I'm finally starting to have fun with Kim again. It was late in the afternoon on Monday and I was replacing Kim up at Lift 2. I had carried a cup of cold water up with me to drink. When I got to the top I accidentally on purpose spilt a little bit of it onto her leg. She said something like, 'Gee, thanks,' and took her cup and splashed me back. So we ended up having a water fight forty feet up in the air. At least four boats full of people passed while we were doing so. She then grabs on to my hand that is holding the water and when she lets go she accidentally flicked me right in the dick. There's no other way to put it. It wasn't very hard and neither one of us made any notion about it. Then I grabbed a handful of water and splashed her right in the ass which prompted her to throw the rest of her water straight at me. I was pretty soaked at the end and we were both laughing. She then took off down the ramp but not before I emptied my water at her. When she looked back I waved goodbye.
Earlier in the lounge, I was sitting with Andre talking about all of the girls and he asked me how was my wife. I told him that Kim and I weren't talking much lately. We then started talking about the rest of the girls on our ride and in the area. He told me not to worry, and then patted me on the shoulder and told me that we'd find me a girl. He asked me what about the girls in the lounge. Danya and that French looking girl from the Tidal wave were there. I told him that I didn't think so, even though I would. Danya ignores me too much. I then said hi to Danya from across the table. Andre didn't know that I knew her and he starts laughing and goes, 'You're crazy!' It was funny. Frank comes in and Andre tells him that we need to find me a girl and he goes, 'I thought he was messing with Kim.' I sort of wonder what everybody knows, and how much they have all talked to Kim about it. That's scary. But I knew that rumors would fly and I sort of intentionally provoked them by telling certain people certain things that I knew they would spread.
Wednesday, July 29, 1992
Sunday, July 26, 1992
July 26, 1992 - Sunday - Busch pool, Agnes
I've been having a pretty good time lately working over at Busch Gardens. I had asked Kim if she wanted to go back over to Adventure Island for a little while on Friday morning but she didn't call. We just finished watching the Dream Team's Olympic debut against Angola. They look like they're having an awesome time and ended up smashing them by 68 points! I think the score was 116 to 48! That's ridiculous but really fun to watch. Everybody else went shopping this morning and since I didn't work I thought about going to the beach. It was already pretty late so I decided to pretend that I was already in college and cook me a nice big lunch. I sort of modeled it after the International House of Pancakes. I had a plate full of grits smothered in melted cheese and sprinkled with cubes of cheddar. I also made a big fried egg sandwich, and a plateful of French toast covered with butter. I topped it off with a glassful each of milk and orange juice. It filled me up and was really good.
On Friday and Saturday I was scheduled to work Congo pool which consists of the Python, Mamba, bumper cars, and kiddie rides. If they can't find you a job, then they'll just send you home with two hours' pay. I was scheduled from 4:15 to 8:15. I stopped by Albertsons on the way over and picked up the pictures that I had developed. The first one was of Cathleen way back at Christmas, and the last was at Brooker Creek Park last Sunday. I like spreading out a roll of film like that because it makes the memories of seeing those events from way back more fun. There were a bunch from Senior Field Day at Leto. I hadn't realized that my hair was that long and still wonder how I went at Busch Gardens for so long without them telling me to cut it. There is one of Jana and I standing together with Nicole waving in the background. I hadn't remembered, but Jana actually had her hand around my side. There was also a good one of Nicole and I after we had soaked each other. I was actually smiling really big.
Anyway, the guy on the tram was telling me jokes (that tourists have told him) all the way over to the Flume. I went into our lounge and talked to Mark for a little bit and then to Paul and Alan for a few minutes. He was talking about his baby and said how I should really go into medicine especially with children, because they make lots of money. He referred to one doctor who was in his wife's room for two minutes and charged $150 for it. We were talking about programs that would let you work your way through graduate school and stuff. I then went over to the Vivi lounge in Congo. I had never been there before so I asked this girl who I knew from Leto where it was. When I walked in, Carisma was just getting off and goes, 'Hi, Dan!' and gives me a high five. She was with three other really cute almost-college girls and they were all hyper about going out that night. One was on the phone and when she sees me she goes, 'You have really bad hair!' I had my forelock down over the side of my face and it looked good. As I was talking to all of the girls I hadn't noticed that a couple of the guys from grounds over by the Flume were there. I was with the girls and they weren't, ha ha.
Steve, the Congo supervisor that used to work at the Flume came in and says, 'Hey Daniel!' and then tried to call around to find me a job. He then took off up to Python and he told me to wait there. At five a couple other supervisors from different areas tried to find me a job but couldn't so they told me I could go home. They had even tried calling Flume. Meanwhile it had started pouring and I didn't have my raincoat. I walked over to the Flume and got completely soaked. MichŠle and Rebecca were out front so I went and talked to them for a while. Rebecca was feeling sick. I told her that I would stay for her but we both didn't think that Alan would let me since I wasn't on Flume payroll for the day. I went around to the front and talked with Sharlene and the others. We fooled around, as usual, and then Alan asked me if I would stay for Rebecca and I said yes. I got to tell her and she was very happy when she found out that she got to leave. Alan sent Sharlene out front so I told him that I would go pan and broom the quehouse (to talk to Sharlene), but he said that somebody already had. I told him fine, that I would go out front to talk to Sharlene. MichŠle had come back and he told me to talk to her since she looked lonely. So I did. The three of us talked until we went back up from the rain. Saturday was her last day working and I didn't think that I would have a chance to talk to or even see her again after we talked Thursday night, so I'm glad that Alan suggested it. He also called me their little water rat when he sent me to work because I'm always the one to end up soaking wet.
Yesterday morning, Amanda and I were both scheduled for pool at 9:45 in the morning. I parked the little lot across 30th Street since we little people aren't allowed to park in the Center any more as of last Wednesday. Amanda pulls up at about the same time and tells me that I have to walk with her over to the Vivi lounge. We stopped to go to the bathroom at our lounge by the Flume to fix our hair and then went over. We were the only two people in there at the time. I helped her find an empty locker to put her stuff in and went into the bathroom to pee and then she calls me. I go back out and she can't get the locker door open because the handle was broken off. I used my keychain to pop it open and saved the day. Ha ha. We found another and I asked her to put my raincoat in with her stuff. The phone rang so I answered it like I heard someone else answer it yesterday. It was Steve and he wanted the two of us to come over to Python. I really dreaded working on the Python because I would be bending over checking seat harnesses all day which would suck. He sent Amanda over to train on the swinging vines and told her that she would be there all day until about seven.
The Python was shut down because two sensors were not aligned so I got to sit at the control panel and hold in a discrepancy button for a while. It was to keep the coaster from rolling into the quehouse and running over the mechanics. I talked to Steve about the new roller coaster. It's supposed to be over across from the Congo Train Station and will be seven feet shorter than the water tower at the brewery. That tower seems to dwarf Lift 2 on the Flume because it is so tall. The ride will last about eight minutes compared to the Python's two, and will be ready by February. It's supposed to be one of the largest in the Southeast and will be truly awesome.
When Steve found out that it would still be a while before the Python opened, he decided to send me over to Timbuktu. He told me to go over to the office just inside the Festhaus. I slowly meandered my way over making a stop at the Flume. I talked to Alan for a few minutes and he said that I would probably be working the Desert Runner kid ride or checking belts on the Scorpion. I saw that Kim was out on the loading brakes so I opened the curtain, and not smiling, waved to Kim. She waved back and I left. This blonde, Terry, who I had seen around and said hi to before was supervising Timbuktu. She was being really nice and asked me if I'd rather work the kiddie rides or the merry-go-round. I opted for the kiddie rides figuring that the kids wouldn't be bad for just three hours. She only needed me until two and told me I'd probably get to go home afterwards. A girl who pooled on the Flume once, that I worked with, walked me over. I trained on the motorcycles, and a girl named Holly ran the Desert Runners. It wasn't that bad, I had a cooler right behind my seat and a big fan to keep cool with. I kept making cute remarks to Holly. It was OK working with the kids, I liked helping the little cute ones on and off, especially if they had cute mothers. Later on, Holly made me trade and work on the boats until two. Terry called and told me that Steve needed me back at Congo when I was done.
Since I hadn't had a break in over four hours, she gave me a lunch and a break together, and old me to be at the bumper cars at three and have them page Steve when I got there. I went and bought a ham sandwich and Sprite and went over to the back of the Flume. Alan was there and he was just sending Kim on brake so I went over with her to the lounge. I tickled her on the sides as we were going. For some reason I left my food on the counter at Flume. Agnes came in at the same time and sat at a different table. She hadn't seen us so I told her that she was allowed to come sit with us. She sarcastically said that she was here first and if we didn't want to sit with her that was just fine. We didn't move though. I chatted with Kim for a few minutes and told her about all of the fun places that I had worked the last two days. She had seen some guy she knew in high school and she felt like kicking him in the face. She called him a schmuck of all things. How awful! Ha ha. She was talking about how all of her friends in high school had scorned her for being engaged before she graduated, and they all got married soon after. Now she's one of the only ones who is still not settled down. I just nodded and then laughed at her for still living at home with mommy.
When she was ready to go back I noticed that Agnes had gone to Vivi's for food and had a big plate of French fries. I walked up behind her, put my hands on her shoulders, and asked really nicely if I could have a fry. She said sure and I teased Kim that I had one. She then asks for one. I leaned up against her and kept blocking her hands and told her that she wasn't allowed to have any. We were both laughing our asses off up and I was having fun wrestling with her. There were also a couple of people in the lounge that I was glad to have see us doing that for image's sake. I enjoyed myself. We then walked over and realized my mistake of leaving my food and Alan together, but it was still all there. I went back over to eat with Agnes. She was about ready to go back and told me I could have the rest of her fries. She even ended up being late because she wanted to talk to me. She asked me if I was madly on love with Kim. I asked her why, if she could tell. She said it was from the way I looked at her, the way I talk to her, the way I act around her, the way I talk about her, and the way I acted when she left with Mark the other day when I was jealous and kept saying, 'Shit. Shit. Shit. I wish that I could have taken her home...' She then teased me saying that she was going to go tell her. I told her that I wouldn't have minded being in love with Kim. As we were walking back I made the joke that I'm only seventeen, and fell in lust with every girl I talk to, and we laughed.
I really like talking to Agnes. It seems that my closest friends are always girls that are deeply committed to other guys. My two are Agnes, who is married and over five months pregnant, and the other is Jana, who has been going out with Joe forever. One of the reasons that Agnes and I get along so well is that she is only nineteen. I also have complimented her on being so lucky to find true love at such an early age.
Anyway, I headed over towards the bumper cars and stopped to talk to Amanda for about ten minutes. I helped her load kids for a few minutes while we talked. I asked her to just leave my raincoat over at the Flume if she left before I did. I then went to the bumper cars, and Steve sent over this guy, Ron, to train me. My job was to check all of the harnesses, help the loader with the guests, and stop the ride if something fell or someone was in a dangerous situation. This girl, Debbie, that I saw in Vivis yesterday was working the control panel. It ended up that I would walk over and talk with her after every ride cycle. It was fun for one day but my legs and shoes got grease all over them. Damn it! When I went on brake at about five I just went over to talk with Amanda. I also was looking down her shirt. Sorry, can't help it. When I went back, this girl, Sharon, who I had seen this morning at Python took Debbie's place. I talked to her too, but she wasn't as talkative as Debbie. I kept trying to flirt with her while the ride was going.
Later on it started thundering really bad. I asked her if the bumper cars ever shut down. I already knew the answer. No matter how bad the storm, the bumper cars and Questor are almost always open. That's why I sort of regretted getting them in the afternoon when it always rains. Two minutes after I asked, she gets a phone call to shut down. I was estatic and though it was cool how good luck follows me everywhere. First on the Python I didn't have to work, and now the bumper cars shut down for the first time in a long time. She was almost shocked because she had hardly ever seen them shut down before. I was happy. We then were talking with about three younger kids and I kept making witty remarks that made her laugh, and she even repeated a couple to some more people because she liked them so much. I was glad to make her smile that much. One of the kids asked what would happen if lightning hit the ceiling, where all the power screen is. I said something like, 'Well there would be lots of smoke!' I then got to learn how to push the cars backwards. I had always seen the employees do that before and wanted to learn. I like knowing how to operate different rides, it gives you a more global feeling.
They let me off at 6:30 so I ran over to the swinging vines but Amanda had just left fifteen minutes earlier. That means my raincoat was gone. By the time I got to Vivis I was already soaked. I just opened the door and looked in. This black gut that I had worked with on the Flume once goes, 'Hi, Dan!' really loud. I said hi and he asked me what I was doing. I said that I was looking for someone and this cute white girl that was sitting with him goes, 'They're not here.' I smiled and told her, 'I can see that.' and then I walked back over to the Flume. Marcella was out front and I waved and said hi. She did the same. I went into the back and Frank and Agnes were there, and Sharlene, her baby, Marissa, and her roommate. They laughed at me because Amanda had just come with my raincoat. I said hi to Sharlene and she had her little girl say hi to me. Agnes was getting ready to leave so I walked out with her. I let her use my raincoat to cover her book that she was reading since I was already wet. She had parked on the access road despite the new ban and asked me if I wanted a ride over to my car. I told her that I didn't want to get her seat wet but she said that she had towels because she left her windows open yesterday and got her seats and dashboard all wet. She drove me right up to the door of my car and I thanked her a lot as we said our byes.
On Friday and Saturday I was scheduled to work Congo pool which consists of the Python, Mamba, bumper cars, and kiddie rides. If they can't find you a job, then they'll just send you home with two hours' pay. I was scheduled from 4:15 to 8:15. I stopped by Albertsons on the way over and picked up the pictures that I had developed. The first one was of Cathleen way back at Christmas, and the last was at Brooker Creek Park last Sunday. I like spreading out a roll of film like that because it makes the memories of seeing those events from way back more fun. There were a bunch from Senior Field Day at Leto. I hadn't realized that my hair was that long and still wonder how I went at Busch Gardens for so long without them telling me to cut it. There is one of Jana and I standing together with Nicole waving in the background. I hadn't remembered, but Jana actually had her hand around my side. There was also a good one of Nicole and I after we had soaked each other. I was actually smiling really big.
Anyway, the guy on the tram was telling me jokes (that tourists have told him) all the way over to the Flume. I went into our lounge and talked to Mark for a little bit and then to Paul and Alan for a few minutes. He was talking about his baby and said how I should really go into medicine especially with children, because they make lots of money. He referred to one doctor who was in his wife's room for two minutes and charged $150 for it. We were talking about programs that would let you work your way through graduate school and stuff. I then went over to the Vivi lounge in Congo. I had never been there before so I asked this girl who I knew from Leto where it was. When I walked in, Carisma was just getting off and goes, 'Hi, Dan!' and gives me a high five. She was with three other really cute almost-college girls and they were all hyper about going out that night. One was on the phone and when she sees me she goes, 'You have really bad hair!' I had my forelock down over the side of my face and it looked good. As I was talking to all of the girls I hadn't noticed that a couple of the guys from grounds over by the Flume were there. I was with the girls and they weren't, ha ha.
Steve, the Congo supervisor that used to work at the Flume came in and says, 'Hey Daniel!' and then tried to call around to find me a job. He then took off up to Python and he told me to wait there. At five a couple other supervisors from different areas tried to find me a job but couldn't so they told me I could go home. They had even tried calling Flume. Meanwhile it had started pouring and I didn't have my raincoat. I walked over to the Flume and got completely soaked. MichŠle and Rebecca were out front so I went and talked to them for a while. Rebecca was feeling sick. I told her that I would stay for her but we both didn't think that Alan would let me since I wasn't on Flume payroll for the day. I went around to the front and talked with Sharlene and the others. We fooled around, as usual, and then Alan asked me if I would stay for Rebecca and I said yes. I got to tell her and she was very happy when she found out that she got to leave. Alan sent Sharlene out front so I told him that I would go pan and broom the quehouse (to talk to Sharlene), but he said that somebody already had. I told him fine, that I would go out front to talk to Sharlene. MichŠle had come back and he told me to talk to her since she looked lonely. So I did. The three of us talked until we went back up from the rain. Saturday was her last day working and I didn't think that I would have a chance to talk to or even see her again after we talked Thursday night, so I'm glad that Alan suggested it. He also called me their little water rat when he sent me to work because I'm always the one to end up soaking wet.
Yesterday morning, Amanda and I were both scheduled for pool at 9:45 in the morning. I parked the little lot across 30th Street since we little people aren't allowed to park in the Center any more as of last Wednesday. Amanda pulls up at about the same time and tells me that I have to walk with her over to the Vivi lounge. We stopped to go to the bathroom at our lounge by the Flume to fix our hair and then went over. We were the only two people in there at the time. I helped her find an empty locker to put her stuff in and went into the bathroom to pee and then she calls me. I go back out and she can't get the locker door open because the handle was broken off. I used my keychain to pop it open and saved the day. Ha ha. We found another and I asked her to put my raincoat in with her stuff. The phone rang so I answered it like I heard someone else answer it yesterday. It was Steve and he wanted the two of us to come over to Python. I really dreaded working on the Python because I would be bending over checking seat harnesses all day which would suck. He sent Amanda over to train on the swinging vines and told her that she would be there all day until about seven.
The Python was shut down because two sensors were not aligned so I got to sit at the control panel and hold in a discrepancy button for a while. It was to keep the coaster from rolling into the quehouse and running over the mechanics. I talked to Steve about the new roller coaster. It's supposed to be over across from the Congo Train Station and will be seven feet shorter than the water tower at the brewery. That tower seems to dwarf Lift 2 on the Flume because it is so tall. The ride will last about eight minutes compared to the Python's two, and will be ready by February. It's supposed to be one of the largest in the Southeast and will be truly awesome.
When Steve found out that it would still be a while before the Python opened, he decided to send me over to Timbuktu. He told me to go over to the office just inside the Festhaus. I slowly meandered my way over making a stop at the Flume. I talked to Alan for a few minutes and he said that I would probably be working the Desert Runner kid ride or checking belts on the Scorpion. I saw that Kim was out on the loading brakes so I opened the curtain, and not smiling, waved to Kim. She waved back and I left. This blonde, Terry, who I had seen around and said hi to before was supervising Timbuktu. She was being really nice and asked me if I'd rather work the kiddie rides or the merry-go-round. I opted for the kiddie rides figuring that the kids wouldn't be bad for just three hours. She only needed me until two and told me I'd probably get to go home afterwards. A girl who pooled on the Flume once, that I worked with, walked me over. I trained on the motorcycles, and a girl named Holly ran the Desert Runners. It wasn't that bad, I had a cooler right behind my seat and a big fan to keep cool with. I kept making cute remarks to Holly. It was OK working with the kids, I liked helping the little cute ones on and off, especially if they had cute mothers. Later on, Holly made me trade and work on the boats until two. Terry called and told me that Steve needed me back at Congo when I was done.
Since I hadn't had a break in over four hours, she gave me a lunch and a break together, and old me to be at the bumper cars at three and have them page Steve when I got there. I went and bought a ham sandwich and Sprite and went over to the back of the Flume. Alan was there and he was just sending Kim on brake so I went over with her to the lounge. I tickled her on the sides as we were going. For some reason I left my food on the counter at Flume. Agnes came in at the same time and sat at a different table. She hadn't seen us so I told her that she was allowed to come sit with us. She sarcastically said that she was here first and if we didn't want to sit with her that was just fine. We didn't move though. I chatted with Kim for a few minutes and told her about all of the fun places that I had worked the last two days. She had seen some guy she knew in high school and she felt like kicking him in the face. She called him a schmuck of all things. How awful! Ha ha. She was talking about how all of her friends in high school had scorned her for being engaged before she graduated, and they all got married soon after. Now she's one of the only ones who is still not settled down. I just nodded and then laughed at her for still living at home with mommy.
