August

3rd Had another not so bad weekend so I should write something about it. Friday was really nice and I managed to get a day off work. It was also Josh's last day on PEI so everyone (Jon, Caitlin, Noel, Chris, Josh and, a little later, Jenn) went to Brackley beach for a few hours. It was quite busy when we got there, and a jellyfish warning was posted. This was somewhat good news for Josh as he wanted to know what getting stung felt like. After slapping a small jellyfish tentacle side up onto his stomach he found out. The water was really warm for the first time this Summer so I did as much swimming as I could.

Friday night everyone went out to Baba's to see The Sidewalks and a few other bands. (One of them was Supercar, which I believe was on a CD I got for Christmas back in jr. high aaaages ago.) Unfortunately we didn't stay to see all the bands play and left near the end of Fugato's set. After getting some slices at PEI Pizza Noel, Josh and I decided to walk home in the rain. It wasn't raining too bad so we thought we'd be alright, but then a car hit a huge puddle (I'm feeling it was intentional) and got most of us (me especially) quite wet. It then started raining pretty heavily soon after, and none of us had jackets. By the time we reached the house we were all pretty drenched, but it was a fun walk. Josh left early Saturday morning to head home to Ontario for a day, and then off to Europe for a month.

I didn't feel like doing anything Saturday so I just cleaned and did laundry for a while. Jon and Joey came to town so we got Andrew and went downtown so Jon could buy some records at Back Alley Music. We had lunch at Britt's, got some ice cream at Cows and then walked around town for a little while.

I went to Summerside Saturday night so I'd be ready to get to the beach on Sunday. We spent most of the night at Justin and Jon's (Justin and Angie were in Halifax) playing Rock Band, which we haven't done in ages. Rob even stopped by for a bit.

The weather Sunday was amazing so Joey, Jon, Andrew, Buddy and I went to Thunder Cove in the afternoon. I'm not sure what caused it but I've never seen that beach so busy! There were probably four or five times as many cars as I've ever seen, and most of them from out of province. We still managed to get a spot with some shade for Buddy, which was the only real important part. The water was amazing so I swam a lot (went out a little deeper and found a baby lobster) and at one point walked into a huge jellyfish when I wasn't paying attention and got the most painful jellyfish sting I've ever experienced.

After the beach we went back to my old place and had a barbecue, played some video games, and then headed back to Charlottetown. I ended up staying late watching "The Watchmen" with Chris. Not a bad movie but I felt pretty confused for most of the first half, and then found the second half kinda too cliche, even for a superhero movie.

Merina is coming to visit! We're going to pick her up at the airport Friday night. She's apparently staying until Joey goes back to Winnipeg at the end of August.

August

10th More weekend updates! Thursday everyone left work half an hour early to attend a going away party for John at Peake's down on the waterfront. Most of the Sculpin crew was there and a few from Other Ocean (including Beep and Andrew). We ate a serious amount of appetizers and drank a LOT of beer. I didn't plan on drinking but due to a misunderstanding I ended up having quite a bit. After a few hours at Peake's it got dark so a few of us went to Dooley's for more drinks and some pool. After about an hour there we shifted to Baba's for the rest of the night. John bought two pitchers of Sweet-O for everyone and we all hung out on the back deck. I had a pretty good time and it turned out to be a great farewell party for John.

Friday night Joey and Kalon came down to Charlottetown because Merina's flight was coming in. There was a lot of thunder that night so Andrew, Kalon and I climbed up on the roof to watch it for a while. After we came down Joey, Noel, Kalon and I walked to the Ultramar to get some slushes and then hung out in the living room in the dark with everyone else and watched some very intense rain and thunder. Around midnight we went to the airport to get Merina, went back to my house for a bit, and then Joey, Merina and Kalon went back to Summerside.

Saturday I went to Summerside so we could all go out to the beach. We ended up at McCaulin's Point but it really wasn't much of a beach day so we just explored a bit. I spent most of the evening on the couch playing PS2 and finally finished Shadow of the Colossus. Now I'm playing through Silent Hill 2 and Okami. Seems I very rarely play "new" video games these days.

Noel and Andrew came down Saturday night so we could go to the beach on Sunday. Tyler also drove down Sunday morning so the whole lot of us went to Thunder Cove. Ryan Barrett is on PEI with his girlfriend Christy so they met us there with Ryan's family. It was a great day for the beach. Nice and hot and the water was warm, and not nearly as packed as last Sunday. After Thunder Cove Joey, Merina and I went to the China Star with Ryan and Christy for supper, and then I went back home to Charlottetown.

August

19th Yay no more evening shifts! Friday after work at ten I took a walk down to the Alibi to meet up with Joey, Merina, Noel and a few others for an Intoxicado & Sidewalks show. I was feeling pretty lazy so I mostly just sat around and listened to the bands play. We hung around at my place for a bit afterwards and then I drove Joey and Merina back to Summerside around three in the morning.

Saturday afternoon everyone met up at Shining Waters in Cavendish for some water-slide fun. It was really nice out so the place was pretty busy but we went on all the slides a few times and then checked out everything else in the park. (Petting zoo, pedal boats, scary cave thing.) On the way out Joey, Merina, Sarah and I found this crazy house hidden away on the side that had the most amazing thing inside. I don't wanna ruin it but if you go to Shining Waters make sure you find that house!

After the water-park we went to the Cavendish boardwalk for supper and then explored for a bit. Andrew and Alison were camping at Sunset so Joey, Merina, Noel and I went to their site for a little bonfire for a bit before going home.

Sunday morning everyone met up at my place in Charlottetown to go to Basin Head! (That place is almost overtaking Thunder Cove as my favorite beach.) It took much longer to get out there than I remember but it was well worth it in the end. I spent pretty much the whole afternoon jumping off the pier and bridge they have set up. By the end I was able to dive off the top of the bridge, which everyone advised against, cause the water isn't so deep, but it turned out to be pretty easy. While there I met up with a few people I know like Andrew (the owner of the company I work for) and Zhu and her friends. Strange to see familiar people at a beach that is so far out of the way.

Today after lunch I bought some new strings for the acoustic guitar in my room. (Joey broke one over the weekend.) After I got home from work I tried putting em on with only YouTube to assist me. It really wasn't so bad and aside from one string they look pretty clean. The previous strings were pretty ancient so the guitar sounds much brighter now, which is actually gonna take some getting used to.

Only one weekend left of Summer before I head to Winnipeg. I hope the nice weather keeps up a bit longer. (Although it has been pretty brutally warm these last couple of days.)