The Next Move

Started the morning with a call to Mom. She, Dad, and my brother Keefe's girlfriend Vicki just got back from his boot camp graduation in Illinois yesterday. Mom really enjoyed her trip to the Midwest. She said everyone was really nice in Chicago, even at the airport...especially compared to some of the people at the Philadelphia International Airport! They got lucky. Their first flight was canceled and they had to wait four hours for the next one, but their flight going home was on time and just barely dodged the storm out there.

I was also able to discuss my tumultuous week with her. It's not every week you get a business idea and lose a Monkee. This week, I'll be doing research on other copyeditng companies and see if there's anything locally that might give me a clue of the kinds of prices we're looking at and how to begin.

Ironically, even as I asked Mom if she'd heard from Rose lately, Rose called me on my land line phone. When I got to her, I discovered she had some spare salmon steaks she thought I'd like. I had my laundry to get done and work later, but I'm off tomorrow. She said she'd be over tomorrow morning.

Headed over to the laundromat next. I timed it really well. There was one couple and another woman watching NBC's news when I came in around quarter of 11. By the time it was almost noon, there were several couples coming in, and I was on my way out with a full bag of laundry. I had a lot to do today, including towels, so I was grateful for the empty machines.

When I got in, I put the laundry away and went online. I really went overboard with shopping last month and intend to try to keep it to the bare minimum in March...but there was one thing I really needed, and one thing I really wanted. The "needed" was a new CD player. I looked for one like my old Emerson at the Deptford Mall a few weeks ago, but both Boscov's and Sears were out of that model. Ended up ordering it from Amazon.com instead. I hope it lasts longer than the other one did. The CD player on my last model has been acting weird for ages - skipping, won't let me play the first song. Now it won't play any disc at all, a good sign that it's dead and needs to be replaced.

The other thing wasn't a need...but maybe that's not true, given the events of the past week. Rhino released the second "Handmade Deluxe Edition" of a Monkees album in November, the first album without Peter Tork, Instant Replay. It's not their best, but it'll be nice to have...and perhaps if it's successful, it'll encourage them to release the second, much better Peter-less album, The Monkees Present, in a Deluxe Edition (the one with my other favorite Monkees song, Mike Nesmith's "Listen to the Band").

Instant Replay Rhino Handmade Deluxe Edition

Speaking of the Monkees, I ran two Davy-centric episodes from the first season as I had leftover chicken stir fry for lunch. "Success Story" is especially relevant at the moment. Davy tries to impress his grandfather, who believes he's wealthy...and when he realizes the boys don't have a sou, he vows to take Davy back to England with him. The other Monkees,  however, are determined to keep their little British friend on this side of the Atlantic. And in the mid-first-season story "Too Many Girls," the guys have to keep Davy from succumbing to the wiles of a dancer and her nasty stage mother...not an easy task if you know Davy Jones' real-life penchant for female-chasing.

Work was more-or-less the same as yesterday with more help - steady and annoying. It's the beginning of the month, which means dealing with all kinds of fun people who won't help bag and can't count their orders and buy about three times more than they can afford. I was very happy when it was slow enough by 8 for me to leave on my own with no relief.