Deflated

Started a sunny, chilly day with this week's Brunch With the Beatles and Pumpkin Apple Spice Pancakes for breakfast. In addition to hearing performances from the second Beatles appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show, the theme today was "songs that didn't make #1." Which pretty much meant anything that wasn't a #1 single, either here or in the United Kingdom. Songs heard today ranged from "Penny Lane" to "If I Fell," from "Mind Games" to "The No No Song."

Called Mom about half-way through the show. She was babysitting my oldest nephew Skylar, who was playing with a kid's engineering game online. He loves building with Legos. Evidently, seeing The Lego Movie really fired his imagination. We mostly discussed the weather, all the trouble I ran into yesterday, and my busy week. They got some snow in Erma, but not to the degree we have.

I went online briefly to check the weather next. It looks like we're getting another round of snow Tuesday. Once again, they're saying only an inch or two, nothing like what we've gotten since December. We're getting closer to the end of February. The last time we had a winter like this, 2010, the big snow storms abruptly ended in the middle of February. Any snow that came after that either didn't stick to the streets and sidewalks, or just made slush.

My porch was icy when I got out, but the ice was melting. I was able to get downstairs with no problems. The problem was when I made it downstairs. My back tire has been getting a little flat, no matter how much I pumped it. I was hoping it would hold off...but now it's a LOT flat. I had no choice but to ride to work on it. Between the bike and the ice on the streets, I just barely got in on time.

Turned out to not matter that much. We were surprisingly steady all afternoon. There wasn't nearly the crowd there usually is on a Sunday. Everyone either did their shopping before the storms this week, or are waiting for tomorrow. I was able to close without a relief.

By the time I got out of work, my tire was totally flat. I had to walk home, avoiding the ice and snow still clogging the sides of the streets, not to mention a lot of Manor and Goff Avenue. When I finally made it home, I went upstairs gingerly over the ice on the porch, then went into a desperately needed bath as soon as I could. That felt so nice. It was so warm, and I was so weary, an hour flew by while I relaxed and read the stories the new Chicken Soup For the Soul book about finding happiness I picked up a few weeks ago.

Ran some more Red Skelton while I made salmon and stewed apples for dinner. I was introduced to Junior, "The Mean Widdle Kid," in a sketch where he constantly wakes up his "mommy" (Audrey Meadows of The Honeymooners fame). I also liked the "Silent Spot" with Red as a Diamond Jim Brady type in a 1890s spoof.