First mate's log:

August 19, 1969

I guess there was some big rock concert in New York over the weekend. Half a million people! No, the Mosquitoes weren't there, but it still sounds amazing. And a month ago, astronauts walked on the moon! All these things are happening in the world, and other worlds, and we just hear about them on the radio.

But the Skipper did buy a TV last week. BITV won't start broadcasting until Labor Day, September 1st, but we'll be ready. I won't be able to sit at home and watch all day, since we'll be doing so many ferry runs, but at least I'll get to watch more than I have in five years, not counting the brief return to Hawaii last year. And of course, it's not like we'll have all Big Three networks. According to Ginger, there will be some original programming, plus some old movies, and then some syndicated shows from a year to twenty years ago. So a mixed bag, from I Love Lucy to The Monkees.

It'll be twenty hours a day, 6 a.m. to 2 a.m., all seven days of the week, so 140 hours total. That's obviously a lot more than we've ever had around here, compared to zero, but it's less than people have back home. Still, I'm old enough to remember what it was like before my family had a TV, and how exciting it was when I was nine and we got one. I'm excited about it now, and happy for Ginger, who's looking forward to being queen of the TV station.

There's another "queen" on Blenford right now, Beebe Gallini, the cosmetics queen. I don't know much about makeup, other than the brands my sister used in the '50s. The girls, I mean Ginger and Mary Ann, made their own makeup out of berries and stuff when we were marooned. I can still picture the different berry tastes of their island lipstick. Now Mary Ann gets lipstick, blush, and eye stuff from Garst's, but she always has a fresh, wholesome look, so she wears less than Ginger, who is more glamorous and is an actress, soon to be a TV actress. Neither of them has kissed me on the lips since we were rescued, so I don't know what their new lipsticks taste like, although I think about Mary Ann's a lot.

Anyway, Miss Gallini is very glamorous herself, but different than Ginger. According to the Professor, who's had both ladies flirt with him, Miss Gallini (who goes by her maiden name because she's a career gal, although she's been married four or five times) doesn't have Ginger's sensible side and she doesn't at all understand science. She's more like her good friend, Mrs. Smith, who's the one who invited her to "my little island retreat," as she calls it, even though there are 5000 people there now. She's a socialite, like the baroness, while Ginger grew up middle-class like me and had to learn glamour (not like me).

Ginger interviewed her for her talk show, even though that won't start airing for another couple weeks. Ginger told me that Miss Gaillini might be one of the sponsors for BITV, even though it's a pretty small audience compared to what she'd have back home. And Miss Gallini is looking for someone to design the new factory she's building in Hawaii. Ginger told her that Mr. Brady is a great architect, since Ginger saw what he designed for our island, not just the huts from the time of our marooning but all the new buildings of the last year or so. I don't think he's ever designed a factory, but he probably could.


Carol Brady's diary:

August 20, 1969

Mike got home late tonight and I was terribly worried. He went over to Blenford on the 3 p.m. ferry and was supposed to come back in the boat he planned to buy. I'd already looked at it with him earlier in the week, and it's a good reliable "family boat" that can seat all of us and make the journey to and from Blenford as needed, although I don't know if I'd trust it to more distant islands. I was nervous about him sailing it alone, but the Skipper promised to keep it in sight from the ferry.

He has a larger ferry now, with three new crew, all of them Navy vets, the youngest recently returned from Vietnam. The oldest knew Tim! Capt. McHale and I have talked a little about Tim, and I found it comforting, although of course the Skipper knew him, too. I love Mike dearly, but Tim will always be a part of me, and of my early adulthood. Also of course, the girls are his daughters by blood, even if Mike has adopted them, and I can see aspects of Tim in them as they get older, like Marcia's ambition and Jan's freckles. (I see it less in Cindy, but she never really knew him, and she takes after my side more in looks.)

Anyway, I would've gone with Mike to get the boat, but our telephones were supposed to be installed today and, although Alice could've handled it of course, I felt like Mike and/or I should be here for it, especially since the workmen were vague on the time. They did finally show up at 5:10, the same time that Gilligan brought me a note from Mike saying, "Honey, I'm sorry I'll be late, but I'm having a business dinner that may lead to an exciting and well-paid project. I'll come home as soon as I can."

I was very confused, because this came out of nowhere. And I understand that he couldn't call home, since our phones weren't working yet (the workmen did finish up as the children and I were eating dinner), but couldn't he have said more in that seemingly rushed note? Who was he having dinner with and what was this project? And why would he want to even take on another project, when he's been so stressed and overworked doing designs for Mr. Howell's further development of this island? Remember, Mr. Howell isn't stopping at a population of 500. He wants to get to 1600 by next summer! That will be mean a lot of new buildings for Mike to design, and even if he reuses designs, it's still a huge project.

As for the money, we have everything we need. Oh, sure, it'd be nice to have a slightly bigger house, and we do hope to send all the children to college, but we're fine for now, especially compared to our primitive lifestyle a year and a half ago.

