Last week Ed drove us to Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa. I got a physical with my doctor, the head of the women’s breast cancer unit – she’s a super doctor. I didn’t get a mammogram this time and I asked her if a physical examination was definitive. She said that she and all of her colleagues at Moffitt do hundreds of hands-on breast exams and are so good at it that they can pick up tiny, teensy tumors that haven’t shown up on film even. That impressed me. The good news is I am good to go with her for a year. I do get a mammogram in January 2015.

Getting there was a nightmare. The entire day was stormy, heavy rain on and off and at least 5 accidents on I-75. The speed limit is 70 and you'd think that on a stormy day, some drivers would realize they should go slower. We spent about an hour crawling along at 5 mph till the road was cleared. The same thing happened on the way back. We passed one truck on the median that was overturned. We left Moffitt at 3:30 and got home at 7. P.m. It shouldn’t take more than 2 hours. Ed has a problem with patience, so I was relieved that he mostly took the delays in stride. It was particularly troublesome for him because his back is bad and he was wearing a brace. There are exercises he should do, so after several years of not doing them, he has started on them again. Duh.

On another subject, early this year our a/c guy said our unit was shot and we needed a new one and quoted us a price for the new one plus installation. He doesn’t overcharge, but cautious Ed said we would wait till our unit died. Fine, I answered, it will die on a Friday in August. And so it did, 1:30 a.m., August 15. Friday. We spent the weekend with ceiling fans going and I doubled up on my ice packs that I sleep with. As for energy, none.

Ed spoke with our friend Jean,whose father is a retired a/c guy and knows how to get a unit at cost. But Monday came and no word, so Ed called our A/C guy and we have committed ourselves to a new unit and are waiting for them to measure things and do whatever else they do in order to install the right one. They also got our almost dead unit to kick in a few more days, so we are comfortable, which is a big thing in these parts. Ed said at one point, maybe we would wait “a little while longer” and I said, “You want to do this again?” using my famous gimlet-eyed look that strikes terror into any heart. In any case I was prepared for his next step and if it was “wait”, I had a plan that I would (join me if you like): move into one of our nearby bed-and-breakfasts till the crisis was solved. Bottom line: he wouldn't be saving any money as I'd be living the tourist life and dining out every night. I am happy to say I don’t think I’ll have to do that.

Meanwhile, our pool is lime green. We have contracted with Pebbleworks to get the pool re-lined and were supposed to have the work start mid-August. But heavy rains have caused major delays in their installations and now they can’t start our project till sometime in September. I was looking forward to a revamped pool (and much more attractive one since the new lining will be a confetti like dark look) and to swimming in it again. But the water starts to cool quite dramatically in the fall, and it may be I’ll have to put off my aquatics until next year. My friend, Nadine has a salt-water pool that she says does not require weekly maintenance – although it is expensive to install – after that, easy sailing. Her pool is also heated. Ed is not interested in these advantages. Soaking in a salt water pool – aside from the benefits of water aerobics, is healthful.

I discussed with the pool worker the benefits of their continued adding of chlorine that hasn’t been clearing the problem because of nitrates in the water. We would have to drain the pool and add fresh water to solve this problem, so we decided in that case to just go ahead and have the pool re-lined which had been strongly recommended a while ago. Continuing to add chlorine weekly will at least keep other contamination at bay, like mosquito larvae. so when it comes time to drain, we won’t have sludge.

xx, Teal