Month: March 2024

31 March 2024

I hope you had a profitable day hunting eggs!

Personally, I didn’t find any. I barely made it through my morning walk (0.9 miles). I almost didn’t try it I felt so badly. I don’t know if it’s the physical therapy taking a toll or what but I was wiped.

It didn’t help not getting much sleep. I kept waking every hour to pee and then struggling to get back to sleep. Even so, it was after 8:30 I got out of bed. Somewhere around 2:30 am I took an Advil PM to supplement the sleeping pill I always take.

I was supposed to go to an Easter brunch at a friend’s house in Cooper City but texted her I wasn’t going to make it. I hate canceling at the last minute but knew I wasn’t going to be up to it. I went back to bed around noon and have just gotten up at 3:00 pm. I’ll probably not sleep tonight again because of a 3 hour nap.

It was a gorgeous morning for a walk. The humidity is still low (for us) and the low temperature this morning was 67°F. Right now it’s 80. There are great big puffy clouds in the sky and you could spend time looking for shapes. Last week, on one of my routes, I found an orchid called a crucifix orchid, Epidendrum secundum).

If this doesn’t catch your eye walking through the neighborhood, nothing will. It’s native of high elevation regions of South America and by now, there must be untold numbers of varieties of this species. I’m always amazed at what you can find blooming in the neighborhood on these walks.

I have an easy week next week. I have a Herceptin infusion on Tuesday and movie night on Wednesday and other than that, it’s an open week. I think I need the break from PT.

Thanks for reading my blog. Stay tuned!

30 March 2024

I got my Jeep back! I got a text from the Jeep place at 9:43 am. I finished up raking leaves and cleaning the pool filter then called an Uber. Gill was very nice and we had a great conversation on the way to the Jeep place. I gave him a 5 star review and a $5 tip. This trip, with tip, was $20. Why the previous trip was $25 is anybody’s guess.

When I got there I walked in to the cashier and when she started to ring me up, she said that’ll be $831.33. I said whoa! It was only supposed to be an oil change. The other work was under warranty.

She paged Neyma and she asked what warranty? I said you told me it was under warranty and there would be no charge for the exhaust sensor. She left to check. The cashier started to get very impatient that it was taking Neyma so long and even said “What is she doing?” After about 15 minutes, Neyma returns and said yes, I was correct, it was under warranty. Whew! The $99 oil change ended up being $162.70 but I wasn’t going to argue over that. I’m now officially through with that Jeep dealership.

While standing waiting on Neyma, a salesperson from up front brought a gentleman back saying he needed some service rep that really knew what he was doing to help the guy out. The cashier pointed to two through the window. After the two left to speak to the service rep, the cashier said “All our service reps are excellent.” I cleared my throat. She said “I said that with a smile.”

I returned home in time to make it to my physical therapy session at 1:10 pm. Shannon was on vacation and I had another PT, Adrienne. She worked me pretty hard. I mentioned that I had already walked 1.5 miles today, raked leaves, cleaned the pool filter and patio but she pushed me anyway.

I was exhausted the rest of the day and pretty much became a slug. I did order in groceries from Whole Foods and even putting away groceries was an effort.

This morning I slept until 8 am and I’m sore everywhere. I’m not usually sore after PT but I ache in the thighs and in the chest region, particularly.

I have lunch today with Tom, Kurt, Jim, and Holley at J. Marks in Fort Lauderdale. Jim and Holley will pick me up around 11:15. I’ve eaten there a couple of times and the food is good. After that, it’s house cleaning and washing clothes. Then collapse.

Stay tuned!

29 March 2024

I’ve been waiting for this plant to either bloom or set fruit. I remember the first time I saw it growing in a yard along Riverland Road and thought it unusual. It’s a member of the cashew family and thus a member of the Anacardiaceae. For those not familiar, it’s the same family as poison ivy.