And I had to sit there at the dinner table, while the kids asked why Dad wasn't home and when they'd get to see the boat, as the workmen clomped from room to room and up and downstairs, hooking up the phones.

As Alice and I did the dishes and the kids listened to the radio in the living room, she said, "I'm sure everything's fine, Mrs. Brady."

I nodded but I still worried. It was a relief when I heard Mike's key in the front door and then his "Hi, Honey, I'm home!" I ran to him and hugged and kissed him like we were still newlyweds.

He held me and kissed me back, but then he chuckled and said, "Is this what I've been missing out on working from home?"

I didn't laugh. "Were you OK in the boat? It's dark now."

"It was fine, Carol. And I'm sorry if you were worried about me. Did the telephone installers come by today?"

"Yes, they left about an hour ago."

"Great, then I can call you next time."

I let go and looked up at him. (If I've never mentioned it, he's a foot taller than I am! Which is very attractive but it does make it hard to have face-to- face conversations close up.) "Next time?"

"I'm taking on the project I mentioned in my note, which means I'll have to go over to Blenford a few times in the next few weeks. I'll tell you about the details, but first I want to say hi to the kids."

So we went in the family room and the children all rushed up to greet Mike, although they were less concerned about his absence than excited about the boat.

"Can I sail it, Dad?" asked thirteen-year-old Greg, which did make me smile.

"Maybe in two or three years."

"Is it a thailboat, Daddy?" Cindy asked.

"No, Sweetie, it's more like The Minnow."

"But without a big hole in the side," said Jan.

"When can we see the boat, Dad?" Peter asked.

"Tomorrow morning."

"Aw, we have to wait all night?" Bobby whined.

"I think it's time for us to go upstairs," said Marcia, with her usual Miss Protocol sense of what's right.

So the children reluctantly trooped up to their rooms as we promised to say goodnight and tuck them in later. Mike and I were alone in the family room and we sat down on one of the sofas. We held hands as he told me that he was at the boat lot when Gilligan brought him a note on engraved stationery, asking him to dine with Erika Tiffany Smith that evening. He would've said no but she said that another guest wanted to offer him an exciting and well-paid architectural project. He couldn't help being curious and he figured he'd at least get a free, fancy meal out of it. So he tore off the bottom of the sheet, borrowed a pen from the boat-dealer, and wrote the note to me, which he gave to Gilligan to deliver. Then he told the boat-dealer he'd be back in an hour or so.

Before he went to the Balinkoff Castle (as he still thinks of it), he stopped by to see one of his architect friends on that island to borrow a suit and tie, since Mike was dressed very informally (plaid and jeans) because he thought it would be best for steering the boat. He even considered a tuxedo but decided that would be too formal and less business-like. Mike is always handsome, but he looks particularly dapper in a tux, so I'm glad he didn't wear one this evening.

I haven't forgotten that the baroness flirted with Mike before she set her sights on the Professor. And it turned out that there was another attractive, much-married socialite there, Beebe Gallini! I've heard that no one man can resist her charms. Mike says he's immune to them and I have nothing to worry about.

I hope that's true, because she's the one who made the "exciting" offer. She wants him to design a new cosmetics factory in Honolulu, and it must be her signature color, pink, hot pink in fact. He is interested in the challenge and, yes, the money.

"But what about your work for Mr. Howell?"

"I'll talk to him tomorrow, but I think that project is at a point where I can take another break. Besides, how long can it take to design one little pink factory?"

I couldn't tell how much he was kidding. Anyway, I'm very conflicted about this, and I haven't been able to give much thought to the boat, other than it will be a way for him to work for Miss Gallini (her maiden name, for professional reasons) more easily than he could've done a month ago. I wish I could confide in someone besides my faithful diary, but I don't want people to think there's anything wrong with my marriage, especially after the "Dear Libby" nonsense last year.


August 22, 1969

Mr. Brady bought a boat, so he doesn't take the ferry anymore, but he has been going over to Blenford a lot this week. He is designing a factory for Beebe Gallini, but she keeps changing her mind about what she wants, so he'll draw something and then he'll have to make new sketches and take them back over for her approval. He told me a little about it when I saw him in the Blenford Harbor today. The factory has to be "Gallini pink" but first she wanted it to look like a powderpuff and it was hard for him to get the sketch to look fluffy enough, and he wasn't sure what "exterior would produce that effect in reality." Then she wanted towers that look like lipsticks. The latest is that she wants windows that look like eyes, with fake-eyelash curtains or blinds.

I'm glad I'm not an architect. The Skipper can be a tough boss sometimes, but I know he's (usually) smarter than I am and he definitely knows more about ships and the sea than I do. And I like working on a ferry. In some ways, it's the same thing every day, but I like that predictability and reliability. At the same time, every day is different, in the way the sea changes and how we don't have the exact same passengers every day, especially now that there are more people on our island.

