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Diane's DiaryAugust 11- August 26, 2003 I was back in the US during this time. I had not been home in the US for almost a year. My trip seemed to go very fast. It was really nice seeing everyone even though I didn't get to see everybody- I just didn't have enough time. My plane trips in both directions were uneventful. The Venezuelan flight was late in both directions but fortunately; I had 3 hours between connecting flights so this wasn't a problem. We also had the big blackout while I was there so this was NOT cool- or chevere (the term for cool) as they say here in Venezuela. I got home late Monday night, didn't drive Tuesday since I was tired, so Wednesday was the first day I drove in over a year so I was definitely a little nervous. Thursday, I was out shopping at Home Depot for Larry when the blackout occurred. At first, everyone thought it was just a local blackout but as soon as I got in the car, I heard the news. NY, PA, NJ, NH, parts of Canada, OH, and MI were affected by it. What a mess! I was very lucky as I was just going to my friend Linda's house anyway so I just drove over there. It was a mess without traffic lights; everyone was really pushing and blowing their horns. It took me a lot longer than usual to drive over there with all the traffic but at least I was safe. I was a nervous wreck when I got to her house from the stress of driving so had to have a few drinks. I stayed until around 7:30pm as Linda suggested I might not want to drive at night without traffic lights. People on LI are definitely not used to driving without streetlights so we heard there were lots of fender benders. I just took the highway and basically didn't have a problem till I got off of it since there were no streetlights or traffic lights. The streetlights didn't bother me, as we never had them where we lived in Westchester anyway. So, I just took it slow and took the back roads and had no problems. I was glad when I finally got back to my parents house though. The next day a lot of the stores were still closed as the electricity came on sporadically to individual areas. My hometown, Rockville Centre, has it's own electricity plant but still gets electricity from elsewhere since they don't have enough supply to meet the demand. Anyway, the local paper later said there were over 60 cars waiting in line to get gas at a station in my town since it still had power and was able to pump gas. Also, restaurants in RVC were packed that night since no one else had electric and wanted to escape the heat. What really struck me about the whole thing is how dependent all those people are on electricity and how many couldn't cope without it. In NYC, many buildings didn't get water either. As cruisers, we are used to not having much electricity and to economizing on power and water when we are low but to many of these people this was the first time they had to cope with these losses. I hope it makes them all appreciate what they have but I doubt it will. I was glad to see Mr. C when I got home but knew right away that he didn't seem right. I guess I know him so well I knew he was not feeling well, as he didn't act the same - very grouchy, which was not typical of him. I guess I was hoping the shots would make him OK but really needed to talk with the vet and do some research on kidney disease on the internet. Plus, he had an appointment on 8/20 so I was just going to see how things went until then. I brought him to the vet but things did not look good - he was not responding to the shots for the kidney disease. The vet said they might have to do this once a week now but I didn't want to do that. He took some blood tests and wanted to see how they came out. I called the next day and he said the thyroid seemed better but he thought something else might be wrong by Cinnamon's responses- like cancer. I knew right then the best thing to do would be to put him to sleep. This was a very difficult, painful decision to make, as I hated to see him go but I thought it was the best thing for him. Also, I really wanted to be there when he was put to sleep. I felt it was very important as he was always there for Larry and I through the years and now it was time to repay that. He was an excellent cat and I don't think there could ever be a better one. We lucked out when we got such a great cat. Mom and Dad went with me the following day. Unfortunately, my brother Robert, his wife, Maryann and the kids had just arrived to spend a few days so it was very bad timing. They arrived and I had just finished talking with the vet and we had decided to put him to sleep. Even though it was his day off, he agreed to meet us at the hospital at 2pm. Dr Foy was fantastic with the whole thing- his compassion was overwhelming and I was very grateful he was there. I could not have had a better vet. My Aunt Mary also offered to go with me but Mom and Dad said they would go. Robert and the kids went to the beach. Anyway, I stayed with him the entire time- putting him to sleep was one of the worst things I have ever had to do in my life. Aunt Mary offered to have him buried in the backyard so that's what we did. I was really grateful she did this, as I didn't want to have him cremated. I really wanted to bury him where we