A History of Traveling

Many people ask me “Damon, how do you stay so calm about all this?”  The answer is simple.  Life is full of turmoil.  I learned many years ago to take everything with a grain of salt.  It can always be better.  It can always be worse.  Everything which will ever happen to anyone is somewhere in the middle of the road.  My goal is to not hit a curb; as least not too hard.

Traveling is a grand example.  It has never been a lucky proposition for me.  I have traveled many times to many places.  Most (as in more than 51%) have been seamless events.  Many have been borderline disasters.

Many years ago my wife and I traveled to Las Vegas.  At the time we had a cat and two dogs and lived in the country.  The day before we were to leave my daughter’s cat zipped out the door and disappeared in to the forest.  I stayed up all night wandering around the trees searching for that cat.  This was when we lived on my dad’s land so if you know my dad you can imagine the experience.  On another occasion my wife’s dog disappeared.  Both dogs left and only one came back.  We’re pretty sure that the older one ditched the puppy.  Both animals eventually reappeared, but holy he-double chopsticks that hampered the fun of those trips.

Last winter my father-in-law was ill and we had to drive to Houston, Texas.  This was in the winter and we were covered with snow.  That’s not too bad, but then it gets exciting.  April and I are lying in bed trying to sleep before we leave early the next morning.  We’re warm in bed.  The lights are out and about to doze.  Drip.  Drip.  Drip.  Water begins coming through the bedroom ceiling.  Drip-drip becomes a stream.  Then it begins streaming from multiple places in the bedroom and the sun room.  Luckily I have great parents and then handle the clean-up crew while we were gone.

My worst trip ever was in August of 2011.   I arrive in Washington, DC and realize that I left a vital component of my CPAP machine at home.  I can handle that.  I get to the car rental and they hose the reservation which locks up my credit card.  I get the car with a debit card, but that took some wrangling.  Now my hotel reservation is hosed because of the credit card issue.  I pay for one night with cash until my card is resolved, but that was almost all my cash.   I go to Lowes in an attempt to cobble together enough apprentice for my CPAP, but I only succeed in inflating myself with about 40psi, which was not pleasant after the morning I had.  I go to class the next day, which was a great class and guess what happens.  A friggin’ Earth Quake.  Yes, I was in Washington DC of August of 2011 when the big earth quake hit the area.  To make it better I am actually South of Washington even closer to the epicenter.  They evacuate the building and that’s the end of class for the day.  I go to the hotel and I plan to meet a wonderful friend for a quick visit.  I get to the Mall and of course it’s raining.  I buy a jacket at the Smithsonian and my luck has turned because it’s on sale.  Why is it on sale?  Because the somehow one sleeve is like a Chinese finger trap!  The inside is rotated 360 degrees inside the outside if you can imagine that.  I have a wonderful visit with my friend.  We walk about 5 miles in the rain, but it was wonderful walk.   I’ll skip to leaving.  I drive back to Ronald Regan National Airport, which is hard to find, and I check my bags because I deserve a little easy time.  The line is huge I am wearing my favorite traveling cargo pants.  I do something, I forget what, and I rip the seam which holds my zipper in place.  I checked by bag at the gate and therefore  I have nothing.  Awesome.  I spend the next 5 hours holding a laptop in front of me.

I have other stories, but I think lays the framework for my current attitude toward life.

Why does all this come up?  I went down stairs to check some laundry for the trip tomorrow.  I hear drip, drip, drip, which I should NOT be hearing.  I go around the corner and I find water all over the floor.  The drip-pan for the AC is overflowing all over the floor.  Ya.  I am preparing for a nearly week long stay in the hospital for a cancer removal/leg amputation and my AC decides to flood the corner of my laundry room.  I use the shop-vac to clean up the water, clean out the drain and then I setup the dehumidifier.  I called my dad and he’ll watch it for the next few days.

As I said earlier.  “It can always be better.  It can always be worse.  Everything which will ever happen to anyone is somewhere in the middle of the road.  My goal is to not hit a curb; as least not too hard.”