Blud

I dragged Mr. Hugo to la Cruja Roja today. It was gonna be a fun "together" activity. I was so happy to have finally convinced him to give blood. (This took several months of work) And what happens when we get there??

No, he didn't wimp out; he bravely went forward to face the needle. But me? I get rejected!!

Grrr...! I was SO disappointed. Instead of losing a pint, I picked up an adorable shirt, the new pin for '05, and got to watch Hugo endure his first time at the needle. Lucky for him, he apparently has gigantic veins that have just been dying for a needle. It seemed easy work for the nurse, but then, they are professionals. We will skip the details on the story, for personal reasons, but I will go ahead and say he got it all in the first attempt. Mayhaps he will be brave enough and bold enough for a return trip in August?

The holiday weekend was great. Weatherwise, no, but, I got to see some family. My paternal family is so wildly different from my maternal family... It's amazing. Mind-blowing sometimes. But it cranks up the adventure scale and keeps things fresh. I smoked my first cigar there, with my family all puffing on a Stogie of their own. Yes, mum too. It must've made an odd scene, which, thinking on it now, I'm sorry we didn't get a group shot. Just a bunch of individual pics. Darn.

Mmmm.... Ass.

I feel like ass today. This evening, to be specific. I was up early and out the door to visit the north side (aka. the 'nice side') of D-Town. I had an interview, which I think means I have a job. My dad totally got it for me, but, you know, it's gonna be fun and I'm jazzed. And it's a job that pays. Money. Income. American currency. It is an office of younger folk, pretty casual (I felt way over-dressed in my lame 'office wear'), and the 2 I talked with were super nice. Plus, there is a fancy coffee maker there. Oh yea, sign me up!

I think it's gonna be a mostly-from-home job, with a weekly visit. That's fab, as it's an hour ride up there. So, techinically, I can go to work naked. Neat, eh? Things may change...

From there, I went to the eye-ball doc, found out that even cheap-ass looking glasses are too expensive and also found out my prescription hasn't changed since Aug, which is very good. Decision A: is it worth 40 extra for polarized sunglasses? Decision B: should I even try to get schnazzy frames for those sunglasses, or just go with tolerable and inexpensive ones? Decision C: should I risk taking my nice, plastic-framed glasses to Africa, knowing they may break, melt, or just deform, in order to save a hundred bucks? Comments are encouraged!! My very-own web designer is creating my comment section, so look for that soon. In the meantime, you might have my email.

Back in the USofA

No one can see my titles anymore... but that's okay; I know they are there.

I'm back in the home land. Got in late Monday after a wretched flying fiasco. Jenn and I slept in the Madrid airport, since it seemed it would be impossible to get to the airport at 5a. (Metro didn't start till 6:30a, no busses running, taxis too costly, walking would SUCK.) Sleeping, really, is just the phrase. We didn't. We each had some time to nap on the cold, hard nasty tile floor, but then just sat in the cafeteria talking, watching, and eating the last of our carry-on.

We saw some bad things in that airport cafeteria.

The flight, scheduled to leave at 7:30a, left at 9a, eating up the hour and a half layover we should have had in Brussels, Belgium. France threw a tantrum and all the civil workers took a day off. Control tower employees count as civil workers. Iberia air landed us in Brussels at 11.05a. The connection that about 10 of us had was at 11.05a. No one at Iberia did anything to help, so we got to walk allllllll the way across this stupid-ass airport, trying to find the ticket counters. The Iberia counter had a total of 1 person there, and he was apparently a moron. An hour later, Jenn and I were rebooked.

Must've been back in that line, you think? Nooooo. We were first in line. A & B. 1 & 2. And it took an hour.

Jenn went to Amsterdam, then to her home destination on KLM. I got to go to London, then Washington, Dulles, then my home destination. Thankfully, the first two were on British, and they are a fabulous airline. Good food, free alcohol, Great staff... Absolutely pay a little extra to get British!!

Later I might actually write about the trip. Imagine!

Im in a warm little internet cafe that cost way more than advertised outside. Whatever. The party-place hostel that I am in uses the computer for music and movies, so they dont have to go outside and see the light. Meaning, no free internet as advertised. Note: avoid hostels that offer free beer and wine, unless a heavy partier, someone with a Lot of time, or you sleep through tornadoes.

Florence has been great. We are leaving this afternoon for Venice, for a day and a half or so. One night only, I hope, as it is quite expensive. Then Milan, France, and finally: Spain!

It all has been extremely interesting here, with lots of chaos and drama. Grin and bear it. Thats all you can do.

italy 1

From Rome:

Naples sucks, dont go there. Go south, were it is all much more beautiful. Indeed. Warm, sunny, getting some burns, in spite of the block. Saw some beautiful things, done some groovy things, etc.

Travelling at night is a BAD idea. Why? You cant see where you are going. Wheres my stop? Not sure, cant see. Ask? Well... when you meet a fellow who speaks french, italian, and arabic but NOT spanish or english, its rather hard to ask. Not for lack of trying. So, that has been quite the adventure. Been lost a few times already, too, but I dont always see that as terrible. Depends on how hungry you are and how bad you want to get somewhere. Deadlines suck.

But I am rather tired from all of this and need to get some major sleep. Ciao.