Florida, 3 Hernias and a Car Inspection

SPEAKER_01 0:04

Welcome to As the Dinoson's Turn, where we chronicle the adventures of the Dinoson family. A seemingly ordinary family from Iowa who decided, hey, you only live once. So let's move to Portugal. And now your hosts, Jason and Tracy Dynason.

SPEAKER_00 0:20

Alright, welcome to another episode of As the Dinoson's Turn, our first in a few weeks. We've had a few things going on, haven't we?

SPEAKER_02 0:29

It's been a little bit busy. It's a little crazy.

SPEAKER_00 0:32

I think our last podcast, you were getting ready to go to the surgeon for your one-week appointment to have your stitches removed, I think was what our last podcast was left off at. And since then, you've had uh an even bigger surgery than your gallbladder surgery. Yeah. And uh we've been to Florida. Well, first we were in Florida, and then you had your big surgery.

SPEAKER_02 1:07

Absolutely. I mean, it's been quite the uh whirlwind adventure, I guess. So um let's talk about Florida, and then we'll give everybody an update.

SPEAKER_00 1:17

So I had to go to a conference that I go to every year in Florida, where I'm a presenter at a two and a half day conference all about um accounts payable and accounts receivable professionals and helping them out. And I teach extensively on 1099s. You are the 1099 guru, aren't you? I'm sure people are if there's no live stream or anything of these sessions. I'm sure people are disappointed in that because I'm sure that everybody would love to listen or or watch those sessions. I will say those sessions are well received by the people who care about those things.

SPEAKER_02 2:03

Well, when you need to learn something that's complicated and you have a lot of questions because you want to make sure you're doing it right, because it could have a lot of dire implications for your corporation. I think it makes sense to talk to somebody who knows what they're doing. This is why people hire people like you. So that's right. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 2:21

So we were we were at uh uh one of the resort hotels at Universal this year. Last year it was on the Disney property. And see, I had always told people it's the same, it's the same park, just a different side of it, or whatever. But it's actually it's like two different parks, and they're like 10 miles away from each other. So uh anyway, we were at Universal this time.

SPEAKER_02 2:48

Yeah, and I have to say, I really enjoyed a lot of a lot of things about moving to Universal One. Um, the hotel was much nicer and more updated. Um, the conference space was also much better. Um, we still took a boat, so the the kids were excited about that. Take a boat to get to the park, kinds of pieces places. Um, but I also feel like our boys, now that they're older, are more into things that are related to Universal Studios than they are to Disney.

SPEAKER_00 3:22

Yeah, and I think so too.

SPEAKER_02 3:23

I think that if Jack were younger, like if we had started doing this, like when Jack was like in early middle school, later elementary, then Disney would have been the bomb. Um, and I think that we still want to go and check out because we didn't get to Magic Kingdom in Disney World. So I know that that's on the must-do list um for multiple reasons. But Universals, very exciting. We had a great time. I couldn't ride as many rides as I really wanted to um because I had limitations. So Tyler and I are making big plans to just do every single roller coaster we can get our hands on. Although he is really like if it goes upside down, he says he's out. So, but what I really appreciated about The Universal was that um I feel like there were a lot more interactive rides than the rides we went on at Disney, and maybe it's just what we chose. And I also really liked the simulations and the actual live movie effects with virtual combination of things, and so that was a lot of fun. Um, I feel like the boys really got into that, and we all did, and we can kind of like enjoy it. Um, next year Universal again, but the big thing will be there'll be even more. So we were there right before Epic Universe opened, which has Super Nintendo World and everything. Um, and that is open now, and so that is definitely on the we will be doing that next year. So that will be happening. And then the other thing I've decided we need to do, huh? I hope you're ready for this, is in 2026, Disney World Paris is opening a whole frozen area, like a whole new additional part of the park. And every one of my students talks about how much fun they had at Disney World Paris. Now, even like the 15, 16-year-olds were like, it was so much fun, I had a great time. So I'm curious to see what that is like. So 2026 might be the year of um of parks. We might just do all types of things, like who knows? But um, I really love going to this conference. Um, a lot of my conferences, you know, when the kids were little, like none of them were in Orlando. There were never any place where it was like, yes, let's get everybody and we can go and it'll be great. It was never like that. Like I just, I don't know, maybe I just wasn't in the cool kids conferences, but it just never worked out that way. So I'm really glad to be able to go and that we all get to spend time. And then it's not just like you're working and then we're off enjoying ourselves, spending all of the money, although that happens too. Um, but you know, like we did a couple of podcasts. I know that we can do even more things. The boys, like, you know, Jack is doing a lot of media technology things, he's really getting trained and and learning all kinds of great things at school. So um I think that that will do even more.

