccups. Again, I asked if he was feeling well, and he answered a bit annoyed, that he, of course, was fine, and that we were talking. The last part was difficult to understand, and I got really worried that something was wrong.

I tried telling my dad that he sounded strange and that I wanted my mom to look in on him, but he didn't understand why I was concerned. I had to hang up the phone so that I could call my mom, and she ran into the house. Immediately, she could tell that something was wrong because my dad's entire left side was limp.

Impatiently, I was sitting on my sofa, waiting for my mom to call me back. I had the feeling that it could be a blood clot in the brain, so I started packing some clothes, my toothbrush, and so on. That made me prepared to spend the night at my mom's if necessary - and it did.

When we arrived at the hospital, we were told that my dad suffered from a severe brain hemorrhage in the right side of the brain. The hemorrhage resulted in my dad being paralyzed on the left side of his body. And now it's time for sensitive people to jump to the next blog. My dad had severe rheumatoid arthritis and had arrived at the point in his life where a lot of everyday chores were either impossible to do or very difficult. He had difficulty walking, and because of his condition, it was not possible to help him with a cane, walking frame, or similar things. He was a very independent person and had a hard time accepting that he needed help with a lot of things. That was why my mom and I were completely devastated when my dad's future included being paralyzed on the left side of his body and a nursing home. I have on several occasions talked with my dad about how he wanted to spend his days if he wasn't able to live with my mom. Each time he has, without hesitation, told me that he then wanted to die. I got the same answer if he would end up in a situation where he needed help doing everything - e.g getting out of bed in the morning.

It is not possible to actively help people to die in Denmark, but we told the doctors that they shouldn't do everything to save him. Of course, we pointed out that it was according to my dad's wish. The most frustrating part was when the doctors and nurses constantly tried to comfort us and tell us that he would get better. Several times I had to emphasize that it was about my dad's wishes and not about whether my mom and I wanted to visit him in a nursing home.

The next couple of days were like a roller coaster. My dad was conscious enough to know who he was, who we were, where he was, the date, and so on, and that were good signs. Of course, he got tired very quickly, and it was not possible to have a long conversation with him. Short sentences which only demanded short answers were ok. Some people would say that my dad was conscious enough to say no to treatment, but that was not the case. The brain bleed was on the right side of his brain, which means that he was unable to oversee the situation and the consequences of the paralyzes. That made it even more difficult to explain to the doctors why my mom and I wanted my dad to die.

On Thursday, we were told that my dad was doing a lot better and that he would be sent to a rehabilitation center the next day. Luckily, excuse me for my blunt opinion, my dad got a lot worse during Friday. The nurses had trouble communicating with him, and he seemed a lot worse, so he had to stay at the hospital.

My mom needed to get away from home, so we planned that she would come to visit me on Saturday. On the way to me, she visited my dad in the hospital, and she was shocked to see how bad my dad was doing. It was impossible to come in contact with him, and he had trouble breathing. My mom called me, and I jumped into my car and raced to the hospital. It definitely doesn't look good. After a couple of hours, we want some dinner and we are told that we shouldn't go too far away. We drive back to my mom's house since she lives only 15 km away from the hospital. Luckily, I had enough foresight to bring extra clothes, so I spent the night at her house.

Actually, I won't call it spending the night. I had only slept about one hour when the hospital called. If we wanted to see my dad alive one last time then we should come to the hospital immediately. It turns out that the brain bleed either never stopped or has started bleeding again. No matter which, the damage is so severe that the hospital can't save him. Since it isn't legal to help my dad die faster, the course of action is to stop treating him. They removed the oxygen mask, that helped my dad breathe, and they gave him some sedative and pain medication. And then you wait. And wait. And wait. Meanwhile, my dad was lying gasping for breath. I really don't understand how we in good consciousness call it humane. We would never have allowed it if my dad was a pet. Then you would have called it animal cruelty.

It took three hours for my dad to die. Now I'm both happy (on his behalf) and sad (on my behalf). He had deserved a quicker death by euthanasia either Tuesday when he was admitted to the hospital or the night when he died.

My dad is dead.

Two small artificial bouquets

Pick of a new car

My 11-year-old Opel Astra station wagon needs a new set of summer tires. But is it wise to spend the money on new tires? Most people would answer yes, but if you think more closely about it, the decision is not that simple.

