{"id":1762,"date":"2010-01-28T13:07:00","date_gmt":"2010-01-28T18:07:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dwan.org\/?p=1762"},"modified":"2020-04-12T20:23:57","modified_gmt":"2020-04-13T00:23:57","slug":"reality-sets-in","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dwan.org\/index.php\/2010\/01\/28\/reality-sets-in\/","title":{"rendered":"Reality Sets In"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Well, the rubber is hitting the road already on this trip. We\u2019ve got more donations than we can take directly. Apparently for international flights, you\u2019re allowed two pieces of checked luggage. Nobody on the Jetblue support lines could do anything to alter or modify that. Further, when going to the Dominican Republic \u2013 each of those checked bags can be no more than 50lbs. They have an option<\/em> to allow<\/em> overweight bags \u2013 sometimes \u2013 but since we\u2019ll be taking a taxi to the airport at 5am \u2013 I have no interest in having my stuff turned away and having to leave it at the curb. \u201cNo guarantee\u201d means \u201cno.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Plus, with two 50lb bags apiece \u2013 plus a stuffed carry on \u2013 and I will already be the sort of vulnerable \u2013 unable to run with our own stuff \u2013 losers that I make fun of. So no \u2013 no more bags \u2013 even if I could.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

capital_l<\/a> came over last night and we had a little packing party. We made 3 duffel bags that each weigh about 50lbs. One is solid drugs. The next two are a mix of medical supplies. I spent this morning un-boxing and bundling our pre-cooked Indian lunches and dinners (foil packs that you heat up in boiling water, or eat cold) \u2013 and with just our food for a week, our sleeping bags, and a couple of other essentials (water bottles, camp stove, etc) that last duffel bag is full full full. I still need to look at the clothing situation. I\u2019m thinking underwear, socks, undershirts, and two pairs of cargo pants. I can fit a week\u2019s worth of that \u2013 plus a laptop, plus a satellite uplink (heh) in my carry on (AKA gym bag).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Therefore, I\u2019ll be shipping a couple of decent sized boxes to RDU, and donating a couple more decent sized boxes to Partners in Health. Rest assured, it\u2019s all going down there \u2013 just not in my checked luggage. Triage order goes something like (a) serious drugs (b) medical equipment (c) my food (d) \u2026 well \u2026 um \u2026 \u2018d\u2019 is getting shipped.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With another couple of days of warning, I could have done better. Pisses me off that I *had* those days and didn\u2019t start moving faster \u2013 although I had no idea that we would have so much stuff \u2013 and it all arrived yesterday. Fedex and UPS both ship to Santo Domingo. Right now, I could drop a 50lb box and have it at the hotel by the time we arrive there tomorrow. Price for that privilege? $450. If I had a spare week, it drops below $100.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No, it\u2019s not worth the money. This is the hard calculus. Throwing money in the wrong direction is just as much of a mistake as not giving at all. If you feel tempted to spend that kind of money, please pause and consider what $450 might be able to do in a month or so \u2013 once the real reconstruction begins. We\u2019ve got all the hardcore stuff. What we\u2019re slow-boating is nearly 10,000 over the counter pain pills. Tylenol, Ibuprofen, Aspirin, etc. \u2026 plus stuff that will still be valuable once the amputations are done and the infections have run their course.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is the part where I look at what I\u2019m doing and say \u201cpeople will suffer, and possibly die, who did not need to \u2013 because of my lack of omniscient knowledge of the future.\u201d If I had played this one *perfectly*, there were better moves \u2013 and that would have meant less suffering in the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Live and learn. Self flagellation done. Back in motion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oh yeah, and looking out my window, I see snow. What\u2019s *that* about?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Well, the rubber is hitting the road already on this trip. We\u2019ve got more donations than we can take directly. Apparently for international flights, you\u2019re allowed two pieces of checked luggage. Nobody on the Jetblue support lines could do anything to alter or modify that.…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,51],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1762","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog","category-haiti"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dwan.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1762","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dwan.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dwan.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dwan.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dwan.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1762"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dwan.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1762\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1763,"href":"https:\/\/dwan.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1762\/revisions\/1763"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dwan.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1762"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dwan.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1762"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dwan.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1762"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}