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Bought Alsa bus ticket, Madrid->Granada, and made reservation for hotel in Granada. Confirmed that buses to Dúrcal run on Saturday, which is Día de Andalucía. Mercadona open 9:00-15:00 on Día de Andalucía.
Mailed Raytheon pension forms.
Felt sick in evening.
Terrible stomach ache all night, probably food poisoning. Skipped morning exercises other than pushups and pullups.
Something still not right with intestines. Skipped morning exercises other than RDLs, pushups, chinups. Explosive foul-smelling diarrhea in afternoon. Felt much better afterwards.
Intestines slowly improving. Did all morning exercises normally, though noticed some tiredness on jump squats.
Bought flights for another Argentina trip. Madrid-Buenos Aires on Ne Plus Ultra for $847 (depart midnight May 27, arrive early May 28, depart noon Aug 11, arrive early morning Aug 12). Madrid-Belgrade on Air Serbia for $107 (depart noon Aug 12, arrive mid-afternoon Aug 12). Buying experience stressful as usual due to clumsy airline web sites. Air Serbia purchase failed completely on smartphone. Tried both BofA Visa and CapitalOne Mastercard with both Opera and Chrome browsers. Then switched to laptop running Windows 11 using Opera and Edge browsers. Bofa Visa again failed but CapitalOne Mastercard succeeded. Problems apparently related to browser switching from Air Serbia website to/from Visa Secure and Mastercard Secure 2FA verification websites. Incredible how people expect Artificial Intelligence to revolutionize the world when companies can't even get what amounts to 1970's computer technology to work properly, including situations where the company has a massive financial incentive to get things to work.
Debating what to do about Ukraine storage locker, whose rent is coming due. Previously, I felt good about continuing to pay rent, as if thereby committing myself to eventually returning to Ukraine as my permanent summer/winter home, which I looked forward to. But situation has changed due to all the infrastructure damage. Time is long overdue for true patriots in the security forces to stage a coup, exterminate the worthless politicians and other war profiteers, surrender to Russia. Ukraine is already is half in ruins and will soon be fully ruined. It's like no one in the security forces there has any desire for Ukraine to continue to exist as more than a Galician rump in the west and depopulated agriculture/mining colony owned by transnational corporations elsewhere, older people dying off, younger people moved to EU or Russia, impoverished immigrants from Africa and South Asia working in the agricultural/mining colony. Destruction of electrical and communal heating utilities means winter will be unlivable for many years to come. If just spending summers in Ukraine (winters bicycle touring in USA) and even that only starting 2027 at the earliest, then storage locker not so important.
Went ahead and paid $202 for another year with Kyiv storage locker (via PayPal, since problems previously with bank transfer). Kick can down the road and make final decision next year.
Called Raytheon. Name still wrong. Direct deposit due 28Feb.
Filed income taxes using H&R Block on smartphone with zero problems. So only obligatory use of laptop is to buy Air Serbia ticket, due to glitch with credit card card authorization, which should eventually be fixed. Additional uses where laptop faster or more convenient than smartphone, but not strictly necessary: (a) manipulate music files using Audacity; (b) full backups to SDcards; (c) write, make major changes to, and/or perform extensive debugging of Python scripts.
Considering permanent residence in Bulgaria as alternative to Ukraine. But wait until age 70, when Social Security pension becomes proof of monthly income. Current requirements for retirement visa besides proof of income: (a) clean criminal record with apostille by Nevada Department of State and official translation; (b) basic medical insurance covering expenses to $30K (maybe $300/year); (c) proof of accommodation (can find nice furnished apartments for $400/month); (d) in-person visit to consulate in Los Angeles for interview; (e) Bulgarian bank account to receive pension (possible to open this as non-resident if good reason, such as applying for residency).
Ultramobile PayGo changed their autopay system such that I lost confidence in autopay continuing to work. So ported number to Google Voice, as I had been intending to do next year. So now 2 Google Voice numbers plus Tello eSIM.
Brought bicycle and other gear to storage.
Mid-morning flight Reno to San Francisco. Evening flight San Francisco to Istanbul.
Arrived in Istanbul in late afternoon. Slept on floor in airport. Carpeted and quiet, so tolerable.
Morning arrival in Madrid. 2 hours waiting in passport line. Good thing I planned 5 hours to get to bus station. Bought €35 Orange mobile service (unlimited data 28 days, €20/28 days thereafter). Should have waited to get to Terminal T4 (for Cercanías station) to buy MásMóvil, since that worked out well last year. Cercanías train to South Bus Station. €34 Alsa bus to Granada. €72 through booking.com at Hotel Universal. Overnight layover in Istanbul adds to length of journey, but morning arrival in Madrid is much better than late evening arrival.
Día de Andalucía. Bus 360 to Dúrcal, leaving 12:30. Legs felt stronger than last year, partly because several hours good sleep at hotel versus brief nap on night bus. Carried 4.3L water out of Nigüelas, without difficulty, so back and shoulders also strong. Camped at usual spot.
Raytheon pension was deposited using correct name.
Slept well and alert and energetic in morning. Hotel Lanjarón in Lanjarón.
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90th day in Schengen.
Total of tbc nights in Spain: tbc nights camping, 33 nights in hotels. €tbc total hotel expenses, or average of €tbc/night.