Elecrician

[oliviajuliette]

Hello to my friends on here. Again I am asking for advice My husband had his own business as an electrical engineer until he retired 4 years ago. He was diagnosed with A D just over 2 years ago. He still insists doing the electrics and I am desperate he will either electrocute himself or someone else, any suggestions please.

 

[cragmaid]

Hi there...this is a tricky one....How about telling him that the change in the EU means he needs a new certificate and he will go to jail if he works without one. That way you and he can blame it on the nameless, faceless THEM. If the thought of going to jail is too scarey to say, say that the Police have said that no one can work as an Electrician without this new certificate which is ONLY for under 45 year olds.

 

[nitram]

Similar to the 'how can I stop him/her driving' but actually more complicated, you can't send the screwdriver away to be repaired.

As he has stopped trading he may have lost the right to sign Part P certificates, this could mean that 'customers' end up with a problem even if the work was up to standard.

The bigger problem is that he might just get confused and make a mistake with disastrous consequences.

The only approach I can suggest is that if he is getting work by word of mouth you spread the word that unfortunately he might make a mistake and is not to be trusted.

Difficult position to accept I know.

 

[Scarlett123]

Hi there...this is a tricky one....How about telling him that the change in the EU means he needs a new certificate and he will go to jail if he works without one. That way you and he can blame it on the nameless, faceless THEM. If the thought of going to jail is too scarey to say, say that the Police have said that no one can work as an Electrician without this new certificate which is ONLY for under 45 year olds.

A superb solution. As you know I always say there are 3 sorts of lies. Real Lies, White Lies and Alzheimer's Lies. A large cyber bouquet is on its way to you for an extremely imaginative Alzheimer's Lie.

I am agog with admiration.

 

[oliviajuliette]

Hello to my friends on here. Again I am asking for advice My husband had his own business as an electrical engineer until he retired 4 years ago. He was diagnosed with A D just over 2 years ago. He still insists doing the electrics and I am desperate he will either electrocute himself or someone else, any suggestions please.

So sorry for the confusion and thank you for your posts. My husband does not do any work outside of our own home but it is still very worrying as you can appreciate.

 

[Trisha4]

I think I would try the 'no longer allowed' even within your own home, changes in regulations and it negates the insurance plus anything else you can think of for your particular circumstances.


Sent from my iPad using Talking Point

 

[arielsmelody]

Could you try to divert him onto a project that is based on a battery rather than the mains?

 

[BR_ANA]

I wouldn't talk to him about any repair that is needed.

I would learn how to turn off electricity of your home very fast.

I would distract him from any electrical job.

If I couldn't divert him I would made him use the right equipment. ( I mean electrical adequate shoes, gloves) as he may have used on his working environment.

 

[Selinacroft]

Hi
You can't send the screw driver away but you could lock it in a cupboard somewhere. Does he have loads of tools-probably if that was his trade. Could you get some huge storage chest and lock up all the screw drivers and such to stop him tinkering. Not sure how practical that solution is but whatever story you come up with if his memory slips he may drift back to his working days and forget the new story.

 

[oliviajuliette]

Hello to my friends on here. Again I am asking for advice My husband had his own business as an electrical engineer until he retired 4 years ago. He was diagnosed with A D just over 2 years ago. He still insists doing the electrics and I am desperate he will either electrocute himself or someone else, any suggestions please.

Again, thank you to everyone for your suggestions I will keep you posted.

 

[Willow Tree]

I don't know if this will help, but if he has a "black meter" that he uses to check voltages, make it disappear.

It doesn't ALWAYS work, but I've learned with my husband (who has Parkinsons and vascular issues) that one of the Cardinal Rules of Coping is: Out of Sight, Out of Mind.

I absolutely, positively, have to keep papers, folders, files, phone books, address books, tools, aforementioned meter (he used to like to do those things, too), Totally and completely put AWAY and out of sight. He cannot so much as see ME with a piece of paper in my hand or he'll demand to review it and then "take action" immediately, which can result in all kinds of turmoil and phone calls.

Just this morning he called the US Republican Party and the US Democratic Party Washington DC headquarters to tell them how to straighten out the government. This was stimulated by a random comment on the news (I FOOLISHLY read him a headline).

It is unreal, but just by not mentioning things or making them physically disappear, they become non-issues.

I sometimes feel I live in a Twilight Zone episode, don't we all?

 

[Scarlett123]

Just this morning he called the US Republican Party and the US Democratic Party Washington DC headquarters to tell them how to straighten out the government.

