"I'm a Yankee Doodle Dandy..."

Work was a pain in the rear today. We had a lot of annoying customers for a day that was generally on-and-off steady. One woman fussed about how her bags were filled, because she has to climb up steps to her apartment. (Um, so do I. I don't fuss about it. Just take one bag at a time.) I was so happy to get right to my break after being done with her!

I was so fed up when I rode home today. I'm tired of these annoying, obnoxious, ignorant people. What is WRONG with these folks? Organize your bags later if you don't like how we helped you, but don't fuss and whine and hold up the line! I needed the swim at Uncle Ken's. I went over there and did my laundry and swam. The water felt great, warmer than last week (if not quite as warm as in late June), and my swim was fantastic.

Lauren sent me a special treat from Amazon.com, which arrived today - the classic 1942 bio-musical Yankee Doodle Dandy, on the life of popular early 20th century composer/performer George M. Cohan. James Cagney won a much-deserved Oscar for his bravura performance as the energetic writer of such classic all-American tunes as "Over There," "Give My Regards to Broadway," "Mary's A Grand Old Name," "Forty-Five Minutes From Broadway," "You're A Grand Old Flag," and the title song. I have fond memories of watching this with my family every 4th of July during my childhood. My mom and stepdad probably still have their colorized video. I've been wanting the 2-disc DVD set for years, but I've seen it go for as much as thirty dollars, even online. It's totally worth whatever Lauren paid for it - in addition to the movie, we have a "making of" documentary, a Michael J Fox-narrated documentary on Cagney, a radio version with outtakes, commentary, an interview with John Travolta on his friendship with Cagney in his later years, a newsreel, three classic World War II-era Looney Tunes shorts, and two propaganda short subjects. About as thorough as a movie set can get, and totally cool.