mscsippy's cat story reminded me of a RAOK I did 4-5 years ago. A local elementary school had closed due to budgets and attendance -- the school was a couple miles out of town, so the school was consolidated with the larger one in town. In August/September that year, I was at the school to vote on something since it is used as an election precinct. Upon walking around the school (very nice, new construction, such a shame it was closed), I came upon a very hungry semi-feral cat. Nearby empty cat food cans were evidence that someone was coming by every now and then to feed it, but not very often. I started coming by at least every other day to leave a can and a bowl of dry food in a somewhat protected area. In time, I worked up a schedule on a calendar so that other visitors would know when the cat had been fed. Custodial workers removed the signs several times, but I persisted. At times the cat would come towards me, but never close enough to pet. In time it seemed content to hang out at the end of an 8 foot bench, with me at the other end. In November, while feeding the cat, I ran across a mother and daughter -- the mother, Katy, told me about the cat -- she had been the school mascot and she was named "Banshee", and until the school closed she had been taken care of by the school custodian, who of course no longer worked there. Winter was upon us by this time, so, since Banshee had once been a sociable cat, Katy and I decided to try and capture her and find her a home. It was quite an endeavor, with two tries over two days no luck at all. We had luck on the third try, with some subterfuge in getting Banshee into the cat carrier, but we did it. We took her to a vet and paid for vaccinations and Feline Leukemia test/vaccination. Thank goodness she had already been spayed. After spending $100 or so on getting her up to snuff, which neither of us could really afford at the time (she a single mother, me unemployed), I took her home, tried to bath her (no go), and sequestered her in a bathroom since my two cats would NOT have been happy to make her aquaintance. They were VERY curious though. I put an ad in craigslist seeking adoption of this wonderful cat who would require some long needed TLC. After a couple of inquiries, I found the right couple who would give her the time needed to completely socialize her again. I know I can do more for my fellow human, but somehow helpless animals need our attention too.

As far as kitchen design is concerned I dealt with all of these. My elderly mother lives with us. She is 80 years old and loves to cook and we want her to feel able to cook as long as she can and be safe and confident doing so. Here are some of the things we did in the kitchen: 1) Lowered countertop on the cooktop and prep side (the finished height including the 3cm soapstone is 33inches.) 2) Went with induction cooktop due to safety issues. I was originally thinking high BTU gas rangetops like CC or the Bluestar but when my mom used the single hob Max Burton, she fell in love with the induction as there are no flames and she liked that the pots did not get too hot. So minimized chance of burns. We went with 36in Gaggenau induction. The knob is very very intuitive and my mom was able to pick it up in a few mins. 3) A separate prep sink which is shallower. This was easier on her back. We installed the Franke Beach and also installed a compost bin close by. But this has made prep very very easy for her. Not much lifting or bending down to reach trash etc. We also chose Kohler Karbon as the faucet here as it was easier for her to direct water where she wants and have both her hands free. The joystick was also easier than the levers we tried. We were debating whether or not to a tapmaster here. We ended up installing one and my mom loves it. 4) Mise en Place design. As she aged, my mother's stature shrunk. She is barely 4ft 10inches now. The biggest challenge in the old kitchen was reach for her. In this kitchen, we had her stand and mapped her arm reach. All of the things she typically uses for cooking is right within her reach. With lower counters, we were able to get the uppers installed lower too with the necessary 18in clearance. Now the bottom shelf of the upper is within easy reach. The canisters there have some texture to provide better grip. Nothing too heavy there. We also did shelves on the cabinet door for things like tea and coffee. The best thing was however the drawers. I do not have a separate pantry and anyways, we wanted cooking ingrediants to be within reach. We ended up sizing the drawers to fit OXO POP containers for all the staples. Super heavy duty glides which are soft close are important here. I learned about these here. These containers are BPA free, airtight and release with a simple press lift. Much much easier for arthritic hands. No lifting or twisting of heavy jars. All of the dry goods --> rice, lentils, grains, steelcut oats are all here and have scoops already in them. 4) A place to sit and prep. We wanted to have a place where we can tuck in a stool under the counter where she can sit and prep things like shelling peas, stuffing peppers, making dumplings etc. Unfortunately we did not have space in the counter run. So instead the kitchen table is a sturdy butcher block and she has a right sized chair to do that. Standing and prepping for long is too hard for her. 5) Lighter weight cookware --> I struggle with this as I do love my Le creuset and Demeyere. But to make it easy and safe for my mom to lift, I got a few pots from IKEA which are great on induction and the weight is not too much. Other ADA things we did in the house include: 6) No transition access One of the design principles we used was to avoid any transitions. We have no carpet and there is no transition (wooden trim piece) between the wood and the tile. Nothing to trip over. In fact there is no transition threshhold between kitchen and the courtyard even. Footmats where used have a grippy bottom to avoid tripping. 7) Bathroom: We installed a curbless shower, an ADA rated seat, a easy to reach niche near the seat for soap, champoo etc. The TP holder is a grab bar in disguise. The shower rod is installed into solid wood and can be used as a grab bar. We also got a longer shower bar so that when sitting the shower head is still easy to reach and she does not have to get her head wet. The tiles go up to the ceiling and have solid backing behind them Eventually we can install grab bars where ever necessary. There is a towel hook inside the shower stall to minimize drips and avoid falls. We did have an ADA design person review our plan and give us advice. 8) Elderly friendly furniture In every public room (living room, family, foyer, kitchen) in the house as well as her room, there are chairs which are sized right for her. Not too high, not too deep, with arms to pull herself up, softer, and heavy enough to not slide if she leans on it. These are in perspective just a number of small things but it has been quite remarkable to see how comfortable it has made our home for my mom. I would not say that we spent too much money on it and definitely the compromizes were very minimal but just a lot of upfront thinkign and analysis has made a huge difference. And I know that when we are older in a few years, we will appreciate all of this. Just last week an elderly neighbor brought her daughter and son in law over to see our home and get ideas for the in law unit they are remodeling for her and her husband.

