the beach

Today I did go to the beach. We got a late start, though. Jones Beach was crowded. Driving there we almost ran out of gas. I got off the Northern Parkway and we had to drove around Freeport for a while to find a gas station. Freeport is a tattered suburb. It looks blighted. Apparently street gang violence is escalating in the suburbs as it dissipates in the city. Back on the highway we hit a traffic jam which challenged my patience. Happily the beach was great, the water cold but not too cold. The lifeguards yelled at me (or rather whistled and waved their arms) because I swam out too far (at least by their estimation). I got sunburned, though, having missed a few spots on my back and shoulders with my sunblock. Now it hurts.

Going home the traffic sucked. We would have made it home far faster by train. And I had a splitting headache, I was starving (I had not eaten yet and it was 3:30 pm) and I had to piss so badly I thought I'd explode.