Arrival!

     The USPS Informed Delivery, to which I subscribe, announced earlier this week that a package would arrive from the V.A. on Saturday. Today the prescription, about which I've written much arrived, as the USPS said it would. Given all the writing I'd done about securing this prescription I thought I should let you both know that it came.

   High School basketball teams in Minnesota are divided into four classes for competition. Consequently, there are four championship games, two completed this afternoon and two tonight. Girls now boys later.  These are all televised meaning I've seen two and will see two more tonight. In addition there was the USA World Cup preliminary game against Italy, which I also watched. The USA won 93-59.  The short Italian coach could be seen gesticulating vigorously as he challenged his team. 

   Weather forecasters are predicting a major snowfall here, a foot or more of snow, in the next 16 hours. As predicted it began to snow about 5:00. Will the snow measure up to predictions? There's something cozy about snuggling in at the OFH with a well stocked kitchen, happy to leave shoveling a memory.

Takk for alt,

Al

The Little House in 2020, while I was quarantining there.

Happy Pi Day!

      Lexington Landing, the official name of my OFH, always celebrates Pi Day. From 11:00-1:00 today the organization offered free pie to celebrate Pi. Serving was in the Bistro, which is open for lunch at that time. Purchasing a bowl of soup for lunch, I had peach pie for dessert.

   It's another way that Lexington leaders promotes community. To eat my lunch I joined a table of  five men, all of whom I knew. The Bistro was full of inmates who came for pie, perhaps ordered more food, and stayed to visit. When I was living in the condo in downtown Minneapolis I knew a few others in the building, two of whom remain friends. But, that condo living was a much more isolated experience. There were not these type of events to bring residents together.  

Takk for alt,

Al

The cold weather training tents are pictured with Mt. Fuji in the background. There's just a skiff of snow at the summit.

Small things!

     The OFH is situated in the Highland Park, area of St. Paul. It's a grand neighborhood in which to be situated. There are parks, in one of which Kaia and I walk daily, schools, nice houses, interesting shopping and myriad dining options. One of my favorite dining options is Cecil's Deli. It's an old classical Jewish delicatessen. It features a sizeable dining room in addition to the deli which is filled with delectables.

    Sammi, the OFH Resident Services director, schedules many options for inmates. Today was a catered lunch from Cecil's. My Reuban Sandwich was excellent. Fortunately sour kraut was served separately becasue I'm not allowed to eat it. There was a small fee which is simply added to our rent.

   It was a nice mellow event and many residents elected to eat together in the multi-purpose room. This created a pleasant community opportunity. Perhaps a small thing, but positive and appreciated.

Takk for alt,

Al

 

Here are OFH statistics given at yesterday's meeting.

Campus Occupancy

Terrace I (my building)

 Independent Apartments

• 27/36 = 75%

• +2 move-ins scheduled

Assisted Living

• 19/21 90.4%

• Pending 2 moves

Arbor Memory Care

• 143/154 = 92.8%

• 172 Residents T1 Census :(Total in my building)

Cribbage Day!

    This was day for our weekly cribbage match. Tom's the master and Anita and I are learners. They drive to the OFH and I take them to the bistro for lunch. Big spending it is not, as they both like soup which is $4.00 a bowl. Cribbage is a social game and, by Tom's estimate, 80% luck based on the cards you draw. Both Tom and Anita are so gregarious they're making OFH acquaintances. Both of them also know inmates here.

   The qualifying rounds for women's basketball World Cup began today. USA defeated Senegal. It's not a "loser go home" scenario. USA got 2pts for the win and Senegal 1pt for the loss. The USA team, all from the WNBA, are young stars. Watching Caitlin Clark and Paige Bueckers passing to each other which led to three point scores is refreshing.  Old pros like Brenda Stewart and Tiffney Griner are not on the team. Kara Lawson, coach of South Carolina, is the team coach. Several WNBA coaches were visible on the bench. Watching as much basketball as I do, all the players are identifiable by sight. 

  There was an OFH resident's meeting today, which I accessed via closed circuit TV. The landline, part of our rental package, is being discontinued. Mine was seldom used. Our internet access, also included in our rent, is being upgraded to private access at 150gbs. Another 100 hundred channels will be available on our cable access TV, which is also included in the rent. How excited I am by another 100 TV channels can hardly be expressed! Can you imagine how many questions were asked by the inmates in attendance? That's what passes for excitement here.

