Miscellanea or I Update More Often When Internet is Free

In theory the posts would be shorter if I write more often, but I defy theory.

Taking shelter from the rain and a bit of a thunderstorm. There's been a few of those in the past week, but always at night before.

The signals for "walk" in downtown Granada are green figures of a man walking, like pretty much everywhere else in Europe that I've seen, but these ones move! That has amused me far more than it probably should have.

I have found that shopkeepers in Spain and Portugal are unnaturally annoyed at having to break a bill. Like I paid for something that cost 1.40 Euro with a 10 Euro note and seemingly ruined a man's day. I felt bad, but what could I do - the bank machine gives me 20's, so I have to start breaking them somewhere. If I do not hand shopkeepers the exact change, they will interrogate me as to whether I have the appropriate change so that some whole number of Euros can be returned to me.

I had an active night of what I will call "sleepacting" since I didn't do any actual walking. I thought that I was having a conversation with some people that I had been hanging out with prior to going to bed, and that these people were standing beside my bunk. That couldn't have happened because they were not staying in my dorm, but it seemed real enough at the time. So real that I imagined/dreamed? that one person was trying to pass me something but I couldn't understand why my fingers weren't taking hold of it when I reached for it.

I love the pound sterling! I was doing some math this morning to see if I have been staying on budget. By "on budget", I mean not exceeding an amount per week that allows me to travel for the time I plan to. Because the pound is so strong, I've been doing very well without even really limiting my spending too much - I've spent a little over half of my limit, or I'm spending per week about what my actual take-home pay was in a week when I was working in Scotland. I'm not used to this strong currency thing, but I certainly could get used to it.

A strap on my sandals has ripped, and I have shoddily repaired it but I am disappointed with them. They are North Face brand which you usually pay quite a lot for although I got mine on sale. I got them in 2004, but given that I only wear sandals about 2 months out of the year they have only been worn no more than 8 months, not so long for supposedly quality footwear.

Shoes that I am quite pleased with (gee whiz, she's writing about shoes now, you exclaim. I thought this was a travel journal!) are some Kickers brand ones that I got in Dunoon about a month before I left. They are as comfortable as being barefoot, but an improvement as well given that they cushion my feet from stones and the like. And they can actually pass as a dressy shoe - they're a rugged version of that flat ballet shoe that's everywhere these days, and all black. I have no idea if all Kickers shoes are like these ones in comfort, but man are my pair excellent.