Just Say No To Hotlinks

Has this ever happened to anyone else? Or am I just a schlub?

I belong to a small, relatively private forum. We have a good time. A number of people were posting old local commercials. I went to youtube, looking for a number of oldies but goodies that I remember. I didn't manage to turn any up, but I did find one that I vividly remembered from my time in Northeast Ohio.

It was for a nursing home. The TV played it to death. It was constantly on. The woman who "narrated" the commercial looked somewhat like my roommate at the time. She walked through the commercial, very stiff and wooden, speaking slightly stilted, like she was reading a cue card. They talked about the luxury of their home, and how happy it was. The old people looked happy enough, but the whole thing was kind of laughable. On an off-note, this nursing home is still up and running - has been for a long time, and they get good marks from the state, so it's not "the crooked home from 60 Minutes" (ala The Simpsons), but perhaps you "had to be there" to find this commercial humorous.

Anyway, it was a reply to the post that got me to start digging. I wanted to see if they were still in business (hence I found the information mentioned above), and if I could find current pictures (no dice). It was then I saw a link to a report in the local newspaper, and thought I'd take a gander. I had misread the blip appearing on Google - I thought someone had walked away from the home, but it was different, and worse than that.

They told the story of an elderly man. His wife lived at the home. He came everyday for dinner, and then sat at her bedside. One day, she got sick, and they rushed her off to the local hospital. He followed in his car. He stayed at the hospital, and then left when visiting hours were over. His wife went back to the home, but he did not. He never returned. He never showed up for dinner at the home again. The article said the people at the home were concerned, and said that the last time he came in, he appeared a little confused. I began feverishly googling for this man. What became of him? Why did he just disappear? I found an obituary for a man with a similar name, but he died in another state. Then I found the follow-up article.

Turns out the man in the obituary was indeed the man I was looking for. His car was found down over the bank on a logging road TWO STATES AWAY. They think he got disoriented some time after he left the hospital, and ended up on this road that was like 250 miles from his home. They found him, deceased, outside his car. They think he was trying to find help. They believe he died from exposure to the cold. Just having had my grandmother diagnosed with Alzheimer's (who is in assisted living), it's an absolutely frightening thought, and I feel so sorry for his family.

But aside from the sadness, this is not the first time I started out doing a simple google search, and ended up off on a wild tangent, looking for something else, and in this case ending up bumming for the night, or more commonly up until 3am looking at the computer. I should just say no to hotlinks not directly pertaining to what I'm looking for. Will I learn any time soon? Nope. I've found some cool stuff just roaming around. This one, unfortunately, didn't have a happy ending.