March 2025 – Page 2 – Travels with Fred

John Knox Village – Part 2

21 March 2025

Several people have asked me if I plan to move to John Knox Village. I’m in the process of digesting all of the material given to me by Jackie and Dave and Peter as well as the material I’ve researched. The answer is, I don’t know but I’m leaning that way.

I’ve had to face a reality I thought was a ways off yet but the chemotherapy for breast cancer still lingers albeit not as bad just after the last session. I am clumsier than usual due to the neuropathy that doesn’t seem to go away. My balance isn’t great and if I were stopped by the police and given a roadside sobriety test, I probably would fail because I can’t do the toe to heel walk. My nervous system, particularly in my hands and arms, seems to stutter at different times.

Doing the yard chores: raking leaves, hosing the patio and pool deck, skimming the pool, cleaning the filter, spraying for weeds, picking up palm fronds and branches, and soon, dropping mangoes, is all getting a little bit much.

Putting new linen on the bed is harder and harder. Who ever thought tossing something into the garbage can, missing the can and having to pick up the thing off the floor would be such an ordeal?

I’ve fainted twice, once inside the house, once outside (this one required three days in the hospital), fell once outside and twice inside. I think I see a pattern here.

Cleaning the house is a major effort which now takes several days – when I get in the mood to clean things I’ve put off for too long. In the Coast Guard, we used to swab the decks, wax floors, and sweep with no ill effects. I now wear a back brace when I vacuum and mop the floors.

Yes, I can get someone to do all of these things, for a price, but I would still spend time cleaning the pool in-between pool cleanings by a professional, either cleaning the house before the housecleaner comes or after when they don’t clean something I forgot to mention, and still picking up yard waste even with a weekly service.

I don’t think it’s going to get any better. Many independent living facilities require you to pass a health exam to get into their facility. In other words, if you can’t walk through the door under your own power, they won’t take you.

The largest single selling feature to John Knox Village is the 70 acres on which it sits with paths all over the place, shade trees, small lakes, and plenty of open space. It really does have a village feel to it.

I’ve never felt tied to one place. As someone whose parents moved sometimes twice a year, I never got the feel of a “home” in which I grew up and set down roots. The closest to that was my Grandparents houses in Morton and Pulaski. Both have now been sold.

I’ve lived everywhere in my life: numerous towns in Mississippi, Fort Rucker, Fort Benning, Fort Bragg, Havre de Grace, MD, New Orleans, Corpus Christi, Miles City, Montana, San Antonio that I have no problem adapting to a new place. The 40 years I’ve lived in Florida and the 30 years I’ve lived in my current house is the longest I’ve lived anywhere.

As most of you know, I’m an introvert and don’t play well with others. Another selling point to JKV is that I can be as introverted as I want, still use the facilities, and continue to live as I have in my current home. My greatest worry is having noisy neighbors above, below, and to the sides of me. That an yapping dogs which I have in stereo at my current location.

If I do move into JKV, I’ll miss my neighborhood and the people I seen come and go. I’ve built some good friendships in this neighborhood with people who are willing to do anything to help you.

If I do move in JKV, I will have to sell the house and it’s not a good time to do that. I need to meet with the folks at JKV and see what my buy in will cost me. Based on their web site, I am financially able to go into either a one bedroom or two bedroom unit. Their fees will eventually go up but so will my electric bill, water bill, cable bill, etc. so that’s a wash.

The good news is if I do move to JKV, Jackie and Dave promise to help me negotiate my way into the place and help me make friends.

I’ll keep you posted.

Stay tuned!

Everything Fred – Part 489

20 March 2025

Note: for a perspective on John Knox Village, scroll down after this blog entry.

Movie night was great. As I was waiting for Chris and Tucker, Katy was in the yard with the twins. We got to talking and the twins began jumping from the porch to the ground (about 6 inches) and had a ball. We were joined by Nicole and it was a regular neighborhood get together. I caught up with both of them and they caught up with me.

