Promising Yon Travels
Much like yesterday, I don't have a lot to report on about last night, because also like yesterday, the bulk of my evening was taken up by watching and reviewing a movie. This time it was Promising Young Woman, which I started out thinking I might not like as much as I wanted to, but by the end I found myself liking it quite a lot. Another difference between Wednesday night and Thursday night movie watching this week was that this one was an "advanced" digital screening offered by SIFF, and I could not start it until 7:00. And "advanced" definitely deserves to be in quotes because although the official VOD release date on the movie was today, by the time I finished watching the movie, it was already available for rent online for $5.99 (totally worth it, by the way)—I'm guessing because by then it was already past midnight on the east coast, and it probably works much like iTunes music releases or HBO air times, where once it's available Eastern time it's automatically available across the country.
I did also drive to the office and back, another roughly 45-minute excursion: 15 minutes to get there; 15 minutes to be there; 15 minutes to get back. I did this during traditional rush hour, and although it wasn't excessively terrible, I was still struck by how much traffic was on the streets. It really feels like traffic patterns are slowly but surely returning to pre-pandemic normal, even though transmission rates remain the worst they have ever been. Of course this is all the culmination of "pandemic fatigue" making people drop their guard even though it's more dangerous than ever, and probably the notion that we have a far better understanding of how to protect ourselves than we did ten months ago—except that ironically that results in more people being out and about, which still makes it easier to spread the virus, masked or not. Granted, the general thinking is that the spread is mostly thanks to people meeting in each other's homes, without masks, deluding themselves into thinking they are in "COVID bubbles." I never created any such "bubble," which is absolutely a fallacy, and won't really change my day to day behavior until both of these things happen: I get vaccinated, and transmission rates drop dramatically.
Anyway. There remains a bowl of bite sized candy bars at the front desk at work. I can never seem to stop myself from partaking, and yesterday in particular I took too many: about four of them. I mitigated by declining Shobhit's suggestion that we have chai after I got back home, and also halfing my usual portion for dinner. It seems to have worked: to my surprise and delight, I actually weighed in nearly a full pound (0.9) lighter this morning than I did yesterday.
And now, I just got done with FaceTime lunch with Karen—truncated, as she had a meeting at 12:30 she had to schedule, and I decided to go for a shorter lunch than usual rather than postpone to Monday, when it could end up getting canceled or postponed again. She did become available a little early, so instead of only half an hour I did get forty minutes with her, starting at 11:50. I made my bagel sandwich for lunch just before that and was just sitting down to eat it when she called.
We talked a lot about our respective limited travel plans for 2021. She said she accepted an invitation to speak at a conference in Nashville—a city she apparently loves—in November, and my guess is things will be pretty all right for such a trip by then. I told her about the four trips that are less "vacations" than "quick getaways," as none are any more than two nights out of town: overnight by Cape Disappointment with Dad (in separate rooms, of course) during my Birth Week; hopefully an anniversary trip to Portland with Shobhit in June; a family reunion with Dad and Sherri and Christopher and his kids in Wallace one week after that (which Shobhit will not be able to join for, as he'll have used his days off for Portland); and then the Second Annual Family Vacation with the rest of Dad and Sherri's side of the family in either August or September, at a location yet to be determined. I do find myself thinking more and more as time goes on that I would like to advocate for a Thanksgiving trip to see Faith in Desert Hot Springs, at which time it will have been fully five years since the last time we did so. And in that case, that will be the closest thing to a "vacation" this entire year. Which is fine—after Australia last year, we never had anything even close to that magnitude planned for 2021 anyway. The bulk of my travel savings right now is for the next time we go to Australia, hopefully in 2023.
I did think, back in 2019, that I hoped to return to visit Sara in Denver in another couple of years—which would have brought us also to 2021. But, my suspicion is, that will have to get bumped to 2022. I mean, if a miracle happens and things are going great across the country by summer, I may rethink that, but from the vantage point of today it feels like a pipe dream. Even two nights in Portland by June seems like a possible stretch, but for now I continue holding out hope that we can find a way to make that work. I've already had to postpone the anniversary trip to Portland two fucking years in a row!
Anyway I need to get back to work now.
[posted 12:41 pm]