Stopped at local post office just after I hit the road for the Alb trip. Had to mail garage door openers and a spare door key for the house in AR since I forgot to drop them off with the realtor before I left town. ANYway, I didn't know whether to laugh or scream when the postal clerk told me the cost of the postage. Here's the receipt...



Do ya see wot ahm sayin'?!
various house clocks, thermostat, car trip odometer, car clock, microwave, and now receipt... everyfreakinwhere

In other news: Met the surgeon in Alb. He's fine, nice, seems well-versed and competent. Very much like the guy in AR whom I liked. They really are very similar and, per the one in AR, they are identical in skill. NO date for surgery yet. Gotta have another diagnostic first, which I suspected. They're gonna try to schedule that here in LC so I don't have to drive to Alb for it. Will take a few days to find out when that is. THEN, if and only if the results are perfect, ie, no leaks of any kind, they'll be able to schedule the surgery. *sigh* Patience... I shoulda asked for a goodly dose of patience when I signed up for this lifetime.

PS - Yes, I'm back home. I decided I was good for the drive back. Still a long day. Going down for a nap now. :)

PPS - When I got settled in at home, I checked the front stoop for an expected UPS delivery. There was none, however, there was a PIG in my front yard. To me it looked like a pig, a wild pig, except it seemed to be wearing a collar. I thought, who would put a collar on a pig? He ran off pretty quickly so I only caught a glimpse of his build and coarse grey and black hair... and the apparent collar. It soon occurred to me that it was indeed a wild thing and the collar was maybe a marking in his hair/fur. Sure enough, after a little web search, I found out that from South America up through the American Southwest one may find the "collared peccary". So, I gots wild pig things running around here, eh? They are also called Javelinas (Spanish for javelin) due to sharp tusks. They reportedly may be smelled before seen and one should stay upwind if possible. Intewesteen.