Wikipedia reports the fruit turns red when ripe and the skin and pulp are edible but not the single seed inside. The taste is considered like an acidic plum. So far I’ve not seen ripened fruit nor have I tasted it. It’s native of South and Central America and the Caribbean but also can exist in South Florida, but not north of Palm Beach county.

I had real trouble photographing the plant because I couldn’t hold my cell phone still enough with the magnification. Part of the reason was I was a little unsteady on my feet from the walk along Riverland. I managed 1.5 miles today but I only walked a portion of what I normally do. I decided it was better to do the shorter walk because I have physical therapy today at 1:10 pm.

As you might guess, no word from Hollywood Chryler Jeep. I even called and miracle of miracles, Sergio answered the phone. However, all he could tell me was that it was with a service mechanic and I needed to talk to Neyma. He switched me over and I had to leave a message. She never returned my call.

Unless they call me sometime this morning, I’ll need to get an Uber for PT. Several people have offered to take me to get the Jeep this afternoon but everyone is busy this morning. The Uber trip is short and I’ll schedule it for around 12:45 for the 1:10 appointment.

I need to rake leaves this morning and clean the pool. That should sap more of my stamina so I’m curious as to how much PT I’ll be able to do this afternoon.

Last night, Barbara and I treated Joel and Keith for their birthdays at Mason Jar Pub on Oakland Park. We sat outside (albeit windy and sunny). I like the menu. I had the Chipotle Tuna Salad. The salad was great, the tuna not so great. It tasted like canned tuna. I will go back and sample other items on the menu. The prices are certainly reasonable.

The Mason Jar Pub is an offshoot of the Mason Jar Restaurant (yes, they serve drinks in Mason jars). The Mason Jar Restaurant is an offshoot of The Las Olas Cafe, now closed. The Las Olas Cafe was where I chaperoned Nancy and Michel on their first date, many years ago. It seemed to work – they are still together after around 27 years.

Stay tuned for more Jeep saga.

28 March 2024

Chris and I had a great movie night. We selected The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. She had not seen it but I’ve seen it a couple of times. One of the favorite things about it is it is set in New Orleans and part of it occurs during Katrina. It stars Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett. It’s pretty stunning to see Pitt go from an old man to a young man.

Even better, Tucker totally relaxed around me and turned over and let me give him belly rubs. Chris says he only does that with people he really trusts. Of course, a little bribery helps. Chris always brings doggie treats for me to feed him.

I managed 1.5 miles today. Rubber band legs after I got home. Considering I was still wiped from Tuesday’s PT yesterday, I did good today. I even did my home PT exercises. Tomorrow, Shannon is off and I have another trainer so I’ll probably be sore and achy Saturday and Sunday.

You can tell it is spring in South Florida. The Yellow Tab trees are in bloom.

It’s also called the Silver Trumpet tree and Tree of Gold (hence the specific epithet aurea). The only problem with these is they are quite brittle and self prune during hurricanes. They are native to South America and grow well in our subtropical climate. It’s a member of the Bignoniaceae family, also known as the trumpet vine family. I remember when this tree was planted. It’s had some hard knocks. It was once blown over during a hurricane but uprighted and replanted. It’s a massive tree now. There’s another species down here called the Pink Tab but it’s not as attractive.

When you compare Yellow Tab with another member of the trumpet vine family, you can see the relationship with the tubular flowers.

Cross vines tend to have pith in their stems or they are hollow. Back in my day, kids would break off the stems and light the end and pretend they were cigarettes. You could really smoke a cross vine.

As of 2:00 pm, no word on my Jeep. I plan to call soon to see if it is ready. You’d think they’d be in a hurry for their money.

Stay tuned!

27 March 2024

Sorry for not posting yesterday but Shannon worked me pretty hard at PT. When I got back to the house I had lunch and crawled into bed. I think I napped for almost 2 hours. Later that day, I crawled back into bed at 6:30 and read until bedtime. Usually, PT hits me the day after but yesterday was the achy day. Today I feel pretty good.

