Needles and Brand new bills

kelvin486 — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 17:25:00 GMT

Wednesday, July 29 and the pressure builds. I was enjoying the start of my 3rd sabbatical, 8 weeks of paid vacation earned after 7 years of employment, which began on Monday. Sleeping in late, planning adventures and reading books, things were going well. Life was good. I was enjoying the lifestyle of the retired and non-working.

Decided to work on my upcoming Africa trip schedule. I pulled the calendar and the trip itinerary and to my horror, I had less that 1 week and not the 2 weeks that I had thought. They have that annoying habit of putting the last week of the previous month on the beginning of the next month.

Friend Jim who years earlier had done a 6 month trek of the African continent overland too, was over for dinner. "You must get the clean needles and the IV kit. You don't let them put any of their needles in you. You should bring about $1000 to $2000 with you. You don't want to spend your only day in town getting money. Make sure you get brand new bills. No tears, writing, stamps or wrinkles, they won't accept them. Keep the money on you or in a safe." The advice kept coming. "You should bring Cloroceptic and Theraflu. They have nothing like that where you are going. If you get sick, it will come in handy."

Stop, I tell Jim. I am already stressed and at this point all the advice is just adding to the stress level. Jim and everyone else giving me advise are well meaning but enough is enough.

Need my final Hepatitis shot tommorrow, go to the bank for travellers check and new bill swap. I still need to go to REI for needle kit and Fry's for plug adapter for 240V.

Extra camera batteries arrived today so we can take pictures, xeroxed our passports and gave Ken copies of the insurance and itinerary. Got Anne a waterproof jacket. It is Winter in Africa right now.

Did I tell you I changed hotels for Nairobi. The hotel recommended by Intrepid was clean and cheap, but not much. I was concerned for our safety. After searching the internet, I found the FAIRVIEW Hotel. I have been sending them email, but I have not gotten the final confirmation.

4 days to go. I am almost on my way. Gulp.

The Promise

kelvin486 — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 07:55:00 GMT

When Anne was in preschool we saw early signs of "trouble" with a big "T". She was bright, artistic, emotional, and strong willed. I was reading about the failure of American youths not graduating from High School and I was concerned.

As Anne heading for 4, we saw the first hints trouble. After numerous calls from pre-school about Anne acting out, I made a pact with my then 5 year old. She loves animals and still does. "If you graduate from High School, I will take you on an African Safari." Did I tell you she was smart? I went to pick her up from pre-school at the College of the Crayons (she was later asked to leave), her teacher asked me, are you really taking Anne to Africa? I explained this was for when she graduated from High School and not this year. She has been reminding me of that promise every year since.

After being expelled from Middle School and sending Anne to "Special School", I was wondering if I still needed to keep planning. Anne was allowed to resume "normal" status at High School. It was better but there was still a underlaying question. She was good student, but still struggling to handling her strong emotions. I added a "qualified" - "You have to graduate from a normal High School.

I work at Intel and as a employee, I am entitled to 1 sabbatical every 7 years. A sabbatical consists of 8 weeks of paid vacation on top of my regular vacation. In 2009 when Anne graduated, I was eligible for sabbatical #3. Then the world economy tanked, my stocks dropped, my 401 dropped, my house value dropped.

Ken and I always have animals. It is one of those things that brought us together. It was his dog Bentley that won be over. He was the smartest, coolest dog...I miss him. 2004 Ken got into falconery and our animal collection skyrocketed. We went from 2 dogs and 1 bird and reptiles. We went to 6 bird of prey, 4 dogs, reptiles, quails, pigeons and mice. Trying to find someone qualified to watch our menagerie became as real issue. We stopped our annual 1 week vacations and opted for shorter trips closer to home. RV rentals, taking the animals with us or Anne and I talking off earlier and Ken joining later.

We began wondering if an African safari would be a good plan both financially and logistically. In 2009, Anne graduated, with honors from Santa Teresa High School and was accepted at UC Davis. We were so proud. I started talking to Anne about the upcoming trip and brought up our concerns. Did I tell you how proud I am of her? She said she understood and could wait if we needed to, after all we are paying for college too. I started thinking of not going.

With Anne graduating, I was a proud parent. I have told this story about the promise of Africa and the importance of goal setting for parents. My co-worker said, "Looks like Anne earned her trip.", feelings of guilt and not following through flooded in. I pride myself on keeping promises and this is a big one.

I rethought the earlier decision and after many restless nights reviewing finances and logistics, I made the decision the trip was back on. Ken could not commit and after I started researching the trip, I had to make a decision. Only August was still available. I found a trip with 5 spaces with the itinerary that I was interested in seeing. I booked 2. Figuring if Ken and work out the animal logistics we can get another spot. He could not work out the animal care. So Anne and I are heading out to Africa.

Anne and I are on our way to africa on August 3rd.

Ripples in the Universe

Needles and Brand new bills

The Promise