Bond18 – Around the World in 90 Days: Days 20-21

Posted by Bond18 | Filed under Bond18

Barcelona, Spain, May 22: The last two days haven’t gone my way. Yesterday was spent traveling in an exhausted state. For some reason, our around the world flight required us to go back through Zurich to get to Barcelona, which is basically a wasted hour and 15 minute flight since it’s in the wrong direction. The flights were dull and uneventful, and I slept for the majority of the first one.

When we arrived in Barcelona we got ourselves a hotel within walking distance of the casino. I expected a private message from Timex and the boys about where they’re staying, but despite checking the computer all night, nothing arrived. Our hotel seemed nice and is moderately priced, but the area it’s in appears very dull and suspiciously quiet. The room itself obviously does not have a clock in it.

I woke up today and found the expected message from Timex in my inbox which read:

“We were all sick today and, after missing our easyjet flight, decided to fly back to Canada. We waited at the Lufthansa info desk hoping you guys would come by for like 45 minutes, but you must have come late or really early for your flight. I’ll do whatever possible to try getting you euros, but I can’t make any guarantees”

Shit. After Will had cashed the Aviation club tournament any concerns we had about cash availability had dissipated. But I had given Timex the wrong information about my flight carrier; it turns out I was on Swiss airlines and had gone to the wrong terminal myself, resulting in a mad dash to the correct terminal to prevent the cataclysmic disaster that is missing a single flight when missing one flight on your ticket results in all flights remaining on your trip automatically being cancelled.

I was now in Barcelona with 325 Euro in my pocket and no immediately available means of getting the roughly 9,000 that would be required. I noticed Timex had made a request in the WPT Barcelona thread on 2+2 for anyone in the city who could help me out with the situation, and I immediately began pestering everyone on my AIM list who I knew would be here with my request. Atimos said he might be able to help out, and it wasn’t long before I got a private message from Zpaceman saying he could help out at least with tomorrows 1K event. Alright then, win the damn thing and my problem will be solved. That is a horrible plan though – I never win the damn thing.

I owe Zpaceman a great deal of gratitude. Not only for his willingness to help me out tomorrow, but also for being the inspiration of my very first comical creative writing. Some months ago I saw a Zpaceman post on www.pocketfives.com where he told a story about behaving like a jackass during a poker tournament, and a little voice clicked on in my head that said “You need to rewrite this with 10 times the absurdity.” I ended up writing two Zpaceman stories, and a lesser man who couldn’t laugh himself would have sent me a threatening or insulting message as a result. Instead, Zpaceman thought the stories were hilarious and sent me a private message telling me so. The two Zpaceman stories can be read here and here.

Celina and I spent the day attempting to figure out the quickest way to send her passport back to Australia so the American embassy there can put a visa in it that will allow her entry into my home country. The Americans had taken her visa waiver program away after she asked for a longer-term visa to come visit me some time ago, deciding she would be too high a risk to either immigrate illegally or commit terrorism, I can’t remember which.

Talking to the couriers today made me realize the three years I spent “studying” Spanish in high school have now become totally useless. The only thing I’m able to communicate in Spanish anymore is an apology for how bad my Spanish is. Our efforts ended when the courier decided it’d be a better idea that we walk back to the hotel and ask the deskman there to translate for us. Eventually, the envelope was successfully sent off, and I spent the evening playing a few online tournaments to stay sharp. In the evening I went down to the desk in the hotel and asked if there was anything in the area open for food. The man looked at me like I was crazy then directed me to a McDonalds that was a 20 minute walk away. I wondered why the city looked so dead around midnight and it wasn’t until I got home and logged on my computer I realized it was 3AM I had been walking around the deserted city. That’s what happens when the world lacks clocks.

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