Our stay in Drexel Hill has come to an end and so has this chapter of the trip, the house itself has been ok, there are a few things which need attention like the shower is pitiful, one of our pet hates. Being able to have an enjoyable shower is not too much to ask in this day and age, the first thing is it’s over a bath which I don’t like, the second is the fact that the pressure is pitiful and fluctuates through out your time trying to get wet. The third is a trio of controls with absolutely no markings on at all stating what each is for and some indication as to where hot and cold are located which I would have thought a safety issue anyway. On the plus side, even if they are pretty agricultural there are no less than 4 aircon units in the house, one in each of the bedrooms and one in the dining room. So let’s talk about said aircon units, in Australia we generally have one of two systems for cooling our houses, either reverse cycle or ducted and sometimes there is some crossover, all are fully fitted and somewhat permanent, here it’s very different, here’s what you do, select a suitable window, usually a sash type, open bottom half and precariously balance your diy aircon unit on the sil, then close window so unit theoretically can’t fall out. Then you place the two very flimsy side fillers in position which work on a sort of an extending theory to fill the rest of the area of the open window but whatever you do, don’t worry about placing the screws in the preformed top of the filler as that would make it difficult for burglars to get in. Finally plug in the unit in a convenient wall socket and there you have it! There was me thinking America would be way ahead of us Aussies in terms of those little amenities which make the difference and if nothing else look professional. On the plus side they do seem to work to some degree, they are noisy, the gaps at the sides don’t seem to be filled in an efficient way so the hot air gets in anyway and they vibrate very very annoyingly. Going back to the security side of things, you could literally open the window a little, lift the unit off the window sill and either make off with it to cool your own home of gain access to any one of thousands of homes with this style of unit, truly bizarre!
Rant over for now! This morning we drove back to the clinic for several reasons, firstly, as we are heading north tomorrow and I seem to be getting through my stash of opium quite rapidly I thought it good to get another script, secondly to hopefully get some answers about the swelling in my pelvic area and the fact that I am still visiting the bathroom every hour or so and thirdly to spend some time with Anna and Niki. Niki had her surgery last Wednesday and we have kept in touch since by messenger but as they are supposed to be flying back to Florida on Thursday it would be the last chance to see them. After our chance meeting on Tuesday last week when we both really took to them and quickly made friends we wanted to spend some more time with them. Niki has not ventured far from bed which is a bit of a worry as she has her drains, catheter and wadding out tomorrow and just 24 hours before flying back home. At least their flight is only 2.5 hours, a drop in the ocean compared with ours but still a flight so will carry all the same concerns but for a shorter period. On the plus side, staying in bed has probably been an advantage in getting the swelling down which I have not managed to do.
Anyway, we spent a very enjoyable couple of hours chatting then went down to reception to sort some things out with the staff. Kami was her usual very bubbly helpful self who informed Heather we were here to see her. She came out shortly afterwards and gave me the script and a letter to give to the airline stating that I have had surgery and may need the use of a wheel chair while in the airport. As far as answering the questions I felt she was pretty vague saying the swelling will go down in time and it’s that which is causing the regular visits to the bathroom, all seemed reasonably plausible so we confirmed our appointment for the 23rd and drove to a cafe for lunch. It was a bit ordinary really, I don’t think they do good healthy options fast food wise here but it was ok and as part of the deal we received a freshly baked cookie to go with it, definitely the highlight of lunch from my point of view!
The rest of the day was spent relaxing, it was 34 degrees today and not like the 34 we get in Busselton, very humid and quite unpleasant so on went the agricultural aircon and we stayed in doors, I did my dilation and Denise painted my toenails so at least I feel more girly than before.