July 21, 2023
Atomic Pool Sharks
DAY TWENTYSIX
By current standards I’ve slept in when I awake at 6. Morning sun bullies through the edges of the heavy curtains and I’m up. The bathroom is right there. No stuffing bags, no tent breakdowns, no area walk through to avoid mourning what I may leave behind. I live here today and I’m determined to take a full day off the bicycle. It’s a difficult transition to settle down about not leaving this location. Travel’s strategic plans carry me forward in time during my morning meditation. That, and waffles. The Shining is on some random channel with commercials that interrupt trying to sell me a new medication for an ailment they’ve just explained I may have. Your free continental breakfast awaits, sir, and be certain to avoid any locked pantry while down there.
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There must be some sort of high school baseball thing going on because the breakfast lounge is filled with tall, lanky young men in slightly soiled white outfits batting a thousand on the waffle maker. I opt for the rehydrated eggs, a biscuit and some sausage gravy and coffee with cream. I finish with a couple individualized servings of peach yogurt. It’s the full sugar kind that I like with no aspartame baby aspirin flavor on the backend. Yummy.
I muster all of my will against an afternoon nap and instead make plans to get to the theater to see Oppenheimer. The theater doesn’t offer IMAX and it’s expensive as hell, but, this is a rest day. My budget is tight but these two days in a hotel were donations from willing supporters of my endeavors. They like to see me succeed and help make these tours possible. Kind people. Good people. I download the Uber and Lyft apps after sending grateful notes to my enablers.
I catch the matinee so I cash out on a large popcorn without the chemical sludge and a frozen Coke. I’m calling this lunch and the drink machines are all out on the floor so free refills await. I never touch the popcorn or soda until the actual movie begins. I’m not sure why I play this little game but I do. The movie is over three hours long and the previews push that even later into the afternoon. I hope Kroger is still open when I eventually peel myself out of this plush pseudo leather chair and readjust to natural environments.
Oppenheimer. Amazing cinematography. The story is rich and snappy, jumping through time to emphasize the struggles of the atomic ages birth. The use of sound in the movie is absolutely amazingly well executed! Murphy is wonderful, RDJr spectacular, and yet somehow I enjoy Matt fucking Damon the most? I suppose humor suits me best. The idea of igniting the atmosphere and ending the world hits hard when told with a chuckle. The film finishes up and I realize this is a horror movie. I’ll go see it again in IMAX at the first opportunity and dig in a little deeper. There was a lot to take in.
Exiting Kroger I find the roadway in front jammed with ambulances, firetrucks, and police as well as crashed vehicles and all the humans involved in such a debacle, some on stretchers. I txt the driver they may want to cut through the all parking lot to avoid this. She replies, got it! In the car I find two women as I settle into the back seat with my groceries. The passenger is unremarkable as she never turns or speaks. A flower print dress over a medium plus build with long wavy auburn hair that catches the AC and demands constant attention to remove from an unknowable face. The driver is short because there’s plenty of legroom behind her seat. She has straight blond hair pulled in a ponytail and rings on nearly every finger that scratch and peal at the steering wheel. She picks up her vape every now and again and then puts it back down unused, thankfully. She is an amateur pool player, carrying her own cue, and a poor listener. I ask about the pool world with its rankings and trophies and she answers more offended than informative. I suspect I’ve inadvertently struck a nerve and shut up. I can’t handle any further nuclear disasters today.
The evening proceeds with a healthy dinner of noodles and vegetables cooked against the rules of my hotel room. I prep everything for my escape from this boring alternative of so called living comfortably before bed and hope the waffle maker is open to me in the morning. I’m rested and ready for a big day tomorrow on the road.
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