My weekend
Oct. 28th, 2008 05:13 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
wyld_dandelyonLife Ain't Fair. But mostly it works out OK, with good will and elbow grease and the right kind of luck. And the support of friends and family.
OVFF was this weekend, and I wasn’t there. The decision was made long ago; gas and heating costs are way, way up; groceries are up; everything is up except, of course, my salary is about the same. Hotel rooms are expensive, but not nearly as bad as gas for the trip. But this year, instead of sitting around town when all my friends were in Ohio, I ended up driving into Chicago. The Aunt who was a second mother to my sisters, brother, and me, and now to our children, had been in the hospital all week with something they first tried to treat with antibiotics; when that didn’t work, she was scheduled for major surgery for yesterday. So my daughter cancelled her social plans and we drove in to Chicago, to help with a cousin’s birthday party (you can't cancel such things, esp. when the kid just started at a new school) and visit my Aunt both Saturday and Sunday. I made an extra trip Saturday night to take her her mail and her checkbook, so she could pay bills and have one less thing to worry about. I also did a bunch of little things, like cleaning perishables out of her fridge, bringing in plants before the first real freeze, turning down the thermostat, stuff like that, so when my Aunt gets home, it will still be comfortably homey. And I took her absentee ballot application to her. It was good to see her, and spend time talking in person instead of on the phone.
It was also very good to hear, yesterday, that the surgery went a little faster than the doctors had guessed it might, and that things look good. Of course, she’ll be in ICU a while, and we’ll keep worrying about her for some time, but we can hope the worst, of this challenge at least, is behind us.
I wouldn’t have been able to be there if I’d already been in Ohio, so, although I very much miss seeing everyone I’d have seen at the con, it’s just as well I didn’t go this year. It was good to be able to be there for someone who’s always been there for me.
OVFF was this weekend, and I wasn’t there. The decision was made long ago; gas and heating costs are way, way up; groceries are up; everything is up except, of course, my salary is about the same. Hotel rooms are expensive, but not nearly as bad as gas for the trip. But this year, instead of sitting around town when all my friends were in Ohio, I ended up driving into Chicago. The Aunt who was a second mother to my sisters, brother, and me, and now to our children, had been in the hospital all week with something they first tried to treat with antibiotics; when that didn’t work, she was scheduled for major surgery for yesterday. So my daughter cancelled her social plans and we drove in to Chicago, to help with a cousin’s birthday party (you can't cancel such things, esp. when the kid just started at a new school) and visit my Aunt both Saturday and Sunday. I made an extra trip Saturday night to take her her mail and her checkbook, so she could pay bills and have one less thing to worry about. I also did a bunch of little things, like cleaning perishables out of her fridge, bringing in plants before the first real freeze, turning down the thermostat, stuff like that, so when my Aunt gets home, it will still be comfortably homey. And I took her absentee ballot application to her. It was good to see her, and spend time talking in person instead of on the phone.
It was also very good to hear, yesterday, that the surgery went a little faster than the doctors had guessed it might, and that things look good. Of course, she’ll be in ICU a while, and we’ll keep worrying about her for some time, but we can hope the worst, of this challenge at least, is behind us.
I wouldn’t have been able to be there if I’d already been in Ohio, so, although I very much miss seeing everyone I’d have seen at the con, it’s just as well I didn’t go this year. It was good to be able to be there for someone who’s always been there for me.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2008-10-30 01:44 am (UTC)Hm. Hotel cost me well over $300. Staying an extra day was wonderful, but it is costly. Gasoline was $48.23. Two lunches and some snacks during the drives cost roughly half as much as the gasoline. It's just over 1500km (940 miles) round trip. What fuel burn were you expecting for your vehicle?
Wonderful that you could be with your aunt. The filkers, well, just wait and they'll come to a con near you. Some of them you just can't keep at home! Your aunt is more important.
(no subject)
Date: 2008-10-31 11:23 pm (UTC)My point wasn't that hotels are cheap, just that they aren't three times as expensive as they used to be, like gas has been.
Of course, it may also be that it's been long enough since I drove to Ohio that I'm overestimating...but then, I feel "sticker-shock" every time I get my gas credit card bill. Never mind that I always pay those things in full (their interest is usurious), the total always seems dreadfully high even though I've been limiting even in-town driving around.
(no subject)
Date: 2008-11-01 02:45 pm (UTC)For me, summer is bicycling season. Aside from special trips, I've been buying two or three gallons of gasoline every two weeks or so, and paying much more for insurance than fuel. I drive more in the winter, though, and the car is less efficient in the cold.