Battles of Lifel

A T & T called me yesterday to explain the International Coverrage Plan I've had forever does not include Belize. I've been in Belieze all week making numerous phone calls back home and texting away. I not certain what Belize did to A T & T but the agent made it very clear that I would be obigated to pay for all of this usage and the roaming changes at the regular rate. The current tab for six days of use is $3,000. He then asked if I would like to upgrade my plan.

Battle # 1 when we get home.

Of course we have to get home first. Flying out of Placencia airstrip to Belize City we have to clear customs. Then we fly to Atlanta and have to clear customs again. Then we have to recheck everything go through security again under the watchful eyes of TSA's then hope we make the connection back to Savannah. On the upside, Delta sent me a bunch of free drink tickets so I should be more than ready for these security checks.

Battle # 2.

And it's St. Patrick's Day in Savannah this weekend. According to news reports the parade and crowd may pass the ones in New York and a million people will form a blockaid in the city. You cannot get from the airport to Tybee Island where I live without going through Savannah. It is always a nightmare! Still, we want to get home today so we have to somehow find passage through the green drunken glob.

Battle # 3.

There's also this leftover battle with my insurance company. A leak had sprung in the upstairs shower which was fixed and covered minues the deductible. No problem, I said to myself, that's the way it works. The day after I got the check, two more leaks sprung. Then there were two more after that. I reported all of this to my insurance company who politly told me that this constitutes five different claims, therefore I would have to pay five differeent deductibles. The deductible is $1,000. I took a break from this one but will have to resume it when we get home.

Battle #4 awaits.

I used to wage multiple battles on a daily basis at Union Mission, fighting homelessness, AIDS, the American Health Care system, inadequate housing and such. Now I help out others who muti-task their wars. The only battles I'm normally engaged in these days are the ones with myself.

Why is life this way?

We either make things hard on ourselves or others are doing a pretty good job of making it difficult for us. It doesn't seem fair.

I know ... there are bigger problems. My friend Angela's son is having surgery today and it is serious. Carolyn is having to endure a St. Patrick's day without her beloved Daniel. Jimmie's trying to stay sober when it's raining booze in the city. Charles will watch the city through eyes that are processed by a mentally ill brain and he will talk to himself without ceasing. Someone will lose their battle with age or cancer or themselves today

The wind has died in Belize. It'd been blowing pretty good all week. The sea is silent now. The long leaf Palm Trees stand at attention. The sky is a brilliant blue and all of the clouds have gone elsewhere. It is quiet and peaceful in the Tropics. Later today it will be sweltering. I suppose it's a good day to come home.

I don't know of anyone who isn't fighting something ... be it a bad hair day or international conglomerates like A T & T. It's just part of living.

Ah well, I've got another hour to enjoy it here so that's what I'm going to do. Then the battles will begin.

Oh yeah, the Carnival of Friends will find all of this to be a perfectly good excuse for a party.