A Day Like All Days

SATURDAY

Woke up a little early, around quarter to seven, to use the bathroom. I took my medicine but decided to go back to bed while Gary got his shower. Once he was done, I showered quickly and noticed my back hurt while I was in there. We headed downstairs for breakfast and I noticed a cute ginger-blond bear in a hoodie, jogging pants and sandals.

Afterwards we returned to the room and decided not to do the Music Hall tour because of my aching back. Instead, we drove to the Banks garage and caught the streetcar to Findlay Market. As we boarded we were immediately asked to show our tickets to the somewhat bearish fare enforcement officer. After a few pictures we hopped back on the streetcar to Washington Park opposite Music Hall. Gary walked over to the dog park and a medium-sized dog started playing with him. We got some pictures of Memorial Hall and Music Hall before my battery died. When we got back to the streetcar station, a nice-looking young dude with a dark, trim beard asked if the streetcar was free this week. We said no and he bought tickets for himself and the lady with the Hudy Delight ball cap. Once we were on board I spotted a cute daddycub playing with his small son opposite us.

The bearded dude and Hudy Delight lady left the streetcar at the same stop with us, and when we got lunch at the Jefferson Social they were seated at the bar. We'd eaten there once before when we were in town for Labor Day weekend. The bartender had a long, thick, blondish beard. I had a burrito bowl and Gary had a burger, and we split an order of churros. Outside, a homeless man with a thick brown beard re-adjusted his wardrobe against the cold, adding a blue hoodie from his backpack between his red plaid shirt and outer jacket. We drove back to the hotel without incident.

Back at the room, we found the housekeeper hadn't been in to clean up, but I needed to charge my phone and Gary needed to sleep, so we put out the Do Not Disturb sign. We got up about 6 and left for Dad's, arriving at 6:45. We sat with Dad and watched the end of the Cotton Bowl. On the way out, we crossed paths with one of the nurses, who took one look at us in our leather jackets and said, "I wouldn't want to mess with you guys!" We all chuckled at that. We hopped in the car and headed for another Frisch's Big Boy location for dinner. At the table next to us, one of the ladies mentioned that she had been driving school buses for 41 years and had no intention of retiring anytime soon.

When we got back to the hotel we had a slightly awkward conversation with the desk clerk before returning to the room and turning on the Orange Bowl. I was feeling a little queasy and ended up running to sit on the toilet before calling it a night.

This weekend gmjambear and I have been busy exhuming the pond in the backyard. The pond was constructed of a Rubbermaid 150-gallon stock tank, a length of drain pipe that goes we know not where, a whole lot of dirt (backfilled against the fence, which is why it all has to come out) and a retaining wall. We'd gotten most of the retaining wall removed over the year or so since we made the decision to replace the fence.

Yesterday we managed to get most of the remaining bricks from the base of the retaining wall moved, and the dried mud and gravel out of the tub itself. As we worked I noticed a tall and muscular young dude at the house behind us across the alley, who was wearing a pair of really tight, stretchy gray shorts and no shirt; and also a small poodle-mix dog (perhaps a cockapoo) who left us a present in the small patch of lawn between the temporary fence and the alley.

After sifting a few wheelbarrow loads of dirt and rocks, we were done for the day and decided to have dinner at Buzz Inn on Evergreen. We saw a number of cute daddybears and their kids passing by our table as they left. Cue Gary: "aw, hell no." After dinner we finished up some laundry and surfed the net a bit before I decided to call it a night.

I woke up about quarter to six to find Gary had made an excursion downtown. When I came downstairs for breakfast around nine-thirty, I saw Gary was back, but had been up all night, so I gently encouraged him to get some sleep. After breakfast I picked up the present the dog had left, and while doing so had a nice chat with Eric, the young dude with the tight shorts, who had come to retrieve the dog (his name is Puddles) as he'd wandered into our yard. They are busy building a new back porch to go with the addition on their house.

After that I swept up the tub and sifted another wheelbarrow load of dirt, then went inside and caught up with Dad by phone. My sister Sheila's youngest son was scheduled to graduate from high school this afternoon, and my sister Colleen's youngest is preparing to move to Boston in the next month so she is managing separate parties for his friends, for our side of the family and for her husband's side. She had to work this evening so I guess I'll have to call her later tomorrow.

Once I got off the phone with Dad, I decided to pick up a few more buckets from Home Depot, grab lunch, and pick up some groceries at Costco. At Home Depot I asked a cute ginger otter if he knew of anyone who deals in bulk dirt, as we'll probably have 4 or 5 cubic yards left over when all is said and done. He suggested Craig's List because if people are desperate enough for fill dirt they'll come over and dig it up. Another possibility he suggested is the sand and gravel place a couple doors north on the same side of Highway 99. I ended up picking up three 5-gallon buckets and two 18-gallon plastic planter tubs with rope handles. I checked out beside a cute daddy bear with a wife and two girls. He had some nice ink on one arm.

Lunch was at Heaven Sent Chicken on 112th Street. I had the three-piece special with corn and an extra side of collard greens. As I ate I texted Gary to relay the results of the morning so he could read them when he got up, and he suggested I pick up some fruit at Costco as well: grapes, blackberries, and bananas. I was surprised he was awake. At Costco there were at least two cute daddybears shopping; one I kept crossing paths with was tall and dark, perhaps Native American or Hispanic, with elaborate, somewhat faded ink on both arms.

After I got home and got the groceries put away, Gary and I watched part of the Memorial Cup (Canadian Hockey League) final between the Erie Otters and the host team, the Windsor Spitfires; then we started in on the sifting and sorting. Toward the end we traced the PVC drain pipe to an elbow in the middle of the back lawn well outside the perimeter of the retaining wall, and decided we should dig no further but rather get a plumber to trace the pipe so we don't ruin the lawn unnecessarily. Then I fixed dinner: bratwurst boiled in beer (a local microbrew called Scuttlebutt) and finished off under the broiler (unfortunately, we have construction debris piled up too close to the outdoor gas grill to use it at the moment), and fresh coleslaw. After dinner we sort of vegetated in front of the TV until Gary decided he'd better get to bed and catch up on sleep.