The year is not yet half over but it is shaping up to be a year of travel. But travel by ship and by car; no RV travel. Beside the TC2 cruise already completed and the TP1 cruise being planned I am also planning on a summer auto trip to MA. I will designate that at TN9 and TS9 (the 9th trip north and south). The auto trip will probably start at the end of July and will finish in early September, just a few days before the start of the TP1. I will take Rusty with me to MA and will use that opportunity to get him to the vet for a thorough checkup. I will travel north alone but Marlene will fly in to join me and we will travel back together. If the travel days from all of these trips are added up it is about 100 days. A third of the year spent traveling. And none of it by RV.
My next cruise adventure – TP1
The TC2 wasn’t without its problems, but overall it was one of the best trips I have ever taken. Now Marlene has been offered another cruise – a 30-night cruise across the Pacific – at a price so low that I couldn’t say no. So I will be off, again on September 10, returning on or about October 20. The itinerary includes stops in Alaska, Japan, the Philippines and Indonesia before ending in Brisbane Australia. We will spend a few days in Brisbane before flying home. The trip to Seattle (where the cruise begins) will include a flight into Portland OR and a few days in Tillamook with my sister and her husband, then a leisurely drive up the coast to Seattle. Marlene has never been to the west coast.
I will designate this trip as TP1 – the First Transpacific Cruise. This is optimistic as it leaves open the possibility of a second transpacific cruise. And why not? If she keeps getting these incredible cruise offers I will keep going.
Recovering from a wallet loss
It has now been two weeks since my wallet was lost/stolen in Madrid. I now have a new wallet (which I needed anyway) and it has two credit cards and a new laundry card (which is used to control the washers and dryers in our resort laundromat). I had forgotten that I had lost that card (which I foolishly took with me on the cruise). The replacement cost $5. I also lost whatever value had remained on the lost card, which I think was probably less than $10. Still, my estimated cash loss is now $180. All due to my foolish lack of precaution. Dumb.
I have ordered replacements for 2 more credit cards, my debit card, my driver’s license and my health care card. None of those have arrived. I have not yet begun seeking replacements for my Social Security card, my Costco membership card or any of the other minor cards that I lost.
I still kick myself for being so foolish. I will be more cautious on my next trip.
UPDATE 5/15/23: I have received replacements for all my credit cards, my debit card, my driver’s license, my health insurance card and my Costco card. That is all of the really important stuff.
TC2 wrapup
This was a trip of 21 days and 20 nights. It was the first trip Marlene and I have taken together and the first time we were together for more than a couple of days consecutively, so it was a test of our relationship. Here are the highlights and lowlights.
Highlights:
- Barcelona. This is a beautiful, laid-back and very civilized city. The roads and the Metro are incredibly well designed and operated. We did not see any traffic jams. Bicycles, scooters and mopeds are EVERYWHERE. The people are friendly and fit – it was very rare to see anyone who was overweight. The has replaced Dublin as my second-favorite city in the world (Paris remains #1).
- Marlene and I. We had some rough spots, but survived them all and generally enjoyed each other’s company very much. I think the relationship passed the test with flying colors.
- The Carnival Pride. I think this was the best cruise I have ever taken. It wasn’t perfect. The internet, in particular, was spotty and pathetically slow compared to the speed I experienced on Princess a year ago. But the cruise director, Joey, was terrific, the entertainment was superb and the people on board were friendly and fun. Kudos to Carnival for running a fine ship.
- Madrid and the Hotel Nuevo Madrid. We enjoyed Madrid, mostly, though not so much as Barcelona. The hotel accommodations in Madrid, at the Hotel Nuevo Madrid, were top-notch.
- The flight home. The TAP flight from Lisbon to Miami was first-rate. Good food, attentive service, a fine selection of on-demand movies. And very smooth.