When she was ready to go back I noticed that Agnes had gone to Vivi's for food and had a big plate of French fries. I walked up behind her, put my hands on her shoulders, and asked really nicely if I could have a fry. She said sure and I teased Kim that I had one. She then asks for one. I leaned up against her and kept blocking her hands and told her that she wasn't allowed to have any. We were both laughing our asses off up and I was having fun wrestling with her. There were also a couple of people in the lounge that I was glad to have see us doing that for image's sake. I enjoyed myself. We then walked over and realized my mistake of leaving my food and Alan together, but it was still all there. I went back over to eat with Agnes. She was about ready to go back and told me I could have the rest of her fries. She even ended up being late because she wanted to talk to me. She asked me if I was madly on love with Kim. I asked her why, if she could tell. She said it was from the way I looked at her, the way I talk to her, the way I act around her, the way I talk about her, and the way I acted when she left with Mark the other day when I was jealous and kept saying, 'Shit. Shit. Shit. I wish that I could have taken her home...' She then teased me saying that she was going to go tell her. I told her that I wouldn't have minded being in love with Kim. As we were walking back I made the joke that I'm only seventeen, and fell in lust with every girl I talk to, and we laughed.
I really like talking to Agnes. It seems that my closest friends are always girls that are deeply committed to other guys. My two are Agnes, who is married and over five months pregnant, and the other is Jana, who has been going out with Joe forever. One of the reasons that Agnes and I get along so well is that she is only nineteen. I also have complimented her on being so lucky to find true love at such an early age.
Anyway, I headed over towards the bumper cars and stopped to talk to Amanda for about ten minutes. I helped her load kids for a few minutes while we talked. I asked her to just leave my raincoat over at the Flume if she left before I did. I then went to the bumper cars, and Steve sent over this guy, Ron, to train me. My job was to check all of the harnesses, help the loader with the guests, and stop the ride if something fell or someone was in a dangerous situation. This girl, Debbie, that I saw in Vivis yesterday was working the control panel. It ended up that I would walk over and talk with her after every ride cycle. It was fun for one day but my legs and shoes got grease all over them. Damn it! When I went on brake at about five I just went over to talk with Amanda. I also was looking down her shirt. Sorry, can't help it. When I went back, this girl, Sharon, who I had seen this morning at Python took Debbie's place. I talked to her too, but she wasn't as talkative as Debbie. I kept trying to flirt with her while the ride was going.
Later on it started thundering really bad. I asked her if the bumper cars ever shut down. I already knew the answer. No matter how bad the storm, the bumper cars and Questor are almost always open. That's why I sort of regretted getting them in the afternoon when it always rains. Two minutes after I asked, she gets a phone call to shut down. I was estatic and though it was cool how good luck follows me everywhere. First on the Python I didn't have to work, and now the bumper cars shut down for the first time in a long time. She was almost shocked because she had hardly ever seen them shut down before. I was happy. We then were talking with about three younger kids and I kept making witty remarks that made her laugh, and she even repeated a couple to some more people because she liked them so much. I was glad to make her smile that much. One of the kids asked what would happen if lightning hit the ceiling, where all the power screen is. I said something like, 'Well there would be lots of smoke!' I then got to learn how to push the cars backwards. I had always seen the employees do that before and wanted to learn. I like knowing how to operate different rides, it gives you a more global feeling.
They let me off at 6:30 so I ran over to the swinging vines but Amanda had just left fifteen minutes earlier. That means my raincoat was gone. By the time I got to Vivis I was already soaked. I just opened the door and looked in. This black gut that I had worked with on the Flume once goes, 'Hi, Dan!' really loud. I said hi and he asked me what I was doing. I said that I was looking for someone and this cute white girl that was sitting with him goes, 'They're not here.' I smiled and told her, 'I can see that.' and then I walked back over to the Flume. Marcella was out front and I waved and said hi. She did the same. I went into the back and Frank and Agnes were there, and Sharlene, her baby, Marissa, and her roommate. They laughed at me because Amanda had just come with my raincoat. I said hi to Sharlene and she had her little girl say hi to me. Agnes was getting ready to leave so I walked out with her. I let her use my raincoat to cover her book that she was reading since I was already wet. She had parked on the access road despite the new ban and asked me if I wanted a ride over to my car. I told her that I didn't want to get her seat wet but she said that she had towels because she left her windows open yesterday and got her seats and dashboard all wet. She drove me right up to the door of my car and I thanked her a lot as we said our byes.
Wednesday, July 22, 1992
July 22, 1992 - Wednesday - Agnes, Kimmeth, kiss
Well, yesterday was definitely different. I'm not sure if it was all that great or not, but it had its interesting points. I didn't have to be at work until 12:30, and Kim wouldn't be there until 2:00, so I decided to take a trip over to the Olympic Village to buy some stuff. I stopped by the Operations office and bought Busch Bucks which get you a thirty percent discount on any of the stuff. I kept having to take the employee tram back and forth from my car, so I kept flirting with the girl driving. I wore my light jean shorts and heather T-shirt. I drove my car up to the front of Busch Gardens so I wouldn't have to walk and went in. I ended up buying a white Barcelona T-shirt from the JC Penny booth for $15, and a Busch Gardens Olympic Team send off shirt for $10. I also bought two Olympic pins, one a British Flag that I might send to Tracey.
Before I went I sat with Agnes in the back and we talked for a while. We also talked with Rebecca and Frank for a few minutes before everybody started work. When I got back I went up to the platform and talked to Sharlene for a few minutes. She had come in two hours late because of 'personal problems.' I went and changed and then Brad made me group for over an hour. Then the fun began. I got to work the unloading brakes with Agnes. She wanted us to look at the people and decide what kind of animal we'd think they would be. I told her how stupid that was but it got funny for a few of them. Frank yelled at her for talking and not saying 'watch your step' to some of the guests. We started playing with that and seeing who could be nice the longest. We then started making up a really long greeting, that she would say in a really high voice with a big smile on her face. It was hilarious. It went something like this, 'I hope you enjoyed your trip on the Stanleyville Falls, now watch your step and please exit up the stairs, and remember to enjoy the rest of your day here at Busch Gardens, the dark continent.'
She then said something about being perverted. I told her that was a good idea, and that I was going to start flirting with all the girls. There were a bunch of tour groups at the time and I would go, 'Ugly, ugly, nice ass, fat, cute...' judging each one. She told me not to say it where they could hear me so I started saying it in Spanish and got a couple of dirty looks. Then she stopped a Brazilian and asked her her name and said that I thought that she was beautiful and that I wanted her phone number. She didn't speak enough English to totally understand and nothing happened. I then told her to watch and I stood there and looked deeply at a whole boat of cute ones as they got out, and every one of them looked back and smiled. It was funny and she seemed impressed. I love toying with peoples' emotions. She then tells another pretty cute Brazilian that I liked her. She looked only fifteen though but Agnes came over and introduced us, her name was Juanita, and she goes and gives me a big kiss right on the cheek. Agnes was turned around laughing but nothing else happened. It was funny. I told her to try for the older ones and right as we got to a really good looking one, we got replaced.
Later I got sent up to Lift 2 so I called Kim down at Spillway. I asked her if I could bother her for a little while and she said yes. We ended up talking for half an hour before she got relieved. She hadn't really done anything since we went to Adventure Island so I told her what all I did. I told her that we went to visit my grandmother on Saturday. I know now that I am 1/32 Cherokee, 1/32 English, and 1/32 Welsh. That is actually quite a bit of each. I then told her that I went out and bought a bunch of stuff, getting ready for college and she said she thinks that is fun, like housekeeping and stuff. I then said that I went to the beach on Monday and then talked to a couple of girls that I hadn't seen since graduation.
Abby called at about seven and we talked for a long time. She got a three on her English AP exam, just like me. She had seen Cindy and she got a four, I'm jealous. I told her all about Kim. I had thought about calling Jana and had said that I would do it last Friday but didn't. I wouldn't have Monday either, but being on the phone made me decide to call. When she answered her voice sounded a bit husky, but I have never talked to her on the phone before, and just had to get used to it. She told me that she used my Busch Gardens ticket on Saturday. I thanked her for not waiting until a day that I was there. She got a four on both her English and Calculus AP exams. That was good. She had already seen my scores at Leto over the summer and I told her that I just called to brag. She told me that she was going to have to kill me and I asked her to at least give me a three day warning.
Since she just got back from Preview I asked her about the dorms. She and Cindy didn't get Broward either, I think they got Graham. I asked her if Beaty Towers was nice. She wanted to know how I got my dorm there, that it was the one of the nicest places that you could get. That made me happy and cleared all doubts I still had about college, I can't wait! I bragged about Kim for a while and she was surprised that I was being so extremely vocal. Gina got on the phone once and thought that Jana was talking to Joe. When we were about ready to go she said, 'I guess I'll see you up at Gainesville,' and I said, 'Yeah, I'll see you when I see you' (that was an inside joke between Kim and I). She then told me that it's not like she was going to ask me for my phone number or anything. So I told her. I also found out that she is going on vacation to England at the end of July! Everybody is going to Europe and I'm jealous. She wouldn't take me with her either.
Anyway, Kim was replaced with Agnes down in Spillway and after a few minutes she called me. We talked a lot until Paul came up and took my place. During one of my breaks I sat with Cristine from the Tidal Wave, and we talked. She quit smoking almost before she started which is good. Later on at about 5:30 a big storm started coming. Monorail called and shut down our ride due to inclement weather. Rebecca and I stood there hoping and begging for thunder. And soon as we heard the first big boom we clapped and cheered. It was funny. Kim had gone out front and Mark followed. When Charlene and Agnes came down from the lifts, I left Rebecca and went up and talked with them. The three of us were fooling around (I really like older women).
AHHHHHHH! I just heard on the radio that a judge in Florida has ruled that Florida's statutory rape laws were unconstitutional!!!!! YES!!! Wait until I tell Kim. Hopefully that means no legal problems can possibly ensue during my first semester in college! He he.
After a while Brad goes, 'Agnes, why don't you and.....(and he looks around at everybody).....Dan go out and pan and broom the queuehouse.' I retaliated with, 'Brad, why don't you...(and under my breath)...kiss my ass!' but I think he heard. We walked out front and stood and talked to Kim and Mark. When Rebecca cam out to get Kim at six, she ended up sweeping the queuehouse. Kim hung around a bit longer before she went and changed. I actually stood there and talked to Mark all by myself. We were talking about our cars, and about Kim. I realized that Kim is being too much of a recluse lately. She's going to the movies by herself one night this week unless I have anything to say about it (which I doubt). I want to ask her to do something this Friday because we both don't work all morning until 4:15 when I go in.
Rebecca, Agnes and I stood out front and talked and then Kim came back out. I told her I'd run her home and stop to eat. I was kidding and meant that I'd do it without telling Brad and hopefully be back before the ride reopened. I think she thought that I wanted her to wait until I was off. Whoops. Everybody knows that I like Kim now. When I came in earlier, Sharlene asked me if I enjoyed my day at Adventure Island on Friday. I guess Kim told her. Agnes was out front singing, 'Dan and Kim, sitting in a tree K-I-S-S-I-N-G....' I was joking with her that first comes sex, then comes baby, then comes love...and so on. We had a pretty fun and talkative day.
I think I won our little bet on who could be nicer longer. At about 7:30 a lady lost her hat, and I helped them and told them about going to the Security office and all. They ended up being someone that was doing Service Olympics and they wrote me up a card. Service Olympics is a promotion that started back in June that is supposed to make the employees more friendly and helpful by offering incentives for being nice. I think I can go to a breakfast Friday morning and have my name in a raffle or something. I think they give the cards to people that have season passes and tell them if anybody is ever helpful, then give them a card. I was all happy because I have never seen anyone or known anyone who had gotten one. When I showed Brad he was briefly shocked and then laughed and said that no one on our ride gets those because we're all so rude. I also showed Andy and he was like, 'No way!' I felt special being the first on our ride to earn one. It's just something else to brag about.
Before I went I sat with Agnes in the back and we talked for a while. We also talked with Rebecca and Frank for a few minutes before everybody started work. When I got back I went up to the platform and talked to Sharlene for a few minutes. She had come in two hours late because of 'personal problems.' I went and changed and then Brad made me group for over an hour. Then the fun began. I got to work the unloading brakes with Agnes. She wanted us to look at the people and decide what kind of animal we'd think they would be. I told her how stupid that was but it got funny for a few of them. Frank yelled at her for talking and not saying 'watch your step' to some of the guests. We started playing with that and seeing who could be nice the longest. We then started making up a really long greeting, that she would say in a really high voice with a big smile on her face. It was hilarious. It went something like this, 'I hope you enjoyed your trip on the Stanleyville Falls, now watch your step and please exit up the stairs, and remember to enjoy the rest of your day here at Busch Gardens, the dark continent.'
She then said something about being perverted. I told her that was a good idea, and that I was going to start flirting with all the girls. There were a bunch of tour groups at the time and I would go, 'Ugly, ugly, nice ass, fat, cute...' judging each one. She told me not to say it where they could hear me so I started saying it in Spanish and got a couple of dirty looks. Then she stopped a Brazilian and asked her her name and said that I thought that she was beautiful and that I wanted her phone number. She didn't speak enough English to totally understand and nothing happened. I then told her to watch and I stood there and looked deeply at a whole boat of cute ones as they got out, and every one of them looked back and smiled. It was funny and she seemed impressed. I love toying with peoples' emotions. She then tells another pretty cute Brazilian that I liked her. She looked only fifteen though but Agnes came over and introduced us, her name was Juanita, and she goes and gives me a big kiss right on the cheek. Agnes was turned around laughing but nothing else happened. It was funny. I told her to try for the older ones and right as we got to a really good looking one, we got replaced.
Later I got sent up to Lift 2 so I called Kim down at Spillway. I asked her if I could bother her for a little while and she said yes. We ended up talking for half an hour before she got relieved. She hadn't really done anything since we went to Adventure Island so I told her what all I did. I told her that we went to visit my grandmother on Saturday. I know now that I am 1/32 Cherokee, 1/32 English, and 1/32 Welsh. That is actually quite a bit of each. I then told her that I went out and bought a bunch of stuff, getting ready for college and she said she thinks that is fun, like housekeeping and stuff. I then said that I went to the beach on Monday and then talked to a couple of girls that I hadn't seen since graduation.
Abby called at about seven and we talked for a long time. She got a three on her English AP exam, just like me. She had seen Cindy and she got a four, I'm jealous. I told her all about Kim. I had thought about calling Jana and had said that I would do it last Friday but didn't. I wouldn't have Monday either, but being on the phone made me decide to call. When she answered her voice sounded a bit husky, but I have never talked to her on the phone before, and just had to get used to it. She told me that she used my Busch Gardens ticket on Saturday. I thanked her for not waiting until a day that I was there. She got a four on both her English and Calculus AP exams. That was good. She had already seen my scores at Leto over the summer and I told her that I just called to brag. She told me that she was going to have to kill me and I asked her to at least give me a three day warning.
Since she just got back from Preview I asked her about the dorms. She and Cindy didn't get Broward either, I think they got Graham. I asked her if Beaty Towers was nice. She wanted to know how I got my dorm there, that it was the one of the nicest places that you could get. That made me happy and cleared all doubts I still had about college, I can't wait! I bragged about Kim for a while and she was surprised that I was being so extremely vocal. Gina got on the phone once and thought that Jana was talking to Joe. When we were about ready to go she said, 'I guess I'll see you up at Gainesville,' and I said, 'Yeah, I'll see you when I see you' (that was an inside joke between Kim and I). She then told me that it's not like she was going to ask me for my phone number or anything. So I told her. I also found out that she is going on vacation to England at the end of July! Everybody is going to Europe and I'm jealous. She wouldn't take me with her either.
Anyway, Kim was replaced with Agnes down in Spillway and after a few minutes she called me. We talked a lot until Paul came up and took my place. During one of my breaks I sat with Cristine from the Tidal Wave, and we talked. She quit smoking almost before she started which is good. Later on at about 5:30 a big storm started coming. Monorail called and shut down our ride due to inclement weather. Rebecca and I stood there hoping and begging for thunder. And soon as we heard the first big boom we clapped and cheered. It was funny. Kim had gone out front and Mark followed. When Charlene and Agnes came down from the lifts, I left Rebecca and went up and talked with them. The three of us were fooling around (I really like older women).
AHHHHHHH! I just heard on the radio that a judge in Florida has ruled that Florida's statutory rape laws were unconstitutional!!!!! YES!!! Wait until I tell Kim. Hopefully that means no legal problems can possibly ensue during my first semester in college! He he.
After a while Brad goes, 'Agnes, why don't you and.....(and he looks around at everybody).....Dan go out and pan and broom the queuehouse.' I retaliated with, 'Brad, why don't you...(and under my breath)...kiss my ass!' but I think he heard. We walked out front and stood and talked to Kim and Mark. When Rebecca cam out to get Kim at six, she ended up sweeping the queuehouse. Kim hung around a bit longer before she went and changed. I actually stood there and talked to Mark all by myself. We were talking about our cars, and about Kim. I realized that Kim is being too much of a recluse lately. She's going to the movies by herself one night this week unless I have anything to say about it (which I doubt). I want to ask her to do something this Friday because we both don't work all morning until 4:15 when I go in.
Rebecca, Agnes and I stood out front and talked and then Kim came back out. I told her I'd run her home and stop to eat. I was kidding and meant that I'd do it without telling Brad and hopefully be back before the ride reopened. I think she thought that I wanted her to wait until I was off. Whoops. Everybody knows that I like Kim now. When I came in earlier, Sharlene asked me if I enjoyed my day at Adventure Island on Friday. I guess Kim told her. Agnes was out front singing, 'Dan and Kim, sitting in a tree K-I-S-S-I-N-G....' I was joking with her that first comes sex, then comes baby, then comes love...and so on. We had a pretty fun and talkative day.
I think I won our little bet on who could be nicer longer. At about 7:30 a lady lost her hat, and I helped them and told them about going to the Security office and all. They ended up being someone that was doing Service Olympics and they wrote me up a card. Service Olympics is a promotion that started back in June that is supposed to make the employees more friendly and helpful by offering incentives for being nice. I think I can go to a breakfast Friday morning and have my name in a raffle or something. I think they give the cards to people that have season passes and tell them if anybody is ever helpful, then give them a card. I was all happy because I have never seen anyone or known anyone who had gotten one. When I showed Brad he was briefly shocked and then laughed and said that no one on our ride gets those because we're all so rude. I also showed Andy and he was like, 'No way!' I felt special being the first on our ride to earn one. It's just something else to brag about.
Sunday, July 19, 1992
July 19, 1992 - Sunday - Kimmey Sue Powell
I've been thinking quite a bit about Kimmy Sue lately. That was our little joke and I called her that a couple of times at Adventure Island on Friday. It's very relaxing to just lie down and recreate us drifting around together in the refreshing water. I know fully that we will be parting in four weeks But I haven't seemed to let that bother me. I'm just very glad that we've expanded our friendship like we did. I'm hoping that when we part that we will leave our relationship wide open in case that we meet up again down the road. We have already said that we are going to write to each other. Being with Kim has aroused those sensuous desires from within me that I love so much. I've enjoyed listening to jovial dance music lately which means that I'm in a much better mood lately, with a good outlook towards life.
