Wheres Punky & Lew now?
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Date: Monday Jan 7, 2001 6:37 pm
Subject: Punky & Lew in Quito
Hi Mark and everyone: Mark, sorry to hear about your parents' accident. Hope they recover well and quickly. Too bad the air bags didn't deploy. Sounds like grounds for a lawsuit. The latest info here is that I am in therapy to quicken the loosening and flexibility of my ankle. The therapist says I should be able to go Jan. 15. I am able to walk with one crutch and even around the house without a crutch. Glen Heggstad did his video with CBS' 48 Hours the last few days and departed for Tierra del Fuego on his new KLR this morning. They didn't need to use Critter. The program is scheduled to air a segment about Glen's adventure and kidnapping on Jan. 25. Ted Simon, of Jupiter's Travels book fame, is doing his second round the world motorcycle adventure tour and met with Ricardo, Glen, Punky and I here in Quito. Ted also departed this morning heading north through Colombia to California. From there he will fly to Australia. He has ridden from London through Africa, then flew to Rio de Janeiro and toured South America to Quito. I just received a message about a couple of thieves, a guy named Alberto and a Fin on a SuperTenere, who stole a someone's new KTM, documents and money in Tierra Del Fuego. I'll be on the lookout for these characters. Punky is ready to go and so am I, in my mind. The California Bank of America and local banks have been driving me up the wall. Every time I try to use my Bank of America California VISA card I have been refused. Even with my new card activated, today I tried to use it and was told they would only be able to give me $100. Some English speaking elderly lady, maybe the bank president's wife, came to my rescue and I finally got $600 from inside the bank, without a gun, and $100 from the ATM. My bank says it's the local bank's fault and the local bank says it's Bank of America's fault. I have paid for 3 expensive international phone calls to my bank and still have the problem. B of A and VISA suck for international transactions in a bank. Transactions inside the bank are free, maybe why they are not so cooperative, and ATM's only allow $100 per transaction and charge a fee for each one. I could go on and on about my extreme frustration over not being able to access my funds with a debit card. I'm not trying to borrow money with a credit card, only access my funds in my account. It's absolutely infuriating. I was losing my patience and sense of humor during an expensive call to my bank. I wanted the toll free phone number. The bank rep on the phone told me the toll free international phone number was only for emergencies. I said I hope she one day finds herself in a foreign country, injured and desperately in need of funds and find out if she would consider it an emergency. She replied, "Well, I'm an American and I like it here and stay here." At that point I lost it and said, "F U" and hung up. Welcome to more realities of motorcycle adventure touring. Not much time until the 15th, so I need to get busy getting Critter ready for another long ride. I also have concluded that the delay will probably cause us to be in colder weather than anticipated in Patagonia and in the southern Andes Mountains. I will have to get a warmer riding suit. I left my new leathers at Phil's place in Live Oak, Florida. Ricardo thinks I can find a suit here. He said Glen bought a new First Gear textile one piece suit for $90. I will ride the tires on the bike to Santiago de Chile. There, I will put on Pirelli MT 60's and get the valves checked and a thorough service for the ride to Ushuaia. I will get rid of some weight and not carry a spare tire and will get rid of my camping gear. Ricardo will get the stuff as a gift ( about $500 worth). I may have time to see Lake Titicaca, Cuzco and Machu Pichu in Peru, La Paz, Bolivia and get to Ushuaia by March 1???
Later.
Punky & Lew
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