The plumbers worked here all weekend and they're coming again today…and tomorrow and the day after that and probably the day after that and the day after that and the day after that and the day after that and the day after that and the day after that and the day after that and the day after that and maybe even the day after that…I think one of them took a look at what remains to be done and switched his voter registration to my address.
Fortunately, I have access to all three bathrooms in my home — the one with cold water only, the one with hot water only and the one with no water. If the first two were on the same floor of the house, I could perhaps dash back and forth between the two of them and approximate a shower.
I know you have your own problems and don't need to hear about mine but it helps me to do this because it forces my brain to seek out the humor in the situation. I actually have terrific plumbers — one of them, it turns out, knew me from Comic-Con — and they'll get it all done soon. Then come the carpenters and plasterers and painters…
Changing subjects: I didn't feel qualified to write a lot about Bob McGrath but I knew who he was even before he set foot on Sesame Street. He was one of the busiest Manhattan-based studio singers, meaning he was heard on hundreds of records and commercials recorded in New York. He was even somewhere in the chorus for Songs of the Pogo, the LP that showed Walt Kelly was as good at writing songs (and singing some of them) as he was in drawing my favorite newspaper strip. Mitch Miller, when he did his TV show Sing Along With Mitch, tapped into that talent pool for his on-camera chorus and Mr. McGrath was prominently featured. What an impressive career.
A few folks in the world of comics have passed away lately. Based on my e-mail, I need to post this reminder that if I don't write an obit for someone you think I must have known, it probably means I didn't. Or it could mean I can't think of anything to say about them that dozens of others aren't already saying. It certainly doesn't mean I had some grudge against them. I am surprisingly grudge-free…which doesn't mean there aren't some people in this world I choose to avoid.