Convolutions of Justification. Or Is That Convulsions? Who Cares!

Following along with "Jen's proven but not yet patented theory of maturity" that maturity means only that we learn to admit and then work within our own limitations I have decided to take some of the HONKING WACKLOAD OF CASH (contingent of course upon nothing going haywire again) hitting my bank account in the next couple of weeks and take a little luxury trip.

Well, once most of it goes to making my life 850 to the nth power easier, that is.

The justification / points follow: (imagine please a powerpoint presentation on a screen hanging from the wall upon which I can use my old-fashioned pointer to make satisfying *whacks*)

1. I will more than likely never be able to afford to travel five-star again, nor will I actually want to because the cost is horrifying.
2. I've worked hard for this. And once I hit basic training, I'm gonna work even harder.
3. Since I am so pathetically pitiful at scaring myself into exercising, why not go somewhere I've always wanted to explore and hike / swim / kayak my ass off in a one-week basic training-training blitz?
4. A week in a hot warm sunny beautiful spa-like place will go very far towards alleviating the upcoming horror of nine weeks spent with hordes of young people I will be forced to live with, be nice to, and whose hands I shall have to put my life in..
5. ...while getting yelled at a lot..
6. ...in the 2nd rib of Manitoba (only because Winnipeg is already the armpit)..
7. ...in shitty weather
.

(and no, I'm not really trying to justify anything because I don't have to. But it's fun, no?)

I briefly considered San Francisco last week because I have always wanted to go there but honestly at this time of year - not warm enough and as always, the exchange rate between Canada and US money is (and will probably always be) prohibitive enough to make me want to ... not visit.... especially when...

...a little farther along...

is MEXICO! PESOS! HOT WEATHER!

And, please like I'd forget - most important? Real, honest to god, decent TEQUILA and in-room liquor dispensers!

So, let's research a little and choose a four or five star no-children allowed, spa in the Mayan Riveria round about April 7th-ish.

Let's not forget the Spanish lessons (pre-planning for Ecuador, of course), the ruins (history), the underground rivers (excitement), Jaguar Island and swimming with the dolphins (bonding with wildlife).

Just for fun, let's sammich it in between a couple days in Calgary with my amigos/ amigas to round it out.

Let Chapter Two of "Gets Out More" commence. Are ya comin'?

A Moment in Time

Well, it's just after 8 am here at work and today I'm at the hospital I don't work at very often anymore. I sort of wanted to give someone the night off (since I typically don't do much on NYEve and besides, it would have been interesting) but there wasn't anyone else working an afternoon shift that's already trained at this hospital.

Not like there's much to do. I started at 7:30 back here in the 'film' (we're all digital these days) library and I'll be finished all the work by ohhhh, 9 am. In fact, this week has been ultra slow for most of the rotations but for some insane corporate reason they're not letting anyone go early this year.

Which means I'll be sitting around on my a-s-s reading a book for the last five hours of my day.

Not that I mind, of course, since I'm in the compactor and it's pretty dang quiet in here - it's just that I don't see the point of them paying me when they don't really need to.

I know, there's something wrong with me. I'm just not a good 'union girl'.

Anyways, I thought that before I packed in the 'looking busy' part of my day, I would share with you two of my favorite pictures which make up one of my favorite moments from my trip to Australia.

On the last day at the farm when Tim and I went redback spider 'hunting' we were walking in one of the paddocks (or whatever you call them on a sheep farm) towards this old sort of hut/house structure that was now empty. Tim was telling me about how the sheep cluster around the few trees for shade, even though it was not very warm out, and suddenly a sheepy face appeared out of the front door of the house.


*click to biggify* Now you sort of have to just go along with what I was thinking at the time, which is that this is a boy sheep, the protector type. And yes, I know that they don't exist, but I said go along, did I not?

Timbo started a 'sheepy commentary', pretending he was the sheep and how 'he's' the lookout for a whole herd that are partying it up in the house and how 'he's' just suddenly realized that the cops are coming. 'He' stood looking at us for a good minute while Tim rattled off the options it was considering for a quick getaway, before turning his head and baaa-ing something back into the inside of the house.


*click = biggy*Not even five seconds later began a rather hurried but 'no, we weren't doing nothing officer, see? we're not running, we cool' exodus, single file and around the left side of the house away from us.

Nonchalant.

Eyeing the cops.

Making an orderly getaway and reminding me of this exact moment at many a house party of my youth.

Absolutely, utterly, perfectly priceless.

Kind of adds a new layer to the comparison of humans to sheep, doesn't it?

he says, "Son, can you play me a memory?
I'm not really sure how it goes
but it's sad and it's sweet and I knew it complete
when I wore a younger man's clothes"

The Problem With Taking Pictures.....

...is that they then have to be uploaded slash arranged slash captioned.

Who has time for this? Remember the good old days when you took them in a year later and got them back in those nifty little envelopes and then just put them in a box cause when you pulled them out people got that glazed and horrified look on their faces?

I THOUGHT I'd finished uploading them all and then I remembered the whole CD of the second week I haven't gotten around to yet.

At least I'm moving in a forward direction. When you're trying to do fifty things at once, any progress is good progress.

Giving in to the Lure of the Brand Name. But Close to Done with the Shopping.

Today, after picking Wade up from the airport and having a fantastic lunch at Milestone's, I took the opportunity to drag him around the inner harbor (which I avoid like the plague most of the time) to Capital Iron for a few things. From there I proceeded to get us lost, twice, on the way to Robinson's for more supplies.

