Zimbabwe Trip 4 - Part M

Sunday - May 28, 2006

I discovered that I could use the hotel's business center to access the internet, allowing me to post my Saturday blog entry. It was much more expensive than the shop just outside the hotel though. It did fine in a pinch though.

I proceeded to go up to the rooftop pool at the Meikles, change into my trunks, order some lunch (Greek Salad and water) and lay out. The air was rather chilly, but the sun was bright in a cloudless sky. I soon felt hot, and after I had eaten my salad and rested a bit, I jumped into the pool. The pool was like ice water. However, it did cool me down. I spent about 2 hours in the sun, which garnered me a deep red tone by the end of the day. I always have to remind myself that I'm only 15 degrees from the equator here, winter or no winter. Luckily, though, I do have after sun lotion, and that should help keep me from peeling too badly. At least I can do home with some sun.

My cold continues to linger. Besides a runny rose and sneezing at odd times, I now have a dry cough that pops up now and then. I'm staying on Sudafed to keep from developing a sinus infection, hopefully. I just hope that having a cold and flying back to Atlanta will not bring about vertigo like it did when I came back from Ethiopia last year with a cold.

I intended to work a little on my spreadsheets, but that didn't happen. I snoozed a bit, watched a few movies, and ordered room service for dinner. I did discover that the downside of opening the windows to let cool air into my room is that bugs come in and hover around the lights. I tried spraying my Jungle Juice (100% DEET) around the lights and at the windows to drive away the bugs, and it actually killed some of them. Unfortunately, I wasn't careful about moving things off the side table, and my alarm got drenched. When I tried to wash off the dried DEET, the clock stopped working all together. Luckily, I could program the hotel phone to call me at 6:30am. Otherwise, I would sleep in. No question about that!

My mom called, and she seems to be doing better. She's really not happy with her life or her job. I am out of advice for her. I don't know why she never gets a call back from her applications. I don't know why Georgia jobs won't even talk to her. I wish I had some insight. She's a secretary for crying out loud! I wish she could find a job in a school system again, because I think she happiest there.