Meet Jose

At Best Life is Boring
October 12 – Columbus Day

Like many of you, I will have a three day weekend to celebrate Christopher Columbus. Thursday we stopped for some groceries and vegetables so the fridge was well stocked for the weekend. Friday we drove straight home from school and crashed.

I am the early riser and Debbie is a night owl. This assures that we each have plenty of alone time which is why we make good housemates. We also are comfortable with quiet. So, Saturday I was up, did my laundry, cleaned the kitchen (my one “house” chore other than cleaning my bedroom and bathroom) and “walked” (on the treadmill). I spent the rest of the day, reading, doing some internet research on sciatic nerve etc. and napping in between meals. We have very different diet needs so we pretty much fix separate meals. Debbie stayed in pajamas and read all day.

Saturday evening we watched an episode and a half of West Wing (Debbie has all seasons on DVD) before the power went out on our side of the valley. Fortunately the power stayed on across the valley and at the stadium where a major soccer game was in progress. We could hear the periodic roar of the crowd and city noises, cars honking, closer cheering etc. We lit some candles to wait it out but finally Debbie went on to bed. I stayed up and played solitaire by candle light until the power came on after an hour or so later and I could sleep with my “breathing machine”.

Sunday morning was about the same as Saturday. I walked, washed sheets and towels did some ironing and more reading. Debbie went to school to catch up on some work and was gone all day so I had the place to myself. I watched a couple of movies on HBO while I ironed. One was Chicago but I can’t remember the other, hmm. Not a good sign. I dust mopped (lots of dust here) my bedroom, rearranged my closet and painted a little picture to send to Freya. Later Debbie and I watched two more episodes of West Wing and I went to bed to read.

So now it is Monday. I have “walked”, made my bed, and had my coffee. Debbie has set off for the office and I am left to my own devices. My big project for the day will be to get Jose to come and change the large water bottle for me. Jose is our very helpful building “man of all trades”. He waters the outdoor plants, washes cars, helps carry in parcels, keeps the building secure. He takes care of us. But he speaks no English. I will get out my phrase book and write down the minimum words necessary to communicate my needs. Then I will choose my moment when I see he is unoccupied to get up my nerve to go out and mangle Spanish. The rest of the day I plan to fill much the same way I have filled the previous two. I am thinking I might try a water color sketch of the vista from the balcony…we shall see.