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 |   A terminal for all blogs coming in or going out. A view into my life. |
Started July 1st 2019 for contests, etc. as other blogs are filling up and have other purposes.  I'm starting a new blog because
I'll be linking to
I've started an appendix (I no longer have one personally) to keep track of my Space Cadet journals for Space Blog. It's a work constantly under construction. Mind the mess.
I needed to start a folder for contests as there are so many deadlines and details to remember.
  |
 25  I survived my first week in Portugal. The day dawns sunny and chilly. Today is the commemoration of the Carnation Revolution, April 25, 1974. Big celebrations in Lisboa and Porto but here? This is a tourist town. It's Eight-O-Eight and the denizens of the dorm slowly wake. Carmen's in her kitchen opening up the day; breakfast starts at half past the sunny hour. Soon. Talked to Yannick (Holland) about 'governance'. Lay down for awhile. Never a great idea. Now late. Cooling. Saw Andrea who I met in Lisboa. She's staying here.  26  Some rain, some sun. Went to Praia Batata close-by. Sat on the beach, took notes. Good-bye to Raphaela, now Andrea. Lunch with Evelyn. We split a pastel. Bought a bifana downstairs. 2,50 euros. More energy today but now I want to nap.  27 Beautiful morning. Evelen is going to Cabo Sagres. I don't have the energy. Olga leaves for Faro. People come and go. I'm sitting at the round white table looking out at ships. The pink plastic tulips are waving in the breeze. Walked to Praia Meia. No sunscreen but I didn't burn. Long sunny walk to a wide sandy swimming beach.  28 My nerves are going. Computer is acting up. Must makes plans and/or change flights back. I'm glad I booked the first 12 days so I didn't have to think. To all the Dutch: Shimmer of water, white wake of a passing boat, white wings of gulls, white canopies shining in the sun's glare. The palms offer spare shadows at noon, their fronds caressing the breeze and me ... seated behind the window all day, reluctant to leave. Oh where, oh where are the red geraniums hidden, begging me to stay? Lagos, Portugal. Finally got my salada de polvo.  Impossible to chat with Evelyn this evening due to very loud South American men. Portuguese men can be very loud as well. It's as if they only know how to shout.  29 Day of Beauty... tomorrow. Sunny. Sat with Real (Netherlands). We sorted things out. Booked 3 nights in Faro in Faroway. Still taking it slooow. Why I worry about the US: "The result was an ethnic nationalism sanctified by religion as it established a new "holy trinity" of "freedom, order and violence," meted out variously to in-groups and out." Exhausted by walk to/fro to get groceries at Pingo Doce. Lay down. Skipped dinner. Folks drank... a lot.  30 Off to Faro. Staying at Faroway. Caught the train in time at Evelyn's urging. We had pulled pork (dry imho) when we arrived. No problem walking directly to hostel. No upper beds here. We shall see about noise. It's after 3 p.m. so I should take a walk. Ran into Evelyn. Bought fresh squeezed orange juice and ham. Ran into Joao, the owner, too. Watched a bit of a detective movie subtitled in Portuguese. Now I need coffee. M1 Room was very dark and quiet. A surprise. Ate my pasteis de feijao... and coffee. Always coffee. Met a group of Italians that live in Lisboa, two Danes. Watched the swallows swooping. Room tonight: Portuguese, Italian (Brescia), German (East), Norwegian (Oslo). 5 of us. Some folks only stay in Faro for a night to catch the plane back home. Found Hostel Madalena. Nice chat with Adrian. Evelyn invited me out to dinner. She had robalo. I ate cod and shrimp. She leaves tomorrow. 5737 |
 18  Awarm wind. I'm sleepy since i've had almost no sleep in over two days. Safely in Lisbon, Portugal. I'll need to blog over what transpired this past week and what my plans now are. Great talk with Andrea from Sighisoara, Romania. Exhausted. Too a nap at 6-ish, up at 11, back in bed after midnight. Slept okay.  19 Nice surprise call from Brian in Costa Rica. Sharon finished her youtube of my poem.
