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Stuff
I am still keeping up with exercise to some degree. That isn’t translating to any weight loss as yet and it also isn’t translating to increased muscle mass. I am a bit stuck on that part because I know I have built up muscle but to stay the same that would mean I’d have to lose muscle somewhere else and I don’t think that’s happening. That said, I am not sure how much stock to take in the scales that do all these fancy computations on the body. I am finding it’s been a struggle to get through exercise sessions lately. Usually, I will start feeling better after going for a while and the rest comes more easily. Not the case recently though.
I don’t think I mentioned here yet that my dad went home just before Thanksgiving and is doing okay. It seems he is suffering a bit of confusion since the second stroke but other issues don’t seem to have changed a lot. I did speak with him a few days ago and had a slightly longer conversation. Still quite brief but he was able to get more out on that occasion.
Game Fanatic has been trying to get hold of a Playstation 5 for some time and the pickings have been limited since its release whenever it was. Then EB Games said they had some available for pre-order last month and I rushed there to get an order in to find out they had sold out. I was put on a waitlist in case more units arrived than predicted. These units were supposed to come fairly soon after the orders were taken but I didn’t hear anything further. So I stopped in one day last week to check on the status. It turns out they were still working on calling people about orders and I was able to collect mine after all. So Game Fanatic now has the monster-sized machine which blocks our tv and was able to add a couple of items to his limited Christmas list.
The Scientist hasn’t had any real holiday from work in ages. I don’t count the time taken off when he had surgery earlier this year. As of tomorrow, he’s off until early January. Here’s hoping the time off allows him to recharge a bit for next year. Also, the Scientist had a birthday last week and he’s now started his last year of his 50s. I took him out for lunch at a Thai/fusion restaurant where they had robots to deliver meals to tables and it was a good meal. Then we went to Holey Moley to do mini mini-golf and a game of bowling, both of which were lots of fun for us.
We still don’t have any definite dates on our borders opening here in WA but it feels like it’s getting close to reality now. I have been playing around with dates for travel for next year and it seems like it might be okay in the second quarter barring any delays from newer variants.
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Half a year gone
Hard to believe but half the year has gone by and it seems like just yesterday I was having a birthday. During lockdown it seemed time went quite slowly sometimes and other times it was just speeding past.
Here in Western Australia we are still quite fortunate and have reached stage 4 restrictions. We still have limits on numbers to stadiums and such but life is certainly close to being normal here. Our borders are still in hard lockdown and it looks like it might be some time for that change. It was due to move to stage 5 on the 18th but that has been put back to due to spikes in cases in Victoria and to a lesser extent in New South Wales. Now the plan is to move to stage 5 on the 1st of August. So we continue in our rather large-ish bubble in WA. International travel is likely some time off although it’s possible we will extend the bubble to New Zealand which has been mostly covid-19 free for a while now.
My swimming lessons restarted a few weeks ago. The first lesson back was quite a mess for me. I felt like I couldn’t do anything I had learned. But I was doing much better the following classes and I’m even improving on my breast stroke kick.
My exercise has been up and down. This past week I’ve done limited exercise but the couple weeks before I did much better. Overall, I think I’m doing far better than last winter but I could be better. I’ve got plans to do some swimming this evening along with tomorrow’s lesson and some swimming on Wednesday when I go to the pool with my client.
Our tai chi classes are back to meeting in person again and it’s so much better now. We got going again the last week of term and now it’s term break. However we are doing workshops during the break so we’re still attending and for longer hours.
One of the things I missed out on earlier this year was the opportunity to get my Animal Crossing Switch when it was released. I had no idea it would sell out so quickly and there weren’t restocks happening in Australia. But that changed late last month when new stock was announced for Australia and I managed to pre-order one for release on the 10 of July. Happily my order worked out and was deliver on the day and I am quite pleased. It’s rather expensive but I’m a long time lover of the Animal Crossing franchise and if ever I would buy one of these, this is the one to get. Even the box is quite lovely and it likely will be the only one in this how to be kept in the long term. Now we have consoles available for each family member and can play against each other. Lego Lover has the lite version of the console and the rest of us have the regular one which can be used with the tv. I had just about given up hope of getting one when the new stock was announced so I guess I was quite lucky in that.
