“A journey is like marriage.
The certain way to be wrong
is to think you control it.”
– John Steinbeck
Seven days remain before that last doctor’s visit; the one that’s keeping us here. It’s going to be a busy day. As a cardio specialist he evidently doesn’t trust other doctors as he’s doing another echo cardiogram (supposedly more complete) and before I get to his office I’m scheduled for an MRI at the adjoining hospital. Total appointment time from 9 am till 3 pm.
I’m optimistic that there won’t be any surprises that keep us here in Milwaukee. All of the conversations with medical staff have indicated that we’re just establishing a baseline — but I also know better than to make assumptions about matters medical.
We have been looking at routes to Ocala and I think we’re going to avoid most popular I-75 route through Atlanta. I’ve driven I-75 a lot of times and it simply isn’t my favorite route in the world. So, we’re giving serious consideration to a ’nearly-as-short’ route via Birmingham. Now all we need is a decent weather forecast for our travel days.
Several days of rain have kept me from playing around with my new WiFi toys. I’ll probably not get around to installing them until we get settled in Ocala but I finally talked myself into setting up a private network using WiFi Ranger products. I’m excited to get it up and running.
should be lookin’ good for Verizon coverage
I checked the Verizon coverage map for signal strength near our campground. We’re looking good. I don’t know whether you ever bother checking Cell or Data coverage before committing to new locations but it’s something I’m pretty adamant about doing. I’m such a geek about staying in touch that I really don’t want to be stuck like we were during our stay on the Siuslaw NF with poor coverage. I loved being there for the work, and the setting — but I hated having to deal with signal issues almost all the time.
Manatees at Salt Springs — within the Ocala NF
Juniper-Springs — near our domicile
I was tickled to get an invite from the Forest to the next safety meeting. We aren’t due into the forest that soon, but at least we’re being included! :-)We’ve been in the 50’s during the day lately, and between the 30’s and 40’s most of the recent couple weeks. So seeing the forecast for the same time period in Ocala came as a welcome change.
With luck we’ll get to see some color change on our way South; perhaps the areas we travel through will have had better moisture this summer so that the colors are more brilliant.
We’re getting pumped for the trip! And to get out of Wisconsin. I think we are agreed that the end of October is later in the year than we’d prefer to still be here. Last year was quite warm at this time. This year, not so much. I think we’ll try to move our doctors’ visits as early into September as possible while their calendars are still fairly empty.
Thanks for stopping by, and I’ll talk with you tomorrow.
Embrace Serendipity 
It’s good to give you a real thorough medical evaluation now, especially since you are only in town once a year. I think your advice on cell phone coverage is very sound…since it changes from locale to locale. How long will you be in Ocala?
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As for ocala — if read the next day’s post you’ll see that we cancelled the gig. My blog is a couple days behind real life, and as I write this I’m actually in hospital getting dosed and evaluated. As a result we are back to not knowing what the heck we are doing. We may find alternate accommodations in FL, or TX or AZ or it could turn out that we have to spend the winter in MKE. I can’t begin to explain the interesting/frustrating/challenging events of the last 24 hours. I am doing just fine, but the insurance co. (AARP UnitedHealthCare Medicare Complete) are hassling about the choice of medicine and that has called into question whether the appropriate solution should be more interventional and of course that comes with concomitant stress and uncertainty. I’ll learn more today, but for a guy who was asymptomatic (still is) in lifestyle it’s been really ‘interesting.’
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I’m sorry to hear that the health news wasn’t what you expected. After reading your next post, I think you have a wise doctor who obviously has your best interests in mind. I can’t imagine the forest position would be a good one for you at this time.
I’m sure this is a challenging time but preventative/maintenance is always better than repair. About ten years or so ago, Rick’s mum ended up going to the hospital the day before Thanksgiving because she just didn’t feel right. It’s a good thing she did because she had a very serious condition and ended up with a quad bypass. Sure, she was out of commission for a bit but she is still very much alive and kicking today because of it.
Though, I sincerely hope that you don’t have to go that route, I know you will do what you have to do. Sending warm thoughts and prayers to you an Peg as you work through life’s hiccups. I think the hardest thing about growing old is having to make lifestyle changes of things I really enjoy and am not ready to give up yet. What I eat has been at the top of that list. So many foods I would to have if I new there would not be an adverse affect connected to it!
Try not to drive the hospital staff too crazy! 😀
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Things are working themselves out. Us independent types never like having to wait for anything! And while a lot of guys are hesitant to even GO to a doctor I have never been that way. I’m all about getting things fixed before they become big problems so I’m perfectly fine with the idea of what’s going on. I get tight jawed about the PROCESS sometimes. And about the sometimes predictable SNAFU. But this IS the reason we return yearly (maybe now more than yearly — we’ll see) — get checked out so that when we are gone we know we’re in good condition to do what we want (or are able).
Thanks for the good words. Encouragement is always helpful.
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You just reminded me of your trucking days…maintenance is everything! And that work habit does become a life habit. 😀
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Yes indeed!
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