So here's the dilly, yo: a relaxing respite in the doldrums of
Wilkes-Barre was cut a bit short. I had time to buy a truck (bright
red 98 Dodge Dakota Sport V6 extended bed 21k miles no a/c only $5.2k)
and bike 138 miles to Philly, but I've been to New York City since
Thursday 8/4 because the U.S. Postal Service is a big fat useless pile
of shit. Considering that it takes all of 2 hours to drive from
Philadelphia to NYC, you'd think it should take a letter, containing
my visa application and passport, mailed from West Philadelphia to my
sister in Brooklyn (you can't mail directly to the Brazilian embassy)
a maximum of what, maybe 3 days? Having mailed it the Friday before,
my sister didn't yet get it by Thursday 8/4. Hence, I was in NYC
extremely early. To not make a long boring story any longer, I get
the damn passport from Mia's post office an hour before the time of
the appointment I'd made to pay lots of moolah for a new one. Madly
biking Brooklyn - Times Square followed by begging with puppy-dog eyes
gets me my visa by the afternoon.
NYC's such a great time with a tiny ex-girlfriend / current best
friend / always complicated little situation that I almost don't want
to leave. Nevertheless, I find myself madly mountain biking (my green
Specialized is my travel mate) 15+ miles to and then crampedly
attempting sleep during my overnight flight to Sao Paulo, Brazil.