h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: Decay - A27174765
Author: Tibley Bobley - U170471

Based on true events, with names changed.

Anyone who reads it, thank you!

A really riveting story, thank you. I could really feel for Maggie.

A slight suggestion on the writing of it. The last two paragraphs explain perhaps a bit too much. Maybe you could tighten them up a bit, say only the essentials? I think the reader will be able to fill in.

Unfortunately, more people are aware of the problems of Alzheimer's these days.

Thank you very much for your kind comments and suggestion. I'll see what I can do with the ending tomorrow afternoon (when I can get my eyes uncrossed).

The ending is now much modified. I think it's an improvement. Hard for me to tell - I seem to have a particular problem with endings.

Alzheimer's is horrifying. It's often struck me that people can be very impatient and rude to sufferers. They wouldn't be if they could just use their imagination - but even imagining losing your mind is pretty horrible.

I like the new ending very much. Although I'd put back in the information - maybe in just a phrase - that Alan has been dead for 10 years.

Oh good Thank you. I've tweaked the final paragraph as suggested. Is that better?

An interesting and sad read.

I don't think people in general are rude to those suffering with Alzheimer's disease.

I think their carers may be short tempered, simply because they are worn out and the help given to them is fairly basic.

Oh, good ending. I like the bureacrats of the hereafter.

Thank you Chips - Sangfroid I didn't mean people in general - I just worded it badly. Actually, the last people I had in mind were the carers I think you're referring to: relatives. The people who've known the Alzheimer's sufferer when their brain was healthy are (in all the cases I've ever seen at least) gentle, caring and sympathetic. They must come to the end of their tether from time to time, I guess, but I've never witnessed it. In the past though, I've seen people who are paid to care - and who haven't know the Alzheimer's suffer any other way than confused - being quite rough, unsympathetic and rude. Not a generalisation. Just some individuals (and occasionally pairs of individuals). Perhaps training has improved. I hope so.

And thank you dmitrigheorgheni. If the ending's good, you're responsible. Your suggestions have been really helpful. I nearly always have a slight sense of floundering when I approach an ending and am hardly ever satisfied with them. So I'm grateful to you

Tibley Bobley (what a lovely name), for some reason I felt I had to defend 'carers', but yes, I was talking about family.

I think most people have a breaking point. I know I do.

Me too, and it's so frustrating to see carers pushed to theirs when with a bit of support they could have continued caring.

Anyway, this is good. Frightening. The shock at the sight of the garden which you know she must see every day – that hurts. Really does.

The ending's good in winding up, confirming assumptions the reader’s made already. There's still scope for tightening it up - the detail of the keys and Phyllis doesn’t add to the impact of what’s already told - if you wished. I could understand if you wanted to keep close to the true story though.

Yesterday, I spent the afternoon sorting out powers of attorney stuff with friends. Not needed yet, but still uncomfortable .

How kind of you to say so (about the name I mean). It must be incredibly trying sometimes, caring for a person who can't remember things from one minute to the next. People who do it for family members are heroes as far as I'm concerned and paid carers who do it well must also be very special.

Thank you LLwaz. I saw the sense of your suggestion and carried out the edit toot sweet

Is the power of attorney stuff done because someone is expected to lose their capacity to make rational decisions?

On 1st October, the existing rules for the issue of Enduring Powers of Attorney (EPA) are to be changed. The changes only affect the law applied in England and Wales. EPAs will be replaced by 'Lasting Powers of Attorney', (LPA), but existing EPAs will still be vallid.
The new LPA will deal with 2 areas a) the donor's property and financial affairs and b) the donor's health and personal welfare.
The LPA can be set up to deal with either area or both. In adition, it must be registered immediately upon set up at The Court of Protection which will cost about £150. In contrast, an EPA is only registered when it is required to be used. Alson, an LPA must have a 'Certificate of Capacity', an independent opinion, confirming that the donor was not uner any pressure and is mentally capableof issuing the document. Both of these additions are new. These are big differences compared with EPAs.
It will be more expensive to set up an LPA compared with an EPA. It is strongly recommended that everyone should set up a power of attorney as it is expensive and difficult to set up once mental capacity has been lost.
The new rules came into force in Scotland in 2001. There are no plans yet for introducing them to Northern Ireland.
To set up either type of power you will almost certainly require a solictor, so do shop around and compare prices. If you are thinking of setting up a power of attorney, you may like to act before the changes on 1st October as an EPA is likely to be cheaper than the new LPA.

