14 days togo

And my stomach is getting quite fluttery. It was a good day today. Everything I'm doing now is directly aimed at my departure in one way or another.   This  morning my son Matt and I signed new wills.

This is Matt's first will.  It's the first time he's had money in his own name, thanks to the government.  He has an RDSP - a Retired Disability Savings Plan.   It was launched in 2008 and apparently it has been a well-kept secret. I read that by last year only 14% of those eligible were in the plan.  When I found out about it, it took a couple of years to do all the paperwork to get Matt signed up.  He's challenged, as I've told you, but he is "high-functioning".  He has a competitive if menial job as a buggy-gopher for Loblaws.. Several years ago he asked me, "Am I going to push grocery carts for the rest of my life?" Well, yes, if he's lucky. And after that? Like everyone else, he needed a retirement plan. I have tried since he was born, to help him be independent with assistance, of course, from the government and community services at different levels, for which I am grateful.  My prolonged absence on this cruise I am taking will be good for us both. I won't be here forever.

So we signed our wills. I've said that my preparation has seemed like getting ready to step off the edge of the earth.  Any thing can happen. We all know that, and it often does. I do hope to return but if I don't, then I  hope I haven't left too much of a mess to clean up after me. That's not what makes me fluttery. I always get like this before I take a trip, trying to plan what to take and what to leave.  Mostly I leave stuff. I don't mind looking like Little Orphan Annie when I travel. Does anyone remember Little Orhan Annie?

Little Orphan Annie was a daily American comic strip created by Harold Gray (1894–1968) and syndicated by the Tribune Media Services. The strip took its name from the 1885 poem "Little Orphant Annie" by James Whitcomb Riley, and made its debut on August 5, 1924 in the New York Daily News. It ranked number one in popularity in a Fortune poll in 1937.  (Wikipedia)  

She always wore the same (red) dress, week after week, month after month, year after year. That's me on a trip. Speaking of which, I have to pack my pre-shipped bag this weekend. I told you that, already, but I've been thinking about it, before I've done anything concrete. It's the decisions that wear me down. I'll think some more tomorrow.

 

 

countdown

Two weeks from tomorrow morning I get on a plane for Hong Kong, there to join my room-mate, whom I have never met, to fly with her to Singapore.  The weather this week in Singapore is about 32 degrees Celsius.  I'm going to pack my extra luggage this weekend, to be picked up and shipped to my shipboard cabin. I'll send my clothes ahead. I'm taking my papers and projected work with me in my carry-on.  I'd sooner lose clothes than my papers and thoughts.  They're  not deathless but they're mine. They're not even irreplaceable, but they're mine. I will take one good outfit with me because as near as I can figure out the time, I will be going to high tea at Raffles Hotel in Singapore before I reach my clothes.  I have a date with Somerset Maugham and Noel Coward and I wouldn't want to be turned away for lack of a decent appearance. 

It's finally going to happen. Well, as they say, I won't hold my breath, but I am getting breathless. 

This will be the beginning of my travelblog.  Wow.