Blessed? You bet.

Yesterday was my last day of active work. I am officially retired. I am blessed to have various piecemeal retirements that, when combined, will provide an adequate income for us. I'm sure there are many others who will have much more income than I, but what I've got is better than I actually thought I would have.

Over the years, we have tried to stay out of debt, pay our bills on time, and save a little money. Now I will see if that all pays off.

In my employment years, I have always done what is necessary to provide for my family. Sometimes we didn't know where the next dollar would come from, but God always provided. No, God didn't send me money, but gave me the ability to earn money if I wanted to.

I believe it is the same in retirement. God is not going to step in to control inflation for me on a fixed income. In fact, I'd like to have a "little" work to do a few months out of the year. I have lobbied for over 20 years and wouldn't mind having a couple of small clients to represent. That type of lobbying would be classified as part time because the issues wouldn't be such that would require high visibility and year round pressure on legislators.

Or, I might consider working during the MBraves season at the baseball park as an usher or ticket taker. Again, it would be seasonal and certainly not full time.

If necessary, my wife and I are both willing to take on full time jobs even though our earning capacity may be limited. If it is needed to pay bills and provide the necessities, we are willing to do it.

If we have our health and God given ability, we will always be blessed whether at work or at play.

Thanks be to God.

Service Stations

They're not gas stations, they're not quick stops and you don't pump your own gas. Nope, they're called service stations. At least they were called service stations.

From the time I can remember riding in a car with my parents or a neighbor until I graduated college in 1968 and even later, I knew about service stations. There were very few local names. The big brands controlled the market; brands like Esso, Standard Oil, Gulf, Texaco, Phillips, Conoco, Sinclair, Sunoco, American Oil and Pure. There was an occasional local brand such as Rose Oil, Billups, and Knight Oil.

Regardless of brand, all service stations provided gas, oil, water, tires, air, batteries, free maps and some minor repairs. Some had cleaner rest rooms than others. Some had better service than others. Yes we could get free maps at the service station and, if lost, we could always get directions at the service station. This was before GPS units and cell phones. I'm sure a lot of people today don't know how to read a map
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Better service was a way to keep a loyal customer. When you drove into a service station a person greeted you at the driver's side window. All you had to do was tell him how much gas you wanted or how much you wanted to spend and he would do the rest. The attendant would pump your gas, clean your windshield, check your oil and other fluid levels, check the air in your tires, take your money and bring you your change.

Some stations employed as many as four attendants so two people could attend to your car at a time. Gas ranged from 25 to 35 cents per gallon. As a college student with a VW Beetle, I could go all week on a dollar's worth of gas. Even for that meager amount, I got the same service as a Cadillac did with a fill up.

If you had a flat tire, you would take it to the service station for repair. The person fixing the flat would take your tire off the rim, pull out the inner tube (we didn't have tubeless tires then) put air in the inner tube and spin it slowly around a vat of water until he could see air bubbles. That would be where the patch would have to go to repair the leak. They would patch the inner tube, let the air out, put the tube and tire back on the rim, air it up and put it back on your car. The charge would probably be $1 or maybe $1.50.

The beauty of inner tubes is you could always have an inflated tire regardless of the number of holes in the tire itself. Although sometimes you had to get a "boot" and an inner tube repair. A "boot" was a heavy duty patch applied to the inside of the tire itself. But I digress.

We paid for our gas in cold hard cash. There were no credit cards back then. Some stations would take a personal check and, on occasion, some would allow you to charge your gas at the station until payday.

The standards for service were different back then than they are now. Today when a station displays full service, it means that somebody might come out and pump your gas for you if you wait long enough.

Today, we drive in, get out, pump the gas, pay with a credit card and drive on. We rarely check the air, oil and water and only clean the windshield once in a while when we have some extra time. Need air or water? Most places don't have it. Need to get a flat fixed? Most places don't do that. Need a map? Go to WalMart or the drug store.

The evolution from service stations to gas stations really can't be termed progress in my book. But, in all fairness, it is faster to omit the service and just pay for the gas. So I guess we busy multi-taskers would rather have it that way.

But then maybe service stations could fit in today as a place where you can text and talk without the aggravation of surrounding drivers honking and glaring and waiving fingers at you. Nah! We just don't have time for civility.

Prescription Mix Up

I'm a heart patient. No, I don't have a handicapped tag. I don't need one. The doctor says I have atrail fibrillation and weakening heart muscles. Without medication, my heart rate is usually between 150 to 160 beats a minute when at rest.With the proper medication it is basically normal and my activity is normal.

I guess I have had atrail fib longer than I have been aware of it. When my heart races, I don't feel it. But I do get out of breath quickly and must rest.

During the past week I have been dead tired. I told my wife last night that I felt like I had done 8 hours of hard labor and went to bed at 8:30 pm. The only thing I did before going to bed was to drive to Grenada and back without incident. I have been experiencing shortness of breath lately after just minor physical exertion.

I'm on six medications a day. One for cholesterol, one for high blood pressure, one to help thin my blood and prevent clots, one for depression, one to help control the heart beat and make it stronger and the last, a beta blocker that does a bunch of things but for me it is the main medication to slow the heart beat and relax the blood vessels.

I've learned I can usually get by a week or so without most of the medications, but a few days without the beta blocker and I'm a sorry assed wimp. Without it my get up and go sits down and quits.

I found out this morning that I had put the wrong medication in one of my pill bottles. Apparently for the last seven or eight days, I have omitted the beta blocker. Aha! My get up and go went on vacation.

How can that happen? Well I mail order my drugs through Tricare. They come in huge bottles with a three month supply at a time. So I pour them into smaller plastic containers to make it easier to carry. Some of the bottles have another name on them, i.e. Lanoxin is now Digoxin, Coreg is now Carvedilol, Zestril is now Lisinopril, Wellburtin SR is now Budeprion SR and Coumidin is Warfarin. I know what each one is and have the ones I take twice a day or at night well marked.

The small plastic containers carry the brand name and I now use the generic. So, I screwed up thinking I had run out of Lisinopril when the small bottle was really for Carvedilol(the beta blocker). I ordered another prescription of Lisinopril and found I have a six month supply of Carvedilol.

I know all this is boring, but now I am taking the proper medications in the proper dosage at the right times. My heart beat should slow down over the next three days and I will be back to normal.

Kelsi's Visit

Our granddaughter, Kelsi has been visiting with us this week. She lives in Hernando and we don’t get to see her nearly enough.

She is 15 and has her learners permit for driving. We let her drive on the interstate from Grenada to Canton on the way down from her home in Hernando. I think she enjoyed that.

She and her Grannie have been doing lots of things together. They have embroidered towels for Kelsi and her best friend. Kelsi has gone with her Grannie to visit a nursing home this week. She went with us to a Fourth of July gathering with friends and got to go swimming. Night before last we went out for Mexican food. Today they went shopping together and then out for Chinese food.

Kelsi has been taking Ruth, the cat, for a walk a couple of times a day. Ruth likes to go for walks outside on her leash. Ruth is going to miss her next week.

I made sure Kelsi had a laptop computer at her disposal. I think she has appreciated that. And last night we watched Avatar again because she had not seen it. Tonight we are going to see the M-Braves play.

I’m taking a day off tomorrow. Kelsi loves my salsa so she and I are going to make a batch together so she can see how it is made. I’ll see to it that she has a few quarts of salsa to take home.

We’re going to take her home on Saturday. I imagine she will be glad to see her friends again. She sure has made our week special and I hope she comes again soon.