Lowlights:
- Getting on the plane home in Madrid. We thought that having only a facsimile of Marlene’s naturalization certificate would be a problem and we were right. But it was even worse than we anticipated. We were forced to obtain a visa and buy a ticket back to Europe. And no one could give us a definitive answer to any of our questions. It was five hours of hell just to get on the plane to Lisbon. The requirement that we buy a return ticket, in particular, was idiotic. We bought the ticket, showed it to TAP then cancelled it. Stupid.
- Losing my wallet. This was a problem I didn’t need and could have avoided. We were warned. But I didn’t take proper precautions (like zipping my pocket). I was also stupid for carrying things of no use in Europe that would be difficult to replace. Dumb, dumb, dumb.
- Travelodge in Barcelona. This hotel took “bare bones” to a new level. No facecloth? Charging 1 euro for a cup of ice? For very little cost they could have kept us much happier. This was a model of stupid hotel management.
Bottom line: a fine, fun and very economical trip.
TC2 Day 20: Madrid, Spain, to Ft Myers FL
The last day of the TC2. All that remained was getting back to Florida.
Easier said than done,
We checked out of the hotel and used Marlene’s credit card to pay the incidental expenses. I discovered after the fact that I could have used my stolen Visa card because I had not, as I thought, frozen it and the hotel had it on file. But no charges had been made on it or any of my other cards, all of which were frozen.
The hotel – Hotel Nuevo Madrid – was very good, overall. Very new, very clean with a nice bar and restaurant and a spectacular 12-story atrium. The only significant knock on it was the lack of USB ports. It would have been nice to be able to recharge our phones without getting a 220V/110V adapter. The shower, which was superb, offered only some weird combo shampoo/body wash substance. Adequate but not ideal.
But, overall, a very fine hotel. And WAY better than the Travelodge in Barcelona. Surprisingly, the two hotels were priced similarly at about $190 per night.
We took a bus to the Metro then added the 3-euro supplement to our tickets to get to the airport. The Metro got us to the airport in under 30 minutes. But finding the check-in counter was difficult. We followed signs to Terminal 2, but discovered that the Madrid airport is odd in that the check-in and boarding areas are separated. We had to retrace our steps and try again. When we found the check-in we showed our passports and Marlene showed her duplicate naturalization certificate and they scratched their heads a bit but said everything would be ok and we should come back in a couple of hours because we were too early to check in.
The duplicate naturalization certificate. Marlene, who is a naturalized American citizen, has never had a US passport. She applied for one on Feb 28 and the estimated processing time then was 6 to 9 weeks. Well, 6 weeks was the start of the TC2 and 9 weeks was the end of the TC2. Either way it seemed pertty certain that there would be a passport in existence when we needed to return to the states. When the post office guy who took the application told Marlene that the original of the naturalization certificate needed to be attached to the application, she balked, saying that not having the original could be a problem. Oh, no, said the postal guy. No problem. I didn’t think it would be an issue because I was certain that the US passport would be issued before we returned.
Well, I was wrong on all counts. A check on the status of the passport application, on the evening of Day 19, showed that it was “in progress” and the processing estimate had been changed to 10 to 12 weeks due to “high demand.” So we had to get back to the US using a duplicate naturalization certificate that the postal guy had promised would not be a problem.
It was a problem.
We went to a cafe, had a bite to eat (a local staple – an Iberian-ham-on-baguette sandwich – good bread, mediocre ham), played some rummy, then headed back to the check-in counter expecting a smooth check-in.
Wrong. The attendant called a supervisor over, she looked at the copy of the naturalization certificate, started calling and texting and informed us that Marlene would need a visa. Yeah – a visa to return to her own country! We objected, of course, but she said that it was US immigration service that was demanding the visa and she could do nothing about it. Our options were to go to the American embassy to obtain said visa (which couldn’t be done until Wednesday because Tuesday was still a national holiday) or to get an online “ESTA” visa for $21. We opted for the ESTA (though Marlene was in favor of the embassy, on the general principle that she should not have to pay to get a visa to get home). I prevailed and we applied for the ESTA. And was informed that it might take up to 72 hours to be approved. That was not what we wanted to hear, but the TAP people said it usually took just an hour. So we cooled our heels for a very anxious 90 minutes and got approved.
