Day 6 - My new crew and Super Mario

Well, today was somewhat calm when compared to the exciting days in the past week. I woke up around 11am. Seemed early to me, but Maddie wanted to get up so I had to do what was right for her. I played with her for an hour or so and then she went down for a nap. I thought it was great timing and I will try to do the same thing tomorrow.

I wondered down to the pool. Kacey wanted to stay upstairs and read so I thought it would be a great time to swim and get to know the seasoned residents at the pool. Here is an introduction to the crowd.

Henry - Seasoned gentleman of 80 years. Slightly incontinent, hence the adult swim diaper. Hails from the east coast. Even at 80, still has the fight of a long time New Yorker. Talks fondly of his wife and remembers her well even though she passed some 15 years ago. In fact, he was talking about her when I walked up and introduced myself. At first I looked for the person he was talking to, but then realized at that age you should be happy to be talking. Great guy, was a Yankees fan, but I can get over that. The real struggle between us was that he was a NY Giants fan. i thought about insulting he lack of bodily controls when i found out about his poor taste in football teams, but thought it might be tacky and anyway, they had beat the Patriots to win the superbowl, so I layed off the old guy. As the afternoon drug on, he contributed very little.

Big Al - Second guy to show up. Not sure how he got his name. I asked him a few times, but I don't think he spoke English. He seemed to fit right in to the group though. Kind of strange, he would talk, but no one knew what he was saying. With a complete lack of communication ability, it seemed as though everyone just allowed him to hang out. He would laugh randomly, but other than that, I don't think he knew a word that was said.

Frankie - Really nice guy. He has been down here on the island for 30 years. He talked about life in Ohio like it was yesterday. Kept reminding me that winters suck. Of course he hasn't seen one in 30 years, but loved to talk about how tough he was during them. And of course, he was filled with the obligatory, "the winters back when I was younger were 10 times what they are now." i love how someone who hasn't witnessed snow in over 30 years can speak so eloquently about it from memory.

Dominic - Crazy Italian. Goes by Dom, very creative play on the whole nickname thing. Middle stages of Alzheimer's. Kept repeating himself. Told the same story roughly 5 times in the 2 hours I was there. Was amazingly accurate about historical facts, but I think that is because he thought it was still the 1960's. Kept waiting for his ride.

Well, again, not a very exciting day, but met some interesting people. I am going to go golfing this weekend. I am planning on just showing up and playing with another threesome. Maybe i will call ahead and purposefully book a tee time with another threesome.

So final thought for today. While completely zoning out on my incredibly interesting conversations at the pool, I was thinking about something. Anyone remember Super Mario 3. You know, the first one with the raccoon tail. So I was wondering, how do you come up with a game that has you jump up and break bricks with your bare hand to get a bronze feather looking thing that gives you a raccoon suit that will give you a raccoon tail that will allow you to fly and use the fluffy tail to destroy your enemies. I think that some illegal drugs may have had an effect on the game designers. Just a thought.

Until Tomorrow...