SPEAKER_00 6:28

Yeah, we didn't do as the dinoson's turn.

SPEAKER_02 6:31

I have so much video content on my phone that we just have to see if we can pull together. I know it's horrible. I have so much video content. I I'm gonna pull one together because I do feel like we have to do one about donuts. That was the theme of this trip. It was all about the donuts because Tyler is obsessed with donuts. I do like myself some fat and sugar that's been deep fried. So it's a very good thing that we tried all different kinds of donuts just to compare them all. So we we uh really have some good rankings there. So I think that's the one thing we have to pull together. But I was just so geeked out about Harry Potter, but it got so hot that I couldn't even like concentrate enough to do any of the spells that I really wanted to do. So I'm looking forward to that next year. I'm gonna have to get better at this whole heat sensitivity thing. I don't know if anybody who listens to her podcast lives in Florida, like how the heck do you do this? Because that's insane. Like, we live someplace like right now it's like 75, 80. I'm totally good, but you know, you've got your air conditioning on in your office. It's like an ice box in there. So, like, it's crazy. Like, I just yeah, like once it hits above 85, I'm done. Like, it's just too much, it's just too much. So, I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 7:56

I don't think that there's any secret to it. Go in the morning and maybe go back in the evening, but afternoon. I felt this last year at Disney. It's like you're walking into the gates of hell or something, and I mean in part because Disney is neat to go to, but it kind of represents a lot of things that I I rejected in life, like the big corporate stuff. And here, buy this $30 bottle of water and you know, a $50 baseball hat and all of that.

SPEAKER_02 8:35

I will say, so there were things about Universal I liked more that were related to that. Like one, you could bring in a water bottle and you had Philip stations anywhere, free water. That way it was perfectly fine. It was really cold water, it was like good because it was coming from the Coca-Cola Freestyles. Now, then that said, the Coca-Cola Freestyles made me very happy. I got my Diet Coke fixed because we don't have Diet Coke here, so that was a big thing. Um, but at the same time, it was more expensive. So because you had to buy like for every day, you know, so you had to purchase for every day and you have to refill everywhere. And then um, I think so that that was a difference. Food felt like it was much better at Universal than it was at Disney. Um, and I don't know if it's just because of the choices we made, or we were also much better prepared. The first time we went to Disney, that was the first time we'd ever been to a park like this. It was overwhelming. Like it was just too much to know. And like Tyler is like the consummate planner, and so for months we were watching every YouTube video you could find about Universal Studios, all the rides, all of the food, all the things you need to know. I also now know everything about Epic Universe, and I have a whole nother year to be prepared. So he is just like into it. This was like his heaven, you know, and so I think that that was that was another thing. There were a lot more characters and a lot more franchises that people were really excited about. So that was good. I loved going on the ET ride because that brought me back to like when my friends would go and I'd be a little bit jealous, and it just opened and I really wanted to go, but okay, we didn't make it to Kong, so because it just got too hot and we were just like done. So we still have things that like we need to go back and do, but I don't know. I I really do feel like there's there are people who like live for this, like every single year their vacation is always this, and so I'm like, I feel like I need some insight. Um, also, wow, food's expensive. Like, it was just like crazy. It's just like you just have to know you're gonna be spending almost as much money on food as you spent on your tickets, just like it's it's crazy. So they took away the meal plan. Um, so that made it a little more difficult. I don't know, we'll see if any of that comes back. But I'm really hopeful that next year we'll get to do a lot more fun things, like at the park, the things we didn't get to do, and I can just continue my Harry Potter geek dumb because I have a wand that is every part compatible, and yes, I'm going to do it all because I shall be a magician, I will be a wizard. So that was like the best part, honestly. Like, I literally cried a couple of times because I was just so overwhelmed because like oh my god, it's every butter. I was like, oh, it was a little too much. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 11:41

