Trouble And Money #51

It's Trying To Be A Hotel In A War Zone- Kyiv, Ukraine

It was nice to find a bed in something resembling a hotel near the American Embassy. The house had aspirations of being a hotel someday.

I got my own room at a rock bottom price, and I told the young woman who acted like the owner that I was not sure how long I would be here.

There is one electrical outlet in the room. I unplugged the little ceramic lamp near the bed.

The Starlink mini modem is about the size of an iPad, and I leaned it out the window and caught a piece of the sky.

Checking your email, making calls, and looking at a few TikTok feeds is easy anywhere in the world. Again, for this project alone, Elon Musk should win the Nobel Peace Prize.

I got an interesting email from another UVA student, Jason Defalter's friend.

Finn was kind enough to send me a timeline of Jason's travels based on the signal from a tiny commercial tracker Jason put in his shoe.

Where have you been, Finn?

Step by step, Jason's trip was similar to mine, but with one big difference. It looks like Jason walked, hitched, and maybe bicycled from Kyiv to the Donetsk region, where there are a lot of Russians. It's a long haul. My ping pong playing, beer drinking, lacrosse playing guy was "In Country"

I hope he's still alive. That's a lot of miles of checkpoints, drones, and careful trekking.

It's an interesting way to learn about life.

According to Finn, the signal stopped completely near the end of November and started up again in Donetsk in the first week of December.

There were no emails, texts, or messages from Jason Defalter since early November.

There is a lot to think about.

The U.S. Embassy - Kyiv, Ukraine

The acting ambassador started receiving multiple phone calls about some kid from Massachusetts who got a wild hair across his ass and travelled to Ukraine.

One call about a potential missing kid is one thing, but a day later, he got two calls from Washington. One was from a member of Congress whom Wyatt hated to the core.

While that communist was blathering on the phone about "Poor Jason," Wyatt held up his hand in a hand puppet manner and made it talk while she moaned on the speaker phone.

On the other side of the room, Maeve was putting together afternoon coffee and trying hard not to laugh. The Ambassador was a funny MOFO.

When the member of Congress was out of breath, Wyatt told her that he had already been advised about this and had someone on it.

"Don't call us; we'll call you, " he said with all the respect he could muster.

A short time later, the phone rang again, this time from a Senator from Massachusetts. In Wyatt's view, she is another communist.

The hand puppet started killing the audience of one again.

When the Senator hung up, Wyatt looked at Maeve and said

"Who in the cousin fucking, chicken chasing hell is Jason Defalter?"

Another assistant entered the Ambassador's office and handed him a note from the gate today.

(Hand puppets rule the world today - Author)

Trouble And Money is published Monday through Friday. It is a free serial fiction detective story with characters you will love. Read the adventures of Conrad Grange as he solves cases and contends with a harsh world.

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