Before the Storm

Started the morning with more Hello Kitty Furry Tale Theater. Tuxedo Sam is "Robin Penguin," who brings Hello Kitty and Chip to Never Say Never Land to rescue Melody-Bell and fight the evil Captain Catnip. Chip's in the spotlight in "Paws of the Round Table." He's Arthur, the young boy who pulls the sword from the stone. Catnip LeFay wants to get the sword away from him. Sir Lancelot (Sam) and the Lady of the Lake (Hello Kitty) aid him on his journey to find Lady Bunnyvere. Tuxedo Sam is "Tar-Sam of the Jungle," a penguin who seems to be the odd one out among apes. He learns just how important he is to his adopted family when he and Hello Kitty Jane rescue his ape mothers from poachers Catnip and Grinder.

Work was steady to very busy for most of the afternoon. There were some fairly grumpy or obnoxious customers, including some older women who fussed over bagging. A lot of people are getting ready for Memorial Day Weekend next week or for college graduations. Thankfully, my relief was right on time, and I was able to get out with no problems.

I took Nicholson Road home. When I got in, I finished the Furry Tale Theater disc while changing and making a pit stop. Tuxedo Sam gets the lead role again in "Crocodile Penguin," a spoof of the popular 80's action comedy Crocodile Dundee. Sam is a laid-back wrestler in Australia who is invited to wrestle Hulk Alligator (Grinder), the world champion, by his crooked manager (Catnip). "Grinder Genie and the Magic Lamp" takes us to Arabia, where Grandpa Kitty is up to his whiskers in Sutana Catnip's taxes. When Hello Kitty and Tuxedo Sam find a magic lamp with a certain bulldog genie inside, they think they've found the solution to their financial troubles. But Grinder isn't very good at granting wishes...

My back was sore from spending the last two or three weeks sitting behind a computer, and I was bored. I decided to go for a bike ride, before Mother Nature unleashed her full fury. When I headed out around quarter after 3, it was still sunny, hazy, and humid. I stopped at Cabana's Water Ice in Haddon Heights for something cold. I wasn't the only one. I waited in line with families and couples who wanted to cool off, too. One family had an adorable little daughter who wanted to know everything about my bike and why I was out riding it. She was a real cutie. I enjoyed fielding her questions as I ate my peanut butter cup ice cream. (Which wasn't very good. Not nearly enough peanut butter cup.)

I ended up in Barrington. I haven't visited their Antique Center in ages. The Barrington Antique Center is an enormous barn of a building filled with just about every used and/or vintage item you can imagine. I saw a Julie American Girl doll, and while 85 dollars is cheaper than the used dolls I saw there last year, it's still more than I can afford to pay for a doll right now - plus the last thing I probably need is more AG dolls. I ended up with a cute stuffed donkey I named Hee Haw and two records, the soundtrack from The Muppet Movie and an audio version of the 80's Strawberry Shortcake picture book Strawberry Shortcake and the Winter That Would Not End. (The Strawberry Shortcake record was still in its original plastic!) The records were 5 dollars each. That's probably a little high, but I rarely find children's records, especially in good condition.

Headed straight home around quarter of 5, dodging the rush-hour traffic on the White Horse Pike. When I got in, I went straight in the bath. I badly needed a bath. The relaxing felt good. I was able to kick back with my cake decorating magazines and jazz CDs and enjoy the quiet.

Ran some random cartoons from my dubbed discs when I got out of the bath as I ate leftover soup for dinner. Felix the Cat made a brief comeback in 1936 color cartoons from RKO's Van Beuren Studio. While "Nautical Nonsense" is only ok, "Bold King Cole" and "The Goose That Laid the Golden Egg" are odd but enjoyable fairy tales. "Astronomeous" goes further back to the silent era Felix. Felix travels to the moon, where he discovers a king who doesn't quite understand what he is...until he saves him from a falling star.

And, after weeks of it getting humid, only to not do anything, we finally had a brief thunderstorm about a half-hour ago or so. I actually hope we'll get more. We really, really need the rain rather badly.