I took the day off work, and went to The Park to take Mom to visit her cardiologist. A few vignettes from the day…
– when i arrived to pick her up, she was having breakfast on the couch. coffee and potato chips. she then tells me the story of DQ, Jr (12 years old) and a friend getting arrested at a movie theater for taking video for the last few minutes of the Hanna Montana movie. No charges filed, but damn good drama all around…
– the doctor asks many questions, including “how are you doing with your sodium?” Mom answers the question, saying she has switched to sea salt, and thinks she’s doing ok. i wait… until i can’t stand it any longer and casually mention her daily breakfast of potato chips and the fact that she unloads at least a half shaker of salt on everything (including her coffee) prior to tasting it. 65 years of smoking will do that to your tastebuds, i suppose.
– Mom’s blood pressure is high (170/60) and her pulse is low (55). Time to change her meds! she tells the doc that it’s been like this for a few months – and that there was one night in December her pulse was 48. doc is concerned. i am concerned – and frustrated, because this is the first i’ve heard of this. remember that little surprise we dropped on her a few weeks ago? it really could have caused a stroke…
– driving from the doctors office, she finished her cigarette in my car. picking her up in front of the cardiology building while she’s blowing smoke rings out her nose? doesn’t really phase me much anymore. i don’t care for smoking in the car, but it’s not like smoke will make the shitmobile smell worse. on the highway, she mentions that she isn’t sure the cigarette went out the window. it didn’t. i managed a quick recovery of a smouldering butt from the back seat, while driving 70 mph leaving only a small flesh wound in the upholstery. good thing i don’t care…
– at the house, DQ (niece next door) comes over to review the medical info. DQ, Jr. is asked to take the 5 month old baby, DQ, III, into the other room so Mom and DQ can smoke. I’m encouraged that they are at least not trying to smoke near the infant. As DQ lights up and blows a big ol’ cloud of smoke toward me, she informs me she’s pregnant again. That it was an accident – “…we were being careful…”. What? By only screwing on days that end in “Y”?
As far as these things usually go, it really wasn’t bad. Just another day in The Park…
Trailer Park Refugee 
“Did you take precautions?”
“Of course. We always close the drapes beforehand”
kn – …and the neighbors praise jeebus for that small act of kindness. almost makes up for the dune buggy they keep in their front yard…
she puts salt in her coffee? you’re not serious are you?
nm – good catch…. that was a poetic license. not in the coffee, but i have seen her add additional salt to potato chips.
Back in the days of coffee percolators (do anyone still use these?) I remember hearing of some people putting a sprinkle of salt in their coffee before percolating it. Don’t know why they did this.
Is sea salt really any ‘healthier’ than the other kind? It reminds me of people thinking brown eggs are somehow better to eat than white ones.
And throwing live butts out of a car window? Noooooo…
az – yes, i remember percolators. and it turns out, you can still buy them – that’s how Mom still makes her coffee (i don’t drink it – thick as play doh). i don’t believe she adds salt, though. sea salt – theoretically – has a ‘saltier’ flavor, so if one actually ‘salts to taste’, it would be conceivable that you could use less. not in this case, however…
Well, I am told by Nog (Mr Know It All 😉 ) that mined salt came from the sea in the first place and so there is actually no difference. It’s actually quite interesting to live with a walking encyclopedia!
Neighbors are their own brand of entertainment.
Frustrating to watch loved ones not taking care of themselves. My mom has had more chronic conditions than I can shake a stick at. She doesn’t tell the doctors about her binge eating and salt diet (much like your mom’s) so he qualifies them as “chronic” She never takes any of his advice but loves to complain loudly about all her problems….
grrrrrrrrrr
az – that was my guess without research. encyclopaedic roommates are probably a blessing and annoyance, depending on the issue!
uncle keith – from the description of your neighbors baby jesus/gangsta display, you speak from experience!
blueseaglass – we honestly don’t know how she’s still standing. 79 years old, 3 packs a day, horrible diet, no exercise, COPD AND congestive heart failure… i suspect she is in such bad shape, not even disease can grow in that environment…
*phew* glad she doesn’t actually salt the coffee.
salt from different places tastes different. we have a lovely pink salt here that I could eat on its own. some of the french salts are as expensive as gold!
Yes, there are a number of pretty coloured salts that taste quite different, but the usual table or sea salt you get in supermarkets are pretty similar. The site linked to below says ” Sea salt is thought to be healthier and more flavorful that traditional table salt” , but doesn’t go as far as saying it actually is.
Gourmet Salt Guide
The 3 packs a day are probably doing her more harm than the salt anyhow.
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