It's the most crotchety time of the year.

We were supposed to go over to our friends Charles and Kelly's place tonight to hang out, play with their kids, and eat some cheese. I've been looking forward to it all week as I never seem to see them or really anyone else anymore these days unless it's for some specific purpose, like someone needs a Mr. Bean lookalike for a practical joke or something. Plus I really like cheese. Yum.

But this incredibly stupid Christmas parade happened this evening that I only half remembered about and it prevented our bus and hence us from travelling to the north end. Over an hour we waited in the freezing cold, which is actually less time than a lot of the parade-goers, who started showing up along the route at 4:30 for a 6:00 parade with their blankets and folding chairs and understandably crying kids. The whole thing was just a bunch of local stores and businesses renting trucks to cheaply and crappily advertise their existence. I really don't get the appeal.

And because the whole downtown was completely messed up traffic-wise, we couldn't get a cab either, unless we were willing to wait at least another hour. So no Charles, no cheese. Don't people realize there are plenty of commercials they can watch on TV? The best scene of the night was a woman yelling at her little boy, who was complaining that his uncovered hands were cold, "All right, fine, you can have my mittens!"

Anyway, sorry this blog is becoming such a crankfest lately. I'll write something cheery next time, I swear.

- Old Man Grumpus