Wild Fall Weather

It was cloudy and windy when I heard the phone ring first thing this morning, around 10AM. For once, it wasn't the Acme. Actually, it was the electrical firm, wanting to know when I wanted someone to come over and look at the wiring in the kitchen. They could do it any time that morning. I finally told them an hour. I hadn't had breakfast or gotten dressed or even written in my journal yet!

They were earlier than that. I was finishing my tea when a large, shaggy middle-aged man with a tool belt and a slender college-age boy turned up on my porch. I directed them to the kitchen, the pantry shelves between the sink and stove, and the switch for the porch light in the living room that's been sticking.

They replaced the outlet in the kitchen and the switch easily. I do wish they hadn't put the outlet so close to the stove - it was fine next to the fridge. The older man said they couldn't save the outlet in the pantry, though. It had to be removed and covered, and the radio I had plugged in there was moved across the entertainment area until I can find a better place for it.

After they left, I tided up a bit, then headed for the Acme. Picked up this week's paycheck and did some grocery shopping. I needed to stock up on some baking essentials, like unbleached flour, Acme's dollar cinnamon container, Smart Balance 50/50 spread, and canned pumpkin. Finally found Betty Crocker's Spice Cake Mix on sale for $1.49. My best find was shrimp on sale. The container I grabbed was originally $7.19. It came with a $3.00 manager's coupon that brought it down to $4. A coupon for meat and seafood that I got in the mail knocked the price down to $1.19 for a pound of shrimp!

Went straight home when I was done shopping. Clouds had begun to gather as I rode home, but I didn't think anything of it until I'd finished my lunch and putting everything away. As I headed back out, the clouds became thicker, and it got windier. The rain started when I was just a block away from my apartment. It quickly picked up speed, until I was dripping wet when I walked in the door of the bank.

I had a quick chat with one of the tellers. My foot is still sore. I'm hoping that taking aspirin will help. She suggested ibuprofen as well. I meant to get some Aleve (or the generic version) at the Acme today, but I forgot. I'll either do it tomorrow or stop at one of the local pharmacies on my farm market/yard sale run.

Thank goodness the rain had slowed to spitting when I left the bank. I dodged huge puddles and made my way down to Cuthbert to pick up the bus. The bus had excellent timing. It arrived just as the rain was picking up again.

My trip to the Cherry Hill Mall was much faster than my previous excursion in August. I don't have much money, my foot isn't up to a lot of standing and looking at things, and it was getting fairly late at that point. JCPenny sent me a $10 off an order of $25 or more coupon in the mail, plus they were having huge sales at the store. I did get some things I needed. Picked up a new orange cable-knit sweater (to replace the old Land's End sweater whose collar was unraveling), white t-shirt, and tan pin-stripe button-down shirt for $36 with the sales and coupon.

I strolled across the mall to FYE after a brief stop at the Disney Store. I didn't really see anything good at FYE. Naturally, with Halloween being so close, they're pushing horror movies right now. I just ended up with Radioland Murders to replace the video copy I couldn't dub. I saw these cute 16-inch Disney Princess dolls at the Disney Store. I especially loved the expression on Tiana's face. Her sweet little smile was priceless. And with her huge golden curls and fancy blue dress, Cinderella was the very image of some of the better-preserved girl dolls from the 50s I've seen in books or on eBay. I thought that was rather appropriate, given her movie came out in 1950.

The bus home was late. I had the feeling I knew why, and I was right. Traffic was really bad in the area around the Cherry Hill Mall and Garden State Park Marketplace, and then it was held up by road work on the bridge over Cooper River. It was 6:30 before I got home, and nearly 7 before I began dinner and started The Sorcerer's Apprentice, which I didn't get to finish.

At least the weather's improved. The clouds were breaking up even as the bus inched its way over the Cooper River Bridge and seem to be gone now.