Blog Archive

Search This Blog

Thursday, May 21, 2015

I do some observing.

Kay was still in the dining room when I got there.  When I took her to our place in the hall she walked so slowly.  I don't know why.  Could be weakness.  She seemed to be somewhat hungry.  The first caregiver I asked how she ate breakfast indicated she ate ok.  Another one later said she barely ate anything. So I gave her what I had.  She ate most of a banana, some crackers and a couple truffles.  Not a diet anyone would particularly recommend but at least it was something.  As we took our time doing what we did together and the bus was late getting me there my stay was short.  Especially because the bus was early to pick me up.  It chops off the front of my visit and the end of my visit.  It seems there is some flu on the first floor so they are trying to conntain it.  I certainly  hope they do.  
Many big grocery chains offer bus service to their stores for people in institutions like this who don't drive or able to walk to a local store.  The down side to this is they come just some days of the month.  It is better than nothing but not the most desirable if you need something in an emergency.  I have noticed that a local Thriftway just about a half dozen blocks away is on a bus line. Also the bus line goes by this place.  Unfortunately the bus only goes once an hour.  Of course this is the big reason the bus will never offer competition to the automobile.  If you wait here and and at the destination  it is easier to just wait for their shuttle which comes once a week.  At leas it goes right to the door of both places.  Then I noticed that all three of the bus lines that go by here also go to the bus stop outside the Thriftway store.  I didn't check their schedules but figured they would not all run in bunches so the wait time would not be excessive.   I wanted to see if shopping by bus could be managed without taking all afternoon.  So after lunch I just went put to the bus stop to wait for one of the three buses.  I had to wait long enough that I decided it would be best to check the schedule and go at a time the bus was scheduled to come by.  The same problem existed coming back from the store.  The buses seem to go in bunches.  Well  this will take some analysis to see just how  much waiting I would have to do.  That could be done here at my apartment.  However before too long a bus came by not on the sign so I took it back.  t seems this stretch of street is right on the way to downtown and on to the terminal at the Tacoma Dome.  This place is part of the downtown.  It was a nice hotel when it was built in 1952.
Tacoma was ripped off by the contractors who built the sidewalks here.  When I built the sidewalks at my house in Lake Forest Park   last time I looked they were essentially the same as the way they were when I put them in in 1953.  Rod Swanson, me and another friend put them in.  The  sidewalks here are like cobblestones.  most of the cement and sand has  worn away.  Leaving just the rocks to walk on or push the walker over.  There are many crack and holes for the walker to hang up on.  Many of the streets are like one long series of speed bumps.  I think Tacoma has the worst streets in the area.  You actually wear out a walker on these sidewalks.  Especially this kind I have.  It vibrates the joints so much it begins to make the joints loose.  I would think that these cities and towns have been in business long enough that they have the sense to have a reserve built in to their budget that would automatically take care of the maintenance that is sure to come.  When I came west on Route 66 it was still unpaved in some sections in New Mexico and Arizona. You will note that the states keep adding taxes to build things.  They dont add taxes specifically to keep it in operation.
 After the war  they built the National Defense Highway System.  It seems they build new things but do not plan on having to repair them.  Now they have decided that the time has come.  All I have heard so  far is just talk.  Leave it to our kids to pay for it.  We wore it out but they will pay to fix it. It seems they have learned this in Europe.  Yes there is no speed limit on the Autobahn but you  had better be prepared to stop or adjust your driving for the repairs being done.  Kay and I traveled roads thousands of years old.  They are still in operation because they kept them in repair.  Well, the time has come where avoiding the issue wont work.  At least much longer.  

No comments: