Category: The DayBook

It’s Aloha Wednesday, no work ’til Monday. 

I found myself asking Alexa “what’s the temperature in Dubai?” 95° she says. And the humidity is 88%. OK. And, my whole body has to be covered in cloth. No wonder I got a 5-star hotel room, with breakfast and a car to pick me up less than I am paying for a very modest hotel with neither breakfast nor car service in Bermuda.  It is 72° in Bermuda with 75% humidity. 

Well, it’s an adventure. No whining.

Went to work today. Started on a very boring task. Boss says this will be really boring. I assure her that I do boring really good. I’ll bring in the old Bose earphones and knock it out next week – with a little help from The Dead.

My apartment has that sort of mastic type smell this evening. I think it is coming from the flooring that was laid next door this morning. Nevermind that it is chilly, my windows are open. And, once again the dinner venue was too congested for my liking this evening. And, if these are my only problems then I am a damn lucky old woman. Thank you, Carlton. Thank you, Cliff.  

Oh, while walking to the bus stop this noon, I saw 6 stealth fighters fly over low and loud.  It was too many for an Arlington funeral. And, no one with enough rank to get a flyover was being buried today. Still, always fun to see them. Except when there is a war going on. And with the bozo at the helm – that could happen any second now.

Well, took the day off from work today. My goal was to get my trip planning into the “OK, this is really going to happen mode”. 

I tweaked my standard Trip 2Do list and dusted off Peg’s Universal Packing List. Attended to anything that I know will need attending to while I am gone. And, I thought about the British Isles part of the trip.  Discovered that Prince Chuck has a B&B in the wilds of Scotland. Now, I am not a fan of B&Bs, give me a good anonymous hotel any day. But, a B&B owned by the next King of England amuses me. I am easily amused. Which is a good thing.  

The camera question: Which one to take?

1. 1. The Pen F – weighs 15 ounces plus lens 10 ounces of lens. 
   2. The OMD –  weighs 15 ounces too. And, it is weather-proof.  ditto lens.
   3. Buy a new “tough” camera – 9 ounces but that includes the lens.
   4. Just take the phone. weigh 0 ounces because it is going anyway. 

This really is silly. An old woman taking off on a trip around the world. Alone. Sort of a senility gap year?

(just upgraded to the latest version Word Press. that always makes me a little nervous. here goes nothing.)

OK. 20 days from now, I will be on my way. I should be over the Pacific Ocean. So, it is high time that I get serious about this trip. I should be making packings lists and 2do lists. Heck, the lists should already be made. I should be ticking things off the lists.  Tomorrow is soon enough to start.

Passport, credit card, cell phone and charger and a universal plug adapter. What else do I really need? Well, at my advanced age – better add my meds to the must-have list. 

I guess that I officially started getting ready today – I detoured to The Container Store to check and see if they had any new travel gizmos that I didn’t know about. Of course, they had gizmos. But most fall into the “packing cube” category. As in, what’s with these “packing cube” things. What is wrong with ziplock bags? I need at least two ziplock bags. One for disgusting dirty clothes that absolutely must be washed. A second one for things that didn’t quite make it to dry before it is time to decamp. If I am feeling particularly expansive another ziplock bag for undies that are absolutely clean. That’s about it. 

This is my original box, AKA WildChild. Filled with miscellaneous perennial plants and herbs. Mostly to attract bees and butterflies. Plus goldfinch in late summer.

This is Black Snake Box. I did not see any evidence of a snake, black or otherwise.

And this is Box 34 because it has #34 tag on it. I think it will get more sun than Black Snake Box. 

And I am doing these last two boxes because The Asylum is my home and I view this as a “home improvement project”. I remember years ago at my Mom’s “home” – one of the old women had paid to have the sofas and chairs in the public area reupholstered. I asked why and the answer was:  “This is my home and it needed doing.” I didn’t understand that at the time. But, I do now. The Asylum is my home. 

There were about 90 rain-free minutes around noon today and that give me just enough time for planting. And, I was able to skip the watering-in step. 

The gardening project accounts for about 2 hours. Haven’t a clue where the rest of the day went. 

 

I am now the proud owner of 3 garden boxes. The one that I have had for 3 years in the official “geriatric garden box” area. That is “wild child” and it has all manner of perennials to attract bees and butterflies. 

