Tom’s trip to urgent care…Visit to Costco with information overload…Another Minnesota Vikings disappointment…

The Vikings lost last night for the second time in the regular season. Our sons are big fans of the Vikings and were sorely disappointed, as was Tom.

Yesterday, we took Tom to urgent care for an unrelenting cough he’d had since he got the flu on the last cruise. We’d tested him for COVID-19 at the time, which was negative. But, his cough, mostly awful at night, was worrying. Finally, he agreed to get an appointment at the same urgent care facility he’d visited when he got COVID-19 pneumonia in 2022 when we were in Minnesota to see family. As it turned out, he was so sick and potentially contagious that we never saw family during that visit.

The doctor spent a lot of time with us and prescribed several prescriptions for Tom, which hopefully we can pick up today. The Walgreens pharmacy had to special order one of the meds, a popular drug we were surprised they didn’t have on hand. That was frustrating since the major medication would help him the most. Now, we’ve lost a day or two in his recovery.

It was wonderful to see our old next-door neighbor and good friend, Nelleke, again, who works at that urgent care facility. She’s the X-ray tech and did Tom’s intake. She, too, is a regular reader of our site and knew everything we’d done and everywhere we’ve been. We’re working on planning a get-together with her, her partner, friend Sue Sue’s daughter Sherry, and her husband Michael. Hopefully, this will all work out. We’d love that!

Fortunately, nothing horrible was found on his X-ray besides the same appearance of his “honeycomb lungs,” the same thing they’d seen on his last X-ray when he had COVID-19. The doctor explained this can happen for long periods after being infected with COVID-19. The end result, he, too, has long-haul COVID-19, just like me. Hopefully, this new round of drugs will help him.

Also, after finishing the post yesterday afternoon, we headed to Costco, only a few minutes from our hotel. We had about $500 in shop cards we’d accumulated since the last time we were here, including credits for using the Costco credit card worldwide for fuel and annual perks.

Most of the credit came from booking one of our recent cruises through Costco Travel. Each time a customer does so, they receive a “shop card” once the cruise has ended. We had booked many cruises through Costco, but seven were canceled due to COVID-19; thus, we never received those shop cards.

Walking into the store reminded me of past visits during our travel years and feeling overwhelmed by the amount of “stuff” in the massive warehouse store. We were in a state of “information overload.” I had a list of items we wanted to buy, but as it turned out, they didn’t carry most of my list.

We left with only purchasing dinner to bring to Greg’s house while we watched the Minnesota Vikings’ second game of the season. What a disappointment! Our favorite team has had little success over the years, and yet Tom and our kids and some of our grandkids continue to watch with the hope that someday they will do well enough to go to the Super Bowl, let alone win the big event.

After the game, we headed back to the hotel, leaving leftovers for Greg and enough leftovers for us for tonight’s dinner. To keep costs down, we’re trying not to dine in a restaurant more than once a day, and when we’re alone, to have meals we’ve selected from the grocery store that we can reheat in the hotel’s microwave oven.

With plenty of good shows to stream, we don’t mind the quiet nights when we don’t see anyone end up hanging out in the living room in our suite hotel room. We have a refrigerator and use of the big kitchen here for dishes and flatware. It’s easy for us to entertain ourselves.

Today, at 1:00, as mentioned, we’re meeting old friends Pat and Charlie in Albertville for lunch, about 40 minutes from here. Thus, if we’re hungry tonight, we can eat our leftovers from last night. If not, we can eat them tomorrow night since we have no plans for Saturday night at this point.

Many members of Tom’s family are out of town this weekend, but once they return, we’ll make plenty of plans with them, and our schedule will fill up in no time. In the interim, we can spend lots of time with my son Greg, his girlfriend Heather, and the two remaining grandkids, Madiighan and Miles, who spend every other week at their mom’s house. They’ll return to Greg’s home this Sunday for a week, and we’ll plan something with them during that time.

That’s it for today, folks.

Be well.

Photo from ten years ago today, September 15, 2013:

We had dinner in a cave restaurant in Kenya. Diners began to filter in around 8:00 pm, filling all tables by the time we were ready to leave around 9:45 pm. We’d be warned not to rush the servers worldwide when customs and expectations differ from the US. Many countries’ servers are accustomed to taking their time in delivering the food and the bill. Most often, as is the case here in Kenya, tips are only allowed to be paid in cash, not added to the credit card slip. Of course, this requires us to keep adequate foreign money currency on hand. For more, please click here.

