Aged but not deceased

Actually, fruit doesn’t fly unless someone throws it at you. “Time flies like an arrow and fruit flies like a banana.”

We’ve had a lot of fruit flies around here lately so Rosalie has declared war on them. The first sign of a tiny little fly she grabs the deadly tennis racket and proceeds to mow the poor little thing down. The louder the crack as she gets one the bigger the grin. I’m starting to get a bit concerned. She keeps looking at me that way and I think she would like to see if I would make a big crack. If she starts to jump up and down and drool after a kill, I’m out of here.

She’s recovering from her surgery just fine. She still has trouble with her tongue not working right but it hasn’t stopped her from talking. I have to watch what I say once again as she’s starting to get a bit quicker, hence the flying fruit.

We have moved into the motel as we are slowly starting to close things down at the trailer. It’s been raining a lot in the last few days. I lit a fire but it was too cold to sit outside after all. In some ways, it’s been nice sitting in doing nothing after the hectic summer we’ve had. A nice warm faux fire and a good book work wonders for mental health and laziness.

We managed to buy a cord of firewood. We borrowed Bruce’s pick-up as we had to load it ourselves. Rosalie insisted on helping but I warned her to not overdo it. Anyway, she did a good job of stacking it while I caught up on the sports news.

Rosalie amuses herself cooking and waiting on me but other than that life is getting a bit tedious. I would start to pack but apparently, guys have to leave it to the last possible moment and then quiz the wife on where she put all his stuff. I think I’ll stick to that plan, it sounds like fun.

We’ve been amusing ourselves binge-watching tv shows that we’ve already seen but enjoyed. That and reading all the contradictory stories coming from Mexico and those who go there. Actually, the best ones seem to come from people who have never been but feel inclined to give their expert opinion anyway. We’ve had a few laughs over those.

We go back to the trailer often as I’m taking my time winterizing it. Most of our day is spent binge-watching Netflix although we recently found “Acorn TV”, an offshoot of “Prime TV”. They have lots of British and Australian shows so we like that.

Rosalie gets her colonoscopy a week Monday, the 26th. As soon as that’s over we are gone. As the weather gets colder we crave Mexico more. Also, as it gets colder, the fruit flies start to disappear and I can start to relax a bit more.

It’s been a strange couple of weeks. Rosalie’s surgery kind of upset the apple cart. She expected to come out of the hospital and go straight back to doing all the things she normally did. Not so!

As the days passed she became a little depressed because she wasn’t getting better fast enough. So I took her out for walkies a few times and when we had visitors it cheered her up and she’s almost back to normal now.

She especially enjoyed having her sisters and one brother-in-law visit. I took Gordie to the pub with the boys while Rosalie enjoyed an afternoon with her sisters. It was a little cozy in the trailer but we got by. I slept in the loft and both nights we had a windy rainstorm and I was lulled to sleep by the sound of the rain on the roof.

Of course, the passing of Janice hit us all hard. Gordie though is doing well and has a lot of family and community support. We look forward to seeing him soon.

We’ll miss you Janice.

I managed to get the neighbour’s deck finished and they unexpectedly inundated me with Guinness and tequila. For which I was grateful. It will last a while as I’ve cut back on my alcohol intake to get my blood pressure down. Even though the Doc said it wasn’t the alcohol but Rosalie putting my pressure through the roof.

We find that the last few weeks before going either to Mexico or back to Canada a bit tedious. I feel as though I should be starting to pack things away for the winter but still have two weeks to go before we have to leave the campground. Then we have to wait for Rosalie to get her colonoscopy results before booking our flights. In the next week, I have to plant the garlic and onions for next years crop.

This how we feel about now.

We just found out that ‘the donald’ has the Covid. I’m disappointed because the “hydro Cloro whatsits” and the bleach injections didn’t work after all. Oh well, back to the drawing board. We maybe should try injecting sulfuric acid for an extra kick and mothballs for the afterglow.

The day after Rosalie came out of the hospital I had a reaction to my colonoscopy. The 811 nurse on the phone told me to go to the emergency right away. Now we had a dilemma. If I was admitted Rosalie would be left alone. She can’t drive for a few weeks, until she heals and can turn her neck. So she couldn’t drive me in and then go home.

