I hope it wasn't me that produced those gnats...

Well, I tried to answer that in a way that didn't come off as demeaning ('cause I didn't want to sound so), but it was giving me trouble. So, let me just say, "You made a contribution but you didn't make the swarm."

No, no, you see, my father is getting senile...quickly...severely. I have to look after him during the day when there's no one else here, and that sometimes includes such Olympic-level events as cleaning up the 100 meter urine trail (Ok, maybe it's more like 5, but it seems like a lot), sometimes only half an hour apart! And then there's the "trying to convince the delirious old man that this house he's lived in for about 13 years is not, in fact, a hotel and that he won't be going downstairs because it's a single-story structure" (which is a real crowd-pleaser).

He always recognizes me for some reason, I guess 'cause I look like something that crawled out of a storm drain, but he does sometimes forget who my mother is, and they've been married some 34 years. So yeah. It's stressful and bad. He gets mood swings and can be really nasty sometimes, but then he doesn't remember it afterwards so it's not like he can be reprimanded. You see? I was probably overreacting a little yesterday, but I was indeed in a foul mood and not fit to speak with anyone.