Hello from Madrid, where I’m at a meeting this week.

I took a couple of itinerary risks to save money, and it hasn’t paid off so far.

The first and biggest was flying via LAX. My NZ friends would all avoid flying through the US these days for various political/bureaucratic reasons. But I’m still using a US passport, so I figured I’d be safe enough.

In getting ready for the trip, the classic Arlo Guthrie song kept running through my head, even though it must be decades since I’ve actually heard it. Here’s the link so you can refresh your memory: https://youtu.be/KYE4-_Yzj60?.

Arlo could get away with saying Los Angeleez in a way that most people can’t… if I said it like that people would accuse me of trying to sound like Arlo Guthrie. But actually a lot of NZ accents also put in a fair amount of -eez. Anyway.

I was NOT bringing in a couple of ki’s, just for the record. But LAX ate my suitcase anyway.

So, I’m doing some enforced shopping here in España. That would be more fun under slightly different circumstances. Maybe I’ll get my old stuff back, but more likely I’ll practice an enforced Kondo cleanse.