May 12, 1999. Wednesday
So here I am at work again. My sickness is a little better than yesterday. For some reason, I felt increasingly worse as the night progressed yesterday. Anyway, picking up where I left off...Sunday- So after dinner in Lexington, Jed, Rodzilla, Nora, and I went off to Wal-Mart. Jed and I had wanted to go go-cart racing, but Nora nixed that. So Jed suggested that we get a box of wine and raft down the river behind his house. That didn't seem to meet any real opposition, so we said "sure." So we looked all over Wal-Mart for an inflatable raft, to no avail. We finally found the water-recreation area, where there were a number of inflatable toys, seats, and kiddie-pools. Hmmm... We were rather determined to go rafting, so we considered our options. we were going to buy two "Fun Island"s, large circular floating islands, but tying them together and steering them seemed too laborious. We thought an inflatable kiddie pool might work, but the problem with that was that we were pretty sure the bottom would fall right out as soon as we got in the water. So we debated for about 15 minutes, just standing there in front of the pools. After a while, we noticed a large bin of those giant bouncy balls over the pools. So I thought maybe, just maybe, if we bought a kiddie pool, turned it over, and filled the bottom with giant balls (about 2ft wide each), we could fashion a sea-worthy vessel. Admittedly, I was only half-serious when I made the suggestion. But surprisingly, everyone else thought it was a great idea. Usually, my lame-brain schemes are shot down pretty quickly. But for some reason it's the one's I'm kinda kidding about that are accepted. It wasn't so much that I was kidding, but I wasn't very confident that it'd actually work. I thought innertubes or something would support the craft more evenly, so naturally Wal-Mart didn't have any of those either. But Nora and Rodzilla were quite taken with the colorful, pretty balls. "The balls make the plan" I think is what they said. So after A LOT more debate, we bought: 1 Paradies Lagoon kiddie pool, 6 giant rubber balls, a dual-action air pump, a 25 ft nylon rope (we figured it'd be good to have for some reason), two broom handle sticks for pushing on the river bottom, and one oar for steering. I really thought we needed an oar, because I was certain that we'd be cursing ourselves later on as we tried to helplessly paddle with two broom sticks while being dragged downstream. But I was really hesitant to buy it, mainly because I thought that'd tip off the Wal-mart people to our insane plan. Without the oar, it coulda just looked like we were buying summer supplies for a kid's shelter or something. But with the oar, it was clear that we were constructing some sort of weird water vessel. we decided to nix the wine, by the way.
So... around 8:30pm we left Wal-mart with $75 worth of equipment, ready to construct what would become the HMS BallSac. The name seemed fitting, since the kiddie pool would contain numerous balls within it. By the time Rodzilla and I got out to Jed's he and Nora had finished inflating the raft (pool). Jed and I both mentioned that it was bad luck to launch a boat in freshwater, or a "sweetwater launch." Of course, that didn't dissuade us. We had a coupla toasts to christen the HMS BallSac, took some pictures to immortalize the event, and then loaded everything up and headed down the hill to the river.
The sky was crystal clear, but it was a new moon, so it was pitch black. No city lights, no passing cars. Just one light at the back of Jed's building. So once we passed that, I couldn't see a goddam thing. Jed, the most intrepid of us, led the way. Plus, since he lived there, he knew the best way to go. Once my feet entered the cold water, I started to panick a little. Admittedly, I was thinking from the start that the voyage was doomed, and that within minutes the separate components of the HMS BallSac would be floating down the Maury River. Well, once it was in the water, we all hopped on, and surprisingly, it worked! There was a little water that came in, but since we were kinda wet already, it didn't matter much. But as I suspected, the balls were a little uncomfortable to sit on. There was also an innertube in the middle, splitting the craft into two chambers of three balls a piece. The final test was to grab on to a long rope-swing hanging down from a tree about 50 yards down river. It was the last thing that could save us from getting hopelessly far down the river. We approached it very slowly, and either Nora or Jed grabbed the rope. So we sat there for a while, revelling in the sea-worthiness of the HMS BallSac. After a while, we got kinda bored, so Jed hopped out and tried to pull us back up river. I held the rope in the boat, while Jed walked up on the shoreline. Pretty soon, there were too many trees, so Jed said "I'm just gonna wade in." Right after he said that, of course, we heard him plunging into the river up to his chest. I think his only comment was "That sucked!" Naturally, the rest of us in the BallSac found this extremely amusing, and couldn't stop laughing. There's a great picture we took of jed in the water ahead of us, where the shiny nylon rope looks like it's electrified or something. Nora warned us numerous times of almost peeing her pants from laughing. At one point I was trying to whip Jed with my end of the rope. "faster, faster! mush!" All in good fun. After a while the current got really strong, and Jed was pulling so hard it nearly cut my hand off. But we eventually got pretty far upriver, and sailed back to the rope again. All in all, it was a remarkable success. it's very rare that something we plan goes exactly like we plan it. That was really the amazing part. That almost never happens. I'm actually not sure if it ever has. And the teamwork was inspiring. No one person was more important than the whole. It was glorious. Truly, although it was kinda cold, it was so much fun, and that alone made the trip to Lexington worth it. There were also little things like trying to figure out what exaclty was in my shoe, and the freezing temperatures running back into Jed's apartment, but that was all worth it. It was just one of those experiences that can't ever really be duplicated. And for the crew of the HMS BallSac, a true bonding experience. Again, words seem to fail me. But trust me, it was a grand old time. Hopefully I'll be able to scan the pictures soon to show the full experience. I may go back this weekend to take the BallSac further down the river. It'll be especially cool during the day.So after that, we hung out at Jed's place and revelled in the glory, and recounted the tale to Jed's neighbors, who had returned from a night on the town. Then Rodzilla and I went back to her place, and Nora stayed at Jed's. It was weird to leave Nora there for some reason. I guess after a few nights of being homeless together it seemed odd to leave without her. But that's the vagabond lifestyle. You sleep where you can get the best deal. But Nora and I knew we'd be homeless again soon. And it was really great to see Rodzilla, especially since I wasn't even planning on it. I was really pleased when Nora suggested we go to Lexington. If I were still living with Berry, or had a place of my own, we probably wouldn't have gone.
