Writings
There isn’t any.
As I get closer to departure, I worry more about the ramifications.
What about the loss of income? When will I be able to retire after taking a gap year? What if my health gives out and I can’t work as long as I need to? What if my health is good and I can’t do things because I don’t have any money because I have already spent it?
Questions we won’t know the answer to until it’s too late. Life is a gamble….
We may have hit a glitch. It involves Tanya and her plans in the coming year. We should know by probably next week what is going to happen. Without being too cryptic (I guess it doesn’t matter as I have no readers and I am just writing to myself), but there’s something afoot with her job and she may have an opportunity that’s too good to pass up. I guess that’s the beauty of my job — there are never opportunities that are too good to pass up. That makes me fortunate in that I truly believe that I can take this time off and come back and pick up where I left off.
I also feel, that in a position that is essentially dead end (albeit high end dead end), I feel I must. It’s not that I lack ambition, it’s that my ambition has rarely gotten me anywhere. What it says to me is that career advancement isn’t for everyone, and that most of the time we don’t get to choose who it’s for.
So I guess this trip is where I express my ambition.
Wow. I took a post about Tanya and made it about me. That may also say something about why I’m taking this.
Back to Tanya. She has a lot of ambition and one of her channels of ambition is on the cusp of coming to fruition. We will see what happens. I think it would be good for her.
I think I am done. In the past 1.5 years, I have received the American Airlines card from Citi (now canceled), Capital One Venture, SPG Amex (now Marriott), Barclay Arrival, and Chase Sapphire Preferred. Toward the end my credit score was going up (818 at last check) and the credit limits were going down (Barclay was only $12,900). Put this together with the two no annual fee cards that I have had for years, and I easily have more than $100,000 in available credit.
In getting these five cards (I say that I think I am done because I think issuers will cut me off not the other way around), I have received bonuses of 60,000 miles from AA, 70,000 from Cap One, 70,000 from Amex, and 75,000 from Chase (60,000 plus 15,000 from signing up a friend). In addition, Tanya has opened an AA account, Cap One and Chase and is getting the same bonuses. So far our points/miles have got one of us to Prague and the other to Hawaii and us both to SF. We have also booked my flight to Astana and my return flight from Lisbon and Tanya’s r/t to Istanbul and eight nights in a hotel. Roughly, we have about 300,000 miles/points left in our cache.
So, at some point I will start cancelling these cards to prepare for the next round of sign-up bonuses. I don’t see how this is sustainable for the companies, but I am willing to take advantage of it until the get onto me. These are the companies that caused the financial crisis after all.
A little story about Chase: when I signed up I got an email saying they needed to do a closer review. They called a day later and asked four questions: (1) where was our mortgage, (2) where was our car loan; (3) how long did I work for Coffee Projects; (4) how long did I live on Liverpool Dr. I got all four wrong, but still got the card.
Tanya and I spent four days in San Francisco this past week for her birthday. The airfare cost $22.40 and the hotel cost $4. Yet, somehow the trip ended up costing $1,635.14. This also included the tour of Alcatraz ($76.70) and the Mission District Food Tour ($148.21), neither of which I would recommend.
It also included $380 for two massages each. I always come down in favor of a good massage. The breakdown was: Food = $501.03, Transportation = $385.40, Entertainment = $620.91, Miscellaneous = $8.67.
In terms of exercise: On 4/6 walked 8.7 miles, 18,955 steps, 9 floors; 4/7 walked 9.3 miles, 20,719 steps, 9 floors; 4/8 walked 7.7 miles, 16,937, 33 floors; 4/9 walked 6.4 miles, 13,982 steps, 4 floors.
On 4/6, we visited the Ferry Building Farmers’ Market and ate lunch there. It consisted of a donut, some empanadas and many free samples. The market represents a part of SF culture. It represents the part of SF culture that likes to be seen — white, upper middle class, locavores. We then got massages, had a drink at Cafe Zoetrope — a place I liked, though I don’t love fancy cocktails. Then we had dinner in Chinatown.
