Pipe Dreams

My day went fine...until I got to work, of course. A plumber showed up first thing this morning after my landlady Miss Ellie reported seeing leaks under my shower on Saturday. As it turned out, my shower merely needs to be re-caulked. Miss Ellie's grown nephew, who lives down the street, will probably do it in the next few days.

I spent the rest of the morning doing my laundry, going for a walk, and watching cartoons at Dad's. Dad and Jodie are still on vacation, Uncle Ken and Dolores were out running errands, and Jessa had school. One of my favorite Playhouse Disney cartoons is Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, a much better way of re-using older characters than the somewhat similar My Friends Tigger and Pooh. In this case, Mickey and the gang hold a carnival at their clubhouse to help Clarabelle Cow (who has traded her trademark long skirt for a yellow hair bow and wide-legged trousers) gather enough corn to feed the new chickens at her petting zoo. The fun-park setting allows us to see other classic Disney characters who only turn up from time to time, along with Clarabelle. Chip and Dale toss bean bags to dunk Donald in the Dunk the Duck tank (of course). Big Pete runs a Guess-His-Weight game. (Hint: he's not QUITE as big as an elephant.) Professor Ludwig Von Drake is in charge of the hot dog stand, and Willie the Giant of Mickey and the Beanstalk fame is his best customer.

The Backyardigans had an even more exciting adventure. Tyrone played mythical sailor Sinbad, who sails the seven seas all alone and makes amazing discoveries. Ever-eager Pablo, however, is determined to join his buddy. Tyrone's not as happy to have him around, especially when his attempts to be an able-bodied sailor wind up losing their water and food...and lands them in some odd games of Simon Says and Freeze tag with Uniqua the Siren and Medusa Tasha respectively!

I went on a lovely walk between shows. Other than being on-and-off cloudy, it was a perfect fall day, in the upper 60s and breezy. The leaves are on the verge of turning colors here. Some are a little red-and-yellow around the tops. Others are still full green. Mums grace every garden, and most homes who don't go the garden route have anything from banners with pumpkins on them to elaborate Halloween displays with huge ghost and goblin statues and massive orange pumpkins.

I wish work were as pleasant. Lots of cranky people today, especially around the 4PM rush hour. One older woman threw a fit when she said she gave me a coupon and I told her I hadn't seen it. I really hadn't. She'd dropped her coupons in an untidy, wrinkled heap on the register. I had to dig around to find coupons that pertained to her order, and the one she was angry about wasn't among them. She didn't pull it out until after the order went through; the bagger confirmed this. She could have taken it up to customer service. People miss coupons all the time. Another woman got mad when her order didn't come out exactly as she'd counted. Sorry, but I'm not the one who prices these items! It's not my fault when they don't come up right.

I finally got a hold of Mom when I got home and ate dinner. I almost wish I hadn't. We ended up arguing over the economy and the Acme and my not saving money. I'd save money if I had any to save. I know the economy's bad, but I don't think it'll hurt the Acme. People still need food, and the only large (business-killing) Wal-Mart in this area is in Deptford 30 minutes away. Mom thinks every single business in the whole universe is in jeopardy just because some of them have shut down in Cape May County. Of COURSE they shut down in Cape May County. There aren't enough people down there year-round to keep them open! (That was one of the big reasons I moved.)