The cost of doing business

As we edge closer and closer to removing our personal belongings from the apartment and packing the car in preparation for our departure there are a number of things surfacing which we question bringing back.  It is an inevitable accident of nomadic living that upon the arrival at each particular designation the first week or so is spent at local department stores gathering items which the landlord didn't consider necessary for the tenancy.  This year for example we bought 2 plastic cutting boards for the kitchen, a measuring cup and spoons, a Keurig coffee maker, 2 small synthetic rugs to place under our dining room chairs, a bathroom shower rug, water filters, air filters and light bulb replacements. Though one is tempted to imagine that there will always be a use for those items, the truth is that they will most likely simply end up in storage somewhere, never to be recovered.  We certainly haven't any need or room for them in our apartment at home in Canada; and it is equally doubtful that we'll ever feel compelled to cart them back south with us next year.  If we knew we were staying in the same southern residence year after year there would be some strength in just leaving them there.  However our history has been one of constant change.  This doesn't mean that we won't have the generosity to leave them where they now are.  On the balance the debate is quickly resolved by admitting they are effectively useless to us and that they merely represent the cost of doing business.  It is remarkable how easily one can unwittingly become absorbed in petty economy!

Our first activity of business this morning was to load my pharmacy items into the car.  Already the trunk is almost completely full and the back seat is well on its way.  All that remains of my stuff is my overnight bag and a shoulder bag in which I carry passports, Nexus, wallet, iPad and sundry items (a monographed sterling silver pill box for Tylenol Extra Strength, an extra pair of eyeglasses, a duplicate car key, my Pacemaker remote monitor and various charging cables and plugs for our technology devices).  My overnight bag I can put on top of the printer/scanner on the back seat of the car behind the driver's seat. The other side of the back seat is not mine to appropriate.

As our baggage all but disappears from the apartment one becomes instinctively inclined to peripheral motives only.  When for example I lounged as usual by the pool in the sun around noon, I extended the evaporation by sitting under the pergola in a state of semi-sleep, just gazing at the beach and listening to the sounds of the roaring Ocean waves.  The wind - even though happily from the south - was strong and it seemingly caused the surf to be more active as a result.  It was ideal for the young people interested in boarding on the crest of the waves.

After my hopelessly pampered wallow under the pergola I went for another walk on the beach. The brilliant sunshine combined with the cooling southern breeze was too blissful to ignore.  As I say all other occupation had in any event dwindled.  Bicycling was entirely out of the question; there was nowhere I wanted to drive the car; I am not supposed to swim in either the pool or the sea for six weeks (from March 1st when I had my Pacemaker installed); and it would be a sin to linger in the apartment on such a gorgeous day.  So off we went on the beach once again.  But only for a ¼ mile, then back to the property and into the apartment.

There is - in spite of our own closure - always something going on in the condominium.  The local tradesmen must adore having Ocean Villas here. The agenda today was the annual (not to be confused with the less complicated quarterly) fire alarm testing.  Fortunately the test when conducted only affects three of the eleven floors at once.  Because we are on the third floor we were the last to be visited by the inspector.  He was in and out within 15 minutes at the most.  We did however hear a number of test sirens from the two adjacent floors.

It is now assured that our duties at Ocean Villas are all but at an end.  We dine in this evening; and breakfast here tomorrow morning.  Then it's dinner out on Wednesday and we leave the next morning.  Because we have our business trip to Longboat Key when we leave here, we're a bit more antsy than usual to get on our way.  Historically if we had felt the urge we would simply have departed without any concern for the hour or the day or the week.  Having said that we're certainly chuffed about our sojourn on Longboat Key.  I confess I am more than a bit romantic about the place.  It inspires me.