1 February: No Lights, No Heat, Not Happy

First day of my last full month in Los Angeles:

1) I have to go for an urgent care appointment to the eye doctor at UCLA.  A combination of factors, including the very windy weather, have left me looking like some sort of red-eyed she-devil.  I learn that even though I have paid for a month of COBRA ($634), it has not hit the system yet.  And I will be considered for now a "self-pay" patient. It will be $480 for the visit.  Are. You. Kidding. Me??? Luckily COBRA is retroactive and I will be reimbursed.

I realize more than ever how fortunate I have been for so many years to have good healthcare coverage through my employers.  It really stinks when you see what you're up against when that is not the case. And it's just wrong.

2) I get an email from the expat immigration consultant in Modena saying "I'm looking into it (meaning my situation) with the authorities and I'll get back to you". Not so much helpful....at least not yet. But Sig. Arletti  did say that Puglia is one of the most beautiful parts of his country. And that I will enjoy my new home there.  Assuming I ever get there.

 3) The Consulate weighs in again indicating that they believe a decision on my application can be made in time for my departure. Good. But what if the decision about my financial assets stands? I don't know what this means!

4) We lose power five times today. All briefly, except, of course, for the last time when it's getting dark. No lights. No heat. (Realize I will get no sympathy from East Coast friends about the heat part.) No TV to watch the Iowa caucus spectacle. We call LADWP and they tell us the estimated time to get power back is 3AM. Grrrrr.....

Just after 8pm....as the candles they would not allow us to pack in the shipping container started to burn down...we do get our power back. And we're just in time to see the Iowa speeches. Never dull.

On the plus side, I had a really lovely lunch in Santa Monica with a Brentwood neighbor I haven't seen in a long time. We live across the street from one another  Maybe we will see each other more when I live in Italy. That's the way it goes sometimes with friends in this crazy world, doesn't it? (NB:  This is the same woman that I randomly bumped into on the streets of NY one day. I don't see her for weeks in Brentwood, and we meet in SoHo.  Go figure!)

And I got some lovely pictures from Franco showing the work they have finished on our new staircase and the progress on the new stone wall with built-in seating. He told us not to worry about anything. That they'll be there for us. I don't know how I would survive this without Franco.