This wonderful room with an ocean view - ahem....also is equipped with wi-fi (per the glossy brochure.) So, at 4:30 a.m (I'm an early bird) I dragged my 85lb laptop out of its case and up onto the desk near the window. I plugged in all the proper bits and clicked on my bookmark for the BBC. I waited - nothing. So I clicked on the little icon that shows what connections one has. It shows that there are 3 wireless networks within range. 2 are secure networks that require a password which I don't have and one is an open network but the signal strength is very low - VERY LOW ha! it's so low in fact that it hasn't got the strength to crawl up the stairs to room 402! I'll have Mr. Indi call the office when he gets finished with his morning sit!
The little man in the office was very sweet about the whole wi-fi thing. He explained that the signal is very good in the courtyard next to the fountain but very bad on the ocean view side of the hotel. So there it is - you can have an ocean view or wi-fi and a fountain BUT not both!
One of the reasons for picking San Clemente as a get away spot was so that I could go to the British import shop and stock up on essentials - Bisto- Oxo- marmalade etc. The shop is on the main street in town and we stopped there first before looking around. Unfortunately, I had just picked up a couple of items when I started to have one of my terrible coughing/choking spells. I motioned to Mr. Indi that I was in distress and had to go outside. He said " OK, do you want me to get you some of those sherbert flying saucers that you like." I motioned.....NO- I"M CHOKING! And with that I staggered outside and flopped down on a bench on the sidewalk. The choking wouldn't stop and I tried to hide my head as the mucus and goo was running out of my mouth and nose.
I looked up to see Mr. Indi chatting away to the English lady shopkeeper and smiling and laughing......I choked on! I began to feel like that little girl in the movie "Airplane" The one who has her oxygen line pulled out by the nun playing the guitar. Finally he strolled out and handed me a little paper bag. "Here, I got you those flying saucers!"
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
A Weekend Away - Friday
We arrived at San Clemente at about 3 p.m. on Friday afternoon. I did the driving as Mr. Indi is still a bit wobbly. I found the hotel without any problems and he checked into the office and soon came back with our room keys. Room 402.
I looked around and a fleeting thought crossed my mind......hmmmm......this hotel only has 3 floors. I wonder where room 402 is?
As we had quite a bit of luggage (trache care etc!) Mr. Indi got a luggage cart from the office and we loaded it up. I asked Mr. Indi if he knew where Room 402 was. Yes, he said.....we take the elevator to the 2nd. floor! Okie Dokie.
It took a good ten minutes to find the elevator but once inside I pressed Floor 2 and off we went. We arrived at Floor 2 and pulled the loaded cart out into a small lobby. Which way?......I dunno - he says. I make a quick perusal and see nothing that looks vaguely like a fourth floor. Get back in - I say. Room 402 must be off the 3rd floor. We repeated the exercise on the 3rd floor and I was not in the least bit surprised to find...NO ROOM 402.
Back down to second floor we trundle with our bags and baggage. Mr. Indi says he is sure that our room is off the second floor. I am sure that we have booked a room that doesn't exist! I leave Mr. Indi in the 2nd floor lobby and go for a reconnoiter. Lo and behold.....I find Room 402 nestled next door to the 2nd. Floor Conference Room! Huh!
When I booked the room on the web, I booked an upgraded room with an ocean view and I was pleased to see, once we found the blasted room, that it did, in fact, have an ocean view. If you looked carefully through the large picture window, you could see a sliver of the Pacific Ocean in between an auto body repair shop and a large apartment building! And, worth every penny!
After all that drama, I had to have a rest! Later in the evening we walked to a nearby Japanese Steak House and had a nice meal. ( I had some sauteed sea scallops) and then we walked down to the beach. A pleasant end to the day.
I looked around and a fleeting thought crossed my mind......hmmmm......this hotel only has 3 floors. I wonder where room 402 is?
As we had quite a bit of luggage (trache care etc!) Mr. Indi got a luggage cart from the office and we loaded it up. I asked Mr. Indi if he knew where Room 402 was. Yes, he said.....we take the elevator to the 2nd. floor! Okie Dokie.
It took a good ten minutes to find the elevator but once inside I pressed Floor 2 and off we went. We arrived at Floor 2 and pulled the loaded cart out into a small lobby. Which way?......I dunno - he says. I make a quick perusal and see nothing that looks vaguely like a fourth floor. Get back in - I say. Room 402 must be off the 3rd floor. We repeated the exercise on the 3rd floor and I was not in the least bit surprised to find...NO ROOM 402.
Back down to second floor we trundle with our bags and baggage. Mr. Indi says he is sure that our room is off the second floor. I am sure that we have booked a room that doesn't exist! I leave Mr. Indi in the 2nd floor lobby and go for a reconnoiter. Lo and behold.....I find Room 402 nestled next door to the 2nd. Floor Conference Room! Huh!
