Nothing, Infinity and You

I was just listening to “Dancing in the Moonlight” by King Harvest, on my iPhone listening through my Bang & Olufsen earphones (I can’t stop being pretentious) and I suddenly drew a parallel to Peter Quill and his Sony Walkman; especially since, as of this writing, I’m sitting in a hotel room, in quarantine, in Panama City, Panama. This is probably the only time that I wish I were in Panama City, Florida! (said nobody) Quill’s Walkman is his connection to his life on Earth, though my iPhone is my connection to anywhere but here.

We were supposed to be here for a weekend. But, upon arrival, we needed to have a negative COVID test before going through customs and entering the country. The thing is, we were supposed to be tested before getting on the plane to Panama, according to their law, but the counter agent simply asked us about our vaccinations and gave the boarding passes. Yeah, we should of taken the time to read the CDC’s warnings, but who really has time for that?

I’m on week one, but the first few days were rough. My anger and frustration got the better of me, and I was determined to make a mockery of all this. Needless to say, I am failing miserably. Parents with unruly kids (which are pretty much all kids these days) should take a page from MINSA’s book.

Me: "I hate your food and I'm gonna starve myself. See if you like THAT!"
MINSA: "K. Te veremos en dos semanas. [under breath] Cabrón"

And then there are the senseless calls at all hours of the day and night:

Me; [answering phone] "Hello?" (I refuse to speak Spanish...when it's convenient)
MINSA: [in broken English] "Heh-lo, how are you?"
Me: "I'm fine. Thank you." (no need to be rude)
MINSA: "Oh-ke. Bye."
Me: [thinking] "WTF just happened?"

…as well as the visits to your room:

Me: [opening the door] "Yes?"
MINSA: [in Spanish] "How many times have you taken a dump?"
Me: ---
MINSA: "Poo poo."
Me: ---

So, in rebellion, I’m using their high speed internet by using their network cable connected to the streaming media box AND using their (rather nice) LG TV as a second monitor for work (yeah, I have my work computer with me, thanks to Carl). But that has just as much effect as a frustrated dog who chews his own dog toy to pieces, in defiance.

In any case, I still have a week to go, and I can’t wait to get out of here. In the meantime, I will keep myself busy, but come next Friday…