February 2020

February 2020

PA, FL, VA, Mexico, Belize, Honduras

1- SA- FL- We are off on our cruise to the Western Caribbean.  For the next week we will set sail from Miami to Mexico, Belize and Honduras. The journey is going to be as great as the destination.  I can't wait and I cant wait to see how Lauren enjoys this journey.

2- SU- At Sea- what a great way to go through life. We just meandered around the ship. And drank mojitos and eat too much and soaked in the sun.  Damn, we are lucky.

3- M- Mexico- we shopped today.  Lauren couldn't spend her money fast enough.

4- TU- Honduras- I thought we were going kayaking today but I was confused.  Today we took a drive through the island of Roatan and zigzagged through neighborhoods so we could see the everyday life of the people.

5- W- Belize- it was a beautiful, sunny day so we just rented a cabana on the beach and soaked up the warm and the sun.  I did take a quick dip in the Caribbean Sea and loved it. It was a wonderful, lazy day.

6- TH- At Sea- We were scheduled to dock in Mexico today but the weather just did not agree with us.  The harbor closed due to high winds.  The ship's captain came over the PM, right in to our cabins and made the announcement.  Lauren and I were disappointed for a moment as this was going to be another opportunity to snorkel again.  But we recovered quickly and rolled over and slept in until noonish.

7- F- At Sea- it's our last day on the ship and we have decided to hang in the main lounge and watch the last of the adult focused silly game shows.  We had another mojita and checked out the rip-off shopping options on board once again and then went back to the cabin to pack and go home.

8- SA- FL- we got off the boat by 8:30 AM and boarded a bus to take a boat ride through the Everglades National Park.  We were in search of alligators.  And we saw them.  We saw some great birds. Afterwards, we spent 8 hours in the airport, waiting for our return flight to Philly.  It was after midnight before I got home and, as always, it was great to be home.

9- SU- PA- it was good to sleep in my own bed but I did miss the rocking of the boat. I slept in, went food shopping and then sat in the lounge and half-watched the Oscars.  I also had to call Bangladesh to make arrangements for a group we will be running in March.  I spoke to this man for 5 minutes and didn't understand a damn word he said to me.  I wonder if he had the same problem.

10- M- PA- I had an appointment with a Medicare Insurance Specialist today and I was so damn happy.  Come July 1, my premium will be half of what it is today and I will have so many benefits, including vision, hearing, dental and cancer payments.  I will have no damn deductibles which is great because my deductible is $7500/year now.  What a relief.  Afterwards, I went to see JoJo Rabbit and I loved it.

11- TU- PA-  It's a rainy day, warm but dreary.  So I headed to a brewery in Pottstown,  J. J. Ratigan Brewing Company.  I also stopped at the Army Navy Store next door and bought shit I don't need.  I justified it because I signed up for a pain in the ass driving assignment for the Cancer Society tomorrow.  I have to pick someone up by 8:30AM for his treatment and then drive him home at 3:30 so this will encumber my entire day.

12- W- PA- I had to get up early to take a cancer patient to his treatment and then I had to pick him up  again in the mid afternoon.  He must have liked me as he told me that he was going to post his next request soon so I could sign up and get him.  Afterwards, I went home and spent hours going through all of my damn electronic toys.  I have too, too much stuff and it is weighing me down.

13- TH- PA- It was a rainy day so it was a perfect day to drive to Centralia, the ghost town.  I was there 10 years ago and I could still see some semblance of a downtown area.  But today, I couldn't find anything but the old cemetery. Smoke is no longer seeping through the cracks of the sidewalks and the streets.  The main street is now a tourist attraction as it has become known as Graffiti Highway.  On the way home, I stopped at 1787 Brewing Company and Gabe's. And I found things to buy in both of these places.

14- F- PA- I was up early to make a phone call to Bangladesh.  My students still want to make the trip to China in the spring.  So do I so I booked my trip and I am flying round trip for  only $500. I really wanted to see the new Will Farrell movie, Downhill,  and it opened today.  So I went and it was awful. OMG, I wouldn't even watch this movie again for free on Netflix. I posted my first Podcast episode. Afterwards, I went for drinks with Debbie and Jill.  Jill just broke up with Nick so she was a bit of a mess.  She could barely stay in our conversation and then she just had to go home to cry.  So Debbie and I went over to Split Rail and ran in to Joe and Anna and Emelia. I miss them.

15- SA- PA- It was cold today so that curtailed any thought of going outside today.  Mostly I worked on my new podcast.  I don't like how my voice sounds. I'm too forceful.  I need to relax more and I need to get rid of my breathing ticks that are annoying.

16- SU- PA- It was a beautiful, sunny day and at 42F, it seemed warm.  I ushered at the theatre and listened to Marc Cohen sing Walking to Memphis.  He hasn't lost his voice after all these years and he was charming as well. I like this theatre gig.

17- M- PA-  Jimmy texted us early this morning to tell us that Teresa Collebelli died late last night.  She had been suffered terribly for the last 4 years from a freak lung disorder. But is is still hard to let her go. I went to the movies to see the 2019 Nominated Short Action Films. I really liked them all but the one that won the Oscar. Jill called me in the evening and just wanted to chat about her grandmother. She's lost in her grief today and rightly so. It's Brian's birthday.  He is 50 today.