Back to the check-in counter and presented the ESTA. We were then informed that we would also need to purchase a return ticket for Marlene, to be used if she was denied entry into the US. Our outrage fell on deaf ears (though the guy that bore the brunt of Marlene’s outrage was not deaf and came within an inch of banning her from ANY TAP flight). I was able to get Marlene calmed down then started looking for flights. The cheapest flight back to Lisbon was about $550, non-refundable. But a non-refundable ticket would be a waste as it wouldn’t be used. How much was a refundable ticket? OVER $3,000! The limit on Marlene’s credit card – the only one available since the loss of my wallet – was $2,000 so that was not an option. So I bought a non-refundable ticket, remembering that a ticket can always be cancelled within 24 hours. So get on the plane, get to Lisbon then cancel the ticket. Stupid, but necessary to get on the plane.
After booking the ticket – for a flight that left just an hour after we were scheduled to arrive and was therefore infeasible in practical terms – I asked the check-in supervisor what the requirements were for this required return ticket. She said “within 80 days”. I asked if she got a ticket for two months in the future and was denied entry whether she would be able to stay in the airport for 2 months. They looked at me like I had 2 heads. Apparently it was a question they had never heard before. They also looked at the ticket and started questioning whether a return flight that left an hour after arrival was adequate. I got angry at that point, saying that I had asked specifically what the requirements were and was told only “within 80 days” and “not to Canada or Mexico”. I said if there was a requirement as to how soon the flight could leave they should have mentioned it before I booked it. The supervisor got back on the phone, talked for about 10 minutes and finally said, reluctantly, that the ticket was acceptable.
There was also the issue that we had missed our original flight to Lisbon. At one point it was suggested that we would have to purchase two more tickets. I got pretty angry at that, too, as the airline was the one that made us miss the flight. But that threat turned out to be false. They did have to call the central TAP office to get approval to move us to a later flight without a charge, but that was approved.
We were given boarding passes for a 10:15pm flight, just 5 hours later than the 5pm flight we expected to be on. When I booked the trip home originally I was concerned about the VERY long layover in Lisbon – nearly 17 hours. But after all the delays in Madrid I was glad that the layover was so long as I didn’t have to worry about missing the flight to Miami. After the mess in Madrid the layover was down to 12 hours.
Even though we had boarding passes, I was relieved when we were on the plane and it started moving. I felt like we were being evacuated from Saigon.
We had a long, mostly sleepless night in the airport in Lisbon. All thoughts of leaving the terminal had vanished by the time we arrived, so we hunkered down in chairs that had USB ports so we could recharge our phones. In the morning, an hour before boarding the Miami flight, I cancelled the return ticket.
We had to go through passport control again, but that was no problem as they were just keeping track of who was leaving the EU. When we got to the gate the people who heard our story were puzzled. They were in agreement that the visa and the ticket were both unnecessary. But when we got to the final checkpoint – processing our boarding passes – the guy asked if we had shown the return ticket to “the guy up front”, meaning, I think, the guy who had told us that no return ticket was needed. We lied and said we had (even though no ticket existed at that point) and they let us on the plane.
It seems that NO ONE really knew how to handle Marlene’s odd situation.
The 9-hour flight to Miami was very smooth. We passed the time by playing rummy, eating the 2 meals that we were given and watching movies (a choice of about 100 on demand). We also had a “hunky” (in Marlene’s view) flight attendant who kept her distracted.
I figured that once Marlene was back in the US there was zero chance that she would be deported. But it wasn’t easy, either. We were escorted into a secure area (which angered Marlene as she felt she was being treated like a criminal) and made to wait 30 minutes while they checked her fingerprints against those they had on file from her naturalization. They matched and we were let go.
We were never asked to produce either a visa or a return ticket. So the claim by TAP that those requirements came from US immigration seems to have been pure hogwash.
