life in the old lane

Got the OldBat Cave ready to get new windows Monday.  That was today’s only big task. Other than that just the normal, check-in online and last-minute fussiness. 

I wore the shoes today, so they are taking some air before I stuff them in the pack. I filled all the empty space in the bag with granola bars as is my normal practice. And a small amount of dark chocolate. Figure I will run into chocolates along the way. 

The black and white bag is my “personal item”. Everything in it can fit in the pack if I end up on some budget airline. 

The plane is supposed to leave at 10:40 PM, but it doesn’t have a stellar online track record. But, I am in the travel-zone mindset now.  Go with the flow. 

And I still have 6 days with no reservations or plans at the end of the adventure. I could always come home early. NOT.

Just got another memo about the elevators: 

Today Fairfax County inspectors assessed the most
recent upgrades performed by Otis Elevator on elevator
#5. Unfortunately, they identified additional work that
needs to be completed before the final inspection.

BTW: we don’t really have five elevators for the residents to use. We only have 4. So, ½ of them are not operational. Still. But we have memos. 

9.8 stones sounds better than 137.5 pounds. Heck, 62.3 kilos sound better. But, it is what it is. Hope to return with it under 140. Because the travel pants gotta zip.

Got all day tomorrow to do last-minute stuff. Stuff like buying a tin of mini-Altoids. (You didn’t seriously think I would get a regular tin.) Stuff like moving my damn expensive external monitor out of the way of the window installers. Who are scheduled to install new windows for me on Monday.  I hope my crows like the new windows. 

Management sent out a memo about our elevators this afternoon. Memos don’t get elevators working. I can actually walk up 11 floors to my apartment. Most people can not. I am considering funding the Peg Bethany Chair of Elevator Maintenance here at The Asylum. That way we would have our own elevator repair person. It could be an old elevator mechanic. One who worked on our elevators back in the day. When he wasn’t working on elevators, he could doze in the sun in the atrium with the residents. 

It’s going to be great to get out of this place. 

50% of the elevators in my building are not working. One has been dead for a couple of weeks and another one went south and stayed there a couple of days ago.

But, this morning, the elevator guys showed up. That’s the good news. The bad news is they spend all day reading the manual. A dead tree manual. And at about 2PM they left. We still have two dead elevators. 

Lost another serious chunk of money today. The losses are starting to add up. Or maybe it should say the losses are starting to subtract down! I would rather spend the money than lose it – hence – the trip to France. The Great Britain part of the trip was paid for back in 2019. 

Stil have some loose ends for the trip. Train reservations from Paris to Dijon. No problem unless the rail workers go on strike. Then I have 6 days to get from Dijon to Frankfurt where I have one night reserved at the Frankfurt Airport before, Covid test willing, making it back to The Asylum on June 16. Google says I could walk it in 93 hours! But, I don’t really think so. Train. A very slow train.

(The pack and tote weigh in at a hair less than 15 pounds.)

The essentials. Passport. Global Access, Credit Card, Global Rescue Card, Covid Vax Card. And the place to store the cards. 

This is a lot of tech to schlep around. But at this instant, I want all of this crap. 

My trusty grey travel pants just barely zip. 

Comb, toothbrush, sunscreen, toothpaste, blood pressure drugs, dental repair kit, a few bandaids.

Big time “just in case”. Got 2 boxes of 5 covid tests in Oslo in March. Now, the instructions are in Russian and Norwegian – but the pictures are pretty obvious.  A variety of good enough mask options. And, if things get really dicey, a genuine N95 mask. That fits. 

1. 1. 1. Shoes – I am pretty sure that the old Allbirds I am wearing on the plane will not be making the return trip. So there will be room for some additional stuff on the way home.
      2. Undies and bras and socks
      3.  Skirt
      4. Dress 
      5. Black shirt – Smart casual – yeah right
      6. Long sleeve T-shirt – cool weather option.
      7. Long sleeve cotton shirt – sun protection.
      8. T-Shirt
      9. Silk tank top – hot weather option.
      10. Running shorts – no I am not running anywhere. 
      11. Windbreaker

Now I am just guessing that this will weigh about 15 pounds – packed. Maybe I am hoping.  If I am overweight, I am not sure what I am willing to give up. And, I just realized that I didn’t include my binoculars. Betting that I forgot some other “important” stuff.

