J and I have been experiencing some serious karma lately - only the really good and the really bad. Interestingly, all the good stuff is happening in relation to our trip and all the bad stuff is happening here on the homefront. Which way does the scale tip towards? You decide for yourself. The Bad
- The water heater in our condo broke after 8 years (since the building opened). Due to the special nature of how our building was constructed, the cost will be $3600 to replace it. In comparison, the average cost to replace a water heater is less than 1K.
- Our 50" Sony Rear-Projection LCD TV (bought in time for the 2004 Summer Olympics) broke a few days ago. The $350+ 4-year warranty we splurged for expired this past June.
- My 2004 Mazda3 needs all 4 tires replaced.
- I accidentally dropped and broke J's perfectly functioning, mint condition Canon SD400 a few months ago
The Good
- IL is starting her job at MS conveniently around the same we're leaving for our trip and has agreed to house-sit for us
- We were able to buy significantly cheaper plane tickets in Vancouver instead of flying to London thanks to loopholes regarding Canada (see Loopholes and Canada post)
- There is a South America cruise that sails conveniently between where we'll be staying (Buenos Aires) and city that we need to depart from to get to Sydney (Santiago)
- Our timeframe for Taiwan matches up nicely with VVolfii's, J's sister, spring break
- Our timeframe for London coincides with a 3-day weekend which allows us to explore an additional city that we didn't intend to stop at.
- Our trip to Vancouver was a complete success (including the unanticipated and miraculous finding of an open Nexus office on a Sunday which helped us avoid a 2+ hour wait at the border). Prior to this trip, Vancouver/Whistler roadtrips have always without fail been plagued with at least one of the following: a serious argument in the car with no where to hide, a troubled phone call from a family member making us pull over at a rest area for a couple of hours before we cross the border so that we don't have to pay roaming charges, a flat tire, an avalanche, an empty car battery, a spin-out on the highway into a ditch on the other side of the road OR a record-setting/car-stranding snowstorm. At this point, J & I are so excited about our trip that we have tunnel vision set on our departure date. Nothing else seems to phase us that much. Let's hope the good karma for the trip continues. *knock on wood*
- The water heater in our condo broke after 8 years (since the building opened). Due to the special nature of how our building was constructed, the cost will be $3600 to replace it. In comparison, the average cost to replace a water heater is less than 1K.
- Our 50" Sony Rear-Projection LCD TV (bought in time for the 2004 Summer Olympics) broke a few days ago. The $350+ 4-year warranty we splurged for expired this past June.
- My 2004 Mazda3 needs all 4 tires replaced.
- I accidentally dropped and broke J's perfectly functioning, mint condition Canon SD400 a few months ago
The Good
- IL is starting her job at MS conveniently around the same we're leaving for our trip and has agreed to house-sit for us
- We were able to buy significantly cheaper plane tickets in Vancouver instead of flying to London thanks to loopholes regarding Canada (see Loopholes and Canada post)
- There is a South America cruise that sails conveniently between where we'll be staying (Buenos Aires) and city that we need to depart from to get to Sydney (Santiago)
- Our timeframe for Taiwan matches up nicely with VVolfii's, J's sister, spring break
- Our timeframe for London coincides with a 3-day weekend which allows us to explore an additional city that we didn't intend to stop at.
- Our trip to Vancouver was a complete success (including the unanticipated and miraculous finding of an open Nexus office on a Sunday which helped us avoid a 2+ hour wait at the border). Prior to this trip, Vancouver/Whistler roadtrips have always without fail been plagued with at least one of the following: a serious argument in the car with no where to hide, a troubled phone call from a family member making us pull over at a rest area for a couple of hours before we cross the border so that we don't have to pay roaming charges, a flat tire, an avalanche, an empty car battery, a spin-out on the highway into a ditch on the other side of the road OR a record-setting/car-stranding snowstorm. At this point, J & I are so excited about our trip that we have tunnel vision set on our departure date. Nothing else seems to phase us that much. Let's hope the good karma for the trip continues. *knock on wood*