Joseph Mallozzi's Weblog

May 31, 2025: The Saturday Update!

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Back in Montreal, mom has been moved to a convalescent home where she will be undergoing geriatric physiotherapy to help her get back on her feet and mobile.  The long-term goal is have her back home within a month.  Best case scenario of course because if she’s not fully mobile, there is o way she’ll be able to negotiate the stairs to reach the bathroom.  A solid lesson for anyone considering the possibility of being old some day…Buy a bungalow!

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While away from home, mom was missing her old dog, Caramel – so sis arranged for him to visit her, brightening her days.  Sadly, recent tests revealed an enlarged spleen that was poised to burst so the difficult decision was made and this is a picture of Caramel’s final visit with mom.

Busy on the work front – meetings, writing, and some consulting.  Also finishing up the last of about three dozen crime books so I can put together an informed choice for My Favorite Crime Books of 2024.

So I’m thinking that once we’ve completed Columbo’s fifth and sixth seasons, we actually go ahead and do the seventh as well as it marks the final year of the show’s original run on NBC before moving to rival ABC ten years later.  Once we’re done with Columbo, I’m thinking of switching things up and doing a “Best Episode Of”-themed watch where we watch the single best episode of about twenty different sci-fi shows.  What do you think?

Finally, I discovered this little gem online a while back – Chris Judge during that Vagina Monologue scene…

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14 responses

  1. dasndanger Avatar
    dasndanger

    So sorry about Caramel, but also glad to hear your mom is on the mend. Ooooo…only 1 bathroom, and it’s upstairs? Eek. Does she have a powder room downstairs? Because my mom’s en suite bedroom is downstairs, we don’t have to worry about stairs (except for going out, and we have an outdoor stairlift for that). And I know your mom won’t want to be confined to the upstairs, not with the kitchen out of her reach! I hope you find a good solution that makes you, Andria, and mom all happy! It’s not easy, though. We had to get a hospital bed (with rails) for mom because she kept falling/sliding out of or off the bed. She hates it – says she feels like she’s trapped at night. But the alternative is a bad fall that could make her completely immobile, and she wouldn’t want that.

    Growing older is one reason I really miss our little rancher that we had for 20 years, or so. It was nice moving into this bigger, two-story house, but now I’m tired of it. Too much to take care of! AND we don’t have the one room we really need – a hobby room. We have the master bedroom, guest room, bathroom (no en suite), and the ship room (our old office) upstairs, and a huge impractical living room, seasonal porch, formal dining room (which is the “pretty room” with crystal and china and fancy things), kitchen, powder room, utility room, small office, and mom’s en suite downstairs. I would convert the ship room into a hobby room, but it can double as a spare bedroom if necessary, so leaving it as is for now. Lots of rooms, just not the rooms I need! The best thing I could do is divide the living room in half, make one side the LR, and the other a hobby room, BUT there’s a brick fireplace smack dab in the middle that makes that impossible without doing a major renovation. I’ve also considered turning the dining room into a hobby room (or, if necessary, another downstairs bedroom), but I do like to have a nice “British” dinner now and then with the china and silver and crystal and linen napkins…just because it’s nice to feel fancy every now and then. 🙂

    I’m in for the rest of the original Columbo series. While I have a couple favorites in the later episodes, they’re not in my top ten (I don’t think), and there are several that I just don’t care for at all. But I do have a favorite in S7, so I’m glad we’re doing that season as well!

    Hope your mom recovers well! My mom gets a bit loopy in a rehab facility, but usually straightens out once at home. I’m sure your mom will be glad to get back in her own bed, so hopefully that will be motivation to do well with the PT!

    das

    Reply
    1. Joseph Mallozzi Avatar
      Joseph Mallozzi

      I hear ya regarding all that extra space. That’s the reason I ended up selling the house in Vancouver. In the end, we were only living in 30% of it.

      Reply
      1. dasndanger Avatar
        dasndanger

        But did you have a hobby room?! Big house, and I’m running out of Lego room. 🙂

        das

        Reply
  2. Denise McInerney Avatar
    Denise McInerney

    When my mom moved in with us, we installed an Acorn chair lift going up the stairs from the main floor to the bedrooms on the second floor. Well worth it! The installation was simple and the chair lift was super easy for her to operate, enabling us to care for her during the last four years of her life. Just a thought from one who’s been there, got the t-shirt. P.S. We never removed it, the lift has come in handy when my husband had knee suregery and for me with my torn meniscus. Also really great for sending stuff up and down the stairs, like boxes of books, laundry basket, etc. (it has a remove control) plus my elderly dogs when they could no longer navigate the stairs!

