Year 2, Day 158: Vermints

The amazing thing about the B&B was not that it had been someone's house before becoming a B&B but that the room David and I stayed in looked a lot like the room that we used to stay in when we went to visit our grandparents in Philadelphia. That room, with its uncomfortably high twin beds and over abundance of abandoned dressers, each brimming with an unknown collection of whoseewhatits was always a special place. The B&B also had uncomfortably high beds, but they firm, unlike the ones in my youth, that probably had been firm at one time, and they were just broken by years of systematic destruction the cause of which had been incessant jumping by grandkids. For that reason, the room reminded me of how excited I used to get by the thought of 'different TV channels,' a concept that is rendered quaint by some and unfathomable by most children. Along with strip-mall-ization of America, the the corporate-tizing of American cinema (90% of all American movie theaters show the same 15 movies at any given time) came the streamlining of American TV. Yes, each city and state has different channels but Nickelodeon, The Cartoon Network and the Disney Channel are in every state, so that's what kids watch because it's what their parents rely on. When we were kids we used to delight in some of the local Philadelphia shows, one in particular called Captain Noah, where some local guy (who was no Captain Kangaroo) would come on and host cartoons. There were only two real chairs in the TV room (for my grandmother and father) and four cousins (at the time) so it was always a race to get up early and get a real 'seat' instead of having to lay on the floor. Although many times I valued sleep over a 'seat', I never wanted to sleep so long that Hodge Podge Lodge, the most boring of all PBS children's shows was the only thing on.

Breakfast 1
Tomato, Feta Omelet
Side of Bacon
Coffee
2 Strawberries
ass't blueberries
3 bites of a small pancake with Vermont maple syrup

Snack
2 pork sausages
refried beans
1 oz cheddar cheese

Lunch: Legal Seafoods
Rainbow Trout
Salad with Balsamic Vinaigrette
Broccoli with Cheese
3 Oysters

Dinner
Cabbage, Romaine & Red Pepper salad
Chicken Breast
Peppadews
1 Glass Red Wine

We stopped by the farm on our way out of town and picked up some roasted pig to go. While there, we had a little more breakfast to fortify us for the long haul back. No matter what, the drive home, when it's in multi-hour range, always seems to take longer if you ask me. All I could think about was getting to the gym to make up for the previous night. After a brief interlude at Legal Seafoods for lunch, I dropped David off at his house, emptied the car and got on home. By the time I was unpacked and ready to go the gym (I got a new iPod and had not yet filled it up), it was nearly five. By the time I got to the JCC the janitor told me it was closed. While I thought it was for an obscure holiday, it's actually just that they close at 4:30 on Sundays during the summer. Fortunately, I had my swim trunks and a towel in the car, so I popped into the pool, which was pretty deserted and swam 9 laps. My previous best was 3 laps (that's one back and forth for each lap). I figured, I'll just keep going and see how many I can do. After all, I usually work out for about 45 minutes, so I tried to swim for as long as I could. All but 1.5 laps were the crawl. The remaining ones were comprised of a very poorly executed series of backstrokes. Even though I broke my record times three, I can't say it felt the same as working out. But it was all I was going to get, and better than nothing, so I went home and ate dinner.