On 4/7, we had the first of three meals at the Millbrae Pancake House. I had the same thing each time: 2 eggs over easy, bacon and Swedish pancakes with coffee. I am a bit of a traditionalist about my breakfast. We took the bus and Bart into the Mission District. This may have been my first time on a public transit bus. We did the foord tour which fed us mission-style burritos, pupusas, oysters and ice cream. It also included a stop at Good Vibrations — a store that solid vibrators. After that we went to Haight-Asbury and Golden Gate Park. We then Ubered down to Little Italy for an Italian dinner.
On 4/8, we were up and out early and took public transit in to Pier 33 (or as close as you can get), had a bagel for breakfast and boarded the first ferry to Alcatraz. Alcatraz was much smaller than I expected, only about 50 cells and is fairly unremarkable except for the island part. You can do the island in an hour easy. If you want to see a penitentiary, try the Eastern States in Philadelphia — much more interesting. When it was over we got some really good pizza and headed back to Chinatown for another massage and another sit at Cafe Zoetrope. We then took an Uber up to the Palace of Fine Arts. It was closed (which we knew) but was interesting to look at. We ended the evening with a Cambodian dinner in the Mission. We had never had Cambodian before, but we loved it. Probably our second best meal of the trip — a grip that really didn’t have bad meals.
On 4/9, we rented a car to head out of town. But first, we had our second breakfast at the Pancake House. We drove across the Golden Gate Bridge (the plan had been to walk it, but I think we did OK without it). We drove through to Sonoma to Armstrong Nature Preserve. This was a good place to see the redwoods without driving all the way to the National Park. We stopped for a wine tasting in Sonoma. Neither of us our big wine drinkers, so this was mainly a perfunctory thing that we can now say we’ve done. We drove on to Berkeley — the college town’s college town, an I am a sucker for a college town. Not much to say, we only spent a few hours there. Walked around some, saw a homeless kid with his Venmo handle on his sign. We then drove on to Oakland for dinner. This time we went Peruvian and it was probably our best meal of the trip. ceviche, empanadas and a couple of desserts.
On 4/10, we had our third breakfast at the Pancake House and flew home.
It was a really good trip. The weather was perfect (a rarity in the bay area), the food was excellent and a couple of massages.
I made a big move toward commitment this weekend:
Purchased a ticket from MCI to EWR for 8/19: Ticket value $156. I paid 12,500 miles + $5.60
Purchased a ticket from JFK to TSE for 8/20: Ticket value $465. I paid 46,500 Capital One Miles.
Purchased Tanya r/t ticket from MCI to IST 10/10 - 10/18. Ticket value $910. I paid 89,400 Capital One Miles + $16.08
Purchased Courtyard by Marriott in Istanbul for 10/10 -10/18. Value $880. I paid 52,500 Marriott points.
Purchased a ticket from Lisbon to BOS on 12/17. Ticket value $395. I paid 39,500 Capital One miles
Purchased a ticket from BOS to MCI on 12/19. Ticket Value $188. I paid 18,800 Capital One Miles.
Total value of bookings = $2,994. I paid $21.68 + a lot of points.
Need Hotel in NYC for 8/19-20
Need Uzbek Visa
Need Azeri Visa
Need Turkish Visa
Need Hotel in BOS for 12/17-19.
Need to fill in a lot of gaps.
I bought a ticket. I am flying to Astana on August 20, 2019. The flight from MCI to EXR on 8/19 is paid for with Untied Frequent Flyer miles. The flight from JFK to Astana on 8/20 is paid for with Capital One Venture miles. I need to get a hotel room in NYC for the night of 8/19.
The plan is for Tanya to meet me in Istanbul somewhere in the October 10-12 range for 7-10 days. We haven’t booked that yet. Prices were high and Istanbul is slightly unstable. We felt it might be best to wait a bit. Plan B would be Athens. Plan C….
I am also considering buying a return flight for December so that I have some structure.
