Category: The DayBook

Actually I have rather many cracks in my floor. This is just the biggest one. Thank goodness I am just a renter. Otherwise, I might be concerned. But I doubt it.

At least I think I am going to Japan. I have a round-trip ticket from New Jersey to Tokoyo on reserve. Why NJ? Because, of airline pricing weirdness. A business class ticket from EWR is ½ the cost of a ticket from one of “my” local airports. 

Right now, I am playing around with where to go.  And how to get there. And can I find a room that’s OK once I get there? Japan has lots of “events” that suck up all the hotel rooms. But, with a train pass,  I can always go somewhere else.

The Twilight Zone

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This entire trip process is an exercise for my aging body and brain. Of course, I could go with a tour group. But, this is more fun. And it has a sizable element of risk. What could possibly go wrong?

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This is all subject to change. Only $15 has been spent. That’s the holding fee for the plane ticket. 

 

Summer = Evening Storms in my neighborhood. And last night’s storm was a preview of coming attractions. It took out the Wi-Fi for the night and some of our elevators. But, I verified I can control my lights, etc using Alexa when the Wi-Fi is out.  (Usually, when the wi-fi goes so does the electricity. )

After several days in acute old-woman mode about going to Japan, I have gotten myself back on track.  Thinking about July 8ish to August 2ish. Fly into Tokyo and most likely spend a night. Then train it north the next day. Stay up north until the last week of July. Then maybe return to Tokyo for a week of Tokyo madness. Plane out on Aug 2. Return to DC on Aug 2. Crash. The time difference is 13 hours. 

When Sam and I went to Japan in 2010, a dollar was worth about 90 yen. We calculated the cost of things by chopping off the last two digits. But, today a dollar is worth 157 yen. That means conversion is harder. But, the trip is cheaper. 

Gratitude

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Went to yoga today on the bus. When I got on the bus, a very frail woman was wearing a mask up front. This woman could have been 40 or 90. She had that frail look that seriously ill people have.

The bus get to the end of the line. I transfer to the bus that goes to the hospital at this spot. So I hop off the bus. I hear the woman asking the driver to help her stand up. So, I wait by the door on the sidewalk. I can help her to the bus that’s going to the hospital I figure. Well, she was going to a hospital. But, a hospital that was a Metro ride away.

Very slowly we walked over to the escalator. I couldn’t let that woman go down 2 escalators alone. She didn’t want to walk to the elevators which weren’t as close. SO, I go down the escalators with her and get her to the platform.

She wouldn’t let me continue to escort her. I hope that someone else picked up where I left off. As I left she said: “The last treatment was rough.”

I am grateful on so many levels.

• • I just happened to be at a place where I could help her.
  • I am still in pretty good condition.
  • I had a metro card with sufficient cash to get into the subway system. (many regular bus riders don’t have much money on their cards).
  • And, I know that none of my friends would allow me to go out in the world in that condition. Even if they no longer had cars – someone would have been on the bus/metro with me.

There is a lesson here. I just don’t know what it is. Maybe gratitude is enough.

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I asked AI to improve that gratitude bit. It was improved. But, it wasn’t me. I am still struggling with AI. You will have to endure the unimproved version. 

Sort of fell into a great mental rathole about 2PM. I dragged myself outside for a little walk and that helped. 

Mentally, I have about set my trip to Japan. But, I am also doubting if I am physically able to do it. And do I have enough available marbles left? One thing is for sure – I won’t be in better condition next summer. Maybe I should go in October when the weather should be more old-lady-friendly? Just wimp out, forget about Japan, and spend July in Bermuda. 

I was looking back at the Blog and my first trip to Japan in 2010 with my 17-year-old granddaughter. This is what I wrote on July 4, 2010, the day before departure.

I am getting into trip zone. Preparing for 20 hours of transit. Heading off on an adventure. A samurai tale. The old grasshopper and young cricket – each on a quest.

I always said that old age is the time to take risks. What exactly do you have to lose when you are 66 – maybe 20 years max. Years of decline. It is time to put your money where your mouth is, grasshopper.

And now I am 80. What exactly do you have to lose when you are 80 – maybe 6 years max. Years of ever-increasing decline. It is time to put your money where your mouth is, grasshopper.

If I am 100% honest… The best part of the day so far was naptime. Questioning the wisdom of heading off into the wilds of Japan. What do I have to lose? I am sure there are naps for the taking in Japan. 

Way back when Carlton and I lived in Ballston, we were surrounded by Run for the War and Rolling Thunder for 3 or 4 days late in May every year. 

No way I could run all over taking photographs like I did then. 2014 was the last year I went out to seriously take pictures. 

