{"id":704,"date":"2007-05-03T02:56:46","date_gmt":"2007-05-03T06:56:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/s265039441.onlinehome.us\/philpaine\/?p=704"},"modified":"2018-08-17T12:34:51","modified_gmt":"2018-08-17T16:34:51","slug":"thursday-may-3-2007-go-down-moses-way-down-in-egypt-land","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/?p=704","title":{"rendered":"Thursday, May 3, 2007 \u2014 Go Down, Moses, Way Down In Egypt Land\u2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

There\u2019s a time in every jour\u00adney when things don\u2019t go well. Usu\u00adal\u00adly, some small event presages the com\u00ading trou\u00adble, as comets were said to fore\u00adwarn of the Black Death.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Not<\/a>

Not far from the spot where the Wilt\u00adshire Wind undid my plans\u2026the ancient arti\u00adfi\u00adcial mound known as Sil\u00adbury Hill is in view.<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

In my case, the omen occurred back in Wilt\u00adshire. I was afoot on the Marl\u00adbor\u00adough Downs, trekking between Sil\u00adbury Hill and a clus\u00adter of minor bur\u00adial mounds on a hill\u00adtop, well away from the road. I chanced upon a spring, and desir\u00ading some cof\u00adfee to brace me in the cold wind, I made a tiny smudge fire (con\u00adtained in my own steel pan, to pre\u00advent any scar\u00adring of the land). I boiled a small amount of water, and poured it through a piece of fil\u00adter paper that wrapped a lump of Ital\u00adian espres\u00adso, as I had done many times before in the Cana\u00addi\u00adan bush. It\u2019s a crude sys\u00adtem, but it pro\u00advides an accept\u00adable cup of cof\u00adfee. When the process was fin\u00adished, I lift\u00aded up the sod\u00adden fil\u00adter in one hand, and it was torn from my fin\u00adgers by a sud\u00adden gust of wind. The mess land\u00aded on my open note\u00adbook. About a dozen pages were soaked with hot water and cof\u00adfee grounds. As I attempt\u00aded to remove them from the binder, yet anoth\u00ader gust of wind tore the sog\u00adgy sheets from the binder and scat\u00adtered them. They were, I believed, only a few scrib\u00adbled sketch\u00ades, of lit\u00adtle importance.<\/span><\/p>\n

Days lat\u00ader, back in Lon\u00addon, I noticed that one of the miss\u00ading sheets was a print\u00adout on which I had put all sorts of use\u00adful data: address\u00ades, cell num\u00adbers, access codes. Among them, the cell num\u00adbers of Fil\u00adip Marek, in Prague, and of Isaac White, who would join me there to begin our hitch-hik\u00ading adven\u00adture in Tran\u00adsyl\u00adva\u00adnia. Not to wor\u00adry. I had antic\u00adi\u00adpat\u00aded this con\u00adtin\u00adgency, and e\u2011mailed all the data to myself, so that it could be accessed from any com\u00adput\u00ader. Unfor\u00adtu\u00adnate\u00adly, I had fool\u00adish\u00adly sent them as an attach\u00adment. I attempt\u00aded to retrieve them at an inter\u00adnet caf\u00e9, but the brows\u00ader would not open the attach\u00adment. No sweat. I was due to arrive in Prague that evening, and would be meet\u00ading both men. No need for the data.<\/span><\/p>\n

I spent the ear\u00adly morn\u00ading explor\u00ading a lit\u00adtle more of Lon\u00addon, and writ\u00ading more blog. I left for Gatwick air\u00adport with plen\u00adty of time. All was run\u00adning smoothly.<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s in such cir\u00adcum\u00adstances that I have an unfor\u00adtu\u00adnate ten\u00adden\u00adcy to let my guard down. When trav\u00adel\u00ading, any lit\u00adtle error can lead to dis\u00adas\u00adter. At the rail\u00adway sta\u00adtion, I pro\u00adceed\u00aded to the plat\u00adform marked for the Gatwick train, which was due in a few min\u00adutes. Those min\u00adutes passed quick\u00adly. Too quick\u00adly, as it turned out. I stepped on the train. The echo\u00ading announce\u00adments were in a thick region\u00adal Eng\u00adlish accent that I had some dif\u00adfi\u00adcul\u00adty under\u00adstand\u00ading. But the train pro\u00adceed\u00aded through the famil\u00adiar sta\u00adtions toward Gatwick. I sat back, and slipped into a con\u00adtem\u00adpla\u00adtive mode, antic\u00adi\u00adpat\u00ading with plea\u00adsure my meet\u00ading with Fil\u00adip, whom I had not seen for five years.<\/span><\/p>\n

