Inside The Perimeter

Happy Friday the 13th!

The bounty of (wild) food I saw on my European trip was mind boggling. In Belgium and Netherlands I saw many apple and pear trees, along with numerous fields of corn. In Rheine Germany I found horse chestnut and hazelnut trees. In all three countries I found wild hops growing alongside waterways!

Who are Jack & Jones and why is their clothing so popular? It seemed as if men of all ages and sizes were wearing Jack & Jones T-shirts all over Europe.

The M6 has a new battery and seems fine. Of course in this process the Bluetooth connection between my phone and the car got messed up. I can still play audio from my phone, but no information appears on the display. I’ll be getting a new iPhone next week, I’ll deal with this issue then since I will definitely want to have this set up for my road trip to New York in October.

Decided to see if post office delivers mail today. If not, I will go to them on Monday and ask WTF is happening. I didn’t ask anyone to check my mail since I was going away for such a long time.

This weekend’s weather forecast is all over the place. I can’t tell if it’s going to rain all weekend where I will be headed, or if it’s just going to be cloudy and cool. I suppose this morning I will pack clothing for each possibility.

Wordle: five, my starter was GRAIN
Connections: one mistake, X > Purple > Green > Yellow > Blue

I hate being in limbo, which is exactly where I sit regarding the M6 today. When I got in to drive to Betsy’s last night it didn’t start at first, but then I got it to start. I drove around a little while and returned home. Betsy picked me up, and brought me home. This morning it cranked slowly and started. I’ve just returned from about an hour’s drive. I don’t know whether to call AAA and buy a battery, see if it will start again and drive down to the dealership in Morrow and let them tell me if I need a battery, alternator, or both, or see if I can drive it to an AutoZone and get the battery checked (or buy a new one) there. The more hem and haw, and wait, the less likely it seems as if I am headed out of town again tomorrow. Unfortunately this means that I will be pissing away two nights for a hotel room for which I have already paid.

And I have a splitting headache.

Things could be much worse, I realize that.

Wordle: five, my starter was FLORA
Connections: perfect, Blue > Yellow > Green > Purple

“Anniversary” always feels like the wrong word when mentioning 9/11/2001, the most horrific day I’ve ever witnessed, and hope that I ever witness.

If you ever want to know your station in life, fly. From the onset Delta has no qualms with informing us peons that we are less than valued customers. My boarding zone was six, which since I had only a small carryon that could fit under the seat ahead of me was of little consequence. However Delta loaded zones 1-4 in the “SkyMiles Priority” lane, and the rest of us were ushered to our cramped seats via the “General Boarding” lane, informing me that for the next nine hours I was clearly not their priority. My flight home was long and stressful. Flying westward we encountered headwinds which bobbed our plane around a little. But worse than that, was the woman in front of me who reclined her seat within an inch of its life. In response to this I leaned my seat back as well. The man behind me tapped me on the arm and started the conversation with “I don’t appreciate you sitting in my lap.” Well pal, I don’t appreciate you being an asshole. I was already angry because I did a stupid thing by choosing a middle seat and was flanked by to adult men whose bodies encroached my space, so I had little empathy for a person who requests something with such a statement. I essentially told him that my action was caused by the row ahead of me and that I required space as well, and at which time I put on my headphones. Because getting in and out of my seat required Cirque du Soleil dexterity I passed on all beverages so that I wouldn’t have to pee. Not having much hunger either, I ate the initial meal and passed on every other food offering. This flight has put me off long distance travel to Europe until I can afford sitting in a better class, so I doubt that I will be returning to Europe any time soon.

I should apologize to WLF for this year because my travels have caused me to ignore it for far too long. I will say that I was surprised to see how sad WLF looked when I arrived home yesterday, even though I knew it hardly rained at all over the past three weeks. I did something that may have worsened this; I changed the watering schedule at the last minute and was unable to test my new schedule to ensure that my settings were correct. So, it’s possible WLF received water every other day, but it’s also possible that it received none at all. Of course rain is coming later this week, perhaps too late for WLF, when I am driving to south of Asheville to attend an outdoor event– more on this Friday. I also need to figure out how to protect the brassicas (cabbage, kale, broccoli, etc) from the caterpillars which devastated the ones I have in the ground. Ahead of the predicted rain I will go out into WLF and do some cleanup of dead and dying plants. I intended to mow the lawn today, but it doesn’t need to be mown!

My plan to stay awake long enough to resynchronize my body clock failed miserably. I must have passed out before 7:15pm based on the messages I received but never saw until I awoke at 1:15am.