Back to Kimmeth, she's beautiful. I really like looking at her and looking into those gorgeous hazel eyes. I've never been able to softly stare into a girl's eyes as easily as I can Kimmeth's. For a while when we were floating, and while we were laying out, I looked at her with a somewhat glazed mentality. She often met my gaze and thankfully didn't do anything to divert it. I'm glad she didn't. I don't know if it's possible, but sometimes I seem to almost enjoy myself too much, but I don't mind at all. Kim is so sensuous, it's disgusting. One physical characteristic that I really adore are freckles. She has just the right amount scattered across her upper back and shoulders. She's built so perfectly. I'm intrigued.
We were talking over breakfast about why she dumped her boyfriend a couple weeks ago. She said something that could have been taken like she wouldn't have sex with him. I said, 'No wonder the two of you broke up,' and she quickly retaliated with, 'I did everything that I was supposed to do.' OK. She told me again how he was being a total asshole when he came down from St. Louis. The first night he called her and told her that he and his little brother were going to some club over here in Tampa. She was mad that he wouldn't come and see her since the club was only fifteen minutes from her house. She told him that she hoped she'd see him tomorrow and he told her that he did, too. After being a total asshole she dumped him. Whatever was going through this guy's head to treat a girl like Kim that way is severely fucked up.
I wonder if somebody were to read my journal, if they'd somehow get the impression that I really like Kim. Silly them if they did. Anyway, this guy's brother is only sixteen, and he asked Kim out but she turned him down. She told me Tuesday night when we had our big 'fallout' that it wouldn't be fair to him if we turned around and went out. Fuck him. I practically told her how stupid I thought that philosophy was. But he's gone, too.
I'm not sure what it is about Kim that is so overwhelming to me but I'd like to find out. The other day at Busch Gardens, Mark actually said something to me as we passed each other. He's probably heard about what I've done for Kim and has come to accept me a bit more. That's good.
Last night I dreamt a lot and it was really deep. I like dreams because they distort reality to suit your mind's desires. I also believe that dreams occur at a much more accelerated pace than real life, since in dreams your mind doesn't have to wait for your body and the rest of the world to catch up with it. I had my alarm set on snooze this morning, and every nine minutes I would wake up. Each time I would fall back into the same dream, but a lot would happen in those few minutes. In my first there was a dance occurring that everyone was calling prom. I went with Jana. I find it extremely weird that you can feel things in your dream. We were holding hands and hanging on each other, and she felt the same way in my dream as she did back at Leto when we would brush together or hand each other something. The alarm rang and then I ended up going home early with Kirsten because we had to help with her little brother's birthday party. We ended up sidetracked somewhere in my car but my alarm rang. The next segment was with Agnes from work and she's the one I ended up undressing. I think she was still pregnant. It was very interesting.
Later I was dreaming that I was with father at work. It was raining and then Kim and I were outside in front of the store in our yellow Busch Gardens raincoats heading for the door. We must of been eating because I smeared honey on her face and was saying I wanted to lick it off. She came up and rubbed her face on my back and I called her a jerk. Once we got inside we were trying to find a place where we could kiss. We were trying for some reason to find a place where no one would see us so we went into the stockroom. My father and Chuck, who was now a manager instead of a stockman, were there so we went on passed them to the back table. I lifted her and sat her up on the table. Chuck came by and sternly told me not to kiss that girl in the raincoat and quickly left. I told her to hurry and take the raincoat off and we both were snickering. And then mother and father wake me up coming into my room. I told them they just ruined a really good dream but I didn't tell them what it was.
Maybe someday someone will be able to give me an idea of what they meant. I think that dreams give a true description of your subconscious mind and they really interest me.
I just remembered a little talk Kim and I had when we were walking around at Busch Gardens. She told me how she wants to get a tattoo. I think she was somewhat joking. I asked her what of and she said she wants a chili pepper in full color. I told her that she should put it somewhere where she can easily hide it when she goes to some place classy or when she regrets getting it later in life. She told me that she doesn't believe in regretting things so I told her that she should make it easily hideable for when she hates herself later on in life. She agreed with that one. I asked her why she wanted a chili pepper and she said it is like her, different, hot and spicy, or something like that. She said that somewhat sarcastically. We then started brainstorming for some alternatives. She said she didn't want anything like a rose on the ankle. I told her that she'd look good with big anchors on her arms or possibly a dragon all the way down her thigh. She said that maybe she would get a naked man on her arm, like guys get naked women. She says naked really funny, like neck-id. I made fun of her accent. I hope she was kidding about the tattoo. Speaking of trends, I want a diamond stud earring.
My family and I went shopping today and bought some stuff for me to start off with up at Gainesville. I bought shampoo, toothpaste, dental floss, razor blades, shaving lotion, bath soap, and some other stuff. We were in the toy department at Target and my father goes you're going to need some of these, too. It was a bag of long balloons. I told him that I knew and figured I'd get them from Cindy over at Eckerds. I ended up joking about buying them to mother and to Chrissy but I'm sure as hell not going to go to college without a big old box of condoms. I actually should carry one with me now because I'm going to be screwed when I don't get screwed because I'm not prepared. Get it. I'd like to do Kim au naturale, though. She's been saying how she misses Joey lately, so I've been telling her that now she needs to go out and have her own. I'd be glad to help. I think I need to stop for now, and relax for a while.
Back to Kimmeth, she's beautiful. I really like looking at her and looking into those gorgeous hazel eyes. I've never been able to softly stare into a girl's eyes as easily as I can Kimmeth's. For a while when we were floating, and while we were laying out, I looked at her with a somewhat glazed mentality. She often met my gaze and thankfully didn't do anything to divert it. I'm glad she didn't. I don't know if it's possible, but sometimes I seem to almost enjoy myself too much, but I don't mind at all. Kim is so sensuous, it's disgusting. One physical characteristic that I really adore are freckles. She has just the right amount scattered across her upper back and shoulders. She's built so perfectly. I'm intrigued.
We were talking over breakfast about why she dumped her boyfriend a couple weeks ago. She said something that could have been taken like she wouldn't have sex with him. I said, 'No wonder the two of you broke up,' and she quickly retaliated with, 'I did everything that I was supposed to do.' OK. She told me again how he was being a total asshole when he came down from St. Louis. The first night he called her and told her that he and his little brother were going to some club over here in Tampa. She was mad that he wouldn't come and see her since the club was only fifteen minutes from her house. She told him that she hoped she'd see him tomorrow and he told her that he did, too. After being a total asshole she dumped him. Whatever was going through this guy's head to treat a girl like Kim that way is severely fucked up.
I wonder if somebody were to read my journal, if they'd somehow get the impression that I really like Kim. Silly them if they did. Anyway, this guy's brother is only sixteen, and he asked Kim out but she turned him down. She told me Tuesday night when we had our big 'fallout' that it wouldn't be fair to him if we turned around and went out. Fuck him. I practically told her how stupid I thought that philosophy was. But he's gone, too.
I'm not sure what it is about Kim that is so overwhelming to me but I'd like to find out. The other day at Busch Gardens, Mark actually said something to me as we passed each other. He's probably heard about what I've done for Kim and has come to accept me a bit more. That's good.
Last night I dreamt a lot and it was really deep. I like dreams because they distort reality to suit your mind's desires. I also believe that dreams occur at a much more accelerated pace than real life, since in dreams your mind doesn't have to wait for your body and the rest of the world to catch up with it. I had my alarm set on snooze this morning, and every nine minutes I would wake up. Each time I would fall back into the same dream, but a lot would happen in those few minutes. In my first there was a dance occurring that everyone was calling prom. I went with Jana. I find it extremely weird that you can feel things in your dream. We were holding hands and hanging on each other, and she felt the same way in my dream as she did back at Leto when we would brush together or hand each other something. The alarm rang and then I ended up going home early with Kirsten because we had to help with her little brother's birthday party. We ended up sidetracked somewhere in my car but my alarm rang. The next segment was with Agnes from work and she's the one I ended up undressing. I think she was still pregnant. It was very interesting.
Later I was dreaming that I was with father at work. It was raining and then Kim and I were outside in front of the store in our yellow Busch Gardens raincoats heading for the door. We must of been eating because I smeared honey on her face and was saying I wanted to lick it off. She came up and rubbed her face on my back and I called her a jerk. Once we got inside we were trying to find a place where we could kiss. We were trying for some reason to find a place where no one would see us so we went into the stockroom. My father and Chuck, who was now a manager instead of a stockman, were there so we went on passed them to the back table. I lifted her and sat her up on the table. Chuck came by and sternly told me not to kiss that girl in the raincoat and quickly left. I told her to hurry and take the raincoat off and we both were snickering. And then mother and father wake me up coming into my room. I told them they just ruined a really good dream but I didn't tell them what it was.
Maybe someday someone will be able to give me an idea of what they meant. I think that dreams give a true description of your subconscious mind and they really interest me.
I just remembered a little talk Kim and I had when we were walking around at Busch Gardens. She told me how she wants to get a tattoo. I think she was somewhat joking. I asked her what of and she said she wants a chili pepper in full color. I told her that she should put it somewhere where she can easily hide it when she goes to some place classy or when she regrets getting it later in life. She told me that she doesn't believe in regretting things so I told her that she should make it easily hideable for when she hates herself later on in life. She agreed with that one. I asked her why she wanted a chili pepper and she said it is like her, different, hot and spicy, or something like that. She said that somewhat sarcastically. We then started brainstorming for some alternatives. She said she didn't want anything like a rose on the ankle. I told her that she'd look good with big anchors on her arms or possibly a dragon all the way down her thigh. She said that maybe she would get a naked man on her arm, like guys get naked women. She says naked really funny, like neck-id. I made fun of her accent. I hope she was kidding about the tattoo. Speaking of trends, I want a diamond stud earring.
My family and I went shopping today and bought some stuff for me to start off with up at Gainesville. I bought shampoo, toothpaste, dental floss, razor blades, shaving lotion, bath soap, and some other stuff. We were in the toy department at Target and my father goes you're going to need some of these, too. It was a bag of long balloons. I told him that I knew and figured I'd get them from Cindy over at Eckerds. I ended up joking about buying them to mother and to Chrissy but I'm sure as hell not going to go to college without a big old box of condoms. I actually should carry one with me now because I'm going to be screwed when I don't get screwed because I'm not prepared. Get it. I'd like to do Kim au naturale, though. She's been saying how she misses Joey lately, so I've been telling her that now she needs to go out and have her own. I'd be glad to help. I think I need to stop for now, and relax for a while.
Friday, July 17, 1992
July 17, 1992 - Friday - Kim at Adventure Island
It happened again at Busch Gardens yesterday. It seems that I can't sit anywhere near a girl anymore without getting into a good conversation. This time I had to park out in Treetops because I didn't go to work until 12:30. This really cute girl was driving the employee tram and I was the only person on it at the time. We talked about how much we work each week. I had said that I was tired working five days in a row. She told me that she volunteers at a Hospital in the evenings and knows what I mean about being tired. We talked about where we went and are going to school. She graduated in '91 from Armwood and now goes to USF. I told her that I was getting ready to start up at Gainesville. She told me that she originally was going to go there but didn't want to get raped. I thought that was funny and laughed. When I got off we said goodbye like we had been friends forever and I told her I'd see her later. I hope I can continue to be this good up at college. I'm going to have a really nice time if I do.
I had to work on the unloading brakes with Alan, the supervisor, for a long time. We started talking the entire time, too. I asked him about his new baby and he's up to three pounds, eight ounces from one pound, three ounces. He told me that Christopher was only twelve inches long at birth but had three inch feet! How funny. We were talking about how we did all throughout school and all. He was smart and always tried to go ahead when he was younger, just like me. He got frustrated and sort of gave up at the same time I got into the gifted program, and look how much better off I am now. He said that he really started regretting not doing better about his senior year in high school. He takes classes as USF now while he works and soon is going to start working for a software company up in Atlanta that both his brother and sister work at. I thought that the supervisors were going to start yelling at me for talking so much to everybody, and instead they talk to me now, too. It's because I'm so wonderfully interesting and fun to talk to. Ha ha.
I also played with MichŠle for a bit. She was down in the pool once and I was talking to her from the loading brake. We were smiling at each other and being funny and I notice this lady laughing at us. Later on when I was in the water pulling off boats, she comes by and moves to splash me so I sent a really big splash right at her. She complains that she wasn't really going to spalsh me and I told her, 'Yeah, but you meant to.' As she was leaving to go up to Lift 2 I called out to her that I was sorry and we waved and yelled bye. As I was getting out of the pool I see that Frank was sitting there at the table, laughing. I'm not sure if it was at us or not. I hadn't even noticed that he was there.
And then the phone rings... It was Kim calling at about 10:00 AM. We talked for a few minutes. I told her that my parents had planned for us all to go to Sand Key today. I also told her that I had a big breakfast earlier. I asked her what she was up to today, and she said that she was still going to Adventure Island. I asked her who she was going with and she said she was going by herself. She figured she'd catch the bus up to Busch Gardens, have breakfast, and go hang out over at AI. She had originally told me that her brothers were going with her. She was getting ready to go so I asked her if she wanted some company and I didn't get strike three! She asked me if I just wanted to meet her at Busch Gardens, but I told her that I'd rather pick her up, and besides I could use some more breakfast. I got over to her house about 11:10. I wore my neon yellow swimsuit and my dolphin T-shirt from Sea World. She came out in her little pink and white bikini and a blue jumpsuit. Nice.
We went to the International House of Pancakes for breakfast and almost lunch. She calls it IHOP. Most of the people in there were tourists probably on their way to Busch Gardens. There was a cute little girl at the table behind us who kept knocking on the glass divider and smiling at us. I waved at her and we decided that she must like my blue eyes. She told me that Teresa and Joey left yesterday morning and were already back up in St. Louis. She also said that Teresa was going to call at bawl me out yesterday for looking forward to her leaving and keeping Kim occupied. I told her that I would have won the argument. I had two pancakes, two strips of bacon, and scrambled eggs. It was pretty good, too. The total was just over eight dollars and of course, I paid.
We left my car there and walked across the street to Busch and picked up our paychecks. We talked to the camera people and had our pictures taken up front. We then went over to the Olympic Village. It was actually pretty lame. I want to buy a T-shirt and some pins but I only had twenty dollars left for the rest of the day so I waited. We saw Andy doing grounds and talked to him for a few minutes. I liked rubbing in the fact that I was spending the day with Kim. Jack Harris from channel eight news was there and he did a live news prompt in just as we walked by behind him. We were going to ride the Scorpion or Phoenix real quick but the line was way too long and the Phoenix was shut down. So we took off over to Adventure Island.
Kim went to rent a locker which cost $3.50. She had all but the fifty cents out by the time we got back over. She the two dollar deposit back from the key when we left though. We threw all of our stuff into the locker and I felt a slight pang of shyness as I stripped off my shirt right in front of her. She looks really good in a bikini, much bigger than those Busch uniforms lead you to believe. I used my twenty dollars and bought water bucks which are little hospital plastic wristbands that can be used as money and not matter if they get wet. We tried to find some lounge chairs to lay out on but could only find one. I suggested the Rambling Bayou and she said that she hadn't done that in a while so we went to rent some tubes. They cost five dollars a piece to rent and I told her that I bet we'd get a discount with our Busch Gardens ID's. I told her to ask but she made me. I asked the girl and she told us that we got them for free. I was shocked and glad that I asked. I told her that we'd be right back but she said that she'd go ahead and give them to us. The girl's nametag said Dan.
We went and got into the bayou and started floating around. I hooked my feet under the edge of her tube so we would stay together. The water was super clean and cooled and really felt good. Parts of the bayou had waterfalls and mist that were fun, too. She had said earlier that she was going to introduce me as her younger brother, so I told her that I got to act like a brother and we started splashing each other until we were soaked. It was fun. One time a little girl comes up and asks us, 'Are you two fighting?' That was cute. Since I used to tube in the Toccoa up in Georgia, I can paddle the tubes really well and could get us going pretty fast. I looked up at one of the lifeguards and it was Scott Daigle who graduated from Leto last year. He was in my computer class and was a preppy nerd sort of like Derek. I didn't say anything but he did recognize me. I felt good going by with a really good tan and a girl like Kim with me. I also saw Michelle Maples who works there and I think she saw me. Every once in a while I'd dump Kim out and we'd go swimming for a while. We both would arch our heads back to get our hair wet which gave me some good chances to enjoy Kim, and she knew that I was looking. You can tell by looking in a girl's eyes.
After a long while we got out to go lay out for a while. I laid the two tubes next to each other and laid on them. She took the lounge chair. I just staid there turned towards her and she looked up every once in a while. Then she reached back an unhooked her top. She was really white across the back so I knew that she doesn't do that often. She has a really attractive body and I was glad that I got to admire it for so long. I started getting really hot so I asked her if she was ready to go get something to eat and drink. As we were walking over I told her that if we do this again we would bring Pepsi's in a cooler or something. We got in line and the drinks and the large fries were $1.65 each. I had the wild idea to ask if we could eat in the employee line. They said that we could and the exact same food ended up costing less than one drink! We found a table in the shade and ate.
There was a really large crowd back in the corner so we went to see what was going on. There were wrestlers from the WWF playing tug-of-war with a group of bodybuilders. The wrestlers won of course but then the others started yelling that the wrestlers cheated. They were all huge so I told Kim that I'd lift her up so she could yell out and call then stupid assholes to see what would happen. She wouldn't do it though.
We got our tubes and went back into the bayou. This guy, Paul, who worked on the Flume during Adventure Island's off season, was being a lifeguard. We were pretty good friends and he knew Kim so we hopped out of our tubes and talked to him for a few minutes. We kept up our little splashing games and were having fun. It was one of the most relaxing times that I have spent with a girl thus far. We had been brushing against each other all day and I had held on to her feet for a while to keep us together. We ended up draping our legs over each others rafts and putting them up against each others legs for the last couple drifts around the loop. We sat like that facing each other and I enjoyed the 'acceptance'. When we passed by Paul, we would wave, and he finally started asking us if we were still on this thing when we would go by.
Kim is going to a DNA concert tonight at the Tampa Theater with her brother so she said that she had to be home by five. We went at about 4:30 and rode the Barratuba slide. It was OK but I was a little too tall for the tube and almost kept falling out. Since we didn't have to rent the tubes and thus didn't get back a deposit, I asked a group of three people if they would like some tubes. They were very thankful and I felt good. I like doing that kind of thing. We didn't put on any of our clothes for the ride home.
I really had a good time today and hope that we get a chance to do something again soon. Today was completely spontaneous and I loved it although I had deep down inside hoped that she would call and ask me to go, but I very seriously doubted it. What a week! Awesome...
I had to work on the unloading brakes with Alan, the supervisor, for a long time. We started talking the entire time, too. I asked him about his new baby and he's up to three pounds, eight ounces from one pound, three ounces. He told me that Christopher was only twelve inches long at birth but had three inch feet! How funny. We were talking about how we did all throughout school and all. He was smart and always tried to go ahead when he was younger, just like me. He got frustrated and sort of gave up at the same time I got into the gifted program, and look how much better off I am now. He said that he really started regretting not doing better about his senior year in high school. He takes classes as USF now while he works and soon is going to start working for a software company up in Atlanta that both his brother and sister work at. I thought that the supervisors were going to start yelling at me for talking so much to everybody, and instead they talk to me now, too. It's because I'm so wonderfully interesting and fun to talk to. Ha ha.
I also played with MichŠle for a bit. She was down in the pool once and I was talking to her from the loading brake. We were smiling at each other and being funny and I notice this lady laughing at us. Later on when I was in the water pulling off boats, she comes by and moves to splash me so I sent a really big splash right at her. She complains that she wasn't really going to spalsh me and I told her, 'Yeah, but you meant to.' As she was leaving to go up to Lift 2 I called out to her that I was sorry and we waved and yelled bye. As I was getting out of the pool I see that Frank was sitting there at the table, laughing. I'm not sure if it was at us or not. I hadn't even noticed that he was there.