I like the sim the Simpsons world was my favorite, and the the Simpsons roller coaster ride.

SPEAKER_02 11:47

Oh my god. Okay, but that's like you, you and Tyler's like sense of humor is the Simpsons, like totally, and so you guys had like the best time. And I love all of like the little snarky detail things that you guys would pick up too. Like, I don't know, like watching everybody laugh and have a good time. That was that was a lot of fun. So I look forward to like whatever might come next. But it's a great conference, it's great people to work with, and it was in a great location this year. So um, we did not make it to Target, we ordered everything to be delivered to us from Target. Not gonna lie, I wasn't too sad about that. Um, that actually worked out fine, and then we did have to go and buy Jackson shoes. When you have really big and white feet, you cannot find shoes in Portugal. So we bought him two pairs of shoes. So um I have to say that that was our shopping day, and that was like a hot, miserable day, too. So I don't know. Like we'll have to.

SPEAKER_00 12:49

I think every day is a hot, miserable day in Florida.

SPEAKER_02 12:53

So I don't know. Like the first day we were there, I felt like I could have done that all day long. It was a lovely day. It was like in the 80s, it wasn't too humid, it wasn't too hot, it was kind of overcast. Like, that is what I wanted to do. So I'm putting in my order to Mother Nature now for next year to say, please, like, you know, we'll make some offerings. Let's see if we can make that happen.

SPEAKER_00 13:21

Well, then we came back. We did, and you've had uh well, you had a not a well, you did have a CT scan. And I did. I had to have a CT. Not just one hernia.

SPEAKER_02 13:35

No, I have three hernias. So um I that was the first time I'd ever had anything done with contrast, and my veins are really difficult, and so that was like it took way longer for them to even put the contrast in for me to even have the test. Um, but they found like when they were doing surgery, he's like, I see a hernia, I don't know how big it is, we need to do the CT. So we did that, and then they found three. So it turns out that I had like an incisional hernia. Um I have had a hiatal hernia um after my gastric sleeve. I kept complaining to the doctors and saying, like, I don't want to have to take all of this reflux, anti-reflux medication, all this other stuff. And the response has always been, oh, you're fine, lose weight. It turns out, no, there was like an actual structural problem that was causing all of these issues, and then it wasn't just that. Thank you very much. Appreciate that. Dismiss women's pain um insert of the patriarchy here kind of comment. But um, and it also turns out that I have a or had now they fixed it, a congenital birth defect that is was a hernia in my diaphragm, and it's the reason why I've never slept very well. It is the reason why I um had a lot of like colic and spit up a lot, like when I was little, like as a baby. And it turns out that like 60% of newborns who have this die if it's not caught, and so I was feeling like, okay, well, one, it explains why part of the reason why um I've always been deemed the demon child of the family because it's just so hard to deal with. Um, and I never slept and I never ate well, and I always said, well, there you go. There was something physically wrong. That was what was going on, and nobody knew because it was the 70s. Um, and two, it was kind of scary because um apparently my intestines could come up through my diaphragm. And it's also part of the reason why I can never get like a full breath, like that part of my lungs, the lower part of my lungs have like never been able to be accessed because my diaphragm hasn't functioned properly, like my whole life. So we shall see what happens. I'd say the one of the worst things about surgery, okay. So the first thing was um yeah, it's it's getting up. I have I look like a wrapped mummy. I don't, I don't know, or like it's like gauze and plastic wrap, is what my midsection looks like right now. Um the you're gonna love this. Um the IV, getting the IV hurt probably the most out of everything because of the pain meds I was on before. But still, I had three hernias fixed. I have holes all over the place. They had to use mesh to keep my intestines and everything in and do all of this other stuff, right? And what pain medication do I get? Tylenol. It's a paracetamol. I am just like, nope. Okay, crazy. I would be on oxycotton or conone or it's like conine or something like that. Like it would be all kinds of narcotics, right? I did stay a full day in the hospital and then was going store crazy. Like I couldn't take it anymore because it was me in my own room. There was nothing else there. I can only watch so much CNN in Portuguese. I just couldn't take it. The Wi-Fi sucked like I was ready to lose my mind, so I had like no entertainment. Um, so I did ask to come home a day early because I just couldn't do it, I couldn't take it anymore. Um, and then I kind of regretted that a little bit when we got home, but I've been sleeping on the couch propped up. That's been okay. Um, I've been having my chamomile tea and my Maria's digestive biscuits and eating lots of soup because sopa is like the best food in the world, according to every single Portuguese person, and they're not wrong. Um, so I'm eating lots of like curried, curried carrot soup, and you know, um, tomato soup or any type of soup I can get my hand on. That's pretty much all I eat. Soup, gelatin, chamomile tea, and digestive biscuits.

