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August 13, 2021
IT'S FRIDAY, FAVORITE DAY!
Our week didn't exactly go as planned. First of all, after jumping through a number of medical hoops, Dave finally did qualify for that experimental medical study treatment for his cancer. That meant we had leave to go into Portland at 5:00 am Monday to check into the hospital at OHSU by seven. He had to have a biopsy on some suspicious Lymph Nodes in his back.
The first issue came as we tried to get around the usual morning traffic going into downtown. Dave has known of a way around that traffic that drops us right at the hospital but he hadn't driven it in 30 years. But, we (he) decided to give it a try anyway. You have to picture this route. It weaves through the west hills of Portland; there isn't a straight road or intersection. It's a plate of spaghetti. To make matters worse, it was my turn to drive and Dave isn't a "user-friendly" navigator. His instructions went something like this: "Go straight, NO! Turn here! NO, wait. Don't turn! Keep going straight." (After I have already committed to making the turn). Well, you guessed it - we got lost. Long story short...after taking a tour of some very nice properties in the hills, we eventually came back on the road we wanted and I was able to drop him at the hospital only a couple of minutes behind schedule. Except, as it turned out, we picked the wrong spot. As I drove off, he found there was no main entrance anywhere in sight. He did some climbing and finally found the entrance on another level. By then, we weren't talking to each other.
Visitors aren't welcome at the hospital during Covid (or at least that's what we had been led to believe), so I had a few hours to kill. Lara and the girls were in Costa Rica, so I decided to go to the Apple Store to try to get a problem with my watch sorted out. The face on my watch wouldn't light up so I could see the time, plus there was a window that kept asking me if I wanted to sign up for the cloud. (What's the cloud, anyway?) The Apple store only has three locations in Oregon, two in Portland and one at the Bridgeport Mall south of town. I choose the Mall and when I got there, I had two choices - either the "walk-in" line or the "reservation" line. Of course, I hadn't made a reservation (who knew?). So, after waiting until the store opened and then waiting again for someone to help me, it took a while. After I did get into the store and get my problems solved, I headed back to pick up Dave at OHSU. However, when the nurse called me to tell me that he was out of recovery and would be released soon, what followed might have been scripted by the Three Stooges. I said I would pick him up where I dropped him off. (The wrong place, remember?) Meanwhile, another nurse told Dave that I could come up to the recovery room and meet him there. (What happened to "No visitors"?) So, I was at the place to pick him up (Right place. I had figured it out by this time) when he called and told me to come upstairs and meet him in recovery. So, I had to circle around and find a parking place two buildings over, then walk back through two buildings to get him.
Meanwhile, Dave’s first treatment was scheduled for the next day at the Veteran's Hospital next door, so the study coordinator had arranged for a place for us to stay so we wouldn't have to drive home and back so much. Knowing that we would have the evening free, we arranged to meet our friend Luis for dinner. Three things in one trip - that's the way we like to "package" our trips to town. Anyway, after picking Dave up, we decided we would try to check in early and just stay there for the afternoon. Dave called, and got an answering machine that gave an entirely different phone number than what he had dialed. We got the number he called off their website, but he doesn't like to leave a message when he's not sure it is the right number. After trying three more times, we gave up and thought we would just go find the place and ask them in person. We got the address off their website and went looking. It's located adjacent to the hospital and is very convenient - if you can find it. We couldn't. We drove to the address down a narrow, one-lane street and it appeared to be an older house with someone's name on the gate. Nothing fancy at all and nowhere did it have a sign with the lodging name we had been given. Dave walked up and saw through the window that it appeared to be someone's home, so we got back in the car and went searching through the neighborhood. After much climbing around and looking in more windows, we were about ready to give up. However, one last, desperate phone call finally got a live person who told us that the first place we had looked was indeed the right place. As it turns out, it's not a hotel; it's a Bed & Breakfast. The owner's name is out front, but there's nothing to identify it as a B&B. We drove over there and waited in the parlor while they got our room ready (remember, we were early). As soon as we got in our room, it was nap time. A lot had happened since the alarm went off at 4:00 am.
Dave was awakened by his phone and the news that his appointment for the following day had been cancelled and re-scheduled for Friday. That was disappointing and we considered just driving home right then. But we had that dinner date with Luis and it had already been a long day of driving, so we stayed put. We're glad we did because we had a very nice evening with our friend. He has a connection with a guy that operates several Mexican restaurants in Portland and we met him at the one in the Pearl District. After a nice dinner, it was a quick drive across downtown to the B&B and we were done for the evening.
We slept in a bit because we had ordered our breakfast for 9:00 am - thinking, of course, that Dave had that 10:30 appointment.
After breakfast, we hit the road for home. We were low on gas so we decided to stop at Freddie's to fill up. As long as we were there, we stocked up on groceries as well. When we were checking out, I saw something in an advertising flyer that said we could get $10 off our bill anytime we spent more than $75. Well, that's every time I shop! We tried to download the app we needed, so I could get the credit. We just couldn't make it work. But then our checker stepped in to help. By this time, he was off duty. Between him and the manager, they spent the better part of the next hour getting that app on my phone so I could get my $10 credit. Now, that's customer service!
So, after filling up with gas, we headed back to home sweet home. It was really hot in Portland and almost as hot in Wheeler. I gave my poor plants and garden a quick drink as they were on their last leg.
The next day, Luis and his crew showed up to paint our deck. We had mentioned to Luis over dinner that the deck needed a new coat and he was looking for work for his crew. So lucky for us, they came ready to work. They pressured washed, sanded, primed and then put a fresh coat on the whole deck. It looks so nice.
Luis was also going to have his crew come down the next day and repaint the steamboat. After being in the water all summer last year and after Dave decided to pressure wash the barnacles off, well, a lot of the paint came off with it. So the boat is getting painted too. We had to drive to Astoria to the marine supply store to pick up paint so they could start painting once they got it all prepared. As it turned out, we could have picked up the paint later, because they had more work to do to prep the hull than they thought. Now it looks like it will get done sometime next week.
So, it is off to OHSU this morning for the infusion that Dave was supposed to get on Tuesday. At least we don't have to be there so early in the morning on this trip. We are really getting tired to going back and forth. Anyway while he is getting his infusion, I am going to go see Lara and her girls. They just got back from a 10-day trip to Costa Rica. On their way home, they had an 8-hour layover in Phoenix, so they took advantage of the time to visit Lara's cousin Jesse and his family. They hadn't seen each other for years, and I'm sure it was nice to catch up. I'll hear all about it today.
Well, this journal has outdone itself as far as my usual length. Take care and stay cool.
