btp is a teacher now

Man tgs, that's a super nice thing to say. I had to make sure to not write anything for a day to let my ego deflate (okay also its been SUPER BUSY but yes thanks).

Compasstration sounds like something horrible you could do with a compass. I also like benevoloyance - but I have tried several times to pronounce it and no luck so far. "ben-ev-o-la-noy-ance" is what I'm stuck on but it doesn't look right. I do this with a lot of words with tricky spellings, or just slightly more convenient pronunciations. To this day I still call "sfou" "So-foo". Though is he even on these boards?

I'unno.

I guess to follow up with "sundowner" lady, (though I suppose this is more sad/humorous than introspective) on thanksgiving her daughter did not show back up - which kind of sucked because I had told her (the lady) that she (the daughter) would (return in the morning) multiple times the previous night, but hey I guess that's the risk you take (when you promise old people things you don't know anything about).

(I just went back and read that sentence and realized there were a lot of words of clarification left out. I will now add them via parenthesis.)

There was a small part of me that worried that something bad had happened to the daughter and that the lady was perhaps having some sort of terrifying confused motherly premonition last night. (She had said, "I need to call home. It is an emergency. Why won't you let me call home?" and variations on that several times). I frequently have batches of these obscure bouts of paranoia (wow that sounds way more serious than it really is) but I frequently choose to ignore them - because there be dark roads.

Okay I am going to say this because I am tired and it is on my mind since odd paranoia's have come up.

I am afraid of tiny oranges.

Specifically mandarin oranges.

It's not that I don't like them...or that I think there is anything bad about them specifically...I just can't bring myself to trust them. I frequently do this with things that I haven't heard of but are suddenly VERY POPULAR with the people I know. I think one day my mom brought these TINY ORANGES home from the store and all my sisters started eating them and loving them and then she kept buying them and I was like WHY ARE THESE INVADING MY HOME? WHY ARE THESE SMALL BUT SLIGHTLY SWEETER ORANGE SLICES HERE? They are round. They are not oranges. Also they are called Mandarin and I think at the time I had a general lack of knowledge and aversion to things from China (this was before I realized that chinese food is AWESOME)

BUT NOT THE ORANGES.

I'll eat them now if they're prepared for me or if someone is sweetly offering me theirs (as Alice has done on occasion -- though I think she may have just done so because she knows it makes me uncomfortable) but I will not buy them from stores and I will tend to avoid selecting items that they are present in.

ANYWAY SO this lady's daughter was not there and I went in to meet with the lady. I was very apprehensive at the time, since she didn't really like me the previous night.

As it turned out I had nothing to worry about. She remembered me as a "friend" again and was probably just happy to see a familiar face (old ladies like company). She said she wanted to write me a note, so when I got some free time I grabbed some printer paper and a bic papermate (stupid there is one you took from work right here in front of you) pen and let her have at it.

This may have not been the best idea? I mean I don't think I specifically caused her to lose it again that night, just set forth the avenue she'd take.

I sat and talked with her for a bit. She said I was a very nice man and asked if I had a girlfriend (all these old ladies want to know if I'm single. Or married or have kids. So many aged matchmakers.) I told her yes. and she started to say she would introduce me to some nice ladies. I told her that was okay I am already set up in the lady department (but not with those words. that would have been confusing for her and awkward to shout in her ear).

So then later I take her blood pressure. It is getting late at night. She asks what the top number means (it was 157) I told her it was her blood pressure and that it was good (all things considered) and not to worry about it.

She wrote it down.

I came back later to the sound of the bed alarm going off.

There she was trying to get out of bed, the most worried look on her face. I asked her what was wrong, where are you trying to go?

With a fearful look she turned to me and said in her quivering voice.

"One Fifty Seven"

Oh. Shit.

"Yes. That's your blood pressure. That's okay. Lets go back to bed."

This is where I tried to move her while saying 'lets go back to bed'. Turns out it was doing it wrong? Maybe I didn't turn enough lights on, or maybe my timing was off. But when I pushed against her arm. (GENTLY PUSHED mind you. I am not mean to old ladies.) She shot this angry look at me. "Don't you push me! Are you this kind of person? Are you a hard headed person?"

I said that sometimes I have to be a bit hardheaded now lets go back to bed.

She didn't go back to bed at first. She wanted to leave the room, I distracted her with a quick trip to the bedside commode.

"I'm not going to introduce you to any ladies."

"That's okay. I already have a lady."

"You're hard-headed like your father."

I...I didn't say anything to that. I wouldn't describe my dad as hard-headed, and I have no idea who she thought she was talking to at that point, but you've got to pick your battles sometimes.

While she did her business and shot a few comments at me, I noticed that on her desk, there was the "157" written underlined and circled in shaky handwriting. I then looked a the folded up paper I had given her (or actually I think this was a new paper but not important) Among the things written on it was the same number repeated in scribbled unsteady handwriting, at dozens of angles and intervals over the sheet on both sides.

157 157 157 157 157

Something about seeing that creeped me out at first. What if this crazy old lady was on to something?

Wait. No.

That's stupid.

And with that thought, everything sort of fell into place. I wasn't worried so much about her anymore. Sure I wanted her to stay safe and have a peaceful night and not be afraid or worried about whatever the case was, but the subtle ridiculousness of it shed a nice revealing light on the whole thing.

Eventually, she would get tired and go to sleep. When she woke up she would stop worrying about some random number (she would not have a pen or paper in her room) and she would be happy and looking for company once again.

And maybe her daughter would show up.

I...actually don't know if she (the daughter) is okay or not.