So on Monday, the crew of the HMS BallSac got together for lunch, had our pictures developed, and Nora and I departed for DC. It was a fun 22 hours in Lexington, but I wasn't that sad to be leaving. I mean, I'll be back there on Friday anyway. Still, it woulda been nice to be able to hang out more. But Nora and I had planz in DC. So we stopped at my aunt's house first, then over to Matt's. Matt and his girlfriend were hanging out, so we told them the story of the BallSac. Then Matt, Nora, and I drove over to The Mall, where Matt and I tossed the frisbee for a while. we used to do that all the time in school, and it was cool to do it again. I missed it. We actually spent a lot of time last spring doing frisbee things. That sounds kinda pathetic, but it was loads of fun. Anyway, we did that for a few hours, then decided to go over to Georgetown.
So we're sitting on Pennsylvania Avenue, when Nora points out this woman in a Jaguar wearing this horrible beret. During the drive back to DC that day, I had taken a picture of this guy in a little red convertable wearing this idiotic beret. This woman had an even uglier one, with rhinestones or sequins or something. So Nora said I should get a picture of that too. It's a good thing I didn't though. Because when Matt looked over and saw who was driving the car, he screamed "That's William Cohen, the Secretary of Defense!" Nora and I are all "what?" But then I looked over, and it sure did look like him. And he was talking to his wife exactly like he talks on TV, bobbing his head, and nodding it back and forth. So he passes us, and he's got Maine license plates. I wasn't sure where he was from, so I still wasn't completely sure it was him. Matt said shouldn't he have an entourage or something with him, and I said "i dunno, but if he tries to cut me off, I'm gonna fuck him up!" And I think Nora said something like it's weird that at a time of war he didn't have anyone with him. So then while I'm still talking tough, this Ford Explorer zips by, with four very serious looking guys in black suits and sunglasses. And blue police lights on the car. That shut me up pretty quick, and I decided that I wouldn't hassle the Secretary of Defense. Can you imagine if I just took his picture? The flash goes off, and he's blinded, and within seconds Secret Service men are all over us. They may have thought I was some Chinese national trying to get revenge for the US bombing the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade on Friday. So we went to this little restaurant in Georgetown and I got an Italian Hoagie.Matt had just finished an exam that day, so we decided to go out that night and "fuck it up." So we strolled down to this bar, the Irish Times, for a few drinks. A fairly cheesy place. It was ok though. It was fun for a while. But things were a little tense between some people I was with, various people and for various reasons, so we ended up not staying all that long. Matt left with his girlfriend and Nora and I went home shortly after and we'll leave it at that.
When I woke up Tuesday morning, I of course felt like shit. I dunno, maybe being in the river in the middle of the night had caught up with me. Or maybe the lack of sleep and being homeless and started to wear on me. All I know is, when I woke up on Matt's floor, I felt all kinds of unpleasant. I was also shocked to see Matt sleeping on the floor in front of me. I guess his girlfriend got kinda sick, or really sick, so he came back up to his room. I felt bad that it was his room, and here he is sleeping uncomfortably on the floor. Anyway, I didn't go to work yesterday, due to illness. I did feel bad, because I think there was an early call yesterday, but I just really needed some real sleep. But we still decided to drag ourselves into the city in the afternoon. Nora had to get a travel ID, and she really wanted to get a haircut. So we went walked through Georgetown, got her ID, had an unsatisfying lunch at WrapWorks, and I got my haircut. I very, very short haircut. Probably the shortest in 5 or 6 years. I was a little scared at first. The salon was a little sketchy. But i had been wanting a haircut for a while. And I wanted to do something a little drastic. So i went with the "contrived disheveled" look. Short, and lots of gel. Before the gel, i looked like I had been electricuted. It was sticking straight up, like how kids wore their hair when I was in 6th grade. I could never get a "spike" hairdo to stay back then, but this little Mexican woman was having no problem. Before she cut the sides, I thought I looked a lot like a Mon chi-chi. But it all turned out ok. so then of course Nora didn't want to get her hair cut there, so we still had to go back to DuPont circle to get her hair cut. but the place matt told her to go charged 55 bucks, so she passed. It was one of those uppity salons anyway. So she went into this cheeper place, and I looked around the are where my car had been vandalized. It was a beautiful day, though. I bought an ice tea at XandO, and sat around in the sun. So nora and I, happy with our new hair, went back to Matt's and I drove her to see her old roommate's parents so she could visit and do some laundry.
