Tuesday morning.
My last full day at Betty’s; this morning a large group of
campers went shopping in Abbeville and New Iberia. Since I succumbed to my first cold in about 4
years yesterday I didn’t make it to Happy Hour yesterday and didn’t know about the outing
today. I wouldn’t have gone anyway, as I
still feel yucky. I also want to get
some Valentine and Mardi Gras packages mailed to grandkids today and am
beginning to prepare for take off tomorrow.
It’s always interesting to me that I think about 'all that needs to be done' for days and days; but, actual preparation is really no big deal. Guess I’ll have to go through cupboards and
refrigerator to make sure items are securely stowed. The outside compartments are all in good
shape – neat and locked for travel.
Yesterday, even though I was starting to feel pretty lousy, I spent most of the day getting stuff done on my
computer: I wanted to download OS X Mavericks from the Apple Store, and, as often
happens, one thing leads to another and another and . . .
First, I had to be close to Betty’s cable and router; that
was accomplished with my recent move, doing the Betty’s shuffle, which put my
rig right next to her building. I’d
tried several weeks ago to download Mavericks but found that it’s not possible
using my Verizon Jet Pack. I’ve known
for quite a while I’d have to move and it’d be closer to the connection so I
waited.
Well, I jumped through the hoops to download Mavericks;
then, when I clicked to install it I got a message that it wouldn’t support my
version of Microsoft Office (2004). I
spent over an hour with the tech support at Apple generally cleaning up my HD –
and will need to rewrite the notes I jotted down for future use. One issue the tech support told me is that I
do not need Norton Antivirus since I’m no longer dealing with medical record
numbers and private patient information (which was the reason I bought it in
the first place). He assured me that most antivirus protection is specifically designed for PCs. Norton automatically ran a scan once a month
since 2010 when I bought the computer – there’s never been a compromise found
so far. Anyway, I turned it off and need
to contact Norton to not renew my subscription when it expires late in 2014.
The next project was to talk with Microsoft about a newer
version of Office; I bought that and the tech support (in the Philippines)
stayed with me to download it, assuring me that all my hundreds of Word and
Excel documents would be available on the new version (2011). I’m sure one of the reasons I’ve never become
truly comfortable with my home computer is that, until recently, I’ve never had
the incredible amount of time necessary to go through all the processes, one
thing leading to another. Finally, last
evening at about 7 I was ready to see how things were working.
NOT! I can’t get on
the Internet, either using Betty’s (four lines showing on my computer) or my
Verizon Jet Pack. I can’t even get the
Jet Pack to show up on the drop-down menu.
I had had a similar problem with Verizon last month and the tech walked
me trough an entire process to bring it back up. I kept notes and tried the process several
times – no luck.
I cannot open ANY Excel or Word documents; so I’m out in the
cold with spreadsheets and documents I access daily. I did open the new version of Word and was
able to write this post; but I can’t post it – no Internet. Back to the telephone!!! I’m sure I’ll have more news later.
Wednesday afternoon – Sam Houston Jones State Park, Lake
Charles, LA:
I had a good night’s sleep last night but still woke up
feeling lousy. So, because I couldn’t
get back to sleep I went ahead and started ready-to-roll-out preparations. Even though I’ve driven out a couple of times
for gas, etc., I’ve been at Betty’s for just under two months; so I used my
algorhythms for Petunia and Floribunda checks.
I’d told folks I’d be leaving at between ten and 10:30 – I was rolling
out about 9:30; pretty good for me. Lots of folks in Betty's Web braved the cold miserable weather to send me off with good wishes and luck. Wow, what an experience this has been.
We drove west on I-10 towards Lake Charles and exited to go
back to Sam Houston Jones State Park as I’d liked it here last time. The ladies in the office remembered Lacy and
were happy to see her. My British
Colombian friends, Doug and Nancy (blog:
Running Away with Doug and Nancy) have been here since Monday. They were anxious to get a calendar that
their daughter had made with their grandson, Gus, as the star. It had been mailed to Betty’s even though
they knew they couldn’t stay there ‘cause they’re traveling in a Eurovan and
need shower and restroom facilities.
By the time I got here about 11:30, I was on borrowed steam;
so we greeted one another and I left to go to bed. I’ve been sleeping most of the afternoon, and
still feel wiped out. They’d invited me
to share dinner with them but I had to refuse.
This is about all the concentration I can muster – for now. I’ll add more later.
