Today was a work day and, for once, one with guaranteed work, since Gerry had invited us to be on his team for the day. There were just 4 of us, working down towards the ocean in 4 strips. It was a nice, easy run, with “easy-hang”, hooking the pamphlet over any available handle, and we were finished completely by 12. Returned to the shop and ate lunch, and decided to treat ourselves to a sauna… there was one next door. It cost us $4 apiece, but it was really good to get the grime out of our bodies. We had our own private room, so we were able to have things all our own way – the temperature, showering when we wanted, pouring buckets of cold water over each other, that sort of stupid thing. It did us good tho’, as could be seen from all the muck which came out of us and ended up on the towels. Cleansed and refreshed, tho’ still more than somewhat fatigued, we caught the bus in to town. We saw a camera identical to the one Danny had lent us, and it was selling for a mere $120, so that seemed a possibility, assuming it was any good. Walked down towards Washington Square, taking some pictures along the way. We stopped off at a posh hotel – the Sir Francis Drake, I think – and asked the doorman, a big black guy in a mock Beefeater costume, whether we could go to the top, and he seemed to think it would be alright, so we took the lift up. It was quite boring up there tho’, so we came down again quickly before they asked us to buy something. By now, time was moving on, so we moved on to the place we planned to eat, called Sirloin and Brew. It was just like a Berni really, except it had the distinct advantages of serving free + unlimited bread and butter, salad, beer or wine, and champagne, for about 5 bucks a head. Needless to say, we made thorough pigs of ourselves, with coffee cake as well. We both got quite drunk, me especially, and somehow had to make our way back. I played blind for a while, Val leading me – it was quite fun. Got home without incident, sobering up in the process.
For information, a Berni is the name of a chain of British steakhouses. It may have ceased trading by now, but if they offered free booze…? We do seem to have discovered some good free offers – food one day, booze another. Plus another day’s wages! I do seem to have had a strange relationship with money; complaining about 25c for the toilet, but contemplating $120 for a camera.
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