Before exploring the new world afore me, I have some unpleasant necessary evils to contend with.. Creating this blog has been the bane of my existence… Technology taunts me merciously no matter the device, application, or service.
2 days before take off I replace my iMac with a MacBook Pro, my T Mobile linked iPhone with an unlocked iPhone 16, and my 2019 iPad with the current 2024 version all necessary for my travel situation.. Installing eSim, VPN, ChatGPT, Squarespace, Affinity, 1Password then having them all play nice is jumbling my brain matter to the point of deformity.
Learning curves are expected.. Twisting, tangling, traumatizing of my soul is not. Inevitably my learning curves involve unnecessary loss of time, money, and sanity.. Case in point..
On the way to sell my car in a city I don’t know, I stop at a Walmart to sell my old iPhone at their Kiosk. I disable, erase my old iPhone, gather the 210 cash from the green box money slot then make my way to AutoNation 20 minutes from here… Transfer of vehicle with check in hand takes 2 hour tops leaving a couple of hours before my International Flight to Nirvana.
Earlier that day, I text AutoNation lady, Natasha to change our 2:30 appointment to 4.. No can do she says.. Its not her problem my circumstances have changed drastically in the past 24 hours.. Our only communications have been via texts: her latest asking to meet the day earlier to complete the sale.. Unfeasible, especially since .. ‘the unthinkable’.
My 2021 Hyundai Kona Night is my only transportation.. The second that title changes hands, all My Earthly Possessions and then some will be relocated onto AutoNations asphalt parking lot..
My phone is not acting normal.. Why are my texts OR calls not going through to Natasha? Panama City Florida, probably just inferior cell towers.. Leaving the parking lot heading the direction I came, I wait till google tells me what to do.. Having Directional Dyslexia (yes it’s a real thing) leaves me at the mercy of a technical device.. knowing where I’m going I get lost..
Panic floods my airways.. WTF.. She’s going to think I flaked.. If I don’t sell this car TODAY, I am royally.. well you know..
Counting on the off chance that somewhere embedded in my control panel is a gigabyte of required compass programming whirring in the background.. I take the road in front of me.. 2:45.. With my system overheating I make my way into a gas station.. Locking eyes with Quick Stop manager girl holding a Quick Stop phone she stops conversing and gives me her full attention..
How odd that Quick Stop has its own red and white Quick Stop labeled communication device..“Do you know where Auto Nation is” spews out of my mouth.. WTF I’m crying ?!??! This has been the worst day of my life I hear myself saying as my shirt, now soggy from this gush of water spilling out of my eye sockets..
Everyone is staring at me now.. the homeless looking dude. the leathered bleach, blond, 45 year old wearing a jean short skirt 2 sizes too small wearing a checkered bandana chick, Quick Stop assistant manager older lady and the short buff Budweiser delivery guy.. a split second of silence.. then talking all at once, hoping to find a way to make the uncomfortable stop..
Quick Stop manager hands me the phone while assistant manager lady finds AutoNations number.. Auto Nation Operator Lady transfers my call to Natasha.. Relief turns to terror when voice mail answers.. DON’T LEAVE I beg her voice message mailbox.. I’ll find you. I promise ..please DON’T LEAVE
My eventual arrival to the dealership turns anticlimactic.. Natasha herself caught up in her day doesn’t notice I’m late nor is she expecting.. ME.. She’s looking for a middle age flirty bald dude she later shares with me.. Guess my cutesy text responses can be taken out of context with a name like Lary..
Turns out while disabling my old iPhone 13 I had also managed disabling my new phone.. I have no way of accessing any of my accounts as everything is on my phone.. passwords, apps, account information.. EVERYTHING.. I can’t even make a phone call and without my phone and info I can’t verify squat and to verify squat I need my phone.. you see how this goes..
What a way to start my new life.. There is plenty more to add to my Bon Voyage however, Ive made an executive decision. My attempts in filling in the past 3 weeks is preventing me from doing what I set out to do.. Live like I’m dying.. Not killing myself getting this blog set up, spending untold hours fighting with ChatGPT over his inadequacy at website building, and throwing dollars, yen and bat into different sites and hosting plans..
Suffice it to say, Uncle was called and somewhere in Koh Sumai, Thailand I enlisted help.. and here we are..
I left Japan, stayed a few days in Bangkok, island hopped to Koh Sumai, and am currently in Hua Hin.. from here on out I’m writing as I go.. I’ll post photos from my lost 3 weeks but life is now.. Once these pages go ‘live’ I’m living la vida Loca..
Chat soon..