This brings up an argument that I think about a lot (all credit to Jon Stewart). Structure vs. Freedom. It seems like this trip is all about freedom — that freedom will unleash some creativity that is pent up inside of me. That’s probably not the case. Jon Stewart said in an interview that he believed structure was important, without it people floundered. When there was a deadline, you had to focus.
I am not sure what I am focusing on yet, but the structure of knowing when I am leaving, know when the midpoint is (Istanbul) and knowing the when/where of the end, may be beneficial.
I think freedom is best for big picture strategic thinking. That’s when thinking outside the box is important.
Structure is best for the nuts and bolts tactical doing. That’s when the box is a benefit.
Taking a year off is getting closer to being a reality. i have set a date to leave my job and started putting together an itinerary and a plan for things I need to do to make it a reality.
Last Day at work: August 2,2019
Itinerary (Loose): Leave for Astana, Kazakhstan mid-late August 2019. Travel from Astana to Almaty via train. From Almaty, travel overland into Kyrgyzstan with plans to visit Karakol and Bishkek and possibly Osh. From Kyrgyzstan to Uzbekistan. Must see places in Uzbekistan are Tashkent (capital and the subway) then to Samarkand, Bukhara and Khiva. To exit Uzbekistan, I could possibly fly from Tashkent or take the train into western Kazakhstan. The train would take me through Nukus and an important art museum. Exiting into Kazakhstan to the city of Aktau. From Aktau, I would cross the Caspian to Baku by either sea or fly.
Baku is the capital of Azerbaijan. From Azerbaijan, I would continue on to Georgia and Armenia. Ultimately, I plan to be in Istanbul by October 12, 2019. I will Spend a week in Istanbul with Tanya. She will fly back on October 19, and I will continue on. At this point in the trip, the schedule becomes murkier. As the weather will be getting colder, I will probably want to stay closer to the Mediterranean and possibly head to the Middle East or Africa. If the weather is warmer, I could stay in the Balkans or Europe. I plan to head back to the US for Christmas.
Shortly after the new year, Tanya and I will head to Southeast Asia for six months.
As for the ever growing to-do list:
Taxes: 3/15/19
Fix Computer: 3/30/19. Done 2/28/19
Apply for at least one new credit card. Done, but let’s keep going. Scam the system
Sell 209B: listed today.
Finalize packing list: 7/1/19
Buy plane ticket: 6/5/19. Done 3/15/19
Book Istanbul: 6/5/19
Book Hotel in Astana: 6/5/19
Apply for Uzbek Visa: 7/1/19
Apply for Azeri evisa: 8/1/19
Apply for Turkey visas: 8/1/19
Mail service: 5/1/19
House sitter: 6/1/19
Resign from Rimkus: 6/1/19
141: Finalize deal with Brady and Lydia. They are staying. We gave them a $50/month rent reduction in exchange for their managing it themselves. Need to work on the details.
Learn Russian: started Pimsleur and it will be ongoing.
Research travel insurance
Fix kitchen sink
Finish downstairs room
In 2010, Mark Zuckerberg gave $100M to Newark public schools. At the time he said that Newark had the worst schools in the nation. His gift would establish a foundation to improve schools in the city. Setting aside the fact that it hasn’t gone as planned, who had the second worst public schools and what did they get?
The problem with private enterprise is that it is continually fixated on winners and losers. Being the worst gets attention, being second worst is just first loser. A similar phenomena is at work in medicine where some diseases are sexy and get lots of funding — often because a celebrity of family/friend of a celebrity was afflicted (Muscular Dystrophy comes to mind) or because of the body part (breast cancer). Fortunately, these diseases get a lot of funding and strides have been made in their treatment/cure. Less well-known diseases often struggle to find funding.
These situations are where the government comes in. The government evens the playing field and gives the participation trophies (funding) to these other areas that wouldn’t otherwise get it. They also fund the well-funded areas. It’s really a pretty efficient system.
