not dead

[Donovan]

just checking in to reassure you I am not dead or pouting or whatever the fuck Cynical Ninja calls it when he goes missing. I just went into an insanely busy period that isn't done yet and won't be for a while.

Short version: after a lengthy separation, GF and I are on-again and somewhat stronger. Took a certain amount of self reflection regarding relative stubbornness and the reluctant willingness to maybe break a destructive cycle fifty years old. So this month has been reconciling and moving...again. While my Skyrim wife was infinitely easier to argue with and much more docile, she didn't smell as nice and her cooking sucked. Didn't fill me up at all.
In the midst of all this, Pop called with the news he's been diagnosed with what now appears to be late stage lymphoma. Since Pop lives in squalor with a couple of rat dogs in a travel trailer with no toilet or shower etc and lives in mortal paranoid fear of anyone trying to "put him in an old folks home," this presents something of a problem. Pop's a bastard, and dying only makes him a dying bastard. But I owe him something for my existence and even shorter version is that I have to make a trip cross country to A) convince my father to die in comfort with my older sister rather than in a pile of dog feces and his own vomit, B) sort out his medical situation because he has gone damn near senile, C) liquidate his squalid trailer/truck/belongings and find homes for the ratdogs, and D) say goodbye to the old bastard. All in the space of about a week.

This will take all my considerable jedi powers. And is the reason I have been preoccupied and absent. On the plus side, I will finally be able to write some shit down that was just waiting for the old fucker to die. Statutes of limitations and all that.

Anyway, I'll be back around when shit slows down a little. Move was more or less completed today, trip is imminent and death probably not far behind. I expect there will be stories.

[HairOfTheDog]

Well, it's a good thing you checked in.

I was wondering how we were gonna pay for that funeral service we were planning.



I hope things with your girlfriend work out. I bet her grandson is happy you all are getting back.

Don't be so blinded by your own cleverness that you can't see her splendor.

P.s. I'm sorry to hear about your dad, Donovan, even if he is a stubborn old bastard.

[sally]

As depressing as that sounds I hope you and your dad find some kind of peace with each other.

P.S. Don't beat the shit out of your girlfriend again.

[ramseycat]

Hey Don. You're just a glutton for punishment aren't Ya?

I'm sorry to hear about your dad.

[Love Child]

That is not easy to do what you are doing.

[Duchess]

just checking in to reassure you I am not dead or pouting or whatever the fuck Cynical Ninja calls it when he goes missing. I just went into an insanely busy period that isn't done yet and won't be for a while.

Ha! Thanks for taking the time to check in! Did you do this so you wouldn't get one of those weird PM's from me asking if you're alright?

Sorry to read about your Dad, Donovan. I hope the coming weeks aren't too awful for you.

...but it's nice to read about you & your GF giving it another shot. Good luck!

[Donovan]

Hey Don. You're just a glutton for punishment aren't Ya?

I'm sorry to hear about your dad.

One of us is. Not sure which. Meanwhile the dad thing is going about as well as we expected, which is not well at all. He is living in an 11 ft travel trailer about fifty years old, rotted and gutted on the inside, in a pile of his own filth. Sleeps on some old cushions on the floor. No toilet. No water. No stove. Threw a fit when we told him we wanted him to go live with my sister for his end days. Said the chemotherapy didn't even faze him (a single session, and was pumped full of steroids). We found my eldest sister we hadn't seen in several decades and notified her, she came up and we had a little intervention. It was ugly but necessary. Crazy old buzzard. I wish I was a bad person I'd fucking leave his ass to waste away. But I ain't. So I'm here.

Ps results from the extra tests come back next week but it doesn't look good. Like weeks, maybe months.

[Donovan]

Well, it's a good thing you checked in.

I was wondering how we were gonna pay for that funeral service we were planning.



I hope things with your girlfriend work out. I bet her grandson is happy you all are getting back.

Don't be so blinded by your own cleverness that you can't see her splendor.

P.s. I'm sorry to hear about your dad, Donovan, even if he is a stubborn old bastard.

If I learn anything from Pop, it's that being alone with your own fucking ego is a dangerous and slippery path. The man has been a walking billboard in how NOT to be in life.

[SIXFOOTERsez]

Hey Man, glad your not dead. Dealing with the parental unit checking out is going to suck, good man for stepping up.

[Donovan]

Thanks man I appreciate it.

[Duchess]

Every time I see the title of this thread I think of Clang. Jesus. I miss Clang & I hope he is okay.

[sally]

I think Dono and Clang are friends on FB. Have you seen him around Donovan?

[Donovan]

There is a picture of he and his family on Thanksgiving so he is alive and well as of a week ago. But no internet presence since August and he was using his Iphone then. I'm guessing money got tight and shit got turned off or broke.

[Duchess]

There is a picture of he and his family on Thanksgiving so he is alive and well as of a week ago.

So glad to read that! Thank you! I'm fond of Clang and it's good to know he's okay.

[ramseycat]

Clang could get on Mock with his phone dammit.

[Donovan]

Not if they turned it off or he broke it.

[Donovan]

So the old man has flatly refused to go down and take chemo where my sister lives so he can maybe live through it in relative comfort. Yesterday he tried to bolt, tried to load up his shit and sneak away in the night but something went wrong so he was stuck all night sleeping in the cab of his pickup with no heat and three rat dogs. Today we caught him taking apart the junction box at his trailer pad to hotwire a heavy gauge line in because his other one melted. My little brother had a shouting match with him basically saying if he was refusing help he should make peace with everyone he ever screwed over and make ready to die. So I'm guessing we won't hear from him the rest of the day.

Stubborn old bastard. Wish I could just leave him to rot in his own waste but I will settle for calling adult protective services. Either way I am outta here after Wednesday.

[Maggot]

This song makes me think of you Dono hopefully it inspires you to come up with a peaceful answer to the question of your Dad and your obvious love for him through thick and thin.

[sally]

I don't know what your life was like, but I'm thinking the guy must have done something right since you made the effort to help him.

[Love Child]

Not necesarily, Dono could just be taking the high road. Not wanting to see another human suffer. I wonder what Wednesday will feel like. I cannot imagine at all.
Yet I wonder if I would take the same route with my father when he gets to the point. Lucky he has an old lady to take care of him who is crazy. I would regret not helping him. (maybe)
Dono I applaud you, this isn't easy I know.

A friend of mine took care of his dad in his dying days. He moved his dad to his place and everyone who got to know him thought he was a genius (he was) and loved his sense of humor. But my friend never told anyone what an asshole his father was growing up. He just took care of his dad, because it was the thing to do.

I hope I could make that decision when the time comes.
Sorry he is so difficult. Perhaps it is better to leave on Wednesday.

Sorry if my thoughts are inappropriate.