The two new ones were are in a public area – on a little patio where my friends and I frequently eat dinner. Last year these boxes were scruffy at best. Figuring that they above bunny level, I offered to adopt them. Last year one was home to a nice fat black snake. I think that a nice black snake would be fun. (Maybe not)

Since these are “public” boxes, I figure that they need to be the “grownup” boxes. With nice well mannered carefully curated plants. I will plant them tomorrow – nevermind that there is a 90% chance of rain. Guess I could strap my headlamp on and go out and work on them in the dark. But, there is that black snake. Wouldn’t want to disturb him/her. 

Somehow, I will survive a week without opera.

This week’s breakfast special at The Asylum is Eggs Benedict. I only went to breakfast on Thursday and Friday – but on both days the Eggs Benedict was bereft the bacon/ham part. I sent an email to Chef congratulating her on her new creation: Kosher Eggs Benedict. I believe hollandaise is or can be Kosher. 

Went to Costco with a friend – she spied the Tilapia Loins. Didn’t realize that fish had loins. You can learn something every day.

 

Totally unexciting day today. And, at my advanced age, there is no problem with totally unexciting. 

Most exciting thing today was those clouds. I was sort of puttering around, taking a little walk. Then I happed to look north and spied the big black clouds. Time to scamper back to the safety of the Old Bat Cave. I made it with 5 minutes to spare. And clocked some good cardio time in the process.

I post way too many pictures of nice sunrises and sunsets. Well, this was today’s sunrise. Nope, I could not see it. Yep, I believe it did rise even if I didn’t see it.

And, I am now leaving this month on my circular trip. I met a lady this evening who will be doing the circle by boat next January. I like the idea. But being on a boat for 6 months – not so sure. It is surprising how many people I know who are doing that. 

And, I talked to another person about doing the circuit via a tour on a chartered plane.  That takes about 4-6 weeks and cost about the same as a boat version.

My way is cheapest by far. But, it isn’t the same as far as bragging rights go. I just bought a bunch of plane tickets. Reserved some hotels and am hoping everything works out. 

Had a group living meltdown this evening – rather than muddle through the crowd and confusion of our dining venue, I retreated to the Old Bat Cave where a cold one and my uneaten turkey sandwich from lunch awaited me.

I use public transportation because I choose to. Most people use it because they have to.

Here we have an apparently homeless man. Who had been a patient at some hospital, most likely my hospital.  He was on the bus back to the hospital. With all of his posessions in two hospital bags. Dressed in hospital disposable pants, wearing hospital sox and wrapped in a dirty hospital blanket. He is most likely a “frequent flyer” in our Emergency Department. 

There has to be a better way. There just has to be.  

And, this is one of the reasons that I ride the bus. I don’t want to forget that I am one of the very privileged. Oh, I may have “earned” that privilege – but there was a hell of a lot of just plain luck along the way.  Totally unearned, undeserved good luck. 

 

Scotland or Ireland? Most votes are for Ireland. Ireland has Guinness. But, Scotland has kilts. 

One month from now, I will be on my RTWB4EXIT adventure. Oh, yes, and I have to decide about that flight with a long layover in  Sri Lanka. No one is promised tomorrow. This is what State Department says: Travel Advisory: Sri Lanka – Level 3 – Reconsider Travel

At least they are not suggesting that I leave a DNA sample behind.

This one is from 4 years ago. When I lived in the old apartment. The Old Bat Cave wasn’t on my radar yet, but I was scheduled to get a tiny studio. And, my plan was to use it as a storage locker.

I went through more than a few variations of the storage unit concept.

Fortunately, by July 2015 the Old Bat Cave came available. By the end of September I had moved in. And this is pretty much today’s layout.  See no reason to change anything 

Not feeling 100% today.  Nothing serious.  An unhappy tummy. So, I am giving it something to be unhappy about-it isn’t getting much to eat. Also, major hay fever. My Asylum Sisters are being very solicitous.   

Spent the day resting. Spent so much time resting that I used up 60% of my iPad battery.   

The phone is still making a powerful case for being the only camera on my round the world trip.

Speaking of which – I still have this 10 days that I had planned to spend in the UK or Ireland. But, in Marie Kondo speak – the UK isn’t sparking joy. I can always hop a train to Paris or Geneve or Luxemburg or any other place that does “spark joy”.  

Hotels are really expensive. It wouldn’t matter if I really wanted to go there – but if I am just “killing time”? I know that I will enjoy wherever I end up –  be it UK or France or Switzerland or somewhere else.  Everywhere is interesting when you are easily amused.