Day 15

After watching and listening to all the predictions of dire winter weather, I got anxious about the idea that the power might go out and Jon's oxygen machine wouldn't work and we would be stuck here, unable to get out in the snow. We do have back-up tanks, but I was having visions of Jon without enough air. So I asked the kitchen lady who greets us cheerfully every morning, what happens if the power goes out? She said, we have a generator. So then I could stop fretting about that.

Our first task this morning was to find a place that would work on our car. The shop that Don suggested said yes and gave us the number of a towing company. We had a plan after only a half an hour of phone calls. Very satisfying.  

It took until noon to get Jon discharged, but where were we going anyway. For the first time in his life, Jon called an Uber (with encouragement from his daughters who are veteran Uberers).

I have to say that Jon is not feeling well. He still can't breathe easily. The supplemental oxygen gets his saturation rate up to the low 90s, which does not seem awesome. But it's the coughing that really hurts. He just gets exhausted with coughing. It is demoralizing for sure. He naps between coughing fits. This is his worst version of pneumonia.

We made it to the hotel room and Jon returned to his spot on the couch, wrapped in Patricia's electric blanket. 

I went out to buy an oxymeter and get myself some lunch from Peter Chang's, the best restaurant within two blocks. 

I realized I haven't had a good green vegetable in three weeks. These take-out vegetables were delicious.

There was one more ridiculous interchange with the oxygen company -- a guy came to get a signature to close a ticket for a unit that was never delivered because they got so tangled up with duplicate orders. He parked his van in front of the hotel, where the valet parking people do their work, and he spent some amount of time looking for his van keys because he couldn't turn off the vehicle -- while he was hopping around uncomfortably because he had to go to the bathroom so badly. But I really needed to sign whatever it was immediately because the tow truck was arriving at exactly that moment. In the end, he never got to use the bathroom as he was blocking traffic and needed to move. I mean, every interaction with this company is unpredictable and mildly bizarre.  

By comparison, the tow truck driver was competent, confident, efficient and focused. My main role was to try to communicate to the valet that we needed to open the gate to tow the car out -- his English seems to be limited to exactly what is needed to receive and return cars (Who am I to judge, really. I have never immigrated to a new country and got a job).

Meanwhile back at the ranches, everyone picked greens for next weekend. Rachel drove all the way to Sassafras Creek Farm for her first time and did my job, by herself. It is always good to become dispensable. Makes me proud.

Perhaps the best hour of the day was watching Shabbat services livestreamed on YouTube. As it happened,  it was a new member Shabbat and all of our grandchildren were there (with parents) and Mika and Liana were very visible in the front row. It was not as good as being there, but it was very sweet.  Every week, the clergy tell us to breathe out the worries of the last week, let them go. That's a tall order. The cantor said to embrace "holy uncertainty." She was definitely talking to me. The rabbi's sermon was thoughtful and full of teaching. Sitting so far away and seeing so many people we know made me think about how long we have  been part of that congregation. I kept remembering friends who have died or moved away, and noting how old we are all getting. Clearly I wasn't paying attention perfectly.

It is hard to feel triumphant about getting Jon back to the hotel when he is feeling so compromised. I am glad to have him here with me, I am sorry he is so distressed, and I am glad the oxygen concentrator is working. Tomorrow we go back to the IPOP early in the morning, so we just have to get through the night. 

The doctors keep saying that this takes time. Another thing to be patient about. Shabbat shalom.