Did You See the Moon Last Night?

 

Man with Hat watching the Parade in Loures

Over the past week I have not felt like writing. It is not because I haven't had experiences, I have. But it is a selfish and anxious reason that has grabbed at the pant leg of my consciousness and kept me from focusing.

About 18 days ago I developed an ear infection. Given I pay for expat insurance I went to urgent care at one of the local hospitals here. The person triaging me was concerned, got me on an antibiotic and gave me ear drops. I was an attentive patient and took all medications prescribed. 

The infection was weird. There was some discharge from the ear. When I put the drops in, it took 7-8 hours before the ear cleared and I could hear again. At the end of the drugs, I had okay hearing for a day and then it seemed like cotton was stuffed into my ear. As a result of the diminished hearing, I have scheduled an appointment with an ENT. 

Things are different here. My appointment is tomorrow, Saturday, at 9:40. I will get up early shower, eat my meager breakfast and head off. The meager breakfast is another thing. After I saw the first ENT I figured it made sense to get a doctor here in Portugal. The ENT gave me three names and I picked one randomly.

Spent 45 minutes detailing my long history of medical maladies to the doctor I chose. As a result of the visit, I had a blood draw. They must have taken a pint out of me. So many vials. Had a EKG. Also, I was set for both an endoscopy and a colonoscopy. Here they do them at the same time. Prep was awful, just like any other time you have those "procedures". Two days of fasting and one day of taking the euphemistically named Moviprep. Yeah, it is Go Lightly without lime flavoring. 

Given that I had fasted for three days, and given that the doctor told me to lose weight I have restarted following my Weight Watchers app. Today was hard, Tuesday was also hard. Both days I was at events where an all-you-could-eat meal was scheduled in tandem with what was going on. I was a bit high on my food points but I had a lot of exercise minutes that balanced things out.

The ear worries me. It is distracting and generally annoying. The only reason I felt like writing anything was that I had two minor wins today. My sons have been here since December and we have planned to travel while they are here. But inevitably, a conflict with another event arises, or it rains, or there is a train strike. Last week we all agreed to head to Seville on the cheap, i.e., take a bus and stay on the less luxe side of accommodations.

First, I tried to get a clean but livable place to stay. IHG has no properties in Seville so my points are useless. Kayak and Expedia were swamps with far too many listings to be as useful as I found them in the past. Years ago, I was a frequent Marriott traveler so I signed up again to look at their properties and get a feel for current rates in the city.

There was one of their second-tier properties that seemed like a good fit. I thought the price was a bit high but it was a known commodity and all. When I booked the rooms there was a button to see available offers. For about 15% off the quoted rate, you could get the same room and breakfast for two adults. I grabbed it. Win number one was in the bag.

Once I had secured the room, I needed to reserve the bus. As God is my witness I spent thirty minutes trying to get the Rede Expressos website to take my reservation. I entered, reentered and reentered again all four of our passport numbers, cell phone numbers, emails and ages. Each time I got to the payment area; the app would freeze up. After trying three I said, "Bag it I headed up to the bus station to see if I could buy the tickets there.

Met a helpful clerk at the international bus ticketing booth. When I asked him for the least expensive but refundable tickets to Seville he quoted me half of what I would have paid on the website. It took a few minutes to get the tickets printed and paid for. However, it was far less time than I had already spent screwing around with the app. Win number two was captured. My hope is that the visit tomorrow will be win number three. Sometimes technology is great, but not always.

As for the former US President, I don't give a god-damn about him, his troubles or his prospects. As for Gaza, thousands of people, and I have to believe the majority of them are innocents and noncombatants in this struggle, are dying. Such a situation is not just, and morally indefensible. Hamas started this. Israel responded with an iron fist. Rinse and repeat. Oh, how I wish the world could change and lose the hatreds, resentments, senses of grievance and entitlement. Not in my lifetime I guess. And shock, Navalny is dead. I should append Peter Gabriel's Biko at the end of this but I won't. That is it for my current affairs commentary.

The moon is out tonight and the way it illuminates the courtyard behind the buildings of this block is gentle and beguiling. Looking at such soft pale light brings peace at least for me. In my mind I can hear a gentle tune playing in the background, a remnant from last Sunday's concert at the CCB in anticipation of Carnival. Here it is, be soothed. 

Blessed peace to you my friends, a peace that permeates every corner of your troubled souls. Sit back and take in the air slowly as you let every muscle relax. Glance up at the moon, it is free, and more importantly it is there for all of us.