Chucky Thunderthrift and Cat Cat the IHOP Drunk Baller

TANTRUMS

Last week was a good one for tantrums. A certain camper (let's call him Chucky) really enjoys a daily man-cry. The waterworks are the last thing any of the counselors want to deal with but we do it anyway. Each person has a different approach. I reason. This tactic doesn't seem to work too well so I'm looking to change it this coming week. That'll keep Chucky on his toes. My favorite tantrum from last week stemmed from another camper calling Chucky a crybaby. A counselor took him off to the side to calm him down and during a lull in the large group's game, the following could be heard:

Counselor: Why are you crying, Chucky?
Chucky: BECAUSE HE CALLED ME A CRYBABYYYYYYYYYY
Counselor: ...


FIELD TRIP

Another highlight of the week was the Children's Museum. We took the entire crew of 5 through 8 year olds downtown for some field trip fun and I must say, even as I come up on 20 years, the Children's Museum was still a total riot. My favorite was the hula hoop that sat in a hollowed out tire filled with soapy water. A system of pulleys allowed you to pull the hoop upwards while standing in the middle to create a bubble that would surround you. Simple and mesmerizing. The kids got to put their mitts on just about everything in the museum and even one of the more problematic kids seemed to behave better at the museum.

We took a break and checked out a play/book-promo. Junie B Jones and the Stupid, Smelly Bus was in town. All the kids got "signatures" (stamps) in the sticker books and were so stoked. We kept going through the museum and pretty soon it was lunch. A thunderstorm had conveniently ruined our plans to go to the park to eat so we went back to base instead. On the ride back, we had an intense discussion about the nature of thunder: is it God bowling or is it God dropping something?


WEATHER AND OTHER BENIGN TOPICS

Thunderstorms here are like nothing I've ever experienced. They start in the afternoon and last for about an hour. They can successfully ruin plans in the span of about 30 minutes as that's about the time it takes for them to form and arrive directly over the spot you are standing. This resulted in two swimming pool rainouts last week. When this happens, you get a bunch of kids pent up inside for 2 and half hours. Not fun.

One storm resulted in lighting striking across the street from our building. At the time, I was leading a game of Velcro ball toss and over the shoulders of the campers I saw the lightning and then with no pause heard the thunder. Most times it goes flash...crash. This was flashcrash or even FcLrAaSsHh. Believe me, its better in person. This particular strike caused someone who works in the center to tell me the story of the time they avoided getting struck by three feet.


THURSDAY

As far as I am concerned, my weekend started on Thursday. A little known fact about New Orleans is that the best entertainment is not on Bourbon Street or the French Quarter or a Saints game or looting after a hurricane. No, the real fun is in the thrift stores found in the suburbs. This was my Thursday afternoon and after much deliberation, I settled on a simple jacket vest that more resembles a lifejacket than sensible attire. It was $1. Half off. I can smell always smell a deal.

We followed this up with some authentic Cajun cuisine. The Travel Channel seems to have missed Chevy's as the home of real Louisiana cooking. Our host - the one who loaned us the car that first weekend - appointed me driver so she could have a margarita with my coworkers and we all chowed down on some filling Mex food.


FRIDAY

We had dinner at said hostess' home. It was great. It was also the first home cooked meal I have had since I got here which was nice. Home cooked is an understatement. I think there were six different things to choose from so it was more like Thanksgiving. How she made all that food in the 90 minutes since we got off work is a mystery. I also chugged three glasses of her homemade sweet tea. Gotta love the south. Her husband who is in the Coast Guard joined us and I was surprised to hear that they had visited Astoria, Oregon. I posted a picture on this here blog a few days ago of Cat Cat who, surprisingly, is a cat. Cat Cat is a fat cat and a rad cat at that. The photo really speaks for itself.


SATURDAY

The rest of the crew went to Mississippi to check out the beaches. I stayed behind to watch the World Cup. Cameroon's game was the most interesting by far. Both sides played terrible defense which made for some wild attempts on goal. Definitely kept my attention. Japan-Holland was a little too early for me but I still caught the goals.

After soccer, I went to the gym and then to mass. The miserable walk I mentioned last week wasn't nearly as bad this time seeing as the sky was covered in thunderheads. Like anyone in their right mind, I walked right towards the lightning storm I could see in the not-so-distant distance. I thought a lot about what it would be like to get struck by lightning. Would it be like in Watchman where that guy's armhairs prickle? Could you discharge the coming strike by touching something conductive? What if you touched the person next to you? Would they get the shock? Would it turn into a high-stakes game of hot potato? Fortunately I got to the church before any of this could play out. At mass I sat next to a 7 year old in a Saints jersey. He insisted that I take a hymnal so I could sing along. Then when it was time for Father O'Riordon to bless all the fathers for Father's Day, this kid, who I could tell was staring at me from the corner of my eye, furrowed his brow with a questioning expression and pointed at me as if to say, "You're a dad right? Stand up!" After mass, I went to shake Father's hand and thank him. Like a ballplayer might do, he turned our handshake into a arm-wrestling style clasp and pulled me in for what felt like a congratulatory embrace. Then he said, "Hang in there man". It was nice to get a response other than a head nod from someone I don't really know.

At night when everyone got back from Mississippi, we went to IHOP at 2 am after picking up two of our crew from a screening of The Karate Kid. In a questionable move, I drank three cups of coffee. That was enough to keep me awake for our ensuing citizen's report of a drunk driver. While waiting for a drawbridge, a black coupe in front of us tried to drive through the tunnel that was closed for the night. Realizing the mistake, the driver threw it in reverse, ran over a barrel sized traffic cone, and almost hit an SUV in front of us. They then proceeded to drive in the wrong lane up to the bridge. We called the cops and next thing we knew we were in the parking lot of a bar a mile or two down the road. The cops (four of them) had pulled the driver over. And she was stumbling about looking like she was lost. As our driver explained what we had seen, drunkie wandered to the front of the car and looked like she was getting ready to undo the button of her pants. We all thought the same thing: "oh my God she's gonna take a piss right here in front of everyone". Fortunately, this didn't happen and the last thing any of us say was Ms. getting frog-marched into the back of a squad car.

There's a lot to this story. On one hand, my first feeling about the incident is not one of doing a good deed. It is more the thrill of being involved in official police business even if it is a routine DUI stop. I know what we did was a good thing but at the same time a DUI is a serious thing and even if this was drunky's first DUI, it could really hurt her in the future so I feel bad for her. Lost jobs, trouble getting approvals, punishments, the list goes on.

Stayed up till 5 and watched Car Wash on HBO. Total waste of time but I was helpless to the caffeine.


SUNDAY

Woke up early. Watched more soccer. Happy to say I caught the best game of the tourney so far when New Zealand tied world champs Italy. Take that, you divers. This match is why I have been staying in to watch sports. You can't predict which game will be the upset or the blowout or the turning point and today was one of those games. I even got a chance to talk to Christian over the phone during the first half which is something I miss. Because of the time of the matches, I scrapped my original plan to go skeet shooting at the range on base. Maybe next weekend. Went to the gym instead and its time to brag: I have been working on my shot at the basketball court at the fitness center and today was my day. I felt like I was hitting everything. I think it marked a turning point where something I have been working towards for the past three weeks is finally coming together. I've found that sense of accomplishment in the gym is a very big part of my day especially after being wound up by the kids. The rest of the day consisted of a quick Wal-Mart run, decorating the center for the upcoming ocean theme and laundry. Gotta have a clean uni for tomorrow.