Day Twenty-Seven...Cash Flow Issues

So today I listed some stuff I need to sell (haven't gotten one bite yet, but here's hoping), and here's why I need to sell them: 
(a) I legitimately need the space. My new abode is smaller, thus eliminating the need for the large coffee table and random tool-type stuff that I don't have anywhere to store.
(b) I'm an idiot and did not stop my bill pay this month.  I had already squared up with the cable, gas, & satellite companies, but I forgot to go onto my bank's site and stop the bill-pay.  Because I AM still using these services and the service is still on, these companies will not return the payment until after the last bill is out the door....which will be mid-August by their estimation......which is long after I need those funds. Ugh.

Sooooo, once again, the money crunch is on.  So, to take my mind off such things, as I was driving home today I thought I'd make a list of the coolest things about Ocean View:

1. Apparently there's some unwritten rule about men wearing shirts in the summer.  I must see at least a couple dozen sets of man nipples per day, and that's when I don't do much other than ride my bike around our neck of the woods.  When I actually venture down to the store that count can be much higher.  And these men all have big round deeply tanned bellies but little scrawny legs...curious.  Must be the margarita body.

2. No matter how crappy your day is, Mother Nature comes down with a fierceness on our beaches and will produce the most gorgeous, awe-inspiring sunsets time and again.

3. The people here are always in a Buffet state of mind.  Not only are the men always topless if it's above 78 degrees, everyone is friendly and courteous, yet respects your space (as in, your stake on the sand when swimming or fishing).  But everyone minds their business and doesn't look at you weird if you, oh say, walk out to your waist while wearing a sundress and just stand and watch the sunset with your skirt flared out around you and rippling on the waves.  And no one looks twice at you walking home dripping wet, fully dressed.  C'est la vie!

4. The art of satellite radio and how OV-ites have mastered it.  My friend Tony, an OV legend, can pick a station that will serve any function, any gathering, any day or evening or night on the beach with beers or the kids....it's like magic.  The soundtrack of  Ocean View is just spot on, all the time.

5. Bikes and dogs.  I can't step foot outside (well, maybe during the heat of the day, but then I'm not outside anyway) when there aren't loads of people walking their dogs and loads of people biking.  Biking with their kids, with their partner, biking in groups like Bike Norfolk....I love seeing a community that takes to the streets on a very regular basis, and OV definitely does that.

6. The way even the cashiers at the 7-11 remember your name, your kids' names, the kids' favorite flavor of Slurpee, and how you like your coffee...and that they will stop and say hi if they see you out around town.  That's definitely cool.

7. That the land our houses are built on was dragged up during a massive hurricane.  It's very, very awe-inspiring (and kind of scary during hurricane season...the phrase always comes to mind, "The Lord giveth and He taketh away."  He could rip Willoughby Spit right back out in the deep with Davey Jones if He wanted!).  Gives a little extra thrill to a summer thunderstorm! ;)

8. People building two or three houses on a lot all staggered like so they all get a glimpse of the water view.  Talk about sharing is caring.

9. There's an older black gentleman that walks his dog every morning and evening.  He looks up and waves at every car going by.....and from what I've seen, we all wave back (I know I do).  Yet when you ask anyone who he is, no one knows.  I like to think he's a friendly beach spirit that comes 'round every day to remind us to have some humanity, look at people, wave, and be nice!

10. Larry the Lifeguard.  Just.....seriously.  First of all, Larry's top half was stolen last year (who steals a giant lifeguard mannequin from the roof of a surf shop, but only from the waist up??), and the local email lists and Facebook groups were abuzz with talk of Larry's disappearance.  He was recovered (or did someone make another???  We'll never truly know..) and resumes his position standing guard over the tenuous block between 12th and 13th Bay.  What I found highly amusing is that normally the people on these listservs and groups do nothing but gripe and complain...about people putting out bulk trash too early, the aircraft noise, so-and-so's attitude at the last fish fry....but they can bond over a lifeguard mannequin?  Life is too funny sometimes.

11. See above...the aircraft noise.  On my end of the Spit, we are located directly across from the Navy base, and the helos practice right over our homes.  To me, it sounds like home, seeing as how I was on an aircraft carrier in the Navy and fell asleep to helos landing literally just a few feet above my head in my rack.  It also sounds like men hard at work practicing the skills that could very well save us one day.  It sounds like commerce, bringing jobs into our area. Yes, it does mean the horrific inconvenience of having to briefly pause for about ten seconds during a phone conversation once in a while, but I'm OK with that.

12.  The view.  Everywhere, from most windows in my house, I get an amazing view. Sometimes I spend time folding laundry in front of the window upstairs, just watching the sun sparkle on the water.  I was never a "beach person" before I moved here, but the beauty and tidal rhythms sucked me right in.  There are places around here that are just breathtakingly beautiful, so much I can't stand it.  Coming down the end of the trail off 12th Bay and seeing the water open up before you.  Hiking up the highest dune in OV right across from Uncle Tony's place, pushing through underbrush and digging your toes into the steep sand hill and suddenly, the world turns electric and you're staring down the face of one of the most gorgeous views in this metro area, much less in OV....I always have to close my eyes for a minute because it's such a rush to the senses.

Definitely going to miss all of this. I don't know if I'll ever be able to stay at some sterile "ocean resort" again....I'd much rather camp out with buddies on the Bay and get salty that way. :)

OK, going to hit the hay and dream of ...you know, money, landing a job...the usual.