When I booked the room on the web, I booked an upgraded room with an ocean view and I was pleased to see, once we found the blasted room, that it did, in fact, have an ocean view. If you looked carefully through the large picture window, you could see a sliver of the Pacific Ocean in between an auto body repair shop and a large apartment building! And, worth every penny!
After all that drama, I had to have a rest! Later in the evening we walked to a nearby Japanese Steak House and had a nice meal. ( I had some sauteed sea scallops) and then we walked down to the beach. A pleasant end to the day.
Monday, April 28, 2008
Taking My Trache Away (For The Weekend)
Having a tracheostomy is horrible......but as it was a life saving procedure....I'm thankful that I have it. Now, having said that, taking my trache away to the seaside is no easy task!
Traches are very high maintenance. Mine requires lots of stuff....including but not limited to:
A Sucky machine ( suction catheter and machinery with AC/DC adaptor for charging)
A large bottle of Peroxide and water (1/4 to 3/4 mix)
A big bag of clean gauze.
A box of surgical gloves.
A large make-up mirror so that I can see if I'm sucking the right thing! (Well, I don't want to suck my eyeball out at 3 in the morning!)
Boxes of 4x4 and 3x3 sterile dressings.
Several spare inner candulars....the bit that goes inside the trache tube
I also need........pain killers.......throat medicine......and something to help me sleep if needed....preferably alcohol.
And once we got it all packed, we were ready to go off for a weekend by the sea!
Traches are very high maintenance. Mine requires lots of stuff....including but not limited to:
A Sucky machine ( suction catheter and machinery with AC/DC adaptor for charging)
A large bottle of Peroxide and water (1/4 to 3/4 mix)
A big bag of clean gauze.
A box of surgical gloves.
A large make-up mirror so that I can see if I'm sucking the right thing! (Well, I don't want to suck my eyeball out at 3 in the morning!)
Boxes of 4x4 and 3x3 sterile dressings.
Several spare inner candulars....the bit that goes inside the trache tube
I also need........pain killers.......throat medicine......and something to help me sleep if needed....preferably alcohol.
And once we got it all packed, we were ready to go off for a weekend by the sea!
I Hope It Isn't Catching.
As we were getting ready to leave for our weekend away, last Friday, Mr. Indi stopped by the next door neighbor and asked her to keep an eye on the house while we were gone. ( I don't know why we ask because she is the nosiest woman on the planet- I mean......who but a nosey parker has a front door made of a one way mirror!
Well, she dropped a bombshell! It seems that the day after Barney died, Pat, his next door neighbor died suddenly. She was only about 55 and worked as a real estate agent. I don't know what happened to her.....but I sure hope it isn't catching. That is 2 deaths in one week on our little street.
Well, she dropped a bombshell! It seems that the day after Barney died, Pat, his next door neighbor died suddenly. She was only about 55 and worked as a real estate agent. I don't know what happened to her.....but I sure hope it isn't catching. That is 2 deaths in one week on our little street.
Friday, April 25, 2008
What a Shocker!
Yesterday afternoon, while I was watering the front garden, I saw my neighbor coming down the street. I don't see her too often as she is unable to get about very well due to rheumatoid arthritis. She stopped and asked how I was and then told me that she was going to take a card to Dorothy who lives in the house at the end of the cul-de-sac as her husband, Barney, had died on Tuesday.
Well, you could have knocked me over with a feather. I couldn't believe it. Barney was one of the happiest people in the neighborhood. He always wore a smile. An avid gardener, he grew all his own vegetables and some stunning roses. When I was driving to my radiation therapy, I would see him every morning watering his front garden. He always waved and sometimes I would stop and chat (to the extent that I can chat with a trache) and he would wish me well. He and Dorothy had been married for over 40 years and had a beautiful home and lovely children and grandchildren.
He evidently had a dizzy spell one day last week. He fell and hit his head on the closet door and as he went down he crushed a vertebrae. They operated on him last Sunday but he never recovered.
I will miss Barney and his cheerful wave. Poor Dorothy.
Well, you could have knocked me over with a feather. I couldn't believe it. Barney was one of the happiest people in the neighborhood. He always wore a smile. An avid gardener, he grew all his own vegetables and some stunning roses. When I was driving to my radiation therapy, I would see him every morning watering his front garden. He always waved and sometimes I would stop and chat (to the extent that I can chat with a trache) and he would wish me well. He and Dorothy had been married for over 40 years and had a beautiful home and lovely children and grandchildren.
He evidently had a dizzy spell one day last week. He fell and hit his head on the closet door and as he went down he crushed a vertebrae. They operated on him last Sunday but he never recovered.
I will miss Barney and his cheerful wave. Poor Dorothy.