The movie was My Cousin Vinny. We had both seen it but we agreed it was long ago. Joe Pesci and Marisa Tomei are excellent in the movie and I loved Fred Gwynne in the roll of judge. You still can’t help but think of Gwynne and his role in the Adam’s Family. Ralph Maccio played the aggrieved party.

Tucker was great last night. I work with him about the commands “Stay”, “Sit” and “Come.” Chris wants him to be exposed to me with him and the commands.

Chris, rightly so, took me to task for not walking. I promised I would do it this morning and I managed 1.4 miles. After all the walking at John Knox Village, I felt in good shape for this morning’s walk.

The walk took me by my favorite yard for flowers and I wasn’t disappointed. There’s always something new.

This is a member of the Brassicaceae family (think mustard greens). Like so many plants, it’s not native but is now used for horticultural purposes in the U.S.

There are four petals and six stamens, usually with 2 short and 4 long. The flower petals are said to be cruciform (like a cross). Most native Brassicaceae in the U.S. are spring flowers.

Remember, scroll down to see my trip to John Knox Village.

Stay tuned!

John Knox Village

20 March 2025

Yesterday, Nancy, Michel and I toured John Knox Village with the expert tour guides (and golf friends with Nancy and Michel) Jackie and Dave. I don’t think we could have gotten as good a tour from the marketing team. They are long time residents and have been on several boards, committees, and events chairs for years. It was really nice to see them and get a tour of their apartment in Cassels Tower.

If I make a mistake in what I heard, hopefully Michel and Nancy will let me know and I can make corrections.

John Knox Village sits on 70 acres and has 1000 residents either in towers or villas (triplexes).

The Village has independent living (towers and villas), assisted living (Gardens West), Seaside Cove Skilled Nursing and Memory Support, Trustbridge Hospice, and Woodbridge Skilled Nursing and Rehab.

Cassels Tower in the Center, Westlake Tower on the left.

Amenities include an aquatic complex with lap pool and regular pool, fitness center, two auditoriums, five restaurants (Bayer’s Poolside Pub, The Pearl Restaurant, Seaglass Restaurant, Westlake Eatery, and BV’s Coffee and Wine Bar), a cultural center, art center, learning center, tech learning center and theater.

There are nine living spaces in The Village: Cassels Tower, East Lake Towers, Heritage Tower, Lakeside Villas, N.E. Garden Villas, S. Garden Villas, Village Towers, and Westlake Tower (The Terrace and the Vue). In the Villas, there are two, two bedroom units and one, one bedroom. The towers have a combination of one and two bedrooms.

John Knox requires you to buy into to your residence. When you pass, the property reverts to John Knox. You pay a monthly fee (based on the number of persons) which includes electricity, cable, internet, phone service if you want a landline, and a $360 per month allotment for food.

One thing that intrigued me was if you go into assisted living or memory care, the only increase is to your food portion of the monthly fees since they figure you’ll need more prescribed nutritional care.

There are a 24 hour EMT and Wellness Nurse on the property. The grounds are meticulously maintained and the overall effect is of a village that you walk to anywhere, anytime. They do have staff that provide transportation and buses. The Village also has a fleet of cars to carry members to doctors’ appointments.

The one “complaint” Jackie and Dave had is that there are too many things available to do they have to be careful from overdoing.

The Village is very gay friendly with an LGBTQ+ organization and is considered to be approximately 32% gay. It’s also pet friendly.

According to their website, buy in ranges from $213,000-$762,400. For a second person, add $30,000.

Monthly fees range from $3,571-$6,061. For a second person, add $2,258. The monthly fees are subject to change to reflect the cost of service increases.

To become a member of John Knox Village, you must be 62 and pass health and financial assessments. You can select either Plan A or Plan C. Plan A is an all inclusive contract that “provides for your future healthcare needs by providing unlimited access to assisted living, supportive memory care and skilled nursing care included in the Monthly Service Fee.”

Plan C provides use of “amenities in Plan A without healthcare benefit. You pay for healthcare services as needed and will be charged the prevailing rate less a resident discount.”

