Just Life As I Know It
So, backing up a few days:
Saturday, June 20:
Picked D up at the airport mid day. He'd been at a mine site in Peru all week, and I was glad to see that he looked pretty chipper as he descended the stairs to the greeting/baggage area. The previous day I had received an email from him, which I think was intended to reassure me that he was doing OK, despite the extremely high elevation at jobsite (15,000 feet). He had told me not to worry because the company had arranged to have an ambulance follow behind the consultant's trucks all day, just incase one of them succumbed to altitude sickness. This man totally did not understand why I didn't find this little piece of information re-assuring ! An ambulance bespeaks the very real possibility of a major medical crisis arising. And, quite frankly, I was concerned about the level of equipment in the ambulance: oxygen tanks or just brown-paper bags to breathe into? Conditions at some of these sites can be just a hair above primitive.
Sunday, June 21:
Father’s Day. Excellent day. D had a perfect day. Started out with a breakfast in bed of his favorite sticky buns and orange juice. The day was nicely balanced between opening gifts, time to relax, time with the kids, and a family dinner. Everyone coming over and giving their time was the best gift of all. His daughter lives out of state, but she sent him a wonderful story she had written and a poem. It was nice to see him enjoy his day and know that he is appreciated by all.
Monday, June 22:
Is there a worse feeling than turning the ignition key in the car and … Nada.. nothing....? Not a whirr or a plunk or even a chunkety-chunk-spurt, just heart-sinking, dead-engine quiet. Crap. Should have known. Car batteries don't last in the desert heat. It's more-or-less SOP to replace your car's battery -- no matter how expensive it might have been -- every two years. Turned out we had last replaced the battery in August of '07, so we were two months under the wire with the warranty, meaning we could get a free replacement. The problem was getting the car to the dealer to get the darn battery out, checked and replaced. It was in the garage, next to the vehicle we were going to have to use to get it jumped, but too far away for the cable to reach. Not to mention, it was practically in the lap of the furnace and water heater, both gas, and paranoid me was terrified of sparks causing an explosion and blowing us all into Kansas. We managed to get the car into neutral (which it wasn’t happy to do without being started first), and D pushed it part way out of the garage as I rode the driver’s seat ready to apply the brakes - the plan was to just get the car part way out of the garage but prevent it from rolling backwards down our sloping driveway into the street. Long story short - D got it jumped and started, made it to the service center before they closed, and was home in time for dinner.
Tuesday, June 23:
Upside of the day: Two-hour dance lesson today: first hour cleaning up our rumba and cha cha with our usual instructor, David, followed by an hour of Argentine Tango with Jenny. Worked out really well, actually. Still cannot believe D took time out of his work day to do this ! I’m loving the Tango. Great fun. Lots of interesting footwork.
Downside of the day: It is 100 plus G-only-knows-how-many degrees outside with a nasty wind blowing. This weather is for lizards, and lizard hunters, only. Anyone in the Portland area interested in a having a house guest? Do you take dogs? Do you have lizards?
Saturday, June 20:
Picked D up at the airport mid day. He'd been at a mine site in Peru all week, and I was glad to see that he looked pretty chipper as he descended the stairs to the greeting/baggage area. The previous day I had received an email from him, which I think was intended to reassure me that he was doing OK, despite the extremely high elevation at jobsite (15,000 feet). He had told me not to worry because the company had arranged to have an ambulance follow behind the consultant's trucks all day, just incase one of them succumbed to altitude sickness. This man totally did not understand why I didn't find this little piece of information re-assuring ! An ambulance bespeaks the very real possibility of a major medical crisis arising. And, quite frankly, I was concerned about the level of equipment in the ambulance: oxygen tanks or just brown-paper bags to breathe into? Conditions at some of these sites can be just a hair above primitive.
Sunday, June 21:
Father’s Day. Excellent day. D had a perfect day. Started out with a breakfast in bed of his favorite sticky buns and orange juice. The day was nicely balanced between opening gifts, time to relax, time with the kids, and a family dinner. Everyone coming over and giving their time was the best gift of all. His daughter lives out of state, but she sent him a wonderful story she had written and a poem. It was nice to see him enjoy his day and know that he is appreciated by all.
Monday, June 22:
Is there a worse feeling than turning the ignition key in the car and … Nada.. nothing....? Not a whirr or a plunk or even a chunkety-chunk-spurt, just heart-sinking, dead-engine quiet. Crap. Should have known. Car batteries don't last in the desert heat. It's more-or-less SOP to replace your car's battery -- no matter how expensive it might have been -- every two years. Turned out we had last replaced the battery in August of '07, so we were two months under the wire with the warranty, meaning we could get a free replacement. The problem was getting the car to the dealer to get the darn battery out, checked and replaced. It was in the garage, next to the vehicle we were going to have to use to get it jumped, but too far away for the cable to reach. Not to mention, it was practically in the lap of the furnace and water heater, both gas, and paranoid me was terrified of sparks causing an explosion and blowing us all into Kansas. We managed to get the car into neutral (which it wasn’t happy to do without being started first), and D pushed it part way out of the garage as I rode the driver’s seat ready to apply the brakes - the plan was to just get the car part way out of the garage but prevent it from rolling backwards down our sloping driveway into the street. Long story short - D got it jumped and started, made it to the service center before they closed, and was home in time for dinner.
Tuesday, June 23:
Upside of the day: Two-hour dance lesson today: first hour cleaning up our rumba and cha cha with our usual instructor, David, followed by an hour of Argentine Tango with Jenny. Worked out really well, actually. Still cannot believe D took time out of his work day to do this ! I’m loving the Tango. Great fun. Lots of interesting footwork.
Downside of the day: It is 100 plus G-only-knows-how-many degrees outside with a nasty wind blowing. This weather is for lizards, and lizard hunters, only. Anyone in the Portland area interested in a having a house guest? Do you take dogs? Do you have lizards?