Wordle: five, my starter was CHORE (going to be a lot of Wordle aces today!)
Connections: perfect, Green > Purple > Blue > Yellow

A non-travel aside: I watched Apple’s iPhone Event last night. I was completely bored by the video, since it was another pre-recorded slick presentation done by an array of Apple employees of all shapes, sizes, and color, each trained to use the same exact hand gestures during his/her/their segment. And once again Apple’s products are getting larger in size. Why, Apple? Why? From what I saw about the Apple Watch it now looks like the Garmin Watch I have mocked for trying to look like an Apple Watch!

And now back to travel…

I completely overpacked. Were the temperatures the ones this part of the world will experience later this week I’d be singing a slightly different tune because my hoodie and jeans, assuming they still fit, would have been useful additions and justified their weight and bulk. Because I am who I am, I packed too many shirts, in part because I ended up wearing a couple a few more days than is socially acceptable. The only item I could have used more were underwear since I was unable to wash/dry as I expected: this caused me to buy three more pair in Amsterdam, €20 well spent.

Overall I have had a good time on this trip. Do I wish some things had gone differently? Of course. Would I do it again? Definitely not 100% the same. As you may have gathered from yesterday’s post I have had my fill of Amsterdam.

My flight today is scheduled for 7:00EDT. After deplaning, clearing customs, baggage claim, and Lyfting home, I hope to be at the ITP Estate around 18:30EDT. I also hope to stave off sleep for at least two hours and will happily crash in my own bed around sundown.

Wordle: six, my starter was REACH
Connections: FAIL, Green > X > Purple > X > X > X

Saturday Morning:
I’ve come to the conclusion that Amsterdam is New Orleans, or New Orleans is Amsterdam. Both cities embrace excess, both are dirty, and both have side streets which are littered and smell of piss in the morning. When I am in good health I can handle either for about three days. On this trip I have unfortunately not been in good health, so my tolerance for the lifestyle conducted is much lower. I have either been fighting the Cruise Crud, allergies, or some other ailment which my body is finding difficult to defend. I sneezed a lot Friday, and woke Saturday morning with a runny nose and unsettled stomach.

I’ve also discovered Amsterdam to be a late-starting city on the weekends, finding it hard to locate a breakfast restaurant open before 9am. As I type this I am having coffee and apple pie in the shop in which I did the same thing a few weeks ago. This is also an attempt to kill the two hours I have before I board my train to Rheine, Germany. I will have left this destination by the time you read this heading back to Amsterdam where I will overnight before flying out tomorrow “afternoon”.

Destination: Rheine, Germany
Reason: none
Imposed Motto: “The Quiet City That Never Sleeps”

Saturday Post-Morning:
My train rolled into the small city of Rheine a little before 1:00pm. Luckily for me I caught the tail end of their Saturday market and bought some cheese and rolls for lunch. Score!

To add to my luck on Saturday afternoon there was some parade whose theme I didn’t understand. Something about shooting clubs coming together as explained to me by a young man whose English was marginally better than my German.

Because I didn’t follow my own rule to make sure every room you book has a goddamn air conditioner! I nearly purchased a 23cm desk fan for €15 to use in my hotel room. Were it slightly smaller I would have purchased it because it would then have fit into my backpack for the walk back to the hotel.

When I chose to come here I had no idea that little Rheine, Germany was also having a street party on Saturday night. Music stages were erected and bands played different styles of music. Of course I gravitated to the stage nearest Scum Bar (you know I had to drink there) which was rock music. I felt like a complete fish out of water as everyone else belted out lyrics in German and I could not; oddly I knew all of the music played behind the lead singer, but wondered if completely different lyrics were sung to the familiar tune.

Sadly my gimpy hip reared its ugly head and limited my mobility on Saturday. From the sounds I heard through my open window until 2am this quiet little city knows how to party.

Sunday:
Rheine in the 2020s reminds me of Queens in the 1970s.

Yesterday I discovered that the local soccer, um Fußball, team was playing a home match in the afternoon. A little research told me that FC Eintracht Rheine is currently in the fourth division of German Soccer and that the stadium in which they play is within walking distance (1.9km) from the town center. Guess what I did next! Spoiler: I went to the game. It was as much fun as could be expected for a fan with no rooting interest, even though I caused a bit of an incident as I tried to look around the seating area and was stopped by “security” and asked for my ticket. In broken German and English explained that I bought the ticket at the window this morning, two other “security” agents were consulted about my ticket and all was okay. Out of concern that I’d have to explain myself again I wound up sitting in a different area. The beer I bought was €3, the Coke €3.50.

