“Are we doing anything today”?
“No, we got most of this mess cleaned up”.
While at Inia’s she had expressed the desire to repaint the hallway of her house because she hated the colour that was already there.
As we were doing that her father asked if we could remove the paneling below it and we figured, sure what’s a little more wall to paint and we wouldn’t have to worry about getting paint all over the paneling so the next day we went and picked up everything we needed to get the work done.
After drinking my can of coke, Walker doesn’t drink coffee in the morning just coke, I took off the paneling and to both Inia’s and my surprise there was only a partial wall and an exposed beam there.
Great, now what?
What, I tell you what.
We had to go back to home depot and get some drywall to somehow cover the exposed beam so it would be flush with the wall above and below it but the beam was crocked so I had to shave one side of the drywall so it would become flush on one end and on the other I had to build the back up so it would come out a bit.
An easy paint job became a three-day pain in the ass because with everything we uncovered we found ourselves with more work to do.
In the end we not only painted the hallway but also repaired the wall on the stairwell, painted the living and dinning rooms as well, which required moving a lot of full hutches and cabinets filled with generations of hand me down crystal and china.
To make matters worse it was hot and the humidity was brutal.
I swear at one point Inia was ready to take a sledgehammer and pulverize some of the stuff we had to move but after a while she calmed down and we, the boys and I untied her and got it done.
Feet were sore.
Everything I wore was covered in paint.
So to say we needed to get away from all the work we were doing would have been an understatement.
“I was thinking we could head up and meet Itisi”.
I had told Itisi we would meet up this trip and I sent her an email asking if she would be free on the Monday and she emailed me back saying she was so we made arraignments where to meet.
“That sounds like good idea”.
So the next day we took off down the highway to a small town between both of our location, nice little place on the shore of Lake Erie where we were supposed to meet up Itisi.
“So what’s Itisi look like”?
“White woman”.
“White woman, that’s all”?
“Nothing else like, what colour is her hair, you know, big small…”
“…Skinny white woman with a cowboy hat”.
“Haven’t you two traded pictures”?
“Yeah, six years ago, she was a skinny white woman with a cowboy hat, jeans and cowboy boots”.
“OK, well then what does she drive”?
“…Ummm, a white woman car”.
“What!!!, that’s all you got, white woman driving a white woman car, this is going to be interesting to see”?
“BTW, what do white women drive”.
“How the hell do I know, I’m stalling here”.
For the next forty-five minutes I racked my mind trying to picture Itisi without the hat.
How hard could it be, she had said she may come with her husband or a friend so I knew to look for two people not one.
We got to the town we were heading for and pulled into the Tim Horton’s where we were to meet Itisi and parked the vehicle.
We went inside and there were three couples already there, two women and one table a man with a woman at another table, and a woman with a kid at the third.
Inia thought it was funny.
I decided to order first while I pondered my next move.
I ordered a couple of Ice caps with whipped cream on both and chocolate drizzle over Inia’s, she likes her chocolate.
I didn’t have any more American money on me so I tossed the girl a Canadian twenty.
I mean what the hell, I can see Canada across the lake and Tim Horton’s is a Canadian company so some Canadian money to a Canadian company is like supporting one of your own.
She gave me back six bucks, huh?
The sign said $3.68 so two would be $7.36 so where is the rest?
Because I paid in Canadian she charges me an extra seven bucks!!!!
I mean our dollar is almost at par.
Fucken tourist tax gets you every time.
I was so stunned I turned to the skinny white woman standing behind me in disbelief; all she could do is smile and say hi .
I wish I were high.
Just don’t pay in Canadian money lady that’s all I got to say.
Fuck, ok charge me a bit but not more than the actually coffee fucken cost.
I gave Inia her Ice Cap and we chose a table where I could sit and watch the door for Itisi while I studied the people who were already there.
I thought maybe she would recognize me and come over if she was already here or when she comes in.
Inia was pestering me to go table to table and ask everyone if they were Itisi.
“You should go ask them”.
“You just want me to go there so you could sit here and laugh”.
“I already am, HA HA HA”!!!!!
“I don’t believe you came here without first exchanging recent pictures”.
“Go ask that one in the corner that was behind you at the counter”.
“What if it’s not her and it’s one of the two sitting over there”.
“You could ask them after if it’s not the lady in the corner”.
“Oh you’re really enjoying this aren’t you”?
“Yes, I am”.
“You’re the one who didn’t find out what she looked like”.
“I know what she looks like”.
“Oh really and what does she look like”.
“…….Skinny white chick”.
This is great I show up with a redhead then go from table to table in Tim Horton’s asking strange women for their names.
Some balls eh?
Why not, this is, me after all and I never do anything the easy way
So I get up and make my way to the lady in the corner who by the way was staring at the door too.
As I passed the table with the other two ladies one looked up at me and smiled.
“Great” I thought, maybe that was Itisi.
I just kept walking past, smiled back but did look down her top since it was all just hanging out there.
I walked to the corner where the she sat and asked her straight out.
“ItisI”?
“Yes”!
“Where’s the cowboy hat”?
From there on it was a continuation of our years of chatting online.
It was like it wasn’t the first time we met but hooking up with a friend after a long absence.
Itisi and I have been friends for a long time and have gone through some rough spots and some really weird shit together as you could only find in Walkerville or Itisiville.
She is one of the few people online that I could rely on and man does she get pissed off when I hold shit back.
Especially when she gets an email from someone about something she has no idea about because someone hadn’t kept her up to speed.
The long and short of it is with friends like Itisi you never have to worry about your back.
Just duck when she comes swinging at you.
We spent the next couple of hours catching up and laughing.
Her and Inia were getting acquainted and laughing at my expense of course.
OK so I thought Inia’s van was brown.
It’s purple.
I think
This is the first of many meetings Itisi and I will have I am sure and the first of many meeting with other bloggers I have know for so long and haven’t had the opportunity to meet until now.
In fact, Inia and I have been thinking of driving down one day to Hoboken, New Jersey to Carlo’s Bakery for one of Buddy Valastro cakes and visit another one of my friends there.
I bet she would like a little cake too.
It’s been quite the summer and it isn’t over yet but one of the biggest highlights, even bigger than seeing Niagara Falls for the first time was meeting Itisi.
Thank you Itisi for driving up and catch you later.
Oh and she isn't a skinny white chick.
She's Itisi, one of my best friends.
Have a nice day
Walker
Manila, Philippines January 2015
11 years ago
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