Bajai Life Camp 17.15: Day 496
SHS Hotel Aeropuerto
Monday October 15, 2018
Madrid, Spain
27.16% bubbling
Isabella is the anchor. For some reason I focused on Isabella as my point when I return to Philadelphia. We have a tradition and that's important to me.
Meanwhile in this huge room in Madrid I find myself ill prepared to be here. No food. No water. Completely at the mercy of the restaurant and cafe of the hotel. Not a good feeling. It's not completely the money. Sometimes I just don't want to come out of my room do to something as basic as eat.
Morning exercises done. Two sets of pushups, pulling, rows and probably a bit more. Just killing time until I can get myself together to get out and into town. I'm sure it won't be until afternoon.
I can and should strategically pack my goods. Only a few liquids need be packed.
Well... I have two meet-ups today. Can't call them dates, both are involved, but it's okay. I can't commit. I'd have to also commit to Spain and I'm not ready for that yet. I do like Spain however.
I finally got the wherewithal to venture out from hotel boonies. Of course I went the wrong direction and got on the wrong but. I recorded a clip almost bragging about becoming better at direction at the same time I was going the wrong way. This is my life just when I feel confident, I discover I'm completely wrong. Despite this I am still considering a self help series for subscribers. Maybe an emphasis on life as trial and error.
When I finally got my ish together I decided to explore the Avanza de Americas area of Madrid. It's just five or six stops away from the boonies and it's a major metro hub. Seems lively. Lots of young people around leads me to suspect there's a school close by.
I popped into the restaurant... kind of and diner for my favorite platter... meat and eggs. It comes with Coke. Always Coke, or Mahou in Spain. I've been pushing my fasting to the limits, so it's little wonder I devour my first meal with gusto, especially if my first meal doesn't come until sundown. Today I've broken fast before 14:00.
This is food porn...Yeah BABY!!
Four hours to kill. Time to go back to the hotel and chill. An 18:00 meet-up means traffic, at least to the metro, so really it's only three. I'm thinking nap, just in case things get out of hand. I don't know if I should stay up all night or nap it. The first flight is a jump to Portugal, then across the pond. I can sleep on that one, maybe. I expect the best, but am prepared for the worst.
I'll never forget, last row, middle seat between two chunkers. Best flight ever. It was like sleeping between two fluffy pillows. If either snored I didn't hear it. I may have been plugged in. Maybe I snored. Ha ha. It was a cross country flight. By the time I woke up, we'd landed. So if I don't get a "great" seat, I'll be okay.
This building stunned me. I had to research it.
Speaking of seats. TAP Portugal plays the upgrade bidding game. Probably all airlines do this. Anyway, I get an email offering an upgrade. I open it out of curiosity and there's an option to bid on a business class seat, or something. I don't do this. It's like eating the first pretzel; it becomes addictive. On second thought, I imagined I'd bid €5. But then, I asked myself how much would I bid? I settled on 10% of the ticket price. That's when I realized why I don't do this. Although I didn't actually get into it, I did so in my imagination.
I'll take the seat they assign me, and complain about it!
The Meet up Mess
It wasn't a complete mess. Just trying to connect with a beautiful woman, Leo, with a jealous, possessive, insecure boy friend with kids... and she doesn't like kids. Anyway, this is the Universe testing me, I can feel it. So I cut the situation loose. As I say, if it's not meant to be there's no forcing it. It will only lead to trouble and regrets.
Thanks Uni.
Meanwhile... maybe this will open up opportunities to meet with more friends.
The meet up with Valerie went well. We ended up staying in the sketchy Dunkin Donuts (no prices published) for about an hour. Then I went and got some lamb kebabs. The waiter there seemed... grouchy... like one of those stereotypical Turks who don't like customers. He may have been having a stressful day. The meal was okay... the fries were way over cooked!!
If i go back to this Halal place, I might get the rice.
And yet, I keep on trying. It remains to be seen. I don't listen to my own advice.
Good and quick meet-up with Jose Luis and I managed to get back to the hotel. I thought about having a beer, but waited too late. I think my strategy will be night naps... and sleep on the plane.