Two Weeks And Counting...
So, it's crunch time. There are only two weeks left, and they are passing in a hurry.
It's a little like being on a roller coaster, heading up towards a high drop-off. You know it's coming, you can see it, and it's so slow, but yet such a progressive movement, there's no chance of slowing it down. Everything that happens between then and now is like a bump, a gear in the track: work, going out for dinner, trying to get everything done. All of these things happen and pass by, and each just represents one more event completed before the big drop-off.
Heading off for seven weeks actually requires quite a planning process, more than I expected. I got the big things out of the road early, like getting a visa from the Kenyan embassy, buying a mosquito net, those sorts of things. Suddenly, yesterday, I realized all the little things I was putting off. I had to cancel some accounts, I had to set up my online banking to operate without me, I have to write a schedule through the 22nd of JANUARY. I haven't even done a preemptive packing job yet to see if it's all going to fit in my bag.
I have a bit of a bad habit: I like to get a bunch of stuff done, then sit around bored as though there's nothing else to do, just waiting for time to pass. Really, there's always something else to do. For example, I need to get a prescription for my malaria prophylaxis. I just got around to asking for it last night. That doesn't mean I have it yet; no, I need to feel a lot more stressed about it before I actually get it and take it to the pharmacy. All this time, surrounded at work by numerous doctors with prescription pads in their pockets, and I still haven't gotten one yet. But that has been the way it has gone for nearly everything this month. I have a terrible procrastination problem right now. On the other hand, crossing the two-week border today, my stress levels had a real decent jump. Maybe I'll actually get things done now.
Probably not. After all, I still have two weeks.
It's a little like being on a roller coaster, heading up towards a high drop-off. You know it's coming, you can see it, and it's so slow, but yet such a progressive movement, there's no chance of slowing it down. Everything that happens between then and now is like a bump, a gear in the track: work, going out for dinner, trying to get everything done. All of these things happen and pass by, and each just represents one more event completed before the big drop-off.
Heading off for seven weeks actually requires quite a planning process, more than I expected. I got the big things out of the road early, like getting a visa from the Kenyan embassy, buying a mosquito net, those sorts of things. Suddenly, yesterday, I realized all the little things I was putting off. I had to cancel some accounts, I had to set up my online banking to operate without me, I have to write a schedule through the 22nd of JANUARY. I haven't even done a preemptive packing job yet to see if it's all going to fit in my bag.
I have a bit of a bad habit: I like to get a bunch of stuff done, then sit around bored as though there's nothing else to do, just waiting for time to pass. Really, there's always something else to do. For example, I need to get a prescription for my malaria prophylaxis. I just got around to asking for it last night. That doesn't mean I have it yet; no, I need to feel a lot more stressed about it before I actually get it and take it to the pharmacy. All this time, surrounded at work by numerous doctors with prescription pads in their pockets, and I still haven't gotten one yet. But that has been the way it has gone for nearly everything this month. I have a terrible procrastination problem right now. On the other hand, crossing the two-week border today, my stress levels had a real decent jump. Maybe I'll actually get things done now.
Probably not. After all, I still have two weeks.
Comments
Hey Aaron, I see that you hardly got any comments. That doesn't mean I/we aren
t thinking of you and your adventure without envy, for it would be great to join you, but this adventure seems to be extending itself some more, will be in NC when you get back from Africa. Talk to you before then.
love, Patti and Jeff
Posted by: patti | August 27, 2006 09:12 PM