Mile 11447.8 - Albuquerque, NM, Freeway Inn

Sigh.

Taking the extra time I have to sit here and update my expenses and corroborate them against a newly issued credit card bill, I notice a strange and unrecognized charge:

09/14 DIGITAL AGE 888-529-98 CYPRUS SWE 24.99

I think to myself that this has to be a fraudulent charge because:

• I was in Canada on that date and any purchase I would have made would be in Canadian dollars. This one was entirely made in US dollars.
• I can't remember purchasing anything from a company called Digital Age.
• There is no digitalage.com.
• The last two digits of the phone number are cut off.
• The company is in Sweden? Moreover, there is no Cyprus, Sweden.
• Checking the net, there are multiple reports of such fraudulent charges being made for the same amount at around the same time.

So when I report this to Mastercard, it is news to them. What I love is the three phone calls that I got from their "fraud" team while I was in Canada worried about "suspect charges" on my account. But when there actually is a fraudulent charge? Mum's the word.

Finally after talking to three people, they finally say that because of the fraudulent charge, they have to close down my account and issue a new card.

Problem is, folks, I am on the road and need that card! Alas, there is always my debit card, which is not something I like to use, but will have to for the remainder of the trip because there is no way they are going to be able to get me a card especially when after Albuquerque, I'm heading into the woods again and I have no idea where I'll be at any particular time.

Sigh.

Moreover, my updated budget calculations show that I have 16 days left. It seems that ever since I determined how much time I actually have left, the tenor of my journey has changed dramatically. In fact, looking back at the charges I incurred in Canada, I fondly remembered many of their details. Basically, everything up to and including Calgary was fairly magical in my memory. I wish that I could regain that somehow, but I don't think that that is possible as long as I am in the U.S.