Life and Times in SoCal

Fall 2022

Hello everyone and thanks for coming back. Well summer is now over its late October and we have not long said goodbye to Julie’s sister, Diane and her husband David. They were out for a couple of weeks and we tried to do plenty while they were here, not the usual tourist stuff - “been there, done that” but stuff we wouldn’t have done normally.

It wasn’t all plain sailing though. During the summer, just before Dom & Jordan came out I had a small accident. I managed to partly rupture my achilles tendon. Yes very painful, and it did prevent me from a lot of walking whilst they were with us, sadly it didn’t get me out of going to Disney! However I managed to push through with lots of nagging from everybody until they went home. The ankle felt like it was getting better, until about 2 weeks before Diane and David were due to arrive, then just as I got out of the car walking to the house I felt and heard a “POP” and felt more pain than I have ever experienced. I released that the whole tendon had snapped!

I went to the ER and had it confirmed. I found an orthopedic surgeon made an appointment for Wednesday 14, September and was scheduled for the operation on Thursday 15, September. no waiting lists here, but it did cost over $12,000, thank goodness for insurance! So for the past 5 weeks I have not been able to put my left foot on the floor. 

This did have an impact on Diane and David’s visit as we had arrange to go to Las Vegas to see 2 shows, Rod Stewart on the first night and Donny Osmond on the second night. I had no option but to rent and electric wheelchair. Not the type you get on the TV show Benidorm but a state of the art chair that could go up and down curbs, turn in its own footprint. It was rather a cool machine.

Having the chair had its advantages especially at the Rod Stewart gig, Julie and i got moved to the area reserved for disabled and I actually managed to shake hands with Rod as he came through the crowd. 

However, there was also a massive downside of being in a chair and being, all be it, short term disabled. Over the whole weekend the number of times I was ignored or “not seen” was very disappointing. I quickly came to realize that if you are not the same height as most adults you will not be seen. From people just not looking at what is in front of them to people with their heads stuck in their phone it was quite dangerous especially at road crossings where the throng of people made it very difficult to get off the road on the curb before the lights changed back. 

Now 6 weeks on from the operation to repair the tendon I am able to stand and even take a few faltering steps back to normality. Which is a good job as we are due in the UK next week to see the newest addition to our ever growing family, grandchild number 4. Milo Jevins, a little brother to Koby, born Monday October 3rd. I’m very pleased to say both mother and baby are doing fine and so are Koby and Jordan. we can’t wait to meet you little guy.

We are only back for 7 days so are making the most of seeing family as much as possible, most Julie’s side as we will have just seen mine through the summer and my mom is traveling back to California with us on November 12. She has decided to become a “Snow Bird”. A term given usually to Canadians who fly south for the winter to get away from the cold, so mum is doing exactly that 12 weeks in Southern California a great idea to keep the cold out. I wonder if I can have her winter fuel allowance!!.

We are expecting my brother Chris and his wife Wendy here on the halloween weekend. My brothers favorite band, The Zac Brown Band are playing the Hollywood bowl on November 4 so I suggested that they come and see him, and what do you know they are! It should be a good night, we have Garden Box seats and are having a meal in the seats before the show. We are also spending most of the day in Hollywood and staying in the Leows Hotel Hollywood. Although Hollywood isn’t all the glamor that its made out to be its still an experience. There is plenty to do and see so long was we stay clear of the many homeless in the area.

Outside of the current busy time we are thinking about Christmas and my 60th birthday, having my mum with us will make it different, as we haven’t had family with us for Christmas whilst we’ve lived here. So this year will be different. We are also planning to have a different Thanksgiving, usually we cook and have people over, this year however, we plan to have a Thanksgiving at a local hotel so there’s not any cooking or washing up to do!

You may recall from my previous blogs that I have a Tesla Model Y? Tesla sends updates out to the car over the air, via WiFi. Recently I got and update that gave me Full Self drive capability on all roads, previously this was only available on the freeway but now it is on all roads and traffic conditions. I have used it a number of times it does take some getting used to but I personally think it's a major step in the direction of autonomous transport! there is still a long way to go but I believe the first steps have now been taken!

Again, thanks for reading as I’ve said in the past if you’re looking to explore Southern California them drop us a message we would love to be your home base while you explore this amazing part of the world, we do have some family and friends coming out in 2023 so not all dates are available.

Thanks again and stay safe

Ciao Paul & Julie

October 2022