It has been exactly two weeks since my last blog. I’ve been fine but once you have an auto injury over here, as I did after my second ‘rear-ending’, you get embroiled in a series of meetings with insurance, lawyers, and medical assessments. these lead you to consider whether it is worth all the hassle but then again you also have to consider the very high medical costs here. Yes, I have car insurance which pays 80% of your costs but that still leaves a further 20% which you seek to claim from the other party’s insurance. this can run into thousands!

Since my last blog I met a woman at the apartment pool who was a financial adviser. \she invited me to a pre-retirement presentation and so on Friday 19th  ventured along. It was at a rather nice Italian restaurant and drinks and food were all paid for. The presentation occurred while we ate so it was OK really.

Immediately after the Sunday evening Mass on 21 February I drove to Davenport near Orlando where Ross and his cousin Scott had taken a holiday place for two weeks. I had met them last year so it was good to renew friendship with these friends from Scotland. On the Monday we went shopping for BBQ food and then lounged and drank around the pool before consuming our meal. The next day R & S were going off to an amusement park but I remained at the pool until it started to rain and then I drove to Kissimmee to discover another Thrift Store. I returned empty-handed! I left later that evening reaching Tampa by 9pm after a great couple of days away.

My working week began to be punctuated by a programme of visits to the physiotherapist in between my working hours.

On Friday 26 the last stage of a dental programme, initiated over a year ago and involving the preparation and insertion of a dental implant a few months ago, was completed with the fitting of 5 crowns. I’d had the work done in UK fairly recently but the work was poor and decay had not been dealt with so I had to go through it here to greater expense! So far I am happy with the results.

On Sunday evening after my final Mass I met up with Ross and Scott who had decided to trip down to Tampa. We visited Charann’s bar where we over-indulged to the extent that Scott became quite ill. Ross and I continued at a more sedate pace and ate some wonderful cheese.

On the Monday we awoke feeling somewhat jaded but eager to enjoy the day. we had decided to go kayaking so we drove to Fort Desoto having strapped my kayak to the roof of my new car. When we got there I was astonished to discover that one of the roof bar bolts had come loose but was sitting on the roof. I refitted it and prayed for the best. We spent about two hours out on the fjords and then headed for the beach. I still had my kayak so I headed off to my favourite sandbar and found no one there at all. Later I joined them again and we eventually returned to Tampa. I had been given some vouchers for Outback steak restaurant so we decided to dine there. I had a dispute with the waiter over the size of the beers and since I one the next beer was on the house. There was a breakdown in communication at their end and we actually got another two rounds free. The starter, blooming onion, was free on Mondays so we tried that. it came as an enormous plate of strips of onion coated in batter and fried. It was quite sickly! The main meals were steak. I had a wonderful fillet steak and had no complaints. They brought a dessert for us to share and that too was free. The bill came to just under $100 for three of us which is not bad at all. Scott had been driving so he returned me to my apartment and we said our farewells.

Yesterday I was back at work having attending a physio appointment and evaluation. The MRI had shown no further injury so it seems as though I have just aggravated previous injuries again. I spent a while being manipulated by the specialist before some traction. Back at work I had a funeral with much of the music in Spanish and then had some office time preparing for the Confirmations in mid-April.

Last night, after enjoying some cheese and biscuits I went to bed early. It has been a tiring time keeping late hours with my Scottish friends!