Hibernation Explained

Wife and Her Sister at Las Lajas

I have a very good reason that I’ve been off the net for a few days, something that could rise to the level of a bona fide “excuse”, if I believed in the existence of such a phenomena. Everything for our redeployment from Panama was going swimmingly and then I ran into the Sunday version of Copa Airlines operations in Panama. To say they use the “second team” would be a vast understatement. We were at the David airport the requested two hours prior to flight time only to find plenty of other timely passengers but no airlines personnel. They wandered in about forty five minutes later looking much worse for the wear of a Saturday night.

Lunch at Las Lajas

I attempted one final time to check our bags through to Boston since it was the same airlines but was told this was impossible (it isn’t). The plane could have been boarded on time but they couldn’t get around to it until fifteen minutes late. When it came to boarding they only used one gate agent and the line came to a screeching halt anytime (and you know this happens all the time) anyone had a question. One such delay was nearly five minutes long as a slope shouldered idiot couldn’t find his boarding pass. So we left an hour late for no good reason other than the incompetence of the ground personnel. We still arrived in Panama City with an hour to spare before our connecting flight to Boston. Then we ran into ground personnel who made the David people look like superstars. I sent my wife ahead to the ticket counter to let them know we were here and waiting for Copa to deliver our bags so we could board the Boston flight. Meanwhile I was waiting, something I will admit I am not exceptionally good at or emotionally stable during. The gate personnel with my wife were calling to find out what was taking the bags so long to be delivered. Nothing they did expedited the process and the wait for the bags turned out to be longer than the actual flight from David. It could be the fact they were only using one guy to do all the unloading, but that’s just my opinion.

Condo Progress, Ours is the Near Corner, 3rd Floor

I was certifiably unstable by the time I had the bags, one severely damaged, and went upstairs to join my wife. The Copa personnel there were appropriately apologetic and genuinely embarrassed to have their deficiencies so openly exposed. We were escorted to the airport Crown Plaza hotel, with all meals and expenses paid for. This took a little of the sting of missing the flight home and the scheduled installation of air conditioning yesterday. It was approximately seven hours later that I was rational enough to even discuss my feelings about the experience with my wife.

Closer View

Forms for Swimming Pool

Ground Level View from our Condo

View from Back

This episode did nothing to dim the final couple days we spent with my wife’s family before arriving at the airport. On Saturday we linked up with that wandering section of the Worcester Chapter of the Panamanian Mafia for a trip to my favorite beach, Las Lajas. Before getting some exquisite body surfing in we checked on the progress of our condo being constructed there. For the first time we could pinpoint where our actual condo was and they had the forms set up to start work on the pool that will be between the building and the beach. It was genuinely exciting. After the body surfing and lunch at a beachside restaurant we had to hurry back to David for a family party at the house of the Cousin of the Legendary Laugh.

Las Lajas Time

I Had Chicken

Signature Las Lajas Waves in the Distance

She was in fine form surrounded by an entire troop of young Panamanians celebrating the birthday of one of her grandchildren. They were being entertained by the cousin’s son who was in rare form. Most of the adults set up shop in a nearby bohio to drink beer, roast meat, and stay out of the afternoon torrential rains. While this visit to Panama was successful in its stated objective regarding resident visa it was clear I hadn’t gotten enough time hanging out with my wife’s family. This evening was the highlight of the trip and made up, in a very small way, for the party I missed on my February trip when I got sick. If all goes according to plan both my brother in law, his wife, and the laughing cousin with her husband will be visiting us in Worcester in September.

Brother in Law Holding Forth Saturday Night in the Bohio

Laughing Cousin(r)

So good times before the Sunday crew spoiled my calm. The stay in the hotel was uneventful but it did offer the opportunity to catch up on some rest that had eluded us during our very full week battling the Panamanian governmental bureaucracy. My wife put out notices that she was in Panama City for an unexpected night and as we sat down in the hotel bar to watch the Red Sox one of the PanaGals showed up to pass a conversation filled couple of hours. She had a lot more fun than I did watching David Price fail to live up to his contract again.

Wife and I Saturday Night

The flight back yesterday felt like being released from thrall where we had no power over our own lives for more than a day. Copa got one last shot in though as the heating system underneath the seating area for our section of the airplane failed and the second half of the flight was spent with my wife’s feet in my lap, okay that wasn’t so bad. We got back to Boston and it was surprisingly hard to start speaking English again, but oh so welcome. We were transferring to the bus to the parking garage when my got a FaceTime call from California where my granddaughter demonstrated her newly acquired ability to get herself into standing position, all too easily, so reminiscent of her mother at the very same age. We beat feet down to Rhode Island to re-acquire the Wonder Pooch who spent the week picking up bad habits from my elder sister. In what is becoming a welcome tradition for our return from overseas we took my sister and brother in law out for dinner to thank them for their stalwart dog sitting services. Apparently the lack of testicular presence in the lab ranks made a huge different with Buddy and Remy this time out. The cherished time with these fine people vanquished the serious headache which had encroached since landing. I always knew their presence was medicinal in quality. If this week away taught me anything it’s that I’m nowhere near ready to retire yet, I actually missed work (sad really). I was getting dressed for work today when the air conditioning people showed up at the house planning on telescoping the two day installation down to one. So the hoped for slowdown in my life will have to wait one more day.