20: We didn't talk about what we talked about

As always at the trailer, my mind goes back to the past. Mind you, we've been up enough as adults that that past could very well be the recent past, but in this case seeing the visage of Queen Amidala on a Coke display threw me back to the summer of 99 when it was Pepsi linking up with Lucasfilm to promote Star Wars Episode 1 the Phantom Menace. I remember it vividly because I spent a lot of that summer at my cousin's place pumping a seemingly endless supply of quarters into the pop machines outside the local supermarket to get Dr. Peppers emblazoned with Darth Maul, Jar Jar, Anakin or Sebulba (??) Or maybe it was Watto. Any of those forgettable guys who weren't even immortalized in Weird Al's song, by far the main legacy of that film since he still performs it today, long after people would largely have forgotten the plot details.

Time passes strangely at the trailer. I will admit to being a little antsy because we are set to go home today, and from there to an afternoon BBQ at Mel's parents. Mel sleeps late, as is her right. It's almost noon which means that she'll be up soon, then I'll make breakfast (alas there is no more iced coffee for her) and then it will be a lot of cleaning before we go. What has me antsy is that I don't foresee us leaving before 2, but Mel still wants to stop off at home rather than go right to her parents' place. Not that we are on a right schedule, I am just very aware of how much time that will take. Get home, unload a bunch of stuff messily, then get back in the car? Well, the alternative is to get home late after having been out and not feel like unloading anything at all. Que sera.

A lot of these days have this weird morning because after walking Hank I've been to town, which takes a while to get to, do enough to make the trip worthwhile, and come back. Once we decided we were staying an extra day (a rare occasion where I feel good spending more time at the trailer rather than angling to go home early) there were groceries to get, both an extra dinner and stuff to resupply what we used of their pantry (not much but I did spring for some paper towels, water and a $3 thing of Dawn.)

We got those Marc Angelo chicken souvlaki skewers, which I normally stay away from due to expense, high sodium, and fear of undercooking chicken on the bbq. I possibly overcorrected. I also got some ice cream treats and more smores supplies as we used up our whole box.

The last few days have been cool, peaking in the low 20s around 3-5 PM, so while we went to the pool a few times it was just okay, especially with the family pool still closed. We took Hank to the beach one day and to the bark park where we had a picnic of sorts, then back to the beach the next day  where we took turns wading in the water while the other watched Hank. There I helped some kids load their kayak onto a set of wheels for transport.

As I said, time passes weirdly. Huge chunks of time getting ready to do something, doing it, and resting after. Lots of reading and some phone time. Because breakfast is so late we mostly don't eat lunch, but we had all the materials anyway. We brought a ton of other things to do like cards, Farkle, even a puzzle (over my reticence) but none of it has really been necessary when Mel can knit and I can sit and listen to the wind and we built one good fire (from a fireplace log) and one okay one (using some kindling we brought and some of Lori and Gail's, perhaps more than I was comfortable with.) We watched movies on Netflix that were... eh. Red Eye, which was not as good as I remember, and To Catch a Killer, which features Shalaine Woodley as a cop with a problem. No buys.

Hank has found several places he enjoys sitting, lying in the sun or shade as he pleases. He made some

I wanted to write this post because so many of my historical trailer posts -- and I've re-read d.

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Boy, that was weird, huh? Anyway, it's the next day now, August 3.

As I was saying before Mel woke up and we got on with our day, in all my old posts I tend to focus on the events surrounding trips to the trailer -- the trials and tribulations of getting there and being there -- and rarely emphasize how it's really quite nice to just sit and be away. Now, I know what you're thinking, "Scotto, you're unemployed, every day is vacation for you," but you know something, it was good to just sit and read and feel the breeze and the warmth of the sun and have unstructured time, because even at home I am working on something or taking care of something, or avoiding doing so.

For those curious, my stinger eventually wore off and I mostly had no issues the last few days of the trip, although I did and still do have a cramp in my left hand around my thumb.

