The curse of early wake-up is my lot in life. Five a.m. is becoming the new normal. The photo above is where I escape to for coffee and to let my wife sleep for a couple more hours. This is the community room at our apartment complex and the sofa is my chosen seat. The swivel chairs are not that comfortable. In the background is our awesome free coffee machine. It dispenses both regular and decaf Starbucks Coffee as well as hot chocolate, and favorite of the grandkids. Why anyone drinks decaf is one of the great mysteries of life to me, it seems like cuddling with a hooker. I am usually alone here but lately often joined by Amy, a recently arrived New Jersey woman who also wakes up earlier than her husband, George. They are a very gregarious couple and workout monsters. She does yoga and uses the excercise room, he runs, bikes and does personal fitness training. My other frequent companion here is Ramona the cleaning lady. She talks nonstop, in Spanish, on her Bluetooth phone. It annoys me but we ignore each other which is fine with me. I am starting to recognize quite a few of the residents who stop by to grab a coffee on the way to work. Not much conversation just a friendly howdy or wave. That is also fine with me.
On the dark side is a guy nicknamed "The Pajama Guy". I am not sure if it was my wife or me that first coined the expression. He walks the halllways in pajamas and houses slippers, sometimes even barefoot. He will smile and sometimes say hello but I have never had a conversation with him. Not sure what I would say. His other oddity is the coffee machine. He will literally put a dozen creamers in his coffee plus a bunch of sweeteners. He does this several times a day so we are nearly always out of these. Fortunately for me I drink mine black. Not so much for the other residents.
Last night the apartment management hosted "Grillin and Chillin", a wine and barbecue event. It was well attended save for pajama guy who thought it was last week but inexplicably didn't show up on the correct date. The managers' husbands cooked hot dogs and hamburgers on the grill (available to residents 24/7) and provided lots of side dishes. I met a few neighbors, had a hard cider and ate too much.
1 comment:
Nice to see that you are acclimating well. Your "pajama guy" made me laugh and reminded me of the "non-sidewalk walkin' dude" that used to hang out in my mom's neighborhood. He was obviously "off" a little and would talk to himself while only walking in the gutters.
I forgot to tell you that I finally cashed on Saturday taking 3rd in the Jokers tournament for a $110 profit. Not great but had a fun day anyway.
Are you living in a condo? Looks like a nice place.
Post a Comment