The medical profession

I'm sure tired of it. I had an appointment this morning with the MD who informed me that my cholesterol was excellent, and which I already knew, and that everything looked fine. He could have called me to tell me that, but let's stick Medicare and Blue Cross for whatever we can. Not only that, he wants to see me in 4 weeks, no doubt so he can tell me the same thing. I have an appointment for July 19, and if everything has gone well with the dental work, I will start my way west. I still don't have much energy and I sleep a lot, but I'm hoping things will improve. (I may complain about the doctors I've seen recently, but they have been pretty good about diagnosing what was wrong with me.)

I left my Coleman 2 burner propane camp stove behind in storage in Sacramento, so now I'm wondering if I should pick up a camp stove for the trip back. I really don't need one when I stay in a motel, but I hope to be doing some camping this trip. The trouble is that I just don't have the space to carry anything else and I'm not sure how much of what I brought with me is going to make the cut for the return trip. I have all the absolute necessities except for the stove, and as long as I can find someplace to get coffee I should be able to survive.

Every time I get into the Highlander I love it more, and find something I didn't know about. I discovered that I can operate all windows from the driver's seat - a fact that I didn't realize before. (I have trouble with those little buttons - never can remember if I push down or pull up to operate the windows. It should be evident, push the window DOWN, and pull the window UP, but I often with I had the old-style crank to operate them.) This morning I arrived at my appointment about 10 minutes early, so I got out the Toyota Owner's Manual and read a few pages. It is amazing what you can find out by reading the instructions, but if they were online I would never have found them. Now I need to read the complete section on the operation of the lights as well as the cruise control. I learn best by doing - trial and error - but once in a while you have to just settle down and read the boring instructions.

On Sunday, Father's Day, I went with Mike, Sandy & the boys to her aunt & uncle's house. Absolutely great food and company, and they insisted I bring Lady along. They have a nice spacious yard, and all the little kids enjoyed petting her. She enjoyed the walks in a new-to-her neighborhood, which is so pet friendly they have doggie pick-up bags and receptacles along the way. This is an older, established neighborhood, with gazillion dollar houses, and not some new development with cookie cutter McMansions. I wouldn't have expected it to be so people and pet friendly. I really love New York and the east, but it is just too expensive to live here, at least to start out at my stage of the game. It just amazes me how rural it is so close to NYC.

I had hoped to do a day trip into NYC, but logistics make that highly improbable. It would take me about 1-1/2 hrs each way on the train, although I could cut that down by going into Westchester Co. with my son and getting on the train there. It would be during the morning commute and I would no doubt have to stand all the way to Grand Central Station. I'd stay in the City overnight with my niece if I didn't have the dog to consider. The excursion will probably have to wait for another time and visit, when I might just put Lady in a kennel for a couple of days.