Three years after the Civil War ended, on May 5, 1868, the head of an organization of Union veterans — the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) — established Decoration Day as a time for the nation to decorate the graves of the war dead with flowers. Maj. Gen. John A. Logan declared it should be May 30. It is believed the date was chosen because flowers would be in bloom all
over the country.

The first large observance was held that year at Arlington National Cemetery, across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. The ceremonies centered around the mourning- draped veranda of the Arlington mansion, once the home of Gen. Robert E. Lee. Various Washington officials, including Gen. and Mrs. Ulysses S. Grant, presided over the ceremonies. 

OK, I went into my “trip stuff” folder. I found 750,000 Japanese yen and 70 Swiss francs. I also found a Suica card – which is a strange Japanese part pre-paid credit card part transit card. Don’t know how much is on it. 

Seems like this is a sign from the travel goddess telling me to go to Japan. Now, in July, much of Japan is rainy and hot. My granddaughter Sam and I spent 4+ weeks in July-August in 2010. And we have both been back on our own since then. 

Then the Asylum management team would be a powerhouse. Today the management team spent an hour telling us how wonderful everything is. One resident asked management “OK, everything is better than it has ever been,  so why is one of the elevators broken again and why is my A/C not working?” (In our 14-year-old building all of the A/C units seem to be failing. I live in the older 35-year-old building and our A/C comes from some central cold store.)

Management fails to understand that many of us care a lot more about today than about ten-plus years from now and how good it’s going to be then.  

But, they mean well. Bless their hearts.

I got all enthused about going to northern Japan in July. Then I started feeling less than 100% confident about that plan. The problem with Japan is I don’t speak a word of Japanese past Sumimasen (which means “I am sorry”). And of course, I can not read the signs. Also, the Japanese don’t speak English. That’s my problem. Not theirs.

I am OK in Tokyo and Kyoto. I have been hopelessly lost in both cities but have always managed to find my way back to some known point. But, northern Japan isn’t urban. Outside of Sapporo, it seems to be very rural. But, interesting. Very interesting. And, they have trains and buses. But, the trains and buses don’t have apps. 

Choice 2 on my list is Switzerland. I don’t speak German, French, Italian or Romanish. But, I can read the signs. And that’s a biggie. Switzerland is also interesting. And it too has trains and buses. 

 

I had a fine time. Took public transit both ways and got in a little over 3 miles walking. But, it was warm and when I got back to the Old Bat’s Cave, it was nap time. 

My old body really doesn’t handle heat well. This distressing reality should influence my summer travel planning. I think that Singapore really has to be completely off the table for me. There’s just no time when it isn’t blazing hot in Singapore.

A nice day. Escaped from the asylum for a yoga class today. 

For a long time, I dealt with constant dizziness and mental fog. I just figured it was an inevitable part of getting older. But then, I decided to look closely at all my meds. I stopped all of them. Three days after stopping the medications, the dizziness cleared up, and I felt mentally perkier.

I restarted the blood pressure meds and continued to be fine. Next, the unnecessary cholesterol meds that I just take to make my doctor happy. I was still fine.  All that remained was an allergy medication that I have been taking since the last century. Guess what? A few days after adding the allergy meds to the mix – the dizzy foggy feeling returned. I disposed of those pills. 

Sure, it helped with the sneezing, but was it worth the constant fuzziness in my head? Absolutely not! Three days after stopping the medication, the dizziness cleared up, and I felt mentally perkier.

Intellectually, I know that old people are frequently over or wrongly medicated. But I didn’t expect that I would be one of those old people. I was wrong.

So, people. Watch those drugs. Just because they worked for you when you were 50 doesn’t mean they will still work for you when you are 80.  

I did stuff today. Very dull stuff. And, when you think about how old I am, dull is most likely a very good thing. 

I did get my lodging in Kona lined up for the coming late fall/early winter. Halloween to Xmas Day again. According to my notes, I was ready to leave after about 6 weeks last year. I believe it’s because I cannot swim as far or as long as I could before COVID. Also, the air conditioner was broken. And the place has zero cross ventilation.  And many of my friends have either died or they are no longer coming to Hawai’i in the winter. Bottom line. I’ll be ready to leave on Xmas Eve as is my custom. Maybe I’ll train it back to the East Coast again. 

Kyoto, Singapore, Switzerland, Dijon, Bermuda. All candidates for my “summer vacation”. It’s not easy being a dull old woman.

And this is an Episcopal Bishop. You know Archbishop of Canterbury. King Charles not the King Chares spaniel but The King Charles III. The National Cathedral. A serious old-school religion. And the bishop has purple hair. Guess you gotta love the bishop is female too. 

I totally behaved myself. Took 265 photos and culled them down to 25. And, I packaged them up and sent them to the chaplain. So, the job is done.