Damned Skeeters

In the wee hours last night I got skeeter bit on my left middle finger. The itching drove me crazy for about an hour. Did I wake up enough to toddle into the bathroom and use the After Bite to stop the itch? No, I did not. I'd doze off and then wake myself up in a few minutes, scratching like crazy, and interrupting my dream. I wasn't dreaming anything important, just some jumble of being in the old Liberty St. neighborhood, but it was annoying all the same. Once I must have felt or heard it by my face because I woke up flapping my hands by my chin. So restful. I feel kind of groggy this morning so I'll be a dream at work. Good thing business has slacked off even more (if you can believe it) because of school starting soon. It amazes me that now that the water's nearly the warmest it gets people are staying away in droves.

August 25--Boracay, Philippines. Life is cruel, Enid thought, we can finally afford to go on a beach vacation to an exotic spot and we're too damned old to enjoy it. She and Barney had scrimped and saved their whole lives, buying cut rate this, sought out bargains for that, and hunted out things to do that were free. They made a game out of seeing how well they could live for as little as possible. It ruined them. They had one hell of a time prying open their wallets to get to this place they'd dreamed of for so many years. She thought Barney'd have a stroke when he looked over her shoulder at the price of their plane tickets even on one of those cut-rate websites. To balance out the sting she found a bungalow where they could fix their own meals to save on food costs and it was a bit back from the beach, just a couple of blocks, so it was a lot less than a beachfront resort. They sat in the shade on the beach and that's when she regretted being so careful with money. She was too old and out of shape to run down to the water and plunge in like the young women were doing. What had they been thinking when they spent their young and energetic days saving for the future? Had it never occurred to them that by the time they could afford their dream trip they'd be too blasted old and infirm to enjoy it? Hell, Barney couldn't even get a boner looking at all the girls in bikinis and he was actually drooling. What a damned waste.

Oh, I like Enid, don't you? I think I'm going to have to send them on more trips.
--Barbara