Car rental woes

Justin was working today for his boss, Will, driving to Lake Worth to pick up a new truck. Oh, we had a good laugh over this---of course, "Seinfeld" all the way. Saturday I took Justin to the car rental place up the street to get a car which his former co-worker, Caleb, and he would drive to get the truck. (Will couldn't go because he had too much going on at church....He actually DOES, because he has two youth group meetings each Sunday). As we drove over to get the car, Justin joked about how the rental place "knows how to TAKE the reservation, but they don't know how to HOLD the reservation." Complete with Jerry's arm gestures. I dropped him off, and he told me to run along as he had to wait in line. I was going to Great Hang Ups from there. Justin had a 9:30 computer appointment after getting the car picked up.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4T2GmGSNvaM

Well, I so happened to stop at home for a second when Justin called me reporting "they DON'T know how to hold the reservation!!!" He was so upset---they had no cars. None! I drove back to pick him up as he was already walking toward his appointment's home. He changed that appointment to another day, and his boss directed him to another car rental place on South Blanding. Ugh! 

Justin was so frustrated by all this, hating to have to leave his truck at the car rental place while they were gone. I didn't think it was a problem and it wasn't but he was just stressed by all this. He told me that he used that line from Seinfeld at Enterprise, saying he couldn't help but think of it every time he's in a rental place. Because they gave him a clown car instead of a mid-sized one Will had reserved, he also told the story of how I used to say we both had to get in at the same time so we wouldn't flip it over!!  Both Will and the guy at the counter found that amusing! You're welcome!  

He had 10 hours of driving and was so glad to be home. We settled in to watch the Packer game, me starting before he got back. I had made us a kettle of chili into which we dipped our homemade rolls Justin baked on Saturday. We watched the Packers make mush out of the Eagles and then, in the 3rd quarter, FOX changed games on us. The announcer said they were switching programming to a game more competitive than what we were enjoying. NUTS!!! I was beside myself. We were so enjoying this game and then it was yanked away. That was disappointing, but I was able to follow somewhat online which is not quite the same. Oh well....We have a few more Packer games coming up which will be shown here, unless they aren't competitive enough!

In your dreams

Or, rather, in my dreams. I was thrilled this a.m., though saddened to wake up too soon, to see Timmy in my dream. Oh, my goodness, he was so sweet and cute looking in his blue t-shirt. In the dream, I arrived 'home' after apparently being away for some time, and he came bounding down the stairs to greet me. (Excuse me just a moment as I wipe my tears...)  He had some chocolate in his hand, perhaps half of a fun-sized candy bar. I asked what he had and he said he cut it in half. What? This little guy has a knife up there? He said it was a table knife and for some reason, I didn't go upstairs to check it out. I asked the boys, Justin showing up now as well, if their rooms were clean and their bathroom tidy. I seem to have taken their word for it being so...It was nice to get to hold him on my lap again, even if it was just for the blink of an eye.

My waking hours were spent going to the groomers for a 10:30 appointment. This will be my last time being taken care of at this location because Whitey's is taking back the shop to use for the restaurant, an expansion or something. So, Susan and Barb are moving further up Hwy. 220 to the Silo Shoppes. Next month, before I leave for WI, I will check out their new digs. 

From the booty shop I headed toward Publix, stopping first at the bank. Parking was not easy to come by at the grocery store but I managed to find a spot not too far from the entrance. Mercy me, already???  I picked up a spiral ham to serve for ThanksLiving plus a few more things including nuts to make more Chex Mix. I could almost live on that stuff, plus the soda I picked up. The young man who helped me to the car with my purchases said I should wait a week and parking would be much worse, with the holidays coming. When did this happen? 

As I drove home, I called Justin to ask him to help me carry up the groceries. He said that Sarah had stopped over so he'd get the stuff later. I was so happy to hear she was there, remembering we'd waved at her yesterday as we drove home after Bible study and lunch. Cool to see her two days in row.  Sarah was in the neighborhood as she had just put the deposit down at The Club for Ron's and her wedding next November. A year away yet! I am so glad they chose The Club for the wedding, she saying it reminded her of the Mediterranean, from where her family originally hailed. 

I bored her silly showing her my scrapbooks from the cruises. Justin actually brought it up by mentioning the pelicans in Mykonos. We laughed because she probably felt like a prisoner, trapped looking at someone else's trip pictures!! She said she liked them, and made her wish to go herself. Lucky for her she had a paper to write as she is a nursing student, so we released her from captivity. Just yesterday I had reminded Justin about the time we took Sarah to lunch for her birthday after we'd been at Bible study, and now it's nearly her birthday again. Time flies and before we know it, their wedding day will be here. And by here, I mean, on our property! 

A delicious dinner

Happy Veteran's Day! I enjoyed watching Fox & Friends as they had plenty of coverage for and of the military. Out on the plaza was a drill team from the Air Force and the Navy Band. I have a friend who plays for the Navy Band, now stationed in WA state. It was a good show. Also I listened to two worship services this a.m., both of them Reformation themed. I have a good life.

Justin had off today but it had nothing to do with it being a holiday. He is on his winter schedule now so has periodic days off during the week. His plans were to make more dough like he made last week for his calzones. Also in the plans were some apple desserts like he made last Thursday when his boss, Will, and wife, Bethany, were here for dinner. Calzones and mini-apple pies again so soon? Yes, please! 

He had some problems making the dough, doing it by memory because he could not lay his hands or his eyes on the recipe he used on Thursday. It got a little more sticky than the last time and the loaf of bread he made from it was rather bland. The pizza crust, however, he kneaded more flour into so it had a better consistency. He added Italian seasoning to the dough once smoothed out and then the toppings went on. Very good and filling, as you can imagine.

While he was busy with dough in the kitchen, my friend, Stephanie, and I were at The Club for lunch. We'd made the plans last week for today because she was off  from work for the holiday. Stephanie works for the federal gov't. and is also a veteran, having served in the Navy as an MP. Our original plan was to dine at Pengree's because I have taken her to Grumpy's in the past. But then I had the brainstorm to take her to The Club. It was great to spend the time together there, and at home again. Before we knew it, the clock chimed 3:30 and she wished to head for home before traffic got too bad. I hope she enjoyed her day off as much I enjoyed her day off!

Justin had gone to the store while we were out, bringing back the hard to find Wheat Chex and some soda, store-brand this time. It takes some getting accustomed to, less delicious than Diet Coke. But, since no one had DC on sale this week, store brand it is. I am loving the Chex Mix far too much, making my second batch yesterday. I will pace myself tomorrow because it makes me thirsty and fills me up. I have real food leftovers waiting to be eaten so I should leave the cereal alone!

An at home day

This morning's sky did all the talking....

Justin teased my nose and my senses with a pork butt he prepped in the kitchen this afternoon. He is bathing it in spices and mustard, packing the goodness into the raw meat. Tomorrow, Jesse will put it in the smoker for them to enjoy during the football games. Yes, two games to watch tomorrow---yay! I asked him to save some of the pork for me, a small tidbit of the goodness. I will be interested to see if it competes with the flavor of the ones Mike S. makes for us at church. Close enough, I bet!

This a.m. he had his standing Saturday appointment with Jane where he helps with her computer and similar things ("she pays me to be her son") such as ordering her vacuum cleaner bags and setting up speakers, etc. Last week at a worship meeting, Jim offered up a used router which he no longer needed and I took it for Justin. He was able to make use of it almost immediately, installing it at Carol and Randy's house after his appointment with Jane. Busy guy with the electronics. Nice that Jim's donation was put to use so soon. 

Tonight Justin is at Jesse's watching a movie, taking the pork butt with him so it's ready for the smoker in the morning. The other day Linda told me she had Chex party mix at a gathering which sounded so good to me. Since he was going to the store after his appointments, I asked Justin to get the ingredients for me to make a batch. Sadly, he could not find Wheat Chex, which are my favorite ones. He bought one box of Life to try instead and it turned out rather good, sort of sweeter than expected. Justin believes the gluten-free people have taken over the cereal aisle. I was surprised at how much the mixed nuts cost, though. I better get over this longing quickly! This afternoon and evening I had party mix for my snacks plus leftover food from Koko's where Nancy W., Justin, and I dined last night. Not starving here, that's for sure. Sure did enjoy my day at home and just working at my desk, besides washing my sheets and mattress pad. Will sleep nicely on freshly laundered bedding. Good night!

On the mend

Today was a good day, feeling like nothing happened to me. Still on the soft diet for the most part but stepping out a bit with some Halloween candy. Justin went to the store to get fresh spinach for me today and came back with a wonderful surprise. He had me close my eyes and hold out my hand---a chocolate covered cherry! Yes, Halloween must be over because the Christmas candy is out! Dark chocolate covered cherries---my favorite! They are on the menu of foods to be served at my funeral. Justin told me today to not die in June because these would be hard to get at that time of the year. I suggested he get them at Beerntsen's in Manitowoc, but that would be expensive!

Several people have contacted me and asked how I was doing. Nancy W. I suspect wants to go and do something but is patiently waiting for me to be free to go. She told me a funny story today---her neighbor and she were cleaning up around the pool on their part of the property following a party held there last night. The temps dropped dramatically overnight and it was incredibly windy today. While they were cleaning, the wind caught Gail and into the pool she went. Oh, brrrr....Nancy nicely took a photo of Gail climbing out of the water, like a good friend would! Two patio umbrellas also ended up in the pool before they were all done. NOT a good day to be poolside, or in the pool! Poor Gail!

   

                  Nancy and Burnie sitting poolside before winter came

In the past couple of weeks I've experienced some losses---my family room TV, my cell phone, and my printer. What in the world is that all about?  Justin researched and found me an inexpensive TV which, if ordered online via VyStar, got me a discount and cash back. Yes, it has a smaller screen and is smaller overall, simply because the 'old' TV was so large and bulky. I would have thought that almost 8 years was young yet for a TV but I guess not. Connie actually took it down for me on a rolling trolly thing she has for moving stuff. My neighbor is taking the old one to his son to see if he could fix it, or harvest parts from it. Best wishes to him, as I'm just glad it's gone from the living room. 

Then, Justin researched my phone and plan before we went to Sprint to check it out.  What he/we thought would work did not turn out that way, too many loopholes. To replace my phone with the exact same one would have cost me more money than to get the new iPhone. Now I only have additional cost per month for insurance because the phone is leased for 2 years. Okay, fine, so now I'm modern, even more modern than before. That whole thing really ticked me off, though, because I should have had at least 2 upgrades coming and with the loopholes, nope. 

I am thankful to Justin for treating me to dinner from Panda Express after haggling with the phone people. Ugh! Who would think a phone (my old one) would swell up like that? And wouldn't you know my phone would die while sitting in the waiting area for our turn to be taken care of?? Fortunately, Justin was able to transfer my data from the old phone to the new one using his computer, in about 20 minutes' time as we ate our Chinese food. Already I'm accustomed to using the iPhone 6, and we look forward to getting our 'lifeproof' cases for our phones when they come out. I will appreciate the added protection, for sure, even though I have insurance on it now!

For the printer, I simply ordered a new one through Amazon, a bit smaller than its predecessor by an inch or two, but same brand and features. Bad thing was it won't use the same sized printer cartridges. I tried searching using the cartridge size first, but that didn't work. So, now I have three yellows, a magenta, and one black cartridge and no machine to use them in. I'll offer them to anyone who can use them. The ink costs almost as much a new machine after a few times. Which do I do---order more ink or replace the machine??

I've lost weight

Years ago when I was still married, I would periodically go on a diet. It was on the programs which cost the most money where I experienced the best losses, oddly enough. Or, as expected, whichever applies. It's been awhile since I've been on such a program, my last attempt being LA Weight Loss. On that program I lost about 20 pounds before I quit. I couldn't eat all the food they wanted to eat in the course of the day. Today, I paid over $500 to have one tooth removed...what a weight loss program THIS is!

A few weeks ago, my dentist friend, Peggy, discovered something amiss with my gum along the back tooth of my bridge. She couldn't find anything that looked compromised. Then I was referred to a specialist in Mandarin who looked at my teeth using a microscope, not finding anything either. No charge for his services, this gracious man. He referred me back to Peggy who connected me with an oral surgeon to have him look at it. That was the day I had 5 sets of xrays taken in one sitting, or, standing, as the case might be. He didn't really say, "Oh, there's the problem" or "That doesn't look right...". He just determined the back tooth was coming out and that's it. 

Tuesday was the day set for me to have the bridge detached, saving the crowned tooth on the front of the bridge. Peggy was able to do that for me, and then I'd go immediately to the oral surgeon for the rest of the procedure. Sounds good to me! Only, come Tuesday morning, I got a call from the oral surgeon's office reporting for the first time in 15 years, the surgeon was sick. Oh, oh! I took that as a negative omen...I still kept the first appointment with Peggy (no charge again) to remove the bridge and polish up the remaining tooth. I love her!

