You just never know

Well, it looks like I’m going on R&R, whether I like it or not. Fortunately, I like it, although I still have to see if the tour I’ve been looking at is available. It’s still listed on the website but apparently if you sign up with less than 45 days before departure, the hotels might have sold the rooms, so I’m waiting on the final word there.

Assuming that’s positive, I have to then chase the flight, although I’m now debating adding on another three days so I can see Victoria Falls. I feel like this might be my only shot to visit that Wonder of the World, but in this life, who knows, right? It’s a pretty steep add-on – it includes a RT flight from J-berg and two nights in a fancy schmancy hotel – but I’ll check.

This whole thing came about fairly suddenly, too. Basically I got pulled aside and told to go, and to go pretty much now. But the caveat is that I might not come back. I know there are no guarantees in this gig, but I had hoped for a little more … confidence, I guess, from TPTB. If anything, I got the impression I’m not coming back.

It’s looking pretty positive that we’ll cross one step on the staffing issues, but there’s another step that’s kind of exclusive to just a few of us, and I’m, of course, in that mix. No one has any idea what the end result is going to be. Well, I take that back. No one at my pay grade knows. Probably someone knows, but not me.

The advice to me was to go ahead and pack out before I go on leave, which would be the week after next. But if I were to come back – if – I’d be here, inchallah, for 4-5 weeks after that. Definitely livable from a suitcase, but not a lot of fun. Especially considering my amazing mattress pad (some kind of bamboo thing that’s made in the U.S.) is bigger than any given comforter and would not fit in a suitcase.

As I was looking at my stuff, I thought I’d send another box ahead to Mink, but … what would be in it? The flat-rate boxes, at $20 for the biggie, is fantastic, but I can’t scrape up enough stuff that I can live without until about Halloween. I can’t put medication or vitamins in my ship-from-here stuff, but I’m not about to part with my “Migraine-B-Gone.”

It’s winter in South Africa, so I’m trying to pack for that and keep in mind that I could still get diverted to DC. What do I pack for that? Or would, if that happened, I just go buy a new wardrobe of LL Bean Perfect Fit Pants. I don’t have room in my bag for South Africa winter, DC winter and work clothes.

Looking ahead, I’ll be arriving in Minsk in late October, which isn’t winter but pretty dang cold. That means, if I get back to Baghdad, I’ll have to bring my winter coat with me to Florida so I can bring it with me to Minsk.

The options on packing really are enough to make my head spin, because there’s no winning combination. I’m not going to follow the advice to pack out right now; instead going to do what I did when I left last time and just pile up everything in the living room. If I don’t come back, it’ll be easier for someone else to just ship it all to me – wherever.

In other randomness, I really don’t like the turn “The Handmaid’s Tale” is taking this season. I’m getting really bored with close-ups of Elisabeth Moss’ contemplative looks.  I feel like there should be a way I can Hulu on fast-forward.

I do (or at least did) like the series more than the book itself, which I finally read. Meh, but good for someone for seeing about 15 good episodes of TV in it.

Loving the e-book and library card thing. I stepped it up with the Crazy Horse and Custer book and am now reading The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee. I have an autobiography on Sally Field and a biography of Julia Child (Dearie) in the queue, too. If I make it to my R&R I will have to sit and plug a bunch in because the tour would a whole lot of time in a bus.

Did I mention the tour? I’m waiting to see if I can get on it, but it starts in Cape Town and goes to Jo-berg with a diversion in Mbabane, eSwatini, which is not a typo but is the new name for Swaziland. Cape Town has a city tour, a day of cage diving (or wine, but guess which I picked) and a visit to Cape (or maybe Camp) Robben, where Nelson Mandela was jailed.   

I suppose I should look closer at the itinerary, but I’m fine with whatever it is. I opted for this one because of the cage diving and it turned out to be cheaper than ones to Germany/Belgium/Luxembourg/Amsterdam and England/Scotland, if you can believe that. Of course, contemplating a 3-day add on to the tune of close to $2k sort of negates that, but it’s so close.