My car drives smoothly, and I have no problems with it. If I choose to spend money on new tires, I should keep the car for at least two to four more years. If I keep the car for two more years, I need to pay for two more service inspections and one mandatory inspection. There's also the possibility that I need a new car battery, exhaust pipes, or timing belt within those two years, and then it's getting expensive to keep the car. Therefore I have decided to look for a new car, but what should I choose?

The first decision I have to make is what kind of engine I should choose. The diesel engine is excluded at first glance because I don't drive enough kilometers pr year. Then I considered an electric car, but there's not much sense in buying one at this time. There are not enough charging possibilities where I drive and park. Actually, there are none. That means that I'm forced to drive according to the battery's capacity when I leave home. And even though 3-400 km sounds as much it's not necessarily enough when it's winter and cold, and the battery's capacity drops by ⅓. Furthermore, it's not suitable for my vacations in Germany. I like just driving, and depending on when I get tired or get a migraine I find a place to spend the night that looks cozy. And I don't remember any of the places having charging possibilities. I'm sure it gets better with time but at present time it's not good enough. The next option is a hybrid car which typically has a range of 50 km - with a tailwind, downhill, and in the summertime. My trips are typically longer, and yes, I know that the gasoline engine starts when the electric engine stops. One salesperson told me that it wears the gasoline engine down and it requires more maintenance because it has to kick in when the engine is still cold. My thoughts are that they don't know the ramifications of the cold engine starts on the gasoline engine yet because the technology is still very new. I have to consider this as I might keep my new car for ten years so a hybrid car is not the right choice for me either. If my workplace was 10-15 km from my home it would have been an ideal solution because then I could drive on electricity most of the time. To sum it up, I picked a car with a gasoline engine.

The next decision to make is what type of car I should choose - SUV, station wagon, sedan or? In the beginning, I wanted a station wagon because it is nice with the large trunk for my instruments. After having looked at different cars, I fell for the mini-SUVs or cross-over cars. Apparently, that type of car has different names depending on the make of the car. I'm a fan of the higher seating position without having to step up into the car.

The next decision is a big one because I have to choose car make and model. Should I choose an Opel, Audi, Mazda, Skoda, VW, Toyota or? First of all, I decide on the upper price limit including everything. With that, I mean including the price I get for my old car, the new car including accessories, undercoating and so on. Then I pick some things that I want to be included with the new car. One of those things is matrix LED headlights. Ever since they were introduced 5-6 years ago, I wanted them with my next car. They make it possible to drive around with high beams all the time and they turn off segments of the lights when there is oncoming traffic. That way they are not a nuisance. Furthermore, I want some safety features like adaptive cruise control, smart brake support, blind-spot monitoring system, rear camera, and cross-traffic alert. At this point, several car manufacturers drop out of the race because they exceed the upper price limit.

Audi gets very expensive because most safety features have to be added, including the matrix LED lights. At some point, I started looking at an Audi model as a van because it lowers the price. But I ditched that idea. Opel is a former German car but is now owned by a French company. That has resulted in a degradation of the safety features, which is why I don't want that brand either. Skoda is apparently a woman's car - sorry if anyone feels disrespected - but it is very weird that you have to pick the color of the car as the first thing. Honestly, if you want to find the price of a car configuration, the color is the last important thing. Engine, safety features and so on is the important things. VW has chosen, that you need to pick a medium big model to be able to choose matrix LED lights. And suddenly the number of choice gets smaller and smaller.

One brand I didn't expect to pick was the Mazda. One of the things that I think is great about Mazda is that they actually have made improvements on the gasoline engine. They have set a goal to reduce CO2 emissions from their cars by 50% in 2030. First of all, they include the entire life span of the car - from production to 'death'. Second of all, they don't believe it can be done by producing solely electric cars. Their opinion is that in 2030, approx 85% of all cars will need some kind of combustion engine like hybrid cars. I think that is more realistic than the illusion that electric cars will fit all needs while cutting CO2 emissions. Therefore, Mazda has developed a more energy-efficient combustion engine. Other than that most of the safety features are standard and the price is fair.

I wasn't sure about two things about the Mazda - should I choose four-wheel drive, and is the trunk big enough. To answer those two questions I visited the local Mazda dealer. As a starting point, I was only interested in seeing the car in real life. It would be rather annoying if only liked the car online and didn't like it in real life. Maybe I would be uncomfortable in the car, and then I would have to give up that brand too.