Great time with Tyla and Zak from New Zealand. Great morning chat with Guido from Groningen. Ate sushi for supper. 20 Did nothing yesterday. May do something today. Slept okay but after breakfast I'm a bit fatigued. We shall see. I'm not really here to DO anything. Breakfast is typical: ham, cheese, croissant or bread, coffee with hot milk, sumo de laranja. But I added cocoa flakes with honey and hot milk. Lay down for 3 hours. Still fuzzy-headed with no energy. Bought postcards. Short walk. 21  Hot milk to warm the honey drippled on cocoa corn flakes, a banana from Costa Rica, a pear (from who knows where), the smile of Lourdes greeting everyone, her soft Brazilian voice sweetly singing "Killing me softly". I've met many young people from around the world. Today: Zoia from Russia, Hermione from Yorkshire. Guido from Groningen, Tyla and Zak from Hawkes Bay (NewZealand), Felix, a happy Swede from Goteborg, Andrea from Sighisoara; her friend from Sofia, Bulgaria. This is my element. I told Rosemary re open the gasline, close the borders: "Nope. I'm a globalist. I'm in Portugal in a hostel with folks from Netherlands, Romania, Russia, Sweden, NewZealand... I am not afraid of refugees nor migrants. My ancesters lived elsewhere 200 years ago. Solar, wind, water, thermal power is the future. At 70 years old I do not live in the past. (I visit the Past, but I don't live there.)" Met a Manx man from Isle of Man.  22  Met interesting young people from Turku, Finland. I asked them about NATO and Ukraine. Morning thunder. Heavy rain. Storm warnings due to waves on the coast and snow in the mountains. I have NO energy. Ate a bifana and a pastel de bacalhau e queijo. Walk back was long and arduous. Have a bus ticket. Eva-mundial. 15 euros Lisboa-Lagos. I leave noonish so I don't have to stress in the morning.  23 Goodbye breakfast. Spoke briefly with Felix Lissaker. A bit hectic getting to the bus station as information was incorrect. Woman helped me. Half empty, seat by widows and toilet. Pleasant ride. One stop to eat-n-pee. Bought a 500ml coke for 3 euros. Expensive. Timo (Dortmund) was working reception. And Ana (Toronto) whose roots are Serbian. They were forewarned that I was coming.  Bed... same as previous trip (the first one I believe). No octopus or squid salad; so, I got grilled sardines (7), potato, salad. 10 euros. Didn't feel well so I lay down. Disturbed by people with flashlights... in my eyes. Up 3, 4 times during 'rest'.  24 No shutting me up. Wonderful chats with Evelyn(a) from Germany/Poland and Shefali from New Delhi. Talked w/ Evelyn about strict families and how bosses can kill (she quit hers); she worked in cosmetics. Shefali is multilingual and works with cultural issues; we chatted about Thai movies, Bollywood. Went to Pingo Doce and bought bread, pork 'ravioli', chocolate-cream roll. Worn out just walking there. Set down on way back. It's not far. Family dinner tonight. I'm not up for it. Saw Ourso. He's 14 years old. He's abig black bear-rug. Bearnese? I lay down in the evening but got up at 9:30 or so to jion them. Evelyn put a blanket aroud me like a red cape. She also gave me chocolate as a birthday present. Bed after midnight. 5727 |
 11  I finally got new glasses. Wire-rim. One's brown, the other gunmetal. See better without them up close though. My eyes in general are in good health. Cataracts forming but not an issue. Was given eyelid wipes for eye-gunk. Only complaint was having to be up so early to catch the #8. Very cold morning. Blustery, snowy day. Caught the #6 back and visited with friends. Phil gifted me a chocolate cherry desert. ![Merit Badge in Micro Fiction Challenge
[Click For More Info]
Congratulations on successfully completing at 10 weeks of [Link To Item #2265907] ! You stuck to it and rocked it! *^*Heartv*^* Kindest Regards, Lilli](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/group-Micro_Fiction_Challenge-2149524_14.gif) Micro Fiction Challenge "Micro 100 #20 "Howl and Yowl" [20]"  "Micro 100 #19 "Drama Class" [179.14]" "Micro 100 #18 Boostered [179.3] 100 words" "Micro 100 #17 Chance encounter [178.379]" "Dere wuz a ring in 'er coffee cup, dere wuz, dere wuz! [378]" "Micro 100 #16 My Familiar [376]" Totally listless.  List: - ties for glasses  - wash before leaving - finalization of first week - ride - phone set up - pre pack (tends to make clear what's 'missing') - clean out fridges - butter to Julian  - haircut  - enga@ymail.com email restored - mothballs and plastic bags 12 Pale pall. Weak sun. 29 degrees. May not get above freezing. Not too windy at the moment. Lingering cold = not good. Found ties for my glasses. Suede, cost me $5 each but at this point I don't care. Nursing a sourdough baguette. Skype issues, phone issues, email issues... all intertwined... it never ends.  Stress wears me out. Submitted "By the heat of a radiator" to Shadows&Light. No way I can remember where/when I've submitted it n the past.Waiting, waiting, waiting... absolutely stressed by waiting when I need answers a.s.a.p. Yes, I realize other people actually have a life. ? 