{"id":2029,"date":"2000-12-02T14:01:37","date_gmt":"2000-12-02T14:01:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/vu2057.freddie.1984.is\/siggimustest\/?page_id=2029"},"modified":"2009-02-28T14:46:09","modified_gmt":"2009-02-28T14:46:09","slug":"hell-a-survivors-tale","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/siggimus.com\/siggimus\/writing\/newsletters\/hell-a-survivors-tale\/","title":{"rendered":"hell &#8211; a survivor&#8217;s tale"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>as robbie burns said again, &#8220;the best laid schemes of mice &amp; men gang aft  agley.&#8221; you probably learnt the siggimus abscondation\/farewellst party program  by heart only for siggimus&#8217; grand plans to be villainously &amp; in all  probability illegally thwarted. after siggimus enjoyed mouth-watering burritos  at a. suns with zelta, followed by a shot of a 12 year old mr. regal, a big  &amp; hairy thwart turned up linedancing centre stage: nowhere were fireworks to  be found &amp; wee amusement park next to the train station was undergoing  disassembly without siggimus&#8217; permission, &amp; siggimus found himself suddenly  with two lats on his siggimus<\/p>\n<p>being left with a choice of burning garbage in bins in vermanes park or  joining the staff of the baltic times, whence he was ignobly &amp; martyrically  booted to make room for a smelly old boring fart, for a pool tournament in  klondaika, siggimus chose the latter after 30 minutes of attempts at igniting  trash in the park that turned out to be less than fruitful, quite possibly due  to it having rained for two days straight<\/p>\n<p>nobly not wishing to steal the show, siggimus magnanimously lost already in  the first round &amp; turned to gulping down beer paid for with other people&#8217;s  money, aside from one beer paid for with half of siggimus&#8217; money, &amp; pool  coaching<\/p>\n<p>when all was over &amp; felikss stood as victor, holding the magnificent  prize of a 30&#215;70 cm pool table, siggimus withdrew to pulkvedis for the last time  in a bit with the partyanimalest of the crew<\/p>\n<p>received further beers but only one vodka from the fanclub. shook vigorous  booty to the thumping of james brown<\/p>\n<p>withdrew at around 3.30 to a ceremony of farewells in square. concerned  admirers enquire into the siggimus state of financial affairs. siggimus runs  &amp; pokes bankomat a bit before answering with an uncharacteristic lack of  nonchalance, &#8216;siggimus hopes they takes credit cards at the bus station&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>siggimus discovers a 5 lat bill hidden in the siggimus wallet in precognisant  anticipation of precisely this moment. brandishing the infamous siggimus haggle,  siggimus will get to plavnieki for a mere 3 lats by taxi, leaving another 3 lats  for other disposals. &amp; adding the 5 lats siggimus intends to wring out of  his debitcard, it should cover the 0,20 lats for trollejbuss &amp; the 6,50 lats  for autobuss to tallinn &amp; even leave change for a snack<\/p>\n<p>slimy greenish cabby not in possession of 2 lats change, so siggimus ends up  paying 4 lats afterall &amp; wasting a whole haggle. panic does not yet  approach, but can be seen wobbling in the distance, gloating in the general  siggimus direction<\/p>\n<h1>siggimus travel plans:<\/h1>\n<p>-7.20: bus to tallinn,<br \/>\n-13.20: ferry to  helsinki,<br \/>\n-17.00: meet friends in helsinki<br \/>\n-20.58: stay the night w\/ friends or take a train to jyv\u00e4skyl\u00e4<\/p>\n<p>siggimus oversleeps ever so slightly<\/p>\n<p>wakes up at 9 after ca. 4,5 hours of sheep. still has time to catch 10.50  bus<\/p>\n<p>finishes packing. result is the ugliest backpack siggimus has seen.<br \/>\nunshapely protrusions hither &amp; thither. manages to heave the approx.  