![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Home again, home again, jiggity-jig. Or more accurately "the third day in a row I've taken off work." Yesterday I thought I might have turned the corner, although I couldn't put in a full day. Today I realized in the parking lot that just getting to work had taken everything I had... I flailed for an hour and headed home again, where I went down like a clubbed seal. I'm just oozing back to an approximation of life right now.
I've sent regrets to the gamers I'm supposed to be with tomorrow. I don't have the energy; they don't want to have what I've got.
This is the last weekend before Italy and I don't have shoes, I don't have firm plans, and I don't have the ability to breathe or stay awake longer than about three hours in a row. If I was capable of feeling anything other than exhaustion, I'd be alarmed right now.
I have no idea how I'm going to handle the time change. I was going to try to shift my hours closer to their time like I did for the London trip (with exceptions for fall premieres and Yarn Harlot) but that went by the wayside as soon as I got sick; getting up at 3 in the morning would have done me no favors.
There is a certain sense of impending doom.
While I am awake, I'm pondering the continuing clearout. As in, if I'd been steadily clearing out the desk in my bedroom, I wouldn't have been reduced to pawing through detritus to see if I could find the charging cord for my camera (no, but I do have the battery charger).
And I'm pondering the camera itself. I know it looks like I charge into things, but before I lay a lot of money down, I do spend a certain amount of time assessing what I want, what I need, and what I can do with things. When I buy something big and expensive, I only want to buy *one.* The free second iPod was nice but the first one still is still my main one. The Palm Pilot I bought nigh onto a decade ago is still going. I'm going to use this computer and my car until they both die and then some... I've got a spare laptop upstairs that has a broken keyboard but I'm hanging onto Just In Case.
And yet, I recently bought a new alarm clock, and y'know what? It's much nicer and more powerful than the old one. It has features that didn't exist when I bought the old one. And it is rapidly proving worth its price because those features are so helpful.
The reason this is coming up is that when I went for a digital camera, I did it the "this is the one and only one I'll need" way. I have a very nice camera, two batteries for it (I don't like messing with chargers when I travel, especially overseas; I want to be able to pop in another battery and go), two spare memory chips, a reader for said chips, etc. Top of the line.
And yet... it was bought back when digital cameras were relatively new, which means that while it is a perfectly good camera, there are others on the market now that have features that didn't exist when I bought this one. Features that I rather think I'd like to have.
The practical "use it up/wear it out/make it do/or do without" mentality is clashing with the equally practical, "Look, technology becomes obsolete and it's no sin to acknowledge that what was once a prime piece of equipment is now a comparative kluge factory" mentality.
And why yes, I am looking at digital cameras under the membership rewards. Like the second iPod, it's not extravagant if I'm getting it for "free."
In the meantime, I may balance the wish to take pictures in Italy vs the fear of things being stolen and take the also nice, useful, and still functioning analog 35-mm camera...
I've sent regrets to the gamers I'm supposed to be with tomorrow. I don't have the energy; they don't want to have what I've got.
This is the last weekend before Italy and I don't have shoes, I don't have firm plans, and I don't have the ability to breathe or stay awake longer than about three hours in a row. If I was capable of feeling anything other than exhaustion, I'd be alarmed right now.
I have no idea how I'm going to handle the time change. I was going to try to shift my hours closer to their time like I did for the London trip (with exceptions for fall premieres and Yarn Harlot) but that went by the wayside as soon as I got sick; getting up at 3 in the morning would have done me no favors.
There is a certain sense of impending doom.
While I am awake, I'm pondering the continuing clearout. As in, if I'd been steadily clearing out the desk in my bedroom, I wouldn't have been reduced to pawing through detritus to see if I could find the charging cord for my camera (no, but I do have the battery charger).
And I'm pondering the camera itself. I know it looks like I charge into things, but before I lay a lot of money down, I do spend a certain amount of time assessing what I want, what I need, and what I can do with things. When I buy something big and expensive, I only want to buy *one.* The free second iPod was nice but the first one still is still my main one. The Palm Pilot I bought nigh onto a decade ago is still going. I'm going to use this computer and my car until they both die and then some... I've got a spare laptop upstairs that has a broken keyboard but I'm hanging onto Just In Case.
And yet, I recently bought a new alarm clock, and y'know what? It's much nicer and more powerful than the old one. It has features that didn't exist when I bought the old one. And it is rapidly proving worth its price because those features are so helpful.
The reason this is coming up is that when I went for a digital camera, I did it the "this is the one and only one I'll need" way. I have a very nice camera, two batteries for it (I don't like messing with chargers when I travel, especially overseas; I want to be able to pop in another battery and go), two spare memory chips, a reader for said chips, etc. Top of the line.
And yet... it was bought back when digital cameras were relatively new, which means that while it is a perfectly good camera, there are others on the market now that have features that didn't exist when I bought this one. Features that I rather think I'd like to have.
