The new digs

The TDS hotel is quite different from Deker Inn. It looks like a western hotel except for the lobby area which is tiny. The fridge was not plugged in when I moved in but that was fixed after asking 4 times. Even though it is now on, it is not cooling at all. I will have to dispose of some perishables before I go to work today. There are miscellaneous things in the room that are "odd". I get a kick out of the table lamp on the far side of the bed that is not anywhere close to a socket to plug it into. The LCD TV is nice, with a whole 9 channels, 3 of which are Arabic.

I started speaking with the owner of Blue Drops and his lady last night before dinner. As it turns out they are recently married (1 month) and she is Jewish. When I gave them a mazel tov on their recent nuptials, she grabbed onto the expression immediately. We chatted a bit about her background and she has been to Israel many times. I asked him if their was another Barclay's game on later that evening. One was on when I was there. He mentioned there was one on at 10:45 which is too late as he usually closes around 10. He said I was welcome to watch the late game anytime even if the restaurant is closed. There is a security guard there all the time who he said would be happy to let me in and out. I just may try that.

Nothing doing yet (firmed up that is) on the contract front for late April. I return to Ottawa April 17. There has been a buzz of email contact with a number of people in Ottawa especially over the past week to 10 days. There was a teary farewell with Metisabya at Deker yesterday. She has always told me how fond she is of me and the very short visits we had at Deker. She sure was a big help navigating through some of the complexities of living in Ethiopia after 60 years experience in the west. I also was pleased to be able to supplement her income when she did a handful of extra jobs for me here and there during my stay.

I really think I'm due for scoring some work in Ottawa and, if the cards play out like they can do from time-to-time, that will happen. I do not like being away from home and family, especially my Sweet Thing. Someone contacted me to give sme advice about finding a hotel in NYC. That is one of the biggest challenges facing people wanting to visit the big apple. Hotels ... expensive ones are easy to find in the "north of" $450 category. There's a plethora of boutique hotels not to mention extravagant accommodations like the W, an assortment of Hiltons, and stuff in the Sheraton chain ... then there's the Plaza on Central Park south. Of course the problem is price.