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Madrid
Today's troubleshooting agenda includes solving my backpack problem.
First I checked out new backpacks to replace the one with the severed
grommets (the airline baggage guerillas accidentally ripped them out
in transit!). That route was much too expensive. Then I went to a tailor/cobbler
shop, but they couldn't fix it until Thursday mdash; too late. Then
I decided to sew the grommets on myself. I'm a sailor from way back
so I should be able to attach a metal hole to a canvas bag. So —
I went to a women's dry goods shop where I got personal attention from
the women clerks trying to buy heavy duty thread and a 4" curved
needle. The women wanted me to have yellow (amarillo) to match the pack
but I wanted just plain black (negro). I didn't care what it looks like.
(Dennis, it really looks pretty good and it's stronger now. (The borrowed
pack belongs to my friend Dennis. Guess I'll have to get him a new one
when I get back!) ¡No soy un sastre (tailor) pero soy
un marinero (sailor)!
Jeremy, my phone connection guy, finally came about 10:00 p.m. to deliver
my European-compatible cell phone and get my electronic equipment set
up. (I found Jeremy on the Internet. He's a New Yorker conducting business
in Spain for about seven years. He was very accommodating and a very
funny fellow. We really hit it off.)
We tried to set up my electronic stuff, but couldn't because the disks
he had were 3-inch floppies while my computer only has a CD reader!
I had left the floppy attachment at home because usually these days
software programs is on CDs. Everything is on CD! — except in Spain.
He left promising to return tomorrow with the CD to set up my temporary
internet connection.
Today has really been frustrating!! I can't reach my home phone due
to Verizon's Call Intercept service — it uses the # key after the
PIN number to facilitate long distance calls. This # key on this phone
isn't working here for some reason.
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