topotales

I’m so very tired!  And for absolutely no reason, other than I’m so excited to have this space.  And I’m spending hours and hours exploring, trying to figure out how to do this and that.  And my eyeballs are starting to feel like two glowing peeholes in snow.  This whole website-setting-upper expedition has taught me an important thing, and that is: I’m ignorant, ignorant, ignorant about compooters.  As a matter of fact, I find it alarming how little I know about web design, code, and - on a very basic level - how the internet functions!   … And to think about the great edumacation my parents have been going on about.

So I’ve been trying to learn by trolling around through some amazing blog sites.  But the only tangible outcome has been that I’ve gotten myself worked up into a state of intimidation where the THOUGHT of posting ANYTHING feels something like rolling a pea-sized effigy of my soul into a garbage crusher and waiting to see what happens.

Sheesh.  I think of the first blog I ever read, Jade-Leaves, and how it made me feel - I sat and read the whole website through in one weekend.  And I made and lost a friend.  It wasn’t until I read all the way through that I realized she wasn’t even there.  I had befriended a ghost.  And I think ultimately I would love to create a space like that- I mean, a space where I can be close to other people now and later.  And, like getting close to anybody in realspace, that means the scary part is being as open and honest as possible.

I wonder how many times I’ll edit this post… I can’t seem to keep my paws out of the first couple of ’sends’ yet.

1. Don’t get anything from the little Turkish/Greek shop around the corner except fresh veggies, unless it’s Sunday and you have no choice.

2.  All the big shops are closed on Sunday.  Try the Turkish/Greek shop.

3. Monday through Friday, the grocery store will be open only during the most inconvenient hours… that is, the hours that any body who wishes to buy groceries will be working to earn money to buy groceries.  Sometimes, they’re open until 8pm though, so hurry. Otherwise, wait for Saturday.

4. Saturday at the grocery store is utter insanity, because it is full of starving American xpats trying to read labels in languages they don’t understand and calculating from the decimal system to cups and pounds while swapping month with day on expiry dates.

5. Always, always check your expiry dates. They’re not quite so anal about that here.

6. Don’t freak out: the huge, scary price on the display isn’t really the price of what you’re buying.  It’s the price per kilogram.  Check the smaller-print price to see what you’re paying.

7.  Shopping carts are NOT available INSIDE the store.  That would be waaay to convenient.  The weather here is crappy, guy - get out your umbrella again and trek back outside to get your cart from the rainy, miserable parking lot.  Also, make sure you have the right change.  Some carts are €.50, some are €1 and some are €2, but no matter what, you have to stick a coin in to get one.

8. Bring your own shopping bags. Sometimes, you can buy shitty plastic bags in the store, but they are expensive. Or, they have the fancy plastic bags for a bit more money.

9. Thou shalt bag thy own goods. No help here, no matter how long you stare at the cashier.

10. At most grocery stores, there is also a little stand where you can have your shoes resoled. This can be handy if your shoes were fabricated in the 1930’s. They also make keys and license plates.

(I am editing this to say that I just noticed, just now for the first time, that in that picture my shadow-head is stuck up my own ass. That makes me feel kinda funny.)