At least I felt good until I realized I needed to take the Jeep in for the check engine light (defective sensor). I told Neyma that I only wanted an oil change ($99.95) and not rotate the tires ($24.94) since they have far less than 10,000 miles on them. I also said I didn’t need and engine air filter ($56.75) nor to replace fuel filters and drain water from the fuel filter assembly ($263.80) since I’ve not driven the Jeep much since Covid. The only reason I agreed to the oil change is my dash said it was 20% left. I figured to get that done and not worry about finding another Jeep dealership.

I asked about a courtesy vehicle to get home but of course, all were out. I used the Uber app to get a ride and Ricardo showed up about 5 minutes later. He was nice, drove safely, and was a good conversationalist. The cost was $20 and I added a 20% tip.

Of course, I fully expect a phone call telling me the multi-point inspection found numerous problems.

Chris texted me about movie night, asking if I was up for it. I said certainly and I expected Tucker was too. That dog is too cute. He sits between me and Chris on the couch and waits to be adored. When Chris quits petting him, I start.

I think the anti-depressant is helping. However, on days like this when I depend on people being honest with me and not try to get me to do something I don’t think needs to be done, I get a little down. When my Jeep is no longer under warranty, I plan to find a mechanic that works on diesels and use them. I’ve had unusually good luck finding mechanics that are honest and willing to provide you options – like a new part or a refurbished part.

It will be busy the rest of the week. Tonight is movie night, tomorrow is birthday dinners for Joel and Keith with Barbara, Friday is PT and Saturday is lunch with Tom, Kurt, Jim and Holley.

Stay tuned!

25 March 2024

A minor miracle occurred today. You’ll have to wait a little while to read about it. I started my morning around 6 am, had my first breakfast and headed out for a 1.4 mile walk. I still have rubbery legs after each walk but I think I’m getting stronger.

One thing I began to notice is how many Seminole chickee huts are going up in the neighborhood. They probably provide some very nice shade in backyards where there is none. Usually some outfit from the Seminole tribe comes out and builds them in two days. The trick, of course, is to weave the palm fronds tight enough to shed water.

What a lot of people don’t know is those palm fronds are perfect habitats for scorpions. You generally won’t see them during the day but if you take a black light out there at night (UV lamp) and shine up into the fronds, you can tell if you have scorpions because they will glow in the dark from the black light – like the old posters you used to hang on your walls.

The one in the photo is the newest in the neighborhood. I counted three additional ones on my walk this morning: 1 new, 2 old. Seems to be a trend. One website suggested the cost to build one was $100-$150 per square foot. I think they are more trouble than they are worth because the poles in the ground rot out and you’ll need to replace the thatch periodically.

During the walk, I noticed some spiral ginger in bloom at a neighbor’s yard. This is the genus Costus or which is not a true ginger (Genus Zingiber). The red spike is a series of bracts from which the flowers emerge.

It’s a pretty ornamental but it spreads rapidly by rhizomes. It shouldn’t be confused with Saussurea costus which is used in herbal medicine.

After the walk, I picked up a friend from a medical appointment and then we headed to have a late breakfast or early lunch. I had eggs over easy and he had a club sandwich. After I dropped him at his place, the minor miracle occurred.

I drove out to Hollywood Chrysler Jeep and met with Neama. She acted like she had never seen me before but when she started looking into her computer, her memory was refreshed. She printed out some paper and walked over to the parts department. When she returned, she said the parts were in to complete the job on my Jeep. See! Minor miracle! I’m sure those parts have been in for quite a while and they just did not call me.

Anyway, I scheduled Wednesday at 8:45 am to take it in to complete the work. She said it’ll take two days. No, they will not spring for a rental. She did not reiterate and I failed to ask if it still was under warranty but I’m sure it is. When I got home, there was an email for a 90,000 mile maintenance for $534.61. I assume she will try to get that done the day I take the Jeep in but I will refuse. I’ll take it to another Jeep dealer before I let them do anything other than finish their work. I think the two days was for the sensor and all the other stuff she wants to do on the Jeep.

