We are fascinated by the miracle of genetics. Once again spotting double doppelgangers of Americans being twinned here in Spotorno, Italy!
Genetic Inclinations
Arizona State University famously studied twins reared separately in childhood . These twins had many interesting correlations in their adult lives that point to genetics being as important as environmental factors in influencing outcomes.
Is it possible a distant blood relative would share enough genetic material to increase the likelihood of you meeting accidentally or coincidentally at the pizza shop because you both gravitate to similar foods and places?
August 5, 2026: Three out of four train trips in Switzerland William was confronted with systemic Grift. The third time he pushed back under threat of being brought to jail!
Do not fall victim to this “badge scam”!
The conductor will claim your ticket is invalid and will inform you of a fine being imposed which needs immediate payment.
The Conductor Will Ask For Cash
Under no condition give the Swiss Railway Robbery man cash. He/She /They will tell you they are giving you a break on the penalty if you hand over, 60, 80 or 100 francs immediately.
Do not fall for the SBB scam! If you paid for your ticket and believe it is valid. Stand your ground!
Switzerland Police Involvement Makes The Scam Seem Real
William found himself cornered by two uniformed Switzerland Police and one SBB conductor near the stairs away from cameras in Bern, Switzerland.
It did not make sense how they all pushed for cash payment of a fine for a valid ticket!
William understood he was being hustled but also knew his ticket was valid.
When he offered to pay officially online with a credit card and receipt the conductor claimed it was a ridiculous idea.
Leave A Paper Trail
The conductor and police let William go but still standing in Bern even though his ticket was valid.
What worked in this situation? William insisted if he was forced to pay a fine it be ‘ on the record’.
This shined light on the cockroaches scam and they scattered.
Their was no fine because William’s ticket was valid! William brought his phone to the ticket office in Bern, Switzerland and they printed a copy and he left with his original ticket and no further problem except a bad taste in his mouth.
William encountered several more passengers with similar stories including two young college students who were wrongly fined and spent their precious time traveling to SBB office to refund their money. Instead of enjoying their youth.
While trying to learn a new language in a new country on the fly, it is a great idea to memorize the basics which seems to be common in most cultures and countries.
Who, What, Where, When and Why are the subject and activities people will be speaking about most.
If you learn these 5 words you will have a head start. These often clue you in to the conversation even if you don’t know any more words.
For example if someone say who did what and is pointing at a person or thing, you will quickly pick up common words phrases.
Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow
The same goes for yesterday, today and tomorrow. Keying on these words will give you clues on if people are speaking in the past, present or future tense.
Go have fun!
Be Polite And Friendly
William has found a fantastic way to be ingratiating in a situation where he is not sure what languages strangers speak.
When introducing yourself be armed with the following phrase in the major language of the country you visit.
“I am sorry, I do not speak. (fill in language) Do you speak (fill in language)
This way you are showing you are trying to speak the predominant language of the country.
This works much better than running around the world demanding other people speak English.
You will find yourself surprised at the response as people may prefer speaking another language or may be visiting from another part of the world and not understand. This is especially common in Europe as it is a melting pot with many people here for work or play.
Ask For Directions
Believe it or not , getting lost in a foreign country is a great way to acquire some linguistic skills.
You will learn the words for left, right, up ,down ,bacrods etc. as you meander across the countryside.
The necessity of finding your hotel or restaurant or grocery will sharpen your skills.
Relax Your Mind And Listen
When listening to others speak in a language you do not understand a good technique is to relax your mind. Don’t get tied up and stressed over trying to translate every word.
You will get the gist of the conversation and before long you will be surprised how quickly you increase new vocabulary.
Journal entry July, 19 2026:Sitting in the train station in Toulon France today at 9am. Drawing suspicious glances from fellow travelers. Why? Because I have a backpack in the train station and ordering a ticket on my phone?
The True Danger In The Train Station
I am not afraid of the people who are from out of town. What frightens me is the dude who just picked up a half smoked cigarette from the ground and lit it up like it ain’t no thing.
He gives the trash bin a cursury search from top to bottom with his eyes as he walks by exhausting his nicotine prize.
He stops and spins on a dime. Must have seen something delicious in the bin. But he must wait before he grabs food from the trash. People may see.
Sizing Up My Baggage
Dude ain’t got no luggage, no cell phone and apparently no money for butts.
His eyes light up a bit when he sees me. I look Anglo or German and that says money for him.
When The Horrifying Becomes Ordinary . Atrocities Are Normalized
Meanwhile the couple who are waiting for their train are stiffening up every time we make casual eye contact.
They are blind to the dude smoking checks and eating out of the trash bin and searching everyone’s luggage with his eyes.
Why? Because he looks like a local and I am foreign?
I need to shut down this emotional reception. Picking up fear all day in the cities. Millions of people.