After the game I walked back to town, went out to eat dinner, and bought two beers at a liquor store for my wild night in of packing and doing research. I fell asleep after finishing the first bottle, it may have been 9:00pm.

Wordle: four, my starter was CHASE
Connections: perfect, Blue > Green > Purple > Yellow

Yesterday outside of a church in Haarlem stood a statue honoring people who were killed by a bomb in 1944.

Across from the statue was a sign on which this poem was written. Here is how Google translated the girl’s poem.

Alone

I hear bangs and bombs
I wish they had never started this war

I wait all night
But for what?
For freedom, joy and equality

I feel more and more lonely
Without a mother and without a father

There is never any peace
And there is no one to comfort and kiss me

If only this had never happened
Then I would not have been sad now
If only my mother had stayed home
Then I would not have been sitting alone, in fear

Véronique Borgonjen
Choir School Haarlem, group 8

Spent a low key day in Amsterdam yesterday. The Gand of Four, now separated from the tour group, did a cheese and wine tasting which was arranged by ITP-Reader Barb. We wandered into three wine shops, identifying the “tourist trap” chain first, picking up cheeses which we took to a wine shop. We sampled four cheeses (identities to revealed when I find out exactly what we ate) while drinking pours of Dutch wine (which was surprisingly good). The rest of the afternoon was spent wandering and people watching, before I ate frites for dinner.

Oh, and I am now the proud owner of three new pair of underwear thanks to a purchase at TK Maxx (as it is called on this side of the Atlantic).

Today Haarlem? A brewery in Amsterdam? I’ll figure that out once my nose stops running this morning.

My next “plan”, to start tomorrow, was to spend two nights in a westernmost German town called Emmerich. That plan failed when I discovered they had no available hotels anywhere near the train station. “Plan B” fell through because I don’t want to spend over four hours (one way) on a journey to Bremen that will last only two days. Trying to make an alternative plan… Find out what I did when I return to Amsterdam on Monday in preparation for my return flight on Tuesday.

Wordle: two, my starter was CURVE
Connections: perfect, Green > Yellow > Blue > Purple

Amsterdam: today we are doing a cheese and wine tour.

Still trying to plan my weekend. I will be staying until Tuesday because I’ve booked a non-refundable hotel for Monday night.

Wordle: five, my starter was CHAIR
Connections: perfect, Green > Blue > Yellow > Purple

Even though the weather wasn’t perfect yesterday we did get to ride on Kinderdijk and see the windmills built in the 1740s. It was very neat.

“Home Automation, 1740s Style”

We also rode through some stunning farm land, stopped at a dairy farm for lunch, and even bought some strawberries from an automat at an orchard.

My hip hurts a little today. I did it no favors by running back to the ship when it started raining on my post-dinner walk.

Today is the last riding day of the tour. Were this a driving trip I’d be returning home a few days early, but since I don’t want to pay airline change fees I will stick it out until Tuesday. I’m ready to return to my routines, knowing that they will be interrupted again almost immediately after I return to the US.

Destination: Amsterdam

I’ve learned some valuable lessons on this trip. Apparently I can no longer slather sunscreen on my arms when I ride in heat because it blocks the pores and causes me to get heat rash. I’ll be trying more lightweight arm sleeves next year.

I’ve also learned that I am not like most of the others on this trip and this environment is very hard for an introvert. Actually I knew this previously, but I guess I thought the riding would break down some of my social hurdles but it hasn’t.

And finally I learned that I packed too many shirts and not enough underwear. The dream of washing clothes in sinks never materialized.

Though I’ve no one but myself to blame, I’m feeling a little like a hog ready for slaughter.

Wordle: three, my starter was WEIRD
Connections: one mistake, X > Purple > Blue > Yellow > Green

Yesterday was the first day we opened up and pedaled fast for a little while, averaging about 20mph for a few miles. Due to the fact that we lost about three hours waiting to get through a lock, and that our ship could only dock briefly where we stopped riding, we skipped one planned stop and plowed through the rest of the day.

Today we take our bikes onto a water us to see the historic windmills on Kinderdijk. Unfortunately it’s overcast, but at least I don’t think that it will rain.

Destination: Vianen, Netherlands

Wordle: four, my starter was STEAM
Connections: perfect, Blue > Yellow > Green > Purple