Never get overly excited about good news or fortunes. On the contrary, never get depressed when faced with the inverse. Take this week for example. On Monday, I received a call from Dale at Segway of Central Florida located in Mt. Dora, stating that he sold my Segway. The good news was that it sold for more than I originally paid for it. Turn to page two. I had been vacillating with the fact of trailering the pontoon boat north for the summer and then back during the winter season. I could store it here inexpensively, save on fuel, but would not have it’s use during the summer, and see it only as a winter month toy. On Wednesday, we made a trip to Gulf to Lake Marine in Lecanto. Our boat was sold back to the dealer from whom I had originally purchased it. And I got the selling price so essentially we used the boat for two winters free. I’m a happy guy. On Thursday I was notified by my retirement board that due to miscalculations, I have been overpaid for four years. Not only would my monthly income be drastically reduced but all that back-money would have to be repaid. Bring on the depression and a few sleepless nights. It was then I began to realize how fortunate I am to have good health once again, the ability to work, and started to conjure up mental images of how to offset a major financial blow. This will not beat me as with the cancer, it is only a blip on my radar of life.
Robin also realized some discomfort of her own as a previous root canal had become infected. By Friday evening her pain was at 8 on a scale of 10. In vain, I searched for an emergency dental care office but being that it was after 5 p.m, I ceased without success. Arising very early today, I searched the net and found a number in Gainesville for emergencies and called, receiving but an answering service. After dozens of tries at various venues, I came up empty. While on my morning saunter, the cell phone rang and it was a dentist responding to the message I had left on the answering service. By 1 p.m , a young Austin Webb DDS. of Gentle Dental Care met us and relieved her misery for the time being. He scheduled an appointment with a specialist for Monday morning, provided a script for antibiotics and pain-killers and by 3 we were on our way back to the campground. She was elated with the results but forewarned the medication would wear off in 3 hours. And it did. So back to the medicine and await oral surgery on Monday. I’ve been warned by elders through five decades; “neither get too high at good news, nor too low with the bad.” Balance, as the Zen masters state, is truly the key to a contented life.