We called her brother Mike then spent an hour in Au Bon Pain having good coffee (which we had been unable to find in Spain). He picked us up and drove us to his place where my Toyota was waiting. We socialized for an hour, then drove 2 hours home.
A VERY long, stress-filled end to TC2.
TC2 Day 19: Madrid, Spain
This was our last full day in Spain. We had no specific goals but wanted to get back into downtown Madrid. We had plenty of Metro tickets but decided to walk to the Metro rather than take the bus as Marlene wanted to stop at the nearby supermarket to get coffee and pastries. That is when we discovered that May 1 is a national holiday in Spain and most stores – including the supermarket – were closed. We found a fruit/vegetable place that was open and got some plums for breakfast.
We wandered around downtown a bit and took a few photos. We also checked the exchange rate at one place and was quoted $125 – down again. Very odd how the exchange rate bounced around during our 6 days in Spain.
We had lunch – a chicken sandwich and chicken strips – at a fast food place called Jollibee’s, It turned out to be just about the best chicken we have ever tasted. Then we wandered the narrow streets of Madrid, admiring the Spanish architecture and visiting a couple of small Catholic churches.
We also visited the Royal Basilica of St Francis the Great, but it was closed. We got some exterior shots in the adjacent garden, however. Then, dog tired, we returned to the hotel, dining on cold cut sandwiches that we got at a shop on the way back. Then we packed and prepared for the long flight home.
TC2 Day 18: Madrid, Spain
This was a sightseeing day in Madrid with the Museo del Prado being our primary goal. It began with us deciding to forego the 18-euro (over $20) breakfast buffet and dine outside the hotel. In this case the “dining” occurred at a supermarket that we found while walking to the Metro. We got some very good (and inexpensive) pastries and coffee and consumed them while charging my cell phone. I was unable to charge the phone overnight because the hotel room had no USB port and we left our 110V converter on the train. So a secondary goal was to find a replacement for the converter. The supermarket had a USB charger for the 220V plug but no 110V converter. That solved half the problem – we could charge our phones but I still could not recharge my laptop.
A third objective of the day was to buy more euros as our stash was depleted. In this we failed completely. We were shocked, on Day 17, to learn that the cost of 100 euros at the train station in Barcelona had gone up 10% in one day – from $125 to $137. We were further shocked when in two attempts to buy in Madrid we were quoted $138 and $157. We didn’t take either offer. How could currency fluctuate that much? We decided to conserve our cash and use credit cards.
Our destination on the train was downtown Madrid. Specifically, Puerto del Sol (“Gate of the Sun”), a huge square.
We wandered the lovely streets of Madrid, most of them crowded with people, heading for the Museo del Prado and doing some shopping along the way.
We found a lovely little church that Marlene loved, too.
We finally got to the Prado around 4pm and spent 2 hours touring the exhibits. It is almost entirely Spanish art. Mostly paintings, but some sculpture too. I enjoyed it but was disappointed that there wasn’t more variety. I got a few photos. Marlene got more. But we were constantly reminded that photos are not permitted, though everyone was sneaking them. I really don’t understand why photos were not allowed as virtually every object there has been photographed many times and those images can be found online.
After leaving the Prado we toured the nearby San Jeronimo el Real church, which Marlene also loved.
After the church the day got weird. We continued to search for the elusive converter. Marlene thought I was too obsessed with finding one and got miffed at me. Even when we found one things didn’t get better, so she walked off to be alone, telling me she could find her way back to the hotel. I continued to stay with her, from a distance, but anticipated that she would be going to the nearest Metro station. I went there, added some trips to the card using my Visa but she didn’t appear. I went back to the street, was unable to find her, walked to another Metro station and went back to the hotel. I took off my pants and worked on the laptop, blogging. She showed up an hour later and suggested that we go down to the lobby bar for a drink. I put my pants on, got on the elevator and… noticed that my wallet was missing. A search of the room failed to find it.