This topic comes up quite often and is a good topic. It's often not easy to confront someone who shouldn't drive, but then again, it's also called being responsible. What I don't understand is that most people seem to have no aversion to taking someone's keys if they're drunk. (Brainwashed by MADD I suppose.) But too timid to take their keys when they're a danger by their driving. Splain that one to me Lucy... I do not agree with disabling a car. There's legal ways to do this and committing a crime is a coward's way out. Plus they'll just get it fixed. What makes a person think that's going to do anything? Working with the police is good, but you can't expect them to always be able to drop everything and send a car to search for them and follow them. You'd be better off following them yourself and call in that there's an erratic driver if that's the case. There's an independence thing, a bit of an "ego" with some, just self-pride and satisfaction that you can take care of yourself. I understand that. And I know some are more bullheaded about it than others. Age by itself doesn't bring wisdom or maturity. Sometimes they won't acknowledge that they're not what they used to be. I see a lot of older people say stupid things and throw tantrums. At the same time, age by itself doesn't mean you're a bad driver though either. I know some elderly drivers I'd ride with before riding with some younger ones. The biggest mistake IMO is people don't have their parents and others ride with them often enough to get them used to riding with others. I know I seldom ride with others, I usually do the driving or I drive myself and it's been that way since I started driving. It's a very uncomfortable feeling to not have access to a vehicle when you've been this way. For instance, if the car is in the shop it's very uncomfortable to not have it. Yes it's silly but it's true. Even with the snowstorm I was essentially snowed in until the driveway was cleared. Again, a very uncomfortable feeling and it's not that you want to go anywhere, or need to go anywhere, it's the fact that you CAN'T if you want to. With some it feels like a punishment just because they're not used to it. I hope that if I get to a point where I shouldn't drive, that I'll realize it and accept it. Better yet, some buxom young honey wants to come and drive me around and take care of me in my old age..... LOL As Red Green says, "we're all in this together". People owe it to themselves and others to stop when it's right and people owe it to themselves and others to say hey, you shouldn't be driving anymore.

@ aputernut Was that a stream-of-consciousness moment ? There's like about a 100 words there, with no punctuation, no sentence capitalization, nothing . . . How are we supposed to parse something like that ? lol Btw, the way that link was made, it only goes to ehow.com . I did take a look though . . . as you probably know, ehow.com is by no means a tech site. They have people employed to dream up things to write "how-to" articles about, a lot of it being almost copy & paste. They may be correct on some points, but it's hardly a definitive or authoritative site for tech info.