And then the phone rings... It was Kim calling at about 10:00 AM. We talked for a few minutes. I told her that my parents had planned for us all to go to Sand Key today. I also told her that I had a big breakfast earlier. I asked her what she was up to today, and she said that she was still going to Adventure Island. I asked her who she was going with and she said she was going by herself. She figured she'd catch the bus up to Busch Gardens, have breakfast, and go hang out over at AI. She had originally told me that her brothers were going with her. She was getting ready to go so I asked her if she wanted some company and I didn't get strike three! She asked me if I just wanted to meet her at Busch Gardens, but I told her that I'd rather pick her up, and besides I could use some more breakfast. I got over to her house about 11:10. I wore my neon yellow swimsuit and my dolphin T-shirt from Sea World. She came out in her little pink and white bikini and a blue jumpsuit. Nice.
We went to the International House of Pancakes for breakfast and almost lunch. She calls it IHOP. Most of the people in there were tourists probably on their way to Busch Gardens. There was a cute little girl at the table behind us who kept knocking on the glass divider and smiling at us. I waved at her and we decided that she must like my blue eyes. She told me that Teresa and Joey left yesterday morning and were already back up in St. Louis. She also said that Teresa was going to call at bawl me out yesterday for looking forward to her leaving and keeping Kim occupied. I told her that I would have won the argument. I had two pancakes, two strips of bacon, and scrambled eggs. It was pretty good, too. The total was just over eight dollars and of course, I paid.
We left my car there and walked across the street to Busch and picked up our paychecks. We talked to the camera people and had our pictures taken up front. We then went over to the Olympic Village. It was actually pretty lame. I want to buy a T-shirt and some pins but I only had twenty dollars left for the rest of the day so I waited. We saw Andy doing grounds and talked to him for a few minutes. I liked rubbing in the fact that I was spending the day with Kim. Jack Harris from channel eight news was there and he did a live news prompt in just as we walked by behind him. We were going to ride the Scorpion or Phoenix real quick but the line was way too long and the Phoenix was shut down. So we took off over to Adventure Island.
Kim went to rent a locker which cost $3.50. She had all but the fifty cents out by the time we got back over. She the two dollar deposit back from the key when we left though. We threw all of our stuff into the locker and I felt a slight pang of shyness as I stripped off my shirt right in front of her. She looks really good in a bikini, much bigger than those Busch uniforms lead you to believe. I used my twenty dollars and bought water bucks which are little hospital plastic wristbands that can be used as money and not matter if they get wet. We tried to find some lounge chairs to lay out on but could only find one. I suggested the Rambling Bayou and she said that she hadn't done that in a while so we went to rent some tubes. They cost five dollars a piece to rent and I told her that I bet we'd get a discount with our Busch Gardens ID's. I told her to ask but she made me. I asked the girl and she told us that we got them for free. I was shocked and glad that I asked. I told her that we'd be right back but she said that she'd go ahead and give them to us. The girl's nametag said Dan.
We went and got into the bayou and started floating around. I hooked my feet under the edge of her tube so we would stay together. The water was super clean and cooled and really felt good. Parts of the bayou had waterfalls and mist that were fun, too. She had said earlier that she was going to introduce me as her younger brother, so I told her that I got to act like a brother and we started splashing each other until we were soaked. It was fun. One time a little girl comes up and asks us, 'Are you two fighting?' That was cute. Since I used to tube in the Toccoa up in Georgia, I can paddle the tubes really well and could get us going pretty fast. I looked up at one of the lifeguards and it was Scott Daigle who graduated from Leto last year. He was in my computer class and was a preppy nerd sort of like Derek. I didn't say anything but he did recognize me. I felt good going by with a really good tan and a girl like Kim with me. I also saw Michelle Maples who works there and I think she saw me. Every once in a while I'd dump Kim out and we'd go swimming for a while. We both would arch our heads back to get our hair wet which gave me some good chances to enjoy Kim, and she knew that I was looking. You can tell by looking in a girl's eyes.
After a long while we got out to go lay out for a while. I laid the two tubes next to each other and laid on them. She took the lounge chair. I just staid there turned towards her and she looked up every once in a while. Then she reached back an unhooked her top. She was really white across the back so I knew that she doesn't do that often. She has a really attractive body and I was glad that I got to admire it for so long. I started getting really hot so I asked her if she was ready to go get something to eat and drink. As we were walking over I told her that if we do this again we would bring Pepsi's in a cooler or something. We got in line and the drinks and the large fries were $1.65 each. I had the wild idea to ask if we could eat in the employee line. They said that we could and the exact same food ended up costing less than one drink! We found a table in the shade and ate.
There was a really large crowd back in the corner so we went to see what was going on. There were wrestlers from the WWF playing tug-of-war with a group of bodybuilders. The wrestlers won of course but then the others started yelling that the wrestlers cheated. They were all huge so I told Kim that I'd lift her up so she could yell out and call then stupid assholes to see what would happen. She wouldn't do it though.
We got our tubes and went back into the bayou. This guy, Paul, who worked on the Flume during Adventure Island's off season, was being a lifeguard. We were pretty good friends and he knew Kim so we hopped out of our tubes and talked to him for a few minutes. We kept up our little splashing games and were having fun. It was one of the most relaxing times that I have spent with a girl thus far. We had been brushing against each other all day and I had held on to her feet for a while to keep us together. We ended up draping our legs over each others rafts and putting them up against each others legs for the last couple drifts around the loop. We sat like that facing each other and I enjoyed the 'acceptance'. When we passed by Paul, we would wave, and he finally started asking us if we were still on this thing when we would go by.
Kim is going to a DNA concert tonight at the Tampa Theater with her brother so she said that she had to be home by five. We went at about 4:30 and rode the Barratuba slide. It was OK but I was a little too tall for the tube and almost kept falling out. Since we didn't have to rent the tubes and thus didn't get back a deposit, I asked a group of three people if they would like some tubes. They were very thankful and I felt good. I like doing that kind of thing. We didn't put on any of our clothes for the ride home.
I really had a good time today and hope that we get a chance to do something again soon. Today was completely spontaneous and I loved it although I had deep down inside hoped that she would call and ask me to go, but I very seriously doubted it. What a week! Awesome...
Thursday, July 16, 1992
July 16, 1992 - Thursday - Kimmeth Sue Powell
Shit. Kim and I sort of had a fallout Tuesday night. Shit. I had been talking with her all day. She paid me back my two dollars when I was up on control panel. I got off of work at 6:30 and she would be getting cut back at around seven. I went and took a shower in the men's bathroom and changed into my jean cutoffs and black tank top. I was sort of showing off my tan to everybody. I went back over and talked to Sharlene and Brad in the back. It's funny how much Sharlene and I talk now after we never did before. She kept playfully punching me in the stomach while we were back there. I went out to the unloading brake to see Agnes. I had said earlier that I felt that I would be able to both party and study in college better than stupid people, or something like that. She got 'mad' at me and we argued for a long time whether I was acting stuck up or not. I apologized for saying that and she said, 'That's better.' She then asked me what I was still doing there and I told her I was waiting to take Kim home and she gives me one of those long drawn out 'Ohhhhhh's.
Brad then sent her to help Kim in the queue house so I went with her. She tried to jump over the outer wall to get in, pregnant and all, so I helped her over. Then I talked to Kim for a few minutes while they finished. As we were walking up front Bryan called for a party of one or two. I told him I had one and he tried to force me in but I didn't want to since I had just showered. Kim waited for a second and then hopped in still wearing her work clothes. She scooted way up and told me to get in so I did. I sarcastically reminded her of the rule about no splashing as I drenched her. We're not supposed to wear our uniforms on the rides and Brad didn't even know that she had stopped sweeping the queue house. I asked her what she was going to tell him when she came back all soaking wet.
Then we saw Rebecca at Spillway opening the ice chest. Andre had come in earlier and they poured cupfuls of cold water on him, but as we went by she dumped the entire thing right down Kim's back into my lap! I tried to splash her and think that I got her some. It felt so good to have my balls frozen off! We laughed and it was fun. Sharlene was unloading and she just sort of smirked and nodded her head. When I got up I had pieces of ice falling out of my shorts. We went into the back and Brad asked her why she was all wet. I told him that I gave her a great big hug when I got off the ride. He smiled and told Kim that she was off (he was jealous!). I guess Kim thought that Brad knew that she went on the ride so she told him about Rebecca dumping the ice on us. He then got a little mad and told her about wearing her uniform on the ride. I don't know why she said anything.
Well, we went out soaking wet to my car. As we were going I asked her if we should stop for something since I had two dollars to spend. She thought that was funny and said that she didn't really want anything but we could stop. I decided not to because I was going to ask her to a movie or something when we got to her house. I did and then it blew up. She told me that she didn't think so right now, that this age difference thing was sort of bothering her. I thanked her for ditching me again and she asked me if I wanted to try again and maybe get strike three. I told her maybe later and we said bye. I should have said something there, and I was mad that I didn't about half way home.
A few minutes after I got home I called her and thankfully her line wasn't busy. Her mom answered. She asked who was calling and then I heard her call Kim pretty loud and then go, 'It's Dan,' somewhat sarcastically to Kim. I laughed to myself. When she answered we said hi and I told her that I was thinking about what she said. She said that she just has a lot on her mind lately, just breaking up with her other boyfriend, and that she was moving in September, and all, and that I had seemed a bit eager. I told her that if I was, then she was the first time that I had ever been really eager about anything, that both Nicole and Jennifer just sort of fell into my lap. I know that Kim is sort of thinking that I might be trying for a '24 year old' just so I can brag about it and for sex. We haven't really talked about sex and what we've both done. Sharlene and I did on the second day we talked. Anyway, I then figured I'd tone it down so I asked her what was wrong with a friend asking a friend to go do something fun together like go to the movie or Busch Gardens. I told her I would have even sat five seats down from her. She laughed a lot and said that know she wanted to go just to see that. She told me that if I turned she would go, 'Dan, you're looking at me again!' and we laughed.
Teresa had called before I did and was coming to get Kim tonight. Kim's staying with her until Thursday morning when she leaves for St. Louis. I told Kim that I'm going to the University of Florida in four weeks and I knew that we wouldn't be able to do anything too committal. I asked her what she had planned for next week, and she said that she hadn't made any yet. I then asked if we can possibly do something next week without me getting strike three. She said yes and we'll look at our schedules when they come out. The schedule came out yesterday and it turns out that the only time we both have off, besides nights, is Thursday morning until 4:15. We had argued today whether or not I had given her my phone number and she admitted that I had. She then rattled it off out of her head without looking in her little book. I wondered why she knew it. But I told her to call me and she said that she will. I asked when so I can try to be around, but she said that was part of the torture. She also said that she wants me to take her address before I leave so I can write to her from up at college. She said she'll give it to me over fries one night. She even started the letter for me:
Dear Kim,
You bitch! How could you do this to me...
I admitted that the reason I called was that my mind would play with what she said and really screw me up by the next time I get to see her. I also overexaggerate things when I think about them for too long. She told me that she does the same thing and is very glad that I called. So am I. I can imagine what would of happened if this was back before I opened up, we would have been destroyed when I pulled out of her driveway, I would have known what to say but I would not have been able to. Now I wait a bit and hope.
I talked to MichŠle a lot yesterday and found out why I like her so much. She's half French on her mother's side. That's where her parents are right now. Her parents have let her stay here the past two summers to work at Busch Gardens but it turns out that her grandmother has been saying that her granddaughter doesn't love her anymore so she will be leaving on July 27 to stay a month in France. I told her I was jealous. She told me that I really shouldn't be because it's boring. I asked her to take me with her and she said OK, as long as I would fit in her suitcase. She has been all throughout Germany and said it's a wonderful place to live. I had told her about wanting to live in either Germany or England as well as to study abroad. She said that she wanted to study abroad, too. She has also been to Belgium, Holland, Switzerland, and the Italian Alps. I asked her where she is planning on going to college. She said that she would like to go to the Universities of Michigan or Pennsylvania, but she will probably go to Florida. All right! I'll be waiting.
I also got a thank you card from Jana from her Graduation party.
Dan -
Thank you so much for the money + the ticket to Busch Gardens! That was really nice of you. thanks for coming to my party also + sharing such a great night with me. I just got back from preview so I'm ALMOST all set to go up! Keep in touch + let me know what's going on.
Love, Jana
7208 Spring Valley Dr.
Tampa, FL 33615
I had planned on calling her anyway this week, probably on Friday to tell her and ask her about the AP exams, and I'll tell her about what's been going on with Kim. I also want to ask her about what dorm she got and how she likes Beaty Towers. I also received my Florida Academic Scholarship last night. I was awarded $2,225. I'm happy about that because the assholes in the government told us just recently, that after all of our hard work, they were going to drop the amount from $2,500 to $2,000. So I'm glad that I got more than they said. I'm actually having a pretty good week, but I'm starting to think about Kim. Uh oh.
Brad then sent her to help Kim in the queue house so I went with her. She tried to jump over the outer wall to get in, pregnant and all, so I helped her over. Then I talked to Kim for a few minutes while they finished. As we were walking up front Bryan called for a party of one or two. I told him I had one and he tried to force me in but I didn't want to since I had just showered. Kim waited for a second and then hopped in still wearing her work clothes. She scooted way up and told me to get in so I did. I sarcastically reminded her of the rule about no splashing as I drenched her. We're not supposed to wear our uniforms on the rides and Brad didn't even know that she had stopped sweeping the queue house. I asked her what she was going to tell him when she came back all soaking wet.
Then we saw Rebecca at Spillway opening the ice chest. Andre had come in earlier and they poured cupfuls of cold water on him, but as we went by she dumped the entire thing right down Kim's back into my lap! I tried to splash her and think that I got her some. It felt so good to have my balls frozen off! We laughed and it was fun. Sharlene was unloading and she just sort of smirked and nodded her head. When I got up I had pieces of ice falling out of my shorts. We went into the back and Brad asked her why she was all wet. I told him that I gave her a great big hug when I got off the ride. He smiled and told Kim that she was off (he was jealous!). I guess Kim thought that Brad knew that she went on the ride so she told him about Rebecca dumping the ice on us. He then got a little mad and told her about wearing her uniform on the ride. I don't know why she said anything.
Well, we went out soaking wet to my car. As we were going I asked her if we should stop for something since I had two dollars to spend. She thought that was funny and said that she didn't really want anything but we could stop. I decided not to because I was going to ask her to a movie or something when we got to her house. I did and then it blew up. She told me that she didn't think so right now, that this age difference thing was sort of bothering her. I thanked her for ditching me again and she asked me if I wanted to try again and maybe get strike three. I told her maybe later and we said bye. I should have said something there, and I was mad that I didn't about half way home.
A few minutes after I got home I called her and thankfully her line wasn't busy. Her mom answered. She asked who was calling and then I heard her call Kim pretty loud and then go, 'It's Dan,' somewhat sarcastically to Kim. I laughed to myself. When she answered we said hi and I told her that I was thinking about what she said. She said that she just has a lot on her mind lately, just breaking up with her other boyfriend, and that she was moving in September, and all, and that I had seemed a bit eager. I told her that if I was, then she was the first time that I had ever been really eager about anything, that both Nicole and Jennifer just sort of fell into my lap. I know that Kim is sort of thinking that I might be trying for a '24 year old' just so I can brag about it and for sex. We haven't really talked about sex and what we've both done. Sharlene and I did on the second day we talked. Anyway, I then figured I'd tone it down so I asked her what was wrong with a friend asking a friend to go do something fun together like go to the movie or Busch Gardens. I told her I would have even sat five seats down from her. She laughed a lot and said that know she wanted to go just to see that. She told me that if I turned she would go, 'Dan, you're looking at me again!' and we laughed.
Teresa had called before I did and was coming to get Kim tonight. Kim's staying with her until Thursday morning when she leaves for St. Louis. I told Kim that I'm going to the University of Florida in four weeks and I knew that we wouldn't be able to do anything too committal. I asked her what she had planned for next week, and she said that she hadn't made any yet. I then asked if we can possibly do something next week without me getting strike three. She said yes and we'll look at our schedules when they come out. The schedule came out yesterday and it turns out that the only time we both have off, besides nights, is Thursday morning until 4:15. We had argued today whether or not I had given her my phone number and she admitted that I had. She then rattled it off out of her head without looking in her little book. I wondered why she knew it. But I told her to call me and she said that she will. I asked when so I can try to be around, but she said that was part of the torture. She also said that she wants me to take her address before I leave so I can write to her from up at college. She said she'll give it to me over fries one night. She even started the letter for me:
Dear Kim,
You bitch! How could you do this to me...
I admitted that the reason I called was that my mind would play with what she said and really screw me up by the next time I get to see her. I also overexaggerate things when I think about them for too long. She told me that she does the same thing and is very glad that I called. So am I. I can imagine what would of happened if this was back before I opened up, we would have been destroyed when I pulled out of her driveway, I would have known what to say but I would not have been able to. Now I wait a bit and hope.
I talked to MichŠle a lot yesterday and found out why I like her so much. She's half French on her mother's side. That's where her parents are right now. Her parents have let her stay here the past two summers to work at Busch Gardens but it turns out that her grandmother has been saying that her granddaughter doesn't love her anymore so she will be leaving on July 27 to stay a month in France. I told her I was jealous. She told me that I really shouldn't be because it's boring. I asked her to take me with her and she said OK, as long as I would fit in her suitcase. She has been all throughout Germany and said it's a wonderful place to live. I had told her about wanting to live in either Germany or England as well as to study abroad. She said that she wanted to study abroad, too. She has also been to Belgium, Holland, Switzerland, and the Italian Alps. I asked her where she is planning on going to college. She said that she would like to go to the Universities of Michigan or Pennsylvania, but she will probably go to Florida. All right! I'll be waiting.
I also got a thank you card from Jana from her Graduation party.
Dan -
Thank you so much for the money + the ticket to Busch Gardens! That was really nice of you. thanks for coming to my party also + sharing such a great night with me. I just got back from preview so I'm ALMOST all set to go up! Keep in touch + let me know what's going on.
Love, Jana
7208 Spring Valley Dr.
Tampa, FL 33615
I had planned on calling her anyway this week, probably on Friday to tell her and ask her about the AP exams, and I'll tell her about what's been going on with Kim. I also want to ask her about what dorm she got and how she likes Beaty Towers. I also received my Florida Academic Scholarship last night. I was awarded $2,225. I'm happy about that because the assholes in the government told us just recently, that after all of our hard work, they were going to drop the amount from $2,500 to $2,000. So I'm glad that I got more than they said. I'm actually having a pretty good week, but I'm starting to think about Kim. Uh oh.
Monday, July 13, 1992
July 13, 1992 - Monday - AP Scores, Sharlene
I kicked ass today!!! I received my AP test scores from the end of the school year and received credit in all four classes! I knew that I would get a five in Calculus AB, and I did. I hoped and felt that I would get credit in English but was really worried about the Computer and Physics tests because they ended up being so hard. I knew that if I got credit on the last two, then I am really able to deduct things logically, in others words I'm a damn good guesser. I got a three in English Literature and Composition which equals one semester of credit. I was really nervous about my scores. Then I saw the other two, Computer Science AB and Physics B, and they were both fours!!! Full credit on both! I was estatic and couldn't shutup about it for the rest of the night. I can't wait to go tell all of those college students I work with tomorrow that I got 21 credit hours last night and will almost start college as a Sophomore! I keep succeeding in huge leaps and bounds; Valedictorian, Student of the Year, and now this. It's so wonderful. Whoops there goes my ego! Now I'll call Jana to brag and maybe Stacy. Shit I'm happy!!!