For our Minnesota reader/friends…What did you think of yesterday’s Vikings game?…Names for Lollie’s piglets…

This is an African Hoopoe we spotted in the garden.

Last night, when we hunkered down for the night, Tom began watching the Minnesota Vikings football game using the app for which he pays each year, with replays of all US football games. I am supposed to take one 10 mg. tablet of Amitriptyline early each night, at 9:00 pm, 2100 hrs., so I am not groggy when I awake. But, usually, I am sleepy enough to nod off an hour after I take it.

Earlier, the WiFi was out for a few hours, so we watched a movie on the external hard drive, picked randomly since we had no way to look up the movie’s content or reviews. It was called Beast of Burden, a somewhat ridiculous premise, but with load shedding and no WiFi simultaneously, it’s what we had to keep us busy until the WiFi returned.

Once the movie ended and the WIFi returned, we could stream a few episodes of Animal Kingdom on Amazon Prime and later watch the Minnesota Vikings Game, which had played at 8:00 pm, 2000 hrs. At around 10:00 pm, 22000 hrs., Tom started watching the Vikings game while I couldn’t help but fall asleep.

This bird seems to hang out with Vega, a common starling. Is it the female of the species?

I should mention that Tom is a silent viewer of football games. Regardless of what happens, he is quiet and doesn’t make a sound, as much as he loves watching. But, the weird thing about this drug left me dozing off and on while I heard every play in the game.

Last night, in the fourth quarter, with one minute remaining in the game, he couldn’t keep quiet and yelled out, totally awakening me from my “twilight sleep.” Oddly, I heard what was happening in my sleep and would have been jolted awake anyway. What transpired in the game in the next hour blew our minds. It was the most exciting game we’d ever seen.

For Minnesotans and Vikings fans throughout the US and possibly the world, we held our breath along with you after one stunning play after another. We were so wound up after the win that we couldn’t attempt to sleep until after 1:00 am. Tom fell asleep, but I didn’t, not getting sleepy again until after 2:00 am.

We both ended up with enough sleep and felt rested today. But we’re still reeling from the excitement. What a night.

Lollie arrived this morning with her three piglets. We were happy to see them. We named the two boys Leon and Leopold and the female Lolita.

Today is much cooler with lower humidity, which is quite a relief. The temp is 80F, 27C, the sky is cloudy, and there’s a lovely breeze. The dew point is still tropical at 67, with the humidity at a more tolerable 65%. With many holidaymakers gone after the weekend, we’ve started to see our wildlife friends return for a visit.

After being absent for several days, other than to show up last week with her new piglets, we were delighted to see Lollie return this morning with them in tow. She brought them to us the day they were born and stayed away, other than a few stops without them, for pellets, carrots, apples, and lucerne.

We were worried something had happened to the three piglets, and then we realized she had wanted to show them off to us but then tucked them away for a few days to allow them to grow and feed before she brought them back. This morning, we were thrilled to see the four of them offering plenty of treats good for her.

Our boy Norman, the dad of Noah, and partner of Nina, our favorite family visitors.

We never feed the animals “bad” food, only nourishing pellets, fruits, and vegetables suitable for their diets. We look online at reputable sites to see what foods are appropriate for them based on their digestion and eating habits. Most herbivores do well with vegetables and fruit but not corn.

Our friend Lynne from Jersey, UK, stopped by for a visit this morning. They arrived a few days ago, and we’re excited to see her again. We will get together with her and her hubby Mick when we return from our upcoming trip.

We’ll be back with more soon!

Be well.

Photo from one year ago today, November 14, 2021:

This is Stringy. Notice the strings from digging roots between his horns. For more photos, please click here.

Patience is a virtue…Watching football and debate with a not-so-hot signal…Tracking a package halfway round the world…

She said, “What are you looking at?” “Your beauty and charm,” we replied.  She smiled and we continued on our way.

“Sightings on the Beach in Bali”

Coal barge pulled by a tugboat.

If a traveler was content to read and send email and check out a few local tours, restaurants and attractions, the WiFi signal in this distant area of Bali would be sufficient. For most travelers with the intent of escaping the digital world to some degree while on holiday/vacation, this would be fine.

A pig we hadn’t seen on prior walks.

For us, with our intensive use of WiFi including streaming shows at night or as in the case yesterday’s Minnesota Vikings Football game and the second presidential debate, it was hit and miss.

Patience is really a virtue when it comes to waiting for the signal to recover when half-game, half-debate we have lost the connection repeatedly. In our old lives, Tom would have thrown his hands in the air in complete frustration refusing to wait, instead of turning it off. Now he sits patiently.

