May 13, 2021

Yesteryear
One year ago today: May 13, 2020, if I was Tesla . . .
Five years ago today: May 13, 2016, whoever Ryan is.
Nine years ago today: May 13, 2012, a missing day.
Random years ago today: May 13, 2008, Coconut Grove coffee.

           It’s tempting to write about medical stuff, but I’ll keep today as interesting as possible. First off, my van air-conditioner quit working, seemingly identical to last time. It starts off okay but after an hour gets weaker and stops altogether. This made for another hot box drive around town, as the Town & Country design has no internal vents. You have to roll down the windows which in this design makes for super wind noise. Also, at highway speeds, the open windows cause an uncomfy buffeting on the eardrums. I canceled the morning meeting with Agt. M when he announced he’d be late. It’s part of the learning curve to get ahead, you must keep not all your appointments, but the ones that involve your personal future. He should have told the other guy he’d have to wait for his ride home. Again, just part of the curve.

           A great big vase. That’s the expensive item loaded into the van this morning for transport out to the Gulf Coast. Alaine still has items at the old place in Coral Gables, so it is a matter of sending JZ over there to get the new owner to unlock the shed. Other things always turn up, like these two matching pictures and a huge flower pot. If they fit in the fan, they get loaded. And JZ gave me a ten-speed bike he’s never used. He left the Jamus I gave him at his brother’s condo in the Keys and it is still out there somewhere. Hmmm, why would a pal give me a bike with no back brakes? Good thing I’m not the suspicious sort.

           At long last, there is a study on triglycerides. I’ve struggled with that for 16 years and may join on. It’s from the same clinic where I’ve participated in a number of projects, the most successful being the Star Trek cholesterol control injections. They one they are still overpaying me for. This study is a series of four capsules a day and as usual, is far too expensive for me to get without being a guinea pig. But the list of ingredients show it is highly refined derivative of fish oil. If I go ahead and it works, you’ll be among the first to hear about it.
           Ha, I told JZ we should grab breakfast at the Wagon Wheel, the only place I’ve seen serve too much food for him to finish. What? I’m buying, so why won’t he go near the place. Actually, it has nothing to do with the portions, but that he considers the place too expensive. He’s right, but so expensive he won’t let the robot club pay? Anyhow, that brings up the topic of money. The next segment hit by massive inflation appears to be restaurant food. Up around 30% in the past month. After unloading the shipment in Punta Gorda, Alaine and I went for soup and salad at what used to be a reasonable spot. Not no more. It came to $23, the ten-dollar bowl of soup was, after Palatka, no surprise. That’s one portion, folks. She had the soup. I had the salad.

Picture of the day.
Road sign, India.
Remember to use BACK ARROW to return to blog.

           Having a few moments between clinics, I stopped at the Russia Store (Europa Market) and there’s your international inflation taking place. Tins of Baltic sprat, my preferred source of iodine, shot from $1.79 each to $4.99. Other imported items, especially from Finland and northern Russia, tripled. I balked at spending $9.99 for a jar my favorite canned pork. This ramps up the urgency for the Reb & I to collaborate on just about anything that looks even half promising. If everybody is about to lose money, the plan is to make sure you lose less and slower. Wealth is relative. If I had bought a place in Nebraska or Arkansas, I’d be living like a king by now but freezing my toes off.
           The latest set of labs show that I’m doing fine and I have a statistic for you. There is no such thing, says my newest doc, as a heart that is 100% working. Normal is 50% to 65%. I was unaware of that. But I can tell you ten years ago I felt like maybe 10%. Again, these stats were unknown to me and I found out today I’m functioning at 47%. At first I thought of that as below half, but I was corrected. It means I’ve recovered so much that I’m approaching the range of normal. I’ve been upgraded to having a “mild” condition. There, shows you what years of strenuous workouts, weight-lifting, and running five miles a day can do. No wait, have I got that right? I can’t do any of those things. Mind you, I only recently got a bicycle on the road.

           This tall narrow picture is a show & tell. It’s the roof maintenance scene. That is a permanent rope you can’t see tied to a tree to assist getting on up to the peak. The hoe is to break up any thing that has taken root. You then skid down on your tush shoving the debris off the end with your heel. Next, take the broom and brush of the inevitable scraps and twigs that remain. Count on doing this every two months and in the summertime, once a month. I took pics of other things in the yard and let’s see if I get desperate enough for material to blog them.
           Seriously ain’t nothing else happening these days. I’m recovering a bit from the Miami heat. They also have adopted the latest millennial inconvenience. You part, walk across the scalding parking lot, and only when you get up to the door and tug the handle is there any indication the place is closed. In time, millennial may become a synonym for inconsideration. As of today, it only means there’s an AOL at the other end of the connection.

Last Laugh