You guessed it. I was not on the right train. After a few sta\u00adtions iden\u00adti\u00adcal to the Gatwick train\u2019s, it veered off in anoth\u00ader direc\u00adtion entire\u00adly. Even\u00adtu\u00adal\u00adly, I noticed that some\u00adthing was wrong when we passed a self-evi\u00addent\u00adly impos\u00adsi\u00adble sta\u00adtion. It took some time before the train actu\u00adal\u00adly stopped at a sta\u00adtion, and I jumped off, mak\u00ading a bee-line for the tick\u00adet office. It turned out that the only pos\u00adsi\u00adble way to get to Gatwick would be to change trains twice, and return to Lon\u00addon, start\u00ading again from a dif\u00adfer\u00adent Lon\u00addon sta\u00adtion. By the time I got to Gatwick, my flight had closed board\u00ading. The next flight was at noon the next day. Buy\u00ading it took anoth\u00ader huge slice from my cash reserves. The rest of my trip will have to involve skimp\u00ading on a hero\u00adic scale. Fur\u00adther\u00admore, I will be oblig\u00aded to spend the next sev\u00aden\u00adteen at Gatwick.<\/span><\/p>\n

Now a new prob\u00adlem pre\u00adsent\u00aded itself. I had to warn Fil\u00adip and Isaac of my delay. Fil\u00adip would be soon on his way to the air\u00adport to meet my flight. Both his cell num\u00adber and Isaacs were buried in an unopened attach\u00adment in my hot\u00admail account. There was inter\u00adnet access at Gatwick, of course, at the out\u00adra\u00adgeous price of one pound for five min\u00adutes. But noth\u00ading could per\u00adsuade the browsers there to open the attach\u00adment. I could only send e\u2011mail mes\u00adsages, hop\u00ading they would be read in time. It would be a five mile walk, with a heavy back\u00adpack, into the town of Craw\u00adley, to find some oth\u00ader com\u00adput\u00ader, with no cer\u00adtain\u00adty that it would work any better<\/span><\/p>\n

Time passed as I tried to solve this prob\u00adlem in var\u00adi\u00adous ways. Phon\u00ading home to Toron\u00adto to have my broth\u00ader open the account and tell me num\u00adbers did\u00adn\u2019t work. It was an incon\u00adve\u00adnient hour back home, and I could only reach an answer\u00ading machine.<\/span><\/p>\n

Even\u00adtu\u00adal\u00adly, I noticed signs indi\u00adcat\u00ading that there was a Hilton hotel attached to the air\u00adport. It was reach\u00adable by a long and con\u00advo\u00adlut\u00aded march through wind\u00ading pas\u00adsages, stairs, and tran\u00adsect\u00ading a car-park. I have only rarely stayed in hotels, but I have some expe\u00adri\u00adence deal\u00ading with them in con\u00adnec\u00adtion with Sci\u00adence Fic\u00adtion con\u00adven\u00adtions. One thing I know is that a qual\u00adi\u00adty hotel (on the lev\u00adel of a Hilton) always has a very help\u00adful and knowl\u00adedge\u00adable staff \u2014 that\u2019s what makes them qual\u00adi\u00adty hotels, not mere\u00adly the fan\u00adcy build\u00adings. They also have busi\u00adness centers.<\/span><\/p>\n

I was proven right from the first moment. The Hilton\u2019s concierge demon\u00adstrat\u00aded his spir\u00adi\u00adtu\u00adal descent from the knights of old. Though I was clear\u00adly not a guest, nor like\u00adly to be, from my scruffy appear\u00adance and over\u00adstuffed back\u00adpack, he was extreme\u00adly help\u00adful, treat\u00ading me with warmth and con\u00adcern. He attempt\u00aded to down\u00adload my e\u2011mail attach\u00adment through his own com\u00adput\u00ader. When that did\u00adn\u2019t work, he made a phone call up to a pri\u00advate busi\u00adness lounge, nor\u00admal\u00adly reserved for pay\u00ading guests. The clerk there was informed of my plight. When I reached the lounge, she direct\u00aded me to a com\u00adput\u00ader. When it did not suc\u00adceed in open\u00ading the attach\u00adment, she insist\u00aded that I try anoth\u00ader one that had a dif\u00adfer\u00adent brows\u00ader. Lo and behold, that did the trick. All the pre\u00advi\u00adous com\u00adput\u00aders had used the wretched Explor\u00ader brows\u00ader, while this one used the supe\u00adri\u00ador Fire\u00adfox that I employed back home. It opened the files with\u00adout hes\u00adi\u00adta\u00adtion. The clerk, an extreme\u00adly attrac\u00adtive Japan\u00adese-Briton with a voice that would melt you with its charm, insist\u00aded that the doc\u00adu\u00adments be print\u00aded off, at no cost. The entire ser\u00advice was pro\u00advid\u00aded as a cour\u00adtesy to a stranger with an unfore\u00adseen dilem\u00adma. If I ever get (cor\u00adrec\u00adtion, when I get) some rea\u00adson\u00adable amount of wealth, I will make it a point to patron\u00adize Hilton hotels at every opportunity.<\/span><\/p>\n

There was anoth\u00ader hitch to over\u00adcome. I had the num\u00adbers, but the British pay phones could not seem to get me through to Prague. Every time I tried, the Lon\u00addon oper\u00ada\u00adtor told me that they could not con\u00adnect, and asked me to try again lat\u00ader. Final\u00adly, when I did reach an Eng\u00adlish-speak\u00ading Czech oper\u00ada\u00adtor, she informed me that a col\u00adlect call could not be made to a cell\u00adphone. I fed my last remain\u00ading pounds into the phone, hop\u00ading they would be enough to con\u00adnect me to Fil\u00adip. For\u00adtu\u00adnate\u00adly, Fil\u00adip picked up on the first attempt. He was already at the air\u00adport. When we were cut off, he called back, but the British sys\u00adtem cut us off repeat\u00aded\u00adly, every few sec\u00adonds, as we for\u00admu\u00adlat\u00aded a strat\u00ada\u00adgem to pick up Isaac at the train sta\u00adtion and myself at the air\u00adport tomorrow.<\/span><\/p>\n

It remained for me to spend the night and next morn\u00ading at Gatwick, with\u00adout spend\u00ading any mon\u00adey. I could exchange some Euros, but it would cost me, and the sub\u00adse\u00adquent amount would be an excess of pounds that i can\u2019t use in Europe. When a Star\u00adbucks closed, it left emp\u00adty arm\u00adchairs in the lob\u00adby adja\u00adcent to it. I pulled togeth\u00ader two of them, face to face, with my back\u00adpack hor\u00adi\u00adzon\u00adtal between them. With the cush\u00adion of one arm chair placed on top of the pack, I had a makeshift bed. There were bright lights, and loud\u00adspeak\u00aders con\u00adstant\u00adly threat\u00aden\u00ading to explode unat\u00adtend\u00aded lug\u00adgage, and a tele\u00advi\u00adsion not too far away that blared the most dread\u00adful pop music videos. Every now and then, police\u00admen armed with Arnold Schwartze\u00adneger-style weapons would check me out. But even a few hours of frag\u00admen\u00adtary sleep was bet\u00adter than none.<\/span><\/p>\n

At last, I am leav\u00ading Eng\u00adland. It\u2019s a fas\u00adci\u00adnat\u00ading place, but it makes you hem\u00ador\u00adrhage mon\u00adey at a dead\u00adly rate. Lon\u00addon is a labyrinth that only the dar\u00ading and thick-skinned should brave, and one mis\u00adstep can have dread\u00adful con\u00adse\u00adquences, but, like New York, it\u2019s an expe\u00adri\u00adence worth having.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There\u2019s a time in every jour\u00adney when things don\u2019t go well. Usu\u00adal\u00adly, some small event presages the com\u00ading trou\u00adble, as comets were said to fore\u00adwarn of the Black Death. In my case, the omen occurred back in Wilt\u00adshire. I was afoot \u2026<\/p>\n

Read more \u00bb<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wp_typography_post_enhancements_disabled":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-704","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-a-blog","category-at-blog-2007"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/704","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=704"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/704\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9091,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/704\/revisions\/9091"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=704"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=704"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=704"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}