There was this TV show in the 1960s called That Was The Week That Was. It was on NBC TV, in 1964 and 1965, based on a 1963 British show of the same name, which satirically summarized political events. Sometimes, life feels particularly out of kilter, maybe like a Tim Burton movie.
Saturday: I spent shopping with my father-in-law. I must say that I almost never shop in malls – they make me verklempt – but went to two of them that day. One, the evil Crossgates, I had been to only once in the past decade or more, and that to a free movie. It’s, unfortunately, the only place around here with an Apple store, which did fix my father-in-law’s computer problem. Then we went to Colonie Center. Both of these places were amazingly crowded, especially in the parking lots, which makes me think the financial crisis must be over.
Then to K-Mart, which looked run down, and had relatively few patrons, which made me feel as though it were March of 2009. We had a little party for the Daughter afterward.
Sunday: Church and housecleaning.
Monday: Took off to take care of some chores. I always overestimate how much I’ll get done on a day off. My bicycle has not been operating well. The rear tire was not “true”, and on every rotation, it was as though I had applied the brakes. The tire couldn’t be “trued”, so needed to be replaced. I had to leave the bike there, which was just as well, since the temperature dropped like a stone, and the wind picked up, during the day. Then planning for and attending the Friends of the Library meeting; I’m on the board, and in charge of the annual meeting. Since it was the Daughter’s actual natal day – though she doesn’t consider it to be so until 10:27 p.m. – we has some presents.
Tuesday: Work – the secretary was out, and I was answering phones, so I got very little reference done, especially in the morning.
Wednesday: Actually a productive workday, even though we had a library staff meeting. The Daughter went to bed around 8:30, but was up a couple of hours later with – let’s say, stomach distress. Both her parents were up with her until midnight.
Thursday: Home with the not all that sick child. The Wife leaves work early so she can get me to work on time for the March birthday party honoring me and one colleague. Still managed to get a couple reference questions done. Surprisingly get to the bike shop before it closed to retrieve the vehicle, grabbed a sandwich, and later had choir rehearsal.
Friday: The Albany schools were closed for some reason, and I was watching two 2nd graders, Lydia and her friend Leah. On the last half-day off from school during a workweek, Leah’s parents watched Lydia, and now it was my time to reciprocate. We played Uno, hide and seek, kickball, Chinese checkers; I was so exhausted and achy after that day, I could have gone to bed before supper. We also watched that Alice in Wonderland film with Johnny Depp, which was just fine. Afterward, though, the picture tube on the TV seemed to have died; I’m not saying it’s causal, but this week, I wouldn’t doubt it.
So today, there’s a surprise party, with all that entails. I dasn’t say more.
