1-11-25 Chile Prep Week
Retired Life. Sunday.
You know, just because we're cautious and prepared, I set an alarm anyways so we could be sure to make it to church at 11. Because you just never know. But no problem, I woke up about two hours before the alarm did and got some peaceful reading time.
Here's a Jesus Picture for you regardless.
Once back awake, I did read some more, ate some leftovers for dinner, and then we watched the movie "The Forge". Pretty good Christian Movie.
Chill, restful Sundays are the best and are needed, even during retirement.
Retired Life. Monday.
Today was supposed to be that monthly day when we are grounded to the house because the FedEx Dude is bringing Hanna's expensive and dangerously poisonous Chemotherapy Pills and requires a signature. The "grounded to the house" part went well. The Dude never showed up though. Hanna says there is some sort of message on the app about a snow delay. Sigh...........
Chilean Pesos because next week we travel to Chile, where I served my mission over four decades ago!
Since I was grounded to the house, I spent most of the day preparing for the trip. Checking airline reservations, creating a menu so we would know when to eat and how and where and what. I pulled out the power transformers to get familiar with them (Chile uses 220v...). And I dug out my box of Souvenirs and located maps of each of the places I served in and a pile of my appointment books! Very cool. I noticed that, typical of a person with accounting genes, I had meticulously marked on the maps each place I lived, where the churches were at, and the homes of people that were baptized! Very helpful stuff! I'm thinking most of the people I met with down there have passed on, but we will be visiting a lot of places that should look a bit familiar to me. We're both getting excited for this trip!
And maybe the FedEx Dude will show up tomorrow. As retired folks, we can make it work with our schedule.
In the evening, we watched a great Championship Football Game, FCS National Bison vs Bobcats. Always a great game and the Big Sky was well represented.
Retired Life. Tuesday.
Go get groceries day. With schedule changes. Since the FedEx Dude didn't make it yesterday, I got notification that he was coming today. My Chilean Pesos arrived in the afternoon and are now ready to be spent! (Very cool that the 2,000 Peso Bill has a picture of Joseph Smith on it...).
I threw in a picture of Frivvy trying to decide whether he wants to get down from the recliner or not.
And, Hanna's chemo drugs are still a no show. FedEx help line says to just keep waiting. Pharmacy that shipped them won't do anything until they are deemed lost by FedEx. Website says there are snow delays. (Memphis got 5.5 inches...really? Delays?) Actual Dude that brought the Pesos said he knew nothing about snow delays and looked confused. Maybe tomorrow...
After dinner, we watched A Man On The Inside. We totally relate to folks that age and their behavior and enjoyed the show. Old retired people rock!
Retired Life. Wednesday.
This is the last "free" day before we embark on our trip to Chile on Monday. So, I spent it putting together loose ends. Making a packing list of what to bring. Checking on reservations. Learning about getting through Immigration and Customs, learning about weird traffic laws they have, and trying to figure out how to get some groceries down there. The plan was to do an on-line order from Lider, aka Chilean Walmart, and then just pick them up, but I found I had to have a Chilean phone number and the equal of a Chilean Social Security Number to do so. So, we will be shopping in person in a small family-owned store in Constitucion where we will be staying the first night, after we get checked in. That will be a fun experience. Also, I was comparing my 1980 map of Talca to the current one on Google Maps. Totally different. Most of the street names have been changed from names of folks to numbers. Probably due to the huge earthquake that wiped the place out several years ago and the rebuild. Gonna be a fun challenge to find some of the places I want to see.
Then I started booking airfare and lodging for our trip to Atlanta in February where a bunch of our grandkids live. And somewhere in all that, I fit in a good solid nap.
Hanna's Chemotherapy Drug drama. It has not yet arrived. FedEx's plan B is "please just wait, it will arrive someday", yet their app shows it has been stuck in Memphis since Friday. But they did mark it as "priority" and said someone would call us with an update. No one has yet. The Pharmacy that sends it to us from Texas was helpless "just wait, it usually eventually arrives at some point in time..." $20k worth of drugs, of course they don't want to send another batch. But you'd think they had it insured and wouldn't it be FedEx's liability anyways? Finally, Hanna called the local pharmacy that ordered it for us. They made a bunch of curt phone calls, but got no where either. sigh................She is supposed to start on the new batch tomorrow. It isn't the end of the world if she starts late. But seriously???
