London, you’re testing me.
Seriously, though, it’s one thing after another. I had a feeling I’d run into a few figurative potholes over here, but now it’s just annoying.
Before I begin, I have a lucky charm. I almost didn’t bring it with me on this trip, but I tossed it in my backpack right before I left my house. It’s a mini light blue Beanie Baby duck that I got around Easter a few years ago. He’s lucky because I bought him a few days before the 2009 NCAA basketball championship game, and my Tar Heels won. And the duck is Carolina Blue, so he’s awesome. It’s actually kind of uncanny how lucky this duck is.
Oh, how I digress…
Late last week, my laptop pooped out on me. Again. It’s done this a few times in the past year or so, and every time I think it’s finally fixed and won’t happen again. Apparently replacing the logic board three times didn’t fixed the issue (side note: thank God for my AppleCare warranty), which I discovered a few nights ago. My computer still wouldn’t work right the next morning, so I looked up the nearest Apple Store on my phone. Fortunately it’s only a few tube stops away at Covent Garden, so I booked it over there to see what they could do.
Long story short: I had a meltdown on an employee because I’m an American studying in London and I’m a writer and I need my laptop to work so I can write and I was afraid my warranty wouldn’t apply overseas and…
Okay maybe long story not so short… I got an appointment set up for later that day. I told the guy who worked with me my symptoms and that I’d Googled the issues on my phone and had an idea of what could be causing the problems. He ran some tests and then said he’d hang on to it and fix the issues and I’d have it back by the next day.
A panic attack and 24 hours later, I got my laptop back and it’s running perfectly. And my AppleCare warranty covered everything, so I didn’t have to pay for any of the fixes. Thank Jesus. I seriously think it went so well because I grabbed my duck and tossed him in my purse before I caught the tube.
Part of our trip tuition included tube passes for each week. We got our passes for this coming week on Thursday so we’d have them for today. A group of us tried to go to Spitalfields Market today, and I discovered that my pass wouldn’t register at the tube station. I figured I’d try the market first, and then worry about my pass later. I got separated from the group after stopping to get a crepe for lunch, so I decided that was as good a time as any to take care of my tube pass. So I ventured back to the station close to the market and asked an attendent what I should do.
After speaking to a couple of rather unhappy-looking attendants at the station, I ended up at some station that I’d never been to and spoke to a slightly happier-sounding attendant, who fixed my pass. I’m glad I got it solved, but it could have been a lot more pleasant. Someone seriously spit in those attendants’ cereal this morning or something.
I looked in my purse a few minutes later. Didn’t have lucky duck with me. That duck is never leaving my purse ever again, at least for the rest of this trip.
On tap for this week is an open-air bus tour, a couple plays, and a tour of East Village, where a lot of the Olympics events took place last summer. Super excited!
