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Just got back yesterday from a vacation with my room-mate and his family.  We’ve gone for the past few years to the same spot – where we stay at the same place, eat at the same restaurants on the same days of the week and sit in the same spot on the same stretch of beach.  It is not, by any means, exciting.   I didn’t even get to accomplish my primary goal – to stay away from computers – since my room-mate brought his laptop and needed to check his email (and needed tech support).

So, I did a lot of sitting on the beach and swimming in the ocean.  Based on the time I swan and the distance I can travel in the pool in that amount of time, I covered 16.25 miles in the ocean while I was gone.   Not too shabby – though after awhile even swimming got boring.

A couple of notable events:

1. I priced full-sized skateboards at a surf and skate shop – $180.00  – and I did not make a purchase.

2. Only got a minor sunburn and that was on the last day.

3. Did most of the driving – a total of about 20 hours there and back.

4. Didn’t do any night-time streaking, but did spend about an hour of my daytime swim without my trunks.  (I was very far out in the ocean and no one saw me).

5. My room-mate’s nephew – who I normally get along with very well – got carried away in the pool and bit me on the calf.   He apoligized – not very sincerely – and then wrote me a note that I’m considering scanning and uploading for posterity.

So, it was nice to get away from the office for a bit, but I can’t say that I really enjoyed my vacation.   Which is a bummer.    There were some laughs to be sure and some of the food was good – but there was way too much just sitting for my taste.  Should be interesting when I head back to my “standing desk” tomorrow for an 8 hour day of saving the world.   I’ve already starting working through my emails – guess I should work on those a bit more this evening.

A transcript of a conversation at the apartment this afternoon after I walked into the living room and found my room-mate watching The Bridges of Madison County.

Me, incredulous: “No. F*cking. Way.”

My Room-mate, defensive: “It’s a good movie,”

Me: “My grandmother and I watched that in the theatre and even she thought it was boring,”

(It should be noted that my grandmother was a huge Anne Murray Fan.  As is my room-mate.)

Room-mate: “You can read the book in 45 minutes,”

Me: “That’s not a selling point!” (pause) “I’m going for a walk before I go completely insane,”

I was driven from my house by the stench of that movie.  It was still on when I got back – I hid in the office and played video games until the credits rolled.

(shudder)

I went Dick’s Sporting Goods yesterday – my goal was a shorter pair of swim fins (in my size) and a skateboard.   I saw some pics of a friend on Facebook who’s about my age and was riding a skateboard.  It looked like fun and I’ve decided to try it out.   I found the fins, found a board, and headed for the checkout.

There was only one cashier on duty and she immediately asked me if this was credit or debit – implying that she wouldn’t be able to help me if (heaven forbid) I was paying cash.  I told her debit and she asked if I had a scorecard.  I told her I didn’t and she offered to sign me up.  I politely told her no thank you.

She finally looked at what I was purchasing and said that it was going to be a lot and she could go ahead and sign me up for a scorecard – and that it would only take 30 seconds.  I politely declined again and said I already have too many of those things.

She took this to mean that  – somehow – I had magically acquired not just one but multiple scorecards in the picoseconds after my declining for a second time.   “So you have a scorecard?” she asked and I replied, “No, I meant that I have too many reward cards to keep track of.”

She – and swear this is how she acted  – sullenly rang up my purchases and told me the total.  As though I had ruined not just her day but perhaps her entire life by not signing up for a scorecard.  I paid with my debit card and left the store wondering if she was going to be ritually killed for letting a customer pass her by without signing up for their rewards card.

I would not lose sleep if that did indeed happen.

I have yet to ride the skateboard and I’ll try the swim fins tomorrow in the pool.

I’ve decided to finally make the jump and get my own domain.  Welcome to my new blog under   thunderofwade.com

Still got a lot of work to do on the site – it’s due for an overhaul – but it’s nice to have a new space.   I’ll eventually shut down my gozips and blogger accounts, please update your bookmarks.

So, I’m just past the midway point of week 3 of my poison sumac experience. I’m doing much better, but it’s still not quite gone yet. Still doing the long-sleeve shirts and calimine lotion – with a dubious effectiveness. Though there have been a few times where I’ve stopped and thought “hey, it doesn’t itch” – which of course makes it instantly itch again.

The weekend before last, I decided to do a little yardwork. I don’t do much since I rent and the landlord does the mowing – but a storm had knocked down some trees and branches into the yard. And instead of cleaning them up, they just mowed around them.

Yesterday, at the pool, I was doing my laps as usual and noticed that the guy in the lane next to me was a novice swimmer. Well, more novice than I am, as far as that goes. He also didn’t have goggles and the pool is usually super-chlorinated.

I saw a set of signs up in the student union today. One said that graduating seniors could pick commencement tickets today. The other directed incoming freshmen to orientation.

I went to my sister’s new house for easter weekend – my parents stayed there as well. The new house is huge and on a great piece of property. We had a pretty low-key weekend; I got trounced by my brother-in-law at ping pong and we went for a couple of walks with my niece. She’s babbling up a storm and working on new words all the time. We all enjoyed her exploration outside – the creek, the trees, the trampoline, and the trip down the quiet road in the wagon.

I forgot to mention one part of the walk from the other night. I was taking a slight shortcut through a bank parking lot and out of the corner of my eye I saw some movement behind and to the side of me. I turned and saw a dog. Here’s a reconstruction of what went though my head while I was busy being startled: