We know (we KNOW) that I am a picky traveller. We know that I have my routine, and I like to follow that routine. We know that I like people to follow the rules when travelling, stay in their lanes, stay in line, don't cut in line, wait their turn, keep their distance, and, good lord walk the extra two feet to walk behind me instead of cutting across the line in front of me. Just two more feet and you can walk in the GIANT SPACE BEHIND ME.

Besides that, you know what? During a pandemic, keeping one's distance is ESPECIALLY IMPORTANT.

Yeah, so, my routine at this airport is to arrive close to the C gates, head to the Starbucks, pick up a travelling drink and sandwich, then head off to my gate. The pandemic thwarts that plan a bit, in that I need to find a place to eat that is away from others, and that I want and need to keep a larger distance.

Mom has come out to say good-bye to me as I head off.

She isn't as goofy in this picture as I subsequently convinced her to be.

Say, did I tell you about my adventures three days before the first day of high school at a new school in a new state? I can't find that tale anywhere here, so ... just before high school, I moved from Indiana where I lived with my dad, to Arizona, where I lived with my mom. Three days before the school year starts, at a new high school for me, BJ and I are at Golfland, a water park that was still trying to figure itself out during the summer we had arrived in the state. They had slides that looped around, and two that went, well, not QUITE straight down, but not really not straight down.

The day before a long trip, and I am okay. I've planned enough that everything is packed, separated into the climbing portion of the trip, and the road-tripping portion of the trip. I have a lot of stuff to be carrying, but most of it I'll be dragging. I am going to check luggage for the first time in I don't know how long.

This is okay.

My usual MO is of awake until 4am the morning of a trip, failing to sleep the night before, with anxieties and just-one-more things to do aren't happening tonight. I'm ready. I have a plan. If it doesn't work, I'll adapt. This is a data gathering trip, so there is zero chance of any failure. What's good? What's bad? Who knows? That's the beauty!

Tomorrow, I'm going to be flying, visiting friends, driving for hours, picking up gear, driving more, sleeping. The day after that, I'm going to climb a mountain.

I'm doing to try mountaineering for the first time. First step towards Vinson.

Okay, I have this incredible 1970s tile throughout most of my house. It looks likes this:

Now, with that tile and tile pattern spread out throughout an entire house, you would think that you wouldn't be able to tell if, say, there were a cockroach ANYWHERE on that title. There are varyingly sized splotches of brown here and there and in that other place, too. There are splotches of brown in the hallway and the dining area, in the bathroom and the kitchen, at the front door and the back door and the OTHER door. This tile is everywhere in this house and so are all those irregular brown splotches.

So, imagine my surprise at the discovery that I have EVERY BROWN SPLOTCH IN THIS HOUSE MEMORIZED.

Yes, every one.

I went to the DMV for my license today. Actually, I went to the DMV for the documentation I would need to register to vote in a minor attempt to turn a red-state-turning-purple blue, the license was a bonus.

Now, to be able to actually pick up that license, I had to make an appointment. To make that appointment, I had to call the DMV appointment line every 30 minutes or so for three days. Eventually I reached a person, who was lovely and booked me this appointment. After the appointment was booked, I gathered all the documentation the appointment required: previous driver's license, proof of residency, utility bills, and the like. I had the extra stuff for the Real ID, but no absolute need for the id. I was set.