Plan B is a hybrid of Plan A and C.

I’m not easily impressed but I was impressed with the facilities. Thanks to Jackie and Dave, not only for the tour but also for lunch. We got to meet Peter, a friend of theirs who could give us an additional perspective.

Cancer Update – Part 96

19 March 2025

My last “official” cancer update was in May of 2024. I guess it’s time for another since I visited my oncologist today.

It was all good news. The staff got me in early and Dr. Velez was only 15 minutes late getting to me. He gave me the most thorough examination to date and in particular, examined my breasts, searching for lumps and other signs my cancer had returned.

He palpated my abdomen, my chest, my lungs, listened to my lungs and heart, checked my ankles for swelling, and checked my lymph nodes near my neck. He also listened to my carotids.

He pronounced himself satisfied and said he saw no reason I had not been cured of my breast cancer. I will only see him every 6 months for 5 years and then once a year.

I told him about the new cardiologist and he was satisfied that he could read the reports from Dr. Siev from yesterday.

I don’t ever get out of there without a blood draw. He’ll send off a Signatera test to check for circulating cancer cells and then for the usual blood tests: Comprehensive Metabolic Panel, Iron Binding Capacity, Transferrin, B₁₂, Ferritin, and CBC with Auto Differential.

In the Comprehensive Metabolic Panel, my eGFR was 60 when normal is >=60. I find that a little low and would like to be more in the midrange of normal. eGFR is a measure of function of the kidneys.

My transferrin was barely low at 199. Strangely, my B₁₂ was almost too high. The CBC test showed monocytes higher than they should be which could be a sign of infection, inflammation, stress, blood disorders, and even due to medications. I certainly take enough of those.

I got out of there by 2 pm and headed to Walgreens to pick up a prescription. After that, since I didn’t eat lunch, I stopped at Mickey D’s and got a quarter pounder with fries and a Coke. The fries were right out of the frier and were great except for the heavy hand with the salt. When I went after the burger, I realized it too was too salty. That’s the best way to sell more Cokes, I guess. My blood pressure probably spiked after that meal.

All in all, it was a good news day. Hopefully, for the rest of the week, it’ll still be good news days.

Stay tuned!

Everything Fred – Part 488

18 March 2025

I didn’t post yesterday. Things got too busy. More on that later.

Chicago will have to give up its title for Windy City. I think Fort Lauderdale can take that crown these days. We’ve had about two weeks of constant windy weather. There’s almost always a dead palm frond to pick up from around the pool.

The palms around the pool are Cabada palms and they shed their fronds unlike some palm trees that keep them on until they rot away. I like the self-shedding types since I don’t have to pay anyone to saw them off.

I’m beginning to get organized for my trip to Mississippi. I hate packing and tend to put it off until the last minute and thus overpack. The biggest pain is getting the medications ready for a week away from home. Regardless, this will be my first trip in quite a while.

I waited to post yesterday until I completed my cardiology appointment with a new cardiologist. My other one retired. Can’t say I blame him. The new one is Ethan Siev at Hollywood Memorial. It’s a very busy office with numerous physicians in that one office on the 6th floor but I was taken back early and Nurse Nancy took my information.

I’ve learned to print out all of that stuff even though it’s online. They ask you anyway. I think I like the new guy and will continue with him. I have two doctors associated with Hollywood Memorial, the cardiologist and the endocrinologist. Everyone else is Holy Cross.

Dr. Siev wants me to have another echocardiogram (it’s time) and gave me the option of doing it with Holy Cross where the others were done or have it done in office with him. I’ve opted to go with him. He can read Holy Cross reports but cannot see the images.

He also scheduled my next appointment 6 months from now and also scheduled me for a CT scan to determine my coronary calcium score. The only time it’s been done was in 2016 and it was high. He wants to see how much it has increased.

It was around 4:30 when I got back home and I started a home made beef stew (cooler weather on the way here). I got a phone call from Judith that Chris was in the emergency room at Hollywood Memorial and needed his phone charger. That makes two times I was there yesterday.

