Worked on writing for a while after I ate. Debralee lays on the couch in the lounge with her nutcracker. She wakes up suddenly in the dark when she hears squeaking and finds her nutcracker missing. Mice have invaded the employee's lounge, attacking tree ornaments and snitching food. She's even more surprised to see her nutcracker walking and talking on the ground, calling her a princess and insisting he'll protect her, even if she can't love him.
Broke for lunch at 12:30. Ate while watching Match Game '75. The set acts up on one of the funniest episodes of the year. At one point, the question holder slides down and refuses to come up again. Gene and Charles tried to fix it, to no avail. They eventually have the champ hold it up, figuring he already has a ton of money and wouldn't steal them.
Called Uber even before the show ended. The showers and wind were too heavy for bike riding. Surprisingly, I got a ride in 4 minutes. Rushed around, grabbed my umbrella, took the lunch things downstairs, then rushed out. He got me there in five, nearly 15 minutes early. For once, I was right on time.
Between the bad weather, this being the middle of the week and the last day of the month, and the fact that it's the week after the biggest food holiday of the year, we were dead almost the entire night. It got mildly steady around rush hour. Otherwise, I helped a manager wrap heavy ribbon around light poles on the register and tried to think of ways to amuse myself between customers when there was nothing to do.
I had a much harder time getting home. The first Uber I called said he'd be there in 5 minutes. Nearly fifteen minutes later, he still hadn't arrived. The map showed he was picking someone up in Philadelphia! I canceled him. The next one wasn't any better. It said the driver would be there in 5 minutes...then jumped between 5 and 8 minutes for the next ten minutes. Once again, I canceled. Thankfully, the third time proved to be the charm. The last driver I called arrived in the advertised 10 minutes and got me home in five.
(At least the rain ended long before then. It's still very windy, but hasn't rained since then.)
Caught the last of Match Game '79 while eating a quick dinner. This was one of my favorite episodes of the year. Joyce Bulifant got to show off her early dance training by joining a champion contestant for some terrific jitterbugging. Everyone really got into it, clapping along. The music department even kicked in some swing.
Finished the night on YouTube after a shower with a pair of Perry Como holiday specials. Perry seems a little out-of-place dressed in a coat at the California Metromedia studio (now LA's Fox TV studios) in The Perry Como Winter Show from 1973. He's bundled up to take Sally Struthers and comedy team Jack Burns and Avery Schriber to Vermont via a magic elevator. Singing group The Establishment provides background vocals and joins the four leads at the Club Igloo, doing imitations of beloved Hollywood stars of the 30's and 40's. Schriber, Burns, and Struthers join up as toys who lament they won't be bought for Christmas, then are glad they have each other, while Como takes Schriber to see Santa Claus. The Establishment sings in their pajamas as Sally and Perry serenade each other after a midnight snack.
The next year, Como returned in a more general variety show special, this time celebrating Perry Como Christmas With the Carpenters. Peggy Fleming joined in here as well for two big skating numbers. The first had her with an elegant blue-and-white clad chorus while she glided around them, a slender, ethereal being in floating white. The second went the Mary Poppins route and had her joined by two animated penguins. The Carpenters get to perform their hit version of "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town." Perry Como retells the story of the birth of Christ and performs "Christmas Dream" (which I actually have on one of my True Value Happy Holidays collections).
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