WEEK 2, Day 1

Sweet Jesus on a half shell! It's only a four day week!
Due to the 4th of July camp is only in session for four days. Usually we take this week off, but this year it's a bit different.

Our usual number of campers (60's-70's?) was cut down to a whopping...


35 last time I checked.

We currently have 33 counselors last thing I heard.

So, throughout the day the camp appeared empty and much quieter than usual.

Early morning sign in table banter consisted of:

• Bryan's love of "Wall-E" (Which I still need to see)
• Our views on most of the Pixar canon.
• Why did they make this?!
  
• The potential awesomeness of "The Dark Knight"
• "Ebert And Roeper" and how we no longer watch it because of Roeper
  
• Our hatred of the Michael Philips (Ebert's current placeholder)
• The universal uselessness of Eddie Murphy

Since so few kids needed to take the swim check I was put in charge of "entertaining" them. I kept them occupied by playing three flies up. We found it hard to play since we're located under a bridge, and the ball ended up hitting the girders several times during the game.

Assisted in Free Swim. We only had to keep track of a two kids.
First injury was within the first 15 minutes or so. "One down, one to go".

Even with the lack of campers I somehow got another pack of eight that want to row. All seem eager to learn and amazingly they're all writing down what I say. Hmm, seems too good to be true.

Lunch was fun since most of us didn't need to sit with our patrol so it was a staff congregation in the lounge. We cooked what tasted like a nacho cheese pizza and had random conversations in even more random accents.

During the lunchtime game (Blind Polygons) Christian, Bryan, David and I messed around with a magnifying sheet.



Which is probably on a Bond villain's wish list as a child.
It's essentially a giant magnifying glass. We found out that it can start burning wood in about 2 seconds or so. Had some fun with that. Burned some wood, a leaf, the asphalt, Byran's hand, my knee.



Small pink dot to right of my finger was a blister that formed.

After lunch cabin fever began to settle in.
We randomly began to break into song and talk in even more extreme and random accents.
We even sang songs from Mulan for crissakes.

Clean up was quick since Jared and I share a room. Swept, mopped and was out by 4.

Day The Fifth

DAY V

Friday. D-Day (of sorts) started off fairly calm.

Discussed our religious experience or lack thereof, and told tales of school dances. Covering up the more risque parts of the stories when parents signed their kids in.

Bees and Jesus.

Bees have been in our building for well over three years. The nests have been spray from the outside, the attic and almost anywhere in between.

To give you sense of the infestation, here's short anecdote.


Here is our building. As you can see on the top there is a squarish area above the main roof. We occupy the second story (with the balcony) and one day sometime last year a few counselors and I decided to lead an expedition of sorts to get to the roof. Little did we know that there was more than one ladder to climb before we would get to the top. In fact there were two. Once we got up to the hatch that opens to the top we found out why we didn't have that many rooftop parties.

The entire roof, somewhere in the area of 15 x 10, was covered in dead bees.

So, today the pest control came in the staff lounge and began drilling in the closet in search of the hive. Only problem is that the closest is locked and only used by the church that meets at the building on the weekends. The guy who runs the church was called and he removed the contens of the closest with the help of his two deranged kids.

After they left the scavenging began. J.P. checked out the sound system while I found a bunch of stuffed animal Bible Characters



I started chasing people with Jesus.
....
I never thought I'd say that in my life.



"How's your day going?"
"I have Jamba Juice on my ass"

In rowing we went to Jamba Juice by, what else, rowboat. I thought we were short on time so we planned on being towed back by the motor boating merit badge that went the the candy store nearby.

Just as we were prepping the boats, one of the campers dropped his cup which, since it's made of Styrofoam, broke and spilled Raz-Ma-Tazz all over the seat of the boat. To make a long story short I had to sit in it during 10 min ride back.

Once onshore I tromped in to waist deep water in hopes of getting rid of juice residue. Surprisingly, salt water isn't as useful for cleaning juice as I thought. This is even more surprising when I think about the high bacteria count that always seems to be present in the water surrounding the base.


2nd Half of the Day


Lunch came and we had our staff pot luck. A sampling of the dishes: Alberston's Fried Chicken , Chicken Fingers, and Potato Wedges. A large assortment of chips. Lemon Cake, Seven Layer Dip, Jello, Cocoa Crispies, Tequila Lime/BBQ/Teriyaki (I think) flavored chicken. And much more.

First Aid was alright. Almost everyone passed minus two, but they're coming next week so no worries. Since we had extra time we headed out to the beach with Free Swim and Games. A few of the counselors and campers were sweeping the sand off of the asphalt surrounding the beach. I picked up a broom and started singing "Chim Chim Chiree".




During this time Jerry, Ruth, Kyle and talked about how A.D.D./A.D.H.D. is a cop out and is essentially like baby fat. Everyone is hyperactive and chubby when they're younger. One should eventually grow out of it. Emphasis on should.

We had the kids clean up 8 minutes early so all the paperwork could get turned in. Afterward a couple of us messed around with a police cone in the staff lounge.

Essentially Friday is are hectic day, turning in paperwork, and making sure the kids (and their parents) leave satisfied. During the end of the day the whole building is swamped with kids begging for badges, they're parents begging for the paperwork and where their kid's lost stuff can be found etc.

To lighten the mood and let off steam I started skipping around with a large coffee cup and dish with my left pinky out. Nothing bring out the best in people like speaking in a Monty Pythonish British accent, a talent that most of the staff here has (the girls have Eliza Doolittle).




Next week: FOUR DAY WEEK. Since we have the 4th of July off.