Takk for alt,

Al

Small Things!

     With ageing comes a narrowing of horizons. An example is my decision, congruent, not to fly anymore. The loss is not being able to return to Thailand. It would be great to be there but the effort of travel is too steep a price to pay. The thought of entering an airport traveling to someplace fills me with dread. So glad that I travelled as peripatetically as I did when I could. No more and that's fine. A former colleague asked me recently if I'm still driving. She thought I shouldn't as she compared me to her mother at my age. 😁 They haven't come for my car keys yet.

   Even as old age narrows horizons, small things, victories, take on more meaning. Resisting Express Scripts exorbitant pricing for the skin ointment, $60.00 for a small tube, I turned to the VA. Now possessing the inside phone number of a helpful person, Cindy, I left a voicemail. When she returned my call she reported that the prescription in question will be mailed tomorrow. That's a small thing that brings satisfaction. Paying the $60. wouldn't have left me bereft, yet....  

Takk for alt,

Al

PS In answer to M's question: those are chimneys on top of the tents. There were small oil burners in each tent. They fed off a five gallon jerry can. If the jerry can emptied in the night, and the tent got cold, the lowest ranking Marine was sent out to attach a full can.

Sitting on my sleeping bag and air mattress I'm writing my weekly letter home, in the tent pictured yesterday.. Do you remember the old aerograms? Mother saved them all and now I have them. My rifle is hanging behind me and eating utensils are to my left. The rifle was issued to me after boot camp and I kept until we left Asia to return to the U.S. The sea bag holds my clothes and anything valuable and can be locked. The tents had wood floors and were semi-permanent.

V.A. Visit

      United Health Care, my insurance carrier is affiliated with Express Scripts for pharmacy benefits. At the Express Scripts website a skin cream, for which I have a prescription, is available for $60. This, for a tube of only 45 grams. At the V. A. virtually all prescriptions are $8:00. Consequently, I contacted the prescribing dermatologist and asked that the prescription be transferred to the V A. This was two weeks ago and a voice at the V. A. assured me that the item would be forth coming.

   With two weeks past it was time to act. My only frustration with the V. A. is, phone contact with them is difficult. Most calls go through the general switchboard and a response often takes an hour. Then you're switched to another number and the wait begins again. When I'm at the V. A. for appointments everything goes swimmingly but reaching them otherwise is frustrating.

  Knowing the difficulty of phone contact, today I drove to the V. A., which is only a ten minute drive. Wondering what I'd encounter at the outpatient pharmacy I checked in using my handy-dandy Veteran's Card. No more than seated to wait, I was called to the window. The man helping me went into his computer and quickly found the prescription. The hold-up was that my primary care NP hadn't signed off on it. He messaged a request to the primary NP to authorize the prescription. He also provided me with a direct number to pharmacy. Slowly, I'm assembling a list of phone numbers to bypass the general switch board. The trip was worth it, I concluded.. Every V.A. employee I've interacted with has been helpful and courteous.

Takk for alt,

Al

The tent camp on the slopes of Mt. Fuji, where we were stationed for two months of cold weather training. Given the blog post about the V. A., a Marine picture seemed appropriate.

Choir Concert!

     This afternoon the Augustana University choir sang at Augustana Lutheran Church (how appropriate was that?) and I attended. The choir isn't very large but it's musically superb. The audience was largely my peers, who would fit right in at an old folks home. It was fun to chat with some of the choir members,  all of whom hung around the post concert reception.

   One student, with whom I had conversation, is a resident in Bergsaker Hall. Joanne was the first head resident in that dorm the year it was open in 1963-64. It was the first coed dorm on campus, but, under early 60s rules. The sexes were divided by wings, the men in the west wing and the women in the east. Here's the funny part. Men had no curfew but women had to be in the dorm by midnight. At midnight the door to the women's section was locked!😀 Long, long ago.......

   On Sunday I graduated from Augustana and on Saturday we were married. We lived in the head residents apartment for two months while Joanne commuted to the University of S.D., to get one course she lacked to be certified to be a Minnesota School counselor. Her hiring at at Saint Louis Park High School was contingent upon her completing that requirement. 

Takk for alt,

Al

PS The hockey game last night ended 4-3, in favor of granddaughter's team.

Wat Chaiwatthanaram is a temple in Ayutthaya I passed to and from school. It was built in 1630. Guess how long it took me to learn how to pronounce it?