Running On Ice

I'm dead tired. I spent most of the day on my feet. I tried fixing both bikes this morning. I'm not sure why the gears are skipping on the mountain bike, and I discovered that not only do I not have a large enough wrench to tighten the blue stationary bike, but the tarp, the bike, and the bike basket were frozen to the back wall of the house by a huge icicle! I didn't really want to mess with the mountain bike, either. That's too complicated for me. I just left both bikes at home and walked to Collingswood for today's counseling session.

Scott and I mostly discussed the events of the last month. I told him about my big tax return, about Uncle Ken coming home, talking to Scott about switching to the bakery, about weathering the storm earlier this week, and about the compliments I received for how I handled that annoying customer and his attempt to clear our sale inventory yesterday. My - and his - only problems is my continuing attempts to deal with my anxiety. It's not going well. My putting myself down is so ingrained, it's automatic. It's very hard to stop doing something that's been a knee-jerk reaction for most of your life. Even when your mind says it's not that big of a deal, instinct and fear tell you if you were normal, you wouldn't have made that mistake.

I spent the rest of the day running small errands in Collingswood and Westmont. I visited Erica at the thrift shop and said "hi." I had pizza at Cafe Antonio II in Collingswood. I bought one of the 60s Firestone Christmas records from the Collingswood Library. I made brief stops at Walgreens (no new WebKinz, just Lil' Tigers and Yorkies), the Dollar Plus next to the Westmont Acme (no more cheap holiday DVDs or videos), Super Fresh, and WaWa. I did this week's library volunteering and took out three books (two cookbooks and a Calvin and Hobbes comic book) and bought three children's books (a Strawberry Shortcake fairy tale, a Mickey Mouse hardback storybook, and a genuine vintage early 60s Yogi Bear Golden Book).

It was late when I finally got in. I watched The Big Broadcast of 1938 and read Calvin and Hobbes. I taped this one off of AMC when I was in college (probably one of the last genuine "classic" films they ever showed). It's more-or-less a goofy Paramount semi-revue - two cruise ships compete in a race, though we only focus on one, the S.S Gigantic, owned by WC Fields. Bob Hope is the radio announcer who's fondness for wives and gambling has him desperate for money. Dorothy Lamour is a guest on the ship who ends up in Hope's show, Shirley Ross is Hope's ex-wife, and Martha Raye is Fields' accident-prone daughter who breaks mirrors wherever she goes.

Not much substance to this one at all, and some truly weird "specialties," but necessary if you're a fan of Hope, Raye, and/or Fields. Fields and Raye have some nice moments (including Raye's amazing acrobatic dance with a group of sailors and Fields' airborne motorcycle), and Hope and Ross introduce what would become Hope's theme song, "Thanks For the Memory."