Loose In Oaklyn

First of all, happy birthday to my brother Keefe, who is 19 today!

It was a gorgeous day when I awoke around 8AM. Sunny, breezy but not windy, and chilly like it's supposed to be in mid November in southern New Jersey. It was a perfect day to run a pile of errands, starting with a ride to the Acme for my paycheck and groceries.

The Acme wasn't too busy when I arrived around 11. I didn't need a lot, anyway. Found cooked and seasoned shrimp with a manager's coupon that was already on a good sale. Had a coupon for three free Shopper's Value (Acme low-cost brand) Spices with ten dollar purchase sale. All I needed of what they had was the Cayenne Pepper; I donated the Meat Tenderizer and Soul Seasoning to the box near the self-checkout lanes for a local soup kitchen. Needed to restock eggs, batteries, and yogurt, and I Can't Believe It's Not Butter was on sale and I had a coupon. Since Cool Whip and Jello Pudding were on sale, I bought things to make a pudding pie. Thanks to Cool Whip's new limited edition Sweet Cinnamon Flavor, I decided to make it a Spiced Vanilla Cream Pie.

When I got home, I made the pie and had a short lunch of muffins and Cranberry Flummery, then went out for a walk. My first stop was the Oaklyn Library. I couldn't stay there for too long. I arrived at 1:30, and they close on Fridays at 2. I did manage to drop another bag of videos off, quickly organize DVDs and some kids' books, and check out Cranberry Thanksgiving. (Which, for some reason, was listed under the title of the movie Good Will Hunting in their computer system. It took a minute for the librarian to figure everything out.)

After I left the library, I headed down the White Horse Pike. Made an in-and-out stop at PNC Bank to deposit my paycheck, then hiked a few blocks down the Pike to CVS. I mostly needed milk there, but I ended up grabbing a few Christmas presents, too.

Dropped by Dad and Uncle Ken's on the way back to my place. Dad and Jodie were at home, doing things on their laptops and watching the endless Law & Order re-runs on USA. I talked about my course options with both of them. The problem now is finding grants. There was so much information online about grants and funding, I was overwhelmed. Jodie and I checked a few sites and discovered that the Art Institute of Philadelphia, the school my sister Jessa is currently attending, seems to be the only local school offering grant money for people who want to learn web design. We sent an e-mail asking for more information.

(They were nice and called me back a bit later in the afternoon. I told them I was still browsing, but they're definitely worth considering and I would love any information on grants and on their non-credit online courses that they could provide.)

When I got home, I went right into sweeping the porch. It needed it badly. The rain and wind from yesterday and Wednesday left more piles of leaves that were getting into the house again. The leaves seem to be gone from most of the large trees now. Some of the smaller ones still have a lot of leaves, but by and large, I can see all the way to the water again...which means that should be the last time I'll need to do a lot of porch sweeping for a while.

Spent the rest of the day inside, watching Bowery Boys movies, editing fanfiction, and baking pumpkin bread for the Acme's Thanksgiving Luncheon tomorrow. I ran a couple of my favorite Bowery Boys episodes from the early 50s. Loose In London takes the Boys and soda shop proprietor Louie Dumbrowski overseas when Sach Jones is named heir to a British earl. No Holds Barred and Jalopy take us into the fast-paced worlds of wrestling and car racing respectively. Both films have more-or-less the same plot - Sach develops a special power or formula that makes the Boys successful at sports. When crooked managers start to notice their overnight stardom, they first send a woman after them who invites them to a party, then send goons after them. Naturally, the Boys wind up on top. I had a tasty dinner of Flounder in Lemon and Wine Sauce With Mushrooms and Onions, roasted Brussels sprouts, and the last of the baked pumpkin pudding for dinner as I ran Jalopy.