Adventures With Patti

It's 2011 and we've been back in Minnesota for almost two years. The first several months were hard. We missed our California friends and work was still scarce. A few months after our return, our COBRA ran out and we had to buy health insurance on the open market...which isn't open if you have a "medical history." And if you are over 50, you ARE a medical history. We bought into Minnesota's High Risk Pool, and for $600 a month we get the privilege of paying the first $20,000 in medical expenses out of pocket each year. The good news is that in the last year, work has steadily increased for both Gauss and me, to the point where we are both really busy and our income is up. And at the two-year point after Gauss's surgery, he remains cancer free. His doc here says he won't need to come back for a PSA test for another year, and according to our life insurance salesman, the insurance companies consider a clear PSA a year after cancer to be the same risk as...

Orchid and Jason were married on Sept. 19. I was the officiator--a first for me! It was really fun because they were relaxed and having fun. Wedd Recap | Jason + Orchid | Shiksa Studio from Shiksa Studio on Vimeo .

I couldn’t leave the Bay Area without biking the Golden Gate Bridge. Isabel Massallo was a good sport and agreed to ride it with me on short notice. We took CalTrain up to the city from the Peninsula and biked around the Embarcadero to get to the bridge entrance. Getting past Fisherman’s Wharf was half the adventure, dodging tourists, cars, and buses. We tried to get away from the traffic by riding right next to the water...the route ended up taking us right to Pier 39. I’ve lived here over a year but had never visited the pier and the sea lions there, so this took care of one of my tourist “must see” sights. The bike route to the bridge is poorly maintained. We had to dodge lots of broken glass and carry the bikes up and down a few flights of stairs, but when we got there, we were treated to clear skies—well, about as clear as the skies get over the Golden Gate. It was super-windy and the views were spectacular. Here’s a close up of the cables—what Gauss’s Mom used to call i figli (th...

We live right next door to Atherton, one of the wealthiest communities in the country. Average home price is $4.5 million, and many of the homes stand behind tall walls or iron fences. Streets are marked with signs that say “No Through Traffic.” This doesn’t mean that you CAN’T drive through...it just means that they don’t WANT you to drive through. Well, for a year I have driven through anyway, enjoying Atherton’s leafy greenness from my battered minivan. Only a part of the house shows in this last picture. They’re building a new wall to protect it from Middlefield Road. The trees are so thick along Middlefield Road, they have to be trimmed to form a tunnel for the traffic. When I bike north on Middlefield Road through Atherton, the trees give way at the Redwood City line, and suddenly you are in Little Michoacán. At the Redwood City line, the trees are gone, and we are in Mexico! This is my favorite taqueria: Gruellense #2. Tacos $1.10 apiece. And so yummy! Muffler shop and florist. ...

As of May 29, I’ve been in California for a year. The bad news of December just kept getting worse...there was no work for either of us in January and February. Then in March, Gauss discovered that he had prostate cancer. Surgery seemed like the best option, so Gauss scheduled it as to happen as soon as possible, March 27. Gauss seemed most worried that it interrupted his training for the Stillwater Marathon, but that was the least of our worries. Fortunately, the pathology report following surgery seemed to indicate that the cancer was contained, so now that his prostate is no longer in him, the cancer shouldn't be, either. The other good news is that part of the stimulus package was a provision that pays 65% of COBRA premiums for 9 months. Our 9 started in March. It was a huge relief for us, as the COBRA premiums are about $1400 a month. I wrote a short piece about it that was accepted by KQED, our local public radio station. That aired May 5. http://www.kqed.org/epArchive/R90505...

Dragons! On the way to SF on BART. On the spur of the moment, Gauss and I decided to hop on BART and head into the city with our friends Orchid and Jason to see the Chinatown New Year Parade. It was billed as the largest new year parade outside of Asia. Hey—we’re living in San Francisco, why not take advantage of free opportunities to be tourists? The weather was cool and foggy, but mostly dry. It was a noisy, fun affair with dragons, marching bands, and local celebrities. Kids with colorful parasols from a local Chinese school Walking rice bowls, parade entry from local grocery store