July 1st

The alarm went off at 6 am. Tea, breakfast, shower, and a quick trip to the store to pick up ice for the cold sack and I was at the garage by 8 am. I would have been there earlier but as I turned on the news I remembered that the new gay station (LOGO) was to have debuted the night before so I checked the listings to see what they were playing if they in fact had even made it on air. As it turned out they were and a move from 1980 called ‘Don’t stop the Music’ with Valerie Perrine, Steve Guttenberg, and The Village People was on. As a man I had dated in the 80’s was in the movie I turned it on and tripped down memory lane for a bit. Regrettably I hit the off button and headed for my vacation. The apartment Valerie Perrin’s character lived in was making me salivate and would easily go for 2 million in today’s market. Which led me to wondering when I hit the age where real estate became hot?
Despite having called last night and again this morning for my car it was still in the racks when I arrived which pissed me off a bit. I stood there fingering the tip I’d set aside in a pocked and decided that as this was the 3red time in a row that I’d called in advance for my car only to have to wait that not tip was to be forthcoming. There were 3 attendants on duty and as soon as the head guy saw me he called out to the others. They started the most amazing ballet of car shuffling and had me driving away within 3 minutes tops. Yes, I tipped.
After stopping back at my apartment to load my gear I was on my way heading out to Greenport where my parents and their boat awaited. They’d already told me we’d not be leaving before 12 or 1 so I had plenty of time. The car was covered with a layer of dust from having sat for 5 weeks in the garage so I decided to get it washed in route. My back needed an adjustment so I called my favorite chiropractor who is in Syosset and left him a message to see if by some miracle he’d squeeze me in if I came by. He returned my call as I was waiting at the car wash and much to my relief told me to come on by. Dr. B had moved to a new location but as the exit was the same as that for Ikea. I had my miracle adjustment and got to Ikea at 9:45 but as the store doesn’t open until 10 I joined the other desperate bargain shoppers in the lobby with time to read the catalogue and listen to the unbelievably inane conversations going on around me. My favorite was the 50 something dolled to the max hottie and her no doubt dirty down low boyfriend who were sitting beside me. She kept cruising the entrance with her eyes while he whined about how she never listened to him. I almost laughed out loud at one point. He’d monologued her for about a minute on her lack of focus where he was concerned and she actually turned to him and said, “Huh? Did you say something?” What I was curious about was did her start fooling around with men because she stopped listening or did she stop listening because he started on the boys? I thought about asking but the clock struck 10. I was there because I’d seen and ad on the TV for their huge annual summer sale (I didn’t see it) and needed some more hangers (8 for $3.99) for woven shirts. I also picked up some more of their mom-stick fry pans which are cheap beyond belief and wonderful. I’ve over the years used everything and spent and lost some small fortunes and there are great. They evenly distribute the heat, clean up is a breeze, and the non stick surface does not wear off. A few other odds and ends and I was done by 10:15 with no wait at the check out. I learned my lesson about super stores; get there when they open.
Driving out to the end of the Island was pleasant and uneventful; I reached the folks around 11:45. We off loaded my perishables to their fridge, had a lunch from the salads I’d prepared and then did not leave as planned. Thunderstorms were being predicted with the winds blowing hard from the NE so we decided to head out to the boat that evening, have dinner and sleep on board so as to get an early start in the morning. I spent the rest of the afternoon updating the software on Moms computer and teaching her some of the things that had been challenging her. Although it’s always a trick to teach old dogs new tricks I thoroughly applaud her (or anyone for that matter) wanting to keep abreast of technological advances. There is a real joy when a person gets a concept/technique/format and assimilates it into their day to day.
An onboard dinner of reheated fried chicken, green beans, rice, and a garden salad and we were shortly thereafter off to our respective bunks.