far too much writing, far too many photos

runswithscissors


Friday, November 10, 2006

After days of calling Telefónica on a daily basis and bothering anyone I could get ahold of (in the nicest way possible, of course) (no, really) at their service-outage help line, my landline telephone was brought back from the dead two evenings ago and has remained nicely, er, undead since then. I still have no ‘net access at home, but between internet joints in the city center and wi-fi access points strewn around the neighborhood here, I'm getting by. An aspect of the whole hoo-ha that I appreciated: it gave me a chance to see how Telefónica has changed its way of dealing with people like me. When I first arrived in the summer of 2000, the company was essentially a monopoly and acted like it. Meaning the attitudes I encountered when dealing with company representatives generally fell somewhere between disinterest and piss off.

When I say ‘wi-fi access points strewn around the neighborhood here,' that mostly means the occasional in-home network left open and accessible. Understandably, there aren't many of those around, so opportunities to plug into one are few and far between. On the other hand, traipsing through local streets with my hotspot finder led me to an access point a few blocks from here, created by unknown good cyber-samaritans and intended for lost souls like me (wandering the city in search of ‘net connections). Networks around here mostly bear names like WLAN_92 and WLAN_DE. This one is named INTERNET GRATIS AQUÍ CONECTA (FREE INTERNET CONNECT HERE). The hitch: it can only be accessed at the very end of a small park -- la Plaza del Rey -- tucked away between multi-story buildings and narrow city streets, and when I say the very end, I mean the very freakin' extreme end, either standing on the sidewalk or sitting at the end of a concrete bench abutting the sidewalk.

Which is where I parked myself yesterday as late afternoon gave way to evening, daylight fading, streetlights coming on. People were out enjoying what had been a beautiful afternoon -- couples mostly, of all ages, from laughing teenagers to elderly folks in their 70's (short, portly, with faces bearing the imprint of long lives that have witnessed amazing changes, from dictatorship to terrorist bombings to membership in the European Union). No one else worked at a computer, though. Conversations paused as they moved by, individuals tried for a curious, discrete look at my laptop screen. But none stopped to talk, all continued on their way.



I spent an hour there, my adorable booty keeping the bench warm -- checking mail, posting to this page. Daylight melted away, darkness softly fell (my laptop screen glowing brightly enough to attract an insect or two). When true nighttime began to take hold, I packed up, got to my feet, took my time wandering home.

Another day past, city life continuing beneath the overarching night sky of Spain.


España, te quiero.

rws 6:10 AM [+]
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BLATHERINGS

August 2001
September 2001
October 2001
November 2001
December 2001
January 2002
February 2002
March 2002
April 2002
May 2002
June 2002
July 2002
August 2002
September 2002
October 2002
November 2002
December 2002
January 2003
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March 2003
April 2003
May 2003
June 2003
July 2003
August 2003
September 2003
October 2003
November 2003
December 2003
January 2004
February 2004
March 2004
April 2004
May 2004
June 2004
July 2004
August 2004
September 2004
October 2004
November 2004
December 2004
January 2005
February 2005
March 2005
April 2005
May 2005
June 2005
July 2005
August 2005
September 2005
October 2005
November 2005
December 2005
January 2006
February 2006
March 2006
April 2006
May 2006
June 2006
July 2006
August 2006
September 2006
October 2006
November 2006
December 2006
January 2007
February 2007
March 2007
April 2007
May 2007
June 2007
July 2007
August 2007
September 2007
October 2007
November 2007
December 2007
January 2008
February 2008
March 2008
April 2008
May 2008
June 2008
July 2008

.  .  .  .  .  .  .  .


MORE FOCUSED BLATHERINGS

Personal History



Travels:
London '01
Pamplona
Italy '03
U.K. '03
Sevilla
Casablanca
Stoke-on-Trent
Barcelona
Québec/Ottawa
Boston/Lisbon/Madrid
Italy '04
Montréal
La Sierra

Events:
Madrid -- arrival
9/11
Emergency Room I
Holidays 2001
Holidays 2002
Holidays 2003
Holidays 2004
Holidays 2005
A neighbor's passing
Madrid -- March 11 bombings
  and aftermath
Emergency Room II
Israeli friend/Madrid Marathon
Madrid -- Royal Wedding
The DELE exam

Excerpts from GONE, a novel:
Chapter 1 (complete)
Chapter 6 (complete)
Chapter 8 (excerpt)
Chapter 9 (excerpt)
Chapter 9 (excerpt)

Screenplay excerpt:
BURBANK SHRUGGED

Short stories:
Murphy's Wife
Another Autumn
Queja de Una Hermanastra
  Muy Conocida

.  .  .  .  .  .  .  .


OTHER SOURCES OF WHOLESOME ENTERTAINMENT

People/Weblogs:
dooce
foxvox
fudge it
fear not
rebekka
bookslut
802online
idle words
madhaiku
wockerjabby
grow-a-brain
digital camel
letting me be
kung fu grippe
franklin avenue
fanatical apathy
baghdad burning
the happy booker
mimi smartypants
between the miles
just a hippie gypsy
tomato can brushes
playing with my food
sugar mountain farm

Good Clean Fun:
gizmodo
futurismic
postsecret
dave barry
human clock
mcsweeney's
spaceweather
book-a-minute
internet archive
self-portrait day
my cat hates you
out of context quotes
surrealist compliment
  generator
strindberg and helium

Makin' Musical Whoopee:
muxtape
soma fm
pandora
last fm

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ABOUT RWS/CONTACT





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runswithscissors would like to thank everyone who's ever lived for everything they've ever done.



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