summer in rhinebeck

it's now officially summer in my world. i'm pretty sure that's a good thing... my 4 am train on monday left at 7:15, and incredibly, i still made my connection in new york, with only a moment to spare. that moment was stolen by an amtrak employee who apparently did not know her left from her right, but nevermind that-- i made it, i'm here, and i'm hoping to stay. monday night i slept and begged the pain in my shoulders (from "sleeping" on the train) to go away, and then tuesday C took me to stock the fridge and apply for a few jobs. alas, as i suspected, i'm a week or two late to have the best pickins, but in our wanderings we saw a 'help wanted' sign on a place called firebird grill & lounge. if i want to stay more than 2 weeks, i've got to get a job. period. as it seems many places in town are, they were closed on tuesday, so i couldn't apply right then, but i'm going this afternoon. according to this review i found on the web, looks like the closest thing to my kind of place that i'm likely to find around here... some live music, pool tables, light on the teenyboppers... and i saw on the sign that they do "biker sundays." so, 5pm today, send me good job hunting vibes, eh? tuesday night we were planning on shopping for this weekend's party-slash-bathroom remodel, but on a whim, we drove to new paltz to visit with a friend of his. it's a cute little college town (home to a branch of SUNY)-- i had no idea, will have to go back and explore. C's friend has a small spread just outside the snappy looking area... we grilled out & chatted & met his daughters & threw sticks for the animals. THAT'S what summers in the country are supposed to be about. i was impressed that C sat still for so long. meant to take a pile of pictures, but only got one of the cat watching us from the woodpile. speaking of wood & fire and whatnot, i had an unpleasant surprise when i arrived monday and found out that C had to demolish the firepit, which was one of my favorite things about this house, in order to get the cars into the garage for the winter. however, a pleasant suprise balanced that out when i wandered down to the basement to turn the hot water on... frosty's here! wednesday was lost to pain and laziness. i was hoping for pure, unadulterated laziness, but i'll take what i can get. C wanted to leave me T2 as transpo, since the fairlane inexplicably won't start and Truck is in the shop getting a new muffler, but that would've required me to drive to the city to fetch him today, and, well, see "laziness" above. i forget that i have to remind him constantly that my habits are the exact opposite of his. i've got to get a little something done, though, to earn my keep. today i'll put together the 2nd heater for the patio, which will come in handy for this weekend-- it still gets quite chilly here at night-- and, at C's request, investigate joining the local gun club. click here for summer photos. i'm determined to use this damn camera i bought!