I also have been befriending girls left and right at Busch Gardens. I talked to and made friends with five new girls since yesterday morning. I'm getting in some serious practice with the 'older women' so I'll be really social up at Gainesville. I also talked to two guys for no reason. One was a security guard and we were talking about how it would be nice to move to Brazil because of all the gorgeous girls we were watching in the tour groups outside of Das Festhaus. I said that you'd only need to know a couple key phrases to be happy and he agreed. Earlier today I was at Spillway and I kept flirting with a bunch of them, and one leans back on the girl behind her, flutters her hands on her heart, and fakes a faint after gazing at me. It was really funny.
Anyway, one of the new girls I met is named Christine. She was a pool person yesterday, and I didn't really talk to her earlier in the day but we kept saying hi and smiling at each other. Later in the day they screwed up the gate and let all of the boats go to the right channel. I jokingly told her not to screw up again and we laughed. Today while I was on break she came in, said hi, and went and sat at the other end of the table. I went over and asked her if there was any particular reason she moved so far away. She said she didn't want to bother me with her cigarette smoke. I sat down and told her how gross she was for smoking and then we started talking. She used to go to Hernando High School and is going to HCC. She wants to double major in marine biology and marketing. I told her she could make billboard for Sea World if she does. She lives over in Carrollwood somewhere. She's really cute though and I found out that she works over on the tidal wave.
I also remet Danya yesterday. I was her partner in an guest relations class we had to take back in January. We worked the back breaks for a long time and talked about everything. She's 20 and goes to HCC. She told me about all of the places she has worked at Busch and stuff like that. I also met the camera lady today. I said hi to her earlier when she walked by. Her name is April and she's probably in her early forties. I kept talking to her when I was in the back making cute remarks and stating that I generally cared for her welfare by asking her if she were having fun out in the sun, and If she would like a glass of water. I told Rebecca earlier that I got people water to kiss ass.
At the same time I got water for the pool person today who was from the Congo Rides. Her name was Carisma. She was really gorgeous and exotic looking, possibly French. I had seen Brad working in the back and they never talked. I'm starting to think that he's really just a little nerd. When I got back there I started talking to her and got a good conversation going. She goes to Armwood and asked me if I knew Deborah Feldman, which I do. She was really interesting.
Now for the important one, Sharlene. She worked here for five weeks and got fired along with the rest of the people hired in late spring. She then was off for thirty days before they rehired her about a week ago. She only said hi to me before and wouldn't really talke to me. She has very blonde frizzled hair and is 20. She already has a baby who's dad was a dark Hispanic or possibly black, although I'd like to think it was the first. She is also good friends with Kim. She had called in two of her first three days and when she and Danya vame in yesterday morning I went up to her and said tha it was nice of her not to call in this time. Then it all avalanched.
Yesterday when I got sent to lunch she was on the panel and I went up and asked her to dial up Kim for me. We talked for a while. I kind of jokingly but seriously asked her if I would ever get to do anything with her besides take her to a fast food restaurant for fries, or was that a luxury I just wouldn't get. She laughed really hard and liked it alot. She wanted some ideas. I asked her what did she like to do that she would do with me. Hint. And she asked me the same. I told her that she obviously didn't want to go to Busch Gardens or the beach with me since she just ditched me over here on Saturday. She laughed each time I reminded her about that and kept telling me to shutup. She also told me that wasn't true, but she needed to see Teresa since she was going back to St. Louis this Friday. I told her that I would count the days.
Somehow after we hung up I stood there and started talking to Sharlene. She asked me if I liked Kim and I said yes. We talked about her for a while and how she thinks that a girl really likes to get one rose on a date. Anyway, I had to go get lunch and sat with Danya who left at the same time I did. We ended up talking to Sharlene for a while yesterday on the phone and then again today. We were stuck up on the lifts when it started raining so we talked for a long time. We also closed and talked the last hour and a half. It got really juicy. She was telling me about going to Makos last night. We were also talking about flirting with the people on the ride, these gross older guys kept looking at her and I kept making fun of her when they did, anf bragging about the cute Brazilians I was flirting with. We also talked about sex and all about our pasts and everything. We were also talking about full body massages. I know that she's going to tell Kim some of it which is good. I think Kim is going to be impressed by the fact that her friends like me because I don't think she thought that Sharlene would talk to and like me this much.
At one point she asked me, 'You really like Kim, don't you?' and I admitted that I did. She said that she could tell just by the way I was saying some things. When I had to hang up later to dump the icechest, she told me to hurry and call her back. I did. We talked about almost everyone that was working and whether we liked them or not. Andy and Bryan kept getting on the phone and we were messing with the two of them. When it was time to go she asked me if I wanted her to wait for me and I told her that she better. We ended up walking down and Brad said we could go ahead and leave. We walked together out to our cars and said goodbye. It was truly interesting.
Earlier today Kim and I were working the brakes, with Rebecca on the panel. We were playing with ice again. I stuck a big piece down Rebecca's shirt and she really wasn't expecting it when I did. She ended up with a big water mark on her shirt. I was also teasing Kim with the ice. I had a big double piece once and I held it my hand and held it on to her arm for a while. We both looked at each other and she stopped trying to run away when I was holding on to her arm. She was really warm and it felt good to be touching female flesh again. Ha ha. Anyway when she finally got her break she was back into a pissed off mood and almost stomped out. I wasn't sure if I had pissed her off or not and kept expressing my worries to Rebecca. I kept walking up there going 'Shit. Shit. Shit...' Brad then had me get in and put two more boats on. Kim came back as I was getting out of the water. I went and asked her if I had pissed her off, and thank God, I hadn't. She was mad because she was up on the front brake for three hours and had to spend her lunch money for a stupid candy bar because she needed something to eat. I told her not to worry about, that I'd treat her to lunch. A little while later I gave her two dollars. I told Sharlene later that I had bought Kim's lunch and she said that she knew, that Kim told her that I did when she was on break. I'm glad she's telling people what I'm doing for her, especially her good friend, and that was before Sharline and I had talked for so long today.
We talked before she went home on the phone for a while. I asked her what her middle name is. Kimmeth Sue Powell. I'm really in love and I'm so wonderfully happy about doing so damn well on my AP tests!!!
I also have been befriending girls left and right at Busch Gardens. I talked to and made friends with five new girls since yesterday morning. I'm getting in some serious practice with the 'older women' so I'll be really social up at Gainesville. I also talked to two guys for no reason. One was a security guard and we were talking about how it would be nice to move to Brazil because of all the gorgeous girls we were watching in the tour groups outside of Das Festhaus. I said that you'd only need to know a couple key phrases to be happy and he agreed. Earlier today I was at Spillway and I kept flirting with a bunch of them, and one leans back on the girl behind her, flutters her hands on her heart, and fakes a faint after gazing at me. It was really funny.
Anyway, one of the new girls I met is named Christine. She was a pool person yesterday, and I didn't really talk to her earlier in the day but we kept saying hi and smiling at each other. Later in the day they screwed up the gate and let all of the boats go to the right channel. I jokingly told her not to screw up again and we laughed. Today while I was on break she came in, said hi, and went and sat at the other end of the table. I went over and asked her if there was any particular reason she moved so far away. She said she didn't want to bother me with her cigarette smoke. I sat down and told her how gross she was for smoking and then we started talking. She used to go to Hernando High School and is going to HCC. She wants to double major in marine biology and marketing. I told her she could make billboard for Sea World if she does. She lives over in Carrollwood somewhere. She's really cute though and I found out that she works over on the tidal wave.
I also remet Danya yesterday. I was her partner in an guest relations class we had to take back in January. We worked the back breaks for a long time and talked about everything. She's 20 and goes to HCC. She told me about all of the places she has worked at Busch and stuff like that. I also met the camera lady today. I said hi to her earlier when she walked by. Her name is April and she's probably in her early forties. I kept talking to her when I was in the back making cute remarks and stating that I generally cared for her welfare by asking her if she were having fun out in the sun, and If she would like a glass of water. I told Rebecca earlier that I got people water to kiss ass.
At the same time I got water for the pool person today who was from the Congo Rides. Her name was Carisma. She was really gorgeous and exotic looking, possibly French. I had seen Brad working in the back and they never talked. I'm starting to think that he's really just a little nerd. When I got back there I started talking to her and got a good conversation going. She goes to Armwood and asked me if I knew Deborah Feldman, which I do. She was really interesting.
Now for the important one, Sharlene. She worked here for five weeks and got fired along with the rest of the people hired in late spring. She then was off for thirty days before they rehired her about a week ago. She only said hi to me before and wouldn't really talke to me. She has very blonde frizzled hair and is 20. She already has a baby who's dad was a dark Hispanic or possibly black, although I'd like to think it was the first. She is also good friends with Kim. She had called in two of her first three days and when she and Danya vame in yesterday morning I went up to her and said tha it was nice of her not to call in this time. Then it all avalanched.
Yesterday when I got sent to lunch she was on the panel and I went up and asked her to dial up Kim for me. We talked for a while. I kind of jokingly but seriously asked her if I would ever get to do anything with her besides take her to a fast food restaurant for fries, or was that a luxury I just wouldn't get. She laughed really hard and liked it alot. She wanted some ideas. I asked her what did she like to do that she would do with me. Hint. And she asked me the same. I told her that she obviously didn't want to go to Busch Gardens or the beach with me since she just ditched me over here on Saturday. She laughed each time I reminded her about that and kept telling me to shutup. She also told me that wasn't true, but she needed to see Teresa since she was going back to St. Louis this Friday. I told her that I would count the days.
Somehow after we hung up I stood there and started talking to Sharlene. She asked me if I liked Kim and I said yes. We talked about her for a while and how she thinks that a girl really likes to get one rose on a date. Anyway, I had to go get lunch and sat with Danya who left at the same time I did. We ended up talking to Sharlene for a while yesterday on the phone and then again today. We were stuck up on the lifts when it started raining so we talked for a long time. We also closed and talked the last hour and a half. It got really juicy. She was telling me about going to Makos last night. We were also talking about flirting with the people on the ride, these gross older guys kept looking at her and I kept making fun of her when they did, anf bragging about the cute Brazilians I was flirting with. We also talked about sex and all about our pasts and everything. We were also talking about full body massages. I know that she's going to tell Kim some of it which is good. I think Kim is going to be impressed by the fact that her friends like me because I don't think she thought that Sharlene would talk to and like me this much.
At one point she asked me, 'You really like Kim, don't you?' and I admitted that I did. She said that she could tell just by the way I was saying some things. When I had to hang up later to dump the icechest, she told me to hurry and call her back. I did. We talked about almost everyone that was working and whether we liked them or not. Andy and Bryan kept getting on the phone and we were messing with the two of them. When it was time to go she asked me if I wanted her to wait for me and I told her that she better. We ended up walking down and Brad said we could go ahead and leave. We walked together out to our cars and said goodbye. It was truly interesting.
Earlier today Kim and I were working the brakes, with Rebecca on the panel. We were playing with ice again. I stuck a big piece down Rebecca's shirt and she really wasn't expecting it when I did. She ended up with a big water mark on her shirt. I was also teasing Kim with the ice. I had a big double piece once and I held it my hand and held it on to her arm for a while. We both looked at each other and she stopped trying to run away when I was holding on to her arm. She was really warm and it felt good to be touching female flesh again. Ha ha. Anyway when she finally got her break she was back into a pissed off mood and almost stomped out. I wasn't sure if I had pissed her off or not and kept expressing my worries to Rebecca. I kept walking up there going 'Shit. Shit. Shit...' Brad then had me get in and put two more boats on. Kim came back as I was getting out of the water. I went and asked her if I had pissed her off, and thank God, I hadn't. She was mad because she was up on the front brake for three hours and had to spend her lunch money for a stupid candy bar because she needed something to eat. I told her not to worry about, that I'd treat her to lunch. A little while later I gave her two dollars. I told Sharlene later that I had bought Kim's lunch and she said that she knew, that Kim told her that I did when she was on break. I'm glad she's telling people what I'm doing for her, especially her good friend, and that was before Sharline and I had talked for so long today.
We talked before she went home on the phone for a while. I asked her what her middle name is. Kimmeth Sue Powell. I'm really in love and I'm so wonderfully happy about doing so damn well on my AP tests!!!
Friday, July 10, 1992
Thursday, July 9, 1992
July 9, 1992 - Thursday - Kimmeth Powell
Kim is wonderful! I built my hopes and dreams for today on a bunch of assumptions, and it all turned out magnificently. Kim is the first girl that I have ever actively chased. Both Jennifer and Nicole took it upon themselves to get together with me. I had looked at our schedules yesterday at saw that we both have this Saturday off. I planned on asking her to come with me to Busch Gardens, hoping she didn't already have plans. I was also somewhat nervous about asking, and also started getting scared that I wouldn't get the chance when we hadn't been able to talk on the phone by lunchtime. When Frank told me to go to lunch, I knew that Kim was up in Lift 2, and after quickly debating whether to just go (I knew that would be considered holding back and I just couldn't) or call, I went up to the panel and had Ray hand me the phone. Despite Frank seeing me talking, I stayed on and asked her, and she said probably depending on if Teresa hadn't planned anything major for them. Teresa is leaving for St. Louis in a week so I would understand. I was estatic and ran off to have a big ham sandwich for lunch.
Later I was working the unloading brakes with Andre, and we were talking about all of the girls. I kept turning up towards the control panel and looking at MichŠle. Every once in a while we would wave and smile. Andre said that she is the best looking girl on the flume. I started telling him how I don't think Kim is too shabby either, I said she has nice hair and a really nice ass. I told him how we've been on the phone a lot lately and how I asked her earlier to come to Busch with me. I also told him about taking her home and going to McDonalds to eat. He said I must really like the girl and slapped me five. He told me that she had switched shifts with him earlier and would now be closing. Now it would be Kim, Mark and I closing and the two of them were at that moment up in the lifts. I realized that I needed to hurry and ask her if I could take her home before Mark got the chance, and told Andre. I almost figured that I was too late if they were already talking on the phone.
She ended up taking Andre's place a while later and we both laughed as he nudged me on the shoulder with his fist and wished me luck. I asked her if I could take her home or had Mark already beat me to her. She told me that she hadn't even asked Mark and would be glad to let me. Yay. I won. That was somewhat of a major proving ground for me and I am so glad of the way it worked out. By that point I realized how awesome my day was going, everything I tried to do was actually happening.
Then the storm came. It seemed like another hot sticky rainless day, then all of the sudden the thunder came and the rain. Mark, Kim and I were out talking on the platform. April had just walked out when Frank told us one person needed to stay out and the rest had to come into the back. We all ran up the stairs, leaving Kim at the back. I laughingly grabbed April by the shoulders and told her that she wasn't going anywhere, and told Kim to come on. April eventually staid. Good girl.
I found out earlier that April took the Flume test three times, you're only allowed two tries and you can only miss two or three. I only missed one on my first try. She's a fat slob and I was pissed that they let her work here, so all day I kept telling her that she doesn't belong here and needs to quit. I of course was doing it in a teasing way as not to seem entirely mean. Earlier last week I had gone down the schedule with Kim and Amanda and picked out the people I'd keep and the one's I'd fire if I were a supervisor. I picked Billy, Jason, and April for firing. I believe that there should be an image that must be kept to work at Busch Gardens and they just don't fit it. Well I found out that in the past week, Billy got fired for too many call ins, Jason called in saying he had to quit for personal reasons, and April would be fired in Frank hadn't of put in a good word for her to Shirley on the test. That's weird, maybe I'm psychic, or maybe somebody told a supervisor what I said, or something. I'm just glad that Billy and Jason are outta here.
Anyway, Frank, Mark, Agnes, Kim and I stood around the table and talked. We started talking about cars and I put in how my catalytic convertor got plugged, and how I had all of my brakes redone and my bearings repacked. I told Frank that's why I keep wanting to stay until closing, for the money. The money part is true, but mom paid for most of the car repairs. Frank then said that someone needed to take April's place and we all stood there and laughed. Frank flipped a coin for us and Kim lost. We started talking about those Brazilian tour groups and how those kids carry a hell of a lot of money. They found a little pouch once with $2,000 in it! They also have seen where the group will come in with a briefcase full of money that the leader will pass out in packets to all the people. Mark and I were joking that we were going to go jump us some Brazilian kids. It was funny. Meanwhile Agnes was just sitting there drawing lines with a pen all over my hand.
As soon as the ride reopened, Frank sent Kim on break and me on dinner. We sat with this girl from Tidal Wave named Noelle. We kept up a pretty smooth conversation the whole time talking about Teresa's kid and how Kim will miss him when they go back to St. Louis next week. He's her two year old beach bum. She has some little bruises on her legs and said it was because he was standing on her when she was playing with him. I complained that he gets all of the action and told her that she needed to lose the bruises if she wanted to tag along with me at Busch Gardens on Saturday. When Kim went back I actually talked to Noelle for a while about working on the Tidal Wave and all. I have seen her plenty of times in the lounge but we had never talked.
When I went back to platform Kim was on the control panel. i told her I just had a thought. If she had to talk to Teresa first and I don't work tomorrow, then how am I going to find out what we are doing. She put a hand up to her ear and told me that I could give her a call and smiled. I told her that I don't have her phone number. She said that she was aware of that and to go get a pen. She wrote it down on a paper napkin, 237-3263. That is now my most valuable piece of paper, except for maybe my $500 savings bond. Frank was nowhere to be found but Kim and I knew that I was supposed to go to Spillway to relieve MichŠle. When I got up there she asked me what was that (the napkin) and I said a phone number. She asked whose and I told her it was Kim's. She said oh in a long drawn-out suspicious way. Whoops. I had talked to her on the phone earlier when we were shut down but not for long. Ray and MichŠle had been up in the lifts and weren't talking together so Kim suggested that I introduce them. When I started talking to her she went over and started talking to Mark so I hurriedly got off the phone.
At about 6:30 I saw Kim go up to Lift 2 but decided I'd wait until she called or until seven, whichever came first. She likes to sit and vegetate for a while when she first goes up and she later thanked me for letting her just sit for a while. She called at about 7:03 and we started talking for the entire last hour. She stood in the doorway of Lift 2 and I stood at the back window so we could see each other as we talked. She wants a baseball cap so we were picking out good ones on the peoples' heads and said that we'd just grab them as they went by. I told her that an Olympics hat would be cool and she agreed. We get a thirty percent discount on the merchandise up at Olympic Village so I figure we'll look if we come on Saturday. I really want a T-shirt. I told her that I was hungry hoping she'd want to stop on the way home. I was stupid on Monday being so tired and all. I forced myself awake this time and was almost hyper when it was time to leave.
I waited for her to come down the lift and we walked back to the platform. Frank told us to go see hoe Mark was doing sweeping the queue house. We laughingly ran out to the stairs and both called to Mark and asked him how he was doing. We went back to Frank and told him that Mark was doing fine. He laughed but then told us that he meant for us to help him. We didn't get out of there until 8:30. I don't know when Kim told Mark that I was taking her home but he just said bye and walked away not waiting for us when it was time to go. Ha ha.
