Fireworks and red hair dye, oh my!*

* yeah, it's not funny or a real rhyme, but I like it. It's Saturday morning, I've worked my new job now for 26 week days, if I remember the number I write down on the top of my note pad every morning. That stated when I told a customer I was new and as long as I could remember the number of days I was at my job, I could still claim to be new. After that I just started to write the new number at the top of the days notes. So it's 26 days, I think. I'm into a new routine, but miss my old one, I miss sitting with my mom every morning. Something I've done for the past thirty years more or less, going back to when I was delivering milk and the office was in the house and I lived in Stony Point, which puts it to back around 1989. Elena still likes her job, it's still summer though. She comes home all wired at the end of the day. Me, I think it's because she is out of work and happy. Teri says, "Elena, how much coffee did you have today?" I'm glad I was a kid in my parents generation. When my friends and I got into things we shouldn't have or did things in excess, if I was a parent, I'd of thought they were just happy or being goofy. Having been the 'happy' or 'goofy' one when I was a kid, I still don't pick up on people's altered states and Elena is just drinking too much coffee. She did forget to set her alarm one day and was still in bed at 7:30, work is at 8 AM. I don't know if she was on time or not, I leave at 7:35 for work.

Elna as her shirts say has gotten to experence driving all kinds of car. Some expensive like Tesla's, Mercedes, BMW. She even saw, not drove a standard shift car. For all of you future people who will never experence driving (self driving cars will be the norm by 2030) you'll never experence the sheer joy of driving a stick. I always like to talk about driving my TR-6 with an over drive. It had a four speed (look that up for yourselves future people. I can't give you all the answers) with an overdrive. I'd cruise up the Palisades Parkway before it was always jammed with cars. I'd exit the too short entrance ramp even back then, onto the Parkway, in first or second pressing the gas going faster, I'd shift and then shift again until I was in, like I said I think it was a four speed, so it'd be forth. I'd be doing sixty more or less, mostly more, then I'd hit the over-drive and the RPMS would drop and there was just something so magical about it. I'm probably romanticizing it through thirty or forth years of memory, but I do have a real soft spot in my heart for memories of that car and driving it as a kid. Maybe it was the time, maybe it was the car. I don't know. Elena saw that someone working in the shop is selling their motorcycle. I've talked about it and I hope she never drives one with her temper the way it is. She'd die rather quickly driving one. Nastia is enjoying life. She is just floating along in the currents seeing where they will take her. I joked to a co-worker who was leaving Friday, where I work who said that. I said, "I did that and you better watch out or you'll end up here. like me." or something like that, that everyone thought was funny. I worry for Nastia. She is a good time girl who wants to work with kids, but doesn't want to work for the education. She doesn't read, so her vocabulary and her ability to recognize words is too small. If this was 1948 instead of 2022, she'd be the perfect wife of a rich guy. Yeah, it'd have to be a rich guy, she doesn't cook much, thay'd need a maid/cook. Being it is 2022 she'll need to up her game a little (oh, did I really just use that expression?!, I hate that expression, That one and the other one I can't remember right now) She'll need to marry well.

Nastia asked me to color her hair yesterday. I thought it was just going to be her and I. I asked, "What about your sister?" Her reply was the truck driver version of, have sex with her. (I'm sorry is that wrong to find that funny. I laugh at alot of my own jokes on these pages. I hope I'm not laughing by myself as I usually do when I'm at home with the family and make a joke) We go down to the basement, she has an old shirt on and good pants. I ask her if she wants to wear them while we do this? She says she'll cover them up. I have alway loved knowledge, except if I was required to learn it in school. After the last time she let me color her's and Elena's hair I read up on how to do it. I talked with a few people who'd colored hair and I learned a few things. One of the important things is to put vaseline around the edges of the hair line to keep the dye from staining the skin. So I start putting the vaseline around her hair line. Just about then Nastia's phone rings, it Ariana, her friend who her former boyfriend didn't want her hanging around with. Ariana wants Nastia to accompany her to CVS or some convenience store to get M&Ms. Nastia tells her she is coloring her hair and to come over. Ariana arrives and I think maybe I can leave. No Nastia

wants me to do her hair. Then suddenly Elena is there and she is going to get her hair colored by Salon Joseph (I know this is politically incorrect, but that salon name doesn't sound gay enough to be a really good place to get your hair done.) So Nastia has her hair done and needs to wait an hour, next is Elena and the vaseline and then suddenly Kevin calls and he is invited over. He shows up and everyone is sitting around waiting for the dye to infuse it's self with the hair (does that sound like I know what I'm doing? I did drench both of their heads in the dye as opposed to what I did the first time. I leave and come back later after Ariana has left, sans (french for without. Another word I love) her M&Ms. I go down stairs because I hear water running and want to know what is going on, Kevin is still downstairs.

