Last Thursday, I had my regular hair appointment (Kimberly can make my sparce number of hairs look full and healthy; it’s a miracle.) Following the hair appointment, I could have attended the Licensing Expo at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center. I was ready with statistics: 10,000 attendees, 5,000 brands, 5,500 meetings…However, I had had a relatively busy week, so instead, I drove to a nearby casino…and gambled.

Wow. I don’t often make right decisions, but this one was right…I was a winner, for a while anyway.

You see my week was involved because in the previous month, I had had two car accidents–both my fault. While backing up with a car full of people, I ran into one of our community’s concrete mail boxes. I hit it perfectly. The mail box crumbled top to bottom requiring a complete rebuild. A couple weeks later, I went to a play in the Las Vegas Arts District and while coming out of a parking area on a curved road, I didn’t see another car coming around another curved road. My car hit that car causing a dent and damage to the front of my car. State Farm was very nice about the repairs. They paid for the mail box repair and the front repairs to my car (haven’t yet heard from the car I hit). I paid for the rear repair to my car as a result of the mailbox incident.

While my car was being worked on, I had a rental car (also paid by State Farm). The rental car was a small SUV by Honda. The color was deep blue, a color not often seen in Las Vegas where the hot sun is the rule. However, I liked the color because I could find the car easily. Lots of electronics were on the dashboard, and I never could figure it all out. And when the air conditioning was on, it was so loud I’d have to tune the radio to its loudest. Another problem was locking the door when I exited the car. I would push the “lock” sign from inside and then on two different keys I would push the “lock” signs again and hope for the best. The car was not stolen so I guess that I might have properly locked the car.

I was very careful driving the rental car, but I had a schedule to keep. After four or five phone calls to Shepherd Eye Center to set up an appointment with Dr. Montgomery for cataract surgery on my right eye, return calls never came. I finally drove to Shepherd personally to talk to someone. The girl at the desk told me o that Dr. Montgomery was sorta kinda retired and she gave me an appointment with another doctor.

Monday afternoon, I was due at Shepherd for the appointment with at the new doctor. Dr Montgomery, had told me I needed cataract surgery and told me, first, I needed to visit a retina specialist for another issue. I did as recommended and the retina doctor said my right eye was OK for cataract surgery.

The new doctor, Dr. Hansen, told me he no longer does not surgery and now works part time, but he recommended another doctor for the process. OK. But first–I would have to talk to “nurses” about the surgery. Two days later I returned to Shepherd. Turns out during the “nurses” visit, I was first given a video on tablet about cataracts. Then I was sent to an office where a 24-year-old “clerk” (not a nurse) at a computer asked me lots of questions. After verifying. name, birth date, address, etc. she asked me about various illnesses and conditions; did I have them? Mostly I didn’t.

I wondered what it was like for this gal when talking to her friends about the “old ladies” and “old men” she deals with. This girl likely has no physical issues (other than her tattoos) and yet she asks all these questions.

Finished with the clerk, I was then sent to a scheduler who looked at her computer and finally said, “Well yes, I have a time with Dr. Montgomery.” “Dr. “Montgomery? I thought he retired. No, just partially.” She gave me a date on a Monday. I asked her if she could give me any day but a Monday. “No,” she said, Dr. Montgomery only does surgery on Mondays.” I took the suggested date.

That week I also visited a friend’s filming of a jazz combo for a web site she and her husband sponsor. I’m not a jazz person but I wanted to hear and see something somewhat “new” to me. I loved it. I am still wondering how the musicians all know when to stop playing. But a fine morning it was.

Last week I also drove to The Composers Room to see Keith Thompson’s every-other-Tuesday “party” with his guest singers. (Ticket $10.) The room was packed–I mean packed–with mature ladies and mature men (an older crowd) and they all had a good time. I left at 7:30. I wanted to make sure I got the rental car home while it was still light.

Thank God I’m retired. Young people with jobs and schedules might have been miffed at all the goings on. Me? I have time and not much better things to do than go from office to office.

Incidentally, I also returned the rental car with no scratches and now have my beautiful “perfect” car returned. We’ll see what next week brings.

P.S.: Happy Memorial Day, everyone!