Another thing that we are back to is organised games nights with our friends. At first we were taking a lot of precautions but since community transmission here has been zero, we have relaxed quite a bit. On the 4th, we had a special 4th of July day with special food and decorations for the day. It was more than our family normally does and we had such a good time together. It really helped to improve moods among us to be close with people we care about.
I am so frustrated to see the situation back home and to see people I care about about carrying on about wearing masks and the whole hoax conspiracy stuff. So far nobody close to me has got this but I worry that it’s a matter of time.
And who knows when I will get back to see my family. I imagine it might be still another year and a half before chances of getting back to the US is possible. And that’s only if the leadership actually changes since the current leadership is so lacking.
Well, I guess I have rambled on enough for this post. I am going to try to update on a few more things in the next week or so.
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Dragging a bit
I’ve had a couple days where I’ve been dragging my heels a bit. The current environment is quite stressful, of course, and life doesn’t go on as usual. On Wednesday I wasn’t able to go to the pool or gym with my client and he had already gone on a bike ride in the morning. I ended up getting no exercise with him since it would have been pointless trying to get him out for a walk. Also trying to get him to understand that we can’t do normal things is a bit tricky right now.
I didn’t exercise at all the past few days, so effectively I missed three days of exercise. I could have gone out on my bike yesterday but I just couldn’t motivate myself to go out. Today, I forced myself to go to the pool and had a good swim in the end. It was really quiet there even though it was a warm-hot day with hot easterly winds. I was the only one doing laps for the first twenty minutes there. There were a few others that came during the hour I was there but only one of us per lane and a family in the non-lap lane.
I had a bit of a boost to mental health yesterday due to a new Animal Crossing game being released on the Nintendo Switch. This series is one of my all-time favorites and it was nice to sit down as a family while I started my new town.
I’ve also been inspired by something my brother did on Facebook where he posted a cover of an album that influenced your musical taste every day for ten days with no other information. I’m thinking of doing that here instead but I plan to write about it instead.
I haven’t done anything about my airline ticket as yet. Since there’s no change I’ll be travelling I guess it doesn’t matter too much right now. My idea is to shift my travel dates to later this year or next year instead. Not sure I really want to travel to the US late in the year with elections going on but I will consider it if it works out, I guess. I also have a sim card for AT&T that won’t be getting used now. I hope I can do something to allow use of it later on but I think these things expire within a few months.
Meanwhile I was rather horrified that the brand new first Costco went ahead with its grand opening on Thursday. People lined up around the store twice and it was a jungle there from what I saw from video footage on the news. And it’s still crazy there today. Even if I were interested, I wouldn’t think of going there at this point. Sigh.
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Life interrupted
It was just a matter of time but I am definitely not travelling now. I discovered by accident that my flight from Perth to Tokyo has been cancelled. Oddly I haven’t had any direct communication about this even though no time was wasted telling me the aircraft had changed not long ago. It’s only that first flight but I’m sure others will follow. The government here has stepped up warnings to advise do not travel. To be sure I’d already pretty much ruled out going anywhere anyway. I feel safer staying here than being back home.
I saw today that the “curve” here in Western Australia is looking pretty good compared to other places. Hopefully that will continue to be the case. Schools here are still open but many activities have been cancelled.
I am still working. My client needs to have regular support. Unfortunately the activities we do will have to be curtailed. I’m trying to figure out how to use that time while avoiding going out too much. The only alternatives I can figure out so far are going for a walk or bike ride (him riding, me walking). Last week we went to the gym and pool but it was a nightmare trying to keep things clean at the gym. The pool wasn’t so bad but it’s too crowded at the time we go so that’s not a practical activity right now. It’s going to be a monumental task getting any understanding of the situation by him. On the other hand, I’m sure it will be better for him that I am not going to be away for five weeks too. One of the other carers was supposed to be going to Europe in late May but those plans have also been wiped out.
