11-VIII-2001.
The rest of the vacation was uneventful. We tanned well, walked, swam, bought some summer clothes, all relaxing.
Nobody gave us any trouble about smoking, room even had ashtrays. Coffee was also no problem, we had a mirko, cups, spoons.
To pass the time we even bathed Mrvica. She looked nice on the photos.
(... 12 words...)
The visual noise of the Atlantic avenue is literally a reflection of everything that the Amers are turned on by and of how they imagine tourism. This is more like a county fair than a coastal place. Or it's simply that we observe the coast through our Dalmatian and generally Mediterranean preconceptions, that's how we imagine sea. Here it's all the same as in the back, with just a smattering of palms and, ahem, yeah, there's also the ocean. Though, none of the fragrance, there's no such undergrowth, the limestone doesn't heat up, and the water isn't anywhere near salty, there's the three huge (and dozens of smaller tributaries) rivers estuary, lots of sweet water incoming. At least the waves never stop, only grow taller or shallower, it hums forever.
If we watched „Baywatch“ (or, rather, „Babewatch“, as Greg said), now we saw it live. They never showed these house rules in the series, nor went through them. The rules are in effect only while the saviors are on the job, when they leave they city doesn't enforce them anymore.
It's just a mystery to me how can they dive here, perhaps only from the end of the fishing pier (which seems to exist on every beach here, at least one per mile), but I can't imagine anyone would be that crazy, it can't be deeper than two meters there. Also can't understand how do they discern dive (jump into water headfirst) from dive (swim under water).
It's typical of current american newspeak that this is not called house rules, or safety measures, or service rules, no such thing, it's „swimmer's responsibility code“, i.e. whatever happens to you is fault of you alone, because you didn't observe the code. Its main purpose is to avoid litigation (the city owns the beach and pays the guards) more than any concern about the visitors' safety, just as we saw last year on the lake. Regardless, the text plainly says „obey the rules“, just to make it clear. And just as in hundred of such occasions, everyone has to stick to this or that, to prevent what happened back then, when some fool pulled a stupid stunt. The fools, however, will think of an even more stupid stunt, and these guys will add more rules, and bit by bit life turns into shit.
The saviors and savioresses mostly look like they did in the series, except the skinny ones, of which there are a few. No fat ones, though, they're among the visitors, in large numbers (pun accidental). There are also lots of seagulls, but none of them are white. They, too, are gray here, with a blue tinge, in battleship tone.
Tankers can often be seen on the horizon. The port is somewhere up the river, in Norfolk or maybe Newport and elsewhere.
There was also a fireworks (one, but still a plural, stupid english), shot from a boat. It's easy to find a safe place for it here, the sea can't ignite. No matter how many times I tried to make a decent shot, nope, no good, the Agfa would unwind the exposure to some insane length, and then... At least this one was some success, I think I laid it on the boardwalk fence.
On eleventh my vacation was at end, as Ford cut a day off it on both ends. We just avoided the downpour on the beach and met it somewhere around Richmond. Naturally, there was a congestion, because there must have been a fender bender, so we waited at least half an hour, in an endless queue, under the dark slate sky. The temperature was still above 30.
On UA, James wrote on 4th, but I answered on 12th:
I'm afraid that "making a profit for their owner's" has become the license to try to get away with whatever one can. And it is clear to me that the demise of the Communist block has changed the situation for the worse. Whereas before it was necessary to keep the brakes on much of the MBA's finaglings in order to show that our system is far more advantageous to it's citizens than communism, now it is a free-for-all. Wherever big business can exploit, it will.
My thoughts exactly. I've said this many years ago, and I'm sad to see it happen.
Capitalism has lost its primary ingredient - competition. Now it's getting more and more under its own influence. Most of the makeup it received in the previous century is peeling off.
Just crossed my mind that „my thoughts exactly“ in our house jargon would be „you took my say“, which started... well, I'll put that into the house dictionary.
And some news from home. The temperatures were reaching 40°, but that's finally over. aunt Milica's husband died six months ago, they held remembrance now (with daća, orderly). Dad picked up onions, brought them home, took them up the attic. Đuđa's son-in-law has, after a vacation in Spain, taken a sick leave, at some doctor with whom he's good (there, it exists, someone with whom he's good), allegedly on account of kidneys. Mom mocks Đuđa that it's a common ailment with the newbaked businessmen. Her next neighbor, our age, has a second daughter now - his first is around Nina's age. His wife thought she was entering her climax, but got surprised.
Made this shot on 12th. Lena was teaching Mrvica to ballance on a ball. The shot is telling the truth, for the duration, as she did. The duration, however, was never over three seconds, but we don't care. The shot is made :).
More news from home, now that we had a week's break, dad had to make up. aunt Milica came by with her nephew, who needed to fix his cultivator at some guy in Čurda, and so did dad and so they went together. Also visited Piksi, who found out that the exhaust on the trabant is kaputt - well he fixed it in 1998, it lasted long enough - but can't find a spare, so he asked me where did I find it. Eh, back then it was some pal of Piksi's, who smuggled it from Hungary.
Mentions: Agfa, Allan Robin (Ford), aunt Milica, Čurda, daća, Đurđa Rođanović (Đuđa), Greg Reubenthal, house dictionary, James Olsen, Jelena Sredljević (Lena), mirko, Mrvica, Nevena Sredljević (Nina), trabant, UbiquAgora (UA), in serbian