This and That

Things I've been cogitating about this month:

• VW has a new ad out (at least new to me) where a guy drives all over in his new VW and slaps the hands of everyone he encounters (including a dog).  The point of the ad is that the Beetle is "back."  At the end of the ad, they show the price -- $19,700+.  In 1968 I bought a brand new VW - for $1,900 -- flat.  Really.  Back -- at a heft in price of $17,000? 

• Hubby is losing both his internist and cardiologist -- and we are UPSET.   Both doctors are moving onward and upward.  We knew the internist would eventually leave us -- Hubby belongs to a really good clinic associated with our neighborhood hospital and in their practice, you are assigned interns and residents until they graduate from the program.  Our doctor who has seen us through heart problems is now leaving, to return home to California.  We have trusted and liked him very much and wish him well.

• The previous doctor assigned us by the clinic we did not like.  But Hubby is very vocal when he is displeased with his care and requested that he be replaced -- and he was.  Then he requested the one after that be replaced and he was.  Finally we met Dr. Espiritu and have been very pleased working with him.  Now we start fresh.  However Espritu said the clinic actually held a meeting to discuss who would next be blessed with serving us -- and Espiritu claimed he explained that it needed to be someone who openly communicates and is not headstrong -- because Hubby will shut down quickly the moment he's not happy with the way he's "handled."  We had to laugh -- but they are right. 

• The cardiologist, though is another matter, altogether.  We met him in the hospital and then requested that he be assigned Hubby's case.  He is an older gentleman, quiet, respectful (especially of our time), very, very efficient, and helpful in all matters.  He communicates with the other doctors that Hubby sees regularly.  We had learned to trust him implicitly and now we are losing his valuable advice.  I always knew if Dr. Dwyer was not upset by Hubby's condition that we were still on track -- even when Hubby himself was showing signs of deep concern.  We will stay with the same heart clinic -- but it will take a while to transfer our complete trust in their care to a different doctor that we have not selected.  

• On a lighter note, I read that Weekly Reader -- after over 50 years of service to grade school children -- has been sold and discontinued.  I loved the Weekly Reader both as an elementary student and as a teacher.  The articles were always entertaining, well written, and on target for current events.  Sad to hear that one more nice remembrance from my childhood is gone. 

• Then I read that Chad Everett -- Dr. Gannon from Medical Center on TV -- died.  I liked that show.  He was an actor that didn't create scandals -- in fact he had been married to the same woman for 47 years until she died last year..  He was only 75 years old and died from lung cancer.

• Finally, economically things are going to be rather tight around here for a while.  Gussie has to have a full dental -- and we had to speed up the process because his teeth are infected and he has been in pain.  At his wellness exam early in July we learned his teeth -- as always -- were in terrible shape.  It had only been 8 months since his last $700 extractions.  Now we needed to do it again.  So we made an appointment for their earliest opening.  Then Gussie got all wispy and whinny and starting making "curl the lip" faces at us -- so we called to see if any dental appointment was available sooner.  The vet said, "Bring the boy in.  He shouldn't be in pain."  So in we went -- and got pain pills and antibiotics and the vet saw Gussie, the wimp, snarl at when she tried to poke his teeth.  At that, they scheduled an extra day for the dentist and Gussie has the last of his teeth removed come Monday.  Just seeing him for the snarl and the pills was $128.   I counting on the $1,000+ bill come Monday.  And then to make things even tighter -- Luie is schedule to keep Gussie's original appointment for mid-August.  He won't be nearly as costly -- something over $300, though.  

The weather remains too hot.  The cleaning has slowed considerably.  Cooking is minimal.  Hubby's eating lots of melon and I'm happy with cherries and watermelon. We're getting ready to ship out a couple of loads of books to Houston so maybe I can start again unloading in the computer room.  Right now the living room floor is filled with sacks of books -- I've got to clear some space to keep going.  Hubby wants to sell some high end shoes on e-bay so we're trying to get organized to do that.  I've downloaded a really nice recipe program for the MAC -- MacGourmet Deluxe -- and I've entered over 100 recipes in it.  This means I've gone through one whole box of recipe cards that I'd saved for years and years -- and eliminated six cookbooks from the shelves.  We get up late -- 8 a.m., sometimes 9.  We go to bed late (for us) around 12:30 or 1 a.m.  And we take naps when we feel like.  Retirement is still good -- but life itself can sometimes be trying -- and it's certainly proving both hot and expensive.