Always an Interesting Adventure

I mentioned in yesterday's blog how wonderful the proprietors of this B&B are.  Jim and Doreen have been delightful, and Jim has quite the exuberant personality.   Both are so eager to make us comfortable.

For instance, we arrived much earlier  than standard check-in, and both greeted us at the door,  showed us  our room, and then made us tea and toast!  Breakfast was long over, but they even offered to make us eggs or whatever we might like.  Such hospitality is truly appreciated when you've gotten only a few hours of sleep on the plane.

There's a bit of a story behind the reservation (isn't there always?)  It seems that when I decide to come along with Marty, rooms are at a premium.  I can't say what is happening in Scotland in the last week in Oct., but it was very difficult finding anyone with a room that is close enough for Marty to drive into to work and that is nearby some sites that I can enjoy while he is at work.

I decided on this lovely town of Dunfermline, and actually had 2 other B&B's picked for us to stay.  Both times, when I asked what I needed to confirm the room, I received an e-mail stating that the room was no longer available....just hours after sending the e-mail.  I was a bit concerned, as it was getting close to departure, and I happened upon this place on booking.com.  What a wonderful find!

Our room is one that has recently been refurbished and it is quite lovely.

The windows offer a "wee" view of the land across the Firth of Forth as you can see by the early morning photo that I took through the side window:

The room is supposed to have high speed internet, but I was unable to get it on my computer.  Marty could access the wireless with no problem with his work laptop, but my netbook would drop the network and give me some crazy IP address problem info.  So, I came downstairs to this lovely sitting room, and Jim saw me and asked what the issue was.  

I explained about the difficulty accessing the wireless, and he seemed a bit concerned by it, but I figured that there was nothing that I could do.  Then, I came down into this cozy sitting room, turned on my computer, and poof!  I was online.  Without even doing a thing.   Well, that showed some promise, as I did not have the time to make reservations for the weekend since Marty did not know what his schedule would be, and I was quite busy with two little grand babies to even think about searching for rooms.

The battery was running low, so I plugged the charger into the converter in this cozy room, and I was charging just fine.  I sent out an "I'm here" e-mail to family, and decided to shut down the computer and let it charge up in the bedroom.  So, I plugged the charger into the very same converter in the room, and suddenly there was a loud ZAP, a spark, and tinged metal ends on the plug.

I knew that this was NOT a good thing.  Luckily, the charger had not been plugged into my computer.  As I suspected, I could not use the charger.  My netbook had 30 minutes of power left, and I did not have a room for the weekend.  I'll admit  that I was extremely upset, since the computer is only about 3 weeks old.

Interestingly enough, the converter was not damaged, although you can be guaranteed that I will NOT be using that again.

I figured that I might as well enjoy the day, so I bundled up and was ready to head out the door, when Jim asked me if all was well.  I explained to him what had happened to the charger, and he looked at it, and sent me on my way to a local Computer shop.  He told me to tell them that he had sent me there.

Well, when I walked into the room, I felt like I was in a comedy movie.  Both men looked at me as if they were surprised that anyone would come in the door.  One man was of Indian descent and the other was an Arab with a beard that was about 6 inches long and cut straight across the bottom.  Really, I honestly felt like I had seen these two guys in some movie recently.

The Indian man examined my charger,  looked at me, and said to me "I can order one for you." (It seemed that he thought that I'd be disappointed that it wasn't in stock.)  "I'll get it by tomorrow afternoon".   

Ok, now does that happen in the US?   I was quite happy with that possibility, but skeptical nonetheless.  I closed my eyes and asked what it would cost, and I was quite surprised by the figure that he gave to me because it was much less than what I would have anticipated.

So, I went off on my merry way, discovering the wonders of Andrew Carnegie, which will really have to be for another blog because this one is already painfully too long.....but there is a point to it, I promise.

On the way back to the room, I stopped into the shop, and the man had the charger,  but it did not look like what I had shown him.  So, I walked to the B&B, got my computer and charger, and walked back to the shop.  The man plugged it into the computer, and it fit fine.  He then told me that it was not a name brand as the original, but some generic type charger.  And, the price was £10 cheaper than what he originally told me.

I was happy (still skeptical but desperate), and pulled out my credit card to pay. (there were several credit card stickers on his door indicating that he took cards for payment.)  He looked at me and said that he did not accept credit cards.  Well, I had some cash, but was short on what he needed. He said, "No problem, you can take the charger and pay me later."  (Are you wondering if this is real?  Because I certainly did.)

So, I walked back AGAIN to the B&B, plugged in my computer to charge, got the money, then returned to the shop,  deciding along the way that I was definitely ordering dessert at dinner from all of the walking that I did.

So, by now you've probably figured that the charger works, although it is painstakingly slow.  It has a Great Britain plug,  so I don't have to worry about a converter while I'm here.  

When Marty came back from work, we walked into town, again, and had dinner at this lovely restaurant that had a 3 course dinner for two, complete with a bottle of wine, for £24.95. 

Originally, I had no intention of sharing this story with my bloggers, because it didn't seem like an important issue that you might be interested in reading.  

But as I told Marty the story at dinner, and I began to describe the two men in the shop by appearance, he told me that I should have taken a photo of them.  I told him that would have been a bit bazaar, since it seemed like I made them nervous to begin with every time I walked into the place. 

OK, I'll agree that the two guys were extremely entertaining to me regarding their looks and the way that they acted, but I asked Marty just why he thought a photo would be in order.

He looked at me and said, because when you write your blog, you can post the photo and say:  "Because of these two guys.....you're reading my blog!"

Awhhh that Marty......he can certainly be witty, don't you think?  

I was feeling a bit under the weather this morning, due to the extreme change in barometric pressure from the impending Arctic Blast, and I decided to sit in this cozy room to write my blog, when, once again, Jim spotted me and asked if I was feeling OK.  I explained about my asthma and how I was having a bit difficulty, and he lit this cozy fire in the fireplace and brought me a cup of tea.

So, here I sit, sharing the fire with a friend:

who, quite surprisingly, is not affecting my allergies.  

This place is about as perfect as one could expect. Except for the strange noise that I hear behind the radiator in the bedroom.  Yesterday afternoon the noise got much louder.  It sounded like frantic scratching, and when I peered behind the radiator, I could actually see the wall billowing in and out.

In that respect, I think Jim thinks I'm nuts because he says that there is no rational explanation for that.    I can assure you that I am not nuts, and I actually thought about grabbing my cat friend to get his opinion on the matter, but decided against it.

In the meantime, I might as well take advantage of the cozy fire in this quiet room while I have the opportunity instead of listening to strange noises coming from behind the radiator.

And, perhaps I'll have time later to share the wonders of Andrew Carnegie with you. 

Bet you can't wait for that blog!