life in the old lane

Today I found 3 quarters. A sure sign that I have Carlton’s blessing for the crazy adventure.

Gratitude

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Grateful that I can still get out on an adventure.

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Been to the dentist. Got past TSA. Had lunch. Let the waiting begin.

On my walk this morning, I found two very beat-up pennies in the road. I picked them up and considered them a message from Carlton, who always picked up pennies. (Also, dimes, nickels, and quarters.) It’s only fitting that the pennies are very beat up. Because I am too.

First task. Finish up the packing. The big problem is resisting the “Just In Case” stuff. And actually, if I do have problems along the way, I am fairly certain that a sweatshirt or proper PJs will not help. My “Just In Case” items with rationale for taking:

1. 1. 1. Swimsuit – the ship has hot tubs and saunas. And it’s not a Japanese ship so one needs to be “covered.”
      2. Gym shorts – to wear over the aforementioned swimsuit while in transit to the hot tub. Wouldn’t want to scare anyone.
      3. Rain pants. I had them from the NW Passage trip in ’23. They were used but still expensive. Trying to get my money’s worth out of them.

I have been on the sister ship, MS Fridtjof Nansen. 

We rendezvoused with the Roald Amundsen somewhere in the Arctic Ocean to trade European life vests and Zodiacs for US-approved life vests and Zodiacs. And it was a fun event.

Good to go. I may not post anything tomorrow. Long travel day. Lots of potential for delay. My flight was 7 hours late yesterday. That degree of lateness is as good as Amtrak’s. But as Carlton would say…Don’t live in the wreckage of the future.

Thank you, Carlton. But, trust me, you aren’t missing anything; you got out in time. 

What to do but walk downstairs and go outside and look for the storm.
The wind picked up considerably. And I went back up to the Old Bat’s Cave.

On July 5, the Tour de France starts. Matteo Jorgenson, from Boise, Idaho, is the only American who has much of a chance to win a stage. 

Packed my clothes today. Decided to take my “real” suitcase. But, it will still weigh less than 15 pounds. Even after adding the toiletries, drugs, and electronics. I decided to take the “real” suitcase for the wheels. A concession to old age.  Accept and Adapt. 

No, I didn’t run out of coffee. I had to visit the bloodletter this morning at 8:30. It was a very long time between waking up and coffee time. Got the results back before lunch and indeed I have blood. And the blood is OK for an old woman.

I asked my buddy ChatGPT to make a little map of my upcoming trip for a blog post. Well, this is cute. The geography leaves much to be desired. But still…it pretty damn cute.

This is my usual lame Google Maps hack job.

Lazy summer Sunday. My watch said that I should take it easy today and I was happy to oblige.

The “wilderness” trail was infested with mosquitoes. That reminded me that I still had to make another purchase for the trip to Alaska. Off to the grocery for Dramamine.

Better to have and not need than to need and not have.

While tending the orchids this morning, I realized how important they are to the Old Bat Cave’s feel.

$39.95 and one day later. And I have a new SSL Certificate for this oh, so important blog.

Will not have to do this for another year. There is no reason it should take an entire day. The process is clunky, and I am not as fast as I once was. But, I didn’t knock my blog off either.

Another accomplishment was going to REI to get mosquito repellent to avoid sending Jeff Bezos more money.

Gratitude

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I saw a firefly after dinner. ONE. I hope there are more. I haven’t seen a firefly in years.

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While waiting on customer “service” to get my SSL cert done, I “pre-packed”.

The clothes and backpack weigh about six pounds. That leaves 4 pounds for electronics, drugs, toothpaste, binoculars, mosquito repellent etc.

When I did the Northwest Passage, I took my “real” suitcase.

I could take the suitcase. It has two wheels. It’s very light. And not very waterproof. It did make it all the way around the world in 2019. If I do take it, I’ll not take any more stuff. I’ll take it for the wheels. 

This really isn’t alaska. It’s the yukon. But you can walk there from alaska.

The heat wave broke. Nice cloudy damp 70° day. Which helped me get in the mood for Alaska. This is a totally last minute trip. There is stuff should be done before I leave. I don’t like coming back to loose ends.

But, I was wondering – that is it about Alaska that keeps dragging me back.

This blog started in 2001 to record our second summer in Alaska. May 30, 2001.

Carlton didn’t want to go to Alaska. But, love the man, he went because I wanted to go. However, as soon as he looked out the plane window and saw Alaska, he was hooked.

This trip is to a new part of Alaska.

We had our monthly “Town Hall” meeting today. My main question was, “How many vice presidents does it take to run a PowerPoint presentation?”
The people running the show were vice presidents and some underlings. Not old people.

And PowerPoint isn’t new. Microsoft acquired it in 1987, when it was still an Apple product, and ported it to DOS, releasing it with Microsoft Office in 1989. Those were DOS days, people. 35+ years ago.

Technology isn’t the Asylum’s long suit.

Note to young people: You might want to consider elevator repair as a career.

Today’s major adventure was wrapping up the taxes. Last night, my taxboy sent me a text with 4 things I had to do. I texted him right back and told him that I was not a functional human after 6pm and I’d get right on it after breakfast.

All tasks completed. Oliver Wendell Holmes said “I like to pay taxes. With them, I buy civilization.” I am fairly certain that I am not getting my money’s worth.

Went out on my fitness walk before breakfast when it was only 83°. I stopped to admire the 100% virgin human sign.

So much wine. So little time.

I think these are edible. But I am not trying them. I always thought that people who gathered mushrooms were as crazy as folks who tried Russian roulette or ate fugu. Life is uncertain. But, still.

Doing yoga without long yoga pants. Do not do this. You have to look at your legs. Scary. (We had zoom yoga class and I didn’t think that proper yoga pants were required. I was wrong.)

But, the damn compression socks do coverup the legs. Maybe they aren’t all bad.

Hot today. And for some strange reason, Iran is pissed because 47 dropped 420,000 pounds of bombs on their country. So, we have non-trivial geopolitical heat too.

It’s so hot that The Asylum directs, “We ask that you reduce your energy use by not using your clothes washer or dryer, dishwasher, microwave, or stove till after 3:00 p.m. until further notice.” Just said a little prayer to the A/C goddess.

I got my outdoor exercise done before breakfast today and went out later to enjoy the heat. I rather enjoy just baking for a few minutes. While outside enjoying the heat, I practiced nature photography with a phone.

And I finished making all the reservations for my upcoming North to Alaska trip. Leaving July 3, returning July 29. Assuming everything goes according to plan. But you never know. This trip includes. Two planes, one boat, one bus, and two trains. And one old woman. Lots can go wrong.

First day of hot weather. First day of the new involvement in the Middle East.
I watered the orchids and did the laundry. Other than that, I accomplished ZERO today. But, I didn’t kill anyone, and that counts for a lot.