A belated update, sort of…..

Well, it has been a while, so I suppose a bit of an update might be in order. Our daughter, her husband, his mother, and their oldest offspring, Andy, just left here last Sunday, after spending a week with us. Planning for their arrival, spending time with them while they were here, and so on, kind of distracted me there for a time, so I have not been very good at keeping this sucker up to date.

Some of you may remember my report (however belated) of a visit we received back on May 5, from our future neighbors……..well, I have finally received an email from Rene (that's the way he spells it – without any accents), and he has brought us a bit up to date. He and Tamara are back in Vancouver. They do remember us, and they did have a good time. I had referred him to what has been reported to me as the best restaurant in the area, but it turns out I evidently mis-named the place for him, or didn't make it clear to him just where it is located. They went to the Arenal Lodge, between us and La Fortuna, and were both very unhappy with the meals they were served. The place I had recommended was the Volcano Lodge, located right on the main highway to La Fortuna, and it appears that I most likely said the Arenal Lodge. At any rate, he reports that they drove a considerable distance after leaving the main road, in order to reach the place they went to, only to miss out on a view of the volcano, and to get bad food.

Oh, well, chalk up another one to the importance of good diction, not to mention, the importance of having one's facts straight before making referrals of any kind.

Tristen and Aislynn, our two granddaughters, are still with us, and will stay until Grandma takes them home to Dallas on the 12^th of August. Can you imagine what it must be like to be twelve and seven, and to spend your entire summer vacation in Costa Rica with your grandparents? They seem to think it is pretty cool. And, so do we! We are eagerly looking forward to the arrival of their cousin, our oldest grandchild, Bryan, on July 12. He will be with us for about three weeks, until his departure on August 1.

We celebrated our 42^nd wedding anniversary yesterday, and the menu was decided upon by our girlies (fried chicken tenders, with spaghetti). Grandma did the work, up to and including the baking of a cake for Jocelyn's 17^th birthday, which just happens to be the same day. We had a grand time, and then watched episodes of Monk until bed time.

As much as I hate to ever admit that Tulio might be right about something, I have to report that a recent concern of mine had to do with the brake light on our car. It came on and pretty much stayed on all the time, and this had been going on for some time. I kept saying I was going to take the car to a mechanic, and it was planned for Monday. Blanca had to go to town (Arenal) first, though, and stopped at Tulio's on her way. She told him that I was going to take the car to a mechanic later that day, and he told her to just get a can of brake fluid while she was in town, and to come back to his house on her way home. I have to confess that he had already told me – more than once – to add brake fluid. You notice I didn't say to check it, but to actually add it, right? Well, all I did was look at the reservoir, and it looked OK to me. Blanca naturally did what he told her, and upon her return to his house, he simply opened the lid of the reservoir, and added brake fluid. Guess what? The brake light went out, and it is still out, two days later!

So, what can I say? Life goes on. It is still good. I'm certainly never to old to learn, and unfortunately, whatever my age, still liable to forget things that I knew many years ago.

How about a quick update on the recent uninvited visitor?

Well, since our early morning visit, at the beginning of the week, we have been busy.  I have managed to get the torn screen replaced, and the window guard has been welded back together, and straightened (and painted).  The front door jamb was pounded back into place.  I gave that extra car jack to the guy who did the welding (turned out he didn't have one, and since I obviously didn't need that spare......).  I have bought a piece of the plastic screen to replace the torn one from the screen door that was cut, but have not yet put it into the door.  I took the car to a locksmith in Tilaran, where he installed two Yale locks on the front doors.
    The idiot thief had evidently inserted something like a screwdriver into the driver's side door, and hit it with something.  All he managed to do was break the lock off inside the door, thus making it even harder to open the door!  Of course, by breaking the lock in this manner, it was not repairable, thus the two Yale locks.  Now, we have to carry two keys to use the car.  One small one to open a door, and of course, the original key for the ignition.
     We also have developed a new habit.  We take the face plate for the stereo with us each time we exit the car, in the hope that this might remove some temptation from this, or any other future idiot.
     Oh, yeah, I bought a pellet gun, just in case this happens again.  I figured it can hurt like a sumbitch, if nothing else.  And, I certainly wouldn't mind taking out an eye, or something for an individual like this.......