I met Ed Fagan and his wife Gaby (a Tica) and their dogs today down at the soccer field, and we ended up Ubering to and from Grecia together afterward.

 

They were already on the field when I arrived at 7:05, so I walked over and hugged them both. They had a neighbor dog along too — a Labrador Retriever (one of my favorite breeds) — plus their own two small breed dogs.

 

Like a dummy, I didn’t think to get any pictures even though we were together for probably three hours, all told.  I will get some next time, which will probably be sometime tomorrow or Wednesday. (We’re going to get COVID boosters, thanks to Jon letting me know about where to get them for free this week. Thank you, Jon!)

 

Gaby walked the dogs while we circumnavigated the field five times

 

Ed is quite the conversationalist; I rarely got a word in edgewise, which was fine with me!!!  I like it when other people carry the conversation.

 

And he is a total animal lover (and a liberal), so we hit it off very well.  While on the field, he mostly talked about their dogs (past and present) and chickens, so I was enthralled.  I got in a few words about some of my pets and their idiosyncracies, too, during this time.

 

During our first trip around the field

 

…Al and Gaby spotted a local gentleman who serves as an expat concierge for folks around here. His name is Edgar Geovanny Chaves. He gave me his business card, which indicates that he specializes in home rentals (Al says he has found them their last several rentals!), interpretation/translation, and transportation.

 

He is available for emergency transportation at night, too, and he only lives about a mile from where I am, so he is a great contact to have. Ed says he trusts Edgar implicitly and recommended him without hesitation.

 

I already have two personal drivers — dear, dear people named Adilio and Marianela — but it’s good to have someone super close in case of an emergency. I will keep the card in my wallet, for sure!

 

I dragged my cart to the field

 

…because I intended to catch the 8:30 bus to Grecia to get my INR checked again and to get a few fresh groceries (chicken breasts and celery) and more milk. But after we’d walked and talked for an hour, Ed said they were planning to head to Grecia, too, and said that if we called an Uber and each paid a third, it would cost less than all of us paying individually to take the bus (and we could leave almost immediately instead of waiting for the bus), so we agreed on that.

 

We had the driver pick us up at the soccer field across from Super San Isidro and deliver us to Clinica Sanchez, which was my first stop.  But we all disembarked there, and they waited for me while I had my blood drawn, which didn’t take more than 15 minutes from the time I walked in the door until the time I walked out.  (My test result says my INR is still too high — 3.7, down from 3.9 about two and a half weeks ago — so I will hold off on taking the doses a few more times and see if I can get it between 2.0 and 3.0 during the days ahead. I may end up only needing to take 2.5 mg every other day, at this rate.  Which would NOT be a bad thing!)

 

Our next stop was Subway … because why not?

 

As we approached Subway, I mentioned that I usually stop there for a sandwich — my one guilty pleasure — and they both agreed to stop there, since it had been ages since they had gone.

 

We ordered sandwiches and ate there while Ed regaled me with more of his Costa Rica insights and his personal history of being in a car accident a couple decades ago and having the airbag fracture his face, take out one of his eyes, and wreck his hearing on one side.  (The manufacturer of the air bag had changed the propellent from what it originally was to something that deteriorated the airbag and the material that propelled it, causing shrapnel/metal shards to shoot out when the air bag deployed. Ed was all set to sue the manufacturer and had an attorney who would take his case, but then the manufacturer declared bankruptcy so the attorney dropped the case since it’s usually next to impossible to get sufficient satisfaction following the bankruptcy of the guilty party.)

 

After leaving Subway, we headed for the EBAIS office in town so they could get some meds. We passed my bank on the way there, so we took a 20-pace detour while I got some colones for my wallet before we started the “musical chairs” protocol of waiting in line until Ed ended up at the front of it.

 

As he approached the EBAIS customer service agent, I vacated the seat I was sitting in next to Ed (who was still giving me insights about various Costa Rican places and protocols) and walked over to where Gaby had stationed herself near the front door. We chatted until Ed signaled to her that he needed her translation services.  Shortly after, we departed for Mercado Municipal.

 

At Mercado Municipal, we split up briefly so I could get what I needed there  — chicken breasts for crockpot meals, a bunch of celery for same, and cat food pouches for Charli — and as soon as they disappeared from my sight, who should appear but my dear friend Francisco Solano  (Jon’s Graham Mitchell’s husband. Jon was elsewhere in the mercado, so I didn’t see him today.)  Francisco and I hugged and visited for a short time — maybe three minutes — before he went his way and I went mine in search of whatever we were after next.

 

After I finished shopping there

 

…I reconnected with Ed and Gaby and we walked up the hill past Subway and Central Park to the Pali store so Ed and I could get a few things. I got cheddar cheese (Ed said he’d show me a secret place on the way home where I can get cheddar cheese in bulk if I promised not to tell anybody else where it is!), packages of Tang, and more boxes of milk, since the stores in Grecia sell it for a lot less than they do here in San Isidro.

 

The bus to San Isidro passed while we were shopping, so we decided to call an Uber again. The Uber arrived within seconds — I am not exaggerating; it had to have been a half block away when the driver got the call! So we hopped in there and were driven to (the secret location) where the cheese is, where I got a massive two liter bottle of BIG cola, and then to San Isidro to let Ed and Gaby off at the soccer field and to let me off at my gate.

 

Not long after I got home, I got a text from Jon saying I can get a COVID booster at Mercado Central (aka Mercado Municipal) this week for free as long as I have my passport and expediente document with me, so I will do that tomorrow or Wednesday, probably. I let Ed,  Gaby and Deb know about the booster clinic, too, and Ed plans to take advantage of the opportunity, too, so we may all ride in together via Uber on the day we do that.

 

Update on Mao 

 

Today Mao will be getting additional kidney and bladder tests to see if what they’ve been doing for her over the weekend has delivered any positive results. If it has, that will be good news. If not, it will NOT be good news.  So we’re on pins and needles waiting to hear. Deb loves her puddy tat as much as I love Charli, so we’re hoping for the best. It has been very touch and go all weekend.  I hope to have good news next time I mention Mao!  (UPDATE:  Mao is back home now and recuperating. She’s on meds and feeling happy to be in her sanctury.)

 

I think that’s everything for this time. HAVE A GREAT REST OF YOUR DAY!