As I type, I am sitting in my local coffeeshop, sipping apple juice and idly wasting time. Astute readers will note that I should instead be en route to Lima, Peru. Perhaps a few will also wonder why I am sipping juice in a coffeshop. The answer is simple, although unfortunate. Yesterday, quite unexpectedly, I woke up feeling ill, only to realize in due time that I had either contracted some sort of stomach flu or fallen victim to food poisoning. I’ll leave out the gruesome details, only to say that I was losing fluids through various orifices. ‘Nuff said.
Dutifully, I cleansed and clothed myself and headed out to my last day of work before my flight that night. This was odd timing indeed to catch such a bug. Not only was I on the eve of departure for Peru, yesterday was also the monthly birthday lunch at work at which my approaching birthday was to be honored. It quickly became clear during my commmute that I would not be up to the task of eating lunch. Soon enough I also realized that I was barely up to the task of being at work.
I managed to extract myself from my remaining responsibilities around noon and headed home. One of the longest BART rides of all time was rewarded with a glorious nap. Upon rising, though, I had to exert myself and answer the question that had been lingering since I awoke that morning: would I leave for Peru as scheduled that evening? This involved lengthy and laborious calls to numerous travel companies to ascertain my options.
Eventually, I settled on a course of action — since I would be able to obtain a refund for my ticket less a modest fee, I decided to wait it out until 10:00pm and see how I felt. If I felt better, I could still catch my flight; if not, I could still get a refund. Changing my flight was not economically feasible, hence it seemed that either I left that night or not all. And so, I settled in to watch hours of DVDs, having the energy to do little else. Somewhere in the interim — yesterday is still pretty hazy — I managed to find some decent flights to Peru leaving Saturday through www.airlineconsolidators.com.
In the end, I cancelled my original ticket for a refund and purchased a new ticket at a suprisingly good price only two days out. After a day of major uncertainty, I can now say with confidence and pleasure that I will still make it to Peru. Despite said uncertainty, however, I never let myself devolve into panic or despair. Rather, I felt resigned to whatever might happen, Peru or time at home. I had even begun contemplating an impromptu camping trip, one of my original ideas for this vacation. I guess I’m a little suprised at such a reaction, but that is the m.o. that I strive for — balance, equanimity, dettachment — so maybe it makes sense. Regardless, I’ve got a few more days to prepare and a few more NBA first round playoff games to watch before my departure. But depart I will!
Notes from the departure:
So, it turns out that my camera being on the fritz was easily resolved with a new battery. And, in re-reading the entry above, I realized that I don’t really give an explanation of the bug I caught. Well, I can say with fair certainty at this point that the culprit was most likely some fish ‘n’ chips at a sports bar masquerading as an English pub in San Leandro. Funny thing is that I hemmed and hawed over whether I should eat anything at all since there was only one quarter left of the game I wanted to watch. Mental note: open your own sports bar with East Coast ball games and wholesome food.
