Vacation time

Over the last couple of weeks, we have taken some time to chill.  Two weeks ago we went back to one of our favorite places in the world, the Newagen Seaside Inn in Boothbay Harbor Maine.  We went with two of our friends. Barbara and Andy, and had a wonderful, relaxing time on the beautiful coast of Maine.  The weather was great and we took a delightful schooner sail boat ride around the harbor.  A lobster dinner was a must!  We used to go there every year, but ever since we moved onto the river in West Newbury, we stopped going.  But now that we have moved, revisiting the Newagen Inn was a real treat.

Logan and Pam on the ATV

This past weekend, we went to the farm (our summer place) in upstate Champlain, NY.  Jeff & Christine, and Brian, Pam, & Logan were all there.  The weather was perfect and we had a great time, as usual.  Logan seems to enjoy the farm.  I hope he grows up to love it as Jeff and Brian and I have.  The house was built by my great grandfather in about 1880, so Logan is a fifth generation descendant.  It would be nice to keep the family tradition going.  Our neighbors across the road, Betty and Ed, hosted a wonderful fireworks display on the 4th.

We are supposed to head off to Peru to visit Holly and Ryan in two weeks.  We're hoping to have a wonderful time with them visiting Machu Picchu, the rain forest, and their coastal village of Huanchaco. 

One problem is that my passport expires this week, so I filed a renewal application on May 30.  I have heard nothing since then, so I am getting a bit nervous.  I know they cashed my check on June 3, so I would assume that it's being processed, but when I went on their website today, they didn't have a record of it in the system!  Yikes!  I decided to call my congressman to have him look into it, but in the meantime, after calling about a dozen times and waiting on hold for a half hour, I finally talked to a human being!  He told me that my passport was sent out in the mail today!  Hooray!

Now get this.  He gave me a tracking number for the USPS website.  This is the longest tracking number I have ever seen:  4200198500009205596900893491581302.  OK, let me ask you, why the hell do they have to have a 34-digit tracking number?  I mean seriously.  Again, WTF?  Who comes up with this shit?  Anyway, after laboriously typing it in, I got the response that it is on the way and should be here by Wednesday.  Yippee!  I guess I (we) get to go to Peru after all.

I finally got approval from the Farber to get my yellow fever shot before we go to Peru.  I have scheduled it for July 17, just before we leave.  However, I have been having second thoughts.  I went onto a website that said that there have been 4 cases of yellow fever in South America from unvaccinated tourists since 1975.  That's one every ten years.  Hello!  So why should I take the chance of an adverse reaction to the shot when the probability of getting YF is almost nil?  I may just skip this appointment!  I mean really...why does the CDC recommend getting this shot when the probability of getting YF is so low, especially since the shot itself can give you YF?  Hello again!

I'm meeting with Dr. Richardson on July 20, the day before our trip.  I have a number of questions for him, since I haven't seen him in a long time.  The Farber just installed a new computer system, which means everything is pretty well fucked up.  I have to keep on top of all my appointments, medication schedules, clinical trial paperwork, etc., but in the end, it will still probably get messed up  Oh well.  That's life.  I learned a long time ago that you have to take responsibility for your own medical care.  Even at the world-renowned Farber, you have to stay on top of things all the time.