Who scares you the most in the train station
Later That Day
I just spent the day getting a little down on my Self because I start to think something is wrong with me because others pointedly ignore me when I say hello
I understand it’s like that in a big city but if you are afraid to say hello to someone in the city, why are you there?
The Prince and The Pauper
Same guy, me, same clothes. Different place. I went to the Jardin Parc of Toulon. (It’s just a park for rich people. Poor people can go but they don’t. (See Related Story)
I am sitting on the bench stuffing my face and people assume I have money to stay in the 500Euro/night hotel nearby.
Instead of crossing the street to avoid interaction, they are sitting close to me on a 50 meter long bench.
A woman was high stepping towards me with her designer dog all perked up expecting the normally expected, “bonjour”.
I glazed my eyes as if I were someone ignoring me earlier that day. She visibly slumped and so did the designer dog and kept walking.
I was inspired to write this on the spot in the park and she went past again. I only noticed because she had purposely walkedbetween me and the tree in one meter in front of me. The other side of the tree was a clear area .
I love dogs bu tif I am in the park with strangers I would keep my distance. Normal behavior in the city is people risk getting hit by cars while crossing the street to avoid the risk of someone saying hello:
Turning my head to the right , I laughed when I saw her turn the corner. There’s nothing down there . She had only gotten ready for a conversation and didn’t know what to do
Keep walking bioch.
What behavioral changes do you notice in the large cities?
Welcome my son, welcome to the Italian bureaucratic machine.
William entered Italy on a bicycle with the intention of returning to France on the same day.
William missed the exit aand found himself trapped on the highway in Italy with no chance to exit or reverse direction.
Vehicles in traffic traveled past in excess of 100 kilometers per hour.
It can only be the fault of good fortune the Italian State Police were on the scene and provided rescue!
William wishes to thank the Italian State Police for responding so rapidly!
Italian Bureaucratic Action Is Forcing William To Remain In Italy
The only reason William remains in Italy and Europe is the Italian authorities seized his passport.
William is told by the Italian bureaucracy to rely on social services, organizations and churches to survive for 30 more days inside Italy.
William only Wishes to Return Home to America
On The Roundabout
Thursday, July 9th, William met with wonderful people in Finale Ligure who helped with clothing and food and suggested he travel to Savona Italy for food assistance.for the weekend.
William was urged to return to Finale Ligure on Monday when they could assist him further.
Just Following Orders
William commenced his journey to Savona on Friday morning.
Remember, William has no auto or moto or bicycle. (Links open new tabs) As his bicycle was stolen while on the way to meet with the Italian authorities in Imperia, Italy.
Why is William in Italy? Because the Italian authorities mandated William remain in Italy and hold his passport and access to his bank accounts.
William is under an expulsion order from the Italian government who is holding Williams passport forcing William to remain in Italy with no money for food.
Does This Make Sense
On the journey to and from Savona to Finale Ligure, Italy. William had an incidental request for a passport which normally would not be a problem as William wished to comply.
William could not comply so the local genderarmie and the police were need for several hours to read through reams of paperwork William carries with him in the case he is asked for his passport.
William wishes very much to go home and relieve the strain in the Italian governmental paperwork producers and the police force and god forbid if William needs medical treatment and lands in an Italian hospital from an accidental while walking to one of his appointments with Italian Social Services?
Who will pay for all of this bureaucratic action?
William only wishes to return home.
Yes William can leave Italy by walking to another country as he cannot travel by bus or train without passport. Then William can satisfy the expulsion order and write to the Italian government to. request his passport passport.
If William leaves Italy he is violating his agreement with the Italian government who is requiring him to remain in Italy until he can be safely returned home.
Savona Italy
While in Savona, William had a great meal and his table mates informed him they were planning to steal his cell phone when he falls asleep.
William walked back to Finale Ligure, Italy and another occasion required his passport but it took another call to police and government officials and thank the good Lord he is in Finale Ligure where he is told once again to return to Savona , Italy where he may find food. ???
William has money in the bank. William wishes to purchase food with his money in his bank account.
The Italian government has restricted Williams access to his account forcing William to rely on your tax dollars to call the police for simple incident such as sa passport request.
What can William do?
Walk once again from Finale Ligure to Savona , Italy to meet with another office dweller to fill papers and maybe put some mustard on them and eat them and hopefully no more police or needing a passport?
Tuesday July 14 2026 Does William walk to Savona Italy today?
Who said , Freedom isnt Free? When I tell people I began my walk last year in Marbella, Spain, sometimes their face lights up because they think I have a lot of money. While it is true I am rich, in spirit. My wallet is not fat. I say it costs the same amount to walk
A Tail in Two Cities
They say, (them) the Universe only gives you what you accept. This is sometimes difficult to grasp as a novice conjuror who was taught to be grateful for every crumb to land upon my plate. (and I am, thankful.)We are trained to believe, suffering is good for the soul, money is the root of all evil, deny ourselves earthly pleasures. This crap was all written by the kings in the form of religion to deliver that opium to the masses before they realize there is enough for all of us on god´s green earth!
