We got up once again at 10am, which continues to flabbergast grandma- "The day's half over!" and she made us all pancakes for breakfast. Uncle Bob was having his surgery, and with Velma still unable to walk without a cane, she wanted someone there who could help get uncle bob from the car into the house, as he would still be a little doped up from the general anaesthetic. So we chilled out at Brace's Bookstore for awhile (I'm so happy it's still open. I go every year and when I spent my summers here as a kid, I'd spend several hours there every day) until we got the call.
Turns out we were more useful babysitters than aides. Uncle Bob walked into the house just fine and furthermore, let out the corgis for us to wrangle and to grab the mail to distract us, so there was a great commotion at the door to the garage. Tay and I are trying to slip the leashes around the excited jumping dog's necks, I'm dropping the mail all over Dottie, and Bob slips inside and sits himself down in front of the TV.
And then Velma needs to get the prescription filled so she and grandma go off to Wal-Mart, which is known for its reliable and speedy service. I figure its going to be at least an hour, so we break out the cards and I get to work on being a sore loser at many hands of Idiot. Uncle Bob naps in his chair and I occasionally peek over at him.
An hour later, they get back and we take off for the Wentz Pool, armed with towels, a pool noodle, and a beat-up nerf football. Visiting Ponca, I occasionally have the feeling that medieval peasants must have felt, squatting in the ruins of Imperial Rome. There are still many places in Ponca which echo the wealth and opulence of the 30's and 40's town of oil barons and military men, and Wentz pool is one of them. It was built back in 1930 by Lew Wentz, an wealthy industrialist who donated the lands where a golf course, summer camp, and Olympic pool were built for the city.
The pool is quite beautiful- one passes through small castellated stone towers and crosses a lawn of stone cabins for the camp before arriving a huge grand stair covered in mosaic tiles between two huge stone pavilions overlooking the pool. Down the steps, where people lay out in the sun, the Olympic sized pool deck is surrounded by elegant stone railings and overlooks a picturesque view of lake Ponca in the distance. The old changing rooms and shower rooms, now closed, spiral around the base of the pool and used to have big peek windows into the water. It's a place that could easily accommodate hundreds of swimmers, but only a few dozen were there. The concessions pavilion didn't even have a shaved ice machine.
It was actually a lot of fun to play keep away with the nerf football and to tan on the steps, well worth the $2 cost of entry.
Anyway, we rushed back from the pool and I sequestered myself in grandma's office for a phone interview with Luxmark architects (not their real name). This was actually a second interview. The first interview was with the head of their LA office, which was more of a getting to know you, while this interview was much more directed to the particular internship. It's kind of hard to say how it went- I think I did a good job of conveying my abilities and interests, but then again, I'm really not very good on the phone. Actually, I've never called anyone more awkward on the phone than I am. So we'll see. They said that they would let me know in a week or two.
Grandma brought us back ribs and brisket from Head Country BBQ, which, for the record, is the best BBQ I've ever had, with the ribs easily beating out Pappy's in St.Louis.
After dinner, we all went out to a late night adventure of Wal-Mart shopping, then got ice cream sundaes at Braum's. I threw the idea out there, Tay leapt on it, and grandma said she wouldn't turn it down. (Guess where I got my sweet tooth?) Braum's unfortunately only exists within a half-day drive from their dairy farm near Oklahoma city. Their dairy is really cheap and fresh- we got single dip ice cream sundaes for less than $2 with ice cream far superior to Dairy Queen, Wendy's, McD's, whatever.
After the ice cream, we 'dragged Grand', (we might call it 'cruising' today) which is what grandma and other teens her age used to do in high school. Grand is not the high street it used to be, but the 20s architecture and store fronts still lend an air of the time.
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