everyone needs a barber like this

This morning started off warmer than usual. We're at our preferred lay berth in Brooklyn today; last night we finished up bunkering the last job of the week just before sundown, and were all fast at the berth by 2200. Big B promptly went out for a walk, the weather being nice and temperature more comfortable with the sun down. A 50-something year old man, Big B was a former marathon runner until his health made that impossible in his early 40's, but he's still a walker, and he was out collecting Pokemon until midnight, for which I pointed at him and laughed and can anticipate continuing to do so for some time.

   I was at my desk playing FARCRY 3, so pot...kettle.  At least I was sniping  pretend mercenaries in my game.

 This morning I was up and out the hatch by 0720. For once I was thankful for the buildings of Brooklyn and the shade they provided. I walked the 1/2 mile to our office, weighed in (19lbs gone this tour so far. I'm being healthy again, having grown tired of struggling to buy pants at nicer stores), and walked just under 5 miles before returning to the floating HQ.
   Along the way I stopped in to talk to the middle eastern cabbies we use for transport, again getting my belly slapped and hand shook for being out walking. I'm getting to know the men better and better as time goes on.
     I stopped in and talked with Mikhail, my barber, as well. A Kazakhstani Jew in his early 20's, Mikhail has the demeanor of a man 30 years older, and, along with his wife and his brother David, they have a small shop in a trendy neighborhood in Brooklyn; I stop in just to say hi- I tend to have them buzz my head in the summer, so I only need a haircut once every 3 months.  We talked about nothing in particular, but when I mentioned that I was planning to buy a ticket for the lottery today (it's up to 400 million), David walked with me to a local bodega so we could get our tickets.


    I imagine that mornings like this are an example of the Brooklyn of 50 years ago, when neighborhoods were communities in a truer sense.

 At any rate, the heat was fairly brutal, and I had to shower when I got back to the HQ before I could head out on deck and do a little painting.

 I'll walk again tonight, probably on the same route, though it will be after hours and I'll exchange familiar foreigners with upper-class leftist SWPL's with lamentable style, hopefully bookended by more interesting people to look at as I soak through another set of street clothes.