We had a yard sale, we gave. away a bunch of stuff to Haitian relief, we bagged the rest and Matt came by with his truck and took it to the dump and we both wondered where the hell it had all come from...and where it is going. This really is a. world with too much stuff and we are both swearing to each other: never again. We are determined the van will not bulge with stuff. Our track record sucks but perhaps one is not too old to keep trying to get it right.
Next week the Salvation Army comes by to see what these may be left that they could use. after that we want to get Matt back with his pick up and send a last load to the dump. This process of unraveling is a total pain. We have packed and repacked the van to try to rationalize what we are taking with us. To start. totally open ended voyage isn't easy but we are taking up that challenge with a will.
I've got a date in Jacksonville next month, a date that seemed pretty much a day like any other when I made it and now marks an inconvenient hiccough in the middle of other plans! We are upgrading the suspension and putting a skid plate under the engine and transmission. I had thought about lifting the van a few inches but the lift compromises the basic design and reliability of the front wheel drive system.
I made a joke to my wife after she had her inspection describing us as the two cleanest assholes in Florida- we both got the all clear after our respective colonoscopies so we are good to go. The whole process keeps getting easier especially as it keeps the chance of colon cancer, a painful condition, at bay. Preventative care is well worth the irritation of the process.
Walking Key West remains a pleasure though social distancing and mask wearing are falling by the wayside. 50,000 Floridians are dead from Covid and thousands more have side effects persisting and even more have eye watering medical bills to deal with. Yet I see local officials posting group pictures mask free without a care in the world.
A local body builder has a go fund me to pay for treatment as he suffers the worst torment Covid can inflict. He's on a. respirator alone in the hospital, his foe continues to work at her public job mask free and their two children I guess take their chances. I cannot stand how preventable these disasters are. No one is stronger than the virus when it grabs even a body builder by the genes.
Fund raisers for illness and medical care used to be commonplace in the Keys, a community with not much in the way of health benefits for tourism related jobs. Since Obamacare those efforts have shrunk out of sight oddly enough and I remember all the noise against expanding health care accessibility. My city insurance runs out on my birthday so as of November 1st I'm an Obamacare participant at $512 a month with an $8500 out of pocket and 100% coverage thereafter. I'm eligible for Medicare in a year but this will tide me over.
The ability to have healthcare coverage liberates a person from the need to either go without altogether or to hold a job that provides the coverage whether you want the job or not. I'm guessing without Obamacare I'd have to stayed on the job till next year but if I get sock or broken(again) I'm covered. My city job limited me to $4000 out of pocket but I'm okay with the new arrangement. Europeans with cradle to grave coverage don't begin to understand these issues.
You see a man cycling down the street all alone wearing a mask and one is free to imagine he may be overdoing it. And yet he is free to be overly cautious rather than underly. The messages we get are so mixed up who knows where our problems lie.
I was sweating as I walked. The feeling was familiar. Something at least is still the way you always remembered it.
2 comments:
My sister bought a small house (not tiny, just small) and says she has had to learn to be ruthless about what comes into the house, and what she keeps and how long she keeps it. I suspect you and Lyne will have to be the same. But you have experience from the boat, so you’ll be fine.
-ptui- Layne
Post a Comment