I either left it at the Metro station when I added rides to my ticket (unlikely) or was pickpocketed by the young woman that I was near on the first few stops on the crowded Metro train (unlikely but more likely than leaving it at the station). In any case, all of my cash, my credit cards and my debit card were gone. Also driver’s license, my Social Security card, my Costco card, my health insurance card, my COVID vaccination card and all of the other minor cards that I carried with me. I spent some time online freezing my credit cards then spent more time being so stupid. Stupid for not being more careful on the train as we had been warned that pickpockets were rampant and I had failed to zip the pocket in which I kept my wallet. Also stupid for carrying everything of value with me. Why didn’t I leave stuff I wouldn’t use on the trip – like my Costco card – home? Why didn’t I leave my backup credit card and my dollars in the hotel room? It was bad losing the cash (about $170) but the hassle of replacing everything I lost will be much worse and will occupy me for days when I get back to Florida. Stupid.
But I still have my passport, my laptop and my cell phone, the ticket home is already purchased and Marlene has credit cards and enough cash to get us through. So not a complete disaster.
When I finally made it down to the bar for a drink, we found a group of raucous businessmen, most from Albania, celebrating the 45th birthday of one of their group, AJ. Marlene started chatting with them and they invited us to join them, which we did. We had a rollicking good time with them until midnight.
TC2 Day 17: Barcelona to Madrid, Spain
This was a travel day and a very hectic one at that. It started with checking out of the hotel and, in doing so, letting the desk clerk know how unhappy we were with the new Travelodge policy to charge 1 euro for a glass of ice. I will make my unhappiness known to Expedia, too, as I booked the room through that website.
The Travelodge Barcelona Poblenou is billed as a 1-star hotel, which means basic accommodations. But in the US even cheap hotels usually include a minifridge, washcloths, USB ports, a desk and chair and a coffee maker. Our room at the Travelodge had none of these things. Calling it “spartan” is being kind. It was to hotels what Spirit is to airlines. We felt that for the price we paid – nearly $200 per night – we should have gotten more. We certainly should have gotten free ice.
But the location was excellent. A good neighborhood very near the Rambla de Poblenou. We had no difficulty getting around. So maybe a 3 for quality of accommodation and 8 for location.
After checking out of the hotel we dragged our bags to the Sants train station and checked them into the “excess baggage” room. For about $12 each for our 2 large suitcases we were able to travel without them the rest of the day, until we boarded the train. I thought that was a fair price for the convenience.
After leaving the large bags we headed to the Sagrada Familia. Marlene carried her backpack and I carried my laptop. That made tour of the basilica more difficult than it would have been without them, but it wasn’t horrible.
We entered the basilica right on time at 1:45pm. We had to pass through a security check more rigid than those at airports. We both had our small carry-on bags checked manually and my pocket knife was taken for safekeeping, presumably to discourage me from stabbing anyone while in the church. I hadn’t even recalled that I had put the knife in my carry-on bag. I suppose I should be happy that they found it for me because the airport security would have taken it away permanently.
How to describe the Familia basilica? Huge. Breathtaking. Spectacular. A wonder. It is truly an architectural gem. I can’t begin to describe the details of the structure. I am sure an architectural student could spend years trying to fully understand it all. I will simply offer some photos.
I am glad I saw it, but both Marlene and I felt that it was overpriced. We thought that the Valencia Cathedral was a better value.
We left the basilica at 3pm, retrieved my knife, took the Metro back to Sants, retrieved our luggage and waited for the train. It left precisely on time at 5:40pm and gave us a very smooth, nonstop trip to Madrid. We enjoyed the Spanish countryside as it flew by, but it was semi-arid and flatter than Marlene remembers (she lived in Madrid for a time as a youngster).
We decided to take public transportation to our hotel, which was located a few miles north of central Madrid. We figured out how to get a 10-ride Metro card and where to catch a bus to the hotel. It was an 8-minute walk hauling our heavy bags, but we made it in under an hour.
