Wednesday, June 28th 2006

I spent the weekend on the Cape getting my summer place ready for occupancy. I have a deal with my roommate here in Boston and my good friend, also here that involves the sharing of the place among the three of us. It’s a common occurrence for summer rentals; friends renting it out to others, switching weekends, etc. I have the convenience of having it during the week if I choose. They are both 9-5 ers, inaccessable during the week, in addition, my job is such that I can easily give away a shift or have somebody paid off to take it. I love my job(s)!

We had hoped for a weekend of cleaning, reminiscing, planning cookouts and sitting on the beach letting the Atlantic air come through the windows and sweep away the winter stale. Instead we sat indoors and fought back the Atlantic rain as it came through the windows. Oh well. It made for a day of jumping into puddles and strolling through town, unfortunately we were not the only ones looking to spend the afternoon like that. Not a big problem, I can share and play well with others. I do have a problem though, with people who are so unaware of those around them that they end up being a nuisance.

Umbrellas. A nifty tool and a must-have for city living. Also a convenient, unintentional weapon in the hands of the chronically oblivious. Upon opening the umbrella, does the brain close even further? The reminder of not only those sharing your space, but for the 5 foot long plastic rod and the 3 foot diameter dome atop it should be administered through electro shock therapy and severe cash penalties. People were swinging those things around in an alarming manner. The times that I came close to losing one or both of my eyes began to happen so frequently, I actually feared for my sight! I asked Sarah if perhaps we should retreat home. She agreed and we ducked underneath a huge Lady bug sticking out from the shoulder of a self-absorbed blonde talking to everybody around her.

Aside from the perils of the umbrellas we also had the misfortune of another terrible East Coast problem: Mosquitoes. They must be some sort of curse from when we took the land from the natives. If you tune into the news every so often, you will hear that we had a lot of rain this spring so far. The more rain we have, the more water collects in those “off the beaten path” spots that in turn serves as breeding grounds for the blood sucking terradactyls. They were absolutely remarkable in their ability to withstand sideways rain and bite you. It can almost be pictured as if they are riding the air stream and water like a surf board, surfing right into our arms and legs. Bastards they are. You couldn’t walk 3 feet without fighting them. “Off” and like products were flying off the shelves of local stores. Everyone I encountered, myself included, had a sharp, imposter citrus scent to them that sort of became nauseous after a couple of hours.

We got things cleaned up, broke the bed frame, and waved goodbye. I will be back this weekend with a new Futon frame. Don’t ask. It is still wet here, but I do not mind, I am well aware of what is to come. Meanwhile, Sarah and I bought a gas grill and I plan on christening it tonight with some good ole fashioned grilled chicken kabobs. I am feeling adventurous and I am going to try something on my new toy. Brocolli stems. I throw them away every time I get the stuff and wondered if there can’t be some use for these things. It’s just too much to throw away. So all suggestions are welcomed as well as any grilling recipes, rubs, marinades, techniques etc. I’ll let you know how they turned out.

This entry was posted by Johnny on Wednesday, June 28th, 2006 at 4:31 PM and is filed under Home & Garden, Just Life, Pet Peeves. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

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