Minor things for the week

L is.. well, I don't know what his current state is.  Last I heard, he was being put up at a motel by a charity, but that theoretically ends Monday.  We're hanging out tomorrow, so if he doesn't have a place yet, I expect to get harangued all night.  It won't change my answer any, but it may be the last time we hang out if he doesn't give it a rest: I'm willing to put up with someone being unpleasant to be around, but I'm not willing to spend hours being harassed.

Booked a weekend camping trip in a few weeks.  Going with the hiking group out to the desert, so that should be fun: I've been wanting to do star shots out there anyway, and this is a good trip to be my inaugural with them.  Also, my friend D is coming (his husband may not be able to get time off of work), and it'll be his first camping trip in ages too.  We're going to carpool out there.

It does mean I need to get a few things.  Like, I don't have a solar shower yet, so that's one thing; I found a pump one that looks cool but is kind of expensive, but I think I can afford it.  I'm also thinking about getting a smaller tent, since I need one for backpacking anyway.  That would be expensive, so I have to consider it carefully, but putting out a 6-man tent for myself, especially if it's colder temps, is probably a bad idea (D is taking his own).  I also want to grab a couple of those pocket warmer things just in case, but those are cheap.

Oh, I got a 3.4% raise for work.  It'll probably end up being an extra $40 a week, give or take, which will pay for the rent increase I got and then some (not much, but some).  That kicks in Monday, so I won't see anything from it until the end of the month due to pay cycles, but it's still nice.  Apparently, that's the maximum raise the company is giving out this year; I got the maximum last year, too (3% then).

I also get my pay-out from unspent holiday pay next Friday; that should be ~$470.  I suppose I could use that for camping stuff, but I originally going to put that towards other things.  We'll see how my pocketbook looks after this weekend.

My appointment with the MD to talk about PrEP is on Monday.  I've gotten all my test results back; nothing seems odd to me except that my Hepatitis B vaccination apparently never took (I guess you need multiple shots; I only ever got one).  So, I'll probably be getting that vaccine here too shortly.  But I don't think there's anything to stop me from going on the meds starting Monday.  This will be interesting.

In a random note, the gym at my apartment put in a new machine downstairs; we had one of those multi-function stations, but this one is all pulley-based.  I haven't used the weights down there in ages (I have free weights in my apartment and generally only use the treadmill in the gym), but I might try the new thing out to see how well it works.