And...

I mentioned the tomato that killed 89 to my co-worker when he walked in and he replied "I saw that movie"...

Hmmmm

I either need more coffee or better bifocals when I read a headline that in MO a tomato killed 89

Not much changed

I am continuing on with the dental work.  Turns out that I had only had half of the root canals on the two teeth.  Yesterday morning he did the second half on the back tooth, the one that was originally broken and that started this whole process.  Wow.  No pain, but I miss my mind-numbing drugs/gas.  I mentioned the idea of having a stiff drink beforehand to the dentist, and he laughed.  The main reason I'm not is that I'm not sure how it would affect my stomach, and I'm having enough issues as it is.  I was concerned about the pain as the novacain wore off, since he had said about the bleaching last time  that I'd have 'sensitivities' for a few hours and I ended up with an aching mouth for about 24 hours.  However, sometime yesterday afternoon my mouth stopped hurting.  I can't explain it well, but it's like something had ached for so long I no longer noticed it and now it no longer hurts.  I'm feeling much better about the entire process.  I do have another tooth to get through the rough part, and then he and I will need to discuss this root canal idea in depth before I agree to any more.  Had I mentioned the bleaching?  That is so that the new porcelain will blend in.  Had to make a decision and decided to make it all look better while I replace all the bad stuff.  I like the looks. It was a painful process, though, and I had no idea going in that it would be that involved.  He wants to do a second bleaching, but I'll put that off until more of the other work is done.

I'm doing nothing else at home while I go through all the dental work.  Today I finally started 2 weeks of laundry in my small pail washer, and I"m catching up 3 weeks of ironing.  The ironing is required now because the spinner works so well at spinning the water out that it leaves the clothes very wrinkled.  I'm working on figuring out a method that is less labor intensive.  I may decide that I have the time to just let things drip dry, they don't have to be spun so that they dry in a couple of hours.

I was reminded as I was cleaning today (told you I felt better than I have for awhile) that I realized a few years ago that all of housework (at least mine...) is just getting rid of trash.  Laundry, washing dishes, sweeping, shredding papers, all of what I do as housework is just getting the stuff I no longer want out of the door and thrown away in a responsible manner.  One would think that by shrinking my living space to the size of one room of my former house and continuing to get rid of things over the past 5 years or so that the time spent getting rid of trash and dirt would get less, but somehow it seems I always have things I 'should' clean, sweep, launder.  However, if there ever was motivation for me to continue the good fight to downsize, it is the fact that I don't like housework.

Tears of Homesickness

I still consider Nashville home.  Even though I haven't lived there in over 2 years.  My friend Turtle Lady sent me pictures of my house there that she took on her way home from a hiking get together.  She also had sent me a couple of pictures of friends at the get together.  I am reminded that I have friends.  I have a house/home.  I have a sense of place.  It is very far from where I am now, in time and geography.  I am homesick.  I had just made the decision to sell the house for whatever I can get for it and break at least even, which is more than many can do with houses these days.  I bought it as a foreclosure, so I don't owe as much as some.  Seeing it in the pictures, I want to go back and move back into it.  I had come to the conclusion in looking back that buying that house was one huge mistake.  Tonight, I want to hold it close and say "MINE!!!".  I'm mixed up.  A mess.  I feel good about getting the dental work done, and paying down debt.  The next thought is how the heck have I gotten so far away from everything that means so much to me????

Dental work

I keep waiting until I have the mental energy to write a really good post about what's going on.  That doesn't seem to be happening.  So, the short story is that this morning I had a second root canal.  The first one was Wednesday evening after work.  One of the local Honduran women at work was translating for me to make my appointment in the capital (thanks, Ben...), and she started telling me about her dentist in the next town over.  The selling point was that most of her mouth has been reworked, and he did the work.  It looks natural.  So, next day I asked her to make me an appointment with her dentist and cancel the other one and that evening after work I was sitting in his chair.  This morning he did the tooth next to that one, and on Wednesday I go back.  Guess I'll be doing this Wednesday/Saturday thing for a few weeks.  It's time.  No real pain, and most of the trauma is mental.  He got some pills for me to take this time.  Next time I'll take 2 instead of one.  It helped, but I need to be further away from reality while he works.  Again, no pain, just my dislike of anything dental related.  Which is why I need so much work now.

I haven't forgotten the picture of the afghan.  It will happen soon.

