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and last updated April 18th., 2000.
WELCOME TO MY DAY..
IT IS NICE TO HAVE YOU SHARE IT WITH ME...
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METAIRIE, LOUISIANA, US OF A !!,
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Not that I haven't been saying them to HIM,of course, backstabbing not being one of my things....especially when he promptly dialtwiddled my carefully tuned classical station in search of his type of music. I had a few things to say about whether he thought I would do that in HIS room, and he did admit he didn't think I would, and he was being so VERY careful what he said, after all my conditions..he described it as like being in a straitjacket. Oh dear, somehow it isn't john if he isn't busy organizing me! And each time he began to plan what we would do next day, he would stop himself!
But then he began to drink too much to be halfway sensible, having decided he will never see me again , and isn't going to live long , any way, (which, given his appetite for food and beer, seems logical), and that this would be thus our final time together. And he desperately wants, he says, for my final memories of him to be good ones, a better impression, he says.
And by the time he had finished his three beers it was 11pm and not much point looking for dinner, though there was a chance, since the hotel is surrounded by eating places and discos and bars.
But he had to have another beer, and then another, so we sat outside the Irish pub and watched the police cars go by, and listened to the music from the disco, until it was too late for anything except the Chinese restaurant to be serving, late enough for the hotel roomservice to be closed down.
But the prices, of course, were excellent, and, with the hotel-room refrigerator in mind, I stocked up on staples such as honey ham, and mustard, and swiss cheese and olives and tomatoes, (which TASTE like tomatoes in Louisiana!).and, of course the huge bottle of V8Juice one cannot buy in Australia!
And then John found out that there was a Ryans nearby!
And then it was MY turn to be sleepy!
That night, with a huge lunch so recently behind us,and a frig full of food, I said it seemed silly to go looking for dinner out, and I was online anyway....
But I was able to pay him back a little, next day, when we drove to Baton Rouge,the capital, which neither of us had visited before, and found that, even here, the mighty Mississippi was QUITE dominant,and really rather triumphant, since the fight against against the advancing vegetation seemed even more deseperate that back in New Orleans!
So he was pretty happy when he left me to make the hour and a half drive back to Hattiesburg, and I looked forward to having him log onto ICQ and Post-Mortem with me...
But next day, the Tuesday, I went out to check the shopping, and found a very sophisticated mall, with all kinds of unusual features...
And though I really only had a couple of hours to spare, I found a marvellous store called Catherine's right at the entrance, and within half an hour I was carrying one of their bags about, with three silky caftans, a smart black TShirt, and a cool, light-to-pack leopard-skin and black shortie nightie/gown set, which, I figure, will be just right for next time...
But I'll keep you posted!
Love to everyone ,and everyone on our side!
-from
NEXT BULLETIN STILL ABOUT NEW ORLEANS !!!
April 15th:
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1998
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Please mail all your questions,answers and comment about this home page to:
robin_knight@bigfoot.com
©Robin Knight, 2000.
Checkout time is 11am., but the airport shuttle will be leaving before that. I catch a Delta Flight from New Orleans at 1.10pm, change planes at Denver/Fort Worth, have a 6-hour waitaround at LA International, and then a 14 hour nonstop flight home, arriving on Good Friday, and having to work next morning!
Can't really finish up because I am expecting one last visitor... another face from the past, and John's brother Robert, the poet, keeps interstate truck-drivers' hours, so is unlikely to be here much before midnight.
In fact, John phoned me around 9.30pm to say Robert had just left HIS house in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, having been caught up on the computer for longer than he had planned..seems that kind of thing runs in their family!
The weekend with john went off rather better than I had expected and almost as well as I had hoped!
To begin with, while I was grumbling online about missing my dinner, he was trying to call me to tell me to go get something to eat because he'd be late, and of course, he couldn't, because I was using the phone line for talking to the Professor and to my husband, so he sent a voicemail, but realised I wouldn't get that, either, until I logged off, so he had packed his car-frig, and stopped to buy fried chicken, and some bread and so on..and lots of beer, which he isn't, of course, supposed to drink!
