So As Luck Would Have It…

Welcome back, and so glad you could re-join us!

Soooo, just for now… allow HIM a brief [if there is EVER such a thing in his universe] re-cap of the happenings around Casa d’ Chaos since we last came this way, what with the Covid Crisis in full bloom and the rest of the world in turmoil. 

 

It had been just minor quarantining with occasional visits with the kids until Nov of 2020 when, As Luck Would have it, Chucky got the news from his Gastro Guy, Dr. Leon Maratchi, that he was about to go another 15 Rounds with Squamous Cell Carcinoma, this time in the upper esophagus on the other side from his Battle with Cancer in 2007. 

This then caused another round of radiation/chemo therapy for 2 months, however the radiation would be Proton Beam Therapy which is not as severely damaging to surrounding organs, tissues etc., as the Photon Beam Radiation in 2007 where he Lost 40 pounds and underwent 52 speech therapy treatments to get back to normal, But nevertheless, re-irradiation of the same general area was even  riskier.

 

Rather than waste space here with voluminous details of this ordeal  [as HE is known to include], you can follow that little saga in: 

Not Another Un-planned Diet

www.notanotherunplanneddiet.blogspot.com 

his post Cancer Blog which is still ongoing since he is still in recovery and therapy.

 

Lots of pictures,  in depth details as only he can and whatevah.

 

Now where were we…? 

Oh yes the recap.

Aside from the yearlong Cancer, and ongoing rehab and recovery Drama not much else was going on at Casa d’ Chaos for most of 2021.

In the middle of all this, SHE declars that HE should start David [#1 Grandson] with Golf Lessons while Greg [#3 Son] was involving  Jonathan [#2 Grandson] with Optimist League football. 

Aside from creating an excuse to get the sedentary Chucky out of the house and into the fresh air for some sort of exercise [did we mention HE is VERY sedentary] it would… how to put this delicately… ok She just wanted him out of the house and away from his bloody computer all day.

BTW, Jonathan, as it turns out - in his first year in organized football - winds up as a starting left tackle on both Offense and Defense for the Pembroke Pines Optimist Bengals, and gets to the Super Bowl for the American Youth Football League!  Unfortunately the Bengals lost to a Stacked Team from Pompano, but that's a story for a different blog.

Then came the aforementioned call from the Templeshifs.

By now you will have realized that this will not be the usual series of NOWAT beginnings wherein HE details, over several weeks prior to a trip, Multiple Mall trips, [in fact, just one] and belabored packing ballets, and long winded agenda descriptions, etc., etc., etc. Not the case.

OK, there was a little drama around which of the BIG bags to pack since they're not flying anywhere and she couldn’t make up her mind on how many extra combos she should take for a simple 10 day cruise, but in reality, HE had them packed days in advance with room to spare.

The REAL drama came with the requirement of RCCL, in addition to being fully vaccinated, to get a negative COVID 19 PCR [not an Antigen] test no more than 2 days prior to sailing.  

Now this may seem like a no brainer but what with the new surge of the OMICRON variant, it was taking 72 or more hours to get test results, which if you do the math, is 24 hours more than they had to prove they were clear to board.  Everywhere else, including the hospitals requires 72 hours but noooooo, not Royal Caribbean [they really take the notion of ROYAL privilige to heart].

 

Fortunately, Chucky discovers that CURATIVE, a group hired by Broward County was testing at a park near the house so he checked in to see if they had more information.  It turns out that the PCR testing there, at that time, did indeed take 72 hours for results, but another CURATIVE location in Ft Lauderdale did the RAPID PCR test and could yield results in 2-3 hours.

Soooooo, HE made appointments for testing for early the 28^th, hoping the the RAPID test would be accepted.

NOW at the same time, with PCR testing lines at various sites in the county causing 4-5 hour waits and not promising results in less than 3-4 days, Chucky also discovers he could make an appointment at the CVS around the corner for a PCR test which may… or may not be accepted by RCCL.  So he proceeds to make an appointment there as well.

THEN, SHE gets word that CURATIVE will be back at the park near the house with the RAPID PCR test starting the week after Christmas, so HE cancels the test in Ft Lauderdale and re-books around the corner.

SO NOW, they have 2 tests, Across the street from each other, half an hour apart, which on the 28^th they manage to accomplish in less than 45 minutes.  Now the anxious wait.

Will they get the results in time?

Will the RAPID PCR COVID 19 test be accepted by RCCL?

Will they be allowed to board the Jewel of The Seas for 10 days with stops at:

         Puerto Limo, Costa Rica

         Colon, Panama [Panama Canal]

         Cartagena, Colombia

         Oranjestad,  Aruba

while celebrating NYE with the Templeshifs and their Lotto Line cohorts somewhere off the coast of Honduras?

Will Chuckie’s Blood Pressure and Anxiety come down a notch by then.

 

Welllllll, you’ll just have to check back in for the next episode of NOWAT-CaribWest 2022 to find out.

 

In the meantime, John Dewar has called another meeting and Chucky cannot not be late for that one or he'll get a demerit [kids, ask your ex-military friends to explain demerits to you.]

 

Ciao 4 Now,
Uncle Chuck 

& The rolling her eyes at him, 
Dragon Lady