the id, the ego, & the single misfiring brain cell

Yes. I confess it. I spent money, which makes this a red-letter date. Go ahead: mark it on your calendar. I'll wait.

OK. Friday afternoon, I told my boss that I was going in to see the medical folk Thursday morning because my shoulder won't stop hurting. Colonel Kostas said, "So...I'll see you Friday?" I said, "It shouldn't take that long, sir. I expect to be in tomorrow afternoon." He just nodded.

I tried to call the medical aid station Thursday morning, only to learn that the numbers they gave me cannot be reached via my pre-paid, government-issued cell phone. So I strolled over and made the appointment in person. They set me up for 1:30pm.

Turns out, Col Kostas is much better grounded in Mediterranean culture than am I, which is acceptable, him being Greek and all.

Meanwhile, having skipped breakfast (because I wasn't hungry when I'd left the house), I popped over to the (hidden) BX to see if Selma and/or Bahar wanted to go have lunch.

Both of these ladies are shopkeepers there. I found them sitting in Selma's shop, discussing the impending move from their current shops to the Hilton, where their rooms will be considerably smaller. They won't be able to show their merchandise like they can here, so they need to clear out a lot of pieces. The problem is,  so many of their customers--mostly Americans--are TDY right now and have been for a month or more. The Americans still here have been doing insane shifts, so very few people have the time or energy to go furniture or carpet shopping.

I don't think I've ever seen either of them that down. I invited them to lunch. (I later learned that they'd both decided to go on a diet that day, so they were wickedly pleased that I asked to I sat and chatted with Selma while Bahar check the menu in the snack bar (where I once ate and they charged me $8 for two(2) mediocre-at-best tacos, so I don't know why Bahar was checking it).

Selma sells handmade furniture. She makes whatever you want exactly like you want it. She has a piece I've been coveting since the day after I arrived in Izmir. It is a hardwood game table. The tabletop can be flipped, so it's equally suitable for checkers, backgammon and chess. It comes with a full brass chess set that has a Lord of the Rings flavor to it, and two chairs. She said she was trying now to sell it for $1000.

I said I'll take it. I thought she was going to have a kitten. :) It was a win-win, as they say. I was tickled and I made her day. Before it is delivered, she will have it cleaned and have a final finish put on it.

I might need to be reminded to post a picture when she delivers it. It's quite beautiful.

I've been getting back into playing backgammon here. As a Turkish pastime, backgammon is as pervasive as shopping, only less competitive. Also, I have a friend who is learning chess, a game I don't play often but which I enjoy a great deal.

So Selma changed her drawers, then she and Bahar took me out to lunch. They hailed a cab and took me to the kemeralti, my own neighborhood, to one of their favorite restaurants. We walked quite a ways and it took a while, because Bahar stopped and gave discarded meat from the cafeteria and cat food to every stray we encountered.

Döner: a magnificent dish of slow-roasted beef and lamb. The meat is stacked on a skewer then slow-roasted while it turns. When you order it, they shave off the freshly roasted bits, put them on chopped, lightly leavened bread, pour melted butter on it, add a bit of tomato sauce, then slather it with Mediterranean yogurt (which tastes a bit like a thinner, lighter sour cream). This establishment also provided an ample dish of sliced jalapenos, which I amply helped myself to. I had a glass of ayran with the meal (ayran is kinda a salty, thin buttermilk).

It was amazing. After I changed my drawers, we walked back to the BX/Hilton area.

I went to see the doc-stand-ins (we don't have real docs here, but something a bit like PAs, who I've come to appreciate). I was diagnosed with bursitis in my right shoulder, which sounds dead on to me. I had trocanter bursitis back in alabama, and come to think of it, the symptoms are uncannily similar. I'm now on a regimen of anti-inflammatories and physical therapy exercises. And I have to lay off the pushups until further notice.

After this, since it was too late to go back to work, I went to see Bahar.

Bahar, first, a just a wonderful person. She makes the best apple tea in Izmir, and she loves animals. She also sells carpets. He carries only handmade carpets, and will tell you whether it was made by a family or "commercially" (which I think is a nice way to say "sweatshop"). He carries Turkish carpets from various regions--each region has trademark colors and designs, of course--as well as Afghani, Persian, and Kashmir carpets. She set me up with apple tea, then she hailed her young indefatigable assistant (Emron) and they began laying out carpets.

One of the first caught my eye like a fishhook, but I suffered through another 40 or 50 samples.

Bahar is dealing with the same problem Selma is: she's about to be moved to a shop that is too small to store a decent collection of carpets (and for any merchandise she can't sell by July, she will pay an 18% tax). Bahar is particularly interested in selling her larger carpets.

I now understand why they keep showing you carpets after you've clearly made up your mind. It's because they understand buying behavior far better than buyers themselves do.

I bought three carpets and two silk-embroidered giant pillows (which she will stuff, then deliver). I bet you want pics, huh?

OK. I'll humor you....

Here's my living room now:

Then there's this one

It was love at first sight. I tried to talk me out of it, but it was no good. It's now on the floor of my bedroom.

All of these are wool on cotton warp and weft, approximately seven by ten.

You want to know what I paid, probably. I paid enough. I am happy, and so is Bahar.

d