Another scare, major upgrades, tentative plans

We had a bit of a scare Thursday morning with Grandpa. It was apparent that he was not doing well by just talking to him. He was having obvious trouble breathing even lying down in bed. Mama was extremely concerned and began to speculate about the need to reschedule our trip to Honduras. That angst followed us through the entire morning until about noon when, Grandpa got out of bed, dressed himself, and joined Mama and Norman in the living room. it was well into the evening before he felt like eating anything and then, he asked only for a piece of toast with jelly. He was not despondent and overly concerned, but he did share with Mama and Norman that he had not felt that poorly in many months. 

As he began to move around, he began to feel better. Better enough that he and Norman went on several small jaunts to get some little things for Grandma. Today, he seemed improved. His breathing was better but still difficult. The swelling in his right ankle and calf have lessened noticeably. We have cautioned Grandpa to keep his feet elevated – especially when he is lying in bed. Since we have several recliners in the house, he is able to elevate his feet somewhat as he sits in the living room. It is not optimum, but it is better than letting his feet dangle for hours. 

We are on a very short timeline with Grandpa, but he is in good humor. As Mama talked with an elderly friend from church about Grandpa, Mama made it sound as if Grandpa was knocking at death’s door without realizing how much in despair she sounded, she had pronounced him ready for hospice. It gave the impression that we were watching for him to take his last breath. 

When Mama got off the phone with our concerned friend, she realized just how desperate she sounded and apologized to Grandpa who has heard both sides of the entire conversation since he was in the living room with Mama and Mama does all her phone conversing on speaker. Grandpa just laughed and assured Mama he had enjoyed the conversation. He told Mama playfully, “I didn’t know I was that bad off.” 

In the container, I have continued working on the windows. I have completed trimming them windows inside and outside. Yesterday, I took a heat gun and dried the seal at the top of the window enclosure, scraped off the caulking that had separated from the metal container wall and applied a liberal coating of roofing tar to seal the gap thoroughly.

Since the caulking had held out about 95% of the water, the roofing tar will cover over the working seal and reseal the leaking areas. Each window took be about forty-five minutes to treat, but today, as it rained, I got to see if the time had been well spent. It seems to have done the trick. There are no leaks that I could find today. I got to observe the rain from inside the container for several hours because I was completing the trim on the last window and then sanding the cedar trim on all the windows. 

Tomorrow, we will finish up the wall trim, finish up the base trim, finish up the ceiling trim and do all the last of the caulking needed to seal any air gaps. Hopefully, with the heater I bought, I will be able to begin putting the urethane on the cedar trim and paint the walls. I assembled and tested the propane heater this evening and it should be just what we need.

To paint, we need the interior above seventy-five degrees. I believe we can get that done. The ambient temperature is forecast to be sixty degrees Monday. All we will have left is to treat and seal the floor. We are so close now. 

Mama and I will still continue packing for our trip to Honduras with our eye carefully on Grandpa. One true philosopher stated many years ago, “Life is what happens while you are making plans.” James 4:15 cautions us to always consider God’s will in our plan, “For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.” 

So, with our heart set toward God and our eyes cautiously observing Grandpa, Mama and I will continue to follow through on our plans to go to Honduras.