used to live under the tree he loved so much but maybe it was better this way as I would never have been able to visit him since we don't own the house anymore. Oh well, enough of this, I am getting upset just writing and thinking about it again. I really loved him a great deal and I know he loved us both also. I think about him every day. I spent most of my time at home shopping for boat supplies for Larry. His list was incredibly long and I had to go to several stores to get everything. I also had to order a lot of stuff from West Marine. I wish I got to see all my friends but unfortunately did not have the time to do so. I was very stressed out for the entire trip- mostly from Cinnamon but also from the hectic fast paced life they all live. No one seems to have time for friends- they are to busy working or shopping. Making home cooked meals seems to be unheard of anymore- they are all to busy with their lives. No wonder we are not crazy about returning to this lifestyle. Most could probably not understand what cruising is all about anyway. They probably think we are crazy with our lifestyle. I flew back on 8/26. I had so much luggage I had to go to a 3rd duffel bag and pay the extra $100 to take it. The boat parts and books were very heavy. Aeropostal, the local airline from Caracas to PLC, wanted me to pay more since my bags were very heavy and I had the 3rd bag but I had already checked with AA and this wasn't so. I kept arguing with them until they finally just let me go. Also, they didn't have anyone who spoke English very well so it's a good thing I speak a little Spanish or I would have really had a big problem. The flights went smoothly though and Larry and our dock master, Arnaldo picked me up from the airport at 7pm - my local flight was over 1 hour late. I had gotten a part Arnaldo wanted from the US so he gratefully offered to come pick me up from the airport. It was good to get back to Destiny after a hectic 2 weeks back in the US. Anyway, I was really exhausted as I had been up since 3:30am and it was a very long day. August 27 Wednesday I was tired the whole day today. It really was a very stressful 2 weeks and I didn't have any days just to rest or chill out so I was exhausted when I got back. The whole day today I did absolutely nothing. I just read, slept, and generally took it very easy. Also, it's hot here so I need to get adjusted to the heat again. August 28 Thursday Elias had finished varnishing the stairs and navigation station while I was gone and it looks absolutely beautiful. It looks like an entirely different boat. What a huge difference. I didn't realize how badly the boat looked until I saw the parts that have already been varnished. Now we definitely need to get the rest of the boat done! But this will have to wait until we return to PLC sometime in December. Anyway, we'll hopefully leave here in another few weeks and finally get a chance to head out to the out islands of VE. This is some place we have really been looking forward to going too. I unpacked and put everything away. This took almost all day, as I had to put everything away and this took time. I had to clean out the refrigerator and defrost the freezer as some things went bad in the refrigerator. We had very bad thunderstorms with lots of rain in the afternoon. I was still tired from the trip so I lay down and took a 2-hour nap in the afternoon. August 29 Friday I brought the laundry into CMO to get done and took Steph to Plaza Mayor with me via dinghy. We did some shopping but basically got to just sit and talk. This is something people in the US seem to have no time for- their friends! They are just to busy rushing around with everything else and don't seem to have time for their friends or family. If they could only see a cruisers life and how different it is! We just sat home and watched TV tonight. My Dad bought me a MASH video, as he knew how much I had really enjoyed the old show. It was really nice seeing the whole show again and hard to believe this was almost 30 years old. We really enjoyed watching it again- it's the whole fourth season so we have lots yet to see. Anyway, thanks Dad- we are really enjoying it! August 30 Saturday I made some omelets for breakfast, some chili, and pressure cooked some beans for the chili so I was cooking for quite a while. In the PM, we decided to go to the movies with Tom and Steph to see "Pirates of the Caribbean"- they have an afternoon matinee on weekends- 4pm- so it's nice to escape the heat and go to the movies. The movie was fair but certainly worth the less than $3USD it cost for the two of us. In the US, we would have paid nearly $20! The mall was extremely crowded- we rarely go on weekends but this is when all the locals go so it was packed. Most locals work only one-half day at least on Saturday so like the US Saturday night is a big night out. We went out to dinner afterwards so this was a really a big night out for us as we rarely do this. We actually had trouble getting a taxi back- there were a lot of people waiting for one and we wound up waiting for at least a half hour. Next time, we'll just eat fast food and get out of the mall sooner. It was a nice night out though and we enjoyed getting off the boat for a while. We enjoyed going out to the movies again also. |