The entrance to the valet at the emergency room is misleading and, of course, I entered the wrong way. The valets were not in a hurry so it took time to give him the key fob and get the ticket. Then, the check-in for visitors took a lot of time. Finally, I got sent back to see Chris – and he wasn’t there.

Christina, his nurse, came in and told me that had trouble getting a vein for an IV and she was headed there to do it. She told me he would be back after a CAT scan – within 10 minutes. I hooked up his phone to the charger. True to her word, Chris came back in shortly. I visited a while and then headed back home – after another long wait with the valet.

I was wiped out so I ate some warm beef stew and went to bed. I dropped off to sleep immediately.

I’ll check on Judith and Chris later today but I also have another doctor’s appointment with the oncologist at 1:15 this afternoon. I slept late this morning and may even nap before the appointment.

Stay tuned!

Everything Fred – Part 487

16 March 2025

Considering I live only 4 miles from the Atlantic Ocean, I don’t get there very often. In most cases, I would be at a beachside restaurant and sometimes walk across A1A to put my feet in the sand, but that’s pretty much it. I think I did that two times this year.

That’s quite a change when I first moved here in 1985. I started with an invitation to Shark World down in the Keys which eventually became the Keys Marine Lab. From that event, I started taking students down to the lab for field trips where we would go both into Florida Bay and the Atlantic as well as snorkel in the canals leading to the Ocean.

I’m actually scuba dive certified back from the time I took students from Itawamba Junior College down to DeFuniak Springs to become scuba certified. I’ve only scuba dived once in the Florida Bay side with a student of mine looking for lobster. Almost anything you want to see you can see by snorkeling and tanks are a waste of time.

I suspect my lack of putting my feet in the Atlantic is like someone living in Orlando and not getting to Disney World or Epcot very often. Back in my younger days I would go to (then named) John U. Lloyd beach and sunbathe and then cool off in the Ocean. Then there’s Haulover Beach just south of Aventura which is the nude beach. No tan lines there. I would spend hours soaking up the rays and cooling in the Ocean.

The sun caught up with me and I’ve quit sunbathing. Instead of going into the Ocean, I jump in the pool. Besides, if I go to the Ocean, I would pay outrageous parking fees. I could get a resident pass but that’s more trouble than it’s worth for the few times I go to A1A and eat at restaurants.

Still the Ocean calls. I spent time in the Coast Guard in both the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic. I used to walk out onto the bow of the ship at night and look up to see the stars. The Milky Way was pretty obvious when you are in the middle of the Gulf.

I’ve seen both the Atlantic and Pacific but have never been in the Pacific. Too cold! I did stick a toe in one time. The best part of both regions of the Ocean are close to shore where you find more life forms. In the middle of the Atlantic, life forms are pretty rare.

To commemorate how close I live to the Ocean, I’ll jump in the pool and pretend it’s a saltwater pool and explore for marine life.

Stay tuned!

Everything Fred – Part 486

15 March 2025

Happy Birthday to my friend Jim who is 8 months older than I. I try not to let him forget it – his age, that is.

I was planning on kicking back today but forgot John was brining over BOGO from Honey Baked Ham and Nothing Bundt Cakes. He also brought over some Bun candy and some gooey brownies. Add that to my chocolate chip cookies and I have enough chocolate stash to last hurricane season starting in June. However, I doubt it will last that long.

We spent the day catching up and trying to get my new tv to work with Directv Stream app with no luck. We probably spent an hour on that.

We got into a discussion about how you used to have to change tubes in old tv sets. He came around during the age of transistors and didn’t realize old radio were tubes as well until the advent of transistors. I’m dating myself.

I’ve regaled you with the story of my brother building a home made crystal radio and having fun at my expense. I think I’ve also mentioned the tube transmitter we had in the Coast Guard aboard the CGC Reliance. It took forever to tune. You knew you were close when a window into a huge tube glowed cherry red.