I sometimes feel I live in a Twilight Zone episode, don't we all?

Sorry, I shouldn't laugh, but I did. Regular readers of TP will know that my husband insisted Margaret Thatcher was in our hall, and he was in his pyjamas. As it would have been a waste of time telling him she wouldn't be visiting us, and anyway, she was dead, I thanked "her" for coming, but told her it wasn't convenient.

Then I opened the front door, and breezily called out "mind how you go!" and John spent ages moaning that her secretary should have called first etc etc. Yes, Twilight Zone is a very accurate description.

 

[Willow Tree]

Sorry, I shouldn't laugh, but I did. Regular readers of TP will know that my husband insisted Margaret Thatcher was in our hall, and he was in his pyjamas. As it would have been a waste of time telling him she wouldn't be visiting us, and anyway, she was dead, I thanked "her" for coming, but told her it wasn't convenient.

Then I opened the front door, and breezily called out "mind how you go!" and John spent ages moaning that her secretary should have called first etc etc. Yes, Twilight Zone is a very accurate description.

You are VERY resourceful; what a brilliant solution ("mind how you go!").

Glad you laughed; that's 80% of how I'm learning to get through this (though I must say it was NOT FUNNY AT ALL for quite some time). I guess we learn to roll with the punches, out of necessity. And a day without at least one laugh is a wasted day : )

 

[Scarlett123]

You are VERY resourceful; what a brilliant solution ("mind how you go!").

Glad you laughed; that's 80% of how I'm learning to get through this (though I must say it was NOT FUNNY AT ALL for quite some time). I guess we learn to roll with the punches, out of necessity. And a day without at least one laugh is a wasted day : )

Oh I wasn't always resourceful, I made loads of mistakes in the early days. But being a carer for John for over a decade, you find you're on a constant learning curve, and I became very good at adopting the mantra "go with the flow", or murmuring replies to nonsensical questions, in different ways.

I also learnt it was a waste of time asking him things like "would you like your lunch now, or later?", because he didn't know what "lunch" or "later" meant. So I'd sit him on a chair in the kitchen and say, in my brightest Mary Poppins voice "look John, I'm making sandwiches for our lunch. I'm putting butter on the bread, and that's ham and that's cheese".

Sometimes he'd point to one or the other, and sometimes he'd say something quite random like "frogs are pink". Yep, you just go with the flow.

 

[Geof]

Oh I wasn't always resourceful, I made loads of mistakes in the early days. But being a carer for John for over a decade, you find you're on a constant learning curve, and I became very good at adopting the mantra "go with the flow", or murmuring replies to nonsensical questions, in different ways.

I also learnt it was a waste of time asking him things like "would you like your lunch now, or later?", because he didn't know what "lunch" or "later" meant. So I'd sit him on a chair in the kitchen and say, in my brightest Mary Poppins voice "look John, I'm making sandwiches for our lunch. I'm putting butter on the bread, and that's ham and that's cheese".

Sometimes he'd point to one or the other, and sometimes he'd say something quite random like "frogs are pink". Yep, you just go with the flow.

Another lesson learned for me today - to be less intense and worried and try to relax.
Oh why didn't I join TP years ago.
You made me laugh this morning and for that I thank you

Geof

 

[oliviajuliette]

I don't know if this will help, but if he has a "black meter" that he uses to check voltages, make it disappear.

It doesn't ALWAYS work, but I've learned with my husband (who has Parkinsons and vascular issues) that one of the Cardinal Rules of Coping is: Out of Sight, Out of Mind.

I absolutely, positively, have to keep papers, folders, files, phone books, address books, tools, aforementioned meter (he used to like to do those things, too), Totally and completely put AWAY and out of sight. He cannot so much as see ME with a piece of paper in my hand or he'll demand to review it and then "take action" immediately, which can result in all kinds of turmoil and phone calls.

Just this morning he called the US Republican Party and the US Democratic Party Washington DC headquarters to tell them how to straighten out the government. This was stimulated by a random comment on the news (I FOOLISHLY read him a headline).

It is unreal, but just by not mentioning things or making them physically disappear, they become non-issues.

I sometimes feel I live in a Twilight Zone episode, don't we all?

Thank you willowtree for your reply, this is definitely something I will try in future but at the moment my OH will not throw anything away so for something to go missing would be a major catastrophy, little by little I am getting rid of things but there is a long way to go as you will know. I am slowly learning to go with the flow.