Government Health Care

Southern Man had a question and, reluctantly, dialed the appropriate 24/7 toll-free number to ask it. The conversation went like this...

Computer voice: Thank you for calling [big government office]. You can say [list of options].

Southern Man: Representative.

Computer Voice: You'd like to speak to someone. Is that correct?

Southern Man: Yes.

Computer Voice: Great, I'll get someone for you...

...brief pause...

Computer Voice: We're experiencing high call volume at this time. If you like, we can call you back in...

...brief pause...

Computer Voice: ...sixteen hours and forty-five minutes. Would you like for us to call you back then?

Southern Man: (sighs) Yes.

If they're true to their word Southern Man should get his callback at about four tomorrow morning. The chances of him actually hearing the phone at that hour are slim to none. But he'll put the phone by his pillow tonight just in case...

[Added the next day...] They called back, a little ahead of schedule, and the representative was able to answer my question. How about that?

Spring Break!

Ah, Spring Break, that glorious week in the middle of the semester. Alas, it was too brief...

Southern Man had Teen Daughter for the first half of break. Of course she took nature photos at every opportunity.

One of many sunset pics by Teen Daughter.

We had a lot of fun - saw the new Disney movie, went to the trampoline park, ate out any number of times - before she had to go back to her Mother on Wednesday.

Of course there was geocaching.

Southern Man did this one with the teen son of a friend and a couple of cachers from Kansas that we met early in the day. The caches were actually spread out around an area lake but it does make for lovely "geo-art."

Teen friend, the fellow from Kansas, and Southern Man. Photo by the wife of the fellow from Kansas.

He also went up into this tree to retrieve a cache.

On Friday evening we went bowling...

Really?

Knock 'em down!

One of The Girls.

And finally Southern Man had just a few days to get some chores done out at The Land but then Spring Break was over far too soon. Oh well summer is coming!

Lunch and Geocaching and Dancing, Oh My!

Today was the monthly geocacher's lunch, which is always a great time.

Forget geocaching - Little Gypsy came to sell cookies!

Bonnie wasn't aware that the question was "who wants to host the next luncheon?"

"Take this haunted Totem and recieve three free mushrooms!"

Little Gypsy and Hate To Be Lost mug for the camera.

After lunch Southern Man and Dr. Scissortail headed out to pick up a few caches...

"Can't get in that way..."

We were five feet from the cache but had to hike to the other entrance and break out the flashlights to get to it.

And that evening was the monthly Bible Study and Christian Connection dance...

Dancing fools

Pool Sharks

A Dancing Princess

Thank you, Lord, for a day filled with good people and good times. Amen.

Physical Therapy

So after numerous delays Southern Man finally gets his first appointment with the surgeon-recommended physical therapist to work on that ankle. But when Southern Man found out what it would cost ($200 per visit with insurance!) he decided that walking to distant geocaches would be both cheaper and more effective so he tackled one near the therapist called "Deer Trail" that was about a half-mile in to an undeveloped area.

One of the deer didn't make it.

So there will be no physical therapy this month, just lots of backwoods geocaching. Wait, isn't that how Southern Man broke his leg in the first place?

Old Man Winter

Winter just will not let go, with another cold weekend and two, count 'em, two snow days for the public schools. Alas, Southern Man's employer only took one of them.

On Friday Southern Man went to a concert of local musicians hosted by a friend (from whom Southern Man once took guitar lessons)...




They are terrible cell phone snaps but they will have to do.

Saturday was spent running errands and eating out (Southern Man ate out a lot this weekend) and Sunday was too cold for much of anything after church and lunch and laundry and Monday was a snow day!

Bright and clear and very, very cold...

But by mid-afternoon it had warmed up a bit and Southern Man set out on a geocaching trip to pick up a few more in a series commemorating the Monopoly game board. One was in this snow-covered tree.

This one is "Income Tax" and Southern Man got nearly to "Jail" before quitting for the day and heading back into town to eat, again.

So a fun if cold weekend. Next weekend is a Teen Daughter weekend but we're supposed to get one more wintery blast. Southern Man is ready for winter to be over!