Just so you know, I'm not the spontaneous type of person, and I hate 'real' salespersons. The kind of salesperson that says anything to sell you something, and the kind of salesperson that won't leave you alone, is not a match for me. To my surprise, it was a kind and calm salesperson, and he was a perfect match for me. He fairly easily succeeded in getting me to test drive the car. I was very reluctant because I have never driven a car with an automatic transmission. But it went very well and I liked the car very much.

I mentioned the four-wheel drive to the salesperson, and he asked me why I would want it. Well, I had seen on Youtube that it would increase the driving pleasure and stability of the car. The salesperson said that it was true, but compared to my old car, I would already be getting a car that has a better driving experience and better stability. Of course, he would gladly sell a car with four-wheel drive, but according to him, I should save my money. To clarify, he didn't have any of the cars in stock, so it didn't make a difference to him if I chose one or the other.

After some thought, I visited the car dealer again. This time I brought some of my musical instruments with me in order to test the size of the trunk. The trunk is smaller than that of my old station car, but it wasn't that much. I approved it and signed a contract.

My choice was:

Mazda CX-30 Cosmo with technology pack and a Skyactiv-X engine with an automatic transmission.

Unfortunately, I have to wait 3 months to get the car so I'm waiting impatiently. It is going to be 3 loooooong months.

Car

My chair doesn't work - again

Again my chair doesn't work. In the beginning, it only made weird noises when the footstool was in its out position. Now the chair can only go up or down. Neither the footstool nor the backrest can move. I'm getting very tired of all the problems.

I'm glad that I'm not dependent on the chair, but I'm at a point where I want a chair that works - more than two months at a time. At first, I called the repair company and told them that the chair made weird noises, and they would come by and look at it when they were nearby.

The week after that, I had to call them again and let them know that neither the footstool nor the backrest would move. Several weeks after that, I got an 'ok' to have my floor replaced, so I decided to call the company again and ask them when they planned to stop by. I don't want my new floor ruined.

The guy from the repair company has looked at the chair. He easily located the problem, and he suspected that the problem was caused by the initial transport damage. He found that the reason the chair is making noise is caused by a crooked chassis. At the same time, he also found a loose connection in the wiring, which caused the footstool and the backrest to work intermittently.

He was very thorough, and there were two courses of action. The repair guy wanted to replace the chassis, motor, wiring, and so on. He simply wanted to replace everything on the chair except the footstool, backrest, and seat. If the manufacturer wouldn't approve it, then the chair would need to be sent to the manufacturer, and that would take time. The repair would take approx two weeks for the repair guy, but it would take three months if the manufacturer should do it. That is a long time to do without my chair, especially since I haven't been able to use it half of the time that I've had it.

I'm crossing my fingers that the repair guy gets to repair the chair.

Artificial bouquet

Assessment of floor damage

Apparently, insurance cases take a long time. A couple of months ago my floor in my living room got some deep scratches. It happened as a company was repairing my chair and therefore it was their insurance company that had to pair for the repair. The first mail with instructions about what I had to do arrived very fast.

I had to get two assessments on what it would cost to repair the damage done to the floor. I don't know that many craftsmen so I called the company that I used when I had to get a new floor in the kitchen and dining room. The conclusion was that the scratches were so deep that they wouldn't be able to repair the floor if it should look nice afterward. That is, I had to get a new floor.

I didn't know who else to contact. First of all, I don't like wasting other people's time and, secondly, I just wanted to hire the company that I already knew for the job. On the other hand, I understand why the insurance company wants two assessments but who should I choose as craftsman no. 2?

I decided to ask the first craftsman if he knew someone who would do a great job and thereby getting assessment no. 2. I didn't want someone where the result wouldn't be good.

The second craftsman looked at my floor, and the conclusion was the same: A new floor. Phew, in some regard I'm happy they agree on the course of action, but on the other hand, it's a lot of work because the living has to be emptied.

After sending the two assessments and four pictures to the insurance company, I have finally gotten a mail stating that I can hire the cheapest craftsman to replace the floor, and they will pay the bill. I have written to the two craftsmen about the answer from the insurance company, and I'm now waiting for the first craftsman to let me know when they have time to replace the floor.

Meanwhile, I have to figure out how I can empty the living room. Not the easiest task when you have to do it by yourself.

Easter decoration