recent news...

went to the retinal specialist yesterday and he was quite happy with the progress of the eye. when i first went to see him at the end of May, i couldn't even see two fingers in front of my face, let alone the big 'E' on the wall. and with my eye test yesterday, i could even make out the letters on the 20/40 line...even though it's harder to see in lower light conditions.

so...it is getting better...just not as fast as i want it to happen ;)

this coming monday (25th), i have one last visit with the corneal specialist before he leaves his practice; i don't know if he's moving or retiring. anyway, he's been really cool because he knows i'm uninsured and has been billing me the medicaid rate, which is about 40% less. if i continue to go to his office (w/ the replacement ophthamologist) i hope the rate won't change. if that doesn't happen, i guess i'll make the retinal specialist my ophthamologist. i like his upbeat attitude and enthusiasm. i was glad when he offered to take me on as a regular patient yesterday; it kinda took a load off my shoulders.

and since we're on the subject of yesterday, i'll let you in on our new grill caper. ya see we went to Home Depot on saturday to check out their grills. prior to the eye problems, we had considered a couple grills at Target. there were a couple really nice Brinkmann and Thermos (which is what we have) that were sturdy and affordable - $179 - $259. unfortunately, if you didn't get them by the end of june, you were out of luck. seems that they only have them in stock till the 3rd of July...yet keep them out on display even through the end of the month. makes a ton o' sense, eh?

so we found a Char Broil grill at the Depot for $199...w/ free assembly! nothing like putting something together yerself and totally screwing it up. all we had to do was go last night and pick the thing up.

i know the moon isn't quite full, but we sure had full moon happenings. it all started with trying to claim it. we saw it in front of the service desk, with someone else's name on it...and ours on a cheaper model. no problem. the guy just tore off both labels and we were on our merry way.

not so.

we recruited my brother-in-law to help us with it. he has a truck and is stronger than me. that's where we went wrong...asking him. he had brought along his best friend because we were all gonna go to Rack 'Em and shoot a little pool/snooker. his friend had cracked the right side of the plastic counter part as he lifted it into the bed of the truck. and instead of apologizing, he agonized and strode off a couple yards and lit up a cig. hello?!? ya just fucked up our grill. you could at least apologize...nut!

no problem. lois and in-law take it back in and actually get them to build us another. in-law comes back out and says that he'll help us get in a couple days, when it's finished...and leaves with friend...who doesn't even feel sheepish. we're supposed to meet at the pool hall when i drop off lois.

well, i'm waiting out there on the bench when lois comes out and asks if they've gone. yeah. turns out that they weren't going to build another. rather, they were willing to give us a display model, which was even better...if we had the truck. okay...right before we were gonna claim it, i noticed that the ignition switch was missing from the model. no go. so we just asked the guy if we could take the good counter piece off the display and replace the cracked one on our model. done.

i thought about making the guys come back and help us with it, but we were pretty much at the 'fuck it all' point and just rented one of Home Depot's big trucks instead for $20. at first, the guy who was renting it to us was a bit leery because of the time constraint - they were closing in an hour - and wondering if little 'ol lois could drive the thing. we neglected to tell him that both of us weren't quite 100% with our vision...heh. he smiled when lois told him that she had worked for a major construction company for many years and can drive a flatbed ;)

it took us about 30 minutes total to load it, take it and take out some good brush in the alley (since we drive tiny hondas) before rolling it into the backyard, and return the truck. by the time we got home, it was 10:00 and i was still seething a bit at the guys. i always have given my bro-in-law the benefit of the doubt when it comes to his strange ADD/ADHD ways. i know that he's a really good guy...but he self-medicates...and doesn't always follow through (which is Lois' worst pet peeve). but he messed up yesterday! the plan was to pick me up at 6:15 so we could get it...NOT call me numerous times to say you're running late and to eventually just ask me to meet you at Home Depot at 8:00, with goony friend in tow. had we known that, why would we go to the trouble of asking you to help us? we coulda had the damn grill in the house long before 7:00...sheeyit.

so, i was itching to go to the pool hall and stomp their asses in straight, 8-ball, 9-ball, cutthroat, snooker - you name it. i was a bit steamed to say the least. wouldn't ya know it...they weren't there when i showed...no messages on my phone either.

i hope he shows up today to pick it up...what dumbshits.

oh yeah, i wonder if there are no coincidences because as we were leaving (after dropping off the rental), we were approached by a lady who needed something. usually, that's a sign of a panhandler who is stranded in our case (i swear, you wouldn't believe how many times that has happened to us in parking lots at gas stations, major department stores, malls...it's like we have some huge neon 'sucker' sign on our foreheads). for once, that wasn't the case. this lady needed a jump and had cables - we were happy to oblige. for all we know, had not all that grill fiasco come together, that lady might still be at Home Depot on Colorado Blvd. ;)

ya think?