By this point, I was feeling even more sick, so I took a shower at Matt's and did my journal and watched a lot of tv. I picked up Nora around 10 and we hung around Matt's for a while. We had to sneak in and out of the building, because we didn't have a card to get back in. It was especially troublesome when we had to move all her luggage from my car to Matt's room. I had to hang around outside, and pretend I was waiting for someone. There are two sets of doors, too, so it's not like Nora coulda waited inside and opened the door. I was feeling really headachy by this point, but got little sympathy from Nora. I found that kind of annoying at the time. But i was in a shitty mood to begin with. At least I didn't have to sleep on the floor last night. Although she said she'd hold it against me forever, Nora let me have the bed. And this morning, she didn't seem too bothered by having to sleep on the floor. Until i kinda stepped on her on my way to the shower.I went and saw her off a few hours ago on my lunch break. Matt's roommate, a Frenchy named Chai, opened the door. I think he's quite unamused at this point with Nora and me staying there. But that's the French for you. We sat around and took some pictures and chatted a bit more. We seem to take a lot of pictures and talk a lot these days. then again, we've always done that. I've got more pictures of Nora or me or me and Nora taking pictures of ourselves than I really need. Anyway, all in all, it was a great time had by all. at least by Nora and myself. as much as it sucked not to have a place to live, it was nice to just do whatever we felt like. Not that we would've done differently otherwise. But being homeless together is a nice bonding experience I think. I mean, i coulda stayed at my aunt's in Maryland, but some of the best parts of Nora's visit was when we were trying to sleep and just stayed up talkin. it sucks, because now i'm gonna miss her more than i have. I suppose I'll see her in a few months. I mean, last time i said goodbye to her I wasn't that upset, and I didn't see her for 11 months. Then again, I thought I'd see her before then. maybe I can visit her in England and Rodzilla in France on the same trip. i hate saying stuff like that, because everytime I do, i end up not going. That happens a lot with my plans with Nora too. I'm glad we kept in touch. a nice person, that Nora. I'm glad I talked to her almost everyday for the past few months, and it's cool that even after talking so frequently, we still had a lot to talk about when she got here.
On Monday, when she had been drinking a wee bit, she was upset because she felt like she wasn't as important to "us" as the other in the group, meaning Jed, James, Matt, and myself. That's always been an issue with her i guess. I told her that she's "the girl" in our group, that if we were a super-team in a japanese cartoon, she'd be in our group, probably in a pink outfit with a little skirt. But I think there's still some issues that we were all really good friends with Jen Murphy too. The fact that Matt and Nora dated twice I guess really complicates things, especially this time around. They never really talked about it, and it just sort of faded away and they both started seeing other people. But I really can't elaborate. I made a promise, see...
I am sad to see her go. It was the most fun i've got to have in a while. Especially since we got to see a lot of our friends, in DC and in Lexington. And it seemed like everything we did kept getting better and better. It was a very, very solid 5 days. Hung out in the city, saw Matt, saw Jed and Rodzilla, got a fashionable new 'do, and got sick. Almost all good. Close enough.Phrases Nora used on this visit: "That's junk." "You're a tweak." "It's grub."
Anyway, that's about the end. And now i think I'm all caught up. I've got some new things planned for my Daily Aggravations and Regrets. It involves a lot more writing, at least twice as much. We'll see if I do it.
It's 4:28pm. I just got off the phone with Rodzilla. She seems well. I'll see her soon enough. call waiting showdown lost though.
Nora should be getting on her plane right now. I'm sitting here wishing I took her to the airport to see her off. Maybe it's just because I don't want to be here. I wonder if I could still make it. I can see the airport from here. It's less than mile away. But I suppose she's on the plane already. It's weird how odd it feels to think that she's going to Europe for months and months. I suddenly feel very, very bored here. i'd usually call her at times like this. Maybe I'll call and talk to her replacement, April. She seemed nice enough. Not seeing Nora for a while is really no huge deal, but I'm just bummed that I won't get to talk to her regularly anymore, like I have been for the past 6 months. I suppose I'll get over it. The next few weekends are all booked too. Lexington this weekend, the parents coming the weekend after that, then Lexington for graduation the and maybe home after that. By then it'll be June 6th, and I may be living with Matt, if he hasn't gotten sick of housing vagrant friends. And then, before you know it, boom, it's June 18, and this part of my life ends and something entirely new begins. Damn, it's exciting. But right now, things are kinda boring. Today's entry didn't really need an amendment. It's already way too long. Oh well. I didn't really feel like writing earlier, I just thought I should. But now I feel like it. But it's also about time to go home. It's 4:35. I told Nora I thought it be a long day, but it turns out it's not quite The Longest Day EVER...
That was just for you, N-Dawg...DA&R home
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