So, today was my rescheduled appointment with the oral surgeon. First I went to Bible study and then made my way back to OP. I stopped at McDonald's for a burger and a Diet Coke, thinking I should have food in my stomach before having the nitrous oxide, plus, I was early. After I ate the burger, I went into the office to have my procedure. They didn't take me back right away but did have me pay the charge right away so I didn't have to do it post op. Makes sense...The dental assistant numbed me up with a topical ointment, and then she paced around until the doctor came in. He did the injections, warning me that some of them were going to be 'rough', but they weren't that bad. After about 10 minutes or so he came back, made sure it was numb, and away he went. It did hurt a bit where he had to dig around and he said, "I'm surprised you didn't have more trouble with this tooth..." He let the assistant show it to me, once it was wiped off. It went so quickly once he got started, amazingly so. 

I had been given my post-op instructions beforehand, but it wasn't until I was leaving that she told me "no carbonated beverages" for 24 hours. WHAT???  She said that's the reaction she always gets and I said, "I've got it bad..." She asked, "Diet Coke, right?" I nodded and she said, "I used to be same way with Diet Coke, but now it's coffee." I asked about the soda being flat and she said that would be fine, so that's what I am doing. I started with the one I had in my car from McDonald's and have let two more cans-worth go flat for me to enjoy. Thus far all is going well post op, but I have the pain pills from the doctor ready to go if I need them.

Justin picked up food from Ming Moon, treating me to plain lo-mien and egg drop soup. He got the fun stuff but I was happy with my soft diet, as recommended for the first couple of days. He cancelled Will and Beth's dinner with us for tomorrow night, and did so happily, because he wanted to make sure I could enjoy what he had planned. We are good now for next Tuesday instead. What a guy he is! In the morning he is making me a scrambled egg with cheese in it, which will be delicious. Have to grow the bone back where the damage occurred. It seems that old root canal failed but we just couldn't see that on the x-ray, causing the bone damage. I'll have to take his word for it and hope the healing is swift. It will be if Justin has anything to say about it!

Glow in the dark

The next chapter in my teeth saga continued this morning when I had an appointment with another specialist for an evaluation. The oral surgeon I saw this a.m. was the same man who extracted Justin's wisdom teeth back when we lived in the lake house. Because that went flawlessly, I figured this appointment would as well. 

I had several forms to complete before being seen by the dentist/surgeon. As I was seated at a table and filling them out, an assistant summoned me to follow her. I gathered up the clipboard and my belongings with me to see what was next. She told me to take off my jewelry including my necklace (oh no, not that necklace again!!). I asked her to help get the necklace off and she was rather abrupt about asking how it came off. I don't know because I can't see the clasp. The only other time I've had it off was when my beauty marks were removed and the dental assistant, Yvonne, got it off using her fine instruments. Well, this lady got the necklace off and had me stand at a machine which reminded me of a mammogram machine. 

She said to lower my chin, turn my head, hold the handles, not move, bite down on this thing, and so on. When she was done she told me to go back to finish my paperwork and she'd call me when he was ready. I got situated again and filled out more pages before she called me to come back. Once more I had to stand at the machine and repeat the procedure. I asked her if I'd moved or something and she was abrupt in saying it was too dark. Okay, I stood still, tilted or not tilted, chin lower and higher, everything she said to do. And then I was free to go back to my business. 

When she summoned me the 3rd time she was most apologetic, saying she couldn't get the light right on the panoramic x-ray. She was getting unwelcome advice from a co-worker on how to do the x-ray and I could sense tension in the air over this. I didn't need any more tension, ladies!! She finally got it the 5th time, after she'd help me get the necklace off (I put it on when I finished my paperwork). The assistants and techs stood out of the way during the x-ray but I stood there for 5 views...

At last I was in the chair and the doctor came in to introduce himself. He looked over the paperwork Dr. Lessig had sent over and showed me with a mirror which tooth he was extracting and which were staying. I mentioned that the other specialist had suggested having bone added to the area but this guy said there was no reason for such a treatment. This made me feel much better because it was less serious than I'd been made to feel. With happy gas and Novocaine I should be good to go, seeing Dr. Lessig first to separate the teeth from the attached bridge. Good-bye to my expensive-at-the-time bridge which I got after breaking the tooth on a brownie at Packer tailgate event when I still lived in WI...that's a long time ago!!!

Next Tuesday I go to Dr. Lessig's office first and after she's separated the teeth, I go directly to the oral surgeon to have the back tooth removed. I just wish I knew what was going on with these teeth, why this long time dead tooth is causing a problem, swelling, for no good reason. No obvious break, no apparent leak in the crown, nothing even a microscope could pick up. This is not unlike my top front teeth from last winter to early this year, ending up having to extract the newly repaired tooth and crown. Ugh, enough already! But, I rejoice the cost is going to be less than I anticipated which is good news.