93,7 kgs up &amp; hang unto his person &amp; amble to interpegro  supermarket<\/p>\n<p>after a long &amp; wearying battle, manages to milk 5 lats out of bankomat  using a mixture of psychokinetic powers &amp; a puppy dog look to invoke the  contraption&#8217;s sympathy<\/p>\n<p>gloats back at panic puttering about in vicinity. has 7 lats to be spent in  the following manner: 0,20 lats for trollejbuss, &amp; 6,50 lats for autobuss to  tallinn leaving a hefty 0,30 lats for a snack<\/p>\n<p>on the trollejbuss, siggimus finds the evil &amp; pungent foot of the cia yet  again trying to trip up his plan. an agent, poorly disguised as a conductress,  takes the siggimus luggage hostage, demanding an obscene amount of money. his  luggage being destitute, siggimus forks over a 20 santim coin on its behalf,  &amp; dons an insincere smirk. &#8216;i thwart your thwart!&#8217; he chuckles to  himself<\/p>\n<p>agent puts knife to neck of siggimus luggage &amp; demands more. siggimus  hands over another 20 santim coin, smirk growing ever insincerer<\/p>\n<p>evil agent\/conductress forfeits game &amp; leaves to terrorise other  luggages<\/p>\n<p>insincere smirk takes leave of absence &amp; is replaced hastily by sweat,  breaking out on the siggimus brow profusely. the siggimus panic wobbles in &amp;  kicks siggimus in the shins<\/p>\n<p>siggimus counts his money. 6,40<\/p>\n<p>siggimus counts his money again. 6,40<\/p>\n<p>siggimus counts his money backwards. 6,40<\/p>\n<p>siggimus recalls the price for the bus ticket to tallinn. 6,50<\/p>\n<p>siggimus counts his money sideways. 6,40<\/p>\n<p>siggimus attempts to invent  new math to prove he has enough money for the  ticket<\/p>\n<p>siggimus attempts to invent a way of conveying  newly invented math in  latvian<\/p>\n<p>siggimus starts looking for change on the floor &amp; in small people&#8217;s  pockets<\/p>\n<p>siggimus practises puppy-dog look<\/p>\n<p>gvido announces 10.04<\/p>\n<p>another profuse sweat breaks out on the siggimus brow<\/p>\n<p>trollejbuss lands at 10.28. siggimus &amp; 93,7 kg amble toward bus station,  consulting gvido on a regular basis to see whether they&#8217;re making good time. get  to bus station at 10.37, two minutes after they stop selling tickets through a  hole in the wall. pray the bus driver will accept either credit card or  puppy-dog look as payment<\/p>\n<p>bus driver frowns at credit card. looks at siggimus as if siggimus were a  freak &amp; not a siggimus<\/p>\n<p>siggimus offers 6.40<\/p>\n<p>bus driver offers to take siggimus to p\u00e4rnu, estonia<\/p>\n<p>siggimus shakes head, on verge of tears. although siggimus does have estonian  money, 29 eek (almost $2) will not get him very far or sustain him &amp; his  spendthrift habits for long<\/p>\n<p>adds 2,5 pathetics to puppy dog look<\/p>\n<p>bus driver breaks down &amp; starts to cry. &#8216;just because you are siggimus,&#8217;  he sobs<\/p>\n<p>siggimus sighs a big sigh of relief, squeaks &#8216;liels paldies,&#8217; but largely  refrains from hugging<\/p>\n<p>has lotsa fun on bus msging ppl via mob.<\/p>\n<p>tries restrooms in the bordertown of ainazi. manages to hit the smelly hole  in the floor, mostly. thanks gods for not needing to do no. 2<\/p>\n<p>realises siggimus has 8 fims on his siggimus. bus to town from ferry terminal  is 10 fims. bus no accept credit cards<\/p>\n<p>msgs sis. asks for 200 fims loan. dep. into bank acc. no prblm<\/p>\n<p>sveiki tallinn. gvido announces 16.45<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;when next boat, you sweet little thing that always working with big smile  when siggimus come?&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>&#8217;18. another 19&#8242;<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;er, according to thingy fast boat leave 17.15?&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;fast boat on vacation&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>goes on boat. curses cia &amp; promises to avenge this. stay tuned<\/p>\n<p>aside from the usual, drunk middle age to elderly finns singing karaoke &amp;  dancing tango while waiting to be let off the boat with their two cases of beer  on a creaking little cart, nothing much happened on boat<\/p>\n<p>siggimus arrive in helsinki 21.15<\/p>\n<p>squeezes 200 fim out of otto. tries calling people he knows, to arrange a  place to stay. no luck<\/p>\n<p>takes bus to bus station, to find it closed. next bus at 1.30, costing  approx. 