When we got out of the car there were about five semi trucks blocking my car in. I did some fancy maneuvering and curved around them with relative ease. As we got out to Busch Blvd. I asked her if she was hungry and she said not really. She then asked me if I was intent on stopping and I said yes, how about Wendy's. That sounded alot better than McDonald's. We both had to use the bathroom. I told her I was treating since I dragged her into this place and she laughed. I was much more suave about treating this time. I ordered a large Frosty and large fries and she got a regular Frosty. We went and sat by the window and had alot of fun this time. We had eaten all the fries early so I went up and bought another. They asked me if I ran out already and I told them that she ate them all. The manager was right there helping with orders and they all laughed. They had looked about as dead as we do at the end of the day at Busch and I was glad to make them laugh. We were both in uniform and I kept seeing a minus on the cash register and then I realized that Busch employees get a ten percent discount. I wish they would tell us these things.
This time I got to hand feed her some fries and she did the same to me once. This food was definitely much better than Monday night and we never stopped talking and laughing. I kept dipping my fries in my Frosty, I have loved that since I was little. I threw a french fry at her once and when she through it back I told her she couldn't do that because this was a family establishment. We had wondered earlier why guys had to wear shirts on the rides and that was her reasoning. She told me that she wasn't throwing it at them, only me. I told her that she was an adult and was setting a bad example for the kids and that since I'm only seventeen I was still allowed to throw fries. She said yeah, that she was contributing to the delinquency of a minor. She then asked me when I turned eighteen. I told her for all practical purposes in two days, but then I had to confess my real birthday. Her's is on January 24th.
I told her that I really missed those little black kids slobbering on my seat and throwing toys at us. Wendy's was cooler, nicer, and had soothing music playing which made for a really nice atmosphere that kept me going. The people were also all white. We had a few fries left and a little bit of drink left when we were done. I told her that there were hungry kids in... and she goes Ethiopia. I told her there were probably hungry little kids just outside that would gladly take our food. We started making jokes about that and it was funny. We kept talking the entire way home instead of having silent periods. I turned on my radio and my bass and she laughingly told me that I really did want to get mugged. There was a guy walking towards the stop sign on Powhatan and I didn't stop. I told Kim that he would have probably taken the rest of our fries, and we wouldn't have even had to offer.
There was a road closed sign blocking the right lane just before her house. She goes oh well and asked me if she could stay with me, and I said sure. We then said our goodbyes and both parted in very good moods. Thank God. I just hope we get to spend all day Saturday together. I can only imagine the things that are possible. I'm in love.
Yesterday on the flume I was sitting up in Lift 2 when a boat came by with a somewhat attractive lady, about 38, with a really cute 17 year old in the front, and a cute 16 year old in the back. Just as they were going over the hill, the mother looks in at me and goes `Now YOU'RE cute!' like everyone she has seen today was ugly. I laugh as the girl in the front goes `Yeah, you're cute' in a very reassuring voice. I also had a younger girl tell her friend `He's the one I was telling you about' as I unloaded them from the rear brakes. It's amazing what this can do for one's self confidence. I was flirting with every girl that I could, saying hi and smiling, and sometimes keeping eye contact with a cute one for a long time. I got a really good stare and smile from this girl as I was going up to Spillway. I love it!
Today there were tons of girls all in skimpy bathing suits. I flirted with as many as possible giving some of them deep stares with a hint of a smile on my face. It's fun to have a girl grab you're ankle after you load her into a boat, and I had one blow me a kiss up at Lift 2. I think I like having my hair cut shorter, ever since I did every day has been this way.
But I love Kim.
Later I was working the unloading brakes with Andre, and we were talking about all of the girls. I kept turning up towards the control panel and looking at MichŠle. Every once in a while we would wave and smile. Andre said that she is the best looking girl on the flume. I started telling him how I don't think Kim is too shabby either, I said she has nice hair and a really nice ass. I told him how we've been on the phone a lot lately and how I asked her earlier to come to Busch with me. I also told him about taking her home and going to McDonalds to eat. He said I must really like the girl and slapped me five. He told me that she had switched shifts with him earlier and would now be closing. Now it would be Kim, Mark and I closing and the two of them were at that moment up in the lifts. I realized that I needed to hurry and ask her if I could take her home before Mark got the chance, and told Andre. I almost figured that I was too late if they were already talking on the phone.
She ended up taking Andre's place a while later and we both laughed as he nudged me on the shoulder with his fist and wished me luck. I asked her if I could take her home or had Mark already beat me to her. She told me that she hadn't even asked Mark and would be glad to let me. Yay. I won. That was somewhat of a major proving ground for me and I am so glad of the way it worked out. By that point I realized how awesome my day was going, everything I tried to do was actually happening.
Then the storm came. It seemed like another hot sticky rainless day, then all of the sudden the thunder came and the rain. Mark, Kim and I were out talking on the platform. April had just walked out when Frank told us one person needed to stay out and the rest had to come into the back. We all ran up the stairs, leaving Kim at the back. I laughingly grabbed April by the shoulders and told her that she wasn't going anywhere, and told Kim to come on. April eventually staid. Good girl.
I found out earlier that April took the Flume test three times, you're only allowed two tries and you can only miss two or three. I only missed one on my first try. She's a fat slob and I was pissed that they let her work here, so all day I kept telling her that she doesn't belong here and needs to quit. I of course was doing it in a teasing way as not to seem entirely mean. Earlier last week I had gone down the schedule with Kim and Amanda and picked out the people I'd keep and the one's I'd fire if I were a supervisor. I picked Billy, Jason, and April for firing. I believe that there should be an image that must be kept to work at Busch Gardens and they just don't fit it. Well I found out that in the past week, Billy got fired for too many call ins, Jason called in saying he had to quit for personal reasons, and April would be fired in Frank hadn't of put in a good word for her to Shirley on the test. That's weird, maybe I'm psychic, or maybe somebody told a supervisor what I said, or something. I'm just glad that Billy and Jason are outta here.
Anyway, Frank, Mark, Agnes, Kim and I stood around the table and talked. We started talking about cars and I put in how my catalytic convertor got plugged, and how I had all of my brakes redone and my bearings repacked. I told Frank that's why I keep wanting to stay until closing, for the money. The money part is true, but mom paid for most of the car repairs. Frank then said that someone needed to take April's place and we all stood there and laughed. Frank flipped a coin for us and Kim lost. We started talking about those Brazilian tour groups and how those kids carry a hell of a lot of money. They found a little pouch once with $2,000 in it! They also have seen where the group will come in with a briefcase full of money that the leader will pass out in packets to all the people. Mark and I were joking that we were going to go jump us some Brazilian kids. It was funny. Meanwhile Agnes was just sitting there drawing lines with a pen all over my hand.
As soon as the ride reopened, Frank sent Kim on break and me on dinner. We sat with this girl from Tidal Wave named Noelle. We kept up a pretty smooth conversation the whole time talking about Teresa's kid and how Kim will miss him when they go back to St. Louis next week. He's her two year old beach bum. She has some little bruises on her legs and said it was because he was standing on her when she was playing with him. I complained that he gets all of the action and told her that she needed to lose the bruises if she wanted to tag along with me at Busch Gardens on Saturday. When Kim went back I actually talked to Noelle for a while about working on the Tidal Wave and all. I have seen her plenty of times in the lounge but we had never talked.
When I went back to platform Kim was on the control panel. i told her I just had a thought. If she had to talk to Teresa first and I don't work tomorrow, then how am I going to find out what we are doing. She put a hand up to her ear and told me that I could give her a call and smiled. I told her that I don't have her phone number. She said that she was aware of that and to go get a pen. She wrote it down on a paper napkin, 237-3263. That is now my most valuable piece of paper, except for maybe my $500 savings bond. Frank was nowhere to be found but Kim and I knew that I was supposed to go to Spillway to relieve MichŠle. When I got up there she asked me what was that (the napkin) and I said a phone number. She asked whose and I told her it was Kim's. She said oh in a long drawn-out suspicious way. Whoops. I had talked to her on the phone earlier when we were shut down but not for long. Ray and MichŠle had been up in the lifts and weren't talking together so Kim suggested that I introduce them. When I started talking to her she went over and started talking to Mark so I hurriedly got off the phone.
At about 6:30 I saw Kim go up to Lift 2 but decided I'd wait until she called or until seven, whichever came first. She likes to sit and vegetate for a while when she first goes up and she later thanked me for letting her just sit for a while. She called at about 7:03 and we started talking for the entire last hour. She stood in the doorway of Lift 2 and I stood at the back window so we could see each other as we talked. She wants a baseball cap so we were picking out good ones on the peoples' heads and said that we'd just grab them as they went by. I told her that an Olympics hat would be cool and she agreed. We get a thirty percent discount on the merchandise up at Olympic Village so I figure we'll look if we come on Saturday. I really want a T-shirt. I told her that I was hungry hoping she'd want to stop on the way home. I was stupid on Monday being so tired and all. I forced myself awake this time and was almost hyper when it was time to leave.
I waited for her to come down the lift and we walked back to the platform. Frank told us to go see hoe Mark was doing sweeping the queue house. We laughingly ran out to the stairs and both called to Mark and asked him how he was doing. We went back to Frank and told him that Mark was doing fine. He laughed but then told us that he meant for us to help him. We didn't get out of there until 8:30. I don't know when Kim told Mark that I was taking her home but he just said bye and walked away not waiting for us when it was time to go. Ha ha.
When we got out of the car there were about five semi trucks blocking my car in. I did some fancy maneuvering and curved around them with relative ease. As we got out to Busch Blvd. I asked her if she was hungry and she said not really. She then asked me if I was intent on stopping and I said yes, how about Wendy's. That sounded alot better than McDonald's. We both had to use the bathroom. I told her I was treating since I dragged her into this place and she laughed. I was much more suave about treating this time. I ordered a large Frosty and large fries and she got a regular Frosty. We went and sat by the window and had alot of fun this time. We had eaten all the fries early so I went up and bought another. They asked me if I ran out already and I told them that she ate them all. The manager was right there helping with orders and they all laughed. They had looked about as dead as we do at the end of the day at Busch and I was glad to make them laugh. We were both in uniform and I kept seeing a minus on the cash register and then I realized that Busch employees get a ten percent discount. I wish they would tell us these things.
This time I got to hand feed her some fries and she did the same to me once. This food was definitely much better than Monday night and we never stopped talking and laughing. I kept dipping my fries in my Frosty, I have loved that since I was little. I threw a french fry at her once and when she through it back I told her she couldn't do that because this was a family establishment. We had wondered earlier why guys had to wear shirts on the rides and that was her reasoning. She told me that she wasn't throwing it at them, only me. I told her that she was an adult and was setting a bad example for the kids and that since I'm only seventeen I was still allowed to throw fries. She said yeah, that she was contributing to the delinquency of a minor. She then asked me when I turned eighteen. I told her for all practical purposes in two days, but then I had to confess my real birthday. Her's is on January 24th.
I told her that I really missed those little black kids slobbering on my seat and throwing toys at us. Wendy's was cooler, nicer, and had soothing music playing which made for a really nice atmosphere that kept me going. The people were also all white. We had a few fries left and a little bit of drink left when we were done. I told her that there were hungry kids in... and she goes Ethiopia. I told her there were probably hungry little kids just outside that would gladly take our food. We started making jokes about that and it was funny. We kept talking the entire way home instead of having silent periods. I turned on my radio and my bass and she laughingly told me that I really did want to get mugged. There was a guy walking towards the stop sign on Powhatan and I didn't stop. I told Kim that he would have probably taken the rest of our fries, and we wouldn't have even had to offer.
There was a road closed sign blocking the right lane just before her house. She goes oh well and asked me if she could stay with me, and I said sure. We then said our goodbyes and both parted in very good moods. Thank God. I just hope we get to spend all day Saturday together. I can only imagine the things that are possible. I'm in love.
Yesterday on the flume I was sitting up in Lift 2 when a boat came by with a somewhat attractive lady, about 38, with a really cute 17 year old in the front, and a cute 16 year old in the back. Just as they were going over the hill, the mother looks in at me and goes `Now YOU'RE cute!' like everyone she has seen today was ugly. I laugh as the girl in the front goes `Yeah, you're cute' in a very reassuring voice. I also had a younger girl tell her friend `He's the one I was telling you about' as I unloaded them from the rear brakes. It's amazing what this can do for one's self confidence. I was flirting with every girl that I could, saying hi and smiling, and sometimes keeping eye contact with a cute one for a long time. I got a really good stare and smile from this girl as I was going up to Spillway. I love it!
Today there were tons of girls all in skimpy bathing suits. I flirted with as many as possible giving some of them deep stares with a hint of a smile on my face. It's fun to have a girl grab you're ankle after you load her into a boat, and I had one blow me a kiss up at Lift 2. I think I like having my hair cut shorter, ever since I did every day has been this way.
But I love Kim.
Tuesday, July 7, 1992
July 7, 1992 - Tuesday - Kimmeth Powell
It's late at night and I'm finally getting around to writing my journal. I've had a caffeine high for the past couple of hours. I took Kim to McDonalds and treated before taking her home. We had a pretty good time but I was just too tired. Our first `date' was the highlight of my day.
I was scheduled as cutback and had talked to Amanda about switching shifts but Sharlene called in so Andy let me take over her shift. I still had a while before I was due in and I figured that I'd find Amanda over in the lounge. I did so I sat down and talked with her for a while until Agnes showed up and Ray from Tidal Wave came over and sat down. Amanda just sat there, sort of excluded, as the three of us talked about the Olympians in the park and how we each felt about the professional basketball players being able to play. I believe that each country should be represented by it's best athletes in each sport. They felt that it should all be amateurs.
I was sent up to Lift 2 and had about fifteen minutes to talk with Kimmeth. I'm a little jealous of the fact that she and Mark are going to the beach today, with the possibility of her staying in St. Pete overnight. She was replaced by Amanda who didn't want to talk. I later ended up loading on platform with Kim, with Rebecca on panel, and Andy grouping. We were all talking and I kept walking around to the three of them, I was hyper and couldn't stand still. Amanda kept crying about unloading in the back and Andy and I were making cracks about her. I then asked Rebecca for some ice water. She kicked the door open and sarcastically told me to get it myself. I thus was forced to empty a quarter cup of freezing water all over her legs! It was funny. We seem to always be playing with each other that way lately.
After a while, Kim and I started throwing ice across the platform at each other. I got her in the butt, and she was jokingly opening her mouth for me to make a basket. I then threw a piece or two up at Rebecca and got a cute face back at me. I didn't leave before telling Kim what nice hair she has, and asking to touch it. I then relieved Agnes up at LIft 2 and called MichŠle who had just come in an hour ago. I go `¨Que pasa?' and couldn't figure out what she said back on my own. We started talking all about how to keep comfortable and stuff. It was the first time we talked alone on the phone and I didn't confuse her once. Go me!
I then went to lunch and had a turkey sandwich with lettuce, tomatoes, cheddar cheese, ketchup and mayonnaise. Afterwards I went to Spillway and talked to MichŠle for a few minutes. I got her big gorgeous smile and then she was asking me about shin splints. She was on the phone with Rebecca up at Lift 2 when I got there so I called her when MichŠle left. Right when I called she goes `shit!' because Amanda was coming up. My feelings exactly. But Amanda was finally in the mood to talk and we did for over half an hour about how we could smuggle softdrinks up into the lifts to drink. I called Agnes on platform twice and she hung up on me both times, not on purpose though.
At five Kim replaced Amanda and we started talking again. I was about ready to ask her if I was to be bestowed with the privilege of taking her home again when she asked me if I would. I said `I suppose,' and was very inwardly glad that I would get to. She also told me that she had a big turkey sandwich for lunch with Thousand Islands dressing. She told me I was gross for putting ketchup on my sandwich, and then I told her that her dressing was made partly of it. Later on, we both went down together, her to dinner, and I on break. When I got to the break room she was on the pay phone with someone. She was laughing and I feared it was Mark or some other guy, but I figured Mark. Damn it! Andy came in and sat with me. It seems that he likes her too somewhat and is always trying to talk to her when I do, and also seemed somewhat perturbed that she was so jovial on the phone. Like my big words? Now that I'm forgetting the Spanish I learned at Leto, I'm starting to pull all of my vocabulary back from my subconscious. Anyway, I sat there and folded up pieces of paper and flicked them at her. When I ran out of paper I just popped my head down onto the table and rested. I figured Kim would wake me up after my break was up.
Some black guy kept bothering her to get off the phone. She finally did when it was about time for me to go back. That's when I found out she was on dinner. I suddenly felt a light tapping on my head and tried to quickly grab her arm but couldn't. She was the phone with her best friend, Teresa. What a relief. She is the girl with the two year old son who is Kim's little beach bum. She told me that Teresa wanted to know if I would go out with someone older than me. I told her that every girl that I've gone out with has been older, but only by one year or so. She then tells me that that isn't much. I then realized that Nicole was actually younger by a month and I apologized for lying. I tried to leave the impression that I definitely would date someone older, even seven years older. Hint. Hint.
I got sent to the unloading brakes. There was a black guy from the Python who was working as the pool person so I talked to him. He just graduated from King with a 2.8 GPA. I found this out after bragging about being valedictorian and having a 5.3. We then were talking about the girls that work in the North area and which ones were good looking and all. I told him that he was just working with our best looker, MichŠle. We then were talking about the Dream Team and how they might possibly show up on the last day of the Olympic send off from Busch Gardens. I said how awesome it was that they just played in the Tournament of the Americas and won all of their games by an average of 57 points!
I feel pretty special today. How many valedictorians have a great job at Busch Gardens, a great tan, and good looks. I got two winks today from cute girls, a couple of long inviting looks, and One `you're hot!' And then I take a 24 year old out to dinner!
Anyway when I went back up to Spillway I was replacing Agnes. She asked me what was going on between Kim and I. I told her that I didn't know yet. I then asked her why she hung on me earlier. She said she didn't mean to but was getting calls on the other phone. She also reminded me that I called her yesterday and when I found out it was her I told her that I didn't want to talk to her. I just remembered why! I was calling Bryan to tell him about some gorgeous girls going on the ride! Anyway, she laughingly dumped her cup of ice water at me. I tried to get her with some water from the ice chest but I missed. I then called and talked to Amanda for awhile. I told her all about the awards I have won and about my GPA and it really seemed to impress her. Brad picked up once, he keeps seeming to pick up all the time to find me on the phone with someone. It's funny. Kim called at eight to tell us the last boat number. She said something like `Hey you guys...' and seemed a tiny bit distracted by the fact that Amanda and I were talking away. Amanda had called down a few minutes earlier to ask what was taking so long, and I ws still on the phone, so when Kim picked up I go `Hi sexy!' I'm not sure if she even heard me because she didn't say anything abotut it.
When I went down she kept talking to Brad, almost seeming to get back at me, but I don't know. We went over to the water fountain and splashed cold water on each other. Then, as we were sitting at the light on 30th we hear a horn honking to the side. It was Brad and he waved. I don't quite think he expected to see Kim with me and I laughed and am glad he did. We stopped into McDonalds and Kim ordered chicken nuggets and a drink. She paid for it and I quickly paid her back for it citing how wonderful I am. I ordered a Big Mac, large fries, and large drink. We sat facing the window looking out at the sunset over the Busch beer plant. How romantic! There were a bunch of little black kids with a couple of ladies eating. She told them that we worked where they saw the zebras today and if they didn't behave, we'd have the zebras come and get them. It was funny. She then asked us if we wanted some kids.
After declining her offer we kept talking. We then started tossing french fries at each other and almost mouth feeding them, I tried. We then started tickling each other almost off the seats. It was fun. I then drove her home and got to say hi to her brother, Dan, as I dropped her off in her driveway. It was a really interesting day, but I wish I hadn't of been so sleepy with Kim. I hope it all helped, I really think it has.
