Here are some of the phone calls I had today. All the times listed are Pacific.

6:23 AM
I tried to talk to my mom by calling the Halifax Hospital Psychiatric Unit. I spent eight minutes on the phone with them but was unable to get my mom on the phone.

6:30 AM
I had a twenty-minute phone call with my dad; most of which was spent complaining about how frustrated it is that I can never seem to get mom on the phone.

6:50 AM
My sister called to say that Jessica Butler at Grace Manor called to ask her about money.

6:56 AM
I called Grace Manor and left a message asking Jessica to call me.

7:27 AM
Connie Wade from Halifax called to say mom was being transferred today; she hung up very quickly

8:14 AM
I had a three minute call with my sister to discuss how we were going to pay Grace Manor.

11:36 AM
Jessica and I spoke for twelve minutes. She said that the pro-rated amount we owe Grace Manor is $1928.12. She also gave me her email address, and told me that the standard rate is $3095/mo

12:18 PM
MyFRSI called the State of Florida retirement pension phone system and after just one minute realized that there was no way I was going to make any progress.

1:05 PM
I tried calling the number again. This time I worked the buttons for seven minutes before I was disconnected by a computer error.

1:12 PM
I called again and spent fifteen minutes trying to convince someone that my mother was unable to make decisions for herself and I needed help understanding how we could access her pension on her behalf.

Just another typical fruitless, frustrating day on the phone trying to help my mom …