Days 3 and 4

Theme Day: ISLANDER

I dressed in my loudest and least precious Hawaiian print shirt.

Sign In Table Banter: Son of Satan/"Sam"
The true color of David's digital camera. Pink or Red?

During pioneering James and I discussed random movies and different genres of comedians. Good, bad, blind, and retarded.

MARINE PATROL stopped by and inquired about a large school bus that was parked a good 400 feet away from the base. None of us ordered a large school bus so the officer informed us that he was going to leave a "souvenir" on the bus' windshield. James and joked about how this either meant a postcard or that the officer took a shit on the bus.

Rowing was normal. No real events or boats sinking.

My usual microwave duty was taken over since it was Pizza Wednesday. Instead of my usual duty of slamming microwave doors, and saying either, "Hot Pocket!" or "Cup O' Noodle" in a terrible Brooklyn accent I tromped around the camp.

Eventually I was recruited with a few other counselors to set up the lunch time game "Life Saving Limbo". I'm surprised at how terrible some of the campers peripheral vision is, many of them ran right into the large wooden pole we used as the limbo pole.

First Aid drained me once again.

Free Swim and Games - Helped out with the mile swim. Had first of probably many encounters with the life guards and they're monstrous compensation of a boat.

Once onshore we sat, observed the escapades of Son Of Sam and discussed the employees from previous years.


RAVENS OF DEATH - Around the base it seems that there has been a surge of ravens. They ridiculously huge. Must be something in the water I guess. Either way, these ravens are everywhere and sound like they came straight out of the Frontierland Shootin' Gallery.

DAY IV

After a terrible nights sleeps last night that led to some ridiculously intense dreams (Involving the Grim Reaper) I almost arrived late to work. By this point in the week the usual council that meets at the sign in tables disbands and instead hangs out on the second story of the building for the remainder of the week.

During Pioneering I helped out with a few motorboat repairs. In other words I held the boat in place so we wouldn't float away if it didn't start.

Rowing : Today on the most overcast day of the week the class had to capsize their boats and swim them into shore. I directed them from shore. Once they were done we were distracted by Charlie's giant handmade pit.

Lunch came around and I was back at the good ole' pseudo deli position. Jared led a sonic attack on Wesley with the bell.

Lunchtime Game: Run Paddle Run

Finished up First Aid today with the CPR demonstration. It took a while to get 20 kids through it.

Last part of the day I once again helped out with the mile swim minus the annoying life guards. Just smooth sailing (rowing) all the way. Discussed upcoming movies (and how I still haven't seen "Batman Begins") and Bob Dylan.

Got roped into extended care. Afterwards tried to get plunger stuck to the underside of the 2nd Street Bridge. Wesley successfully got it stuck on the wires that run just below on his first throw.

Searched for golf balls in the bowl to pass the time while waiting for the last few campers to be picked up. Didn't leave until 5:44.

Day 1 and 2 (Posting On Day 3 - Gotta Catch Up)

First day at work. No real problems. I missed the whole week of orientation so I'm a bit in the dark about a few things. Such as our new swim check system.

Usually the kids (all 90 of them or so) charge in to the water at the same time and whoever survives passes.

This year the system has changed. Patrols (all 9-10 of them) march out one at a time and each counselor walks along the length of the beach with the kid. Less of a chance of a loss of life than the beach storming technique of old. This also makes all the more interesting when a kid needs to be extracted.

Injury Log Entry #1: Post swim check bloody nose and vomiting.

From there we went to our "classes". I'm assisting and by assisting I mean sitting with Pioneering, A.K.A. "Awesome Things To Do With Knots And Ropes".

I teach rowing next. Fairly good group this week. 8 kids which means I don't have to share a boat with one. Out comes the "green dory" pictures to come soon). The best boat ever.

Lunch came around which meant that I manned the microwaves,hot water dispenser and bell. The bell was stolen from another area of work, originally meant for signaling an answer in Jeopardy, we at the trading post use it for a more cliche deli way.

First Aid was interesting to teach. 20 kids. Oof. I'm used to teaching with at least one other person so it was kind of hard to talk for two hours (for me that's surprising I know).

Lifeguarding for Free Swim and Games.

Injury Log Entry #2: Kid sliced ball of his foot open on rocks.

Found a new toy. A clock that has to be set digitally in the back, then when you're ready to have it run, you flick a switch and the second hand spins around at a ridiculous speed until it reaches the correct time. Only problem is that this clock seems to be broken so instead the clock will spin at this accelerated speed until the battery runs out. I plan to hang it in my room and say that time moves faster when you enter.


Day II:

Arrived fairly early, and regret not sleeping in. Assisted at the front sign in table and easy up where random conversation occurs on a daily basis. Most of the parents think we're insane because of this.

Tromped around since I wasn't needed in pioneering.

We finally got into the boats for rowing. Whoop-de-doo.
My trusty assistant and I listened to classic rock while rowing and made sure the other boats didn't sink.

Somehow got a sunburn on my shins.

Attic and cleaning supply closet was sprayed for bees.
Those bees have been the building for...three years now?


I'll have a more thorough and complete entry for days three and four tomorrow.

Intro

I'm not sure if I'll keep this going but as of now this is going to be updated at a fairly constant rate. Either later in the day or after I've had time to jot down most of the events of the previous days.

Last night I sat up and wrote out a few pages of short paragraphs that probably won't translate well online. So, this blog might just be a showcase for my lack of talent when it comes to writing of any kind.


Oh well, here goes.


NOTE: Will probably post a "Intro To The Sea Base and Surrounding Areas" sometime in the near future.