I give up.

So, I thought I had convinced Mom that they needed to do away with heating with wood and switch to oil. Afterall, Dad isn't supposed to lift anything over 15 lbs for about 6 to 8 weeks due to his surgery. That would put them in the neighbourhood of the first week of December. They will definitely need heat before then. They don't have electric baseboard heat downstairs. They heat with a wood burning stove that is outside in a small barn. The stove heats water which is circulated throughout the house by cast iron radiators. The "pig" in the bathroom isn't even hooked up.

Mom has never taken care of the wood stove before. She told me that she would be able to manage. Brother Bob would be splitting the wood for her. Well, when Brother Mike drove down from PA to cut some trees, Brother Bob was supposed to help but was too tired to do so. The wood laid around the whole week I was down there while Dad was in the hospital. Brother Bob never showed up. But both Mom and Dad feel they can rely on Brother Bob to step up to the plate.

Brother Mike is driving down from PA again this Saturday. He has a bad back and needs chiropractic care on a regular basis. Brother Bob won't be able to help him with the wood this weekend either because apparently he tripped over one of his cats and broke his collar bone. He probably flew off in a rage and killed the cat, too. That's just the kind of guy he is. Anyway, Mom can't lift the wood, can't split the wood, and neither can Dad. But he will. Because he'll have to. Mom is now saying that he can't lift anything over 15 lbs for 3 weeks. I specifically heard the surgeon say 6 to 8 weeks. Several times.

So, Mom was ready to order the oil. Dad always said the furnace worked but it just needed to be hooked up. Well, hook it up then. Uh. No. That's no good because the chimney is bad he says. WTF? The wood stove is very big and the logs need to be big as well so they'll burn a long time. They just are not capable right now. But you can bet your ass that Dad will be out there doing it so Mom won't have to. 84 years old and just had bowel resection to remove cancer. Yesterday he got his staples out and the surgeon said there was still cancer present.

There's no reason for this shit. Honestly.