Jiggety Jig

I am now back at home. A load of laundry is in the washer, and my stuff is back in the house. I am going to walk to and from the Burger King to read my newspaper as soon as the mail comes and this load of laundry is complete.

I came home with several things I didn't have before: boots, and a new bowling ball and bag. When we had the blizzard in December, my aunt was extremely dismayed when I said that I was walking in sneakers, with Target bags on my feet. She thought that was entirely unacceptable, so yesterday we went to an outdoorsy store and she bought me boots as her Christmas gift to me.

We then went to a sporting goods store, where I picked out a bowling ball. I had asked my parents for a new bowling ball for Christmas, but my father didn't want to go though the effort of finding one for me. Diane, however, gave me a $50 gift card as a combination birthday/Christmas gift, and told me that it was for a new bowling ball. So I went and bought one.

Then we went to Kohl's, where I was planning to get my aunt a bagel cutter (keeping in mind I bought a dozen bagels for them on my way here), but it seems that every bagel cutter that ever existed has fallen off the face of the earth, because we couldn't find one anywhere. So I bought her one of those brownie pans that you see on television that you put a divider in and it bakes eighteen pre-cut brownies. So that was my Christmas gift to my aunt and uncle. My uncle benefits from it because although he doesn't bake brownies, he sure eats them.

After lunch, I went to their local bowling alley to get my new ball drilled. I asked if, as a USBC member, they gave discounts for drilling. He said that he usually charges $50 for a ball not bought at his pro shop (he charged me $25); he told me that with online pricing, he couldn't compete otherwise. I took pity on him and bought a bowling bag as well.

While I was there, I decided to bowl a couple of games to try the ball out, and did quite well. The grandstanding that I usually do when getting a strike or spare did not go over as well with the old dudes who were bowling there. That's their problem.

So I am now here at home, and the laundry is done. Julie, Cleo, Elaine, and I are going to have dinner, and we are going for 1600 calories for the rest of the week. While I don't miss work, I do miss the mall, and I will be ready to go back there tomorrow morning. Let's hope that I can stay focused.

But first, a soda and Afternoon Civility await.

Eric Out.