Monday
Well, three days after getting the internet, the router stopped working. Called GTA for tech support and nobody answered until late in the afternoon. The tech guy said everything looked good as far as he could see, so it was probably the router. He advised we go to the nearest GTA store and ask to exchange it. When we did, however, we were told there were NO MORE ROUTERS ON THE ISLAND. In any of the stores. Check back Thursday, but we have an appointment “ticket” for February 20, because there’s no guarantee there will be any routers shipped in on this particular Thursday.
And no. We don’t have loaners for mobile hotspots.
Today, I spent four hours and fifteen minutes getting my license at the DMV. On the plus side, I talked for three of those hours with Yolanda who was seated next to me as we played “musical chairs” moving down a seat every time someone was called to be helped. I learned another red rice recipe, that papaya pickles can be colored with food coloring, how to pronounce Mangilao (man-ee-l-ow), and we shared details of our kids, where they live, where we’ve lived and visited, and when it makes sense to color one’s grays.
I’m using the temporary hotspot to post this diary entry, but I’m feeling weird about using it, so I’ll probably go back to reading.
The young Filipino woman who actually helped issue my Guam license also wanted to chat (I felt terrible as I knew how long everyone had been waiting); however, I also got some good advice on ordering chicken kelaguen lumpia and chicken chilaquile empanadas on the south side of the island. People here LOVE to talk about food, and I’m all over it. Now I need to look up the place she mentioned…I should have written it down.
How is my writing, you ask? Well, I did post a Type M for Murder blog essay on Friday where I discussed my Procrastination Monster. I described her as a naughty, red-headed three-year-old brat and then decided to draw her in my art journal where she turned into a more grown-up looking red-headed brat.
Here is the link if you want to read about this. https://typem4murder.blogspot.com/2025/02/writing-in-new-place.html
I HAVE been working on Strawberry Moon Mystery, the short story, and basically cut about a page and a half from the beginning which was setting description and some backstory dumping and all those things we need to get out of the ol’ system for our creative purposes but bog down the story at the beginning. I’ll save some of that for insertion in the middle of the narrative, and some of it will just be “for my eyes only.” It kind of comes through in subtle ways, like a bit of sunlight seeping from behind cloud cover.
I’ve decided that I cannot wait any longer for my handwritten pages. I just have to take what I remember and make it work.
The DMV helper was interested in my “profession” which I’d listed as “writer.” She asked if I was a writer on Guam.
“I am now!”
Haha. She asked if I was going to write about Guam, so I told her about my middle-aged woman who escapes to Guam idea and that I planned on putting all my experiences as a new resident into the story. She seemed interested.
Several readers signed up to receive postcards, so that’s on my list for this week. Hope to get them out before Friday.
My hair likes the humidity here!
Love your journal entries ! Reading about your adventures feels like a tropical escape . I would love postcards !!
Mary Jo, you are on the list already. I’m so glad you are enjoying the “escape.” I’m out on the balcony this morning watching the sunrise, pink puffy clouds over the distant bay and the closer wide-open sea. A stretch of jungle below, just a salad of palm trees, banana trees, vines with pink flowers and other plants I can’t identify yet. It’s lovely, for sure, but I was also feeling nostalgic for Maine pine trees, the lake, even snow. It’s good to miss home once in awhile, I think.