18- TU- PA- I made a call to Bangladesh and talked to Nadia for an hour.  I have to let this assignment go.  I went to the movies to see the 2019 Nominated Short Documentary Films and I had my ticket and waited an hour because I had the wrong start time.  And when I sat down at my seat, I saw that I had a ticket for the Animated Films which does not interest me.  But I stayed anyway and watched them.  I don't really like animated films.  But some of these were really interesting.

19- W- PA-

I went to a gastro-intestinal specialist today to address my vomiting issue.  I hated this woman.  She was rude, dismissive and annoying.  I don't want to go to her.  But if I decide to go elsewhere, it will take another month to get an appointment.  Damn, damn, damn.  She wants me to get blood work, eat a radioactive egg salad sandwich and have a colonoscopy. I don't want to do any of these things.

 I also went to the third in a series of 2019 Nominated Short Films.  I went to see the Short Documentary Films.  And I enjoyed them, but they only showed two films and three more films were being shown in the evening.  I couldn't go because I had to meet Patricia at PSU for a presentation on depression.  A man drew 100 sketches to demonstrate his depression.  He is taking his show, The Anxiety Project,  around the state and it was inspiring.  I really could get over how much I enjoyed it.

20- TH- PA- Jimmy and Joann came by for lunch.  It was good to see Joann and I think she was grateful to get away form the house.  We went to The Social Club for lunch and talked mostly about Teresa.  Joann told me, "I lost my best buddy.  I called her 4 or 5 times a day."  That's a big loss.  I wasted the rest of the day.  I did nothing.  Put a few things away and hung in the lounge.  I should have gone to get my bloodwork done.

21- F- PA/VA- I drove to VA to see Brian and his family.  It was a perfect day for a 5 hour drive.  It was sunny.  There was no traffic and I listened to Jack London's book, The Call of the Wild.  This book is now a movie and I just cant see how this story translates in to a movie. He's given the dogs too much of a human quality.

22- SA- VA- OMG, it was a beautiful, warm, sunny day.  It was a perfect day to get in the car, drive for an hour and take a tour of a whiskey distillery.  We went to the Virginia Distillery  and Woodridge Farm Brewery.  The weather was so damn beautiful that we sat outside on the porch and just took in the beauty of the mountains.  On the way home we picked up a movie, Midway, a movie about our response to the bombing of Pearl Harbor. War is dreadful.

23- SU- VA/PA- we went out for breakfast just as we have for years as I leave the Kellys. I meandered home by way of some of my favorite spots.  I picked up too much junk at Gabe's.  Then I went to the Molly Pritchard Brewery in Carlisle, PA.  It took me 8 hours to get home.  I listened to Mike Pollan's book, Caffeine, on the way home.

24- M- PA- Today was Teresa Collibelli's funeral.  She was a lovely woman who suffered so much.  My heart went out to her sisters who are burying one sibling after another.  There were 16 of them and I think they are half way through the pack. It's hard to let go.  I just keep thinking that she is just going to re-appear in a day or two.

25- T- PA- it is a raining day and it's been so damn nice the last couple of days that now I am a complaining, whiney hiney. Bring back the sunshine.  I didn't do much but I did go to Lisa Kelly's house for dinner.  She wanted my insight in to whether I thought her dad was crazy or not.  They are finally selling the family house at the beach in NJ.

26- W- PA- I had to go to the dentist yet again.  She's all over me because I have not tried using Clorex as a mouth wash as she had prescribed.  On the way home, I discovered that Sly Fox Brewery opened a taproom in Malvern.  So I stopped for a quick flight of three stouts/porters and two IPAs.  I came home and ran in to Jon and Jill and we went out for dinner at a local Italian restuarant.

27- TH- PA- I intended to get lots done today but I started with a call to my insurance company to clarify if I can get blood work done and it took all afternoon to speak to someone, set up a new app to continue to communicate with each other  and get an answer which I still haven't received.  Hopefully, I will find out tomorrow.  I didn't make much more progress on my DoTo list.  I did get a new pack of packing cubes to review for Amazon and I love them,  I can't wait to write my review.  I had to usher at Uptown tonight for Dueling Pianos.  OMG, they played for 2 1/2 hours.  I thought they were never going to end.

28- F- PA- It was cold and I was up early to take a woman to treatment for her cancer.  I got lost and she was late for her appointment. I needed gas and discovered that I forgot to bring my purse so I had to scrap quarters together to get $5 in gas.  I went to the movies with Phylis to see Les Miserables and it was miserable.  It was hard to watch and poor people in Paris battle to stay alive in poverty worlds.

29- SA- PA- It's a Leap Year, an extra day of winter and it is damn cold today.  I was supposed to go to a funeral today with Sue Descano but she had to put her husband in the hospital today and her 96 year old mother needs her care.  So I didn't go so I could help Sue today and she is too exhausted to accept any help. Now I feel bad for missing the funeral.