The hotel – the Hotel Nuevo Madrid – is a 4-star hotel and it puts the Travelodge to shame. Yes, the ice was free. More on the hotel when we leave.
Despite being dog-tired, we went out to dinner rather than dining at the restaurant in the hotel. We found an inexpensive cafeteria chain, VIPS, and had a chicken bowl dinner. Marlene found some Spanish teens to chat with.
A long day. We slept well.
TC2 Day 16: Barcelona, Spain
This was a (mostly) leisurely day of exploration in Barcelona. But it wasn’t the day that we planned. Our main objective on this day was visiting the Sagrada Familia basilica which we had failed to get to on Day 15. So after a continental breakfast in our room, we walked to the Metro and traveled to the basilica. We were immediately struck by both the huge number of people who were there and the immense size of the building. We were then surprised to learn, from a sign on the fence surrounding the structure, that tickets could only be purchased online. After enduring a dreadfully slow download of the app, I tried to purchase 2 tickets, only to be shut out for anytime that day (Friday). And Saturday was sold out as well. But Marlene suggested that we try the “information” tent across the road and, surprisingly, they had a few tickets available for 1:45pm Saturday. We snagged them.
But that created a problem… we had very little time between when the tour started and when we had to be on a 5:40pm train to Madrid. Plus when I booked the train I did not see an option for taking large suitcases, which cost an extra 5 euros. We had two train-related problems that we needed to resolve. So we decided to go back to the Sants station to see if we could (1) switch to a later train and (2) add the bags to the ticket. Thus began our Ouigo nightmare.
We took our time walking to the station. We bought some bread and had a leisurely snack on the bread, feeding some to the pigeons. We took another break outside a school for theatrical arts where students had drawn chalk figures of leading ladies from the movies. Marlene found a thrift shop (no surprise there) and I enjoyed watching a window washer very artistically wash the shop’s windows while she shopped (I was amazed by how he could twirl his squeegee). We also got a closer view of Casa Mila and got someone to photograph us there.
We did make it to the train station, only to discover that the trip had been for naught.
“Ouigo” is the brand of train that I booked our travel to Madrid on. I thought it was the same as “Sanfe”, the train service that occupies most of the Sants station. We quickly found out from a disguntled Sanfe customer service agent that Ouigo was a different company and that they had no employees at Sants. Everything Ouigo did was online. We spent an hour at the McDonald’s in the station (which had free WiFi) researching Ouigo and trying to locate a number to call. We learned a lot but found no number.
Back at the hotel I managed to find a way to add the bags to the ticket and learned how to change the time of departure. But when I tried to change the time – something that the app said was possible until 30 minutes prior to departure, the app refused to do it. I spent over an hour trying different ways and none of them worked. The result was we were stuck with a 5:40pm departure and a 1:45pm tour of the basilica. VERY tight timing.
We decided that the best option was to take the large bags to the train station in the morning, go on the tour and then get back to the station by Metro. We figured we would have to leave the basilica by 3:15pm, so the tour would be just 90 minutes. Not much time considering that we spent about $30 each on the tickets. Feasible but very stress-inducing.
As a result of all the researching and frustrating failure to change the train time, we didn’t go out to dinner until 10pm. But people dine late in Spain. We wandered around a bit and discovered the Rambla de Poblenou, very near our hotel. This is a pedestrian street lined with cafes, all with al fresco dining. The area was so popular that we were unable to grab an outdoor table so we settled for an indoor one at a tapas cafe. This was my first tapas meal. We selected spicy potatoes, fried artichokes and cod fritters. They were all very good.
Before going to bed we had a bit of a run-in with hotel staff. We asked for a cup of ice – necessary because the room had no refrigerator and there was no ice machine. We had been given free cups of ice several times previously. But this time we were told that the cup of ice cost 1 euro. Over a dollar for no more than 6 ice cubes! Both Marlene and I were very miffed and refused to pay. I think making a customer angry over a cup of ice is very poor customer service.
