My dad continues to deal with dementia, while we learn the strange ways of the brain.

When I stopped by to visit him yesterday morning, he wasn’t out in the public room. I found him in bed and apparently asleep. But when I pulled a chair over by the side of the bed, he woke up.

“How did you find me?”

It’s a question he often asks. I think it reflects that he’s not really sure where he is, so how we locate him seems mysterious.

Then he immediately complained of increased dizziness.

“I can’t stand up. What’s wrong? I’m in bad shape.”

He seems to go through a cycle lasting 6-8 weeks, with a week or 10 days during which he complains of dizziness and is more disoriented, then getting relatively better until the next downturn. This seems to be the onset of another down cycle.

I asked him what happened.

He thought about it.

“I was exercising. It was a class, you know?”

I think he was referring to taking part in the morning exercise session they have right there on the third floor of the nursing facility.

But the idea of a class seemed to trigger complex “memories”, and he went on.

“I drove my car up to the university,” he said. “I had two classes. I went to the first one, but got dizzy. Then I couldn’t find my car. It wasn’t where I parked it. But I finally got back here and thought I should go to bed.”

He’s talked about his car a lot recently after learning that we had it towed away and junked. I told him it was unsafe and he couldn’t drive it any longer. My sister told him it was traded in on a newer car. He says, “it was a good car.” Meaning–there wasn’t anything wrong with that 1982 Nissan.

I worry about this latest bout of disorientation, but we just have to wait it out. So it goes at age 95 and counting.

I noticed another “two newspaper morning” in today’s news. Both newspapers have stories on an upcoming state bond issue.

The Star-Bulletin ran a story from Bloomberg News:

State’s credit outlook reduced

Hawaii’s credit-rating outlook was reduced by Fitch Ratings as a drop in tourists to the state has weakened revenue and depleted large reserves built up in recent years.

Meanwhile, the Advertiser ran a story by reporter Greg Wiles:

State ready to sell $616M of bonds

The state hopes to issue more than a half billion dollars of bonds next week with some of the proceeds going to fund building projects in Gov. Linda Lingle’s construction stimulus plan.

You had to read down a bit farther in the story to get news of the rating change.

My first impression was that the Star-Bulletin should get credit for highlighting the rating change, which could have significant impact. But that was balanced by my appreciation for the ‘Tiser’s own story vs. the wire service copy from the Bulletin.

So, once again, I’m glad we’re still a two-newspaper city.

What a difference a couple of thousand miles makes. When high temperatures were predicted for the Seattle area this week, the National Weather Service issued an “urgent heat advisory“. High temperatures were predicted to reach 90 degrees, while the low temperature was predicted to be higher than normal, only cooling off at night to around 60 degrees. The dew point was expected to rise from the 40s into the low 50s, “making it feel a bit more muggy and uncomfortable.”

A HEAT ADVISORY MEANS THAT A PERIOD OF HOT TEMPERATURES IS EXPECTED. THE COMBINATION OF HOT TEMPERATURES AND RATHER HIGH HUMIDITY CREATE A SITUATION IN WHICH HEAT ILLNESSES ARE POSSIBLE. DRINK PLENTY OF FLUIDS. STAY IN AN AIR-CONDITIONED ROOM IF POSSIBLE. STAY OUT OF THE SUN…AND CHECK UP ON RELATIVES AND NEIGHBORS.

Scary stuff.

Meanwhile, in Honolulu, the temperature yesterday ranged from a high of 88 to a low of 74, according to the National Weather Service, with the dew point in the mid-60s.

And here in Hawaii that just meant “have a great day!”