These were EPAs, chips - it was because of that deadline they were actually getting done rather than being put off.

The EPA info keeps talking about mental incapacity, but it isn't just for that. There's also physical incapacity to sign forms, take phone calls etc. My understanding is the EPA sorts all that out in one go. Then it will also cover mental incapacity if necessary, but at that point needs to be registered.

I see the point of the LPAs, but I wonder how many people will get around to them - 26 pages of form, I was told! Plus combining the relatively straightforward finance stuff to health/welfare, I'm not sure it'll work in practice.



Tibley Bobley, I'll read again later but ... that works better for me. Keeps Maggie and Alan right in full focus.

Your deadline's a bit tight and I wish you luck.
I agree, I don't know how many people will bother with the LPAs. I don't even like the thought of making a will.

Ages ago, when one of my relatives went on a particularly long holiday, he got me to sign something to say I was able to sign things on his behalf. As I remember he had a house or something to sell so didn't want things delayed by problems getting hold of him if a buyer turned up. Then a year or two later he went on a similarly long trip and said I could sign things on his behalf as the document from last time would still be valid. Do you suppose that might have been one of those EPA thingies?

I know what you mean about making a will. It's one thing to be aware in an abstract sort of way of your mortality, but having to look it squarely in the face and examine it in details is daunting. From the description, the new LPA sounds far worse, forcing you to focus on really uncomfortable possibilities that could amount to the long bitter dregs before the big D

I found this very poignant.

I agree with Dmitri that you don't really need the explanation of Maggie's plight at the end.

Sorry, please ignore the last sentence. I rushed a comment off without reading the whole thread.

It is a sad story and all too convincing.
It's not just Alzheimers that can leave people confused and forgetful.
My mother-in-law was one of the most intellectual people I knew. But after she had a stroke, she become confused and paranoid. It was so sad to see her in that state.

Hi minorVogonpoet and thank you

It's a fearful thing, can happen to anyone and you don't even have to be particularly old to get dementia of one form or another. Remember those poor kids who got nvCJD from eating infected beef a few years ago? There are all sorts of conditions that can cause it too. It's hard to imagine how frightening it must be until something actually happens to give an insight. The lady in the story was as fit as a fiddle, very active, rode all round the village and country lanes on her bike almost every day of her life. It was only her mind that had gone. She still got about long after the confusion started. It was heart-breaking to see her in the corner shop, struggling to remember what she'd come in for and then puzzling over the money in her purse and the change.

By the way, I like your poem very much. I think the great Vogon Poet, Hullabaloo (U186603) would have enjoyed it too.

Hi Tibley Bobley, as a recent h2g2er I don’t know what you know of the <./>underguide</.> (UG). We’re an h2g2 semi-official group of researchers that pick what we consider to be writing gems. We have a voting round every month and then feature one to two entries on h2g2’s front page for a week. Later they are added to the UG archives (official ones here C1233, our own here A2112490).

So congratulations on being a UG pick . The UG miners want this entry, and our QA agrees (though with some qualifications which I’ll post next) and the h2g2 staff have given the ok as well.

The UG’s QA’s opinion was that it was UnderGuide quality, that as an exercise in writing it was fairly accomplished. He found it bleak though, without a real plot or anything else to redeem that. To the point, in his mind, of coming over as heartless.

I can see what he’s getting at, though I see the bleakness coming from anger and frustration, and therefore not heartless. That’s partly, but not altogether, in the light of what’s been said on this thread about where the story came from. The UG Miners who nominated and seconded it both found it a moving account.


Congratulations again, this is actually a part delivery of , and I’m off now to deliver the rest.

We’ll be sending a UG Polisher your way soon, who’ll explain the technicalities of what happens next.

Thank you for posting to the AWW,
UGeds