Service slips; do it yourself; rough patch of weather

When a new pharmacy opened here on Vo Thi Sau, the staff treated Joanna and I like royalty. They made every effort to understand our English and Vietnamese, translating online when necessary. The store was well-stocked and the staff gave Joanna free rein. And if the pharmacy didn't have the item I requested, they would order it and call me when it arrived. They had plenty of staff, some cleaning, some stocking shelves, others waiting on customers. But a few weeks after the store opened, the staff changed -- and seemed to change every time we went -- and had a different attitude toward Joanna. Her "antics" were no longer amusing. I started getting the hand wave when I asked for Povidine, or Betadine, items which I purchased regularly. They don't have other names; the words Povidine and Betadine are clearly on the label. I guess I didn't pronounce the words to the employees' satisfaction and understanding They stopped selling the store brand sensitive skin soap I used. At least that's the message I got from yet another hand wave. Blank stares replaced attempts to translate and understand my English or Vietnamese. The last time I went into the store -- and I do mean last time -- was this week. I couldn't see a staffer and after a short search, I saw the lone employee sitting on the floor. She was on her cell phone, and I doubt very seriously it was work related. Perhaps, but unlikely. She was friendly enough but didn't understand  or try to understand a word I said, so I just bought Joanna some candy. It's sad. Good things don't last forever, I guess.
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The path that I like to think of as a pedestrian cut-through between two streets near our house -- but is also used by motorbikes much to my dismay -- had become quite the mess. Work started but was never finished on the huge concrete sidewalk blocks that are placed over some kind of drainage system. You hear the water trickling  under the sidewalk. There were loose stones everywhere and the brickwork alongside the concrete was torn into rubble. A man who lives next to the path tired of the mess and used his own money to pay contractors to clean up a sizable portion of the path. The bricks were  redone and new concrete was poured alongside the blocks. Sadly, someone rode a motorbike through the path and left pretty deep tire imprints in the freshly poured concrete. (See photos on the right.) The man who paid to fix part of the path said he hopes an influx of pedestrians will reduce motorbike traffic through the path.
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We're enduring a rough stretch of weather here ... temperatures in the upper 90s every day and it stays above 80 almost all night. We're near the river, so sometimes there's a breeze. When it's hot over a longer stretch, even the locals get snarly. Not many folk are out during the day and the park is busier in the early evening. Air conditioned coffee shops with internet are packed all the time. The heat is fatiguing and very uncomfortable for me, a man of many rashes and much sweat. The heat has done nothing for my back, other than making it hotter. It actually rained heavily for a couple of days, but the rain didn't cool things off. Our son 'Easy E' Elijah seems OK with the heat even though he's a big boy. He'll stand on his own, take three steps or so, but I won't classify him as a walker just yet. Very soon, but not yet. He'll turn 11 months old in a couple of days. Joanna, like her dad, sweats quite a bit and struggles with the weather. She talks a lot about moving to Maine for the snow and colder weather. Despite getting hit and pushed, and a language barrier, Joanna's behavior improves almost daily along with her impressive reading and extensive (English) vocabulary. We walk to the park (together) these days and try to guess the color of the canal. I'll usually say black and she'll usually say green. She's usually right but the water is more brownish green, in my view.
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My wife is close to obtaining her visa to enter the U.S., just as the Covid cases spike there due to the easing of restrictions and lack of diligence. Regardless, school and social amenities for Joanna will take us to the U.S., possibly fairly soon. As always, we'll see. ... My streaks continue: I've read 483 days in a row ... I just finished Dune, Dune Messiah, and  Children of Dune. Enjoyed them all ... It's been 16 months since I've had alcohol and the streak I'm most proud of is five years-plus without a cigarette. But who's counting?