"...I am married to a wife which is as dear to me as life itself." (Merchant of Venice)

Today was my day to visit my head hunter, my mind boggler, my brain bubba, etc. at the VA Medical Center in West Palm Beach. Every time I go there it costs me $10...about. It's a 30 mile drive each way, and since my Malibu gets about 24mpg I spend a little over 2 1/4 gallons I suppose; and at $2.90 a gallon on average, I'm guessing about $7 on fuel. Then the tolls are about 1.90 each way...so probably over $10. But...every doctor and every medication I get there comes out to $0.00. Therefore I'm not permitted to complain about the cost of driving there...except if I stop at a Plaza and have a Nathan's combo, it costs about the same thing! But the great thing about the VA is that I have never had to wait more than 15 minutes past my appointment to see a doctor, and their equipment is state of the art.

Dr. Zayas is of Cuban descent, and I'm guessing she's in her late 40s. I gave her a copy of my poetry book, although I'm not sure if she's big on poetry. She is big on doling out medication. I told her I'm having a problem putting a letter in those little crossword puzzle boxes because of a tremor in my hands, and right away she wanted to get me off one medication and onto another one. I told her no way I was going to take on a new pill, tremors or no tremors. We had a nice 40 minute discussion. I mentioned to her that my wife thinks I'm depressed. Zayas asked if I thought so, and I told her I didn't think so even though I sleep until 11am, wear the same clothes for a few days, have no appetite, can't walk a block, gave up golf and sex, have exhausted all my goals, and rooted for the Marlins and Dolphins. So what makes anyone think I'm depressed? What really depresses me is the thought that if a genie told me he would grant me one wish, which would I choose--golf or sex? I sure need some help with that one. I'm glad Dr. Zayas didn't ask me.

She said most of my problems come with age.

When I tell Rhoda I'm ageing, she denies that; she says I'm merely "maturing". But she knows that's a euphemism. She graduated from American University.

"Your silence most offends me..." (Much Ado)

Good morning. Well, it's really 11:15 but still morning. Rhoda was up bright and early to pick up clothes at the cleaner ... and just as I got to that word, "cleaner" the telephone rang and it was my daughter-in-law, Barbara, who was calling from her mother's condo in California. She asked to talk to Rhoda about hearing aids for her mom, but I told her that I'm the hearing aid "expert", and that Rhoda worked for an MD not a hearing aid guy. Barbara complained that the aids her mother was not wearing cost about $1500 and wanted to know what to do about that. I told her that her mother was probably having a big problem adjusting the volume controls on those aids because they are usually much too small for an elderly person to learn how to use, and that her mother would most likely never wear them for that reason. I had the same problem with the first hearing aids I got from the VA, and I said, the hell with it. I got tired of taking each one out of my ears and trying to adjust the volume for every occasion by twisting a tiny button on the aid. Ridiculous. But now I have gotten aids from the VA that have a remote volume control. The control looks like a cigarette lighter and is very simple to use. However, it most likely is out of the price range that Barb and her brother are able to afford. So, again...a Gordian Knot. I'm very fortunate that I don't have to pay for medical things at the VA, but I paid the price for these perks a long time ago...and am still paying.

But as I was saying, after Rho got home, she had to run off to her first meeting as President of the City of Hope. She spent most of the day yesterday preparing for the meeting, and I'm sure it'll go fine. They start at noon, serve bagels and cream cheese, hear from all the committees and then are regaled by a speaker. Meanwhile, I'll get dressed and most likely get out to have some breakfast of my own. And perhaps sometime during the day, I'll actually get an email or a call from about a dozen people to whom I have sent copies of my Memoirs and have yet to receive acknowledgements.

"It's not whether you win or lose, but how you play the game."

Since my God answered my prayer yesterday and allowed me to win $160 on the slot machines, and Rhoda only won $79 then the only conclusion that can be drawn from this event is that my God must be more powerful than her God. Although it really felt like Sunday, it was a very relaxing and enjoyable day. With the Strumlauf neighbors we left here about 2pm and 25 minutes later we arrived at The Isles Casino in Pompano in the rain. Is that good luck? We separated when we got there and decided to meet back at the entrance at 5pm. I don't ever recall 2 1/2 hours ever going by so quickly. When you are playing a slot machine with bells and spins and jingles and jangles all around you, time seems to stand still. At any rate it was a lot of profitable fun, and this time instead of dining at the buffet we started off to a Chinese restaurant which Annette said she heard about. "Well, do you know how to get there?" we asked her, and sure enough, she said she did; and sure enough we almost landed in the ocean before we had to turn around and change our plans. I said we could eat at Gary Woo's on Rte. 1 in Boca, and so we agreed on that until Rhoda chimed in with "You know, Woo's is pricey." Well that put a damper on that one until I suggested Red Lobster which was only a few blocks north of Gary Woo's and so it was agreed. I don't know why people we know look down at that restaurant. We never had a bad meal there, and last night was no different. When we got back home, we spent the rest of the evening playing cards and so to bed.

Before we left for the casino the mailman delivered 3 copies of my poetry book, "SHADOWS in the SUNSET." This is the same book of poetry that was originally called "ADDENDA" which is all in color, and then "ADDENDA II" which is in black and white. Each of those editions has a different cover, but this latest one is simply awe-inspiringly beautiful (at least to me). You can get a slight idea of what it looks like by going to my Lulu Store and clicking on "Print to Cart"; when you get to the next page click on the book cover to make it larger. And while you're there, you might as well buy a copy so as to kill two birds with one stone...as it is said somewhere in the Bible. No, I don't mean that the Bible says to buy the book, but like Tevye says, "It must say something about birds." The black and white images in SHADOWS that accompany many of the poems were formatted by my son, Joel and my daughter-in-law, Barbara. So, it's like a family project.