I think I am in love. I'm at a loss for words right now. My thoughts are swirling and my emotions are starting to take over my life again. Everything and anything can happen in my life in the next few months. I've fallen in love with Kim. Seven years older. I keep thinking about when she asked me if I would date an older woman. I haven't learned to control this new power of attracting women that seems to have fallen on me. I have never had that much of a self image, if any at all. I don't know what I look like. Of course I have looked in a mirror, but I don't know how others see me. I'm starting to realize that I'm in no way ugly, and am starting to use this new self confidence to my advantage. It just irks me that I can seemingly lure in a very wonderful 24 year old who is not at a loss for friends. I very much want to make her happy and I want us to have fun together. I have found myself not bragging about myself to her at all. I haven't told her about all of my awards, and I haven't let my ego come out at all. Our relationship seems to be entirely based on our thoughts about life, and our looks, my blue eyes and her beautiful brown hair. I haven't tried or felt like I've needed to try and impress her with my accomplishments. She's amazing, it's like the adult world is so much more beautiful and enticing than our hectic youth, which I am still in, which scares me. It is almost like I shouldn't be feeling this way. I am also scared about what is soon going to happen if I go to Gainesville and tear all of the bonds I have made just recently. Time is a necessity which I do not possess.
I keep seeing Agnes ask me with her cute foreign accent, `What's going on with you and Kim?' I will tell them tomorrow that I took her home and we stopped to eat on the way. I don't care if I repeat anything that I said earlier, these are my thoughts now. I wonder where she is now. I would give anything to know that she is home, safe and sound, at this very moment. It is all just so overwhelming. I'm playing with a young woman now and I don't know how to act. I don't know whether I should try to act more mature, or if I should keep up my youthful jovial actions. Kim had lived with a boyfriend of hers for a while, she has shared a condo with three guys, and has lived in Jamaica for a month. She went to college for two years in Ft. Lauderdale. It almost sounds completely against all of my sexist philosophies to even more than casually talk to her. What happened to marrying a girl with high goals and money and such, like I said, our relationship has nothing to do whatsoever on what we have. I just need to see and talk to her again.
Love seems to have stomped it's huge crushing foot straight down in front of me, and before I could turn, I ran smack into it.
Why save your kisses for a rainy day?
Baby let the moment take you're heart away.
Have you ever needed someone so bad?
Have you ever wanted someone,
You just couldn't have?
Did you ever try so hard,
That you're world just fell apart?
Have you ever needed someone so bad?
And to the girl I've gotta have,
I've gotta have you baby, yeah...
To give out such crazy love,
It must be some kind of drug.
And if my time don't ever come,
For me you're still the one.
Damned if I don't,
Damned if I do,
I've gotta get a fix on you.
Have you ever needed someone so bad?
Have you ever wanted someone,
You just couldn't have... Def Leppard
I was scheduled as cutback and had talked to Amanda about switching shifts but Sharlene called in so Andy let me take over her shift. I still had a while before I was due in and I figured that I'd find Amanda over in the lounge. I did so I sat down and talked with her for a while until Agnes showed up and Ray from Tidal Wave came over and sat down. Amanda just sat there, sort of excluded, as the three of us talked about the Olympians in the park and how we each felt about the professional basketball players being able to play. I believe that each country should be represented by it's best athletes in each sport. They felt that it should all be amateurs.
I was sent up to Lift 2 and had about fifteen minutes to talk with Kimmeth. I'm a little jealous of the fact that she and Mark are going to the beach today, with the possibility of her staying in St. Pete overnight. She was replaced by Amanda who didn't want to talk. I later ended up loading on platform with Kim, with Rebecca on panel, and Andy grouping. We were all talking and I kept walking around to the three of them, I was hyper and couldn't stand still. Amanda kept crying about unloading in the back and Andy and I were making cracks about her. I then asked Rebecca for some ice water. She kicked the door open and sarcastically told me to get it myself. I thus was forced to empty a quarter cup of freezing water all over her legs! It was funny. We seem to always be playing with each other that way lately.
After a while, Kim and I started throwing ice across the platform at each other. I got her in the butt, and she was jokingly opening her mouth for me to make a basket. I then threw a piece or two up at Rebecca and got a cute face back at me. I didn't leave before telling Kim what nice hair she has, and asking to touch it. I then relieved Agnes up at LIft 2 and called MichŠle who had just come in an hour ago. I go `¨Que pasa?' and couldn't figure out what she said back on my own. We started talking all about how to keep comfortable and stuff. It was the first time we talked alone on the phone and I didn't confuse her once. Go me!
I then went to lunch and had a turkey sandwich with lettuce, tomatoes, cheddar cheese, ketchup and mayonnaise. Afterwards I went to Spillway and talked to MichŠle for a few minutes. I got her big gorgeous smile and then she was asking me about shin splints. She was on the phone with Rebecca up at Lift 2 when I got there so I called her when MichŠle left. Right when I called she goes `shit!' because Amanda was coming up. My feelings exactly. But Amanda was finally in the mood to talk and we did for over half an hour about how we could smuggle softdrinks up into the lifts to drink. I called Agnes on platform twice and she hung up on me both times, not on purpose though.
At five Kim replaced Amanda and we started talking again. I was about ready to ask her if I was to be bestowed with the privilege of taking her home again when she asked me if I would. I said `I suppose,' and was very inwardly glad that I would get to. She also told me that she had a big turkey sandwich for lunch with Thousand Islands dressing. She told me I was gross for putting ketchup on my sandwich, and then I told her that her dressing was made partly of it. Later on, we both went down together, her to dinner, and I on break. When I got to the break room she was on the pay phone with someone. She was laughing and I feared it was Mark or some other guy, but I figured Mark. Damn it! Andy came in and sat with me. It seems that he likes her too somewhat and is always trying to talk to her when I do, and also seemed somewhat perturbed that she was so jovial on the phone. Like my big words? Now that I'm forgetting the Spanish I learned at Leto, I'm starting to pull all of my vocabulary back from my subconscious. Anyway, I sat there and folded up pieces of paper and flicked them at her. When I ran out of paper I just popped my head down onto the table and rested. I figured Kim would wake me up after my break was up.
Some black guy kept bothering her to get off the phone. She finally did when it was about time for me to go back. That's when I found out she was on dinner. I suddenly felt a light tapping on my head and tried to quickly grab her arm but couldn't. She was the phone with her best friend, Teresa. What a relief. She is the girl with the two year old son who is Kim's little beach bum. She told me that Teresa wanted to know if I would go out with someone older than me. I told her that every girl that I've gone out with has been older, but only by one year or so. She then tells me that that isn't much. I then realized that Nicole was actually younger by a month and I apologized for lying. I tried to leave the impression that I definitely would date someone older, even seven years older. Hint. Hint.
I got sent to the unloading brakes. There was a black guy from the Python who was working as the pool person so I talked to him. He just graduated from King with a 2.8 GPA. I found this out after bragging about being valedictorian and having a 5.3. We then were talking about the girls that work in the North area and which ones were good looking and all. I told him that he was just working with our best looker, MichŠle. We then were talking about the Dream Team and how they might possibly show up on the last day of the Olympic send off from Busch Gardens. I said how awesome it was that they just played in the Tournament of the Americas and won all of their games by an average of 57 points!
I feel pretty special today. How many valedictorians have a great job at Busch Gardens, a great tan, and good looks. I got two winks today from cute girls, a couple of long inviting looks, and One `you're hot!' And then I take a 24 year old out to dinner!
Anyway when I went back up to Spillway I was replacing Agnes. She asked me what was going on between Kim and I. I told her that I didn't know yet. I then asked her why she hung on me earlier. She said she didn't mean to but was getting calls on the other phone. She also reminded me that I called her yesterday and when I found out it was her I told her that I didn't want to talk to her. I just remembered why! I was calling Bryan to tell him about some gorgeous girls going on the ride! Anyway, she laughingly dumped her cup of ice water at me. I tried to get her with some water from the ice chest but I missed. I then called and talked to Amanda for awhile. I told her all about the awards I have won and about my GPA and it really seemed to impress her. Brad picked up once, he keeps seeming to pick up all the time to find me on the phone with someone. It's funny. Kim called at eight to tell us the last boat number. She said something like `Hey you guys...' and seemed a tiny bit distracted by the fact that Amanda and I were talking away. Amanda had called down a few minutes earlier to ask what was taking so long, and I ws still on the phone, so when Kim picked up I go `Hi sexy!' I'm not sure if she even heard me because she didn't say anything abotut it.
When I went down she kept talking to Brad, almost seeming to get back at me, but I don't know. We went over to the water fountain and splashed cold water on each other. Then, as we were sitting at the light on 30th we hear a horn honking to the side. It was Brad and he waved. I don't quite think he expected to see Kim with me and I laughed and am glad he did. We stopped into McDonalds and Kim ordered chicken nuggets and a drink. She paid for it and I quickly paid her back for it citing how wonderful I am. I ordered a Big Mac, large fries, and large drink. We sat facing the window looking out at the sunset over the Busch beer plant. How romantic! There were a bunch of little black kids with a couple of ladies eating. She told them that we worked where they saw the zebras today and if they didn't behave, we'd have the zebras come and get them. It was funny. She then asked us if we wanted some kids.
After declining her offer we kept talking. We then started tossing french fries at each other and almost mouth feeding them, I tried. We then started tickling each other almost off the seats. It was fun. I then drove her home and got to say hi to her brother, Dan, as I dropped her off in her driveway. It was a really interesting day, but I wish I hadn't of been so sleepy with Kim. I hope it all helped, I really think it has.
I think I am in love. I'm at a loss for words right now. My thoughts are swirling and my emotions are starting to take over my life again. Everything and anything can happen in my life in the next few months. I've fallen in love with Kim. Seven years older. I keep thinking about when she asked me if I would date an older woman. I haven't learned to control this new power of attracting women that seems to have fallen on me. I have never had that much of a self image, if any at all. I don't know what I look like. Of course I have looked in a mirror, but I don't know how others see me. I'm starting to realize that I'm in no way ugly, and am starting to use this new self confidence to my advantage. It just irks me that I can seemingly lure in a very wonderful 24 year old who is not at a loss for friends. I very much want to make her happy and I want us to have fun together. I have found myself not bragging about myself to her at all. I haven't told her about all of my awards, and I haven't let my ego come out at all. Our relationship seems to be entirely based on our thoughts about life, and our looks, my blue eyes and her beautiful brown hair. I haven't tried or felt like I've needed to try and impress her with my accomplishments. She's amazing, it's like the adult world is so much more beautiful and enticing than our hectic youth, which I am still in, which scares me. It is almost like I shouldn't be feeling this way. I am also scared about what is soon going to happen if I go to Gainesville and tear all of the bonds I have made just recently. Time is a necessity which I do not possess.
I keep seeing Agnes ask me with her cute foreign accent, `What's going on with you and Kim?' I will tell them tomorrow that I took her home and we stopped to eat on the way. I don't care if I repeat anything that I said earlier, these are my thoughts now. I wonder where she is now. I would give anything to know that she is home, safe and sound, at this very moment. It is all just so overwhelming. I'm playing with a young woman now and I don't know how to act. I don't know whether I should try to act more mature, or if I should keep up my youthful jovial actions. Kim had lived with a boyfriend of hers for a while, she has shared a condo with three guys, and has lived in Jamaica for a month. She went to college for two years in Ft. Lauderdale. It almost sounds completely against all of my sexist philosophies to even more than casually talk to her. What happened to marrying a girl with high goals and money and such, like I said, our relationship has nothing to do whatsoever on what we have. I just need to see and talk to her again.
Love seems to have stomped it's huge crushing foot straight down in front of me, and before I could turn, I ran smack into it.
Why save your kisses for a rainy day?
Baby let the moment take you're heart away.
Have you ever needed someone so bad?
Have you ever wanted someone,
You just couldn't have?
Did you ever try so hard,
That you're world just fell apart?
Have you ever needed someone so bad?
And to the girl I've gotta have,
I've gotta have you baby, yeah...
To give out such crazy love,
It must be some kind of drug.
And if my time don't ever come,
For me you're still the one.
Damned if I don't,
Damned if I do,
I've gotta get a fix on you.
Have you ever needed someone so bad?
Have you ever wanted someone,
You just couldn't have... Def Leppard
Sunday, July 5, 1992
July 5, 1992 - Sunday - Kimmeth Powell
Today kicked ass!
I'm very happy about both of the results at Wimbledon this year. Steffi Graf smashed Monica Seles 6-2, 6-1 yesterday and Andre Agassi won in the men's finals today. Steffi has always been my favorite since I started watching tennis, and I am amazed at the fact that Agassi, who wouldn't sacrifice his neon clothes for the classic white even to play at Wimbledon, wins in only his second year playing at the tournament. That's awesome!
I took off to Busch Gardens at 9:45, an hour before I was scheduled to be there. I wanted to be there early because Kim and I had the same shifts so we could possibly talk before we had to work. I didn't hit a single red light down the entire length of Busch Blvd., and there was no traffic, so I made it to work by ten. I know that I'm going to have a good week if so much good has already happened just this morning. I was a little distressed yesterday because Kim and I were never in the lifts together, and she was on the phone a long while with Mark. I went into the back and sat up on the counter for a little bit.
Michele, who should have been in at ten, ran in at 10:20. Brad was cool about it and sent her to fill the coolers. I got up and went to the lounge with her. She told me how she locked her keys in her trunk, and her parents are out of town, and so on. She only put a little bit of ice in each one, and by the time we filled them with water, all of it had melted. I told her that everyone was going to bitch today and they did. I had fun running around with her. Then I had to wait a few minutes until Bryan and Kim showed up. Her hair was wet and she put it back into a pony tail. I scolded her for making her hair look plain.
We were both up in the lifts by eleven so I called her up on the phone. I carried up three cups of ice and sent one via guest up to Kim. I told her there was a present in boat thirteen, that I was sending her a piece of ice, ha ha. She really appreciated it though and was very thankful and glad that I'm so wonderful. She didn't do anything last night, too tired. As soon as I got home we all went over to the Causeway to see the fireworks. The ones over in Straub Park were really good and we watched the ones that the people in the cars around us were setting off. I was mesmerized sitting there on the guard rail staring into the headlights of the cars speeding by. Anyway, Kim broke up with that guy in St. Pete who came to get her last Saturday. It seems that he lives in St. Louis and they had seen each other once. He kept in touch and said that he wanted to see her when he came back. When she went out with him he was a total asshole and seemed like he didn't really want to see her. So she said see ya and when he tried to get her back she told him that she didn't feel like playing those games now. So the boyfriend problem has been taken care of, and so fast, too. Yes!
We kept on talking until about one. Yesterday while I wasn't on the phone with Kim, Agnes called me from up at Lift 2 and we talked for real for a while. I called Rebecca and we talked for the last half hour last night. She sounds really cute on the phone. Anyway, Kim and I went on break. Afterwards she got the loading brake with Rebecca, and I got control panel. I got on the phone 3-way with Bryan and Michele for a while. Bryan and I were rating women and we actually found a perfect 9. When she was up front I looked straight down and had a damn impressive view. I was being really loud, and kept talking to and looking at Rebecca the whole time. There were these two guys with really nasty long hair and I made the nice remark that we've found Marcella some boyfriends. Rebecca thought that was mean, but funny and true. Later on Marcella was working the back breaks and she won't call up to us if a hat goes by or something. She too antisocial and that pisses me off. I told Andy and Rebecca and they agreed. I pulled a hat out of the water once that she let go by and I just threw it into the unloading area, and let her pick it up.
I had my lunch after Kim, so it sucked. I got to work back break with Michele. Earlier when I was loading I saw Aunt Lovie and Bob. We talked for a couple of minutes and I gave them a nice front seat. Some Spanish people were doing a camera swap, and one of the guys in the first boat lost his hat. She had taken five years of Spanish and was trying to talk to the guy. Then when she started talking to the rest of the family about cameras and them wanting to ride, she didn't understand enough, and got confused. When I told her what they wanted, and I figured it out not knowing a bit of Spanish, she got mad at me for not telling her. I kept arguing that it wasn't my fault and I told her as soon as I realized what she was doing. She eventually forgave me. She then went to get us some water but the cooler was empty.
I then went on break. Kim and I had mentioned about wanting to go to McDonalds tonight, and I didn't switch with someone closing hoping that I might get to take her home. I chased down and walked out with Amanda, she said that she would trade me her closing shift for tomorrow. This guy who knows a lot of people and always sees me when I'm in the lounge by myself walked by as I was talking away with Amanda. That was good that I helped my image a bit. I went out to my car and cleaned as much as possible and even screwed the armrest in the middle back on. I was quite proud of myself for being such a handyman in the short amount of time that I had. I then moved my car up as close to the front as possible. I then carried back in four cups of cold ice water. It was so hot. I gave one to Andy, one to Kim who was greatly relieved, and I took the third back to Michele who was very glad, and I even offered the last to Marcella but she wouldn't take it. I was really in the mood to kiss ass. I had real laughing conversations with everyone who worked today except Brad and Marcella.
When the line got really short, Kim and I were loading, Agnes was on the panel, and Andy was grouping. We were having a hell of a time. I kept bouncing between the three of them talking away. It was great fun. I kept making Kim laugh. I was really hungry so I asked her if she happened to have a nice grilled steak on her anywhere, or possibly a club sandwich. She checked but couldn't find any. It was really funny though. She was also in a happy mood, and was swinging on the loading bar. I ran up, and all I would have to had done was move to tickle her on the sides and she would have flinched and fell in. I asked her if she was ticklish and she said very. We were having lots of fun and being really obvious about it right in front of the people.
We didn't close to one channel until 7:10, so I've gotten plenty of hours this week. After I pulled off seven boats, Andy told me that Brad said for me to do a trash run before I left. I asked him if Brad said that I specifically had to do one, or just anybody. We laughed and he said anybody. I wondered if Brad all of the sudden hated me that much. Anyway, Agnes helped me and walked with me out to the dumpsters. She asked me if I had decided where I'm going to college yet and was telling me about dorm life up in Chicago. She said that you would see naked girls running down the halls, go to strip parties, and 48 hour drinking parties. It was funny.
As soon as we got back he let us go. I waited for Kim. She started walking into the operations lounge and she asked me where I was going. I told her I didn't know, I guess I was just following her. She said good, and that she was running a report over to First Aid. I went with her and we tried to get a drink out of a water fountain but it was warm. We waited a while for it to cool off but it didn't. She picked up the payphone and called her mom to come and pick her up; I smiled and said I thought that I was taking her home. She asked me if I really would and I said maybe, I guess she'd find out if I let her in my car. Anyways I really fell that I'm getting on her good side. I've never been close friends with a girl this much before, we're getting real close to being better friends than Nicole and I were, if we're not better already.
I was just thinking a few minutes ago about how much I love this idea of not holding back. I could have just let her go, but now such big favors prove that I want to be more than just an acquaintance, and I love it. I really like the way this road is winding. Kim lives about two houses on the right of Powhatan off of 30th just off of Hillsborough.
I'm very happy about both of the results at Wimbledon this year. Steffi Graf smashed Monica Seles 6-2, 6-1 yesterday and Andre Agassi won in the men's finals today. Steffi has always been my favorite since I started watching tennis, and I am amazed at the fact that Agassi, who wouldn't sacrifice his neon clothes for the classic white even to play at Wimbledon, wins in only his second year playing at the tournament. That's awesome!
I took off to Busch Gardens at 9:45, an hour before I was scheduled to be there. I wanted to be there early because Kim and I had the same shifts so we could possibly talk before we had to work. I didn't hit a single red light down the entire length of Busch Blvd., and there was no traffic, so I made it to work by ten. I know that I'm going to have a good week if so much good has already happened just this morning. I was a little distressed yesterday because Kim and I were never in the lifts together, and she was on the phone a long while with Mark. I went into the back and sat up on the counter for a little bit.
