The Difference A Day Can Make

Wednesday sucked. Wednesday was the worst day I have had since the day I boarded a Delta flight from San Diego. Let's count the ways why Wednesday sucked:

1) I learned the Heineken Experience is closed until Summer.

I was looking forward to this a lot. For 10 euro, they give you a tour of the brewery, 3 bottles of their delicious beer and apparently there are some rides involved. After all, it's the Heineken Experience, not the Heineken Factory. Every Experience veteran with whom I have spoken says they LOVED it.

2) I left my water bottle at the restaurant where I had dinner.

To some of you out there, you may be thinking, "Ari, relax. Stop feeling sorry for yourself and go to a nearby supermarket. And while you're at it, buy another water bottle." What those of you who responded that way fail to realize is that this water bottle and I have grown immensely close. Since our relationship began when I traveled to Israel in early January, we have visited 7 countries and countless cities with each other. The Swiss-made, liter large, titanium water bottle goes everywhere I go. It has allowed me to save thousands of dollars (okay, maybe that's an exaggeration) on buying water throughout Europe because very few restaurants here serve tap water, and when they do, they typically charge for it. In short, this water bottle had tremendous functional and emotional value to me. If Warden Norton were asked of our relationship, he would likely reply, "thick as thieves they are".

3) I bought a really nice watch at the local market, only to realize a mere 2 hours later that it doesn't keep time.

No explanation necessary.

4) A British couple broke my electrical converter.

Not all of you were lucky enough to meet my electrical converter, but those of you out there who are familiar with it know how awesome this thing was. It was a tiny, black adaptor which could provide the appropriate plug for EVERY COUNTRY IN THE WORLD. I had used in Israel, the UK and all throughout Europe. And now it was broken. A couple asked to borrow it because there (likely inferior) converter was "not working". What they failed to mention was that it was "not working" because they "short-circuited" it by plugging in an incompatible hair dryer. Damnit.


If that wasn't enough, maybe this will convince you my day SUCKED....

4) One of my camera memory cards decided to delete itself.

Every picture from Ireland. Every picture from Portugal. Every picture from Spain. GONE. After a few hours of trying to attempting to salvage any data, I came to terms with the fact that they were gone. Even when I wrapped my head around the situation, I was devastated. Over the course of the more than three weeks in these countries, I had taken approximately 400 photos. I haven't been buying many mementos beyond postcards because I've found that my photos have kept me sufficiently happy. Now they were gone.

It's funny what a difference a day can make.


Thursday

Before tackling a number of museums by bike, I decided to check the restaurant for my water bottle. When the owner pulled it from underneath the counter, I felt what Andy must have felt when he saw Red walking towards him on the beach.

I learned the watch's ability to keep time wasn't as bad as I thought when I realized I hadn't the pin came undone on the watch, allowing the hands to move and alter the time. Thrilled, I began to wear the watch. A few hours later, I realized it, in fact, couldn't keep time. But it wasn't as bad as I once imagined, and reasoned that I would take it back to the kind woman who sold it to me at the flea market. I will keep you posted.

[Editor's Note: I went back to the market before I left Amsterdam, but the woman who sold the watch to me was not there. It took a few minutes of convincing that I had purchased the watch from their particular kiosk, but they eventually caved and gave me a new watch. So far so good.]

After many unsuccessful attempts to retrieve my photos, I decided to take it to a professional camera shop. Upon learning the problem, I was told they would run a Recovery Scan, and that I should return 45 minutes later.

I stopped in to a local coffehouse to calm my nerves, and analogized my situation to a loved one going through an experimental surgery. First, we struggle with accepting the harsh realities of our loss. We finally come to grips with the situation, but it still hurts. Now that we realize there is nothing to lose and everything to gain, we allow our emotions to be run through the mill yet again by undergoing a process that can yield either an all-time high or a gut-wrenching tease.

I came back in to the store, and was told they were still operating, but that vital signs looked normal. There was life. There was hope.

I came back 15 minutes later to hear that the photos were alive, but they were far from well. He was able to recover them (Thank God!), but a) when he tried to burn them to a CD, they repeatedly failed; and b) they could not be viewed from my camera. Feeling both relief and fear, I asked, "Can I see them?" He took the memory card, plugged it into the computer, and up they came. They were so beautiful, I almost cried. If I could upload them to the computer, then I should be able to He explained that there was definitely something wrong, but it was beyond his expertise to say exactly what the problem was. Disabled or not, I was glad to have my photos back. I thanked him for his time, and walked out of the store.

I will keep you posted as to the status of their recovery.



But wait. There's more.

Remember when I told you of my utter jubilation for finding March Madness on TV? Well, I went back to the same sports bar on Thursday and Friday nights to enjoy the Sweet 16 Games. I don't even need to into great detail of my experience at the sports bar. Just know these facts:

1) The sports bar televised all of the NCAA Tournament Games.

2) The sports bar offers a daily special of All-You-Can-Eat Ribs, Baked Potato and Salad for 12 euro.



3) Enjoying a certain coffeeshop substance in restaurants is completely legal.