When we asked for an upgrade to a transistor transmitter, the Eighth Coast Guard District laughed and said we had more up time with our transmitter than any ship in the fleet. It was far more reliable than transistor transmitters.

When our transmitter came on line, it could really put out the watts of power. We were stationed in Corpus Christi and they could hear us in Florida, the west coast of the U.S. and one time, due to atmospheric bounce, in the Indian Ocean.

High school physics in 1966 taught me a little about electronics. We studied Ohms law, series and parallel circuits. I think I remember the physics teacher passing around a tube one day and that was it. Somewhere in my high school years, transistor radios made it big because of their small size and ability to receive AM and FM.

There are a lot of things where old is better. Morse Code is an example. You can send and receive code messages much better with clearer atmospherics than any other form of communication. It’s still the most reliable form of long distance communication.

My big accomplishment today was trimming my finger nails and toe nails. I’ll add to that by taking a shower tonight and call it a day and head to bed and read a little.

Stay tuned!

Everything Fred – Part 485

14 March 2025

It’s official! Fort Lauderdale gets the most rainfall of any place in the U.S. based on cities of 100,000 population or more. According to the New York Times, we get 68.77 inches per year. As a matter of fact, Florida gets the most inches of rainfall of any state with 4 cities in the top 10.

Normally, one would think of Portland or Seattle, particularly with a coastal rainforest in the area. Based on days of measurable precipitation, Syracuse, NY is tops with 172 days with precipitation and Seattle is only number 5 and Portland is number 9.

I suspect Fort Lauderdale’s rainfall is skewed by that one major flood we had on April 12, 2023 with 25.91 inches in a 24 hour period. It certainly caused me flood damage.

I overdid it again today. I haven’t raked leaves in a while and I ended up with three large piles that needed to go into the yard waste bin. I had to take three breaks for the leaves and another break for sweeping the pavement.

After that, I could sit down for the pool filter cleaning but then it was back up hosing down the patio and watering plants and then spraying for weeds.

It’s getting to the point that I’m tired of doing all this. I could get a pool service but I would still be skimming leaves off the pool, checking chemicals in between service, and cleaning out the pump basket and skimmer. I could also get someone to do weekly yard service but I would still need to pick up the occasional palm frond, clear the patio of leaves, etc.

I’m at the point that an independent living facility is looking better and better. To be honest, I’m just tired of handling the every day joys of being a home owner. I would say it’s laziness on my part but it really isn’t. I just don’t have the energy for it any more and I don’t particularly like doing the chores any more.

At 76, life is winding down and I don’t think I want to spend the remainder or my years doing mundane things. Of course, the housing market in South Florida is not very strong right now. I see houses in the neighborhood for sale and they’ve been for sale for quite a length of time. I would need to clear a pretty good sum on the sale of the house to give me the opportunity to go into independent living.

Anyhoo, I decided the answer to everything was to bake the New York Times recipe for chocolate chip cookies. I made the dough yesterday and you are to let it rest in the fridge for 24-48 hours. I figure a chocolate chip cookies cures a myriad of ills.

Stay tuned!

Everything Fred – Part 484

13 March 2025

The Devil Wears Prada. At least that was the movie last night. It had been a while since Chris or I had seen the movie so it was a good choice. It’s a 2006 film with Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, Emily Blunt, Stanley Tucci, Adrian Grenier and Simon Baker. Streep plays Miranda Priestly, the boss from hell and Hathaway plays the clueless assistant Andrea Sachs.

I normally don’t like Streep. I think she over does it sometimes, particularly with her accents but in this one, she has no accent and nails the role of a bitch boss. Stanley Tucci is outstanding as Nigel, an employee of Streep. Adrian Grenier plays the role of Hathaway’s boyfriend who feels neglected because all Hathaway’s time is taken up with pleasing Streep. It’s a great movie with laughs, tears, revenge, and a happy ending, although you never know in the end if Hathaway and Grenier get back together.

Tucker was a perfect gentleman and Chris and I managed to empty another bottle of wine. Chris swears Tucker was not hung over from the numerous treats last night. No comment on how we were.

