T-Minus 1 Day

Still lots of stuff to do. On top of it, I caught a cold. Can you believe it? Over a year without a cold and then I get one right before my trip overseas. I am drinking lots of fluids and taking Zinc lozenges. I hope it helps. Ack, this is terrible! Well, I am doing laundry and getting my paperwork together. After I pay all my bills I think I will be a bit more relaxed.

T minus 3 days -- getting ready

Dinner with my brother last night and some of his friends. I heard a bit of news from one his friends that further impressed upon me that there are no guarantees in life. If you sit around waiting for one, you lose for sure. Tonight I am having dinner with my brother again and will turn in relatively early (for a Friday night, that is). Saturday and Sunday will be the big get-ready days. Of course, the Cal/ASU game is on TV at 7:00pm, so that may make for some retarded packing. All things considered, I think I have enough time to take care of it without panicking. I am still working through how to get to the airport. I would love to take BART, but it will be commute hours. I hate shuttles. I don't want to impose on a friend. Hmm. Ah, maybe I will BART it, commuters be damned! I need to dig up a japanese language book or maybe just buy a small one at B&N tonight. I'd like to do a little more talking than just ordering sushi this trip.

T minus 4 days -- getting ready

Here it is Thursday. I am leaving on Monday. I have to organize, pack, double-check. Also, I have to pay my bills here and make sure that the place get cared for, dog gets fed, etc. I am leaving early on Monday, so I really only have Friday, Saturday, and Sunday to get ready.

So who am I and where I am going and why? Well, if you don't know, please stop reading this blog! Heh, oh well, so be it.

I am going to see my friend Robert and his family (wife, 2 daughters) in Tokyo. That's the first week. We will all take trip to Kyoto for a couple of days that week also.

The next week I am off to Penang, Malaysia. Food, the ocean, warm weather, food. Yes, I said food twice, wanna make something of it? Let me just finish off this sandwich first...

The third week is optional and will depend on whether I still feel like vacationing after two weeks. If so, I will probably head to some quite beach in Thailand. My airline...would they really strand me in Kuala Lumpur?

I am debating whether to get a new notebook or to take my battle-weary 2000 model which depends on an external battery, has only one USB port and a broken cardbus slot. There is a Compaq for sale at Fry's which is 3.0GHz, 512MB, 80GB, 15.4 xtra bright screen...at $1,299 it seems like a good deal. I am going to get a prepaid SMS card for use in Malaysia. I think I will use it on my PDA (Handspring) which can also function as a phone.

Well, off to dinner in SF with my brother. Maybe I will get the notebook tonight. Yeah, why not.