Supplies

I was at the office again all day in preparation stages. I left early to cash in my trip funds and then run around to gear myself up for my stint in Mexico.
The funding and accounting system for the company is rather archaic – basically we are given a check for the estimated cost of the trip we are about to lead. Then it is up to each individual leader to decide how they are going to use it – cash, traveler’s checks, deposit it and use debit card, use credit cards and pay it off in big chunks, etc. Then we everytime we spend the money we have to keep receipts and record it all by hand on weekly accounting sheets. Then at the end of the trip, total all the weekly accounts and come up with a trip total that shows how much we actually spent and helps the accounting people at the office come up with average totals for each trip. If you don’t keep up on your accounts weekly, it can turn into a wad of receipts and vague remembrances of expenditures. Usually you are the one losing out if you don’t keep up on it. So, as I was saying, today I geared up. I went to Target, REI and Trader Joes (to pick up the goods that I can’t find south of the Border). I spent a lot of time (and money) getting all the goods that I need to set me up for the season: hefty Rubbermaid containers to store food and gear, a bocce ball set (Eddie Bauer championship edition), a blender (necessary for brewin’ up some daddy Margaritas and Pina Coladas), socks, a coffee press, the Seinfeld DVDs (Seasons 1-3), a Leatherman (always wanted one), package of 5 Hanes white crew neck and wife-beater shirts, miscellaneous office supplies, power converter for cigarette lighter so I can plug in sockets (for phone chargers, my laptop, plugging in my Christmas lights that are strung up around the van), Tupperware, a garlic press, UNO card game, all the non-perishable food goods that I need, a cribbage board, a box for my spices, etc…
Night cap – a bottle of red, Japanese food and a heaping steamer of reality TV.