Invitation to the Dinner

The property inspector for Haddon Township arrived promptly at 9AM. (At least he was punctual.) He walked around the apartment, checking light fixtures, setting off alarms, and admiring my Star Wars action figure collection. He finally told me that there needs to be a second fire alarm in the bedroom, an electrical outlet and a cover in the bathroom, and a better electrical outlet for the air conditioner that doesn't require using an extension cord across the room.

Ok, the fire alarm is no big deal. (Though I will need Miss Ellie's nephew to actually install it. The celing in my bedroom is really high. I can barely reach the ceiling light on a living room chair.) The electrical wiring did not please Miss Ellie when I finally told her. I can't imagine it'll be cheap. This building is newer than my apartment in Wildwood, probably 50s vintage from the "space-age-y" pink-and-green Formica counter in the kitchen, but it's not THAT new. It's really not that big of a deal to me. The air conditioner runs just fine with the cord, and I don't use curling or crimping irons (and would use them in my bedroom even if I did)...but it was obviously a big deal to HIM.

The rest of the morning didn't go much better. I borrowed a wrench from Dad and tried to fix the stationary bike, but I wasn't sure where to begin. I tried tightening several parts of the spokes around the chain, but the chain never seemed any tighter. To make matters worse, I lost the nuts for the chain guard and had to use ones that were too big. I cried, I yelled, I screamed. It still didn't make anything better. I finally gave up around 11:30, had lunch, and took the bike to the library in the hope that it would hold out.

Thankfully, the bike did hold out, though it made noise thanks to that oversized nut. I was able to do my library volunteering and make a stop at the Dollar Tree. I put away DVDs and children's books at the library. I grabbed paper napkins, cards for Mom and my friend Kelly's birthdays next week, and sponges at Dollar Tree. I used to get a huge bag of sponges at Family Dollar, but I refuse to go there anymore and put up with their rude service.

I made it home, put my napkins and sponges away, and went online for an hour, looking up books on bike repair. I was about to get offline and make dinner when Dad's girlfriend Jodie called me. Seems she'd attended a huge luncheon at some Center City Philadelphia Italian restaurant and ended up bring home all the leftovers. Would I please, please come over and help clear them out?

I've never had someone beg me to eat before! I turned off the computer and headed over to Dad's as quickly as I could. Jodie was right. There WAS a huge spread of food on the kitchen island - pasta with broccoli, pasta with sausage, chicken with gravy and mushrooms, salmon with spinach, bruschetta, stuffed mushrooms, spinach salad, and Caeser salad. I had a little of everything but the Caeser salad (which I don't like and was soggy beyond edibility anyway) and the chicken (figured the salmon was enough protein). It was all really, really good. I ended up bringing three containers-full home with me.

Jodie had apparently spent all day trying to get rid of the food. She fed her son and his friend. She fed Dad, Jessa, and Dolores. (Poor Uncle Ken still isn't up to really solid foods.) She fed co-workers. She tried to feed Erica and Dolores's daughter and her son Blake, but they'd already ate. There was still tons left when Jessa took me home.