(YES, I'm working on this directional dysfunction thing. I ask for directions more often. I DO!)


*click to embiggen*
Clockwise from the left bottom, we start with my dusty blue MSR Packtowl. LARGE! Hello! Bath-size baby! And apparantly, it matches my eyes.

Next up, the Nalgene water bottle and the Master contractable cable lock (thanks 'nessa! damn good idea!).

Beside that some *gasp* generic bottles for my Dr Bronner's soap and whatever else I may decide to use them for. Hanging off one of those is my waterproof Shockwatch.

Next up, we've got my Austin House Adapt-A-Kit travel adapter before moving onto the earplugs and antiemetic (travel sickness pills).

Whew.

Also, Wade brought the two packs that Pam & Tony sent for me to choose from - which the picture just doesn't do justice to, unfortunately.


*click to embiggen*
The 'lower' one is Pam's and the smaller one but it does wrap up very nicely into a suitcasey style case. I think, however, that I will eventually end up needing a large one for my travels and should take this opportunity to test a biggie while I whittle down my 'essentials' on the road. Especially since I'll barely actually be what I'd consider to be "on the road" for this trip.

I also ordered my MedicAlert bracelet, which I'd totally forgotten about. I'm not sure if it'll be here by the time I leave but if not, I can get by with a generic penicillin one for this trip. Penicillin's the biggie, the other ones won't kill me.

So, just waiting (still) for my new computer(s) and other small sundry items to arrive and then I'm pretty much set except for the parental gifting issues and the horror of actually packing it all to stay within the 20 kg I'm allowed on the internal Aus flights on Virgin Blue. Although, I should probably note for now that 1 - 10 extra kg is only $10. So, that's not bad. That gives me..... erm.... 66 lbs. I should be able to do that.

If I can't - I should be shot.

HEY! Stop lining up! I'm sure I can do it. Have a little faith, willya?

I have one more afternoon shift but then we're gonna need to have a little talk...

...about breasts.

Suddenly, A Whirlwind Tour. And Not a Thing To Wear.

(Phil - you may remember Sandy S?)...

So, I've chopped and changed a flight or two and now am flying out of Perth a few days early to Sydney for a quick day tour...

"Okay, I will gather some thoughts as to what we can do with our day in Sydney … how about a wander around the Opera House to look at the harbour, then a ferry trip past the Opera House and Harbour Bridge, across the harbour, to Manly for fish & chips on the beach…"

then a drive down to Canberra for a day of sightseeing AND ......

"I was just speaking with one of my lovely colleagues, who has invited us both to a wonderful luncheon on the Tuesday: it is Melbourne Cup day! (a lovely, fun, crazy horse-racing carnival in Melbourne, and the whole country will come to a standstill at race time…) anyway, C and a few of her friends organise one of THE lunches in Canberra … it is quite likely to be warm, so if you have a fav ‘frock’, or just want to do a little shopping while you are here, keep it in the back of your mind… It will be an absolute HOOT!!! And set you up to sleep all the way back to Canada…."

I.AM.SO.EXCITED.

Have I said that lately?

Dry Your Eyes, Princess, They're Fascinating Animals

Tonight, I shall be watching this, a loving and heartbreakingly poignant story of the life cycle of Australia's tarantulas.

I'm hoping it may make me less likely to have an embarrassing accident in the event I have the ?pleasure? of meeting big spiders next month.

I doubt it, though.

Although, spiders, per se aren't the issue - it's the sheer size! I can't kill them anyways but seriously, killing a big one like that must be like stepping on a newborn. Can you imagine? ick.

We all know, don't we, deep in our hearts, that the girl who rescues worms after the rain (as well as a slug the other day) really does contort herself around the 8 million webs on her front porch on a daily basis. I just can't bear to destroy that amazing web they've built nor one of their few chances at survival. Sometimes I even feed them.

But, the big ones, who's eyes you can look into? And fangs you can see? *shiver*

Online Shopping Frenzy

In an unprecedented spasm of online-ed-ness, in the last two days I have bought....

On Vanessa's advice, I've ordered some of Dr. Bronner's tea tree liquid soap. Which actually makes me *most* excited! It's a wound antiseptic, body wash, facial cleanser, shampoo, laundrey soap and TOOTHPASTE in-one.

Using one of the two packs that Pam and Tony are sending out for me to 'test' - I'm half packed right there!

A generic 512mb MP3 player for $63.00. A quick search on them indicates at least an $80 savings.

BOOKS! Rough Guide and Let's Go Australia, as well as one of Sal's recommendations, The Situation is Hopeless But Not Serious by Paul Watzlawick.

The books cost me $4 because Chrissykins sent me a whopping $50 US gift certificate for my birthday. Yay!

Hmm? What else? Oh, a BULK load of low-rise thongs from La Senza. Which more than likely fell off the back of a truck but whatever, I paid $28 for about $120 worth of underwear.

OH! And just a few minutes ago I won the auction for my Olympus Stylus 300 (after losing at least 6 over the last few days) for $165.00. They retail here for $299ish and even on one of the few Canadian Sale websites I found they were on for $249 without a battery.

Oh god, and did I mention how much I actually paid for my flight? Normally from Canada, a round trip flight to Australia is at least $2000. Maybe $1800 if you're lucky. Mine? $1279 BABY!

If I hadn't spent so much money in the last couple days I'd feel like I should have money coming back, I rock so much.

But, then again, I have lists and lists of things still to buy. I think I need to go lie down. For a year.