criplomats

It continued to rain a lot this week – and this isn’t even rainy season yet! As long as I don’t have to get out, Flavia and I actually enjoy the rain — which is quite heavy at times. We’re on a four-day weekend for Easter here in Guyana, which is oh-so-nice.

Last Sunday evening we went to a wine & cheese tasting at the EU ambassador’s home. It was a small gathering and really enjoyable – I like Luka a lot.

I took Flavia to the vet for her rabies shot on Wednesday, then we went back again yesterday because she has been in distress. The vet confirmed feline dementia, which we have suspected for a while, but her symptoms seem to be getting worse.

I finished reading Wade Pfau’s retirement planning book and have started The Bogleheads’ retirement planning book. Our friend and former boss Laura Dogu was one of the authors/editors, which makes it even more interesting. So far, it’s much easier to digest than Pfau’s (which made my head spin!). I also read actress Cheryl Hines’ memoir, “Unscripted.” We always loved her in “Curb Your Enthusiasm.” A good portion of the book talks about her marriage to RFK, Jr. We’ve continued watching “Industry,” and I’m caught up on “The Pitt” (what a great show).

I’ve been going to Mellisa’s apartment this week to check on it and drive her car while she’s away. I came across this huge bull in a vacant lot in her neighborhood. The picture doesn’t do it justice – he was big! He may be a water buffalo – not sure.

It’s rained a lot this week! Pretty much every day has been wet and cloudy. The pool was down 4 – 5 inches, but now it’s filled to the top. I’ve enjoyed the rainy days although it did put the kibosh on afternoon pool time.

I participated in an online retirement workshop this week – I’ve been trying to turn my finance brain back on. The two-hour sessions each day were run by Wade Pfau who has written a lot of well-regarded retirement books. I also started poking around the Schwab site and taking some of their online classes. It’s such a brain-switch to go from accumulating retirement assets to accessing those assets in the best manner.

I read “Havoc,” by Christopher Bollen this week. It was a short book recommended by my friend Rachel, and I enjoyed it. I picked Pfau’s retirement planning book up again (it’s so dense and I have to re-read paragraphs constantly!) – but I am determined to get through it. John and I continue to watch “Industry.”

John and I went to a new-to-us mall today to see a Bollywood movie, courtesy of the Indian High Commission. It was a lot of fun. The movie, ”Chak de India,” appeared to be loosely based on the story of the 1980 U.S. men’s hockey team winning gold at the Olympics, but with girls’ field hockey. It was well done and we enjoyed getting out on a pretty afternoon.

Last Sunday evening we went to a nice dinner party at Spiro and Linda’s – he’s the DCM for the EU here in Guyana. They are a lot of fun and we enjoyed visiting with them and some other folks.

It was a pretty routine week – but we did have an exciting sighting of four blue and yellow macaws flying overhead while we were in the pool yesterday before sunset! Amazing!

The landlord’s guys came to do maintenance on all of the air conditioning units. There’s definitely no OSHA here – the guy on the ladder was wearing socks…

We enjoyed seeing Arkansas win the SEC basketball championship this week! We finished “Tehran,” and “Hijack.” We’re watching “MI5” (aka “Spooks”) and we started “Industry.” We tried to watch the new season of “Deadloch” and tried started “Scarpetta,” but just couldn’t get into either one.

I was glad to see John and Flavia again! I flew back to Georgetown Thursday and got home in the wee hours of Friday morning. Flavia has spent a lot of quality time with me since I returned.

Last Sunday evening I finally met David and Alison’s friends, Roy and Becky – D & A had me over for dinner with them. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday mornings I went to yoga. It was my last time to have yoga class in the old church; Karen is selling the business and the new owners are moving it to Park Avenue. While I loved the old church, I look forward to being in a building with level floors and one that is next door to a great coffee shop. The community is the important thing!

Speaking of my yoga community, we were shocked to learn that Brian R passed away suddenly on Monday evening – I had just been next to him in class Monday morning and chatted with him afterward. We are all thinking of his wonderful wife Lisa and their children. It was absolutely shocking.

Tuesday I took BBQ to David and Alison’s for dinner. I met Kathy W and Terry H for lunch at The Goat on Wednesday – we hadn’t all been together since 2015! We had a great time catching up and reminiscing about our days together at Retail Data Systems (RDS).

John took Friday off so we enjoyed a nice three-day weekend. Saturday evening we went to a fun wedding celebration at a local outdoor bar for two folks from our embassy community.

We’re watching the excellent “Count of Monte Cristo” and the wonderful “Vladimir” with Rachel Weisz and John Slattery (one of my favorite books). In Hot Springs, I binged on “The Pitt.”

Ann and I flew to NYC on Tuesday for a few days of theatre and fun. We spent the night in Little Rock at the airport the night before our very early flight. We had a lot of fun – she picked our plays for the week, and we threw in a last-minute musical, as well. We snagged opening night tickets for previews of “Death of a Salesman” (Nathan Lane and Laurie Metcalf) and we were thrilled with Wally Shawn and Andre Gregory’s new “What We Did Before our Moth Days.” We also loved “Bughouse,” a one-man show about outsider artist Henry Darger, and we also enjoyed “Chess” (the musical – and I was happy to hear “One Night in Bangkok”!).

We loved walking through the Museum of Modern Art, where I got to see an original O’Keefe and Twombly, among other fabulous works of art – just to inhale the atmosphere is invigorating. Our last day we walked through the Chelsea flea market and had coffee with a delicious bagel nearby. We had two celebrity sightings: Sam Waterston was at the Wally Shawn play and Jonathan Banks was a couple of tables away at Carnegie Diner.

A highlight of the trip was a visit with my former boss, Alyson, who John and I worked for in Monrovia. She and husband Rick had us over for coffee and we spent two hours catching up and yakking. Rick is a wonderful musician who composes for theatre, so he and Ann hit it off and found common connections (Ann directed a show that Rick wrote part of the music for – how’s that for small world?!). We thoroughly enjoyed our visit!

Ann and I haven’t traveled together in a long time, but we did great. Neither of us wanted a death march of tourist attractions, so we took it slow, stopped for coffee and pastries along the way, and opted for relaxation over the need to hit attractions. We stayed at the Grayson Hotel on W 39th and really enjoyed it. We flew home Saturday late afternoon – until next time, New York!