I've been waiting for tomorrow all of my life

So, I went out and spent Thanksgiving with Nicole and Tino; we had a good time, and their place out in the woods is quite lovely.

Nicole is right that Tino and I are eerily similar; however, there was never any question of chemistry. We both had enough sense to know that we were too much alike for there to be any, ever. When Tino and I met--what was it, seven years ago in New Orleans; has it really been that long?--we were on a streetcar talking about reporting and I had one of those flashes in which I looked at him and these words hit me: you're like me. Don't know how I know, but I knew.

Nicole puts up with Tino where I could not, and that's a good thing. I think they're great together, and have said so many times; they're one of the few couples I enjoy spending time with, possibly because the fact that they've made it this far gives me some hope that one day I'll find somebody to put up with me. (I suppose that means I believe there's somebody out there for everybody, doesn't it?)

The couple of days I spent out there were very relaxing. We went into town on Friday and stopped at a fairly bad diner that I had been to before, believe it or not. The decor of the place rocked; the sausage gravy rocked but the rest of the breakfast food wasn't so hot. (I didn't inquire about Tino's grilled cheese, but since he at it I assume it was OK.)

The highlight of the trip into town was a stop at Stoakes Mart, which seemed to be a sort of small unclaimed freight/close-out store where most everything was priced at $1, which is located just across the street from the L Dee Pancake House right off the square in Front Royal. L Dee's surname--according to Tino, who takes it upon himself to know things like this--is Stoakes. The family owns roughly 80 percent of everything in Front Royal, though I'm not positive what distinction that affords.

OK, not everything in the store was $1. There was a potato ricer that was marked $19.99 at the end of the school supplies aisle, right next to the canning supplies , and we all thought that was just wrong. The place was bizarre, full of random arrays things ranging from candy bars promoting movies that are haven't been on the New Releases shelves at your local Blockbuster for more than a year to huge cans of Little Mommie brand tomato catsup. (There was also a Little Sister brand pickle relish, but it was impossible to tell whether the two were related.)

I bought a couple of commercial weight Rubbermaid spatula-spoons; Tino bought A6 envelopes, and Nicole bought a mini mosquito net tent to cover food. Each of our purchases totalled $1.05, including tax.

Tino and I both regretted that neither of us had a camera at the time. This turned out to be strange, as both of us tend to carry cameras; you know, just in case. It was almost as if I was afraid the Stoakes Mart wouldn't be there the next time I go out to Front Royal, although I know better.

We went back to the house to eat more stuffing and pie and watch more episodes of Airport that TiVo had grabbed from BBC America. Airport is my new favorite show. I find it much more entertaining than the episodes of Iron Chef that I've seen. We also watched several episodes of Junkyard Wars, which has the unexpected advantage of being on a channel that District Cablevision actually carries.

I thought both shows were pretty cool, but I think I preferred Airport because it was so surreal.

So I got up early-ish this morning and drove the 60-plus miles back into the District. The trip didn't take as long as it took getting out there, and the speed traps were in precisely the same places. Despite the fact that I slept well in Front Royal, where it is quiet and dark and meets ideal Koogle sleeping standards, I found myself very tired almost as soon as I got home. I put the last of the food in the cats bowls, took a quick hot shower and headed for a nice long nap.

It was good; I was happy.

before - after