Next Stop Mystery

I slept in this morning and had just enough time to dust the entire living room (both the music and the entertainment sides) after breakfast. Watched a couple of train-themed cartoons and TV show episodes while I worked. It's "Next Stop Murder" in the first season of Moonlighting when secretary Agnes DiPesto wins a contest run by her favorite mystery author. Five guests get to spend 24 hours on a train, solving a fake crime. The fictional crime becomes real when the author himself turns out to be the victim. Accidentally stranded on the train, Maddie and David have to figure out whodunnit, while Agnes falls for the writer's devoted technical adviser.

Switched to Mickey Mouse shorts as I got ready for work. "Mickey's Choo Choo" was one of Disney's earliest black-and-white cartoons in 1929. Mickey wants to get Minnie to her destination in the very-much-alive (and quite musical) title vehicle, but the obstacles on the track don't make this easy! "Mr. Mouse Takes a Trip" skips us to 1941 and color. Mickey, this time joined by Pluto, is on his way across California. Trouble is, dogs really aren't supposed to be on trains. The two have to dodge Conductor Pete as they don disguises and hide in the sleeper berths.

Work wasn't too bad today. I did do carts for an hour before break, but I mostly either did returns or mopped up the endlessly leaking freezers. I'd be finished mopping aisle 9...and aisle 11 would suddenly be bad again. I went back and forth with this for over an hour. Thank goodness I was able to get off with no problems.

As soon as I got home, I went into writing to calm down. As Leia and Luke reminisce with Ben Kenobi, the beach is suddenly invaded by a nasty motorcycle gang in black and white leather. Ben tells the twins that the Imperial Gang has been threatening small businesses and locals in town for months, trying to force them to sell out to Empire Industries. Two lifeguards and a couple of Luke's surfer dude buddies finally confront the gang, including their leader, black-clad Garth Vader, who wears a motorcycle helmet at all times.

Did another TV show episode while eating leftovers for dinner. The Blue Moon Detective Agency aren't the only mystery-solvers to run into intrigue on a train. In the first season of Get Smart, Maxwell Smart goes "Aboard the Orient Express" to deliver payroll to agents behind enemy lines. The last four couriers have all been killed by gas...but Max and 99 have their ways of finding out who's been committing these murders.

Finished the night with more Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga. "Anakin's Flight" and "Gunship Calvary (Original)" were straightforward enough. "Anakin's Flight" depicts how the young Anakin Skywalker destroyed the droid control ship in The Phantom Menace. I thought they missed an opportunity for a flying round there. "Gunship Calvary" was even more of a total pain than the original...at least until you get to the end, where you just have to go in a circle and keep shooting at the targets until they're all done.

I had far more problems with "New Hope" and "Lego City." "New Hope" is the opening of A New Hope from the point of view of Darth Vader and the stormtroopers. While it is cool to be able to use the Sith Force magic, it also has another one of those puzzles where you have to run around buttons to open something, in this case to free C-3PO. I just cannot stay in a straight line long enough to get all of them at once! They had a room filled with bright-colored blocks that you life with the Force. I had no idea what that was all about, either.

"Lego City" was...really strange. It was a board filled with ordinary Lego trees, buildings, playgrounds, and vehicles...mixed with Star Wars characters and animals. You have to either lift or shoot buildings to get beads from them. They had that colored brick Force-lift thing, too. I think you're supposed to spell "Lego," but I have no idea what it's for yet. I'll try these two rounds again later in the week, after I look up hints on how to complete them online.