12/6 Amsterdam

After hunting around, found a bathroom upstairs near the F gates with a free shower. Felt wonderful, but had to use a tee shirt for a towel. With the server computer in my carry on, it was already at the weight limit, so there was no room for towles.

Next, I found a burger place with an outlet to begin charging the laptop. Smoky though.

Tried the Internet cafe. I signed on with credit card. When you start a browser on the wi-fi, any page you try goes to their signup page. $14 for 24 hour pass. (Attingo / Amsterdam Airport Schiphol https://portal.ams.attingo.nl/cgi-bin/ccpayment)

No place to sit that had an outlet, so I sat on the floor and logged into my machines in Seattle, and sent e-mails so people would know I wasn't lost baggage.

Then on to the F3 gate. There was an outlet in the seating area but it was really loose, and had no power. I found another near where they take the tickets. Batteries are now charged for the short leg of my journey.

I was quite concerned about the dufflebag with with the PC (Loki) inside. Many had their wheeled luggage taken to be checked. But they just let me walk by (maybe wheeled bags tend to be heavier).

Second flight

This flight was quite full, which made things a little uncomfortable trying to get the laptop for instance.

This flight, with many Ghanaians aboard, naturally was more social and not so quiet :-) One of the things I wanted to find first in Accra was a computer outlet. As it turned out, the man sitting next to me runs a computer store near Accra (he lives in Belgium).

		Mr Oppong, Jack, Rainbow Computers.
		PO Box SK 105
		Sakumono Estates, Accra
		020-817-7143

And next to me, Kabby Moty. He lives in San Fransisco and has an 8 month old daughter with videos of her on his laptop. He teaches in a private school.

Customs forms asking about commercial samples, gifts, etc. Went through the airport ok. Takes time to get passport stamped, find baggage, give declarations, and visit the Forex booth. George, Salihou, Noah, Gameli, and Salihou's wife and son waiting outside behind a barricade. I made it.

Some months ago, I asked Salihou about drums, and he said he could have one for me when I arrived. That sounded wonderful since I would then be prepared for any drumming opportunities that might present themselves.

Here is the beautiful drum Salihou gave me when we reached Frankies. There is detail carving that isn't obvious from this photo though. And it was in a very nice bag too. He also brought with him a computer monitor, keyboard, network cables and many other things for Jordan Nu. Quite a load coming all the way from Cape Coast!

The restaurant inside Frankies just closed, so Salihou and I got some chicken & chips at Papaye down the street. Just what I needed. Many people on the streets. And this is the national election eve!

We returned to the room and talked for hours about firewalls, networks and programming. And then to sleep.