If I have room and weight for anything else, I will toss in the GoPro. 

Seriously, Peg, you gotta get ready for this trip. Well, maybe not yet. Maybe you can wait until tomorrow. Then you gotta do the stuff you know you gotta do. 

Plus ready the Old Bat Cave for Window Replacement on May 23rd. 

How hard can this be?  After all, you just did this 3 months ago for Norway.  And all you really need is a cell phone and charger, a high-limit credit card, a vaccine card, and a passport. Does it really matter if you take 3 or 4 pairs of panties? 1 or 2 pairs of shoes. They sell all that shit in England and in France and in Germany. Focus on the essentials. cell phone and charger, a high-limit credit card, a vaccine card, and a passport. Work outward from there. 

That’s an interesting concept. The most important thing is the passport. next is the credit card. then the vax card. The cell is important. But, it requires a cable, a charger, and 2 plug adapters. And I require blood pressure meds. And a comb. And a toothbrush. (Even Jack Reacher carries a toothbrush.) I could just wear one set of clothes for 4 weeks. I would have to do laundry every night and be really lucky with drying times. Heck, that might be interesting. But, less stuff really simplifies everything. (Except clothes drying.) 

The important thing here is that it is really hard to add just one thing. Add a cell phone and you have also added a cable, a charger, and 2 plug adapters. 

So this is sort of a variation on Carlton’s “Avoid Beginnings”.  Avoid  Additions to the basic list. 

Food is really really subpar. But, they make a great burger. Doubt that Beer and Burger is a good dinner for an old woman. And I seem to have it a couple of times a week. Maybe this is a part of The Asylum’s business plan. Kill off the old residents with cheese burgers and beers. What a way to go. 

OK, I guess I didn’t get any Jack Reacher Packing Genes!

It only gets worse as the day progresses. 

Packing for London (4 days), Cotswolds (3 smart casual days), Paris (5 days), a barge (7 days), and a 3-day trek to Frankfurt.  

Note Peg: It isn’t possible for you to be “smart casual”.  And,  you will always look like you just fell off the turnip truck in Paris.  So deal with it. 

Jack Reacher: Folding toothbrush, ATM Card, Passport (expired),  some cash. 

From the Asylum: They got the elevators fixed before 9 PM last night. But early this morning the fire alarms got stuck in the on position on 3 of the floors in my building. (Fortunately,  not on my floor.)

A week from today, I will be in London. I hope. Nobody is promised tomorrow. Went to a memorial service this morning. One thing about memorial services here at The Asylum. Our chaplain, Mother Teresa, actually knows the people that she is committing to eternal rest. Mother Teresa is good at memorial services. Well, I guess that she should be, considering her parish is an old folks asylum. After a couple of months here you learn to “keep your blue suit pressed.” 

Also went for a short brisk walk. Except for the sore arm, I seem to have pretty much recovered from the Covid jab. And, that’s about it from the Old Bat Cave today. 

PS: The Asylum has two buildings. I just heard that the elevators are all down in the other building and management has to figure out how to get dinner to the residents in that building. It is a 15-story building. Our waitpeople are high school and college kids – but – I think that 15 floors might even challenge those kids. One trip, not a problem. Multiple trips, carrying meals – problem. 

I “enjoyed poor health” today. Side effects from yesterday’s covid shot. Took a two and a half hour nap this afternoon. Awaking just in time for dinner. I woke from my nap and asked Alex what time was it. 5:29 she says. I think it is 5:29 in the morning. And, why exactly did I go to sleep on top of the bed covers? It was one of those naps. Nothing nappy at all about the nap. More like a coma. 

Not wanting to miss a meal, I scurried around and made it downstairs for dinner. BLT with avocado. 