13 ? I don't remember much. Cold. Very cold. Did speak with Hunter at Butterfly. He's moving to Nashville! I managed to speak to my cousin Carol before I lost wifi. No wifi connection at home after 8 p.m. Not as if I have anything to do... I took a nap to de-stress and then go up 12 a.m. till 4 a.m. and went through items for pre-packing.  14 Have PCR appointment at Walgreens. 11:45 a.m. Hope it goes well. I have so little time for drama. Sam and Jean both suggested Walgreens. Ate lunch: Swedish meatballs. Saw Angie and got a hug. Cold walk to Rockin' Rudy's. They didna have what I needed .I seem to have internet back. Lay down again for an evening nap. I felt chill. Now up... what should I do? Half-packed. Birgit has offered to take me to Walgreens in the morning.  1 a.m. blowing and snowing.  15 Birgit got me to Walgreens. We figured it out. Now... to wait. Fried fish at Senior Center.  Clam chower, fries, banana pudding. Sat with Phil, Laxmi, Monte, Wally and Kathi.Blood pressure: 160/90 = not good. Couldn't straighten out sim card. Bad info. Butter to Julian. Dylan offered to take me to the airport.   16 Don't ask.  17 Extremely tired after no sleep. Dylan got me to the airport by 03:45 but no problems. Ate a roast beast sandwich. Chatted with the coach of a junior high basketball team. They were on their way to Phoenix to watch an NBA playoff game. Talked to Christina on the plane. She grew up in Boston near Nakeeta who I know. Small world indeed. Nice chat about seafood and growing up in a Catholic town. In MSP too tired to care. Great chat with Isaiah from Sacramento. We talked about language and culture. He's Hmong. |
A4  It will be blustery later today. I'd like to work in a cafe on my trip as internet is iffy at best at home, especially in the evenings. Lots to be done at home for the trip. 1. Packing. (repacking) 2. Cleaning. 3. Watering. Did laundry yesterday but will do another load come Sunday or next week. It's time to do bedspreads, sweaters, jackets...  ![Merit Badge in Taboo Words
[Click For More Info]
Hi K,
Congratulations! You won 1st Place in [Link To Item #2139468] with your fantastic poem, [Link to Book Entry #1029704].
Rachel](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/group-Taboo_Words-2139481_13.gif) Nice to see birds delivering messages to my mailbox. At least the rent for April and May is paid (one check). So many details to take care of before a trip. I can fold my wash (I hang it everywhere to dry) and look around for needs to be done before I leave. And I can open my luggage which is still partially packed from February 2020 when I cancelled a trip to Spain/Morocco/Portugal. Ironic, isn't it? I need to update my address book as well as I'd like to send postcards. Yes, snail-mail is as old fashioned as I am; but, wouldn't it be nice to get a letter in the mail? Apparently not these days. Still, I did get a postcard last week from Cecilie mailed from Paris. KU 25-47 72 NC 40-29 69 Ouch. Kansas, my alma mater, comes roaring back but it was touch-and-go at the end. They're going nuts in Lawrence right now. I remember 2008 when they won. I was in Allen Field House. Snowing. A5  Quite white out there. Inside, I'm coughing and woozy. Not super bad but may be better to stay in. Realizing that although I really love the train I may just jet around between Portugal and Norway. Can't afford Turin for Eurovision apparently. I was mostly happy in Kansas (the first time). Years later in 2007:  A6 39 degrees, sunny and warming, while I'm sitting here coughing. Thinking of comma...s Getting better... all the time... well, almost. Throat's sore from coughing. I'm nursing another coffee. Apparently... not so restrictive getting into Portugal. We'll see.  Still sunny outside. A7 I've had a head cold for two days so I was thrilled to get out and see folks. I asked Nikola: 'Curious: what flowers are blooming. We have some (brave) daffodils, tulips, hyacinths. Tomorrow could rise to 70 but twenties and possible snow next week." Wordle was easy for me today. Almost got it in two! 0-0-10-11-7-0 = 28 wins versus no losses. Dordle was difficult for me. Got it in 6/7 ... barely. Walked to the grocery store. Bought ice cream and donuts as a treat. Shouldn't have eaten so much though. The answer to my problem may be WalMart... I'll get back to you on that. I wonder where I hid my euros... Brian in CR starts a new job May 1st.  Ate up the last of the fish. I have plenty of time to finish off food or give it away. A8 ⛅48 degrees and warming this morning. Still not feeling well and have too much to do. Did go through packed clothes last night. Need to add and subtract. A9  Flakes in the air. Caught the #8 bus, got off at Mount. Got to the eye clinic as early as I could. No appointment possible. Checked frames. Back on bus. Took #6 downtown. Drowned my sorrows in a mocha rose milkshake (with dry rose petals on top of the whipped cream). Angie-of-the-green-hair suggested it. It was a pale green itself. Spoke to some people but basically accomplished nothing. No mail. Cold walk home. Arrived chilled. 10 Cold. Not feeling well. I'm withdrawn... dangerously so. Snow on and off. Sat with Birgit. Highlight of the day. Tried to revive my yahoo email. Sent code here. Got it late. Wouldn't work. |
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