Michele, who should have been in at ten, ran in at 10:20. Brad was cool about it and sent her to fill the coolers. I got up and went to the lounge with her. She told me how she locked her keys in her trunk, and her parents are out of town, and so on. She only put a little bit of ice in each one, and by the time we filled them with water, all of it had melted. I told her that everyone was going to bitch today and they did. I had fun running around with her. Then I had to wait a few minutes until Bryan and Kim showed up. Her hair was wet and she put it back into a pony tail. I scolded her for making her hair look plain.
We were both up in the lifts by eleven so I called her up on the phone. I carried up three cups of ice and sent one via guest up to Kim. I told her there was a present in boat thirteen, that I was sending her a piece of ice, ha ha. She really appreciated it though and was very thankful and glad that I'm so wonderful. She didn't do anything last night, too tired. As soon as I got home we all went over to the Causeway to see the fireworks. The ones over in Straub Park were really good and we watched the ones that the people in the cars around us were setting off. I was mesmerized sitting there on the guard rail staring into the headlights of the cars speeding by. Anyway, Kim broke up with that guy in St. Pete who came to get her last Saturday. It seems that he lives in St. Louis and they had seen each other once. He kept in touch and said that he wanted to see her when he came back. When she went out with him he was a total asshole and seemed like he didn't really want to see her. So she said see ya and when he tried to get her back she told him that she didn't feel like playing those games now. So the boyfriend problem has been taken care of, and so fast, too. Yes!
We kept on talking until about one. Yesterday while I wasn't on the phone with Kim, Agnes called me from up at Lift 2 and we talked for real for a while. I called Rebecca and we talked for the last half hour last night. She sounds really cute on the phone. Anyway, Kim and I went on break. Afterwards she got the loading brake with Rebecca, and I got control panel. I got on the phone 3-way with Bryan and Michele for a while. Bryan and I were rating women and we actually found a perfect 9. When she was up front I looked straight down and had a damn impressive view. I was being really loud, and kept talking to and looking at Rebecca the whole time. There were these two guys with really nasty long hair and I made the nice remark that we've found Marcella some boyfriends. Rebecca thought that was mean, but funny and true. Later on Marcella was working the back breaks and she won't call up to us if a hat goes by or something. She too antisocial and that pisses me off. I told Andy and Rebecca and they agreed. I pulled a hat out of the water once that she let go by and I just threw it into the unloading area, and let her pick it up.
I had my lunch after Kim, so it sucked. I got to work back break with Michele. Earlier when I was loading I saw Aunt Lovie and Bob. We talked for a couple of minutes and I gave them a nice front seat. Some Spanish people were doing a camera swap, and one of the guys in the first boat lost his hat. She had taken five years of Spanish and was trying to talk to the guy. Then when she started talking to the rest of the family about cameras and them wanting to ride, she didn't understand enough, and got confused. When I told her what they wanted, and I figured it out not knowing a bit of Spanish, she got mad at me for not telling her. I kept arguing that it wasn't my fault and I told her as soon as I realized what she was doing. She eventually forgave me. She then went to get us some water but the cooler was empty.
I then went on break. Kim and I had mentioned about wanting to go to McDonalds tonight, and I didn't switch with someone closing hoping that I might get to take her home. I chased down and walked out with Amanda, she said that she would trade me her closing shift for tomorrow. This guy who knows a lot of people and always sees me when I'm in the lounge by myself walked by as I was talking away with Amanda. That was good that I helped my image a bit. I went out to my car and cleaned as much as possible and even screwed the armrest in the middle back on. I was quite proud of myself for being such a handyman in the short amount of time that I had. I then moved my car up as close to the front as possible. I then carried back in four cups of cold ice water. It was so hot. I gave one to Andy, one to Kim who was greatly relieved, and I took the third back to Michele who was very glad, and I even offered the last to Marcella but she wouldn't take it. I was really in the mood to kiss ass. I had real laughing conversations with everyone who worked today except Brad and Marcella.
When the line got really short, Kim and I were loading, Agnes was on the panel, and Andy was grouping. We were having a hell of a time. I kept bouncing between the three of them talking away. It was great fun. I kept making Kim laugh. I was really hungry so I asked her if she happened to have a nice grilled steak on her anywhere, or possibly a club sandwich. She checked but couldn't find any. It was really funny though. She was also in a happy mood, and was swinging on the loading bar. I ran up, and all I would have to had done was move to tickle her on the sides and she would have flinched and fell in. I asked her if she was ticklish and she said very. We were having lots of fun and being really obvious about it right in front of the people.
We didn't close to one channel until 7:10, so I've gotten plenty of hours this week. After I pulled off seven boats, Andy told me that Brad said for me to do a trash run before I left. I asked him if Brad said that I specifically had to do one, or just anybody. We laughed and he said anybody. I wondered if Brad all of the sudden hated me that much. Anyway, Agnes helped me and walked with me out to the dumpsters. She asked me if I had decided where I'm going to college yet and was telling me about dorm life up in Chicago. She said that you would see naked girls running down the halls, go to strip parties, and 48 hour drinking parties. It was funny.
As soon as we got back he let us go. I waited for Kim. She started walking into the operations lounge and she asked me where I was going. I told her I didn't know, I guess I was just following her. She said good, and that she was running a report over to First Aid. I went with her and we tried to get a drink out of a water fountain but it was warm. We waited a while for it to cool off but it didn't. She picked up the payphone and called her mom to come and pick her up; I smiled and said I thought that I was taking her home. She asked me if I really would and I said maybe, I guess she'd find out if I let her in my car. Anyways I really fell that I'm getting on her good side. I've never been close friends with a girl this much before, we're getting real close to being better friends than Nicole and I were, if we're not better already.
I was just thinking a few minutes ago about how much I love this idea of not holding back. I could have just let her go, but now such big favors prove that I want to be more than just an acquaintance, and I love it. I really like the way this road is winding. Kim lives about two houses on the right of Powhatan off of 30th just off of Hillsborough.
Friday, July 3, 1992
July 3, 1992 - Friday - Thoughts about past
I've had a tremendous amount of time just to think about things lately. I'm not depressed either, I've been thinking all about my life and how far I have come, and how thankful I am for all of it. While at Busch Gardens earlier this week, since Kim didn't work, I found myself reflecting on all of the good fortunes that have fallen upon me in the past few years, and how earlier in my life I would have never dreamed them possible.
I'm partly referring to the fact that I am valedictorian. I never imagined that my rank would be anywhere near to number one. In fact I remember greatly hoping that I would make top fifteen, and was inwardly scared that I wouldn't. I had always heard about the people who always made straight A's, from Cindy Bush to Heath Harper to Jeannie Menoski. When I found out that I was number three, I flipped. Talk about a feeling of euphoria as well as a major ego boost. I found out that those Honors points really pay off.
My history teacher at Leto, Mr. John Hopkins, who was also the Student Council sponsor once told us a story. He was a very fun teacher who also made us learn alot, and was also very into our social activities and problems. He was one of my favorite teachers. Anyway, the story was about this girl who graduated from Leto many years ago. Everybody knew the person that was going to be valedictorian of that class, and nobody even thought of anybody else taking the honor. Nobody except that girl, she secretly took just enough classes, and made just the right grades, to beat the other person and to shock the school. Even though he told us this a while before we first received ranks, I always remembered it and it was sort of my inspiration to become number one. It made me sit down and think and figure out that with the right classes, I could beat Cindy. Once I knew that it was possible, I was damn determined to do my best to succeed, and I did. I thus have always been thankful to Mr. Hopkins, and have wondered if I would have ever though it possible enough for me to become valedictorian if it weren't for his story.
Speaking of favorite teachers, and great influences, I figure maybe I should write down their names so I will always remember. The first was Mrs. Edwards, my third and fifth grade teacher at Town & Country Elementary. Them there was Mr. Nabors at Potter for sixth grade. I first started doing well in math in his class because he made it fun. He had a contest once with a hard math problem. I won two rolls of pennies, which I still have, for getting the correct answer. He was also an interesting person. He could make beautiful chalk drawings, and carve reindeers from wood. The third was Mrs. Decker, my history teacher at Webb for eighth and ninth grades. She used to chain smoke and we made fun of her. She took us downtown many times on her own time to campaign for the 1988 elections. She was a fun and really nice lady. Stacy and I went and visited her once last year, she remembered me of course, but not Stacy. Then there is Mr. Hopkins.
I also was thinking about how I used to do back in the lower grades. I didn't do that great in many of my classes until they mattered. I went from C's in seventh grade science to straight A's from then on, until the end. It just seems amazing to me that I was under the wrong circumstances for so long and still came out so perfect. Obviously I have a much better self image and much more self confidence than I used to. I remember how I used to have a dreadful fear of talking in front of people, even in the gifted classes with the people I had been with for years. It was pure fear to that point that I once almost acted unrationally just because I had to give a couple of quick health reports for Coach Mueller in Health. Thank God nothing happened. He was a religious nut and tried his hardest to make a difference in the lives of his students, he really cared. I would love to go back and talk with him now, I think he would be very proud of my accomplishments. Anyway, now I am much more open and would never go back to being an introvert. As Jana said, she couldn't get me to talk to her for so long, and when she finally did she couldn't get me to shut up. Of course we used to talk, but it was just this year that it was about personal interesting stuff.
Another thing about my personality is that I always want the best. I would rather wait and not have something for a while, than to get a cheap version of something I want. I sort of used that philosophy in getting my job. Busch Gardens. I was wondering if, back a long time ago when we first had annual passes, if I ever thought that I would someday be working at Busch Gardens. I realize how extremely lucky I am to have gotten such a good job on the Flume ride. There were, so many people that day at the orientation, and only five of us were chosen to work on the Flume. Very few people got ride operations, and even then the only truly fun ones are the three water rides. I was lucky. I remember the day of the interview. I was there with four other people at that time, and none of our quick interviews were that impressive, except that I got to say all of my clubs and activities. Afterwards I lagged behind and told her about me working on valedictorian and so on. I have always wondered if I got a better job because of that, because Brad knew that I was valedictorian before I told anyone there.
They tell us how lucky we are to have gotten jobs there anyway, because there are always tons of people applying to Busch that are turned away. Only about three or four people got hired from Leto of the more than sixty that signed up. I really appreciate my job which is why I work hard to do good, and I seem to be the person that enjoys the job the most. I'm the only one that still has fun talking and waving to the people on a regular basis, especially the girls.
Uncle Jon stopped by today. I received a `graduation card' from him on Wednesday and a check for thirty dollars. The card was a Tampa Tribune order form because he couldn't find anything else. Rick had said earlier that the two of them had one shopping and couldn't find a graduation card anywhere. I thought it was funny and witty. I bought my base tube and it sounds damn good, not too loud, just perfect. I was comparing my car stereo to the one in Jon's van and was making fun of him.
I also received my housing bill today. I got Beaty Towers which is good. I had requested Broward Hall as my first choice because Derek, Minh, Jana, and Cindy did the same. I requested Stacy as a roommate and when he decided not to go, it probably got me bumped to Beaty. Oh well. But Beaty has some definite advantages. It is four roommates in an apartment like living arrangement with four rooms. Two double bedrooms, a KITCHEN with a sink, stove, and refrigerator, and our own bathroom! It is newly carpeted, air conditioned, with basic cable. In Broward, there is no carpet, no regenerator, one kitchen per floor, and one bathroom per thirty people. This could work out nicely as long as it is not run down. I don't think it is because some of the buildings were recently refurbished. I hope. Jon was saying that I will end up going to Florida for the first year, and get so bummed out from all the partying and studying, that I will want to come back to my job at Busch Gardens and go to USF for the last three years.
I don't want to leave Busch now as it is. I want Kim. She works tomorrow and Sunday. While I was at Sand Key on Wednesday and today, I kept thinking about all the things we did and said last Saturday. I was then psychoanalyzing it all. I was thinking along the line that when she said we would have good looking kids together, she has accepted me as a mature human being with whom she would have sex. He He. That sounds nice. Also, when I walked into the back after lunch that day, and saw the pad of paper with all of the doodles and the tiger, I asked who drew the tiger. Bryan said that he did and I told him that it was really good. I realize now that I praised something that Kim had done, in front of Kim, even though I didn't know that she had drawn it. I think she picked up on the fact that I thought something she had done was good, and I wasn't just saying it to be nice to her. She quickly picked up a pen and started working on the tiger after I said that.
When I walked in on Kim's break she seemed in a weird mood. It was like someone had just been talking bad about me to her and she was half upset about it. I wonder what she meant by pulling her fingers through my hair, though. I almost got defensive when she did, and got ready to get up, but I quickly relaxed and remembered (from Nicole) to leave her alone. She was standing, and we were facing each other, and she kept her hand on my hair for a while before she started back. I also like the fact that she trusted me enough to eat ice out of the cup I was holding that she had just seen me drink out of.
I'm thinking that this is all possibly just the way she is with friends, but too much is happening, and we talked far too much about too many personal things for me to believe that.
I'm partly referring to the fact that I am valedictorian. I never imagined that my rank would be anywhere near to number one. In fact I remember greatly hoping that I would make top fifteen, and was inwardly scared that I wouldn't. I had always heard about the people who always made straight A's, from Cindy Bush to Heath Harper to Jeannie Menoski. When I found out that I was number three, I flipped. Talk about a feeling of euphoria as well as a major ego boost. I found out that those Honors points really pay off.
My history teacher at Leto, Mr. John Hopkins, who was also the Student Council sponsor once told us a story. He was a very fun teacher who also made us learn alot, and was also very into our social activities and problems. He was one of my favorite teachers. Anyway, the story was about this girl who graduated from Leto many years ago. Everybody knew the person that was going to be valedictorian of that class, and nobody even thought of anybody else taking the honor. Nobody except that girl, she secretly took just enough classes, and made just the right grades, to beat the other person and to shock the school. Even though he told us this a while before we first received ranks, I always remembered it and it was sort of my inspiration to become number one. It made me sit down and think and figure out that with the right classes, I could beat Cindy. Once I knew that it was possible, I was damn determined to do my best to succeed, and I did. I thus have always been thankful to Mr. Hopkins, and have wondered if I would have ever though it possible enough for me to become valedictorian if it weren't for his story.
Speaking of favorite teachers, and great influences, I figure maybe I should write down their names so I will always remember. The first was Mrs. Edwards, my third and fifth grade teacher at Town & Country Elementary. Them there was Mr. Nabors at Potter for sixth grade. I first started doing well in math in his class because he made it fun. He had a contest once with a hard math problem. I won two rolls of pennies, which I still have, for getting the correct answer. He was also an interesting person. He could make beautiful chalk drawings, and carve reindeers from wood. The third was Mrs. Decker, my history teacher at Webb for eighth and ninth grades. She used to chain smoke and we made fun of her. She took us downtown many times on her own time to campaign for the 1988 elections. She was a fun and really nice lady. Stacy and I went and visited her once last year, she remembered me of course, but not Stacy. Then there is Mr. Hopkins.
I also was thinking about how I used to do back in the lower grades. I didn't do that great in many of my classes until they mattered. I went from C's in seventh grade science to straight A's from then on, until the end. It just seems amazing to me that I was under the wrong circumstances for so long and still came out so perfect. Obviously I have a much better self image and much more self confidence than I used to. I remember how I used to have a dreadful fear of talking in front of people, even in the gifted classes with the people I had been with for years. It was pure fear to that point that I once almost acted unrationally just because I had to give a couple of quick health reports for Coach Mueller in Health. Thank God nothing happened. He was a religious nut and tried his hardest to make a difference in the lives of his students, he really cared. I would love to go back and talk with him now, I think he would be very proud of my accomplishments. Anyway, now I am much more open and would never go back to being an introvert. As Jana said, she couldn't get me to talk to her for so long, and when she finally did she couldn't get me to shut up. Of course we used to talk, but it was just this year that it was about personal interesting stuff.
Another thing about my personality is that I always want the best. I would rather wait and not have something for a while, than to get a cheap version of something I want. I sort of used that philosophy in getting my job. Busch Gardens. I was wondering if, back a long time ago when we first had annual passes, if I ever thought that I would someday be working at Busch Gardens. I realize how extremely lucky I am to have gotten such a good job on the Flume ride. There were, so many people that day at the orientation, and only five of us were chosen to work on the Flume. Very few people got ride operations, and even then the only truly fun ones are the three water rides. I was lucky. I remember the day of the interview. I was there with four other people at that time, and none of our quick interviews were that impressive, except that I got to say all of my clubs and activities. Afterwards I lagged behind and told her about me working on valedictorian and so on. I have always wondered if I got a better job because of that, because Brad knew that I was valedictorian before I told anyone there.
They tell us how lucky we are to have gotten jobs there anyway, because there are always tons of people applying to Busch that are turned away. Only about three or four people got hired from Leto of the more than sixty that signed up. I really appreciate my job which is why I work hard to do good, and I seem to be the person that enjoys the job the most. I'm the only one that still has fun talking and waving to the people on a regular basis, especially the girls.
Uncle Jon stopped by today. I received a `graduation card' from him on Wednesday and a check for thirty dollars. The card was a Tampa Tribune order form because he couldn't find anything else. Rick had said earlier that the two of them had one shopping and couldn't find a graduation card anywhere. I thought it was funny and witty. I bought my base tube and it sounds damn good, not too loud, just perfect. I was comparing my car stereo to the one in Jon's van and was making fun of him.
I also received my housing bill today. I got Beaty Towers which is good. I had requested Broward Hall as my first choice because Derek, Minh, Jana, and Cindy did the same. I requested Stacy as a roommate and when he decided not to go, it probably got me bumped to Beaty. Oh well. But Beaty has some definite advantages. It is four roommates in an apartment like living arrangement with four rooms. Two double bedrooms, a KITCHEN with a sink, stove, and refrigerator, and our own bathroom! It is newly carpeted, air conditioned, with basic cable. In Broward, there is no carpet, no regenerator, one kitchen per floor, and one bathroom per thirty people. This could work out nicely as long as it is not run down. I don't think it is because some of the buildings were recently refurbished. I hope. Jon was saying that I will end up going to Florida for the first year, and get so bummed out from all the partying and studying, that I will want to come back to my job at Busch Gardens and go to USF for the last three years.
I don't want to leave Busch now as it is. I want Kim. She works tomorrow and Sunday. While I was at Sand Key on Wednesday and today, I kept thinking about all the things we did and said last Saturday. I was then psychoanalyzing it all. I was thinking along the line that when she said we would have good looking kids together, she has accepted me as a mature human being with whom she would have sex. He He. That sounds nice. Also, when I walked into the back after lunch that day, and saw the pad of paper with all of the doodles and the tiger, I asked who drew the tiger. Bryan said that he did and I told him that it was really good. I realize now that I praised something that Kim had done, in front of Kim, even though I didn't know that she had drawn it. I think she picked up on the fact that I thought something she had done was good, and I wasn't just saying it to be nice to her. She quickly picked up a pen and started working on the tiger after I said that.
When I walked in on Kim's break she seemed in a weird mood. It was like someone had just been talking bad about me to her and she was half upset about it. I wonder what she meant by pulling her fingers through my hair, though. I almost got defensive when she did, and got ready to get up, but I quickly relaxed and remembered (from Nicole) to leave her alone. She was standing, and we were facing each other, and she kept her hand on my hair for a while before she started back. I also like the fact that she trusted me enough to eat ice out of the cup I was holding that she had just seen me drink out of.
I'm thinking that this is all possibly just the way she is with friends, but too much is happening, and we talked far too much about too many personal things for me to believe that.