Trip To The Rio Grande Valley

living.boondockingmexico@yahoo.com

It is a trip to the valley but unfortunately it is not an rv trip.  Tomorrow I'm teaching a course in Roma, Tx.  If you remember my last trip there, I was harassed by police coming and going from McAllen.  

This trip I have made sure that all lights are working, car is clean, no books in the back and I had the GPS on and running to keep me on track with mph versus kph.  I have no books because now we have gone to e-books.  One part of the job I always hated and was a real time consuming activity.  I would have to go to the storage, pick up materials and then go to the school.  Afterwards, I'd have to return any unused materials.   It was located in Edinburg which is on the northeastern side of McAllen and during traffic in the late afternoon took forever.  Technology does make things easier but we have already discovered the downside.   Students aren't logging in and using the platform to prepare and study for this dragon of a test.  I mentioned to a coworker that they probably never read the printed material but we'll never know.  

I spent an hour and fifteen minutes at the bridge.   Bummer.  Then a stop at the Dollar Tree for some reading glasses.   I made a bee line for Costco for vitamins and then the dreaded trip to Rio Grande City where my hotel is.   I have never seen so many officers from every possible department.  When I arrived to the hotel, I mentioned to the girl at the front desk that I made it without getting stopped.  She said it has become an economic tragedy in the sense that businesses have closed and tourists drive north to San Antonio to cut over to Hwy 83 bypassing all of the western corridor of the RGV.

They haven't made a final decision yet on the biopsy.  I'll find out at the end of the month.  I did go to the chiropractor.  It seemed to ease the pain a bit but it could be the placebo effect.

I return home tomorrow evening and we both take off for Morelia for the taping of our video conference.  A nice dinner out Friday night is well-deserved.  

I´ve Had A Few Tests

living.boondockingmexico@yahoo.com

I haven't said anything to anyone and have kept it to ourselves.   I started having chest pains about a month ago.  Of course I made an appointment with the cardiologist and he took me in right away.  He did his usual battery of tests.  The treadmill was great, he asked me if I wanted to run the last two minutes at full speed and incline.  No issue with that.   He did blood workup, x-rays, EKG, etc. and told me to come back in a week.  He said I looked great and there was no need for any urgency.   

I went back the next week before my trip to Pennsylvania.   He said he found nothing and that I was one of his best examples of a healthy heart.   Remember that I have three siblings who have had bypass surgery.   

He scheduled an appointment with a specialist in male breast cancer.   I had a mammogram and ultrasound.  She really knows her stuff.   She found a lump under my left boob or chest.  She said it was a very small fat nodule and was not attached to any tissue or muscle and was not the cause of the chest pain.   She also did tests on my lymphatic system and they came up very clean.   Her results show nothing yet the pain persists.   I delivered the CD with the images and the test results to my cardiologist.  Now I am waiting to see what is next.

I continue my 1.5 hour workouts running 40 minutes and 50 minutes of weights.  No issues or pain occurs.   I just can't describe the sensation I get.  It's almost like an uncomfortable burning in the tissue.   It has no rhyme or reason and just comes and goes on occasion.

It doesn't look as if death is imminent or at least not yet!  That's a good thing. 

Other than that we are on our weekend tours for the next two months.  We each have a trip every other weekend.  I'm working on getting the roof replaced in San Antonio this month and the prices are all over the board.   Not sure how this will turn out.  It's a big chunk of money and I will need to be there to supervise.   Roofers have a bad reputation right now in San Antonio.  So many homes were damaged by hail.  Insurance is in cahoots with the roofers and my neighbor had his done for $11,000.  About 3.5 times too much.  One neighbor had three roofers who came and left without finishing the job.  Imagine?  We're starting repairs here in Mexico also.  Always something that needs replacing.

Home ownership is the pits.  My final conclusion.  

I mentioned to Contessa that we would head to the East coast this winter but I made a mistake.  We decided on Cuatro Cienegas in Coahuila.  A place we always talk about but never go.  It's a days drive and is supposed to be a wonderful place in the winter.

Enough rambling.