Anyhow, I think the nap about knocked out the side effects from the shot. Feeling pretty good now. 

News from the Asylum. I will be getting new windows on May 23. When I will be in Jolly Old England. And, we got this notice today.

. . . residents have asked us to report our cumulative case numbers. Since March 1, 2022, there have been a total of 8 cases in Residential Living, 0 cases in Assisted Living, 1 case in HCC . . . and 8 cases among team members. . .

Covid is alive and well in the Asylum. 

An interesting day.  4.25 miles on foot. 3 bus rides. 1 metro ride. Covid Vax #4. And, I took 1 old Mac Book Pro and 3 iPads to the Apple store. I use one of the iPad all the time. That one is an early Gen 5 mini. I also have a Gen 1 mini. And some vague iPad Pro that I really use mostly as a 2nd or 3rd monitor and as a viewing platform for Zoom Yoga. The Gen 5 mini came home with me as did a Gen 6 mini. The rest stayed at the Apple Store. All the money I got for the old gear went to the new Mini. Which I totally don’t need. But how many more years do I have to get new stuff?

I also took the hospital’s computer back to the hospital. I got it last year when the Macbook Pro ($300 for it) was being flakey. But I really rather use my Mac and VMWare. So, no need to keep an HP in the Old Bat Cave. With a rather grime Post-It note that said  “If I am dead, please return this computer to Employee Health at Virginia Hospital Center”

I may turn the Gen 5 in for cash after I am sure the new one is working. But knowing me, I’ll keep it around for “just in case”.

And, I got the 4th Covid shot today. I have had 3 Pfizers. Switched to Moderna for this one.  Will report tomorrow about side effects.  If any.

After a long day of open housing, all of the “prospects” have gone. Now. Now, I have to find all of the stuff that makes The Old Bat Cave work. Sort of like a squirrel digging up buried nuts.  

The open house  was good. I don’t know how many people came through. Not many people are interested in a no-bedroom apartment. Actually, they aren’t even interested in a one-bedroom apartment. These are not people who embrace minimalism. These are the people who live in McMansions.  That’s not fair. A couple of the single ladies said they lived in 800-900 sq ft condos. They could imagine squeezing into my 590 sq ft if they tried really hard. 

I did get an updated price list. In 2015, I paid $185,370 “entrance fee”. And $2,790 monthly “service fee”. The entrance fee is now $236,395″ and my monthly is $3,519. 

Tomorrow might be the day to get Covid Jab #4. Never mind that I think it is a waste of time. But, what if I am wrong?  I have been wrong in the past. If I get the shot and get Covid at least I can tell myself “I did everything I could”. So, tomorrow might be the day. 

Our long-promised new windows seem to be going to happen. Intelligently, they decided to install new windows in our vacant apartments before doing the occupied units. And today was a fine day to start. 

I doubt that 150 people will come to see my apartment. Having zero bedrooms, one bath, and no balcony. It’s not the apartment that anyone thinks they want. (I sure didn’t want it! I “needed” a bathtub, a balcony, room for my rug, and a view. 2 out of 4.) My apartment is shown to show people that life doesn’t end just because you downsize.  And to help people start to think outside the box.

This is “new”. Well, I do need to accept that I moved out of the area in 2015. Returned to the old neighborhood today to see the dentist. At 0700 hours. I took the bus. 

The hygenist was wandering around my mouth and said “I just got back from a week in Mexico last night”. Damn, I hope his mask was working. Next, I go to the dentist to have a little repair work done. Guess who spent the weekend in Ft Lauderdale at a bachelor party? Talk about potential Covid exposure. 

I was all finished shortly after 8. Decided to walk home. That way, I would get home and have my exercise done already. It was about 3.5 miles home. Nice day for a walk.

Rest of the day devoted to getting ready for the Old Bat Cave open house on Wednesday. A lot of clutter/crap can accumulate in a small apartment in 6+ years. Especially when you were held prisoner for 2 of those years. 

Nice dinner tonight. Good conversation. Ditto the wine and chocolate-covered strawberries. Leftovers from Mother’s Day.