Also, I'm getting to know the rest of the crew, who were all in the Navy, too. Capt. McHale is old enough to retire, somewhere in his 60s, but he wanted "an easy gig," which I guess working on a ferry that has four runs on weekdays and one on Saturdays is compared to some jobs. Lt. Stubing is in his late 30s and he served in Korea, so he likes the Pacific and is happy to live on an island but still travel, even if it's just back and forth to Blenford. Seaman Smith just returned from Vietnam, so it's kind of the same thing for him, except that he wants to be somewhere peaceful.

I feel guilty sometimes that I didn't serve in a war, but I was away from '64 to '68, and now I'm 25, so I'm too old to be drafted. Plus, I am a coward, most of the time. Getting hunted by Jonathan Kincaid was scary enough, and I'd hate to go through that every day. Besides, even if this was peacetime, I'd hate to leave the Skipper, Mary Ann, the Bradys, and everybody. This is really my home now.


August 23, 1969

Mike was supposed to take the family out on the boat today, since it's Saturday, his day off. But Miss Gallini called and summoned him back to Blenford, again. I don't know how much more of this I can take, although Mike says he'll have Monday off, too, because Beebe will be the guest of honor at a charity event that Mrs. Smith is throwing that evening, and so of course she'll have to get her hair and nails done, as well as go for fittings. I really hope she doesn't call him over tomorrow, because I don't know how I would explain his absence at church to Reverend Alden.

I don't know how much more of this I can take. Not only is Mike more stressed-out and overworked than ever, but it's hard for me to contain my jealousy over his being at the beck and call of that woman.

I finally decided to go talk to Mrs. Howell, since that's what I would've done if we'd never been rescued and Beebe Gallini had landed on our island after Mike and I were married, and Beebe had flirted with him even more than Mrs. Smith did. After all, Mrs. Howell has been married a long time and has had to contend with jealousy, like the times Ginger mildly flirted with Mr. Howell. Furthermore, she knows that world that Mrs. Smith and Miss Gallini come from, although she's less of a jet-setter and more old-money.

I told Alice I had to run an errand, grateful that she was around to watch the kids. I knew this wouldn't be the simple matter it would've been of just dropping by the Howell hut. I had to walk to the Howells' mansion and then wait to be announced by the butler. But Mrs. Howell herself, Lovey, was as gracious and welcoming as ever.

She offered me tea and a sympathetic ear. Among other things, she said, "Michael loves you and the children and is devoted to your family. At most, Beebe has turned his head but I know he'd never stray." And she also said that Beebe has a short attention span and she'll forget Mike, and the factory, when something new and flashy comes along.

In some ways, that's worse, that he's putting all this time and effort into a project that might not even happen. My hope is that she'll like today's designs and this will wrap up quickly, with a nice paycheck but no future Gallini projects as his reward.


August 25, 1969

Wow, we took Beebe Gallini from and to Blenford today! It's still unusual for anyone who doesn't live on Brady's Island to come over here, since there's not really anything that we have that Blenford doesn't, although we do now have a butcher shop and some other more specialized stores than Garst's. And Miss Gallini is so famous and glamorous. And flirtatious. She flirted a lot with Lt. Stubing, especially on the way back. We took her over on the 4:30 from Blenford and she caught the 6:00 back because she's going to some charity event this evening. (The Howells were going to it, too, but they have a yacht and their own captain now, so they don't take the ferry much anymore.)

I guess she was going over to discuss her factory with Mr. Brady, although he's mostly been going to Blenford to meet with her. She didn't come back with any blueprints or anything, but she probably didn't want to drag them with her to the charity event.


August 26, 1969

Beebe Gallini is out of our lives, probably for good, since we live on an isolated island, and even Blenford isn't easy to get to. But first she came to the home that I feared she'd wreck, and instead her signature makeup and the hairdo that took three hours were wrecked. Normally, I'd scold the children for their misbehavior and mistreatment of a guest, but I couldn't bring myself to do more than send Peter, Bobby, and Cindy to their rooms. Peter sent his model airplane straight into Beebe's carefully arranged red hair, "accidentally" he claims, although I have to wonder. I might be able to see the youngest kids innocently deciding to put Miss Gallini at the center of their water-pistol fight, but I also wonder if Greg and Marcia put them up to it. As for Jan, I later overheard her asking Marcia, "So we don't need a spider after all?" I decided that for once, I didn't want to know.

The children weren't the only reason Miss Gallini has fired Mike as her architect. The reason why she came over to "our quaint little island" wasn't just to meet me, "the little woman." She had a "brilliant" idea to have her factory designed like a compact, with the roof on hinges. Mike said this was impossible from an engineering standpoint. I think that he was just about to quit anyway, when Peter's plane dive-bombed the Gallini coiffure. Mike isn't upset about losing the contract, since "I was almost on the verge of a nervous breakdown."

I didn't say that it could've broken our home, but I'm very glad this experience is over and he can go back to the sort of stress he's used to, with Mr. Howell.