Smarty Pants

Hello World, Splish splash! The time had come, as it surely must, when the summer winds down and we take advantage of the pleasant conditions to make the long trek into the northern regions to visit our friends around Albany for our annual pool party over the Labor Day weekend, so we can enjoy some of the warm weather activities the region has to offer, and not just fighting off the brutal chill of Old Man Winter when we go there in January. Not so fast! Alas, it was not to be, as the local weather managed to perversely turn cold just in time, thanks not, after it had been flirting with 90 degrees earlier in the week. So we packed our jackets and sweat pants instead, and headed out on Saturday morning, to miss the hordes of eager travelers leaving for the long weekend on Friday instead. That actually worked out, as the traffic was unremarkable the whole way there, and we made it in good time, in spite of stopping a couple of times along the way. We arrived just about at lunch time, and some of us were looking forward to a reviving lunch at the nearby 76 Diner, with hopes of scoring a dish of their signature fried ravioli appetizer, a special treat of our travels, not to be found elsewhere. Once again, not so fast! Our friends decided that they found another eatery that they liked better, so instead we found ourselves at Diner Time, new home of the former Circle Diner, for what I would consider an average lunch, and nothing very special about it at all. But since we were out and about anyway (and obviously with no plans for swimming, with the temperature not cooperating in any way) we headed for a local Army-Navy store, because I was on the prowl for a couple of replacement flags, flag poles, finials, and the like. Unfortunately, they couldn't help me on that score, but it was still an interesting place to browse, especially in their vintage military uniforms and accessories in the basement, and we did find some useful items to buy, so it was not a total loss. After that, we went back to their lovely home for a marathon show-and-tell session that included cat toys for their congenial kitties, small gifts, and many other items of a peculiar nature, that probably only we would find interesting. (Here, the possibility exists that our friends might not actually find these oddities interesting, but only their good manners make it seem that way.) Rather than staring forlornly at their covered-up pool in the backyard, we settled in around their big screen TV and watched goofy videos on YouTube to pass the time. Then I broke out my voluminous shopping lists, and we made the rounds of Oceans Job Lots and The Salvation Army to snap up some bargains, and provide a lift to the local economy that I hope did not go unnoticed. In fact, it was even more generous than I expected, since I realized later that we had paid for 4 lounge pants at the venerable thrift store, but somehow only came home with 3 of them - and as I pointed out later, let's face it, that's $2.50 we'll never get back again. After a busy afternoon, it was starting to get dark, and dinner time was upon us, so we picked up a couple of pizzas along the way, and made short work of them once we got back to the house. And on a positive note, I found a penny in our travels, so it turned out that we were only down $2.49 in the aggregate. We had brought along our own after-dinner entertainment, in the form of the 2005 romantic comedy "Just Like Heaven," with Reese Witherspoon, Mark Ruffalo, and Donal Logue - and for anyone who hasn't already seen it, Bill and I would be happy to recommend in unequivocally. It's sweet and funny, smart and tender, with just enough silliness to keep it bumping along, and winning performances all around. (Jon Heder from the occult bookstore is almost worth it all by himself.) Somehow even after a long and eventful day, we all managed to stay awake for the entire evening, and our hostess even found the time to assemble a stuffed French toast breakfast casserole that could be prepared ahead of time and enjoyed in the morning, so we trundled off to bed in their guest room with that to look forward to. I will say that we woke up on Sunday morning to glowering skies and pelting rain, but the breakfast casserole did not disappoint, and we had to content ourselves with that, as well as some delicious fresh fruit alongside. Thus fortified, it was back out into the wonderful wide world of retail - this time at Goodwill and one of our favorite dollar stores - to snap up more bargains, or know the reason why. I can tell you that we did not come back empty-handed, not by a long shot, and glad to nail down some very specific whatnots, like skirt pins and shoe horns, that you just can't find anywhere anymore, and I ought to know. Trekking the bargain-hunting trail can be thirsty work, so our next stop was at the locally famous Guptill's Coney Island Ice Cream for a snack. Since it was about 50 degrees and pouring rain at the time, we just about had the place to ourselves, unlike the usual throngs of dessert-seeking hordes, and we were soon on our way with our sweet treats clutched in our eager hands. On the theory that ice cream is brain food, we decided to play a game, and anyone who hasn't already tried Heads Up! from Ellen DeGeneres, I say, go round up some people and give it a try right now. It's an app that you download to your cell phone or tablet, where one player tries to guess the answer from clues given by the other players, from a variety of categories, such as popular songs, celebrities, movie titles, or animals. There are other categories where you have to guess foreign accents, or act out scenes like "changing a diaper" or "fixing a car" without words. Frankly, it didn't take long for us to figure out that ice cream is not brain food after all, since we were basically terrible at this game, both giving clues and guessing, although for us, that didn't diminish its entertainment value in any way, and in fact, might have enhanced it considerably. Finally, we had exhausted all of its categories, and as it was starting to get late, we reluctantly packed up to start heading back southward while the getting was good. Fortunately the rain tapered off as we drove, and a savory meal at Denny's on the way home was just the antidote we needed to take the sting out of our ostensible pool party weekend, where we never got near the pool. The trip home on Sunday night was blissfully uneventful, and the cats greeted our return with their customary disdain, and indignation over being abandoned in the interim. In a particularly perverse twist of fate, it went back to being sunny and 90 degrees again as soon as we got home, and once again, thanks ever so much not. Having Monday off from work was a welcome respite before rejoining the rat race on Tuesday, with special thanks to The Flag Brigade for running up the colors on Monday for all the world to see. The rest of the week was a typical blur of a short week, and I told them at the construction office not to be surprised to see me come in on Saturday, since I obviously had no idea what day it was after Monday off. But it was a fun weekend seeing our friends again, even without the pool, and you can't put a price tag on that. Although I have to admit, the amount of $2.49 does spring to mind. Elle