Cease and desist
Two days before returning to the US from Spain, I received the following email (names redacted to maintain anonymity):
RE: Cease and Desist from Contact/Communication/Harrassment
Dear [Sparky]:
Please be advised that I represent [Ooma]. [Ooma] has informed me that you continue to harass her even though she has ended her dating relationship with you. [Ooma] has informed me that since that time, and since she has blocked your telephone number and blocked you on her social media accounts, you have made a number of harassing and abusive e-mails and letters and continue to harass her through social media (including but not limited to posting defamatory statements about [Ooma] on Facebook and your personal blog, and Facebook messaging [Ooma]’s known associates).
Please be advised that you are to immediately cease and desist from making any further attempts to contact [Ooma] directly or indirectly. Indirect contact now includes communicating or sending messages to [Ooma]. Direct and/or indirect contact also includes, but is not limited to, phone calls, voicemails, letters, packages, emails, text messages, social media invitations, blog posts and/or social media posts to or about [Ooma]. [Ooma] also does not want your family members, friends, co-workers, or acquaintances to try to contact her, or to contact her relatives, friends, co-workers or acquaintances to inquire about her, convey messages to her or make derogatory/defamatory comments about her.
[Ooma] does not want you to follow her or show up at her home or places that you know she frequents. You are also not to approach her vehicle. Any subsequent attempts will be considered voluntary, malicious, harassing, stalking and/or cyberstalking as they serve no legitimate purpose and cause her considerable emotional distress.
I am aware that you and [Ooma] are not married, have no children born of or adopted in your relationship and have had no business dealings. If you feel you have any legal claims, any future communication regarding these claims need to go through formal legal channels [e.g. attorneys, court pleadings, court proceedings such as case management, mediation, hearings and/or trial (again, not any third parties or certified mail from you)], and does not excuse your compliance with this formal cease and desist demand.
Nothing in this letter constitutes legal advice and you are free to consult with a lawyer. In the event that you fail to comply with this demand, [Ooma] has been advised of her legal right to zealously pursue any and all remedies available under the law, including but not limited to a petition for injunction for protection against stalking and harassment. Your respect for and cooperation with this demand is mandatory.
This cease and desist demand is not an open invitation for you to communicate with me as I am NOT representing [Ooma] in any other matter other than her legal interest and right to be free of any further stalking and harassment. Any subsequent communications with me or my office will go unanswered. I have nothing further to discuss with you other than to reiterate [Ooma]’s clear demand that you stop all further communication with her or about her.
PLEASE GOVERN YOURSELF ACCORDINGLY
Sincerely,
[Ooma’s lawyer]
So the woman who betrayed my trust, stole my photographs, blackmailed me, sent me a long series of abusive and harassing text messages, physically assaulted me twice, got me banned from the Buckingham Blues Bar, lied to me every day we were together and tried to get a restraining order for stalking that was so muddled and poorly written that I had to ask the clerk what the complaint was for is accusing ME of harassing HER. Seems like a case of “blaming the victim.”
Let me state here, categorically, that I have NEVER stalked her. I also don’t believe the few times I communicated with her were harassing. I wasn’t pleasant, but I wasn’t abusive. So I am being asked to cease doing something I have never done. How do I do that?
I think it is ironic that by publishing this email I am probably violating the demand as I think it will be pretty clear to anyone reading it that Ooma is not a nice person. She certainly is not the “good woman” she claims to be.
As for communicating with her friends and family… I will do so when I need to communicate with them. It won’t be to harass or denigrate Ooma, but there might well be other valid reasons for me to communicate with them.
As for my friends and family communicating with her… I will neither encourage nor discourage them from communicating with Ooma. If she has a problem with them, she should deal with them.
I also have no intention of changing my behavior to avoid places that I know she frequents. That would include all of downtown Fort Myers. It is my city too.
If I were to say anything to Ooma – which I won’t, of course, since I have been asked so nicely to refrain from communicating with her – I would say that the best way to keep me from saying bad things about her is for her to stop doing bad things to me.