    Reply
    1. Joseph Mallozzi Avatar
      Joseph Mallozzi

      She has one but often forgets to use it. Once, I even caught her crawling up the stairs past it!

      Reply
  3. starlightloving041cb7a430 Avatar
    starlightloving041cb7a430

    You are absolutely right about a bungalow being preferable as we get older. We manage with 2 stories because we now have a stairlift which helps. A few grab bars help, too. Sending good thoughts for your mother’s recovery.

    Reply
    1. Joseph Mallozzi Avatar
      Joseph Mallozzi

      Thank you! She has a stairlift but occasionally she will forget to take it.

      Reply
  4. Tam Dixon Avatar
    Tam Dixon

    Is your mom still motivated on the p.t.? I know you were using Caramel’s visits to get her going.

    Good luck getting her house to accommodate her needs. Can you bring in a contractor to help reorganize space?

    Dealing with my mom’s problems makes me appreciate the mundane. I’m happy just puttering around the house. We are inundated with hummingbirds this year. There must be a nest nearby.

    I was bringing flowers to my son’s house yesterday (he lets me play in his garden) and stepped in a hole. The flowers cushioned my fall but I’m sore this morning. The flowers survived, too.

    I like your idea of random view on SF shows.

    Safe travels! Is Akemi and Sharky with you?

    Reply
    1. Joseph Mallozzi Avatar
      Joseph Mallozzi

      Given the layout of mom’s house, I don’t think there’s a way to reaccommodate.

      I’m not in Montreal. Back in Toronto for the time being.

      Be careful! You may need one of those Japanese safety outfits that can instantly detect a fall and immediately inflate to protect you!

      Reply
  5. gforce Avatar
    gforce

    Thanks for the Mom update – I’ve been wondering this week how she’s doing. And sorry to hear about poor Caramel. He looks like a sweetie and I’m sure your Mom was so happy to see him.

    I also hear you about the too-big space. Even this house I have now I hardy use 50% of it and the rest is just mostly space to heat and clean. And, it’s a split entry so there’s stairs every time going up and down to the laundry. And don’t get me started on lawn upkeep. I’m still pretty mobile, but I’m already considering where I want to move to for downsizing and keeping it all on one level as the next place will likely have to do me until I move to the old folk’s home (if something doesn’t take me first!)

    I’ve actually been doing some of the “Swedish Death Cleaning” stuff to get rid of old clutter and it’s amazing what a difference it makes already. Still a long way to go though to rid myself of decades worth of what I thought were needful things. Some things are harder to get rid of though, like a set of Star Wars original movie concept art prints by Ralph McQuarrie (just commercial copies, obviously) that I got as a Christmas present in 1978! (I think). I don’t want to toss stuff like that but rather give it to someone who collects that type of memorabilia. Let me know if you know anyone!

    Reply
    1. Joseph Mallozzi Avatar
      Joseph Mallozzi

      Same. While it feels incredibly refreshing to clear stuff out, I still have an entire guest rom full of comics and toys.

      Reply
  6. Line Noise Avatar
    Line Noise

    Sorry to hear about Caramel! What a cutie!

    My parents downsized over 10 years ago. They still have an upstairs to their house but they’re fully self-contained downstairs and the upstairs is more of a guest wing for when one of us kids comes to visit.

    I’m not what you’d consider old. Comfortably middle aged. Our current house has a living room upstairs but we could live 100% downstairs if necessary. It has very steep stairs that were the reason the previous owners sold the house. They were too old to get up them!

    We’re about to embark on renovations that will add a bathroom upstairs and replace the steep stairs with a much more gentle (and regulations compliant!) incline. Hopefully that will give us more time here.

    We also own a ground floor apartment in the city for when country living is too much work and/or we need access to convenient healthcare services and public transport. Hopefully we won’t be needing it for a few more decades.

    Getting old sucks!

    Reply
    1. Joseph Mallozzi Avatar
      Joseph Mallozzi

      How long will the renovations take?

      Reply
  7. Line Noise Avatar
    Line Noise

    Sign me up for a best-of tour of various sci-fi shows! I’m sure there will be some that I haven’t seen before.

    Reply

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