This is where good friends are invaluable. I called Barb and Dave and they agreed to babysit Rosalie for me. As it turned out my problem was not as urgent as the nurse suggested but it needed attention. The doctor at the hospital (female, about 4’10” 18 years old) said it was not the colonoscopy but something in my stomach. I thought perhaps a bleeding ulcer.

She sent me home with instructions to call my family doctor (male, 5’9″ about 50 years old.) I had a phone conversation with him and he suggested that the problem was indeed a temporary complication from the colonoscopy. I was somewhat relieved. I asked him why I was having so many dizzy spells and he told me that I had lost about a pint of blood during the procedure and needed to build it up again by eating steak and taking iron pills. I had no iron pills so substituted it with a glass of Guinness. Yes, it is good for such an emergency.

I had volunteered to build a deck for the neighbours and that’s when I noticed the dizzy spells most. After the steak and Guinness, they lessened a lot. Anyway, I seem to be back to normal now and firing on all three cylinders.

Rosalie is still doing well. She has had a few headaches but the incisions don’t seem to be too painful. She tries to do too much of course but does need a little exercise. I suggested cooking, cleaning and dishes. It’s lucky she can’t move too quickly as I was able to duck just in time.

We are still doing well and looking forward to being back in Mexico. We estimate about early November. It seems though that a lot of people we know aren’t going this year because of the Covid. We still have friends down there and it will be quieter without all the tourists. Although the Mexicans need them.

We’re doing really well!

I got the call at 7:15 this morning to come and pick Rosalie up. For once I wasn’t up early and she woke me.

I hurriedly showered dressed and had some tea before going. I planned on being out of the trailer by eight-thirty and was only ten minutes late leaving. I used the GPS as it gave me a good estimate of what time I would get there.

On the way I gassed up and pulled off in Nanaimo for a Mc Donalds breakfast. The trip was to take about two and a half hours so I settled in for the drive.

I called Rosalie when I got to Victoria and told her that the GPS said I would get there at 11:08. She promised to be waiting. I arrived two minutes early and had to wait a further five minutes for her to show up.

On the drive back she seemed to be a little down so when we got to Nanaimo we picked up here prescription and I suggested that we go visit Peter and Suzie for a few minutes. That small stop-over did wonders for her and bucked her up a lot.

When we got home I realized the enormity of having an invalid wife to look after. I put on something to eat and sat down. Then, the first demand came. “I need a pillow”. I got the pillow. I served up our meal and sat down; “I need a napkin.” I got the napkin and sat down again. “The lights are too bright would you turn them down.” And so it went on. I think she sits there thinking things up to annoy me. I love my wife dearly but I was beginning to think a few more days of freedom would have been nice.

She looks a bit banged up so I have to make allowances and look after her for a while. She has trouble swallowing still but the Doctor said this should be better soon. She can’t move her head too much and her leg is quite sore still. Overall she’s in good shape and it’s great to have her home again. despite what I said earlier.

Well that was stressful, I don’t want another day like that one.

I’ve had several calls and texts from Rosalie today. On one of the calls, she told me that her tongue wasn’t working right. At first, I saw this as a bonus but then I realized she could still talk. She is having trouble eating though. She can’t push the food to where it needs to get chomped. One of the doctors assisting in the surgery told her that they had to move her tongue to one side so they could do the procedure. So for now her tongue leans to the right a bit.

She’ll be allowed to come home tomorrow if she has a good night. She had better be, there are dishes to be done.

I’ve been inundated with texts and emails which I have tried to reply to. My apologies if I missed anyone.

This is the day Rosalie has to have her carotid artery surgery. It didn’t start too well. We locked up the trailer and got in the car only for Rosalie to find that she had forgotten her mask. We went back to the trailer and tried to enter through the bedroom door as the sliding door was still waiting for a new lock. I turned the key and guess what? The lock jammed so now we couldn’t get in at all. Oh well a problem for later.

We left at eight-thirty and drove to Nanaimo so that I could pick up some breakies. On the way, Rosalie was getting text messages from all her fans wishing her well. It was nice to see.

