Day 203 Herding Ducks

How foggy was I last night? Foggy enough to CORRECT my post with something INCORRECT! I meant to say it was supposed to be Day 202, but I put 102. That’s Fibro Fog for you.

It’s been a challenging week, kind of like trying to walk through quick sand, but I’m so utterly bored with my health that’s all I’m going to say. Except that I missed – again – my appointment with possible hypnotist doctor and am now seeing her Monday. This is for the insomnia, which is my MAIN issue right now, so fingers crossed.

I’m following these ducks to Hollywood.

I’m slowly herding my ducks so they get in a row (such a strange saying) for my trip in October, and the first thing to organize is the passports, both of which are most annoyingly expiring in September (Australian) and October (American). I got a big shock with the Australian one when I found out that it now costs $235 to renew. When did THIS happen? It used to be half that. And if you’re thinking, well time passes and prices go up, the American one is only $110. It’s not due to the exchange rate, either, because the Americans are counting us as at parity right now. It’s just that so many things in Australia are more expensive, and that’s in large part due to the fact that the basic wage runs between $15 and $20, so there’s still lots of disposable income even with the high prices.

That’s such good news, the parity issue, and god I hope it stays there for my trip. The last time I went, we got 50c for every Australian dollar! Australians know that goods in America are so much cheaper there, especially clothes, and there’s a much, much bigger range of everything. I know people that take almost empty suitcases for shopping there.

So I’m about to get my passports organized. I’ve also started looking on craigslist for a sublet in Hollywood. I’ve found that’s the cheapest, best thing to do. I like living right in Hollywood, which is good because it’s among the cheapest places for renting. Actors would always tell me how they wanted to live near Santa Monica or Malibu because the beach sounded so romantic, and I love the beach, but I hate commuting, and in L.A. it’s all about the traffic. Rush hour runs between 6-10am and 3-7pm, and it can take a couple of hours to get between two places that normally take you about an hour. Insane.

The other trick I’ve learned in my trips there is that renting a car by the month is unbelievably cheap, and the location of the rental office, no matter who the company is, determines the price of the car. I have always found Budget to have the best rates, and the Hollywood office (on Hollywood Blvd.) is, surprisingly, one of the cheapest. I will be able to rent a car for a month for around $200 a week, including extra insurance!

Hooray!

All I have to do now is hope and pray that I will actually be well enough to go. Travel is exhausting, and for people with a chronic condition involving pain and weakness, even more so. I take a hot water bottle and put it behind my back while flying, and this time I’ve even arranged for a split trip so I don’t have to sit for almost fourteen hours straight. Last time I did that, I literally couldn’t walk for a half hour after I got off the plane.

I’m stopping over for two nights in Fiji, which funnily enough used to be the mandated stop over (along with Hawaii) for refueling when I came to Australia in 1969. It’s only about a four hour trip, but every little bit helps. I’ll rest for two days, then gird my loins (I must look up if I need equipment for “girding”) for the nine hours or so to L.A.

It usually takes me about two weeks to get over jet lag (seriously), so I’m hoping this plan will help that, as well.

Take it “Bird by Bird” (see my old post) in life is all we can really do. Line up those ducks and see what happens. They’ll either behave, and plans will be fulfilled, or they’ll go berserk, and adjustments will have to be made.

The main thing is to MAKE plans, both long and short term commitments. It keeps life interesting.

I’m just plannin’ …