Right now, I should be taking a nap. Sadly, I am not and never have been a 'nap person.' Oh, I'd like to be. I've even tried it a few times and either: (1) I lie there, wide awake and unable to sleep. Unfortunately, I'll remember the feeling when I go to bed for real, spend most of the night in the throes of insomnia, and wake up needing a nap; or (2) The phone will ring just as I'm drifting off, and drifting off only happens once; or (3) I'll fall into a deep heavy sleep, sleep through the alarm, spend what's left of the day in a dazed fug, and be unable to sleep at bedtime. Whatever it is, I lose.

Unlike yesterday, when I unexpectedly won. I had just decided to go for it in my very own toilet, and deal with the consequences later, when I heard hissing, gurgling and spattering coming from the kitchen, followed by the unmistakable sound of a solid stream of water hitting the metal sink.

In other words, the water had come back on, and not a minute too soon.

I am, quite understandably, worried about what will happen next. Luck and plumbing definitely do not go together in my universe.

Incidentally, I learned the 'leave several taps wide open' trick in Turkey, where water deprivation is a fact of life-- quite often for days at a time. But at least there you could flush the toilet with aid of a bucket and water from the 100+ liter plastic container we kept in the kitchen. The water came from the Water Store, of which there were two on our block alone. They brought the Water to the Store in tanker trucks, and pumped it in with a great big, dirty to the point of filthy, hose. I guess that's what they did with the out of work 'honey wagons' once people discovered that sewage systems and the plumbing that goes with them are a Good Thing. Well, usually. Nobody in Istanbul drinks tap water, not even the Turks. It's not like Mexico, for instance, where if you've grown up on the stuff you are immune to the poisons it contains. Almost nobody drinks Water Store water, either-- that's just for when the running water refuses to run-- although I've heard that you can in a pinch, or if you're making pasta or something, if you boil it for half an hour first.

We never tried. As it was, I got the runs every five weeks anyway. I swear, it was more regular than my menstrual cycle. No, when in Turkey, the thing to do is to buy bottled water, and make sure that that bottle is still sealed when you buy it. But that was a long time ago, and in another country, so I'll get back to--

Actually, that's about it regarding the plumbing crisis. I went, then went to the gym, then did a bit of this and that, and then I went out.

Ladies Night in Lisbon. This month, it was at the Docas, which is a bunch of old sea front warehouses and so forth that have been converted into trendy bars, restaurants and nightclubs. We all met at TGI Fridays, which was a bit odd since I've never been to one outside of the States. It was... TGI Fridays. Could have been anywhere, until you got to the food. Actually, the drinks. I seem to recall that TGIF makes good margaritas, so I broke my personal rule of Never Order A Margarita Outside Of The US (unless you are damn sure of who is making it), and ordered a margarita. This rule originated in Istanbul, when I was given a vast glass of white lightning tequila (I'm pretty sure the label only contained the word 'Tequila' in black ink and a bar code). To the tequila they had added lemon juice and nothing else. For this I paid something like eight bucks. If you're going to get ripped off, I say, do it in a swanky place with frescoed walls and an achingly hip young crowd that gets raided by the police checking identity cards at least once a night. Couldn't fault the portion size, though, and by adding copious amounts of sugar I managed to choke half of it down. After the half way point, you didn't notice the taste anymore, or much else, really. I was much more concerned about going blind, myself.

Why am I talking about Istanbul so much tonight? I can't even remember--

Oh yeah. Ladies night. So, the margarita was not good. Maybe they never are, or it was just the bartender, who looked like he was about 15. Anyway, I forgave him once I ordered something called a lemonade to get the taste out of my mouth. This is a drink much loved by other ladies in our party, and which consists of copious amounts of vodka and blue curaçao. It glows, and so did I after a couple sips. Can't fault the portion size. The onion rings were good, and served with mayo laced with garlic and chives. Buffalo wings were cooked correctly, but not 'Buffalo'. Instead, they came in a puddle of barbeque sauce that was spicy, but not too much. Tasty, but I like my wings on the incenidary side. They were served with more garlic and chive mayo (instead of blue cheese dressing) and celery. The celery should be in sticks, right? Wrong. It was diced, which made it pretty damn useless. I can't imagine what they were thinking.

I ordered fajitas, which were themselves fine, if a bit bland. Tortillas were fine. But the garnish-- well, sour cream? Check. Salsa? No, we havn't got any of that. Lettuce? Check. Guacamole? Nope. Peppers? Nope. Mayo laced with garlic and chives? Oh yeah, got plenty. Stuff that looks like German sweet and sour red cabbage but tastes strangely of nothing in particular? Yes indeedy. So, that was weird. Fajitas but.... Not.

The plan was to hit a salsa bar slash disco afterwards, but we couldn't be bothered. No one was really wanting to wiggle it, and I am not a Disco Person. Instead, we relocated to an Irish pub a few doors down, and drank and gossiped and told off color jokes by the bar until we fled from the live music. Although they really weren't that bad. That is to say, I've heard worse.

After two and a half hours of sleep, I got up, went to a meeting followed by lunch, and didn't get back here until almost 5 pm.

Which is why a nap would come in useful right about now.

It's Friday night. Regardless of how much sleep I didn't get last night, I am damn sure that I will somehow muster the energy to be drinking, wiggling it and carousing until dawn.

Possibly later.

Never fear. The full ramifications will be settling in tomorrow.