Dropping her off at the hospital was really hard, seeing her going through the doors without me to hold them open for her. I got through it though and now the waiting began.

I got home and the tech was there to fix the door locks so I could at least get in to the trailer.

The waiting was horrible. Not knowing what was going on. And then at 6:20 I called the hospital and they told me she was in recovery. A few minutes the surgeon called me that the surgery went well and Rosalie would be able to call me in a few hours.

I’m a wreck at the moment but will give update each day. The surgeon said she should be home on Wednesday.

We seem to be really busy these days. Rosalie has been getting check-ups and lots of phone calls in readiness for her surgery on the 14th. She spoke to a pharmacist, a nurse and an anesthesiologist. She also had to get a pre-surgery checkup as well as Xrays and lab work. Because of Covid 19, when the day comes, all I can do is drop her off at the hospital in Victoria and go home until she calls me to come and get her two or three days later. No visiting; too bad!

Meanwhile, I’ve been making a fence for the veggie garden to keep out the bunnies, squirrels and cats. I wanted to electrify it to keep out the slugs as well but Rosalie wouldn’t let me.

It seems as though Alan the squirrel has decided not to come back. So with him (or her) gone and not too many blue jays around we need a new wildlife pet. I thought we had a good lead as Rosalie found a large toad in the yard. It seemed to have a bad attitude though as it stuck its tongue out at us. Unperturbed, I tried to feed it a few peanuts but it didn’t seem too interested. So, until it either changes its attitude or learns to like peanuts we’re still looking.

Repairs to the trailer are slowly getting done. The hot water tank has been sorted out as well as the slide. We still have a few other minor problems and they will be back to take care of them later.

We’re still trying to get rid of a lot of our stuff from the storage unit as well as other junk that isn’t needed anymore. Putting it at the side of the road with a free sign seems to help. We’re also selling the motor home that we only bought last year. We realized for various reasons that we really didn’t need it after all.

Our neighbours Bruce and Mary Ellen need a new deck so because I love building them I volunteered to do it for them. I made up some drawing and they got their park building permit. But now we have to remove the old deck. Bruce made a start but he doesn’t do ladders so that’s where I come in. I spent some time trying to find a way to take it down without climbing on the roof. I think I have a system worked out so we’ll see. We’re also going to move their trailer forward about twelve feet so they’ll get more sun.

In my spare time, I’ve been playing with my Fire Stick to try and find free movie sites as an alternative to Netflix and Prime Video. I found a few good ones with good quality video. Some have ads every fifteen minutes or so but they’re not too intrusive. ‘Tubi’ seems to be the best, we’ve watched a couple of good movies on it.

They’ve had a bit of rain in Melaque; the water was a metre deep in the main square.

We have seen a lot of info and media on the storm that hit there. One Canadian resident has been living there for forty years and has never seen anything like this. Homes and businesses have been flooded, roads washed away, mudslides; a total disaster. Except, we were told that a lot of the Mexicans were wadding through the water with grins on their faces, so you can get the attitude of Mexicans. They know that a week or two from now things will be back to normal.

The following video is the main square in Melaque. Bear in mind that the lagoon broke out and there are crocodiles swimming about. Hope these can be played, I copied them from Facebook but haven’t done this before.

Mexican homes don’t have carpets or drywall so when all this is over they will get a hose and wash out their homes. A lot of finishings were damaged and had to be thrown out. The local military is helping out with clean up, but from the videos I’ve seen, the locals are all pitching in without waiting for help from elsewhere.

We were concerned about our car in Pinal Villa so Mike got in his “Bocho” (bug in Spanish) and went to investigate. We didn’t ask him to do it, he did it just cos’. What a great guy, thanks, Mike. He told us his story: after driving through holes ten feet deep in water and fighting off angry alligators, chickens and goats, who wanted to use him as an island, he managed to fight his way to our casa where everything seemed to be fine. We relayed this info to our Landlady who couldn’t get out there, so she was happy.

We weren’t too concerned about the stuff we had left in the house because we had stored the booze in a high cabinet. Our clothes may be fine too. Also, the house is about a metre up and off the road anyway.