Bobbing back up

Nothing bad is happening.  Sometimes it just seems like my desired future is fading into the mists faster than I can make progress in that direction.  This week has felt that way.  I went to the dentist here yesterday.  I need a root canal, and they didn't want to try it in the local office.  I have a name and number of a 'specialist' in the capital to make an appointment with.  No idea if she speaks any English.  Ongoing adventure.  I'm studying for my next certification, test to be taken also in the capitol (is it 'al' or 'ol'...?)  and maybe I can combine the trips.  Or maybe that is a recipe for disaster?  Oh, well. I'm trying to clean up the apartment.  I don't seem to be able to even keep up with a 2 room hotel suite (all furniture and such is mine), and I don't seem to be sending things back as fast as I'd like.  I just run out of energy to do everything.  Laundry is getting caught up, but ironing isn't yet.  Floors need a good sweeping, and I need to finish packing the next Gorilla Box to send home.  That's just tonight.  But, life goes on.  I'll try to get a picture of the afghan put up, it may be tomorrow before it hits the top of the on-going list.

Overwhelmed

I'm feeling overwhelmed with my current life.  This happens every once in awhile.  Usually when I'm on the cusp of major change again.  Simple things on the to do list tie my stomach in knots.  I feel like I'm moving through molasses.  I don't know if it is that I"ve committed to going to the dentist in town on Saturday (arrive at 8am and take a number, no appointments...) or if I have daydreamed about life after I leave Honduras too much lately.  I may dip below the horizon again for a few days, but I"ll be back.  This isn't unusual for me, and I just have to ride it out.

My world

This picture was taken a couple of weeks ago to capture what I was doing at the time. The yarn for the afghan I was making was wound around the cables to my computer. I was Skpying with Turtle Lady. My exercise mat was out and papers I was sorting through were under all the other stuff. I finished the afghan and put away the mat, but life is still pretty much like that picture.

Ben asked why I'm still here if I don't like it down in Honduras. Well, I am primarily here for one reason, to pay off debt. Working outside of the US has tax benefits, in that I don't have to pay income tax on my earnings. That money all goes to paying off credit cards. If I was someplace I was having fun while paying off debt, that would be great. I don't hate it here, I'm just bored.

Another person wondered if comments made on older posts get noticed. Yes, I get an email with each comment when it's made, no matter what post it's made on. Someone else mentioned that they were reading all my posts from the beginning. That prompted me to do the same. It was kind of interesting to me to have the past few years of my life telescoped into a couple of evenings' reading. That is actually the primary reason for keeping this blog, to give myself a record of what goes on, and second to let any of my friends who are interested in keeping up with me a way to do it. I am glad that I have also gotten to know other bloggers who stop by here, but it is icing on the cake.

I'm trying to think if there were other things I wanted to mention that aren't worth their own post. Can't think of any more.

Parade Pictures

Here are the pictures of the 1st of May Worker's Parade:




First was the Honduran flag carried by the two in front, then the band.




I tried to get some pictures of the banners they carried in case anyone can translate.




At least while they were forming the parade they still shared the road with the buses. The 'school bus' is a typical local bus. Some are painted up really nicely.




The lone picture of Che.




The only person on horseback.




And away they go, loudspeakers blaring.

Update

Apparently the shopping center parking lot behind my hotel was a staging area for the 1st of May Worker's Day parade.  They finally just filed past on the main boulevard and I stood up on the top balcony and took pictures.  I didn't understand a word of the very loud and many loudspeakers ramblings nor did I understand any words on the carried signs.  I was impressed with the number of people walking in the parade, seemed like most of the town.  I did see one poster of Che Guevara, and I am surprised that I didn't see more of them.  Probably just as well that I kept my Yankee a$$ up on the balcony.

Pictures later, really.

Still here

There is not a lot going on, so not a lot of things to write about.  Sorry for the 2 week lapse.  I'm also having some carpel tunnel pain in my right wrist, because I've been playing a silly computer game for hours and hours this week.  The reason I'm playing it is because I have these videos online that I need to be watching so that I can pass a certification test so that I can get a job after I leave here, which I really want to do.  So, since I have these videos I need to watch I have started being hooked on this silly gave that really has no redeeming value.  If you don't understand my logic, then welcome to my world.  This would explain why at my age I am working in Honduras. 

For some reason someone is either setting off firewords at 6 to 7am, or there is a small war going on out there.  I'm betting fireworks since I haven't heard any sirens, and even here that many guns would attract official attention.  It is interesting to live in a place where silly things like noise ordinances, litter laws, driver training before getting a license and such are unheard of.  Luckily on the noise issue there really isn't much going on, if anything, after about 10pm, and a lot of the homes outside of the town don't even have electricity, so everything pretty much gets quiet. 

I've been here 7 months now.  In 5 more I can leave if I have a job to go to.  My thoughts are much more on life after Honduras than in worrying much about what goes on here.  It shows at work.  I just don't care, which ironically is actually helping with team morale.  So, I guess I should get to watching those videos.  http://www.professormesser.com/  if you are in need of good videos for basic IT certs.  Free is a cost that even I can afford to study them.  If I just would, instead of doing everything but studying...