SPEAKER_00 18:16

So I've had to do a lot of of cooking you have in your absence because I just noticed I was trying not to even show it, but I took a drink of water so people watching can see how ugly my arm looks.

SPEAKER_02 18:32

You did that the night I was in the hospital.

SPEAKER_00 18:35

Yeah, if you're just listening to the audio, you can't see the big red splotches all over my forearm where um I was making hamburgers on the stove, and the hamburger grease got me in multiple places on my forearm. So it's another reason why we all have our strengths and our weaknesses, and those of us who are weaker at cooking shouldn't be expected to do it. We should be doing other things. Well, those whose strength is cooking do the cooking.

SPEAKER_02 19:12

And it just highlights what your what a weakness this is when you have to do it, and it's one evening, and one evening you've burned yourself to the point that I'm like, oh my god, and you've got like blisters and things. So, like, that was a it was a lot. It was a lot. Um, the boys are glad that I'm home. I'm glad that I'm home. I don't know. I think you're glad that I'm home because I'm actually like cooking something now. Like, I'm not doing dishes or crazy things, like I'm not doing big meals and stuff, but something at least. Um I don't know. I'd say that I'm hopeful that then all of this additional trauma from the physical burnout of everything and the the hernia and all these things that have been there and brewing since like birth in some cases in 2017, um, 2018, um, all of that kind of stuff is now taken care of, just trying to get all of that trauma out of my body. So I think that's the the big thing here. Um, I do love the fact though that the doctors actually listen and pay attention. And I I made my surgeon laugh a lot. I was like, can we just fix all of this all at once? Because I would really be happy to not need to take the sana acid medication the rest of my life. And he just laughed. Just laughs. He's like, yes, absolutely, we will fix it all. It would be fine. Um again, like I could have stayed another day. That was all approved. Um, it doesn't change the price because we're maxed out, our copay max um for the hospital. I know people worry about this. Um, it was 500 euro, so I paid 500 euro and that paid for everything. And it was there's no surprise bills or anything else happening, it's all paid for. That is so different. Like to not have to sign up for a payment plan and also go in for a surgery. Um, that's just a whole different thing. Like, you know, like you put off health things because it's just like gonna cost so much and it takes so much time and it costs so much money and it just feels like it's never ending. And here it's just like, nope, it's fine. Like, I feel like things are easier to grapple with, um, because there's not like something that's gonna be like lurking and then suddenly come out and like, oh wow, here's another five thousand dollars or something.