We can’t wait to be back there. I would like to be there now, just to help out in some way. Mexicans are resilient though and will bounce back the same way they did from previous storms and earthquakes.

Getting older but not getting old.

I was relieved to realize today that I’m 75 years old, but that converts to 62 American so I’m younger than I thought. Whew! 

I have noticed though, that things are slowing down a lot. When we came back from Mexico I went onto the roof to put up the TV antenna. Because I’m now only  62 I jumped on to the ladder and dashed up…three steps in and I was puffing like an old geezer. Not a good idea; I’m not as limber as I was before. I get on the roof and things start to spin and I have to sit down to reorientate. I have now arranged the antenna so I can take it down from the ground. It would be embarrassing to have to be rescued while crying for my Mum.

We spend a lot more time at the Doctors; well, on the phone with the Doctor. I just had to have a series of shots in my hip because it’s becoming painful to walk. I had X-rays but my arthritis hadn’t progressed. So I guess I’m just a wussy.

When I use my power tools I’m aware that at any time I could lose my driving finger so I take lots of care. It would be frustrating as hell to have to shake a fist instead of showing a finger. I’ve noticed when I’m working that I work ten minutes and then take a twenty-minute break. If it’s in the afternoon most of the breaks include a glass of beer or wine. Falling asleep signals the end of the workday.

I’ll be getting one of these, except I will have a pair of huge speakers blasting out AC/DC and waving a huge Canadian flag as I mow down pedestrians using my space on the sidewalk. I’m looking forward to being an obnoxious old bastard. Some people say I already am. I believe that practice makes perfect. I think I’ll look into it sooner rather than later.

One of the best benefits of getting older is that we can go on wine tours at any time of the year. First, we grab a bottle and head over to Jim and Ylda’s and then on to Art and Linda’s and then to Ron and Petty; etc, etc.

We continue the trend when we get to Mexico; first Jim and Lyda and then Art and Linda and then Mike and Pat; you get the idea.

They say that getting older is not for the faint of heart which is true but with the right attitude I can be a whole lot of fun.

I called Big Boys Toys and asked when we would get another service guy. I also requested that they not sent the original one as he was very know-it-all, as well as very rude and condescending.

We had an electrician show up who tried to diagnose the problem. He was a really nice guy but found that part of the fireplace had to be removed before he could do anything. So back to BBT.

They had to send two guys out this time and because of scheduling problems the obnoxious guy had to be one of them. Oh well! I’d just ignore him. This happened to be on pub day and Rosalie being the great wife that she is, said that she would cover for me while I was out having fun.

On my way home I had to stop off at Home Depot for some supplies. Afterwards, I called Rosalie and asked how the repairs were coming along. She asked me to talk to one of the guys and guess who I got? He told me that they had run out of time and I wouldn’t get the job done that day. I expressed some frustration but let it go. Rosalie called me back and told me that the guy had said to her “If he swears at me again I’m leaving.” I was somewhat taken back by this because I hadn’t sworn at him.

On the way home I was getting really angry so when I got there I confronted the guy and asked him exactly what I had said. He said “Well bloody well get the job finished” At that point, I lost it and did swear at him. He had boldly lied to my face. He also said that he hadn’t said they were finished for the day.

I was still pretty angry so when the idiot went out to his truck I cornered the other guy and reassured him that I wasn’t mad at him; he seemed somewhat relieved.

I called the service manager and explained the situation and we agreed to talk the next day. When I thought about it later I realized that the service guy had picked a very stereotypical English expression that I would most likely never use; I’ve been here in Canada too long.

After they left I checked all the plugs; the one that hadn’t been working, now was, but another one that had been working, now wasn’t. We still had no propane hot water and had to use electricity, the heat in the main area still didn’t come on, but the air conditioning did instead. The 12-volt system was still screwed up even after I had explained the problem.

I called the service manager the next day and listed all the problems, again saying that I didn’t want that fool back. He said that he had a problem because they only had one mobile service guy. I agreed to give it one more try and resolved to call the store owner if this idiot couldn’t fix the problem.

This is an unpleasant situation but through it all BBT has been nothing but courteous and respectful. These are only teething problems but unfortunately, there is also a bit of decay from one guy.