Day 37, Year 7: Steps in the Process
Date: Thursday, December 15, 2011
Weather: Overcast with Rain in the Evening; Temp in mid-50’s F
Location: Brewer Fiddler’s Cove Marina, North Falmouth, Massachusetts
Mark went to Hyannis today to have a CT scan. This was the next step in the process. He left the medical office with CD in hand, but the written results will be faxed directly to his doctor at Mass General Hospital. He picked up other medical records today that he will hand carry to his appointment on Monday, so he is all set to meet with the surgeon on Monday.
At the same time that all of the medical preparations are happening, we are getting ourselves ready for the trip to New Mexico. We just printed out the bus schedule which looks absolutely grueling, but we’ll make it work. We have our first transfer in Cleveland, Ohio in the middle of the first night, another transfer in in Dayton, Ohio at 9 am in the morning and then another transfer in St. Louis at 4:30 pm. Then at least we have a straight run all the way to Albuquerque?straight run meaning that we don’t need to transfer, but there are many stops from Ohio to Texas and then on to New Mexico. I really think this is going to be like doing a passage. Three hours of sleep, three hours on watch. I should be able send logs since I have a new computer with a battery that lasts longer than 5 minutes. There might actually be electric plug-ins on the bus, and we will have wi-fi through Mark’s phone. So I’ll be able to keep you entertained on what it is like to ride a Greyhound bus cross country.
I think I have the Christmas end of the process under control. Presents have been sent to Maine for Heather, Jed, Sam, and Jonah and sent to New Mexico for Justin, Jo, and Ziggy. I have packed a huge bag that we will take with us full of things from storage for Justin and Jo, so now all we need to do is pack clothes for ourselves. We have to remember that it is really winter in New Mexico, so our wardrobe is going to have to change to reflect that fact. Since we will be leaving the boat, I’m hoping that these warmer than usual temperatures will continue until we return. With all of the health-related issues this week, I forgot to mention that that reverse-cycle heater/air conditioner that we just had repaired (to the tune of $250) bit the dust two nights ago. We awoke to the smell of smoldering electrical wires and caught the problem before there was a fire. With everything else going on, we have just simply disconnected the heater and will deal with it later. Thankfully, I had ordered another oil-encased radiator-type heater that was delivered on Monday. So we are using two of these DeLonghi heaters and it is 75 degrees inside. We keep turning them down, but it is just so warm outside and now that we are covered, it is 60 degrees in the cockpit. So it doesn’t take much to heat the boat. That will change drastically when the temp drops, but it doesn’t look like that is going to happen soon. The ten-day forecast shows daytime temperatures in the 40’s, so it looks like we won’t get a deep freeze here until after Christmas, and maybe even not then. Since we are going to be away, that would keep us from worrying about Windbird. But even if there the weather takes a huge dip, I think she should be fine.
Tomorrow is just another regular day, and then on Saturday we go with Heather, Jed, and kids to Boston for Revels. Revels is presentation of dance and music to celebrate the winter solstice. It is a wonderful way to start the holiday season. We have been before with Sam, but not with Jonah. I know he is going to love the music as much as Sam, so it should be a great afternoon and a wonderful way to celebrate the holiday season with the Goldstone clan since we will be away during Christmas.
