I was always planning to take a week of annual leave in conjunction with this trip. That is standard practice when you live so far from freinds and family. If the Government is paying for the trip anyway then you take some personal time to make the most of it. So now I'll take 8 days instead of 5 days and arrive in the Washington area on Thursday. I'll stay with my nephew and go up to the Getaway on Friday. Somehow I'll have to find my daughter and get her there too but those are details that can be worked out later.

I hope the fact that I'll be out of the office until November won't cut into the boss's decision to let me go to Australia later that month.