We took our long-planned trip to Hawaii from January 11 through 21. As it was an expensive trip by our standards, we wanted to cram a lot into it. The statistics:
Islands: 3 (Oahu, Hawaii, Kauai)
AirBnBs: 2 (Honolulu and Kona)
Hotels: 3 (Volcano Village, Lanai, Honolulu)
Total Cost: $4,740.00 (Accommodations = $1,047; Food = $1129; Transportation = $1,847; Entertainment= $49; Miscellaneous = $668)
That total takes into account that Tanya’s flight was a frequent flyer ticket and mine was deeply discounted due to a voucher. We also spent an additional $511 to island hop on Hawaiian Airlines. A rental car is a near necessity and probably cheaper than a succession of Ubers.
We had only two moderately expensive meals, both on the big island. The first cost $120 and we took some friends out that we had met up with. The other was just a nice restaurant. Taking out how much we spent on shave ice and fruit and water and malasadas, our meal cost was about $710, or about $13.50/meal/person. Some of our most expensive meals were breakfasts at a place called Cinnamons. The rest of the the time, we tried to eat local. We ate poke several times, loco moco, Thai and Vietnamese, and seafood.
As for accommodations, we tend to favor AirBnB over hotels. Having said that, AirBnB did not have a lot available when we were going. The most expensive place we stayed was the last night at the Courtyard Waikiki for $230, including valet parking. All others were under $100/night.
Of course, you can always wring some costs out of miscellaneous expenses as we bought water shoes and a few shirts and various other things.
Overall, this trip: the intro to Hawaii, there's not much i would change. I wish we would have gotten on the water (our Napoli cost boat tour was cancelled due to weather).
What would we do next time? I think we would probably stay on Oahu. Explore Honolulu and the cultural attractions. I think we would get out on the water. I would love to try sea kayaking or a catamaran. I would also take a surfing lesson if the weather and my nerve held.
What did we do?
Day 1 Oahu: Drove to Sandy Beach for the sunrise. From there, we continued around Oahu, stopping at a variety of beaches and roadside stands. This took all day. At sunset, we were on Waikiki.
Day 2 Oahu: Drove to Lanikai Beach for sunrise, then breakfast and a Farmers Market. We hiked Waimea Falls and then Diamond Head.
Day 3 Hawaii: We flew to Hawaii, landed in Kona and drove to Hilo for lunch. We then drove to Volcanoes National Park. With the government shutdown and eruption, we could see everything that was open in the afternoon. Dinner in a forgettable Thai restaurant.
Day 4 Hawaii: Drove to the black sand beach for sunrise, then breakfast at the southermost restaurant in the US (according to the sign). We hiked to the green sand beach. Not worth the arduous trek in questionable footwear in my opinion. And on to the AirBnB in Kona.
Day 5 Hawaii: Captain Cook in the morning. A state park beach after lunch.
Day 6 Kauai: We flew to Kauai and drove out to Hanalei. It rained, so we didn’t do much other than drive. We bought the famed Sugarloaf Pineapple (aka the $16 pineapple) and stayed at the Tiptop Motor Lodge.
Day 7 Kauai: Our Napoli boat tour was cancelled. We drove to Waimea Canyon, stopping at overlooks and hiking along the way. We continued on to the Napoli coast and did some hiking.
Day 8 Oahu: We flew back to Oahu and went to the north shore and just messed around, explored Honolulu.
Day 9 Oahu: We drove around Oahu andHonolulu, up into the mountains and around the University. We flew out that night.
Caleb the Doberman (January 2007-December 2018) passed away unexpectedly from a heart sarcoma tonight.
Our beloved friend, companion and nemesis completed his three mile walk down Mass this morning after breakfast.
I don’t really have words for what he meant to us. He was a singular character and could be the biggest pain in the ass. He also brought so much joy. He had a zest for life, a love of food, and a loving spirit.
We often said he would live 28 years and spontaneously combust in the living room. Of course, we knew that wouldn’t happen, but it was still a shock.
I don’t often contemplate heaven, but if there is such a place, Caleb will fill it with joy. So, tonight we eat pizza and raise a slice to our friend. We love you and miss you. Please, keep him in your heart. He was really a good boy.