down there. At the bottom From the bottom of the stairs I see Kevin watching something on his phone, sitting on a milk case not looking very comfortable. The girls are in the bathroom washing their hair. I tell Kevin he doesn't have to wait for them, he can go home. He says he has nothing better to do. Boy is my daughter going to hurt him one day. Teri and I see what is going on, Nastia insists she has talked to him several times, but he is not listening, I'm sorry for him, he's in the friends zone. I've never made like I understand a women's thinking, but if your in the friends zone you're a friend. I understand how guys think and he is going to hang around her, make a pass at her and she is going to get angry and they will no longer be friends. I hope I'm wrong, he is nice and he is everything her former boyfriends weren't. So maybe that is why she doesn't want him as a boyfriend. Deep down we all fall for the ones we feel we deserve, for better or worse. Nastia just called to me asking if I could bring out some sun screen to the pool where Kevin, Vinnie and her are swimming. I bought it out to her, Kevin and Vinnie all swimming together. I know she'll put sunscreen on Kevin's and Vinnie's backs, but I'm wondering who'll get to do her back? Back on July 4th, a Monday, A bunch of us went to see the fireworks in Nyack's Memorial Park. We went last year after missing the previous two COVID years. Last year it was great. Even the fireworks in Nanuet were great.

This year we went to Felix Festa middle school. Got there at around 7:30 waited listening to music until 9:30 for some disappointing fireworks. I guess the previous year they had two years worth of money saved for the fireworks. Nyacks were better than Felix Festa's, but not as good as last years. At Nyack we parked in the parking lot over behind where the last theater in Nyack used to be, the lot off of South Franklin Avenue and walked down the hill to Memorial Park. We got good seats. Sometime before dark Elena has to go to the bathroom. Her and I walk up the hill to Piermont Avenue looking around for porta pots, there were none. I ask a 'rental a cop' (Sorry that's not nice, they are all volunteers and don't get paid.) where there might be a porta pot and I am pointed towards the old boat launch end of the park to my left as I face the park.We walk down the road past a few house on the left to where the barrier are set up, No porta pots. There is a new kids play ground and in it is this very nice building that is the pubic rest rooms. I'm very happy about that so I go to the mens and Elena, poor Elena who has to go, goes to wait on the line to the ladies room. One day someone has to tell me why there is always a line for the ladies room. I come out and Elena is still on line. She tells me I can go, she'll find her way back. I don't go back up the hill because I noticed the kid's play ground has a water spray feature to it and we are seated on the other side. It's a two minute walk. When Elena come back I ask her if she noticed that, she replys, "yeah, I just didn't know if there was a way through to where we were siting.

You know it is close to the time for the fireworks to start when you can see Tarrytown's and possibly Irvington's fireworks going. Nyack always waits for them to start first. A little later the fireworks start. This year it is like sex, a long wait, let me pee first,then over before you want it to be. There were some good points. And all (I'm trying not to get to gross talking about rockets and explosions and all makes it tough) the rockets shooting into the air at the end is really great. Alot of bright flashing light and tremendous explosions (I think I managed to be not too gross). Then it is time for the akward good bye, yes I'll call, Oh, crap I mean it took us longer to leave the park then it did too see the fireworks. They started around 9:35 and ended around 10, or a little after. We got to the car, after taking our time, going up the wrong street, seeing a girl hopefully only passed out on a sidewalk we wanted to walk on just as the Police arrived and the Ambulance is on it's way. We sat in traffic, then we move some, then stop, then after awhile move some more, then stop again. Eventually we get going and are out of Nyack pretty quickly, once we got going. It is 11 PM when we get home. Everyone goes to bed a little late that night.

Nastia, Kevin and Vinnie have just left to go get pizza. Vinnie changed down stairs, Kevin went stright to his car and Nastia showered quickly upstairs. I guess Vinnie got to put sunscreen on her back. I'm sorry if I sound cruel, but it is just so sad. I've been where both of them are right now and neither of them will end up with her. I had another talk with her before Kevin and Vinnie came over and she said they have had the 'talk' several time. I tried to make her see Kevin isn't listening. Her reply is something along the lines of, "it's not my fault". It might not be, but it doesn't make it any nicer when he eventually makes a pass at her. /