More Horrible Porridge, Please Sir
It is so deeply engrained in me that when someone gives me a loaf of bread, I eat it because I do not want to seem ungrateful.The sick trick here is, I got a wheat allergy going on and that free bread makes me sick. I forget this as I take another bite and another bite. Maybe I am just greedy for eating foods that are bad for me?
I remember a colleague of mine saying, The Universe only gives us what we say Yes to. Now it makes sense to me. If I say yes to bread every time, the Universe gives me more because it thinks I love it!The same goes for being poor or hungry or bad habits or gravitating to places that look like they cost less money. I may be the first to tell you, it costs a lot more to live in the Ghetto of the Soul!
The Ghetto of Soul
But if I keep saying yes to all the crap, the Universe gets confused and keeps feeding me more crap nobody wants, no how! No way!If I keep putting on the same old pair of Stank Ass pants and shoes and foods and people, places and things, the Universe will keep giving me more of the same.This is a difficult habit to break because our brains want predictability and familiararity and are very uncomfortable trying on a new pair of temporal lobes. Come on Cerebellum! Cartegena and the Road to Riches has begun to appear.
If A Plea Falls On Deaf Ears, Will Anyone Hear It?
The only thing you need to change your life, is to change your life. Sometimes I fall into the same old trap because my societal training is so complete. If I keep doing the same old thing, the Universe will keep giving me the same old thing.I realize now it is my brain not feeling comfortable in a new situation. But Maybe I need to practice new situations until that feels comfortable. Acting as if you have been ther’e before helps you feel more comfortable in a new situation. Breathing into your fear and taking the plunge into a new environment is as refreshing as diving off that cliff and landing in the ice cold, sparkling blue waters of a new life!
Do not just stand there on the precipice wondering what if… Take a deep breath , count to three and jump! Ready? One… Jump!
It begins at the cellular level. If Darwin was correct and the one cell demonstrates the signs of a life form. It eats and drinks and excretes itself while responding to external stimuli.
Now imagine 31 trillion of those cells stitched together in better form than Frankenstein’s monster.
That conglomeration of life forms, form the form of you. The Human Being.
Mind Over Matter, Does It Matter?
This walking, talking, ever-evolving collection of living and dying cells living and dying together are all striving to survive.
When the sun burns your skin cells they send signals to the brain cells through nerve cells. All of these cells are differentiated but working together as one system.
It is a wonder we can even think at all! Do you ever wonder when the first collection of cells decided it would be a great idea to live and work together?
Who decided who is in charge? Did they hold a blind vote to stuff the smartest cells into the skull for protection?
Loosely Correlated Coalition
This ponzi scheme of the human body wakes up every day with only one thing on it’s mind.
To keep the organization of organisms alive for one more day.
Separate But Equal
These single cells demonstrating signs of life are amazingly similar to the cells that compose all other life as we know it.
The bee is the tree is the flower is my trick knee is the answer to the riddle of why?
Many forms of life form coalitions to mutually benefit and exhibit remarkably similar social structures on both a micro and macro scale.
The Will To Survive
Can you feel the power of thirty one trillion cells alive and striving for survival inside you?
As they say in the bicycling business; 5 hours in ascension and 5 minutes in descension! This side trip from Menton to Tende, France took us 5 days of climbing seemingly endless mountains but paid off in incredible view like the one pictured above in the memorial statue in Tende.
William took advantage of the staff of the Hotel-du-Centre in Tende, France and the reciprocation was well worth the effort! If you need great accomodations, be sure to check in before you check out the trails.
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Spirited Invocations
We got another head check from our spirit guides as the ravens and green-eyed lady cats flocked together in an air-ground attack for the ages. We know it was a small sign from the universe to let us know it is paying attention. We say, thank you, and right back at ya!
Prepare For Your Train In Advance
Check out the rules for traveling by train with your bicycle in France. In some cases you can hop right on board without hesitation but on popular train routes at busy times of day you may wish to secure a reservation.
We were stymied on our way to Italy as some guardians informed us at the tunnel entrance leading to the border: No bicycles allowed.
This afforded us some extra time in the wonderful country of France and William wishes he could stay here forever and ever and ever!
Remember To Breathe
William finds the sport medicine gurus are correct. (links open in new tabs)When doing strenuous exercise: long slow deep breathing is best as it provides better oxygen exchange for the brain and body to function. Cramping is a result of lactose acid building up in your muscles and causing them to clench and becoming painful. Lactose qcid builds up in your muscles during anaerobic exercise caused by the muscle fibers themselves not getting oxygen.
