I Got the Power!

Power:  The ability to coerce, influence, or control.

I am convinced that the agony and the ecstasy of travel is summed up neatly by the phrase "I am SO not in control."  How about that?  Some more talk about powerlessness from the man who apparently can't grasp the concept.  I'm not even thinking in the right language for god's sake.  I should get a big, reverse tattoo on my forehead - in day-glow pink ink - that says: "Not In Control!"

Things that sound so easy in a book are a lot tougher when my boots are on the ground, not helped by suggestions from the locals who are so familiar with their system.  "Just take the S-Tog from the airport, get off at Flimstosshlout, transfer to Bus 3A taking it to Sonder Blvd or the metro which stops at Humkeederogt Plaza, then walk two blocks east and ask for the key at Kioksh Groceries.  Yeah, well, it took me an hour to figure out the fucking ticket machine.

And I'm reading a book where the main characters are on holiday in Italy.  The scenes always start with the couple having a picnic lunch with a chilled bottle of wine, reading books and chatting wittily along a lovely stream in the country.  Brother.  Getting the food - where did the wine glasses come from or are they drinking out of plastic beer cups? - renting a car, finding this stream where it never seems to rain or be too hot or overrun with mosquitoes would have taken me all day.  I'm not buying into the whole extravaganza, personally.

Sponsor: "Don't forget to have fun."