Steaming body of water found on a stroll.

In this life, patience becomes a necessary element of who we are, especially when dealing with “island time” which is a reality of daily life in many parts of the world. It is only in the United States and in busy cities throughout the world that we have experienced a constant sense of urgency.

“I want it now!” is the mantra of many customers waiting for their coffee at the local barista or waiting at the supermarket to check out as their darting eyes peruse every line wondering which is shortest or fastest with the least number of items in the trolleys.  Rush, rush, rush.

In most of the quiet places that we have lived in the past few years, there is no sense of urgency.

Not in our lifetime. In most of the quiet places that we have lived in the past few years, there is no sense of urgency. Power off? It’s nothing to worry about. It will come back on soon. WiFi slow or not working? Find something else to do until it improves.

Chaise lounges aren’t ready by 8:00 am? No need to mention.  Wait patiently until they’re done. Dinner ready too early or a bit late? No matter. We’re fine either way.

Waiting for an hour for an immigration check in at the airport?  Nothing can be done. Wait. Patience prevails. Spending several hours waiting to board the ship in Vancouver while multiple cruise ships and passengers were backed up at the busy port? Read a book or play a game using the phone. No point whinging or complaining.

A narrow path we explored.

This same goes for the recent package of supplies, we’re awaiting from the US. Yep, we sent it “priority express” by the US Postal Service (the only means available to this remote location), paying a premium price for this expedited shipment at US $185, IDR 2,400,930. 

Today is the sixth day since the package was picked up at our mail service in Nevada, USA. Here’s the route so far (most recent is at the top):

Date & Time
Status of Item
Location
October 9, 2016 , 10:02 am
Customs Clearance

INDONESIA
Your item is being processed by customs in INDONESIA at 10:02 am on October 9, 2016.
October 9, 2016 , 9:32 am
Customs Clearance
INDONESIA
October 9, 2016 , 9:32 am
Processed Through Facility
INDONESIA
October 8, 2016 , 4:00 pm
Departed
JAKARTA, INDONESIA
October 8, 2016 , 10:35 am
Departed
TOKYO, JAPAN
October 8, 2016 , 7:27 am
Departed
TOKYO, JAPAN
October 7, 2016 , 12:54 am
Departed
LOS ANGELES, UNITED STATES
October 6, 2016 , 6:38 pm
Arrived
LOS ANGELES, UNITED STATES
October 5, 2016 , 6:43 pm
Processed Through Facility
ISC LOS ANGELES CA (USPS) 
October 5, 2016 , 6:43 pm
Arrived at Facility
ISC LOS ANGELES CA (USPS) 
October 5, 2016 , 5:25 pm
Departed USPS Facility
LOS ANGELES, CA 90009 
October 5, 2016 , 3:53 pm
Arrived at USPS Facility
LOS ANGELES, CA 90009 
October 5, 2016 , 4:53 am
Departed USPS Facility
LAS VEGAS, NV 89199 
October 4, 2016 , 10:02 pm
Arrived at USPS Origin Facility
LAS VEGAS, NV 89199 
October 4, 2016 , 9:24 pm
Arrived at USPS Origin Facility
LAS VEGAS, NV 89120 
October 4, 2016 , 2:37 pm
Picked Up
LAS VEGAS, NV 89107
A few white chickens.

Tom gets a kick out following package tracking for our average two shipments a year. Today is the 11th in Indonesia although the one day time difference between the US and Indonesia isn’t illustrated in this tracking process.  

Now the package sits in customs as the officials determine how much tax we’ll be required to pay at the post office when it finally arrives at Malaya Beach, a 10 minute drive from the villa. We’ll see how that rolls out.

A mosque along the highway.

In many ways, living this life of world travel makes us a captive audience. We don’t always have the opportunity to choose “when” and “how” situations transpire. We can only choose to be patient, tolerant and accepting.

Somehow yesterday, we managed to watch the entire football game and the second presidential debate streamed from our laptops to the TV.

Both were broadcast at the same time, so we watched the football game first (go, Vikings!) and found a replay of the debate to stream after the game ended. It all worked out well.

After many days of rain, once again, we’re outside on a clear sunny day. The humidity is lower than usual along with the temperature.  The flies, after days of rain are plentiful. We’re content, grateful and delightfully enjoying our remaining 18 days at the villa until once again, it’s time to go.

May you be content and grateful for this day and always.

Photo from one year ago today, October 11, 2015:

A glimpse of loveliness, flowers growing under the deck in Fiji. For more photos, please click here.