Lego Lover and I went to Fremantle to see the cruise liner Queen Mary 2 as it departed. on Saturday. We got there and the quay was pretty empty. Rain was threatening and most of the people there were fishing. We found out about 45 minutes after departure time that Cunard had cancelled the itinerary and about 700 people were stranded here. I assume those passengers had arrangements to get home handled and that the ship was supposed to have left yesterday afternoon. We ended up driving back in the rain that night.
I’m still trying to keep up regular exercise. I went for a walk on Sunday and barely made it back before dark. I’d thought about riding my bike but was a bit worried about getting stuck riding in the rain. I don’t feel too comfortable riding on wet pathways so chose to walk instead. If it started to rain, I could always call the Scientist and ask him to pick me up. I’ve still been swimming a few times a week too. The pool is nearly deserted in early afternoon before schools let out so I can keep away from other people easily. The rains are supposed to have stopped for now so bike riding might be on the cards again, especially if the winds stay reasonably calm.
Grocery shopping has turned into a survival sport. Not that I’ve taken part exactly. I’ve had to get a couple things from the shops this week and saw that lots more shelves were empty. I know this is the case all around. Toilet paper is still quite scarce. The shops introduced an early hour for disabled and seniors but I heard the first day didn’t go well. The customers had to line up for ages and shelves were empty even when they got there. Keep in mind the stores are closed at night around here so the restocking should have been done overnight. Of course our local store doesn’t get toilet paper until 10am so that doesn’t work very well anyway.
The Scientist has been working from home this week. He did have to go in Monday but came home early and brought his fern back so it doesn’t die. The company hasn’t made it official yet but he and the other programmers have already taken that step and can now avoid the bus trip in.
Not a lot else happening at the moment.
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Travel or not
It’s still a month and a day until I’m supposed to travel so lots can happen before then. But as time passes it’s looking more like I will have to reschedule my plans. Even if I go, my ideas of doing a bit of road trip travel to see some of my family and friends may not be feasible either. It’s a bit hard to get excited when plans look like they are being dashed so quickly.
Then there are two scenarios that are worrisome for me. One is that I do go but get stranded there. I’m pretty sure we are handling the virus better here than back home and I think there’s a very strong possibility I could be quarantined there. I love my family but not sure I could cope for many extra weeks there. The other one that is rather firmly in the back of my mind is that I contract the virus myself and end up quarantined even before I go.
It’s still too early to make a decision but it’s not looking good. My hope are that any change to plans turn into a postponement of travel although I’m unsure when that would be. Maybe later in the year? As it is, the exchange rate with the US dollar is really poor right now…of course most of my visits home have been accompanied by this same situation. Maybe it’s a good way to avoid spending money?
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Travel
I’m going home next month for a visit after almost 2.5 years away. I organised my flights back in January, before all the covid-19 stuff began to dominate headlines. Fortunately I got my travel insurance before the cut-off so should be covered for any issues related should they occur. Well, hopefully not. As time goes on, of course, the chances of a change of plans becomes greater. It’s still weeks away so I will watch and wait to see how things go.
I’m travelling via Tokyo on ANA airlines, which now flies to Perth. This nicely breaks my trip into more reasonable flight lengths. I also discovered the seat space is far great with this airline than most others. I’m hoping to be less uncomfortable after flying this time. I have an 8 hour layover in Tokyo, all during the day so I really hope I’m able to sleep on what is essentially a red-eye flight. I’ll be flying in to San Francisco instead of LAX, which I’m hoping is beneficial. At the least it will be a change of scenery for me. On the way back I travel through Houston and end up with 18 hours in Tokyo. I’m planning to stay at a capsule hotel just to see what it’s like. The worst part on this leg of the trip is I have to disembark, collect my luggage then travel from Haneda Airport to Narita on my own. I’m sure it will be fine but I will be glad to get that over with. It will certainly be a different experience for me.