I’ll believe the situation will be resolved when I get my cold hands on the steering wheel and drive my Jeep off their lot for the final time.

Tomorrow is physical therapy at 11:50 am.

Stay tuned!

24 March 2024

It’s been a busy Sunday. It was a crisp 61°F when I started my walk this morning. I realized I needed a jacket. I have four regular routes with minor modifications and this morning’s route clocked in at 1.2 miles. On my way back to the house, I stopped at a friend’s yard (designated wildlife area) and took a photo of one of his flowers.

It’s native to South Africa but has been planted all over as an ornamental. I assume the Naked-Lady-Lily moniker comes from most of the basal leaves have withered and all you see is the flower stalk. It’s funny how many plants have been named with females in mind.

For example, Ladies-of-the-Night orchid (Brassavola nodosa). It’s a beautiful orchid which perfumes the night air and gives the suggestion of prostitutes.

One could also draw the conclusion that these four are hanging out together on a street corner plying their trade.

Then there’s Butterfly pea. At first, there doesn’t seem to be any connection to females until you look at the scientific name, Clitoria mariana, otherwise known as Mary’s clitoris.

Shades of Georgia O’Keeffe. Who said botanists don’t have a sense of humor?

Anyway, I digress. After my morning walk, I finally managed to do my physical therapy exercises. I’ve been negligent the past week. They aren’t hard, it’s just finding the time to do them.

After that, it was a trip to Winn-Dixie. I seem to be out of everything. After a rather large grocery bill (and two gallons of Blue Bell Ice Cream, I stopped by a FedEx drop box.

One of my Continuous Glucose Monitors (CGM) stopped working 4 days before it was supposed to. The company that sends them to me is called Freestyle Libre. They send me two at a time and I have to sign and date a letter and return to them before they will send me another two. The problem is they wash their hands if the monitor goes bad and I have to contact Abbott Labs to get a replacement. They kindly provide the number for Abbott with the letter.

I called and the person I talked to must have kept me on the phone for 15 minutes shooting questions at me about the monitor. Finally she said they would send me a replacement but I had to box up the faulty monitor and send it to the labs for assessment. They provided a mailer (with biohazard bags) and prepaid for FedEx. After packing it up (the monitor is about the size of a quarter) I dropped the box off at FedEx. I think I could get Schedule 1 drugs easier than a replacement monitor.

It looks like a busy week this week. Two physical therapies, a happy hour, a birthday dinner and a pick up from an endoscopy. I still need to see about the part for my jeep.

Stay tuned!

23 March 2024

I heard somewhere that discretion is the better part of valor. I exercised discretion today. I started my morning walk along Riverland Road around 9 am, hoping to get it in before the deluge. I cut it short when I heard thunder heading my way and then some lightning. I didn’t think it wise to walk in a thunderstorm with an umbrella with metal rod and ribs. By the time I turned around and got back to the house, I had completed 0.8 miles so I didn’t feel too badly.

Speaking of rain, we certainly got the 100% chance yesterday. It rained all morning, had a short break in the afternoon, and then picked up again at night. It was enough of a downpour I periodically looked out the window to see if the streets were flooding. Fortunately, the top of the street was visible each time.

We are due for more rain and wind this afternoon. It’s filling the pool as I write. At least I don’t have to worry about the water level in the pool for the rest of the month. April tends to be dry in South Florida and the summer rains begin around May 15th – more or less.

I never got around to cleaning the pool filter but I did clean leaves out of the pool and the basket to the filter. The wind denuded a few trees and the majority of the trees near me gift me their leaves. It’s not that I’m not appreciative but the Great White which cleans the pool doesn’t work well when overwhelmed by leaves. It doesn’t look like the pool filter will be cleaned today, either.