The practical "use it up/wear it out/make it do/or do without" mentality is clashing with the equally practical, "Look, technology becomes obsolete and it's no sin to acknowledge that what was once a prime piece of equipment is now a comparative kluge factory" mentality.
And why yes, I am looking at digital cameras under the membership rewards. Like the second iPod, it's not extravagant if I'm getting it for "free."
In the meantime, I may balance the wish to take pictures in Italy vs the fear of things being stolen and take the also nice, useful, and still functioning analog 35-mm camera...
no subject
Ok, let's see if I can help any with the impending sense of doom. Because travel is definitely a subject that I know something about.
1)Shoes- comfort over style, every time. I paid an outrageous amount for some SoftWalks for my last trip to Europe (although I bought them on ebay, of all places, and paid a heckuva lot less than retail.) Worth every cent and then some.
2)Jet lag- do everything you can to sleep some on the plane. I recommend asking your Doctor for a prescription sleep aid like Ambien- for the plane and the trip. I don't even wait until after food service- it takes hours and the food really isn't worth waiting for anyhow. Let the Flight Attendants know you won't be eating (so they don't wake you up to ask) put on a sleep mask and some ear plugs, take the pills and veg. I have difficulty sleeping even in my own bed at the best of times, but even just a foggy state of relaxation is better than keeping your brain semi-active talking, reading, watching movies.
When you arrive it will probably be early morning there- the temptation is to check in to the hotel and take a nap. This is unwise. Push yourself, relying on excitement of where you are, to keep going all day to as close to a reasonable bedtime locally as you can. Then, if you need to take another sleep aid (you probably won't) and by the next day your internal clock will be mostly reset.
There are homeopathic pills called "No Jet-Lag" that help a lot, too. We had ten people from age 25-75, all who followed this plan were adjusted by the second day. Works coming home, too.
Staying well hydrated is vital to your body coping, as well.
no subject
That said- should be an amazing trip, you deserve amazing pictures.
When shopping for a digital camera, read the reviews.
Higher megapixel doesn't always equate higher quality images.
Digital zoom is worse than useless. Only pay attention to the true optical zoom factor.
Image stabilization is a fantastic feature.
Pocket sized tripods are wonderful, but I won't travel without my collapsing monopod. It's also great as a walking stick on uneven ground or if you reached the point of exhaustion (and people have been known to be more polite and helpful when you're leaning heavily on a walking stick... with my arthritis I couldn't travel without it.) Big metal stick might even help deter thieves.
Theft is a concern, especially in big cities, most especially Rome. If your camera has a prominent name brand on it, a small piece of black tape makes it look more generic. Be alert at all times, thieves are looking for distracted weary tourists. Pacsafe makes some amazing theft-resistant products. The MetroSafe 200 can be worn as a handbag or on a belt, is the perfect size to hold camera, purse essentials, small guidebooks (Rick Steves rocks) travel umbrella and a snack. It has wire mesh lining in the case and the strap so it can't be cut, and tons of amazing safety features. I don't leave home without their theft proof camera strap. Buy it on eBay, resell it when you get home. I am such a cheapskate, and people never believe how cheaply I travel- but I consider PacSafe products as insurance I can't live without. Consider how much more it would hurt to have your camera, wallet, passport stolen.
Common sense is the best protection available. Many a tourist seems to leave it at home.
Ok. So, what part of Italy? Do you speak any Italian? Or Spanish?
no subject
It's a Tauk tour; the link is somewhere earlier here under the travel tag. Mostly Rome and Amalfi coast. No, I don't speak Italian (or Spanish) and although I have "learn Italian" tapes that I haven't listened to, I've asked for the phrases that I've most needed in other countries and expect, between the tour and my few words and expansive gestures, to get by. Worked in France and Germany!
The problem with shoes is that I have very hard-to-fit feet; my plan had been to buy shoes by now and break them in on the treadmill, as I am also pretty much out of decent shoes, period. Looks like I'm going to be going in a pair of battered boots and even more battered junglemocs, which are not at all stylish, but won't look *too* heinous with my skirts... and are fabulous walking shoes. I've never heard of Softwalk, but I'm going to google them now.
I can usually sleep on a plane unless (as on the way to England) there's a kid doing the "MOMMY! MOMMY! MOMMY!" thing for hours on end. But it's not peaceful sleep, so I'll eat if I'm awake and then drift off again.
I grab the tour bus first thing and they haul us halfway across Italy. I have no option to check in right away; my body is going to tell me if I nap or not at that point!
I have assorted "under the clothing" pouches and pockets where everything important is going to be - and one of the ideas for the camera was to see if I could get one of the micro-minis and shove it down my cleavage! (That is not what's going to happen.) For my knitting and my day's shopping, I have a 50-cent purse bought at a yard sale that can be knifed, stolen or otherwise molested without giving me too much grief. I hope.