Highlights-Barcelona

I flooded the bathroom floor while showering. What was a small leak in the door yesterday turned to a gusher today. I sent a reply to the How’s it going? email I received from management, Not well. Barcelonians have a signature pastry called xuixo (“shu-shu” in Catalan). It is a soft, fried, sugared pastry filled with custard (beats raspberry jam any day). I met a friend for lunch. I struggled to keep the air conditioning in the apartment in check. I wanted cool, not refrigerator! In the afternoon I gave up and turned it off. A climate control failure!

Notable Items

This morning’s bathroom flood was scary. I had to push it back with the towel, wring the water out, and push again (several times). I kept looking over my shoulder for an ark. I reported the issue to management. “It’s on our list.” That’s code for: we have no idea when it will get fixed. I looked for, but couldn’t find, sand bags.

Post-flood recovery, I had lunch with my friend at Lady Babka (he’s known there so he gets special service). He was reading The Brothers Karamazov and wanted me to read it too so we could discuss it. I like challenges.

I had cheeseburger dumplings at Lady Dumpling (where else?). This chain has branches all over the city, so I was ready to try it. Seating was tight because there is only one floor and my closet at home is bigger.

I had a plan for going to bed before midnight. I thought perhaps I was sleeping later than I wanted, so this seemed like a suitable approach. Things went awry when a friend texted asking for help with her writer’s block. I have various strategies for dealing with getting stuck (I don’t call it “blocked,” that’s for sissies, my friend excepted). I write about the problem (what is sticking). I write an outline. I pretend I’m explaining the idea to my wife (You want to do what?). That’s always a good motivation for explaining things better.