Day 7

I am actually writing on day 8, as I wanted to back off from the need to record / write / and work mode for a day. This included the network search. I had read as much of the network information as I could find in my trusty laptop’s Mac help section. It helped me reset the network and proxie settings for the local resort’s wireless network. We went back yesterday to check it out and sneak into the resort pool one more time. I was able to get a full bar again, and when I attempted to get on my browser, it asked me for a user name and password. Ah, the little victories. Now I have to locate the resort IT guy again and tell him how we got to this point, and hopefully ask him for the remaining contact info, so I may sneak in at night and use their network. Professional, non?

We again got into the pool with no trouble, and then we decided to eat lunch at the resort restaurant. We asked the maitre’de if we could pay for a lunch, and he said okay. After we had sat down and ordered drinks, he came back and said it would be $15 a person, $60 for the 4 of us. This would include everything – an all-you-can-eat buffet, drinks, desserts, and tip. We (okay, Amy) negotiated him down to $45 for us, he said okay, and we proceeded to fill our plates with mediocre resort food. As we were in the buffet line, another person approached Amy and informed her that the resort offers day passes, which would allow us to have full use of all the facilities for $40 per person. It was not something we would be interested in, but we took it as a warning that we shouldn’t walk onto the resort grounds so much. I hope this doesn’t affect my ability to use their network when I finally figure out how to get on it.

I had a dream last night that I was in the middle of a very busy weekend, socially, when someone asked me when I started college, and it reminded me that I had enrolled at the University of Alaska and was due at registration the next day. I was trying to decide whether to drive or fly there, how to tell Amy and the kids about it, and whether – if I worked real hard – I could do all my classwork in 2 or 3 days and come back home each week.

At one of the local mercados, one we have frequented, I went to buy a new water bottle. I took the empty, which serves as my translation device, and walked to the store. In the past someone has usually seen my empty and taken it from there. Today someone looked at it, but went on with their conversation. I didn’t mind, but went through the store looking to see if there was anything else we could use. I found a roll of salami, went to the counter, and got in line. I showed the guy behind the counter my empty, and he said something to me, but my Spanish skills are poor, and I tried to make a primitive hand and single words communication, but he didn’t want to play. I got in line, as my habit at this store is just to get in line and deal with things when I’m at the register. When I got to the register, a woman walked right in and stepped in front of me and the cashier started dealing with her. This was a breaking point for me – I have had this happen several times, always in this particular Mercado. I left the full salami on the counter, picked up my empty water bottle, and went to the Mercado next door. I got another roll of salami, someone asked if they could help me and we struggled through a primitive hand and single word communication, and I showed him my empty water bottle. He asked me “uno?,” I said “si,” they showed me the total on their calculator, I paid, and I walked back home, my full water bottle happily slung over my back.

My dream of two nights ago was visiting my old high school, being invited to go watch a basketball game, being told they had made some changes in the gym, and that this involved getting on a boat to cross the lake they had installed in the gym.