Friday morning we drove Wes and Alyssa to the airport, leaving here at 8:15am. Traffic was fairly light, with only a few brief slowdowns on the freeway. We arrived at 9am, in plenty of time for their 11am departure. It was good having them here and we will miss them, but it is always nice to get back to our usual life, as a few things have piled up for us. The traffic coming back was even better, so we were home before 10am. After that, I went to get a well-needed haircut, while Dee went to Conad to get some produce for us. I moved my computer setup to the back bedroom again to enjoy the AC. Francesco, my barber, said that this year is hot, but nothing like last summer, when the heat started in April.
Right after getting to the Institute, Dee headed off on the Metro to her doctor's office to get a custom orthotic for her feet (she was fitted a few weeks ago), as well as pick up her x-ray prints from the clinic nearby. First she had to get a truck to move out of our way so that I could go into our driveway. There has been some street construction going on for a while, and in the evening we had to get another truck to move from its blocking position. Hopefully the construction will be done soon. Her new orthotics seem to work very well for her. I have worn foot orthotics for almost 20 years and they have made a huge difference for me, so hopefully hers will end up equally helpful.
I spent the entire afternoon at the Institute, but nobody showed up because there would be no activity in the evening due to a stake fireside. So we closed up and came home about 6pm. It was a busy afternoon, however. The electronic key box to open the gate is broken, so I had to contact the landlord. There are two of them, one still working, but if that one goes out we will be stuck either inside or outside. I also found out how to change the billing address for a credit card on Amazon; their chat support was very good, although hard to locate. Next time the mission needs something, I'll try the mission credit card again to see if it works.
At my suggestion, on my way back from the doctor, Dee bought me a Google Home Mini from a local electronics store at the train station. We like them and our Amazon Echo a lot, so this gives us one in each bedroom and the living room. Electronics costs a lot more here than in the US, not just because of the value-added tax (22%). It is not clear why things cost so much, but prices are often more than 50% higher. When she got back, she was very hot and sweaty, but she loves being able to walk around again.
As you may have noticed, I caught up on blog entries for the week. That took some time. Unfortunately, blogger.com had some major formatting problems with the entries which I had started on my tablet. After some googling of the problem, I finally was able to fix the format issues, but it was frustrating.
Closing up early, we got here by about 6:30pm, very early for us. Dee was tired after an exhausting week and a short night, so she was out for the night by 8:30pm. Sorella Knies said that, with their guests, they tell them that "Rome is a trip, not a vacation." Maybe we need to work in a bit more relax time during family visits!
Cousin Lynn's first day with my in-laws seemed to go very well. She gave us some updates throughout her day, which all seemed very promising. I got her bank account number and was able to transfer money to her account online successfully. So far, so good!