Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

But before we could have fun, this girl had to check on the status of her unemployment and disability benefits. I was dismayed when I logged onto the State of NJ's Temporary Disability page to discover that it'll take another two weeks for the money to go through! When I called them and asked why, when I'd already sent the papers, they said it was due to the volume of paperwork they receive. Even though I already sent some of the information, they have to process the rest of it. (You know, this would be a lot easier if they'd put it online.)

I then checked the status on my Unemployment funds. While they haven't paid out, either, they have a slightly more plausible reason. Apparently, anyone with Social Security numbers that end in an odd number get paid on Monday. Even numbers get paid on Tuesday. Guess whose SS card ends in an odd number? At least I won't have to wait quite as long for this.

Since I wanted to renew some DVDs anyway, I went over to the Camden County Library System's website to see if they had any job available. As it turned out, yes, they had a job listed, for Senior Library Assistant. Most of the requirements were things I could do or had done at the libraries. It was for 15 hours a week, about the same as I have at the Acme now, but for a somewhat increased salary.

There were two big questions. First of all, there's my travel problem. They say a car may be required in order to take occasional assignments at other branches. Most Camden County Library branches are either near bus routes or train routes. There's also the fact that the job was supposed to be for the new Rutgers-Camden Branch in downtown Camden. While the area around Rutgers itself is said to be fairly safe, Camden itself is not the place for a single woman on her own to be.

By that point, I'd been online for so long, I never got the chance to finish the application. I'll do it tomorrow. I wanted to go to the Haddon Township Library and return the remaining DVDs. It was a gorgeous day for a ride, too, chilly and windier than yesterday, but still sunny. This was reflected in the crowds in the park. It was much busier than usual, especially for late in the afternoon. I found myself dodging joggers, dog-walkers,  elderly couples out for a stroll, and at least two flocks of Canadian geese.

The library was busy, too. I helped a lot of people for the first time in months. One little boy was looking for Pokemon; I directed him to some of the newer series releases. Another said he was a Scooby Doo fan. I pointed out the newest Scooby Doo movie, Big-Top Scooby. I helped a mom look for The Blind Side (we never did find it). I also cleared a lot of foreign titles out of the adult ones. (And I agree with one of the librarians, who went looking for Tangled later for an inter-library loan. They either need to start weeding out some of the older DVDs or ones with multiple copies, or buy a second DVD holder.)

I found a huge pile of items to take out today. The Library finally had all but the first two books in the newest American Girl historical series. Caroline Alcott is a resilient and strong-willed young lady living in Sacketts Harbor in upstate New York during the War of 1812. She wants nothing more than to captain her own ship, but when her father is captured by the British, she finds herself having to help her mother and relatives at the family's shipyard in ways they could never have imagined.

Other book finds today include a book on journal-writing (I've been writing journals since I was 7, but I'm always looking for new ideas and ways to dig deeper), an Idiot's Guide to knitting and crocheting, and a self-help book on overcoming the stories we tell ourselves that hold us back. I found three interesting kids' DVDs (since I never did get to the adult titles last week) - another 2009 Angelina Ballerina title (this one focusing on the relationship between Polly and Angelina), How To Train Your Dragon: Gift of the Night Fury, and the newest Barbie As/In movie, Barbie As The Princess and the Popstar.

My first stop on the way home was Super Fresh. They didn't have the mouse traps I was looking for. I'll just get them at the Acme on Friday. I did get dried lentils to try and more of those yummy Gingerbread Peeps (which were on sale this time for 99 cents). By the time I got out, it was so late, I just ended up at Nick and Joe's Pizzeria around the corner from Dollar Tree. They were having a $4.99 mini hoagie special. I'm glad my Ham and Cheese Hoagie also came with lots of veggies stuffed in and a big pile of fries. I was starved.

When I finally got in, I worked on crocheting and ran Princess and the Popstar. The second Barbie variation on Prince and the Pauper moves the story to the current day. The ladies in question are goofy, rather immature Princess Victoria and harried singing diva Keira. Each imagine that the other has more time to do what they want and have more fun. When they discover that they each possess an item that can instantly change one's hair or clothing, they decide to change places for a few days, just to see what it would be like. While Tori gets to know her kingdom better, Keira discovers that being a princess isn't all its cracked up to be...but Tori's little sisters can be an awful lot of fun. Both girls find themselves having to rescue Tori's kingdom's magical diamond bush from Keira's obnoxious former manager, who thinks it's his ticket back to the big-time.

Very disappointing, especially after the last three or four specials came out so well. Tori is something of a silly brat; Keira and her desire for songwriting time comes off as a bit more realistic. I really wish it had concentrated on the girls, instead of shoehorning the subplot with the magical bush and annoying former manager in. The girls' magical objects were probably enough. Not horrible, but not great, either. I'd recommend seeking out the original Princess and the Pauper Artisan Barbie title for a better version of the same story.