Anyway, now I’ve written this, I wonder if I will have to postpone my plans. Time will tell…
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Anticipation
I’m getting a bit more excited about my upcoming travel which is now less than three weeks away from starting. After a bit of difficulty in getting a bank cheque sorted through my bank, I sent in my passport forms and it came back within less than a week. In the end it would have been less hassle all around to just go to the consulate to do it.
I’m still working on getting others to cover my hours of work. I think it will work out in the end but I was told by my supervisor to remind late last month but when I did he just said to contact the other carers and see what shifts could be covered. But I came to a decision that I want to cut back on the hours as a carer when I come back so perhaps I will just do that from the end of this month instead of down the road. I will still be looking at working the one day a week plus my plan is to look for a proper library/information management sort of job.
I’m really hoping no major traumatic events occur while I’m there. It’s causing a bit of anxiety for me but also for the rest of the family. I am trying to avoid thinking about that because there’s really no point to it. But it does lurk in the back of the mind.
On the plus side I look forward to meeting up with several people while I’m back home. I have lots of family to see in NC and in PA but also college friends and some online friends. Of course there is also the wedding to attend. I am looking forward to meeting my future sister-in-law too. Will be kind of weird to be going back to my old neighbourhood to the same street but a different house than where we lived.
I think I had more to say about this but I seem to have forgotten. Which is the problem of writing so late at night.
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Travel research
I’ve been keeping watch on airfares from various sources since my brother gave me a heads up on the wedding date. Initially my idea was to try to get a fare going Qantas straight through to Dallas. That’s the most direct flight available but it does mean a longer flight from Sydney to Dallas. For a while this was the longest flight in the world but I think there’s another one that outdoes it now. Plus I think there’s a flight from Perth to London that will be happening which is even longer. Anyway, I was really inclined to get there as quickly as possible.
But then the idea came up that it might be difficult to handle such a long haul flight. I remember when Lego Lover and I went back seven years ago I was in horrible shape on arrival and that was only the leg from Melbourne to LA. Also, Qantas’ reputation isn’t what it once was and the seating space is pretty small.
I’ve been looking at many different websites to find out about airfares and have noticed some interesting things happening. The first day I looked at several of these websites (mostly aggregators for other travel sites) and saw some really cheap deals. Well, some weren’t as cheap as I thought because they weren’t in Australian dollars. But many were cheap. I can get some really good airfares flying Emirates or Etihad Airways too. I have had to rule both out as they both fly through the middle east and would mean severe restrictions on electronic devices for the leg from Dubai or Abu Dhabi to Dallas. Both have really good reputations for flights so it’s a shame and those flights are almost as quick as the Qantas route.
I also found some weirdly routed flights going through Singapore and Seoul outbound and Tokyo and Singapore inbound. Both stops are short and just mean a change of planes. I though that would be kind of cool, especially if they landed or took off during the day time. Those flights have disappeared from the results since. I also found flights on Japan Airlines which are kind of appealing because they have more legroom and supposedly more comfortable seats. It’s just a bit too much extra to justify it. If I felt it would make a significant different to my ability to handle the travel, it would be fine. But IÂ rather doubt that is the case at all.
I just remember there was one flight on Emirates, I think, that stopped in Singapore then went on to Colombo, Sri Lanka before going to Dubai. It’s pretty amazing because Colombo is definitely not the sort of place that you would expect a plane transfer. Then there was one flight home that started in Dallas, went to New York and then to either Chicago or San Francisco before heading to Los Angeles to return to Australia. They were all short stops…I could have done a tour of the country on the way back…lol.
Over the days, I’ve noticed heaps of changes in results. The airlines that are showing up are quite different to the first days of checking. It’s like the airlines pay the companies to include their results or something. Well, I rather imagine it is a bit like that anyway. Some of the actual travel agents had really limited airlines they work with in the results.
