In less than a week I will be out of the cold and into the hot. I'm off to Mexico for a shorter trip than my norm, but longer than a vacation. Maybe a month; maybe longer.
I have way too many clothes ready to pack, as usual. I have never, and will never, get this packing stuff right. Mostly I think that I am so thrilled to be able to wear the clothes I have had packed for a year and a half, that I can't decide which is truly essential.
Now the problem is to find that ratty suitcase that I stored somewhere in the house. There aren't that many places that I could have stowed it, but it seems to be lost. I have a vague memory of giving/lending it to someone but have no idea who. I don't have that many friends so I should just call them all up. Otherwise, it is off to buy something tomorrow. I don't like traveling with new, pristine luggage. It screams 'rip me off'. And any thieves would be sorely disappointed at the choice of thrift store, used clothing that they would encounter.
Granted, I was none too pleased when something must have run over my new suitcase while I was on a trip inside Vietnam. It broke the handle, bent the frame, and left greasy tire marks on the side. I guess maybe I do need a new one.
More from Mexico
Kate
11 November 2009
05 November 2009
New License
I got my new driver's license in the mail yesterday. Looks just like the one I got five years ago. This bothers me. I mean it's a great picture; I made sure of that last time I was in DMV to renew my license. Now that it is all digitally done, I take a peek before I let the clerk hit the send button that whisks it off to Sacramento. One time I even made them take a second shot. Granted, I usually do end up with decent photos, but it is done with careful planning of clothing and jewelry, a fair amount of make-up, and at least 5 days of practicing in front of the mirror so that I have the perfect smile burned into the neural pathways.
I always get the option of renewing by mail, but usually opt to go in, (and I think pay more), to get a new picture. I sort of like to look like the person that is on the license. I couldn't be bothered with even finding out if that is allowable this time, so just sent in the check and got a duplicate of my last license with new expiration dates. Now I think I may have made an error in judgment.
After a lifetime of blonde, I am now auburn. I have finally owned up to the fact that I am not really 5'5". I used to be 5'4 3/4", or something like that. I am now officially 5'4" but that is not reflected on my license. The weight is within a kilo so that's no big deal. The main thing though, is that I am five years older and in five years, when the current one expires, I will be ten years older than the picture.
The last few years of presenting my good-for-ten-years passport was pretty humiliating. Comments like "what happened to you. You used to be so pretty!" Or, "This must have been taken when you were very young", do not help one's self image. The last time I left an overseas locale to return to the US, the Vietnamese boarder agent kept looking at the blonde in the passport without glasses, back to the bespeckled redhead, and finally just shook his head and waved me through.
I really am happy with the way I look, so it's not like I mind getting older. But I do think identity cards should reflect the person they represent.
Kate
I always get the option of renewing by mail, but usually opt to go in, (and I think pay more), to get a new picture. I sort of like to look like the person that is on the license. I couldn't be bothered with even finding out if that is allowable this time, so just sent in the check and got a duplicate of my last license with new expiration dates. Now I think I may have made an error in judgment.
After a lifetime of blonde, I am now auburn. I have finally owned up to the fact that I am not really 5'5". I used to be 5'4 3/4", or something like that. I am now officially 5'4" but that is not reflected on my license. The weight is within a kilo so that's no big deal. The main thing though, is that I am five years older and in five years, when the current one expires, I will be ten years older than the picture.
The last few years of presenting my good-for-ten-years passport was pretty humiliating. Comments like "what happened to you. You used to be so pretty!" Or, "This must have been taken when you were very young", do not help one's self image. The last time I left an overseas locale to return to the US, the Vietnamese boarder agent kept looking at the blonde in the passport without glasses, back to the bespeckled redhead, and finally just shook his head and waved me through.
I really am happy with the way I look, so it's not like I mind getting older. But I do think identity cards should reflect the person they represent.
Kate
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