Thursday:
Yikes - Day almost 5! I still feel like I've been hit by a Mack Truck, my head's in a vice and somebody keeps getting in here to rub my skin with Brillo pads! I slept another 12+ hours last night and thought I was on the mend; but, about five minutes after I got up I was wiped out again. I gave Nancy and Doug the keys to Petunia and told them to enjoy themselves for the afternoon. When they got back I told them they can probably use Petunia again tomorrow. I did take a shower and wash my hair - quite an undertaking requiring about a two hour nap afterwards! I also ruptured a capillary in my left eye - probably from coughing so I look really great too.
Enough - I'm publishing this and hope you can't catch anything reading this trash!
if we are going to catch a bug/cold, we are glad it's from someone we love!! Thanks again and again for the use of the car. Super novelty for us not to have to pack up the van to go somewhere! Just wave out the window or honk if you need us!!
ReplyDelete...and you look great even with your fight-club eye!!!
I'm feeling 'better' this morning - but I have to remember it's in relation to yesterday. Today I'm really hacking. You're welcome to Petunia use today too if you'd like. It's fun to say, "Let's talk" and mean t!
DeleteI saw on Carolyn's blog that you had been at Betty's. I live about 10 miles from there and go to Happy Hour when I have friends staying there. I'm a part-time RVer. My husband doesn't want to travel so I make a few trips a year with friends. I passed by Betty's the other day and she has RV's packed in there.
ReplyDeleteSorry you got sick. Louisiana is one of the states with a high incidence of flu. I had it about 3 weeks ago and finally stopped coughing.
Safe travels.
Sorry I didn't meet you there, Martha. I just love that place - real Cajun Comfort. I'm in Lake
DeleteCharles now but can't say I enjoying anything but my bed right now. Keep coming back.
I'm so sorry you're sick - you must be sick of being sick by now. Good wishes going your way - feel better soon. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks so much. I know Katie won't get it but I certainly hope you don't either. Happy Valentine's Day.
DeleteMary-Pat, don't know what to say...what advice can one give a nurse who is sick. However, I am assuming your computer is no longer sick since you were able to post this. Wish you had a windows, I would be able to help you there. Not sure how well Norton runs on a Mac, but it really sucks on a PC, eats up so much resources...probably a good think you drop it as long as you find another virus protector...but I can't even help you there since it is a Mac. Hope you are feeling better soon. Skruffy is doing much better, still won't jump up on the couch, but she did jump into the car yesterday morning. It is a start.
ReplyDeleteHappy Valentine's Day dear friends. I'm treating myself as I've treated my patients. Lots of down time, lots of fluids, chicken soup and patience. I just dispise this hacking cough. What I found out is that the Mac doesn't need any virus protection as it's built in. So I'm saving about $70 / year.
DeleteI must have missed what happened to Scruffy. Whatever it was I hope she's back to her old self soon.
I felt the bug coming on starting with a sore throat so I made hot herbal tea put lemon, honey and cinnamon in the tea and drank it hot. Next day the tickle in my throat was gone and so was the muscle soreness. I had heard Latinos use this remedy a lot so I give it a whirl and viola it worked :-) Of course I also loaded up on vitamin C. Hope you feel better soon.
ReplyDeleteTea does help a lot. As for Vitamin C, I try to eat foods loaded with it several times a day. Since it's water soluble it only stays in the circulatory system until it's excreted in the urine. It doesn't matter how high the dose is either - it still goes through the kidneys and out. Vitamin C pills would have to be taken about once every hour to be effective in maintaining a titer of the vitamin for use building and strengthening mucous membranes.
DeleteGet well soon!
ReplyDeleteBeing sick is awful, especially when traveling.
Six shots of tequila might help!
Expensive cough remedy but cheap cure? Thanks for the advice . . . now just where did I put that shot glass and bottle.
DeleteIt's hard some times to know if you have a cold or the flu. A cold usually lasts a week and the flu longer.
ReplyDeleteI'm in Day 6 - Hmmm i think maybe flu?!
DeleteHi mary-Pat. I'm so sorry that a little ity bity yucky virus got you down. They are nobody's friends for sure.
ReplyDeleteI have a MacBook Pro and I don't need an antivirus either.
I'm not computer savvy like you but my son in law knows about those computer.
I'm looking to following you on this trek of your journey and I hope that you are feeling stronger today.
Happy Valentine Day.
Hugs,
JB
Thanks Julia. I've had good moments and not-so-good moments today. I at least got to visit with my great friends, Doug and Nancy, but after about an hour I felt completely wiped out again. i hope you're enjoying a nice Valentine's Day - do you celebrate it on 2/14. You deserve lots of accolades from your family. I hope this one is the best for you.
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ReplyDelete