Cratedigging

Pommie said:

I have more junk than I care to admit. It'll come in useful one day. And if I throw it out, I'll need it the very next day.

Mike.

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I have definitely used that rationale myself, "if I throw it out, I'll need it the very next day"...so I'm keeping stuff out of fear? I don't remember ever have having actually thrown something out and then needing it the next day (at least not electronics). Additionally, I think if I did need it, I could probably get another one.

Some stuff I simply like having, but stuff needs to be organized and maintained to be easily usable and that takes effort. My memory is far better than my organizing. This evening I went looking for a ferrite antenna I salvaged from an old radio. I remembered clearly packing it in a plastic bag with a label, but it took me a good 45 minutes to find where I had put it away.

How many ATSC TV's do you have that have a channel 1 on them? I have 2. One has this really cool blue magnifying "bubble" .

DrG said:

Do you use them? If not, why do you keep them? I ask myself that question and wonder how others would answer.

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I keep my old crap because my workshop is also a personal museum.

I was going to say I dont keep junk, but then next to my bench theres a rack with 12 tube radios on it.
Most of them work though.

DrG said:

Do you use them? If not, why do you keep them? I ask myself that question and wonder how others would answer.

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I bought one of the Promates when I was running my own business. I still use it now and again when I need to program an older PIC or one in a weird package as I have a load of the adaptors for them. The second one was purchased as a backup and it came with a few more modules. The other stuff tends to travel with me between home and work as I'm an electronics engineer by trade so tend to live and breathe electronic stuff both at work and home.

gophert said:

I keep my old crap because my workshop is also a personal museum.

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In my case, the difference with the Egyptian pyramids will be that when my descendants have to take the mummy, they also will have to take the museum with it.

Hanging on to all that junk requires cognition. As you age, such demands on cognitive load stretch the limits of capacity and can, quite possibly, push out something more important, like how to use a toilet. This leads to institutionalization by relatives and/or the state - all because you held on to your personal museum-quality junk which was tossed in a box and then a dumpster by your kids.

Enjoying "having" is an illusion, the only true joy is in "wanting" - don't you people watch TV?

*pure sarcasm*

DrG said:

...the only true joy is in "wanting" - don't you people watch TV?

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At my age, my "True Joy" is giving. Whether it is my time, my money or my knowledge, as long as the recipient wants it, the smile they return is priceless to me.

I gave a lot in my time. I kept getting screwed. Other people that I helped got promoted. I "enjoyed" giving too - now past tense.
Lies, other people, nearly got me killed. My tools are my big boy tools.

All of my energy is being focused into being a caregiver. To the extent that mom got kicked ut of hospice after 17 months, Is it a success?
I nw nearly have the skills of a nurse and an aide, jut not the credentials by observing and asking questions. Hospice is unique in they treat symptomatically and for comfort.

I can dot he standard stuff now, like lungs, bowel sounds, respiration, heart rhythm. SPO2 (Oxygen), diabetes. I even did the hA1c bloodtest using a kit. I'm pretty efficient at wound care now up to a stage II pressure ulcer and including skin tears.. She has very fragile skin which is red underneath. A nurse said you will never be able to make them go away. They are going away. They can also be created easily by a hard bump on the skin.

Lungs (pneumonia), bowels (bleeding, obstruction) and skin (pressure ulcers) need lots of attention. Items in () is what can happen.
I got ger a pair of $1.00 USD eyglasses from the dollar store. Big difference in her ability to see. Ear wax, dry eye to a lesser extent. A tool I am looking for is an Ottoscope. The availability of oxygen has been taken away. She won't have weekly visits any more. They are up to me.

Wound care is a science and I can't get what I need locally. Topics like oil emulsion dressings. medical honey., coligen dressings. hydrocoiloid dressings, selective debridement, non-selective debridement, topical insulin, local insulin, Microcyn, 20% saline, 0.9% saline, bordered foam, bordered gauze, Micro-pore tape, and silver silvidene (Rx), sacrum bandages ($10,00 USd each), wound irrigation are probbaly foreign to nearly all of you. Topical insulin is very unique. Managing the sacrum is a PITA.

Maggots and oxygen for wound care are out of my league at this point,

One size fits all isnt appropriate for diapers either. You don't put menthol near the vagina. Skin folds need protection. Different protection. So far we are up to three creams. diaper, desitin (no menthol), water protectant for folds. silver silvidene for broken skinn, pressure relief etc.

Nobody taught be this stuff. I'm an engineer. Everything falls into place.

KeepItSimpleStupid
I am sorry that you are going through that. I don't really know you, but, for what it is worth, I think that you are doing a good thing, an honorable thing, and I admire your dedication to that duty.