— पांच हजार दो सौ पचास-तीन —
I feel like we're in a minor sort of scheduling limbo with Uncle David and Mary Ann. I sent them an update yesterday morning on what we were envisioning now for our South Australia leg of our trip next year, and I hope I'm not overwhelming them or anything. We can't really get to actually booking anything until we hear back, and we haven't yet. Granted, At 9 a.m. here it's 1:34 a.m. there, so they were definitely asleep when I sent the email, and as of right now it's only a day later. They probably need some time not only to consider how we are proposing we spend our time, but maybe even look into things like lodging options or booking the ferry to Kangaroo Island. It's all pretty involved.
This is actually the second email I've sent them since I last heard from them, though. For all I know, they're on some other kind of trip without access to email at the moment. It's way too soon, really, to worry about how long it's taking them to get back to us. I'm just eager, particularly, to get the flights from Sydney to Adelaide and back booked, but there's really plenty of time for that.
Either way, I'm really looking forward to this trip overall, but also particularly for the South Australia leg. And even though it will mean seeing less of Uncle David and Mary Ann cumulatively than our previous visit, I think it will also be easier on them for us to stay in a hotel, which will also give us more direct, independent access to the city center if that's where we stay while we're in Adelaide. Our hope right now is to do five nights in South Australia, the first two on Kangaroo Island and the next three in the Adelaide city center. I think we've come up with a highly efficient approach to the scheduling of that, but the open question is whether Uncle David and Mary Ann are amenable to it, and/or capable of adhering to it. If not, we'll just have to figure something else out.
— पांच हजार दो सौ पचास-तीन —
— पांच हजार दो सौ पचास-तीन —
Last night was relatively uneventful. I rode my bike from work to the library to pick up a book even though I'm only halfway through the one I'm reading, but I needed to pick that one up before the hold expired. After I got home, Shobhit and I went to Hau Hau Market in the International District to get what vegetables he still wanted for our dinner on Friday. We came home and had grilled cheese sandwiches and lentil soup for dinner, and watched the final two episodes of
The Sandman on Netflix. I was very impressed and felt they stuck the landing.
I also made the tough decision to contact both Planned Parenthood and the ACLU to stop my recurring monthly $20 donations, which have been in effect since 2017. I've donated over a thousand bucks now, cumulatively, to each of them. But, for now anyway, I need to free up more funds to replenish my "travel expenses" budget line item after booking the international flights to and from Australia completely depleted it. We've booked hotels already in Brisbane and Sydney and those haven't even been paid for yet; that happens when we get there. It's not a huge amount but having an extra $40 a month to put into that budget line item will make it grow a good amount faster than it would otherwise. And given the state of civil rights in the country right now, one could argue that these organizations need donations more than ever, but historic inflation rates are putting the squeeze on everyone, and I don't particularly feel like throwing money at organizations does anywhere near as much good as voting for the right people. If I lived close to a state that was banning abortion, I would consider volunteering for something like providing rides for people who need abortions, but I'm nowhere near such places, even as those places grow in number at an alarming rate. I need to brainstorm other ways to make a difference if I can. But, call this selfish if you like (it would not be inaccurate), but I want to be able to continue my financial capacity for recreational travel.
I may even stop paying for dry cleaning for a while and get back into ironing on my own. That one's a big "maybe" though. It fucking takes forever, it's never done as well, and I truly hate doing it.
— पांच हजार दो सौ पचास-तीन —
[posted 12:26 pm]
