Michael: Frustrations

The empty whistles
Rise through the background of leaves
Like broken spirits.

Wednesday, July 1, 2015

Yesterday was a good example of why it’s been very frustrating at times living in Volcan.

Again, the net was down. We’ve only had net service for about 3 days during the past three weeks. We probably would be better off pretending we’re not paying for it and just schedule regular visits to the internet café which is about a 20 minute walk away. But that would be a hassle as well and I’m not as good at pretending as I use to be. I know we’re paying for the net and I want to be able to use it regularly from the comfort of my home.

I’ll talk to our landlord today and hope it can be fixed in the next couple of days.

 I wasn’t able to withdraw cash from any of the three ATMs in town yesterday. That’s a first. If I can’t withdraw cash because my card no longer works or has been deactivated for some reason, getting a new one here is going to be a hassle. It would have to be mailed to my sister first, then to David, Panama where we’d pick it up because we don’t have a mailing address and nobody we know uses the mail system here. The process could take weeks.

Before giving B. of A. a call, I’ll walk to the internet café later and see if I’ve received any notices from them.

After returning home from not being able to get cash, I started reading a new book. Without the net, I’ve been getting a lot more reading in. But there’s only so much reading I like to do in a day, and before going to bed I like to unwind with the Daily Show, which we watch on Hulu. But since the net’s not up, I won‘t be able to.

Initially, not getting the net wasn’t such a dilemma because I have seasons 1-7 of Columbo on DVD. No net; no problem. Just pop in the old detective and joyfully watch him reel in the murderer. But the net’s been out so much here, I’ve become a Columbo savant. I’m now looking for minute faults in the premise of each episode and for clues the frumpled raincoat dude shouldn’t have overlooked.

Today is another day. We’ll run, give the ATMs another shot, talk to our landlord, go to the internet café, and hope for the best. Hell, maybe even someone else beside Janet Leigh, will get away with murder.