Fred

There was no opportunity to make a post yesterday. I had no sooner had my lengthy afternoon nap, rising and coming downstairs around 4:30 p.m. to find that my younger brother had remained home, than he requested I put our Android TV Box into play.

He had been home all afternoon, ever since dealing with an elderly ─ maybe 85 years old or so ─ chap he knows in his drinking society who is evidently on his last legs mentally as well as physically.

This "Fred" still lives independently, and was a working man for his past younger life, but he never developed a holistic outlook on health and is deep into polypharmacy to the point that he no longer even knows what his multiple pills are for.

My brother mentioned how recently Fred had difficulty urinating to fill a cup for assessment purposes, and could not urinate. So the old fool was thereafter prescribed a pill to not only induce urination, but a second one to inhibit the urge.

And the fool dutifully began taking them, along with the myriad of others he takes.

The man's own adult children have as little to do with him as they can, for they have their own family lives. The guy will do nothing for his own betterment. He apparently submits to every vaccination made available to him.

And now his mind is slipping away. He is afraid to be home alone. Sometimes he cannot remember how to phone people because he forgets how to access their phone numbers. He smokes almost non-stop, and has his apartment windows shut tight.

He almost begged my brother ─ maybe 1½ decades younger than Fred ─ to come and stay the night with him yesterday, saying he would pay for all taxi fares and even buy my brother's beer.

Fred will not go to a care facility because he does not want to be around "old" people. My brother was tempted to declare that Fred should understand why, then, younger people don't want to be around needy, constantly bitching and complaining Fred!

Fred has some sort of driver's licence ─ possibly interim, pending yet another road or cognitive test. But the point is that he can legally drive ... yet he is so pathetically incapacitated that he is afraid of falling and hurting himself even in his own suite, let alone trying to leave it to get to his vehicle and drive anywhere.

Meanwhile, he keeps swilling all of his brain-destroying pharmaceuticals because he is a compliant dupe who will not help himself.

If he lives past 2024, I am going to be surprised, even though I have never laid eyes on the guy.

I have digressed.

So following my nap, I was chained by my helpless younger brother (I am 2¾ years his elder) into beginning to sit and watch T.V. for the rest of the calendar day because he is a technical Luddite who cannot understand its operation.

I missed out on one of my planned walks, of course. But at least I got to do a fair amount of extra drinking, and also added episodes to a number of T.V. series that we follow in common.

I will only mention one ─ the final two episodes of the first season of Wolf Creek. I must say, I am now something of a fan of actress Lucy Fry. I am going to have to sample some of her other work.

I did manage to restrain my drinking. I don't clearly recollect what I imbibed, but maybe no more than three or four cans of Cariboo Malt (8% alcohol), and at best two shots of Kraken Black Spiced Rum (47% alcohol).

Note that it being a bath day, I did break in the early evening to take care of that whilst my brother was engaged on the phone with Fred.

After my wife got home from her latter day working at the Thai restaurant, she was to hole up in her bedroom watching videos or whatever on her smartphone or tablet while working through a half bottle of red wine (14% alcohol).

My brother never passed out, so we did get through several shows. Unfortunately, it was at least 1:30 a.m. before he called it a night.

I was at least another hour in getting to bed, for I always have much to deal with here at my computer before I 'hit the hay'. I almost went on my missed walk. My wife had emerged from her bedroom to see if I would be going on one of my walks and be able to deposit $120 for her.

This inspired me. I was all gusto to tackle the venture ─ I even expected to down another shot of rum; but she then realized that she could e-transfer me the money and have me direct it into the proper account for her.

So we did that.

She then went to bed (she only had to work the latter part of today). And this duty now removed seemed to completely deflate whatever odd inspiration I had felt for a frigid walk, and I anon went to bed as well. (We have separate bedrooms.)

We had a little snow earlier in the afternoon that day. And then the temperature plummeted. I once saw that we may have hit at least -15.5° Celsius (4.1° F.) overnight. Honestly, I was peculiarly keen on getting away to experience a walk in such chill.

Why my brother had to remain home yesterday and thwart that opportunity is inconvenient, but no mystery. It was the day he would normally have headed out afoot to take a couple of buses to rendezvous with one or two of his drinking buddies, but the cowards called off the venture.

I have come to realize that my somewhat sore throat is not due to scalding coffee. The right side is especially sensitive, and my right nasal passage is clearly reacting to an infection. I am going to engage 15 minutes of nebulized hydrogen peroxide when I am done with this post.

Towards that end, it is supposedly -12° Celsius at present at 7:18 p.m., so I will still have access to frigid temperatures for a walk. Thus, I am not going to spend the time that I normally might in detailing this post. Rather, I am going to start nebulizing some hydrogen peroxide, retire fairly early this evening (I have begun a Sabbath fast ─ albeit I did have a couple of cans of Cariboo Malt and a shot of Kraken Rum while enjoying some T.V.).

To atone for drinking beyond sunset, I will not eat tomorrow until well past dark.

By the way, my brother did have to spend time this latter morning with grasping Fred. It is a shame that a once strong man becomes reduced to such a helpless shell of whom he once was.

I will be to bed around mid-evening, with the intention of rising very early for a five-mile+ walk.

Update tomorrow.