,,,and there was much rejoicing.
I really really ought to stop writing posts at the end of pleasant days. My unending admiration for this adventure (along with the overly-positive vocabulary I use to describe it) is liable to make me ill, should I ever re-read anything I've written (and of course I do, that's the whole point!).
That being said, today was probably my third (or fourth?) favorite day of the season so far. Though it was a dreaded growth measure day, we were filled with optimism and good cheer at the beginning of the day due to A.) the GLORIOUS* weather and B.) the magic hour of 5:00 p.m. that was rapidly approaching (to be explained in due course).
BASC, our trusty logistics provider, has seen fit to throw us one curve ball after another lately. We attribute this to their poor money managing rather than any blunder we have committed for which they could be secretly (or not so secretly) be punishing us.
To begin with, the beloved blue truck was sneakily removed from our list of assets through a short series of favors that we warily agreed to comply with. (Bob told us to be helpful!) As our access to the truck grew less, so did our goodwill towards BASC, those sneaks! We harbored no ill will toward the Enemy**, however, as their part in the truck fiasco was quite inadvertent. The replacement trucks we were occasionally offered (they were trying to humor us, no doubt) included a run-down number plagued with a gnome stowaway who'd locked himself in- or so we assumed from the incessant banging noises emanating from the glove box region.
We also were required to abandon Dario's hotel in favor of a hut that is rented by BASC. It does make sense to save over ten thousand dollars a month by placing six of us in the hut instead of in costly hotel rooms, but as a result, we are forced to live with strangers! That is a lie, they're not strangers at all, they're Gilda and Sandra from UTEP, both quite harmless and charming girls. You can imagine how pleased Rob and Jeremy are to have four new female roommates***! The hut, though not without its challenges, has several advantages as well, and it should suffice. The chief difference for me is that my Favourite Walk is now a little longer- certainly no harm in that.
In any case, at 5:00pm today the Enemy was long gone from Barrow and the truck was relinquished to us at long last. This reunion was not without its share of mishaps, since, to begin with, the keys were left behind three separate locked doors in the office, but eventually it was quite a happy ending. We celebrated with Thai food and a trip to the point. Jean hadn't had a chance to go yet, and the clear sky and sun-sink (not setting yet, but almost!) held out for the whole GLORIOUS trip.
*This is an example of "
overly-positive vocabulary."
**The gentlemen from the BBC were the Enemy, since they were given our truck when theirs failed to work. Who could hate gentlemen from the BBC? They were filming snowy owls for "Frozen Planet," and EVERYONE loves snowy owls.
***They began immediately on the "No Girls Allowed" sign for their bedroom.