by Judy Handley | Apr 6, 2021 | 2021 Life Logs |
2021 Life Logs, Day 96: Making Money Back
Date: Tuesday, April 6, 2021
Weather: Overcast AM, Partly Sunny PM; High 56, Low, 41 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
Today was a day of making money ‘back’. It was money I have spent, but today I took the time to assure that I will get it back. First, I sent the necessary paperwork to Honda to assure that I will get back the $1700+ that I spent on replacing both of my front drive shaft assemblies on my Honda Fit. Honda assures me the work I had done makes the vehicle safe and they will foot the bill. Both pieces of good news. Then I went on to Priceline. In January of last year I made a reservation on United Airlines through Priceline to attend a Willie Nelson concert in Lexington, Kentucky in April. As we all know, Covid was raging in April of last year and I cancelled the flight. At the time, I was told by United that I could not be reimbursed the $318 I had paid for the flight. They did say that I could make a new reservation within 15 months of the date I had purchased the ticket. Well, I purchased the ticket on January 3 of 2020 and today I realized that was 15 months ago. I called Priceline anyway. They talked to United and now I have until March 31 of 2022 to make a reservation. Hopefully by that time I will feel safe enough to fly somewhere!
My day started on a more negative note. I had an 11 am dental cleaning appointment, but I realized last night that I did not have the Amoxicillin that I have to take before any dental work due to my knee replacement. I could not even find the prescription bottle. I called CVS, but they had no record of that prescription. I left a message for the dentist. Then this morning, I called the dentist office and found out they could not issue a prescription. It had to come from the orthopedic surgeon. I called that office and left messages. When I didn’t hear back by 9:15 am, I called to reschedule the dental cleaning. At 10:15 am I did get a call from the orthopedic surgeon’s office apologizing for not getting back to me sooner. I accepted their apology but knew it was my own stupidity that caused the problem in the first place. I should have made sure I had the Amoxicillin before 8 pm last night! But all is well that ends well. I have a dental cleaning appointment on Thursday, and I have the Amoxicillin in hand.
The weather has been interesting over the past few days. The high and low temperatures have been the same, but cloudy skies and wind have caused it to feel cooler than the temps would indicate. Finally, this afternoon the sun came out and it felt warm—same temp, just no wind. By the time I picked Ollie up after school, you did not even need a jacket. I took Jonah to the skatepark and Ollie rode along. I then went to fill up my empty gas tank, took Ollie home for his violin lesson, and then went back to the skatepark to wait for Jonah to finish up. Then it was home to play ball outside with Shadow.
By 5:30 pm, I was back to writing and finished up at 7:45 pm. I was oh so close to finishing Chapter 13, but I did not quite make it. That will happen tomorrow. I have had a lot of distractions in the past few days, and I wanted to make sure that what I had written about the time that Mark’s sister Mary Ellen and brother-in-law Lee were with us was just right. This evening when I wrote about taking them to the airport in Bora Bora to fly home, I really felt sad. Mark and I had a wonderful time with them in Tahiti, Moorea, Raiatea, and finally in Bora Bora. I think I finally got it right, so tomorrow on to Chapter 14. But I have to admit, if had the money, I would fly to Tahiti, charter a sailboat, and sail through those islands again.
Or maybe I would just fly to Bora Bora and spent time in one of those little tiki hut hotel rooms out over the water. And speaking of water, the colors of the shallow lagoon in Bora Bora challenged me. I was not sure what color name to use to describe it. I’m attaching a photo for those of you who read this online. If you can name the color, let me know. Bora Bora was a fabulous destination.
by Judy Handley | Apr 5, 2021 | 2021 Life Logs |
2021 Life Logs, Day 95: Back to Normal
Date: Monday, April 5, 2021
Weather: Overcast; High 54, Low, 40 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
Weatherwise, today was a repeat of yesterday . . . without the sunshine. There was a tad of brightness in the afternoon, but the cloud cover remained. But today was not a repeat of yesterday for me. It was a ‘back to normal’ day. The holiday weekend was over and my body’s strong response to the second Moderna vaccine was also over. I had a few chills before bedtime last night, so I piled on the blankets and slept through the night. Hurray! I hope that my reaction to the second vaccine is as close as I ever get to the coronavirus symtoms.
