Tales of the City

Spring fever is upon us; it's early, I know, but palpable nonetheless.

Yesterday was marked by elevenses at Silence heart nest with Otis, Dingo, Johnbai, and O (and a late appearance by Mom-O). The company was as delightful as ever and the food tasted even better than usual (spring fever!). After the meal, there was the walk, and the farmer's market, and the surprise phone call from Wheylona, and it was truly cool urban Sunday deal.

So cool, in fact, that upon coming home, nothing of any great import got done for the rest of the afternoon, until after the lounging and the nap were completed. I did manage to complete two job apps and cooked a yummy roasted sweet potato/yam/carrot/onion dinner, but I did have to put in some hours grading and prepping after dinner. Such is the price of being an educator.

This morning's classes went fine, and I ran some errands after school. At the post office, there were baby screams while I waited in line; a mother with a complicated transaction was trying to soothe her fussy infant and occupy her restive toddler; occasionally the two children came into conflict, and hence the wails. The clerk was trying to remain focused, but just at the end of the transaction and the peak volume of complaint from the infant - and this was a heckuva scream - her computer froze up. So now it was the mother who was being inconvenienced, still trying to keep her kids occupied, while she waited for the terminal to unstick. I managed to mail my apps and get gone before the denouement.

I proceeded to my LCS (local comic shop), which for the purposes of this post shall be called the Cartoon Closet. As I walked in, I thought I heard the end of an angry shout, but a quick look around told me that the only other person in the store was the clerk. He was checking e-Bay on the store computer and didn't appear to be in visible conflict with anyone. Then the phone rang, and I was treated to this drama:

Clerk: (professional) Cartoon Closet. No. No. I told you. I don't have time for this. Fine.
(hangs up)
(phone rings almost immediately)
(clerk answers)
Clerk: (tired) Cartoon Closet. What? Look - just don't. Stop. Stop. Go ahead.
(hangs up)
(pause)
(phone rings)
Clerk: Sigh.
(answers)
Clerk: (defeated) Yes?
(pause)
(clerk slams the phone down and walks across the store)
(phone rings)
Clerk: (under breath) Goddammit.
(walks across to phone and picks up)
Clerk: (challenging) Cartoon Closet! Oh, yeah, hi. Oh, it's fine, fine. Sure... those are in the back, right? Okay.

I got my funnybooks and left.

Upon returning home, Otis and I took another turn around the lake. It feels good to be getting a bit more active again (spring fever!) and it makes me think of prepping the bike a little earlier than usual this year. After all, time is fleeting - I got my invitation to join AARP in the mail today. Neepers.