It’s another almost perfect day in the neighborhood except for the barking dog behind my house. I don’t understand people who have a dog and leave it outside where it barks for hours to get back inside.

I seem to have a problem with barking dogs. The house behind me and east of me used to leave their dog out all night and it would whimper and bark. I called the cops on them on night and that helped for a little while and then they went back to leaving the dog outside again. One morning, I knocked on the door and handed the person who answered a sheet on how to prevent your dog from barking. Of course, they denied it was their dog but I assured them it was. They still let their dog out but it’s during the day.

Another neighbor’s dogs bark at night when their owners are away. As soon as the owners return, the dogs quit.

I trained Rocky to bark at anything that came to the door or walked in front of the house. I also trained Rocky that when I said “enough” he quit barking. It’s a simple thing but so many dog owners don’t treat their pets very well.

When I took Rocky to obedience school (passed with flying colors) the instructor told us we were not training our dogs, the instructor was training the owners. We were taught, using treats, to teach our dogs hand signals first and foremost. Only later were we to introduce verbal commands. Rocky was always pretty good at both. Consistency is the key with pets. If you are consistent with what you are doing or asking, they adapt pretty quickly.

Last night for dinner, I made my mother’s recipe (or some facsimile of it) for new potatoes. Dad would harvest new potatoes (very small ones) that you could rub the skin off. Mother would boil them in two changes of water and then mash them, add milk and flour to thicken. I loved the taste. Mine weren’t as good as hers but they weren’t bad and provided me a memory.

My 9 am get-out-of-bed time has me a little behind. It’s a good thing I don’t have anything to do today except load the dishwasher and make the bed. That means once that’s done, I eat my fruit combo and then crawl back into bed to read and nap.

Stay tuned!

Everything Fred – Part 483

12 March 2025

Another crisp morning at 55°F, not that I would know. I stayed in bed until 9 am. I used to be such a morning person but I guess 8 am classes at the college had something to do with that. Now that I’m retired, I’ve become a night person.

I ran several errands yesterday. I had to go to three separate pharmacies to get my prescriptions and then grocery shop. The reason for three is one prescription is at Publix and there is a very significant price break at their pharmacy. The other two were at two separate Walgreens. One was at the one on Davie and Federal Highway. The other was my old Walgreens that had been closed for months due to a fire. It’s now open. However, I have no idea why my prescription was sent back there. It’s a good thing I’m on an antidepressant.

I need to clean the house today for Tucker. Movie night is upon us. I stocked up on wine since Chris and I pretty much put the hurt on a bottle a movie night. It’s Chris’ turn to select the movie tonight.

By the way, I reread a previous blog about the sitting/kneeling structure and realized I used the name Chris. I tend not to use last names when I post and this was not the Chris of movie night but another friend Chris. You can’t have too many friends named Chris.

No walk, yoga or swimming today since cleaning house tends to give me enough of a workout. The time saving device known as a vacuum cleaner gets harder and harder to maneuver around the floor, particularly when I vacuum under beds and furniture. I’ve taken to wearing a back brace for house cleaning.

I use Scrubbing Bubbles for the shower, basin and toilet. I have a scrubber sponge I keep in the utility room for that and have to get on my hands and knees for the tub and toilet. I used to keep that sponge in the shower because it was handy and the shower curtain hid it.

When Archie came to visit one year, I failed to take it out and I realized he might have been using it to wash with. I didn’t tell him he was using a sponge that I cleaned the toilet with. Since he doesn’t read my blogs, I’m safe. I chalk it up to payback for shooting me with a BB gun in Boyle, Mississippi. I have a long memory. I love my brother except when I hate him.

I fly out to Mississippi on the 23rd. I haven’t flown in a very long time and I know things have probably changed. I know some companies have changed carry on rules but Delta allowed me one checked bag and one carry on so maybe I will not be affected.

I figure if I start sorting pills for the trip today, I should be ready by the 23rd. Stay tuned!