stensvertigo, lifeguards and alicia keys.

on monday, i had vertigo all day, the kind where you can't walk across the room without it spinning around you. i felt better by the evening time, and tried to make up for my rice-only diet with a can of soup and some chicken on a stick. i was pissed, cause if you live in southeastern VA you know monday was the first break in the 100 degree heat we'd been having. there was a high of something like 84 degrees!!! it was the ideal beach day.

i woke up tuesday morning a felt a little woozy, but generally fine. i watched the ellen degeneres show cause i was actually awake in time to see it (at 9 am). alicia keys was a guest. i had forgotten how much i just love alicia keys, and i knew i wanted to listen to her while i made up for lost beach time. a high of 90 sounded fine to me, considering i'd actually beached it in the 100 degree heat. i sunscreened up, grabbed a ginormous bottle of water and the diary of alicia keys and hit the beach.

oh, it was a great beach day. i felt fabulous, not too hot at all. i made sure to stick my feet in the water to cool down a couple times (no floating, though, as the bay has jellyfish). after i got back to my towel after one such wading, all my stuff was windblown. a sign, i thought, time to head in. at this point it had been just under 2 hours.

i was gathering all my stuff when the darkness started to close in. man it came on fast. i'll just walk to the seawall, i thought, and sit with my head between my knees for a while. i stumbled to the wall (maybe 75 feet? i have no concept of distance) and sat down. i put my head between my knees. i tried to lay down for a bit. the woozy wouldn't go away. finally somebody walked by.

are you hot? he asked helpfully.
i'm just having some vertigo, can you get the lifeguard for me? i replied.
are you sure? do you want some iced tea?

i'm sorry, but when someone asks you to get the lifeguard do you generally ask them if they want iced tea????

yeah, i didn't think so either.

no thanks, just the lifeguard.

as he returned with the lifeguard i heard them talking. she could probably use some shade. oh, that pissed me off.

when they reached me i explained the situation. i had vertigo yesterday, i thought i was better, can you just walk me home? i live in that white house. i pointed to my house.

i just have to wait for my supervisor, here he comes. a rescue truck was heading down the beach. the guard and his supervisor said i should just hop in, the two guys in the truck would give me a ride home. but i'm right across the street, i just want you to walk me home in case i pass out in the middle of the street.

i recognized the supervisor from elementary and middle school, i think. i sure enough didn't ask his name, though.

put some ice on the back of your neck, he told me, just take it easy for the rest of the day.

of course, we couldn't just drive straight to my house, we had to go all the way down to the tuck entrance and back track.

"these are nice trucks," i said, the air conditioning blasting right on me.
"yeah," they agreed. we passed some girls. "those girls definitely think we're following them now. the first girl is the hottest."
"the one in the brown shirt?" i asked. "hey, is arianna working? and paul?"
"yeah," the supervisor said "i was at paul's stand when i got the call for you."
"their big sister is my best friend," i said.
"nora? he's paul's best friend." he pointed at the other guy.
"oh are you paul's nick??"
"yeah," replied nick. they laughed.
"hi, i'm erika."
"nice to meet you."
"well, nora was dating a guy named nick for a while so..."

then we got to my house. let's be clear about a few things now:

1. i spend 2 hours on the beach in 90 degree heat all the time.
2. i drank 32 oz of water while i was at the beach. i drank more before i even got to the beach.
3. i realize it was stupid to sunbathe when i'd had horrible vertigo the day before.
4. the whole almost fainting thing really killed my beach buzz! it was such a good time at the beach, too. sigh.
5. i need to, ahem, check my diet. nobody died.
6. vertigo really fucking sucks.