This was a short vacation, really just an extended weekend in Philly, hanging out with my daughter, my son-in-law, connecting with long-lost high school friends, searching for a lost hearing aid, and discovering the wonders of Costco for the first time. How was your weekend?
I love my daughter. I love my son-in-law. I wish they weren't so far away. I'm sure many parents have thought these things. Now you know that I think them too. But it was so sweet to hang out, to laugh, to ponder big adult questions, to eat good food, to be a family. I recommend it. Do it if you get the chance.
I hadn't seen my friend Ellen for 46 years, or her husband Tom ever. So, thanks to the wonders of Facebook connections (there are still a few nice aspects of the accursed medium), Ellen thought, "hey, wouldn't it be nice to invite a dude I haven't seen since high school and his wife over for dinner?" And she did. And it was a blast. It was more than a blast. You can get to know a fair amount about human beings from Facebook if they're willing to share who they are, what they value, what they think about. I've done that. My friend Ellen has done that. So I wasn't too worried about it. And I certainly didn't need to be. It was a sweet time, and it was an easy connection. If you have the opportunity to reconnect with people from your past, and you have interest in them and their lives, I highly recommend that you reconnect. Take the risk. Do it if you get the chance. I'm so thankful for that time.
I also lost a hearing aid this weekend. I do not recommend that, but it happened. Roughly $2,500 of tiny electronics fell through a hole in my pocket (I took it out because I was walking in the rain; which is bad for hearing aids, but not as bad as losing them and leaving them in the rain). I searched and searched and searched and searched. That many times. I walked up and down streets with my head down, bumped into people, drew strange stares. I don't recommend that, either. But it's gone. I also discovered that my remaining hearing aid emits a continuous series of shrill beeps because it misses its mate. A low moan I could handle, a slight whimper would be okay, but this is kind of like a fire alarm going off in my ear. So I still have the remaining hearing aid, but I've taken it out because I was ready to murder anyone I encountered.
And so, basically deaf, I entered a Philadelphia Costco (my first time at Costco, ever), gawked at the gigantic packages of good deals, and discovered something called a Hearing Aid Center. Costco, as it turns out, sells my hearing aids at roughly half the price that I paid for them at a fancy medical center in Columbus. So now I'm a Costo member. That happened this weekend as well.
It was a fantastic weekend. I'd do it all over again, lost hearing aids and all.
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