SPEAKER_00 21:45

So cynically, though, in the United States, they probably would never have even known you had hernias. It would just be, oh, well, you're fat, you need to lose weight, exercise more.

SPEAKER_02 22:00

Exactly what I was told when I said I don't feel good and it's hard and it's hard for me to get a full breath or any of those types of things. That was exactly the response. Whereas it was here, it was like that's not normal, you know. That that's something we should look at. Um, I'm not saying that every doctor here is like so much better, or that every doctor in the US was like that. That was just my experience. I think it's the experience also of many women. Um, in particular, you just expect to have pain. And so, how did I know? Like my gallbladder literally had no space left, and I just assumed that I was like, uh, you know, women, old perimenopause, you know, all these other things, like whatever. Um, but such a knot. Um, but I have to say that um, yeah, I feel I feel healthier. I feel glad that this was caught and that something's been done about it. And it's like I think I'm feeling optimistic, and so that's a good thing.

SPEAKER_00 23:03

I would remind you that I'm still the one, the only one who's been told by doctors that I'm one in a million. Yes.

SPEAKER_02 23:14

Yep, and we will leave that there.

SPEAKER_00 23:20

Well, we uh on our last episode, we talked about getting pulled over by the Portuguese highway patrol, and we had to do an inspection, which we failed, and then we had to get new tires and get it back in for an inspection.

SPEAKER_02 23:37

We got that done, and we passed. We did, we finally passed, and that was really good. I wanted to get some film to kind of show people, but yeah, you can't do that there. That was a whole big no thing. Um, and um we have requested a new or a duplicate. I don't know, we never got it. I love how you're calling it a duplicate, but you've never received something anyway. A duplicate car registration paper for our other cars so that we can get that also um taken care of. I'm learning all kinds of Portuguese bureaucratic systems, and hopefully it's gonna go well. It's in the processing. I've made the payment, and they I've got a receipt saying exactly what I want, and it verifies it, and it still says processing, and it said three to five business days, but we'll see.

SPEAKER_00 24:28

So somehow day five right now.

SPEAKER_02 24:32

I know I was like, but it's not business days. Like, are we? Yeah, we probably are now we're like we're three, three business days into four, so we'll see how it goes and get it all done. But I'm hopeful that some of this Olympic level adulting that's been going on and bureaucratic systems being navigated will actually pay off. Um, but we shall see. You never know. And I don't expect that car will pass either. That's so funny.

SPEAKER_00 25:02

Well, that's the car where the the bottom is dropped off twice.

SPEAKER_02 25:07

Yeah, the undercarriage cover.

SPEAKER_00 25:10

It's not quite that dramatic, but part of the undercarriage drops down and like flops on the the road, it's not supposed to open, but it just keeps opening, and so it's like, oh, we just keep replacing the screw.

SPEAKER_02 25:21

I'm like, could we just figure out why? Um, anyway, we shall see.

SPEAKER_00 25:26

Well, we do need to film more stuff because you know, when we were on the Camino de Santiago in 2019 with your students, your students really enjoyed like watching you and me interact with each other. Just oh my god. They said you guys should film everything and and just release it because it would be like a comedy show or something.

SPEAKER_02 25:49

It is a it is a comedy of errors and like whoa, like disasters. That that's exactly what we do.

SPEAKER_00 25:57

But hey, and I've always said I thought ah, no one gives a shit about all that. I'm just old enough to be the the guy who's like, oh no, no need for that. But then it's like, well, maybe, maybe. I mean, we want we look at stuff on social people have moved to Portugal, and it's like, hey guys, I'm at the grocery store, and look, they have bags you could put your groceries in. And it's like they get thousands of views, and it's like, why do they get thousands of views for this kind of nonsense? And we get like five views on our podcast.

