One catch though: the pencils came with this horrible protrusion that lets you affix them to shirt pockets I guess? I ended up doing this rather insane/obsessive thing: I’d break the thing off. Then I’d take a pair of pliers and rip off as much as I could. Then I’d take a nail file, and file the area smooth.
This does not feel like a normal thing for a high school kid to do.
While in Scotland, we’re planning on renting a car to get around. I’m aiming to be the primary driver, and it’s going to be quite the adventure (this being my first time driving across the pond).
Any tips or suggestions? I expect the first few days will be me muttering to myself “Left Left Left Left” over and again.
Honestly, there’s a part of me that is less concerned about “all the things,” and will be content to just be. I’ll be happy to take in a new country, a new landscape, a new culture, and just be somewhere other than my room… pecking away at a keyboard, staring into a monitor.
There’s a lot of logistical concerns: we’ll be renting a car, and also having to navigate ferries to move from island to island. Fun stuff. Stressful stuff. But technically fun stressful stuff.
For those not familiar with the above images, they come from two different Sean Connery movies: Highlander and Zardoz. While I’ve sene Highlander once or twice, I really only know of Zardoz through references made by others. And, truth be told, from this image of Connery in the thigh-high boots. It’s really all I know of that movie.
To be honest, I still have a sense of trepidation about Covid. I’m having a hard time adjusting my thinking to the idea that everything is ok or normal again, or at least a kind of vaccinated normal.
It’s hard to know if I truly feel it’s safe to travel. Or if I want to travel so badly, that I feel it’s safe.
We also talked a bit about how, for someone like that, the universe would catch up with him. That we felt (hoped?) he would ultimately receive some fitting repercussions tomorrow for his actions today.
By all accounts, this was our first vacation in a long while. And our first, true travel since the pandemic began.
For posterity: Liz captured the moment where Lauren finally passed the slow moving truck – and in the river, no less! I’ve passed a lot of cars while driving in my time, but I’ve yet to pass another vehicle while in the water.
Woke up super early (4:00 AM) so that we could catch a ride to O’Hare, along with Julie and Bob, for a vacation in Costa Rica. We got invited to stay with Liz’s Uncle David and Auth Beth, and to trade in our cold Chicago days for some warmer climes.
Google Maps led us to a Jo-Ann’s in a mall area, but the route we took ended up going to a very dark (and seemingly closed) entrance. The whole mall, in fact, looked not just closed – but haunted and closed.
Driving through the parking lot, it felt like we were in the opening 10 minutes of a horror movie.
Woke up super early (4:00 AM) so that we could catch a ride to O’Hare, along with Julie and Bob, for a vacation in Costa Rica. We got invited to stay with Liz’s Uncle David and Auth Beth, and to trade in our cold Chicago days for some warmer climes.
As I sat, I became more and more frustrated. The people I spoke with were blandly helpful, but didn’t seem to really care about my situation. I had shown up early, was going to be late to my job, all because someone else hadn’t even shown up to their job. Why state that the office opens at 8:30 AM if people can’t get the services they need at that time?
Liz and I are heading out to San Diego, to attend my cousin Joanne’s wedding. We flew out on Friday, giving ourselves the full day to travel and get settled before the festivities.
The couple had some kind of “emotional support animal” certificate, and their dog apparently had some kind of anxiety thing as well? To the point where they had Xanax for the dog? I’m not sure what the deal was.