I know you were all on pins and needles waiting to hear about the progress on my latest addition to my Favorite Panamanian’s egregiously large garden complex. It is done. Now that it is, the heat wave has, predictably, broken. It was an interesting rush to the finish line because of that heat. The trusty personal fan around my neck was a true revelation. It got so I didn’t even notice it when found myself doing some fairly hard physical labor in 96-degree heat without issue. That was definitely a first. I forgot to take it off when I went to Home Depot and wore it as I was loading the 28 bags (not that I was counting) of garden soil it took to fill the new addition. The last step was creating the mini-wall on the right side of the fire place to connect with the new wall. I bought some quick drying cement and it certainly lived up to its title as I was rushing through getting the rocks in place before lathering with cement before it dried. I then had to cover the whole thing overnight with a tarp as the heat wave broke with some vigorous thunder storms. Even though the cement was quick drying I didn’t want to temp fate with as heavy as the rain came down. I received a definitive certificate of approval form the project manager this morning.
Final Bricks in Place
As I said, it’s been a crazy kind of
week. Wait a minute did I say that? Well, if I didn’t, it was. Around all the
wall construction there was a bunch going on concerning our upcoming trip to
Ireland/Scotland as well as the Panamanian condo. We had a meeting with the
travel agent on Monday and everything seems set with the itinerary, we leave next
Friday. I also converted a bunch of cash to both Euros and English pounds. My daughter
scoffed at that, seasoned European traveler that she is, saying credit card was
the way to go but I reasoned that my generation still uses cash, occasionally. 
28 Bags of Garden Soil Later
The Panamanian condo business led to a
funny situation as well as a scary one. I deposited the annual bunch of cash in
our US bank we send down to our Panamanian bank last week and made an appointment
to do the international wire transfer this week. I had just gotten off the stationary
bike on Tuesday, completely sweat soaked (that heat wave again), and decided to
pay a couple bills online through the bank. As I was opening the bank’s website,
it dawned on me that my appointment at the bank was in eight minutes! I
actually made it on time but I haven’t moved that fast since that incident with
the two Panamanian girlfriends running into each other when I was single, but
that’s a story for another day. I’m sure the bank guy was wondering why I was wearing
so much cologne but it was for his benefit.
Mission Complete
While I was Building Walls This Week 
The Panamanian Mafia Invaded Newport, RI
The scary part took place over the ensuing
days. This was a big hunk of cash and it usually arrives in Panama later in the
same day of the transfer. We’ve been doing it for ten years now. By Thursday it
still hadn’t showed up and I was starting to panic. Our condo mortgage payments
as well as our condo fees are taken out automatically at the end of the month,
so, important. I finally checked my wife’s email late on Thursday and found
that she had received a message from our Panamanian bank on Tuesday afternoon,
saying they needed some documentation since it was such a large amount. Oh, the
email also said they needed the documentation within two business days or they
would cancel the transfer. The word I am looking for is “Yikes”!! I gathered
the needed documents and then used the google translator to convert my message
to the bank official that had emailed us. The Favorite Panamanian did a final
(and much needed) review of that effort before we sent it late on Thursday. I
heard nothing all day Friday and the money still didn’t show up in our account.
I actually lost sleep last night worrying about this. I opened my wife’s email account
again this morning and found that everything was in order and the money would
be in our account today. It was and I will sleep better tonight. 
A Great Time was Had by All and it Saved me
From Certain Supervisory Tendencies from the Lady in Orange
FBR Heading out for Last Day of Second Grade
This was a big week down in New Jersey
as well. The FBR graduated from second grade. I can’t believe she’s already
going into third grade. I have clear memories of that same time in my life. There’s
something intrinsically wrong with that. She didn’t seem as impressed with that
as I was. She was much more excited about the opening of the town pools which
she dragged her mother to for two-a-day sessions. Meanwhile in New Hampshire,
the BRS and BR3 didn’t take part in last night’s Family Facetime call. The ABFA
showed them out in the cul-de-sac in front of their house. The BRS was riding
her old tricycle with BR3, for some reason in hot pursuit on foot. Then BR3
just stopped and started dancing in the middle of the street. When I asked her parents
what was going on, they were as perplexed as we were. It made sense to the granddaughters
though. 
At Bus Stop with her Best Bud
I have some very far-flung friends at the
current moment. The Cantankerous Friend has spent the last couple weeks in Spain
for a bike tour in the Basque region near the border with France. I’m sure the Spaniards
are still getting accustomed to his special brand of “humor”. He gets back next
week. Meanwhile Keene Friend is down in Pennsylvania trying to bring a modicum of
class to the Pittsburgh area, a mission fraught with danger and up to now,
handled strictly by the PCR and his wife. They’ve been touring the rust belt
ball parks, seeing MLB games in Pittsburgh, Cleveland, and last night, Cincinnati
(and the Red Sox!). I was texting with the PCR last night during the game because
the aforementioned thunder storms wiped out my planned dance date with the wife
(I have mentioned before that she comes from one of the rainiest countries on
earth, haven’t I). She said there was no venturing out with that amount of
precipitation descending, it’s a hair thing. Go figure. At any rate, Keene
Friend should be back next week as well, I’m glad he’s had some time with the
PCR, color me a bit jealous as I would have loved to catch the games with them.
Maybe next time. With both of their imminent returns I predict a thunder run
when I get back from Scotland, solely for the purpose of trading travel stories,
don’t ya know. 
Cantankerous in Spain
Keene Friend with PCR, PCR's wife and son 
Miniature Golf, Of Course 
Cleveland with Other Son 
Last Night in Cincinnati
RECURRING CHARACTERS:
ABFA – Amazing Best Family
Athlete - my daughter
in law; BR3 – Blog Reader #3 – granddaughter
#3; BRS - Blog Reader the Sequel -
second granddaughter; Cantankerous Friend – friend since grade school who likes to argue
about everything, poses as radical leftist to attract women; CRC - Connecticut
Riverboat Captain – another close friend from high school, renowned sailor
of the big river; Curbside Girls – close
friends of my daughter acquired during him her single days in Brooklyn; Deckzilla – our backyard deck which
grew to monstrous dimensions once my wife got involved in planning; Favorite Panamanian - the wife (of
course); FBR - First Blog Reader -
first granddaughter; First Friday –
celebrations to mark the First Friday of the Week; Great Aunt - my elder sister; Keene
Friends 1 & 2 – friends since high school from my home town of Keene,
NH; Kindergarten Friend – friend
since kindergarten whom I reunited with after many years; Maine and Virginia Musqueteras – two close friends of my wife –
her US sisters, my wife is the 3rd Musquetera (musketeer); Namesake Nephew –
son of Great Aunt and Soxfather named after me; Neighborhood Mafioso - wife's close friend and Panamanian mafia
member; PanaGals – female relatives
/friends of my wife from Panama; Panamanian/Latin
Mafia – inevitable group of Latino friends my wife accumulates wherever we
have lived & their spouses; PCR - Pittsburgh College Roommate – high school friend, also a “Minor
Celebrity” in Pittsburgh; PCR+1 - Pittsburgh College Roommate’s wife; Riggins - also known as the Grandpuppy, son's dog; Seis Amigos
- two couples from our condo complex and my wife and I; Soxfather – my brother in law; Tia Loca – wife’s younger
sister; Wingman
– my son in law; Wingmom –
Wingman’s mom, of course
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