Author: Charlie

Retired American nature-lover, living in Costa Rica, photographing birds and other jewels of nature. This site simply reports on my joys of being RETIRED IN COSTA RICA!
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Surgery Scheduled for Monday Evening

Monday 30 July. Yep! That does seem different, evening instead of morning, but that is the way it is (and maybe when an operating room was available at the small private hospital). And the doctor said the sooner we do it, the less damage will be done to the tendon and the sooner I will be without pain. And instead of using the main Hospital Metropolitano in downtown San Jose we are going to one of their 4 suburban campuses, the only one with an operating room. It is in the Lindora barrio of Santa Ana which is on “my side” (west) of San Jose just off our “freeway,” Ruta 27, and about 30 minutes closer than the downtown hospital campus, especially during rush hour, thus easier and quicker for both me and my driver whom I’ve already scheduled.

I am to be there at 5PM, with the surgery scheduled for 7PM to 8PM with one hour in the Recovery Room and return home soon after 9PM. That should be a good way to get sleepy for bedtime!  Ja, ja, ja, (español for ha, ha, ha)   🙂 though the anesthesia is only local.

He says my activities can be normal in a week to 10 days though I will have 5 weeks of physical therapy (2X a week), the hardest part one U.S. friend said. But I did cancel or postpone my August trip to Sarapiqui, which I now have rescheduled for next May. Before then I will be a new man who will try harder to not fall off the bed or on the rough sidewalks of Alajuela! It’s just that time of life!   🙂   No cane yet and hopefully not soon! But maybe needed someday?

“Getting old is not for sissies.”     ~Bette Davis

¡Pura Vida!

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Two Books Finished – Many More Waiting!

I finally finished reading Oliver Twist and I must say that it is a very good book even if too long, with a whole lot more to it than the familiar story of Oliver from several movies. There are so many undercurrent stories of the adults involved in Oliver’s life that the movies barely touch and for good reason since it would make the movie too long AND too boring in lots of spots. It was a “slow read” for me; definitely not a “page turner.” But I got through it and glad I read all of it and learned more about Monk, Nancy, and well all of the adults. Charles Dickens is a very detailed and descriptive writer.

Oliver was the first of three books in the Charles Dickens Collection Volume One. That means I still have Great Expectations and Bleak House to read if I finish the big volume.

I will intersperse it with my quicker reading like the Agatha Christie book I just quickly read, Lord Edgware Dies. All of her books/stories/mysteries are nice length “page turners” that are hard to put down until finished and I have almost completely quit trying to seriously figure out “Whodunit,” since I seldom have the correct person and that is what makes her books fun and surprising! I am currently working on the list of her Hercule Poirot mysteries and when those are finished I will complete the few Miss Marple books I haven’t already read. Again with other books interspersed between them for variety.

Next is a new writer for me, Graham Greene, and his book praised by John Updike in New York Times, The Power and the Glory, a novel of a fugitive priest in Mexico that Updike called “Graham Greene’s Masterpiece.” I will later let you know if I agree. It was written the year I was born, 1940.   🙂

I belong to the free online group called Goodreads that I think is somehow connected to Amazon.com and have friends there who share their readings as I do and I frequently get ideas for future reads from them. I used to love reading good books about Jesus, God or spiritual things in general, but the last few I have tried were not worth the time I spent on them and I don’t try for such as much now, though I read my Bible twice a day and I am working on one daily devotional book that is just okay – not great.  Am I getting cynical?

To me, most of television is not worth watching, other than the news which I like only small doses of to help supplement my electronic Washington Post subscription.

I still have the Costa Rica version of Netflix but not really many good choices for me. They cut me off from the U.S. version which has more choices, saying that the VPN I was using was illegal. So I cancelled the VPN. Most recent movies are not licensed in Hollywood to be shown online in Costa Rica. Tough luck! 🙂 One of the things about living in another country that can be seen as good, since I now read more! 🙂 Current blockbuster movies are shown in the big theaters in San Jose and Alajuela and I occasionally catch one of them, but most are too violent for me as is the whole American culture now. Sorry!

“A book is a dream that you hold in your hand.”
— Neil Gaiman

Happy reading to you!   ¡Pura Vida!

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One Horse Town?

Another Atenas Horse Experience

Stopping for a beer.

The other afternoon I was eating a pizza and salad at Napo’s Pizzeria when I looked out the window and this guy stopped his horse at the little pulperia (corner grocery) nextdoor for a beer, while staying on his horse. And today a local FB Group “Atenas Info” had someone to post 3 pages from an old history book describing downtown Atenas full of horses, wagons and beer drinkers. Culture dies slowly!  🙂

History never really says goodbye. History says, ‘See you later.’             ~Eduardo Galeano

 

EARLIER POSTS WITH HORSES IN ATENAS:

¡Pura Vida!

Rainstorm Roof Damage

You might also be interested in seeing this few seconds local video during a recent rain storm in Atenas. That roof flying off is from the bus station where I catch my buses to both Alajuela and San Jose. I wondered yesterday why roofers were there with a new tin roof – now I know!

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Orthopedic Surgeon Today

Because my right shoulder has been hurting now for more than two months I decided I needed to see a specialist and to do it faster use a private doctor who is in the Medismart Group I am a member of (Medical discounts!) The public medical system might have led me to the same results but at a much slower pace.

