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After I sent out my second of two email travelogues covering my Washington State Islands-themed Birth Week this year, Scott—the Grocery Merchandiser who was here before Shelley, who I worked with for many years before he left PCC in January 2022—sent me a couple of photos of his finished guest room at the house he and his wife had just recently moved into for his new job, in Peoria, Arizona, a suburb of Phoenix. I was rather taken aback, as it included a little stand of snacks, drinks, a coffee pot, even a microwave! It looked like a little setup for a hotel room.
Shobhit immediately assumed this meant he was renting it as an AirBnB room. I don't think he is; he's never mentioned that.
Later that same morning, on May 6, he emailed me a link to
the Zillow Page for the house they moved into. Ever since, we have exchanged emails here and there about having us come and visit; I have said from the start that spring or summer was out of the question—it would have to be in the fall.
Well. After spending a couple of days this week coordinating with Laney and Alexia about many movies, other events, and even starting on some holiday planning, it occurred to me yesterday: I should look up potential dates for visiting Phoenix.
I found three weekends, with potential to have a three-night stay start midweek prior or end midweek after. One each in October, November, and December, though I preferred to do this earlier than December if I could help it.
I really have to give Scott credit for this: he is
very responsive over email. Hell, he was better at responding to every question I had in a single email than he ever was at work. He got back to me practically immediately yesterday afternoon. Nearly all of the dates I had proposed, he said worked for him. He had only one day (November 7) he said he had a presentation at work.
I talked to Shobhit about it last night, telling him how surprisingly cheap airfare was when I looked it up. I was kind of struck by how immediately responsive he was: I didn't know for sure until last night whether he'd even want to come. Well, with airfare that reasonable and a free place to stay, he was kind of all about it. By the end of the evening, we had flights booked: we're flying down there on Sunday, November 10; and returning Wednesday, November 13. In addition to PTO I already plan to take over Thanksgiving and over Christmas, I still had yet another three days' worth of PTO I might otherwise lose to burn through before the end of the year, so that's actually perfect.
I had hoped to have it cover more of a weekend than that, just for Scott's sake, but this was the cheapest option and he said it was fine. He said he might even just take that whole week off of work. We've already got a working list of things to do while there, including a day trip to Sedona and a breakfast meal at a beautiful looking restaurant right alongside a river. On the other full day we'll have there, we'll do what was otherwise highest on my list: I can't visit Phoenix a
fourth time in my life and
not visit the Arizona State Capitol! Scott says we could do that and explore Scottsdale on the same day, probably.
Alexia grew up in that area, so I emailed her for suggestions this morning. She immediately got back with several great ones, too many for us to have time for. But she said the Desert Botanical Garden is her favorite place in Phoenix and I do love botanical gardens, so that's high on the list now too.
Anyway, I'm very excited. I booked these flights for two people and it barely cost $294. We'll have a $35 checked bag fee to contend with each way but that's okay. It's been ages since I flew anywhere that cheaply. It also doesn't look like we'll even have to rent a car: I asked Scott if he would recommend that we do, as I did not want to assume too much. He said they have two cars and we can even borrow one if need be. I suspect now that they'll just take us all over in one of their cars.
I just love having a trip to look forward to. We have nothing else nailed down beyond that, although Shobhit did broach the idea of going to Iceland(!) for our anniversary. I suspect that would be rather expensive, so we'll see. He also told me he has a college reunion next year that will be
in Goa, and if he goes to that, I absolutely want to tag along. Besides that, I'm hoping to go visit Barbara in Louisville again next year. So there's a lot of ideas being bandied about, just nothing fully set. At least this trip is now.
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So that was the big news of the day yesterday. We're returning to Phoenix! Shobhit actually lived there briefly before he met me, something like a year and a half if I remember right. As far as I know, when we went there with Dad and Sherri for Thanksgiving in 2014, when Brandi and her family still lived down there, that was his second time there. It was my third, as previously Mom, Christopher and I went there for Christmas in 1986 and 1990, both times with Uncle David and Mary Ann visiting as well—we did not hang out with them again until they met up with us during a visit to Seattle in 2015. (I actually can't remember now if they came for Grandpa's memorial in 1996. Maybe? I'd have to check my journal, but I don't think so.) This would mean this year will be my fourth visit to Phoenix and, I think, Shobhit's third, if you count his first when he actually lived there.
Shobhit had a virtual TPS board meeting from 5 to 7 p.m., the first half hour of which overlapped with the Trump-Harris Presidential Debate. I was nervous and anxious about it, but went ahead and turned it on via YouTube on my laptop in the bedroom anyway, as Shobhit was recording it with the TV in the living room on mute but I didn't want to wait.
I was almost immediately riveted by it. Former President Fuckwit remains . . . well, a complete fuckwit. He rambled, said wild shit, walked into debate traps Kamala Harris set for him constantly. The one time I did not like Harris was when she was asked a direct question (whether she fet any responsibility for how the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan occurred) and she never actually answered it. This is a very typical politician thing to do but it still annoys me.
President Fuckwit, on the other hand—holy shit. He was always a narcissistic ignoramus, but especially against Harris now as opposed to opposite Biden in the summer who is even older, this guy is looking even more out of it than before, largely due to age alone. The idea that this election will be so close boggles the mind.
After the debate was over, I was still waiting to hear back from Scott via email as to whether our chosen flight dates work. We went to PCC to take advantage of a $5 off $10 Produce member deal. We got some chanterelle mushrooms for Shobhit, and also some Dr. Praeger's burger patties that wer on sale.
And Scott responded, as I kind of expected, while we were out doing that. We got home and within minutes had the flights booked.
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I nearly forgot to mention this, another pretty significant thing to report from yesterday: I got my
booster shot of the covid vaccine for this year. I had made an appointment for the pharmacy at the Walgreens on 3rd and Pike, downtown, which I rode my bike to. I couldn't remember whether I had ever even gone in there before; the pharmacy is up an escalator to the second floor. I basically have to rely on Walgreens in any neighborhood, now that nearly all the Bartell Drugs—which I always far preferred—have been closed down.
It went fine. I hyperventilated a little, as always. "It'll be over before you know it," the young woman told me. She was correct. She asked me to hang out for fifteen minutes and I left just before ten were up. The appointment had been for 4:50 and I didn't even get called back until 5:00.
I never have significant reactions to vaccine shots, but I'm still having a mild yet noticeable reaction to this one. My throat feels slightly dry, I feel barely under the weather kind of all over but otherwise basically fine—except for the injection arm itself, which feels like I got a bruise by bashing my elbow into a door jamb or something. Which is odd since the injection was in the upper arm and not the elbow. What's up with that? I'm just hoping I'll be back to feeling totally normal by tomorrow.
No matter what, it's always worth it. I now have a log of six covid vaccine shots! The initial two in the spring of 2021; the first booster in the fall of the same year; and one every fall each year since. In all likelihood this will just continue for the rest of my life, unless one day they can just combine this and the annual flu shot into one. For now, I'm waiting another month for the flu shot, which I've already scheduled as well.
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[posted 12:34 pm]