I didn’t find much blooming on my walk – either that or I was looking up, not down. However, I did find the wild coffee in my yard starting to bloom.

This forms a rather nice shrub and is native. It’s often used in landscaping but mine came about from bird droppings.

The leaves are very shiny and from the specific epithet, you can tell the veins in the leaf are well defined. Eventually, the flowers will produce a red, ripe fruit like the coffee “bean.” According to the Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS) it does not contain caffeine like coffee does.

I keep it around in the yard because it’s a source of nectar for the rare Atala butterfly. I’ve seen them in the yard on occasion.

I am looking forward to a quiet weekend. The house has been cleaned and the wash is on and nap time is calling.

Stay tuned!

22 March 2024

I really didn’t want to do my morning walk this morning. Shannon really tired me out yesterday at physical therapy. However, I’m hard headed and decided I need to suck it up and do it. I managed to complete one of my old routes at 1.5 miles. Just as I was in the home stretch, it started to rain.

We are predicted to have 100% chance of rain today and 90% tomorrow. There are, of course, flood watches out for the county. Heavy dews instigate flood watches down here in Fort Lauderdale. I’m not complaining too much. I won’t have to add water to the pool and I don’t have to clean the pool filter today. I predict curling up in bed with a book and then nap time.

I had fun last night with Joel, Keith, and John and Union Kitchen and Bar. The place seemed to be severely understaffed and what staff they had seemed to be lost as to what to do. We had one waiter who was responsible for about 15 tables and he was overworked with no help. Added to that, the food was mediocre. I don’t think we’ll be eating there again which is a shame. When it first opened, the food and service was excellent. Mark another off the list.

What was good about last night was catching up with everyone. We sat at the outside, covered patio and had a leisurely meal. We arrived at 6:30 sharp and didn’t leave until 8:30. Part of that was due to the overworked waiter and part due to us catching up and in no hurry to leave.

As you might guess, there was one very loud table. It got a little boisterous a few times. I’m all for having fun, laughing, etc. but it can get out of hand.

On the walk today, I saw a Weeping Bottlebrush plant. They can be quite stunning.

When I first saw this plant when I moved down here in 1985, someone mentioned the name and I thought “Of course!” It’s obvious where it gets its common name. The flowers really do look like the test tube brushes we used in science labs. It’s a member of the Myrtaceae or myrtle family and includes clove, guava and allspice.

I’m looking forward to a quiet weekend. I need to clean the pool filter sometime this weekend and there’s always yard work. I also promised Shannon I would do some of the home exercises.

Stay dry and stay tuned!

21 March 2024

Wow! I was tired all day yesterday but when I got out of bed this morning I had a lot of energy. My morning walk was 1.4 miles and I made it without too much difficulty. Along the way back was a beautiful frangipani.

They have a great aroma at night and are used in making leis. I had one in the yard one year but a hurricane took it out. I tried to make cuttings of it and rooting them but it died while I was on one of my trips.

Shannon put me through my paces today. She noticed I had problems with my balance and most of what I did today was working on that. I admit to being pretty tired after the 30 minute workout.

After I got home, I got an email and voicemail that my iPad had been repaired and was ready to pick up at the Galleria. The store was a zoo, as usual but they sent me right back next to the Genius Bar and someone came out with it pretty quickly. Everything seems to work but most of the apps I had on it are no longer there. That might be a blessing. There were a lot of them on there I never used.

Tonight, John and I are treating Joel and Keith to birthday dinners. Keith’s was earlier this year and Joel’s is coming up. We have reservations at Union Kitchen and Bar in Wilton Manors. It should be fun.

Speaking of birthdays, Stephen has one today. Happy Birthday, Stephen!

I used to be eager for birthdays but not so much any more. I turn 76 in November and in those years, I’ve earned more than a few aches and pains. Oh for the days where there were fewer candles on the cake!

In case you are wondering, 5 candles.

Stay tuned!