200 fims?<\/p>\n<p>bus no accept credit cards<\/p>\n<p>further attempts at arranging a place to stay or money to go via payphone  leave siggimus deeper in pickle, with 173 fims<\/p>\n<p>siggimus amble to train station to wait inside, helsinki being considerably  colder than riga<\/p>\n<p>hangovers, 11 hours of travel, 93,7 kgs &amp; an annoyingly meddlesome cia  starting to weigh siggimus down a bit<\/p>\n<p>tries giving a bartender the pathetic puppy treatment, to little avail.<br \/>\nexplaining pickle no simple matter<\/p>\n<p>siggimus faced with following options:<br \/>\n-praying &amp; hoping  bus driver accepts credit cards,<br \/>\n-if he doesn&#8217;t, promising him  as many of siggimus&#8217; firstborns as necessary,<br \/>\n-holding up  smallish bank,<br \/>\n-going to a hotel &amp; waving credit card  around<\/p>\n<p>as usual, when about to be struck down with lightning, siggimus automatically  goes on lightningrod mode. as superheroes are wont to do, he saves the day<\/p>\n<p>using a homemade concoction of magic &amp; hypnotism, siggimus overpowers an  otto &amp; pinches 200 more fims from it<\/p>\n<p>stuns siggimus panic with a cattleprod &amp; kicks it around a bit, squealing  &#8216;take that! you panic you!&#8217; before tying it to tram tracks &amp; scuttling off<br \/>\nnot an easy task to accomplish with 93,7 kgs of baggage on your siggimus,  scuttling<\/p>\n<p>stands outside bus station for an hour whistling melodiously to draw  attention from his siggimus &amp; dancing with b. chicken to keep warm. reads  bus schedule for entertainment. helsinki 1.30 \u2014 jyv\u00e4skyl\u00e4 5.45 \u2014 rovaniemi  15.30<\/p>\n<p>at least siggimus is not going to rovaniemi<\/p>\n<p>bus arrives. siggimus boards, along with the other passenger. gets four seats  &amp; a table to his siggimus. chauffeur, probably upon recognising siggimus,  offers blankets &amp; pillows for siggimus&#8217; perusal<\/p>\n<p>siggimus nods off<\/p>\n<p>siggimus wakes up &amp; disembarks in jyv\u00e4skyl\u00e4, to be greeted by an ever so  grumpy but still fabulously hot chick who was careful to point out that the  lights are turned off &amp; people stay indoors &amp; under warm  sheets during nights for a reason<br \/>\nsiggimus will survive<\/p>\n<p>probably forever<br \/>\nfin<\/p>\n<p>score:<br \/>\nsiggimus 18.243 &#8211; cia 13<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>as robbie burns said again, &#8220;the best laid schemes of mice &amp; men gang aft agley.&#8221; you probably learnt the siggimus abscondation\/farewellst party program by heart only for siggimus&#8217; grand plans to be villainously &amp; in all probability illegally thwarted. after siggimus enjoyed mouth-watering burritos at a. suns with zelta, followed by a shot of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"parent":2017,"menu_order":10,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-2029","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/PcQPg2-wJ","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/siggimus.com\/siggimus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2029","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/siggimus.com\/siggimus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/siggimus.com\/siggimus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/siggimus.com\/siggimus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/siggimus.com\/siggimus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2029"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/siggimus.com\/siggimus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2029\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2068,"href":"https:\/\/siggimus.com\/siggimus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2029\/revisions\/2068"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/siggimus.com\/siggimus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2017"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/siggimus.com\/siggimus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2029"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}