This begins my 10th day home alone with no Cheryl, and the loneliness and boredom are reaching new levels. There's no telling how much longer she is going to be hospitalized. Her blood pressure remains dangerously low. Her grand kids, Marcus, Demetrius, Robert and Rozzi come by around 5PM-6PM daily to see that I have plenty of water, and something to eat. One of the kids will microwave me a dinner. Marcus is the eldest boy at 13. Rozzi is about 16 and comes with them sometimes. Turkey and cheese sandwiches serve as a mid-afternoon holdover. Cheryl's daughters, Kita and Deloris, have also been helpful. Deloris has changed my bandage twice, to my great appreciation, though that is something foreign to her. Still, without her I don't know what I'd do. After many weeks of calling so-called health care agencies, I seem to have found one that will help. I had in house interviews yesterday and today, and I signed lots of papers. They offer in home help 11AM-3PM, Monday thru Saturday to feed me, clean me, clean the apartment, change linens, do laundry and shop. And all of that with no cost to me! It sounds great, but there's no word on when the service will begin. I hope it comes through by the time Cheryl gets home.

I've always been a solitary sort of guy (waiting 51 years to marry), but I am experiencing a new level of isolation now. I've managed to occupy some chunks of time on the phone seeking solutions to the home care problem, but I'm not accustomed to this degree of helplessness. I'll spend time online, watch TV, and get very bored. I nap a lot, and no matter how early I go to bed, or what pills I take (of the pain or Valium variety), I wake up after midnight and can't find anything worth watching, reading or writing. At least, last weekend, I had my blog book project, but with that completed, I am starved for something new to do. Oh, yeah, there are all the original Star Trek episodes available online at any time, but I generally watch only one a day--maybe two. And I'm smoking way too many cigarettes. After I figure my income taxes, later, I may actually try my hand at resuming one of my discarded fiction files. Incidentally, if you'd like to see how far I got with posting my si-fi novella, look to the left of this page below the Archives and click on A Journeyman's Rite. I'm not happy that the indentations didn't transfer, and I still have some "sidebar" work to do, but, HEY! It wasn't easy. The next time I arrive fresh at this site I will try to make good on a brief essay about the second part of my "Mission Statement." "Socially Liberal" should require a certain amount of sober objectivity. I have several points I want to make, so maybe I should start honing my writing skills with a little fiction.