I spent today writing and am very close to ending another chapter. Chapter 13 covers the five weeks we spent in the Society Islands in French Polynesia—Tahiti, Moorea, Raiatea, and Bora Bora. For three of those weeks, Mark’s sister Mary Ellen and brother-in-law Lee were with us and I have called them a few times in the last few days to ‘check’ my memory. And as I have noted in prior logs, I think it is fitting that Chapter 13 covers the time when I broke my leg. I am just glad that it did not seem to change anything. We continued doing everything we had been doing. I just had to learn new ways to do those things. By Tuesday, I should be on to Chapter 14 which covers our passage to Rarotonga in in the Cook Islands where my friend Linda Stuart, her husband Mike, and son Garrett came to visit. Fun memories.
by Judy Handley | Apr 4, 2021 | 2021 Life Logs |
2021 Life Logs, Day 94: Happy Anniversary to Justin and Jo on Easter Sunday
Date: Sunday, April 4, 2021
Weather: Sunny, North Winds; High 54, Low, 41 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
Wednesday is my son Justin’s lucky day. He was born on a Wednesday in 1977 and he married Joanne Elizabeth Hunt on Wednesday, April 4, 2007. They had a bit of a rough day today as they had to spend much of it working on fencing on their property. Yesterday their six-month-old puppy, Lenny, got through the fencing and was shot with a pellet gun by a neighbor. Justin spent last night at the vet hospital and today repairing fencing. But still he said they managed to have a fun Easter Sunday and that Lenny should be fine. And I hope they found some time to celebrate their anniversary.
Easter Sunday here was a little quieter than usual. I did not go to Heather and Jed’s for the annual backyard Easter egg hunt. Last night just after I sent my log, I started feeling simply horrible. It became evident that I was not going to be one of those people who has no symptoms after their second coronavirus vaccine. I started chilling and every muscle and bone in my body seemed to hurt. I went to bed immediately, but I could not sleep. It was after 1:00 am before I went to sleep, but then I was up and down all night. I got up at 6:30 am to take Shadow out and I sent a text to Heather telling her I would not be coming for the egg hunt. I decided to take a couple of Ibuprofen even though I knew that any NSAID pain killer can interfere with vaccine effectiveness. At that point, I didn’t care. I just wanted to sleep. It worked and when I got up at 11:00 am I felt so much better. Ten hours of misery is not too much to ask in return for being vaccinated against the coronavirus. But it did give me just a little window into what it might feel like. I cannot imagine feeling like that, and even worse, for days! So glad to have that second vaccination. And so glad I rebounded enough to have the Goldstones over for Easter dinner and an Oma Easter egg hunt. All is well that ends well.
by Judy Handley | Apr 3, 2021 | 2021 Life Logs |
2021 Life Logs, Day 93: Second Vaccination at Gillette Stadium
Date: Saturday, April 3, 2021
Weather: Sunny, Still Cool; High 44, Low, 31 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
Woohoo! I have now had my second coronavirus vaccine. Since I received my first Moderna vaccine at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, my second vaccine was scheduled for the same place.
It was a bit of a drive, but the process is so easy there. Today they were administering vaccines at Gillette West and Gillette East. My appointment time was 12:42 pm. And the appointment times were schedule for every minute. They have a big billboard in front of the parking lot that shows which appointment time they are currently accepting. As with my first time there, my appointment time came up ten minutes early. By the time I got out of my car, walked into the building, showed my appointment confirmation, took the escalator upstairs, and was directed to ‘my’ nurse, it was 12:42 pm on the dot. By 12:44 pm I was sitting in a chair to wait my fifteen minutes.
I did not take time to count how many nurses were administering vaccines at the same time, but I think it was about twenty. I waited ten minutes and then walked outside to take a photo of the stadium. The last time I was there, the turf was missing. Today it was back, ready for another season.
I drove home without stopping and went directly to Heather and Jed’s. I had a date with my grandsons to dye Easter eggs. All three boys, regardless of age, seemed to really enjoy the process. I will return tomorrow morning for an Easter egg hunt and late tomorrow afternoon they will come here for Easter dinner.
I talked to Justin, Ziggy, and Coco when I got home. I didn’t get to talk to Jo as she was outside. Justin called to let me know that an Easter gift I sent arrived, as well as Ziggy’s birthday present. Tomorrow is Justin and Jo’s fourteenth anniversary and Ziggy turns twelve on Wednesday. When Justin said ‘12’ it stopped me dead in my tracks. I’ve gotten used to the idea that Sam is a full-fledged teenager, but to think that Ziggy and Jonah, whose twelfth birthday is in June, are hot on his heels took my breath away. They are growing up so fast.
by Judy Handley | Apr 2, 2021 | 2021 Life Logs |
2021 Life Logs, Day 92: Trip to Hyannis Honda
Date: Friday, April 2, 2021
Weather: Sunny, but Nippy; High 39, Low, 26 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
I love my little Honda Fit. But two times in the last two years, I could have been seriously injured or even killed when first one, then the other drive shaft broke causing an instant loss of power. In both cases, the car just stopped dead in its tracks with no warning. I had a guardian angel with me on both occasions as I was stopped at an intersection both times. The power loss happened just as I moved into the intersections, but not far enough in that traffic couldn’t go around me. If this had happened when I was speeding down the highway in traffic, who knows what would have happened. When the front driver side drive shaft broke, my daughter Heather and one grandson were with me. I am just thankful that no one was hurt.