Thursday, April 24, 2008
A New Taste Sensation!
When Mr. Indi and I quit smoking (2 years ago on May 1) we vowed to spend the money that we saved on something fun. Since that time we have been going out to lunch on a very regular basis and spending much more than we ever spent on the ciggies!
Yesterday, we tried the new Thai restaurant that has just opened in town. I can't say that I think much of the ambiance...lots of noise and, of course, people on their cell phones.....but the food was excellent. I still can't eat anything spicy because my throat is like a piece of ground meat so I had a very mild Thai Chicken Red Curry with coconut milk and pineapple. Mr. Indi had one of his favorites - Pad Thai. We shall be going back there very soon!
Some excitement on the cul-de-sac yesterday. The chap up the road (we call him Elvis - don't know his real name!) has had an old truck and an even older car parked in front of his house now for about 3-4 years. ( Our city ordinance forbids cars to be parked on city streets longer than 72 hours without moving.) Once in a while he would get the hose pipe out and spray the two heaps of junk...as though that was doing anything other than moving the dirt around!
Well, at about 9 a.m. a police car cruised up the road and parked in front of my neighbors house. She (female officer) sat there for ages and I couldn't figure out what she was up to. Finally, at about 10 a.m. 2 large tow trucks showed up and hauled both clunkers away. They made such a noise, I was sure that Elvis would come out and have a fit at the sight of his motors being confiscated....but no...not a peep. Today, I see that someone has placed a large trash can in the road where the cars used to live.....grrrrr....I expect Elvis is going to get his babies back and is saving a parking place for them...Argggg!
Mr. Indi is feeling much better today as the effects of the chemo start to wear off. He wants to get away for a couple of days so I have made reservations and we shall be at the beach this weekend.
Yesterday, we tried the new Thai restaurant that has just opened in town. I can't say that I think much of the ambiance...lots of noise and, of course, people on their cell phones.....but the food was excellent. I still can't eat anything spicy because my throat is like a piece of ground meat so I had a very mild Thai Chicken Red Curry with coconut milk and pineapple. Mr. Indi had one of his favorites - Pad Thai. We shall be going back there very soon!
Some excitement on the cul-de-sac yesterday. The chap up the road (we call him Elvis - don't know his real name!) has had an old truck and an even older car parked in front of his house now for about 3-4 years. ( Our city ordinance forbids cars to be parked on city streets longer than 72 hours without moving.) Once in a while he would get the hose pipe out and spray the two heaps of junk...as though that was doing anything other than moving the dirt around!
Well, at about 9 a.m. a police car cruised up the road and parked in front of my neighbors house. She (female officer) sat there for ages and I couldn't figure out what she was up to. Finally, at about 10 a.m. 2 large tow trucks showed up and hauled both clunkers away. They made such a noise, I was sure that Elvis would come out and have a fit at the sight of his motors being confiscated....but no...not a peep. Today, I see that someone has placed a large trash can in the road where the cars used to live.....grrrrr....I expect Elvis is going to get his babies back and is saving a parking place for them...Argggg!
Mr. Indi is feeling much better today as the effects of the chemo start to wear off. He wants to get away for a couple of days so I have made reservations and we shall be at the beach this weekend.
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Now I've Started Something, Eh?
Some days I think......Is this all there is?.......but then again I think I've been listening to too many Peggy Lee records! Today I think....What a beautiful morning......I woke up and that is good!
Mr. Indi was back at work today. He had chemo last Thursday and was trying to be macho by going back to work on Monday but he became very wobbly and several of the guys told him to get back home. He came back and rested and enjoyed the rest so much that he stayed home yesterday too. We had a pleasant day doing not much of anything except for a nice lunch at Carino's.
I had a bit of a scare yesterday afternoon when the post came. I got a letter from my doctor saying that I had a referral to see a dermatologist about the lesion (mole) on my left cheek. Yikes...I don't have a mole on my left cheek and I haven't seen this particular doctor since last September. They have evidently sent me someone else's referral. Now, that is scary. I had Mr. Indi give them a call ( I still can't speak well because of my trache.) I hope they get it sorted.
Mr. Indi was back at work today. He had chemo last Thursday and was trying to be macho by going back to work on Monday but he became very wobbly and several of the guys told him to get back home. He came back and rested and enjoyed the rest so much that he stayed home yesterday too. We had a pleasant day doing not much of anything except for a nice lunch at Carino's.
I had a bit of a scare yesterday afternoon when the post came. I got a letter from my doctor saying that I had a referral to see a dermatologist about the lesion (mole) on my left cheek. Yikes...I don't have a mole on my left cheek and I haven't seen this particular doctor since last September. They have evidently sent me someone else's referral. Now, that is scary. I had Mr. Indi give them a call ( I still can't speak well because of my trache.) I hope they get it sorted.
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