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August 17, 2004

It Even Went Underwater

First: I can't seem to locate a "Fat Albert" episode guide. You'd think that with all the life lessons that show offered, someone would have undertaken the important work of cataloging the wisdom of Albert and the gang.

I'm noting that because every time I buy something new and it breaks, I feel like Rudy in that episode where he gets a new guitar, and there's this whole fantasy sequence where he's imagining that it can be a car or go underwater or whatever. He breaks a string and that's it for the guitar and the rest of the gang has a laugh with its improvised instruments made from junk.

In this case, it's the t.v., which has taken to acting like the picture is rotating on a z axis now and then at intervals we can't predict and for reasons we can't discern. It's going to be gone for a week, but fortunately not when Al and Ben are gone, which would completely trash my plans for achieving a vegetative state in front of it.

And that brings me to something I'm adding to my to-do list, which is writing a polite letter to my local Fred Meyer for printing a new receipt for me despite the fact that their computer (an AS400 using NeoWare thin client gear, fwiw) can't remember receipts from more than 30 days ago. It was very kind of them, and it only took a very little pleading.

I remembered to smile beatifically during the entire process, which either soothed or frightened them into helping more, I suppose.

While we're on Fat Albert, here's a not bad remembrance of some behind-the-scenes stuff. $80-$85k an episode!