Hummer

Our border to border run got off to a rough start. It must be my cycle of chaos because this month, our rent, insurance and other bills were all due on the same day…and that happened to be the same day our income was scheduled to arrive in our Stateside bank. With the Easter holiday things ran late. This tweaked our plans and kept us in Istanbul past our departure date to make sure everything was paid before we left…and to give us moolah for the miles.
My Ticket to Somnolence...Maybe
Being 10 hours ahead of PST we were sweating this one out…finally we saw via E that it was available. A quick run to the ATM made things worse. The transaction processed as usual, the receipt was issued, my card returned and the screen said “Please wait for your money”…and then, after several long minutes, a series of “ka-thunks”, a “ping” , the sound of bills being sorted, and the visible lurching of the cash withdrawal door unsuccessfully trying to open…ended with these words on the screen “Please try again, our connection was lost”. Another try, the same result and the score was now…Steward 0-ATM 2. According to the security guard at the bank the ATM “thinks” it dispensed the cash…twice.
Finally another ATM issued us enough to keep the landlord happy, the truck insured and get us on the road on a slim budget.
So…it is thus: 1:43am in Central Turkey after a long mountainous drive from Istanbul seasoned with a slightly stressful preceding 36 hours and I am tired but unable to sleep. We have an early departure planned with a 14 hour drive ahead of us through some of the most rugged terrain in Asia Minor. I must admit with shame that I indulged in a moment of self pity. For that, I apologize.
A look out the window of our ramshackle, 120 year old pansiyon and things got better. Just like the river outside my window…life flows. I am now going to hum like a monk, and try to drift to somnolence.