UNFORESEEN PERKS AND PITFALLS: "risk assessment" come to life!

Last night was rough.  I had planned to go on the journey to Malmoe for the opening gala performance but I, like others who arrived terribly jet lagged and exhausted, did not make it there. I laid down to take a short nap and woke up too late to get to the bus that would take me to the train that would take me to the other train to Malmoe!  My original plan had been to spend the travel day and the next day recovering, getting to know the city and getting adjusted.  I was correct to make this plan and should have just given in to it.  (Risk Assessment #1 notated)  That is actually what has transpired.  Read on....  

After eating a small dinner of a smoked salmon sandwich (inferior bread--I only ate the bottom crust & too much mayo-based "herb cream"), I fell asleep in what seemed to still be the light of day at about 9:30 PM Denmark time (which was actually 8 hours earlier LA time) and woke up at 2:45 AM and could not get back to sleep.  The sky began to get light at around 4:45 AM and I was wide awake.  I began to get worried that I would not be able to sleep at all during this trip; I texted my family, full of angst, and a response came back to me from my son telling me to "relax".  This apparently did the trick, because I finally got back to sleep and slept for about 3 more hours until I was awakened by the church bells--there is a huge church behind the hotel and the bells ring day and night.  It's a good thing they only ring to mark the hours late at nite and from 1-6 AM, otherwise I would be doomed!  A bell concert is going on right now for no apparent reason; the second one within an hour.

After eating healthy choices from the massive  and delicious buffet that comes with the room charge, I spent all late morning and this afternoon solving my laptop charger problem (I had failed to bring a converter for the 220 voltage and my laptop was on the verge of battery demise).  I walked for blocks and blocks following several different people's directions to places where I could buy such an item.  I finally found the little electrical shop and a kindly man not only changed some of my Euros to Danish money (by the way, the festival organizers told us that we could use Euros everywhere in both Denmark and Sweden--wrong; no one wants to accept the Euros so all of my proudly acquired Euros are of no value; I am changing them. Through this quest however, I got to know the area, found a supermarket so I could buy some bottled water and a yogurt drink for my queasy stomach--traveling is hard on the digestion!

Back at the hotel, I plugged my laptop charger into the newly purchased converter and it worked for a few minutes---I actually got up to 31%!  Then the laptop stopped charging.  I was sooo frustrated.  I took it down to the festival center office, they charged it for me to about half battery and then I decided to go to the Apple store, thinking my charger was broken and that I needed to buy another one. Now at a real Apple store, the peppy salespeople would have been right on it, immediately diagnosing the problem before I had a chance to fully explain.  But this was a faux Apple store with a small section in the back of a video store reseved for Apple products and both of the young salesmen were a bit mystified by what to do.  It didn't help that their English was minimal and my Danish non-existent.  Luckily, a friendly teenage customer knew exactly what I needed.  He told them to give me the 220 piece that fits into the Mac charger.  It worked!  I was all set to buy it when the guy told me to keep it--no charge.  As I walked to the metro I realized that I have one of these at home in a drawer--it came with the laptop--I just never knew what it was for.  Oh well, at least now I have a functioning computer so I can continue to fulfill my blogging commitment.  (Risk Assessment #2 notated)

By the way, if you come to Denmark, do not expect to be able to find decaf in a restaurant or most coffee bars.  While my laptop was receiving its first charging, I went into the festival centre cafe for what I hoped would be my ritual cup of decaf with half soy milk and half non fat milk (my good friend who is a Pete's double espresso type calls it a "why bother") only to find that there was no decaf and no non fat or soy milk.  I settled for a cup of steamed (probably whole---horrors) milk and a pear. The young man behind the counter must have felt so sorry for me--he refused to charge me for the milk!

This festival is really labor intensive to navigate.  The theaters are very far apart and if you want to see multiple performances in one day you have to really plan your time efficiently.  The location of the presentation I was going to attend today got switched and I had to scrap if because I did not have enough time to get there.  I am going to have to give myself at least 2 hours tomorrow morning to get to Malmoe for the two performances I plan to see. (Risk Assessment #3 notated)

As I eat my dinner of asparagus, roasted new potatoes and grilled swordfish (a bit dry---ok, it's a hard fish to get just right but at $28.50 American, they should be able to pull it off), I am looking forward to a good night's sleep, a fully charged laptop (now up to 67%) and a full day of theatre and bus/metro and train travel.....