I chose Dr. Dario Lungo with Hospital Metropolitano in San Jose and rode the bus there after Spanish class this morning. I took with me the x-ray of my shoulder my local general practice doctor, Dr. Candy, had me get at a local radiology clinic. Candy also recommended that I see an orthopedic specialist and let me choose one in my discount plan.

Dr. Lungo looked at my x-ray and had me move my arm in various ways and said it is definitely a rotator cuff problem and then pointed out on the x-ray that the collar bone above the ball joint of my upper arm was touching or did not have the gap between them that they should have. “We need an ultrasound.” Ultrasonido Hombro Derecho  Another 3 hours because radiology  was backed up with jobs! But it paid off! Photo is UltraSound equipment.

SUMMARY REPORT

US muestra ruptura completa del tendón supraespinoso derecho Leve bursitis secundaria y derrame alrededor del TLB. 

US shows complete rupture of the right supraspinatus tendon, slight secondary bursitis and effusion around the TLB.

The full radiology report is much lengthier with lots of detail, but that is enough to share here with the big serious thing being a rupture of the main muscle/tendon in my shoulder, caused by my two falls in the past two months.

TWO OPTIONS

(1) I can do nothing (like our grandparents did) and in 2 to 3 years the pain might subside with a little natural healing, but never the same. (2) Surgery to repair/rebuild the ruptured tendon and other minor repairs that takes at most an hour and a half with local anesthesia as a hospital outpatient. Cost is $4,200 which is a hugh junk for me! This is called “Rotator Cuff Surgery” in the states and the USA National minimum price is $8,400 (twice our cost) and the maximum allowed is $56,200 with a national average of $21,800 (More than 5 times my cost here.) And of course I could get it for free if I waited for public health coverage but afraid to wait.

DECISION TOMORROW

I will consult with Dr. Candy tomorrow and probably go ahead and schedule it in the next few weeks, if she thinks it best, meaning I may have to cancel my August trip, though Dr. Lungo said I could travel two weeks after the surgery.

AN ASIDE STORY: NICE PEOPLE HERE!

On the bus ride back to Atenas from San Jose our full bus broke down (only the 2nd time that has happened to me) in La Garita. The return bus from Alajuela stopped and all of us got on that also-full bus, standing room only from front to the back! As soon as I stepped into the bus a young man popped up out of his seat and made me take it ( I tried to refuse). The respect for the elderly here is simply amazing! But of course that means I look old!  🙂

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Butterflies in Home Garden

“There’s no place like home” for garden and butterfly photos, well . . .  some of the time. 4 simple shots right out my door, one morning. Click to see larger.

See my Butterflies & Moths Photo Gallery for a lot more butterflies!

¡Pura Vida!

Retired in Costa Rica
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Surprising Vista at Xandari

By using my new 600mm telephoto lens instead of my usual Samsung Phone Camera for a vista from the hilltop resort Xandari, I zoomed in on the Alajuela Cathedral with Central Park to the right and the bigger surprise, at top edge of photo is an American Airlines plane landing or taking off at the San Jose International Airport in Alajuela! Luck of the timing on the plane and sorry that the blog template crops off part of the plane, not so in my original photo (see in gallery).

Below is another shot in same direction from the same restaurant with my phone camera to help you see how much I was able to zoom in and crop a little!  🙂  The cathedral is on the left side of the city that you see between the restaurant and the mountains. My last day at Xandari, Wednesday, Walter picked me up and we got my internet order package 5 blocks east of the Cathedral, ate lunch 2 blocks north of the Cathedral, then drove 24 km (15 miles) west to Atenas where I live. My small world!   🙂

Looking south over Alajuela, Costa Rica (& San Jose Airport) from Xandari Resort. I stood in this same spot for the Cathedral-Airplane photo, just zooming in!

 

¡Pura Vida!

See my Trip Photo Gallery:  2018 Xandari Resort

Xandari costa rica   (their website)

Retired in Costa Rica
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Xandari Gallery is Ready!

There are so many good photos of flowers, architecture, the farm, public art and one very surprising vista! (I may share here tomorrow.) And I decided not to fill another week’s worth of blog posts with them. So I encourage you to check out the 2018 Xandari Resort Photo Gallery. This was one of my most photogenic places to visit yet!

I just love every little corner of Costa Rica!

 ¡Pura Vida!

Xandari costa rica   (their website)

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Trails & Sidewalks at Xandari

If you count the unofficial paths and trails there are possibly 5 miles of walking/hiking ways within the Xandari property. And I think I have walked over every portion except a little section that dead ends along the river. Around the villas and through the gardens is paved while through the farm and to the waterfalls is dirt paths, sometimes muddy this time of year! I came back to my room with muddy shoes every day! Just a sampling of trails and I did not include some grass-covered paths. Trails are a great way to immerse yourself in nature!

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¡Pura Vida!

See my Trip Photo Gallery:  2018 Xandari Resort

Xandari costa rica   (their website)

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Butterflies and Other Bugs – Xandari

Xandari is like any place in Costa Rica, there are lots of bugs, but I don’t think as many here as some deeper forests I’ve been in. And this is butterfly season! Here’s a little slide show of 6 butterflies and 2 other insects photographed at Xandari Nature Resort. Enjoy!

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¡Pura Vida!

See my Trip Photo Gallery:  2018 Xandari Resort

Xandari costa rica   (their website)