Spring Is In Full Bloom

Mr. and Mrs. Doria were able to help me with the bike. I brought it to the alley behind the Deli late this morning. They confirmed what I'd been told yesterday and earlier - the tire is bald as an egg, and the wheel really does need to be replaced when I can find one. Mr. Doria had to run some errands at Wal-Mart anyway, so I went with him. I bought a tire and an inner tube. Wal-Mart finally had the brake pads for the mountain bike, so I bought those, too. He showed me how to put the tire on when we got back.

(I kept the old inner tube. Turns out it just had a small tear, probably where the tire popped. Now that I think of it, I believe my stepfather may actually have replaced the inner tube shortly after I bought the bike. I don't think it's the original one. I should be able to patch it and use it in case the new one blows.)

It was such a gorgeous day, I dropped the inner tube off at my house and went for a quick bike ride to Newton River Park. Everything was so green! The grass was green. The new, tiny buds on the trees were green. Some of the trees were just starting to blossom. Daffodils and crocus turned their bright golden and purple blossoms to the warm sun.

After I got home, I went through my spring clothes. There were a few oversized things I could donate, but most of what I own is fine. I know it's still early for shorts, but I don't think I'll be needing turtlenecks and my corduroy pants and skirt again, either. I'll go through the shoes tomorrow.

Work was a pain in the rear. First of all, it's the beginning of the month, with all that entails. Second, today is the last day of our sales week. People were anxious to grab the 10 for $10 Canada Dry six-packs and $1.57 Post cereals before the sale tomorrow. Third, today is also the last day you can get your coupon for a free turkey breast, ham, or lasagna for Easter. (It's not the last day you can use the coupon, though. I think the coupon itself is good until Easter Day.)

One woman wanted to substitute the 12-packs of A&W Root Beer and Sunkist Orange Soda for the six-packs. She claimed she couldn't find any more of the six-packs. We're not supposed to allow substitutions. The manager tried calling the grocery manager, but he was already gone by then. We gave it to her just because there wasn't anyone around to tell us if we could or couldn't...and THEN she fussed that I'd run up one more than she had! I know I rang everything up right. AND she was rude to the cashier behind me!

A bit later, an older man who bought the 10 for $10 liter Pepsi sale actually forgot to pay for his order. He was nice about it and returned to pay, but I felt a bit embarrassed about not catching him sooner.