One change from my previous trip home is that I can pretty much avoid flying any of the airlines in the US which I’ve found are pretty unpleasant…even the best of them…although I can’t say I have that much experience from recent years, of course.
One other option I am considering is taking Air New Zealand. If I time it right I will have a layover in Auckland for enough hours I could take a bus into the city and spend the day there. The Perth to Auckland flight arrives at 5:25am and it’s already daylight then so I’d be free to do my thing for several hours and then head back to the airport ahead of my flight. Then I could fly into San Francisco, which would be at least a change from LAX…
Anyway, I am back to leaning towards taking that direct Qantas flight right now. It’s generally one of the better fares and it’s direct so it’s almost a no-brainer…The longer I wait to make a booking, that option is likely to be the easiest. Trying to work around the Thanksgiving holiday is kind of tricky…although at least it’s a bit earlier this year and should allow me to be home in time for the Scientist’s birthday on the 1st of December.
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Important birthdays
Today happens to be the birthday of the older of my two brothers. This brother is about ten and a half months younger than me. So we are the “same” age for a few weeks each year. I remember when we were young that he made a big fuss over being the same age each year. Anyway, he’s starting the last year of his fifth decade from today while I am coming to the end of mine in a few weeks.
There are a few other family birthdays this month too. Three days ago it was my father-in-law’s birthday. Tomorrow is my brother-in-law’s birthday and at the beginning of the month it was my nephew’s birthday. It’s a bit like December with so many birthdays within such a short period of time.
It’s not just family either. It’s kind of a big year for turning fifty too. I have a cousin, actually a second cousin, who turned 50 last October. I think there were a couple other second cousins born around the same time but I am not in touch with them aside through other family members. This year, aside from my fiftieth birthday, I have several friends joining me in the 50s club. One of my friends going back to high school and college days has her birthday next month…essentially starting the ball rolling on this momentous year.
Many months ago, the Scientist hinted at something big being planned for my birthday this year. One of the possibilities was a trip back home to spend my birthday with my family. That would have been nice, but I do want to spend the day with my family here, namely the kids and the Scientist and decided that wasn’t going to be ideal if it was just me going. Financially it’s just not possible for all of us to go at the moment. Moving on a few weeks to a couple of months…
Wednesday night, the Scientist shares with me his early birthday present for me:
On Sunday, I’m getting on a plane and flying to Auckland, NZ and then I am staying in for the week while I have a look at the city. Then on Friday evening I am going to the zoo where I will see the Finns at the Zoo. This a musical show which will include Neil Finn, his brother TIm, and his son Liam as the main performers. But it will also include various other family members too. It looks to be a pretty special evening for all there.
There are a number of FInn fans who regularly travel to see them do shows far away but this will be my first time. It may well be the only time it happens as this is all in honor of this milestone year. But it will certainly be a memorable present.
The Scientist is pretty awesome!
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Counting down
A week from tonight, Lego Lover and I will be embarking on our travel adventure. Right now, a week still seems a long way off but I suppose it will be here in no time at all. All the major spending has been done on tickets, passports and travel insurance. I still need to see my gp next Thursday morning to get a couple prescriptions sorted out before I leave. I’ve been working on getting my laptop ready to travel. I’d been trying to use the wi-fi at our local library and it wasn’t working properly after a couple of tries. Yesterday, the Scientist accompanied me and worked out the problem was settings-related. I’m glad this is sorted out now instead of while traveling.
I’m planning to use a backpack to hold my laptop and carry on items unless it works out to be too heavy that way. Otherwise, I will use the backback as my carry on luggage and put the laptop in it’s usual case. I still need to find a backpack for Lego Lover that won’t be too heavy or too expensive. We’re not having much luck finding anything with a reasonable price as yet so we might end up changing to a more affordable option.
And speaking of money, I’m really not too pleased to see the value of the Australian dollar has been plummeting just before we are set to leave. We’ve had a good exchange rate for months and this happens just now. I’m going to try to be optimistic and hope it stalls and recovers now.