36 hours ago, five guys and a girl dug a giant hole in the beach. As I sat and watched them slowly sink into the space once inhabited by sand, I couldn't help but wish there was a metaphor that I could incorporate into this post. But I have nothing. Anyway, about six feet later, they put the finishing touches on the breastworks of the hole and I walked back with them to the house, lacking a way to start the entry about the hole...

As my previous post indicated, I have arrived at a beach house in the Outer Banks. I am spending the week with a semi-random assortment of friends from high school and college. There are some people here who would not fit that description, but they paid, so I respect them for their effort. Judson picked me up from my house around 11 am on Saturday and we made good time. May is apparently still off-season, so there was not much beach related traffic although it is in the mid-80s right now. The ocean is still very cold, but more on that later.

For those of you who may have heard the rumors, yes, there were some problems with our original lease. But quick thinking by Brian and Judson found us a new place that meets our needs. The ultimate lesson is that when you have cash, you can usually find someone willing to exchange it for a good or service (Even on notice as short as a week!). We probably partially benefitted from the aforementioned off season status. The schedule of the college student is not representative of the beach-going population as a whole, and I can't complain. Oh, and there is a second lesson-- "Twiddy Sucks." That was an important thing to get on the internet. The power of capitalism depends on future consumers having full information about their options, and we will hopefully impact the marginal decisions of those people considering which realty company to do business with. But that's for the future.

To create jealousy, I will try and make it all sound better than it actually is. This house has, in no particular order, a hot tub, a pool, a pool table, four televisions, and a screened in porch. Not bad in anyone's opinion. To be fair, there are some drawbacks to this particular location. It is about a ten minute walk to the beach, so we only go out to it once or twice a day. There are no linens, so I had to bring my own sheets and make my own bed! I don't even know if this qualifies as a vacation (from a technical standpoint, at least).

But outside of the minor inconveniences, the "Beachcomber" has its own special charm. The beds are acceptable, the kitchen and grill both serve us well. When we are not out at the beach or asleep in those beds, we spend most of our time on the third floor living room. We have watched a movie or two during the lazy afternoons. Two brave Xboxes® have been linked so that eight people could play Halo® at once. It was a thing of beauty for those playing it. Some members of our party claimed to not understand why people would go to so much trouble for a video game. Perhaps even the players did not understand what irresistible force drove them to such lengths, but it was done, and there is no turning back.

I have no specific plans for the rest of the week. I believe the hole diggers would like to repair the damage that time has already wrought on their hole. Since there are some unanswered questions: The hole was dug with three real shovels. Not those little plastic ones, but the kind you might purchase from a hardware store (or in this case, borrow from your parents' too shed.) It took about an hour to get the hole dug, the only thing stopping the digging was the water table. The great diggers were Mark, Judson, Max, Brian, Justin and Chris, for the record. Today we found hieroglyphics on the walls of the hole. It was amusing. If they remain until tomorrow, I will probably get a picture or two. So yes, other than eating and drinking, the only thing I have accomplished was watching other people dig a giant hole in the beach. Oh, and I have a small amount of sunburn on my left arm where I apparently forgot to apply sunscreen. You live and you burn, I guess.

People are starting to grill, so I am going to go out and get some food. Enjoy the pictures. The first one is the hole after little kids started playing with it, the second is laying out at the pool, the third is our house, the fourth is a video game, the fifth and sixth are chilling in the porch, and the sixth is a dinner shot. Hope that helped with the ones that were not self-evident.