Last week I received a recall letter from the Honda Automobile Division alerting me that my Fit is under recall due to the fact that “the protective coating on the drive shaft may not properly adhere to it, causing the drive shaft to more susceptible to damage from road debris . . . de-icing agents used to maintain the roadway.” I was advised to call my local Honda dealer to have this checked. I called on Monday of this week and was given an appointment today. The good news is that Falmouth Motor Car that replaced both drive shafts did a great job and Honda says there should be no further problem. And Honda should reimburse me for both installations, each of which cost about $900. The only bad news today was the weather while I was waiting. I arrived at 10 am and there was a back-up. I was told there would be at least a two hour wait, not one hour as I had been told when I made the appointment. Because of the surge of coronavirus on the Cape right now, I did not want to wait inside. The temperature outside was barely above freezing, but the sun was shining. So, I went for a long walk, stopped at Dunkin’ Donuts to get a hot coffee and found a seat in an area protected from the wind at Barnstable High School. There are no students this week due to the coronavirus surge. So, I sat and read until I was almost frozen. I decided to walk back and check on the status. When I got there, my Fit was just coming out of the work bay and I was on my way home.
I went to Heather and Jed’s to pick up Ollie and Jonah who had said yesterday they would like to come to my house this afternoon to do some work for me as there was no school today. But they were deep into a Nerf battle and Ollie then had to go to a doctor appointment. They did not end up coming with me today. Maybe tomorrow. Ollie’s appointment was with the orthopedist for a Lyme disease update. The inflammation in his knee is still there after four weeks of Doxycycline. He will continue to take the antibiotic for another couple of weeks and if it is still not improved, at some point he will be referred to an infectious disease physician at Boston Children’s Hospital and probably have to have intravenous antibiotics. The doctor today said he needs to suspend all physical activity, keep elevating the leg, and keep icing it. He really has already limited his activities, but this past week he has been playing soccer with his class at recess. I guess that needs to stop. Poor little guy. How I hate that little tick that has caused Ollie such a huge problem.
by Judy Handley | Apr 1, 2021 | 2021 Life Logs |
2021 Life Logs, Day 91: April Fool’s Day
Date: Thursday, April 1, 2021
Weather: Overcast with a Little Rain; High 55, Low, 29 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
April Fool’s Day came a day late for me since the joke was on me yesterday. I thought March 31 was April 1. And after school today, Ollie gave me a sheet of directions to follow. It was an April’s Fool joke and I almost fell for it. Otherwise, my day was unremarkable.
I did get to write about breaking my leg in Moorea and sailing on the next day to another island. At the time, I thought it was no big deal. Just a pain to deal with. Getting on and off the boat was very difficult, but I figured out ways to do it. In looking back and writing about it, I thought I must have been on drugs to think it was no big deal. I even called Mark’s sister and brother-in-law tonight to verify what I had written in my logs. They were with me the night I broke my leg and for the next week and a half. They said I seemed to be unfazed by the whole thing. Less than forty-eight hours after breaking my leg, we were on our way to another island. And then we went on to Bora Bora where we had a wonderful few days. If we had not had guests on board, things might have been different. But I certainly didn’t want to spoil their vacation, so I think I just took a deep breath and said it was time to move on. In the introduction to the book I am writing about the voyage of Windbird, I begin with a quote by Thoreau: “What people say you cannot do, you try and find you can.” I think that truly applies to the broken leg episode. Because Mary Ellen and Lee were with us, I put forth my bravest self and then found that I could continue on without skipping a beat. Or maybe I was so in love with the South Pacific that nothing was going to keep me from enjoying every minute while we were there.
Tomorrow writing might not make it on to my agenda. I take my car to Hyannis tomorrow morning for a recall check due to a defective protective coating on the drive shaft. Then I will return home and pick Ollie up to come home with me. Tomorrow is a school holiday and he wants to work to make money for a remote control car. I have plenty of jobs to keep him busy. Not sure how long he will want to work. So I will write later in the day if I get a chance. If not, I’ll continue on Saturday.
