We got up around 10:00, and had some coffee. I had toast. Robert had waffles.
Steve called, and told me the funniest story about going to his doctor’s office and swearing the entire time that they had remodeled and moved everything around, including staircases, elevators, and even his doctor’s Rheumatology office, which had been replaced with a Gynecology office, until he finally realized he had gone into the wrong building. Too funny. We agreed to meet in Durham, checking in by cell to find each other.
We left close to noon, and got one of the last parking spaces on that road right before Main St. off Swift, I believe it is. We were all the way down to the dirt section of the road. There turned out to be stairs down to the road below right there, though, so it wasn’t a bad walk at all. We walked down the sidewalk on Main Street, looking for some space to sit on the wall. It was pretty crowded, we passed several people we knew, and then found a spot. Steve called a little bit later, and made his way to us.
This was the first year that I’ve just sat and watched the parade, which was a nice change. Shortly after it started, I realized my phone was ringing, but by the time I hit answer it had stopped. I saw that it was from chasman, and hit send to redial the number. It just kept ringing. Bummer! I hate that I missed him.
After the parade, we went to get a bite to eat. We ended up choosing the hot dogs and hamburgers being sold by the N.C. Marching band, and they were pretty darned good. What wasn’t good was their “process” of ordering and getting your food. They did not elaborate on what a “drink” was (which came with the combo), which wouldn’t have been a big deal if it would have been a soft drink, which is what people expected, but it was some kind of “ade” drink or iced tea. (That’s a lot of whiches.) Also, they had no utensils with which to pick up the lettuce, tomatoes, or onions to put on your sandwiches.
Steve told the dork serving the sandwiches that he wanted to change his mind about the combo because he thought it came with soda, and he made some ridiculous comment like, “Soda isn’t good for you,” intimating that that’s why they weren’t offering them. And hot dogs are good for you? And people picking up condiments with their fingers is good for you? Please, Mary.
I sat at the TCW booth for about 30 or 40 minutes before it started pouring. Thank god we were under a canopy. Shortly thereafter, we started packing up. We helped Jan take a box and two chairs to her car, and then helped Wayne take two boxes, and some chairs to his car.
Back home we had a quick snack, and then took a nap from about 5:00 to 6:30.
We got to Flex at about 7:20, and Adam, Van, and Rick were there. It got crowded fairly quickly considering how early it was, but Adam started playing dance music shortly thereafter. We had five or six of us to dance as Carl, a311renegade and photogrob arrived next.
Dancing was fun as usual, but it was so crowded in there by 10:20, that we had to stop at 10:30. Joe arrived a little after 10, and I really just said hello to him before Robert and I decided to call it a night. I was very tired, my back was hurting a little, and I felt like going home, getting a hot shower, and doing a crossword puzzle. Fortunately, that scenario appealed to Robert as well.
We stopped at Chargrill on the way home, and used a buy a Steak Jr w/French Fries and get the same free coupon. We ate the fries in the car on the way home, and ate the burgers at home. We showered, and then worked on the crossword puzzle from the latest Independent, which was, as usual, challenging and doable for all but one or two at the end.