Give My Regards To Haddon Avenue

I began my only day off this week with library volunteering. I was a busy little bee today. I put children's books left randomly on shelves on a cart to be put away later, I organized the "A" picture books, and I did the children's DVDs. (The B picture books weren't quite as bad.) Despite the gorgeous, warm-but-not-humid day, the library was quite busy, mostly families with young children hoping to find entertainment for tomorrow and the weekend. The library was having it's own problems as I left. Their Internet had gone down, and according to an e-mail they sent out later, remains so.

Instead of heading towards Super Fresh, I went in the other direction. I wanted to look at Walgreens and see if they had any of this month's WCares WebKinz, as well as some more Care Bear Cousins. It took me a while to find the WebKinz, which were in a different spot closer to the front this time, but I walked out with a rare Lil'Kinz Bassett Hound, Bright Heart Raccoon, and Lotsa Heart Elephant.

Since I was in the area and not in a major hurry, I decided to further explore Westmont's end of Haddon Avenue. (The other end is the Collingswood Historic District.) If Collingswood is decidedly turn-of-the-20th-century and Oaklyn's West Clinton Avenue has a sleepy 30s Andy Hardy vibe, Westmont feels like I should be cruising around in a muscle car, blaring Tin Lizzy's "The Boys Are Back In Town." The mix of 70s shopping centers, 90s storefronts, and 20s small stores (and the Westmont Theater) has a gritty semi-urban 70s vibe to it.

I stopped at a few stores. The book store was closed for the week, but I did pick up a patriotic-themed cardboard tiara and a bag of red, white, and blue stars to tape on my windows from a party store and peeked at the delicious goodies at McMillian's Bakery. I was sweating bullets by that point, so I headed for Rita's Water Ice for a Coconut Cream regular-sized ice.

The bike didn't feel right as I tried to take off down Haddon Avenue, and when I got off, I realized why - the front tire was flat! After my neighbor fixed the back tire only days ago! I'd taken the blue stationary bike today instead of my mountain bike. I wanted to test it after it was fixed, and the stationary bike has a basket. (I still haven't found one for the mountain bike.)

I was lucky to find a good-sized Ace Hardware and an auto repair/tire store two blocks down from Rita's. I bought the new inner tube from Ace and took the bike next door. The mechanic who owned the store and his granddaughter were nice enough to fix it for me...including after he accidentally punctured the inner tube I'd bought after discovering the tire was split. I ended up buying two inner tubes and a new tire, but the mechanic, his daughter, and the photographer who came by to do a photo inspection of the shop and helped out after he revealed he'd once worked in a bike shop, all finally got the bike back on the road. It worked well enough to get me home. (I just now have one white-walled tire and one black. Ace didn't have any white, and I was in no position to be picky.)

After I got in, I grabbed my laundry and went straight over to Uncle Ken's. I read The Elusive Pimpernel, talked to Dad, Jodie, Vanessa, and Rose, and had a fantastic swim in a super-warm pool. Rose is getting ready for her trip to Costa Rica. Everyone else is getting ready for tomorrow. We're going to head down to visit Uncle Ken's daughter Samantha and her family as soon as I get in.

Oh, and meet Kinsey the Lil'Kinz Bassett Hound! I thought a mystery book name was appropriate for a dog who comes with a "Detective Desk." Kinsey is named after Kinsey Milhone, the heroine of Sue Grafton's Alphabet series, a long-time favorite of mine. Kinsey came with her awesome Detective Desk, a Green Lava Lamp, and a Magic Carpet. She's now under the watchful eye of Linda the Collie in their Library Condo. The WCares finally paid off for me, too - I got a WCares mult-colored "Tubbie Tummies Bear" and an armoire, along with a recipe and 237 Kinzcash. I gave Kinsey the bear for her room. I have no idea where to put the armoire.