SPEAKER_02 26:33

I don't know. I have to say, like, part of me is like, yeah, let's go ahead and see about investing some time in that. And the other part of me is like, you know, they'll either find us or they won't. You know, we started this not like because we wanted our friends and family to know how things were going and what we were up to and what our adventures were. Not so much of like, yay, kind of look at this crazy Americanized narrow view of what my life here is like. And I have no problem showing you those things in in Portugal. Um, but I really don't think that a grocery store in Portugal is that different than a grocery store in like any other kind. You could go to Aldi and you've got basically a European grocery kind of experience. Um, and that's that's pretty close to what you because we go to Aldi here, you know. Come on. Um so I mean it's not as good as Mercadona, but you know, it's okay. I don't know. I think that you're right. I also though like a lot of the things that we're working on, um I'm not sure if our resources are best spent there, you know. Like I think that we have a lot of really interesting things going on. Um I've been working on some pottery branding and launching and all of that kind of stuff. And so I think that this next year there'll be a lot of great things that'll be coming out. Um creative and and helping people get a little bit of the magic and soul healing that we're finding here. I think that's my hope. Um, but yeah, I don't know. I think that we'll we'll see what happens. I I the other part of me is so Gen X where I'm like, oh my god, look, somebody is already taking picture of XYZ and posting about everything about their life and putting it out online, and what about you know, safety or any of those other things? So I'm a little anti-establishment um when it comes to that kind of stuff, but I don't know, we'll see what happens. Like maybe I'll I'll find a way. I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 28:42

Yeah, we are going to do yeah, if I ever have time, I'm gonna do Jason in Portugal.

SPEAKER_02 28:49

Yeah, you navigating Portugal is fantastic.

SPEAKER_00 28:51

Like I love it. The middle-aged white man from Iowa trying to survive in Portugal. I saw someone post on uh Facebook today that they were in line at the Lisbon airport. Now, this was someone with a Portuguese passport. Oh, I saw this, but um apparently they don't speak good Portuguese, and the security officer was like yelling at them that they were taking advantage of the system or something by having a Portuguese passport with that.

SPEAKER_02 29:21

Yeah, it turns out he's a medical physician in a private hospital who's here to, you know, like yes, so yes, we do need to work on your Portuguese, but I think that that's all getting better. I think that you navigating Portugal is one of my favorite things to see now. You are so much more confident. Um like even just driving the car and all of those things too, and like navigating around, like it's not easy, but I I see that. I like you know, you have to admit that sometimes driving a manual transmission feels like you're driving a race car.

SPEAKER_00 29:56

That's true.

SPEAKER_02 29:56

It's kind of good. Like, I don't know, kind of digging.

SPEAKER_00 29:59

I mean, I've always known how I learned when I was a teenager. It's kind of like riding a bicycle once you once you get back into the swing of it, you don't even think about it.

SPEAKER_02 30:11

Yeah, I don't even think about it when I drive anymore. I think that would be that's gonna be funny if I ever drive an automatic car again.

SPEAKER_00 30:18

That's gonna be, yeah, that'll take some getting used to. I'd be pushing down with your left foot and there's nothing there.

SPEAKER_02 30:26

That'll be sli- I actually remember that transition from driving uh a manual car to an automatic in the States and then like my left foot hitting that brake and then like the whiplash factor of it all. I don't know. We'll see how things go. Um, but yeah, I think Jason in Portugal, I mean, it's classic. Definitely classic. Gotta do.

SPEAKER_00 30:48

All right. Well, we had no real agenda, and we've covered 30 minutes, so I suppose.

SPEAKER_02 30:55

Yeah, it again.

SPEAKER_00 30:57

All right. Well, that's the latest on As the Dinason's Turn. We'll see you again next time.

SPEAKER_01 31:04

You've been listening to As the Dinoson's Turn, a podcast presented by Dinason Media Ventures. Don't forget to like and subscribe, and catch us again next time for another episode.