And I failed to take any pictures today. Probably because there wasn't anything much to take a picture of. So, below is a picture of one of my favorite missionary buddies and me from when we served together in Talca, Chile. Burt actually called me today and gave me some good tips on returning to Chile. We're still great friends after all these decades. I believe we are standing outside the Stake Center in Talca. I will be there soon...
Retired Life. Thursday.
We ran errands in town all day. Here's the exciting list:
- Worshipped in the temple. (Next time we worship in a temple, we will be in Chile!)
- Stopped at the bank to get some cash for kids and grandkids birthdays this year. (Planning ahead, right?)
- Lunch at Darcy's. Along with Uno. (We could've gone to Denny's, but they're tearing the place down...)
- To our Chiropractor's Office. I got my back decompressed and adjusted while Hanna got a massage. (We're all happy and pain-free now.)
- Next was Walgreen's for Typhoid shots in preparation for our trip to Chile. Only they only had one shot in stock even though they had made our appointments for two shots days ago.
- Sat in the truck while Hanna called just about every Walgreen's in town to find one that has Typhoid shots in stock. Found one clear up on the north side. But they won't give more shots until tomorrow. So guess what's now on the agenda for our Friday?
- Stopped at the UPS store to return an Amazon order we ended up not needing.
- Stopped at the pharmacy and grocery store to pick up a few things.
Once at home, we watched (tape delayed so we didn't have to sit through 75 million hours of commercials) the CFP game. Went down to the last few seconds...Great game!
Hanna Chemo Drug update. She finally got someone from FedEx to admit the packaged was "damaged or destroyed" by equipment in Memphis. (This is a $20k package and that is probably why no one ever wanted to admit it was damaged or resend it.) The Pharmacists weren't sure what has to happen next. New prescription by the doctor? Just send again? Need authorization from someone first? We still don't know tonight, but may hear back tomorrow. I told Hanna maybe it's all good because her immune system will get stronger for when we are in Chile...
Facts: The medical system is broke. Old people like us get discouraged with our always-tired, always needs medication, something always aches bodies. Retirement is still blissful.
Retired Life. Friday.
We started the day right by going out to Breakfast like most old folks do. And before the food arrived, Hanna did her best to make sure to beat me bad at Uno. Food finally arrived. Palouse Omelette for me. Some sort of eggs on top of stuff bowl for Hanna.
Then we drove into Spokane for Hanna's much anticipated Typhoid shot so she is prepared for the "don't drink the water" stuff in Chile next week.
Note that on the way though, Hanna was busy working the phone trying to get her Cancer Drugs delivered. The local doctor and pharmacy got it reordered. The Pharmacy in Texas that doles it out processed it. And, they can't have it here until Tuesday. Ugh. We'll be on our way to Chile by then. But, and I personally take credit for this brilliant idea, she got them to deliver it to the front desk of the hotel we'll be staying at in Orlando that night. Should work.
Once at Camp Baird and unlocking the place, we marveled at all the snow and took a bunch of pictures. Frivvy made himself at home, content in the snow and on the frozen lake. Inside the cabin is always cool. A prior troop left their duty rosters on the fridge. We built fires. I included a picture of the famous deer mount which inspired the now famous "Swag Stag Patrol". And Frivvy was petrified of the stuffed bobcat that was stored away in the corner upstairs.
Once the young men and their dads arrived, we gave them the two bit tour, then ditched to stay in a nice, comfortable, heated AirBnB cabin in Ione. A good night's sleep is most valuable to an old feeble couple like us. And we figured the night will be late in the Camp Baird Cabin.
Retired Life. Saturday.
The pictures tell it:
- Frivvy last night after playing a ton in the snow at Camp Baird. He just wanted to snuggle up in his warm bed.
- Decorations in our Airbnb. This is what you get in Ione. It was awesome!
- Sunny day at Camp Baird. We went back up to check out and lock up after the rest of the crew left for home.
- Snow caves. Although kinda of kicked in at this point. It appears a couple of boys spent the night in it. I'll know tomorrow for sure because they'll no doubt be bragging about it (or not) at church.
- No one fell through the ice. Polar Bear Plunge was a total fail though.
- Beautiful day to drive through the forest on our way home.
- A couple of pictures of the Patriotic Palouse Sunset that greeted us shortly after we got home.
Once home, I sat down to read my book, but soon was sound asleep. I'm not sure how long I slept, but it was dark when I finally woke up. And it doesn't matter because I'm retired. And retirement is blissful.
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