The day just zooms from dawn to twilight when one is doing 38-mile round trips to the hospital. As usual, the VA nurses and aides and doctors are doing a terrific job and when I explained his hospital psychosis, keeping a watchful eye on him (with perhaps a little sedation to help him sleep).

The only teeny tiny complaint I have is about dispensing medications. Even though all his meds are on file, a doctor has to authorize their issuance. So he always misses a dose, or even two, and then pays the price in serious tremors and discomfort.

This last time I brought one day's set of meds with me, though if they see you giving them, they will tell you not to give the patient anything. But I did not expect him to be admitted, so he missed the morning set because I did not have extras with me. At lunchtime the nurse said she was making up for the ones he takes once a day in the morning, so that's all right.

He was clearly feeling better by the time I left. I was doing a crossword puzzle, sitting in a ward with 4 beds. Norm, his usual negative self, just lay there, but the other three and I had a great time trying to guess the words (of course I shared some of the easier ones, too, to give everyone a chance to be successful). Well, the other two. One patient was not too sure who he was and what was going one, but he was enjoying the general convivality. Even the male nurse got into it for a bit.

Do I know how to throw a party, or what?