This tree oversaw a boat that wasn’t afloat.
Chet the boat mechanic made short work of repairing Arthur’s boat. It was finished today. Because of high turnover at his shop, he wanted us to fetch it as soon as possible.
Arthur basically bullied me into letting him drive the boat home alone. I wasn’t happy, but I need to just let go. It’s his boat. If he wants to go out and have adventures in it and wander around the sea, I need to refuse to stand in his way. He thinks I’m overly controlling and excessively cautious. But of course, he doesn’t remember all the stuff that’s gone wrong in the past. He just has these quite stale, vague mental images of everything going smoothly. So Arthur drove the boat home, and I took the boat trailer home with the car. I’m pretty angry, but mostly because he is so dismissive of my efforts to communicate. He ignores or willfully misunderstands my concerns until finally I give up on trying to explain them, and let him have his way. Bear in mind that this is not specific to his cognitive issues related to the stroke and head injury – he has always been like this. I think in some weird, subconscious way, he exploits his new memory and comprehension issues to ensure he can be this way “more and better than ever.”
The problem with the boat was an “Idle control valve.” Chet wrote on his summary of work done:
Alarms going off, hook motor to CDS fault idle control valve, replace bad IAC valve, service both motors, oil change, lower lubes, test run both motors on hose no faults on main, replace trim bracket anode on main
Which is to say, it was easy to fix – for him. There is no way I could have done it. These modern engines with their electronics and such, you need the “CDS” (computer diagnostic system) to be able to figure anything out.
Below is the offending removed and replaced valve.
[daily log: walking, 3.5km; dogwalking, 4km; c149080063084s]
glad boat is fixed. I know it is hard but for your own sanity you need to not fret so much about Art. it’s like Dean & his tractor – i can say “you don’t have any business doing that” and he say’s “if something bad happens at least I’ll go doing what I want & love to do.” end of conversation. sometimes I have to walk away or at least look the other way.
i can identify with your nervousness, but we can’t dwell on the stuff that has or might go wrong. we’ll just make ourselves miserable & never do anything. i know you want him to be as independent as possible. Arthur is just Arthur, love him for who he is – a noncommunicative individual who has been by himself biggest part of his life.