But what WAS touching, he had brought liquid Coffeemate, which I had forgotten to get in the city, and which he knows I love in coffee, and miss a lot once I get home! And, more touching, he had actually brought some MONEY, and that, of course, made me feel awful about the rules I had made, and some of the things I had been saying..
I wanted to get some air, and find the shops for at least one shopping expedition, and was glad to see everything within comfortable distance..a big mall on one side of the street and the usual half-square of small independent shops on the other, and a very good deli-supermarket/liquor-store as well...just a nice walk..not too far, but enough for a bit of exercise..picture theatre, too, which thrilled john, who forgot himself long enough to tell me which picture we were going to see...
And assured me he could groceries MUCH cheaper at the Naval Base on the other side of the water, where we would be going first thing next morning!
But we had a good wander around the rambling hotel, up to the Pinnacle Restaurant on the 18th floor, into strange locked cupboards that were the gambling areas, and checked out the pool. But because beer really does play havoc with John's blood sugar, it affects him quite suddenly, and so he was sound asleep much earlier than he had planned, which gave me a chance to work on my webpage and send a progress email to the husband and the Professor.
As I told them, having a man snoring in the background while I was typing an article made me feel as though I
were already home!
Next morning, despite being able to SEE a Dennys Restaurant, his favourite breakfast source, John curbed his tongue admirably while I logged on to catch up with the husband and the professor, and only made a few comments about my "addiction"..
And as a reward I let him have the television on.
Shopping at the Naval Base was almost deja vu, since Johnhas taken me to so many Air and Naval bases..I've shopped on lots, done laundry on many, drunk beer on a few,stayed as a guest on three.
But even onto military territory, the personality of New Orleans intrudes.
BXs and PXs are usually so very, very clean and polished and streamlined...
...and the Saturday morning markets outside bright and cheerful and interesting..
Except, dare we say, in New Orleans, where the tired white-elephant/junk stalls outside are the first indication of a general malaise suggested by uncleaned restrooms with no paper, half-finished displays, unpriced items and undusted stock in the Commissionary, and a general feeling of not quite keeping up with the ever-encroaching dampness and desolation. 
Now Ryans, for those not my regular readers, must be the best all-you-can-eat buffet chain in the world!
The food is abundant and incredibly varied...perfectly cooked, honest homestyle fare...and I am ashamed to say that I fell on that meal with a fervour that caused John, usually a much bigger eater than I, to finish first, and then sit back and watch me with a happy smile on his face!
Not from wine, since Ryans is not a licensed chain, but simply from having a real MEAL at last, after all the missed eating-times in the city, and since.
So I really don't know what John did for the afternoon, because I don't remember much after hitting the pillow around 3pm.
Though I DO recall lifting my head and asking him to turn the sound down on the TV, because I could still hear it though my earplugs..
So I expect he just sat and drank beer and watched a sports channel and the military channel and wondered what had given him the idea he was going to have a fun weekend...
So John sighed, and made the most incredibly delicious sandwiches.....and I ate those, too!!
And I treated him to lunch at a much less elaborate but much more expensive casino buffet, but with free champagne, and then showed him how to get money out of the machines there.
This was a relief to him since he had been worrying if he had enough gas to get home, his wife not having given him a very large advance on his allowance...
Except when he did log on, right on time, he told me he couldn't talk to me because he was in a chat "with a friend"...
And I laughed and told him he never changes,and let him go.. but I wasn't laughing inside..
I figured I had put him up for the weekend, fed him, listened to his troubles, put gas in his car and brought him luck in the casino....I wondered what more one might have to do to get "chatting to a friend" privileges...
The next day was Monday, and I didn't go out of the room all day, being determined to get some webpage work done, photos edited, chat online and so on. And it was nice there with the sun coming in and the radio playing classics and plenty of space to work... and noone whose feelings I needed to consider!
And I also know I want to shop there again, when I have more time!!!
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