Massage, Acupuncture and Car Rentals

Unable to walk much, due to a massive attack of sciatica in his RIGHT hip, John decided to try everything he could to get rid of it.  Started out yesterday with a full Swedish massage, deeply moving around the leg muscles.  Very good masseuse--educated in Rhode Island, no less--and John managed to sleep most of the night.  

This morning it was off to the acupuncturist, a new and novel experience for him.  it's painless, and probably is causing some improvement, though it's still only eight hours since the needling was finished.  He is managing and iBen is always behind him if he appears about to take a fall.  (We have no pictures of his legs giving way under him on David's porch.)

David is proving a saint.  He agreed to help with the driving from here to Ashland, which meant getting him on the rental agreement.  Thrifty was generally unhelpful.  They couldn't easily connect John to the Oakland Airport office where he took on the car.  Three times till one of the phone operators connected him to Roadside Assistance.  They told him he  could get the contract amended at any Thrifty agency, but there are none within sixty miles of here!  In the end John went to some page he found on the web and found that there was an "agency" in Sonoma.   He called it and the answer was "HERTZ RENTACAR".   We had forgotten that Hertz owns Thrifty.  The agent said he could do what we needed but it would be better to go to the office in Santa Rosa 20 minutes away.  We drove there to the address on the web.  it turned out to be Enterprise.  The lovely agent was quite willing to add David to the contracrt until she reallzed it was Thrifty's.  Sorry.  Off we went to the new Hertz office where they did the deed.  So much better, but clearly one must know how to make this system work!  

Tomorrow we head off to the north, David and John splitting the driving, which John finds he can do.  Walking is a bitch for him, and his legs sometimes decide not to hold him up.  But they can push an accelerator and most of the way will be cruise controlled.  We'll split the driving and John hopes he'll master the stairs at the Inn in Ashland.  

David's place in Healdsburg is gorgeous.  And the food and wine have been lovely.   We will miss our time here.  Our only regret is not seeing his husband Andy, who lives most of the time in St  Paul.  He will join us in Oregon.