The First Day of the Rest of My Life – False Alarms – September 3, 2019 – Day 3

Today is Day 3 of this new journey I'm on. I was supposed to be at the hospital by 11:00 AM for an educational session. We (yes, we, I'll explain) got up early and left two hours before the appointment. There are seven mountains and seven valleys to cross each way and about 140 miles round trip to cover for each trip to Winchester and the hospital.

So, off we went. About halfway to our destination, my phone rang. Fortunately, we were not in “Cell Hell” at that moment (there are several of them between my base in West Virginia and Winchester, Virginia). I answered the call and it was a courtesy call to remind me of an appointment tomorrow. So, I said, I'd be there tomorrow (there are actually two appointments tomorrow) and I was halfway to the hospital for the educational program today.

This is the way my life is going to operate for then next several months from what I can tell. The woman on the other end of the phone said, I'm sorry, that program has been canceled today since it's the beginning of the month and due to the holiday yesterday, everything is backed up and they are very busy. So, the next educational program is next Tuesday at 11:00 AM. I said that won't work because at that time next Tuesday, I'm going to be in a big, testing machine undergoing a very extensive scan. Thus, I can't make that session until the 17^th of September.

Of course, I don't blame anyone for this. These folks have gone out of their way to accommodate me. I'm just going to have to go along with whatever works for everyone.

The “we” I mentioned is my friend, Carolyn. We've been friends for about 16 years and she graciously allows me to use her home in a little town in West Virginia as my eastern base when I'm back east. She is also a retired nurse with 50 years as a medical professional. She has offered to drive me back and forth as need be, to Winchester. 

We decided since we were already more than halfway there we'd continue to Winchester and fuel up her vehicle at the cost-effective Costco gas pumps, stop at one of the large Walmarts and pick up some things we each needed, have lunch, a taco salad we were both craving at Wendy's and make a stop at another unique supermarket where they sell things in bulk. It's operated by an Amish consortium.

We also made a quick stop at my mechanic's place. Like me, he was also struck by an unfortunate “fireball” from the universe and has been forced to close up his shop and retire. So, there goes a 30-year relationship between Marty, me and my vehicles. Marty was there, in the process of clearing out all the tools, inventory and such he wanted to keep and moving it all to storage. Change! Sometimes it comes faster than we expect.

We finished our business in Winchester and headed back over the 7 mountains and valleys to Carolyn's place in West Virginia. While we were driving, I was attempting to take care of some business on my smartphone.

When I arrived back at the home base in West Virginia, I received a terrific phone call from a long-time, dear friend from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan in Canada. Norm and his wife, Delva, attended the conference I ran nearly two weeks ago, about half of it from a hospital bed. We had a lengthy, uplifting, inspiring and positive conversation.

That's about it for today. Some of these days are going to be rather dull and boring. But, I'm expecting some of them to be quite exciting. Tomorrow, it's another round trip over the seven mountains and through the seven valleys back to Winchester for the next two appointments in two different locations.

Live free and be happy. EH