Mel got up and we had our breakfast -- I used up our last good egg (there was one more that had cracked in the container, alas I'm usually good at sensing stuff like that) -- when I accidentally overcooked the "dippy" eggs Mel had requested, but I was able to rustle up sufficient dippiness in the end. Toast, bacon, hash brown, you're good. Prior to that, we talked about how to proceed with the day. It was about quarter after twelve at this time and I expressed my concern that we weren't going to get away until about 3. Mel balked, you think it's going to take 3 hours to clean up? I said no, it'll take an hour to do breakfast and then two hours to clean up and pack. This proved prescient. There were a lot of dishes to do -- I don't even stay on top of dishes at home, how am I supposed to do them on vacation? -- and all of our belongings were scattered around. So I had Mel packing and tidying and watering the flowers as Lori had asked us to do, while I focused on the kitchen and only intermittently got drafted by Mel to help with this or that. And also there's Hank meandering around and not making it easy, such as curling up on the bed we are trying to strip and remake. Oh well.

In the end, after triple-checking for all of our belongings (nearly forgetting our dog treat pouch, my sunglasses and a pair of Mel's socks) fixing the sunroom door back to where it was when we arrived, re-covering the paddle boat we had used the day before (which was fun but almost not worth the effort) turning off the gas, pilot light, water and AC, and making a preliminary run to the garbage, we only started to roll away from the trailer at 3:45, the sound of my grab bag playlist blaring from our open windows, featuring Madonna, CAKE ("I don't know this song," she said neutrally about "Let Me Go",) Springsteen, the Hip, Spice Girls, Dexys Midnight Runners, Bowling for Soup, and who even remembers what else.

With such a late departure, there was no way we were going to go home and then to Mel's parents, it simply made no sense. But we caught a few tough breaks out of the park, with a traffic bottleneck through Arthur due to a guy on a relatively slow-moving trike ("only" 90 Kmph) and then road construction coming out of Arthur that saw the speed limit reduced to 50 and an ad hoc stoplight where the road was reduced to one lane.

Eventually we got rolling but found ourselves in a tight squeeze again due to construction between Stewarttown and home. We ran afoul of a semi truck that did not like when we changed lanes in front of him to get around a Pierre P. supporter who was moving slow, and then I had to let him in to get around an even slower-moving truck. When the dust settled we were able to move past. Ultimately, I would agree with Mel's conviction that the drive home to Burlington via Fergus is a lot more pleasant, even notwithstanding my childhood nostalgia for the Hillsburgh route. Driving up to Oakville and seeing all these mid-rises is really trippy for me, also. Had we had presence of mind, and not been behind that trike, there might have been a way to go through Fergus anyway (at the very least we could get on the 401 for a bit.)

It was a nice night. Of course there was tons of baby fuss, they're starting to teethe. They're getting lots of personality. We spent time in the backyard but hastily finished dinner when the wasps came in. I talked to Papa H and Unc about the job search and my interview, Unc is always interested but he and I differ in that he's a big RTO proponent, feeling like people slacked off too much when WFH was the way. I can only speak for myself, although also pretty much everyone else I've worked with. We also talked about how Mel's parents came over to look after our garden, and while I offered to leave a spare key, they said they didn't need, and regretted doing so. We're gonna make them a spare key soon, I think. 

We didn't stay much later than they did; we couldn't take Nonna home because our car was loaded so we left around the time it was time for her to go, came home, had a snack and watched Masterchef. Mel went to bed and I walked Hank and stayed up/passed out on the couch, then decided to sleep in the spare room because I couldn't settle in. (There's a whole thing with the mattress cover and fitted sheet, and also Hank's location.)

So that about does it. We have the whole rest of the long weekend to chill, and then for the next couple of weeks I've got to go over to dad's place every other day to look after the cats. We thought about whether it would make sense for us to board them, but three cats for two weeks is a tall order. I also asked whether he had considered asking Brandon, and there were some sensible reasons why not. Interestingly, Mel did not object to me agreeing to do this the way she often frowns on my helping mom with various things.

Anyway, it's August now, on the back 9 of summer, and I'm feeling good because even though it feels like I just left work it's also been a very full and active few months, and aside from having a show to go to there's not much on the agenda. So that's pretty rad. We'll see what happens with this job opportunity, if I end up employed or what.

Keep on rockin'

-Scotto