alexpgp | Adventures in Moscow...

As I mentioned, making a phone call around here is pretty difficult unless you panhandle the use of someone's cell phone. As this Internet cafe is near the old telephone and telegraph building, I stopped by there to make a couple of calls, only to find that they only sell phone cards that work pretty much only from their phone booths (or from one's home phone).

I called Alla to make sure my wallet hadn't fallen on the floor somewhere in her apartment, which she pretty much confirmed while speaking to me (it's a small apartment). I then called the Amex number that the hotel's concierge gave me, and then the number the Amex answering machine gave me to cancel my card. I'll check back with Amex from Baikonur to make sure this was done. I'll have to send email back home to have someone take care of the CapitalOne and Wells Fargo cards.

I returned to the room and, after doing a first-class job of searching my stuff (to no avail), turned to the computer and found that when, in preparation for coming here to send my translation, I had moved all the files from the thumb drive to my computer, I proceeded to erase said files from my computer and then copy the file to be sent into the freshly emptied directory. (Fortunately, I only actually copied the files from the thumb drive, so they did not end up in the celestial bit bucket, but I digress...)

So, in the brief time I've been here, what's new?

Well, there's lots of construction going on in the area of the hotel, that's for sure. And the video pirates are back, having set up shop at the corner of Kuznetskiy Most and Petrovka. I am refraining from buying any of their wares, as the last item I "sampled" (purely for the sake of knowledge, mind you) turned out to be of very poor quality.

Now, after a quick stop to send email, I need to figure out where to eat!

Cheers...