Mysterious, Very Mysterious

It was just gray and damp when I finally climbed out of bed this morning. Today was my long work day, and I knew I was going to be tired when I got home. I wanted a decent dinner...but I was working until 5, and I probably wouldn't be up for making it after being on my feet all day. Solution? Making Sloppy Joes in a slow cooker. I just tossed in ground turkey, tomato sauce, chopped onion and celery, spices, and Worcestershire sauce. (Forgot the brown sugar the recipe also called for, but oh well.)

Ran a couple of Three Stooges shorts while cooking. I enjoyed the two mystery-themed shorts I did yesterday so much, I dug around for two more tales of the Stooges solving baffling crimes. The Curly-era tale "Dizzy Detectives" has them as cops on the tail of a gorilla who seems to be behind a series of bank robberies. While the real perpetrators are very human, there is a gorilla involved...and he's awfully interested in Curly...

Shemp joins for "Crime On Their Hands." He, Larry, and Moe are novice reporters investigating another jewel robbery that involves a gorilla. This time, Shemp accidentally swallows a valuable diamond. The thieves who stole it want to get it out of him by any means necessary, including harmful ones. The oldest Stooge, however, has made friends with the thieving primate, who may not be so eager to let his new buddy go under the surgical knife...

Work was, once again, dead for most of the day. Even rush hour wasn't more than mildly steady. I spent most of the day rounding up carts and baskets. Did a few returns in the middle of the afternoon. The managers insisted their was a mess in the women's bathrooms that absolutely had to be cleaned up right away. I cleaned it, but it wasn't a huge mess, just something I got rid of with a few flushes. Mopped the floor and wiped down the stalls anyway. (And did the floor again and dried it when a manager insisted that someone complained about slipping, despite the two yellow "wet floor" signs I had standing around the room.)

Stopped to buy a roll for my Sloppy Joes before heading home. I left right on time. The first few drops of rain plopped on my nose as I was rounding the corner of Goff and Manor Avenues. I was inside well before the heavy rains started. (It's rained on and off for the rest of the evening.)

The apartment smelled delicious when I got in. Yummm. Even without the brown sugar, the Sloppy Joes were amazing, savory and rich. Sauteed some aging broccoli and stir-fry vegetables to go with it.

Ran a Backyardigans episode that also dealt with a jewel robbery while I ate. Pablo plays Sherlock and asks "Whodunnit?" when he's invited to Lady Tasha's Mystery Manor and her jewels are stolen. Could the thief be the butler Tyrone, who's found to be listening at doors? Or Austin Frothingslosh, who has to leave quickly after Tyrone is found in the closet. Or maybe Miss Uniqua Underhood, who appeared suddenly and knew all about the crime? Or even the mysterious figure who's been roaming around in the garden?

Did a little writing after dinner. Han and his valet/bodyguard Charles are on their way to the junkyard to meet Ben and Luke. Han insists that they only need to earn a few thousand more dollars, and they can pay off Jenkins Huttman, who wants his head on a silver platter. Charles wishes he'd stay and continue to help the citizens of Naboo. Han insists he's his own man, and anyway, Charles will like it in America.

Finished the night after a shower with Star Trek Beyond. Captain James Kirk (Chris Pine) is bored. He's seriously considering a desk job when the Enterprise is attacked by Krall (Idris Elba), an alien warlord. He strands and separates them on an unknown planet. While the others try to get back to the ship, Scotty (Simon Pegg) befriends Jaylah (Sofia Boutella), who's family was captured by Krall and who wants to leave badly. Even after they make it off, they discover that Krall is determined to destroy a Federation space station...and may take the Enterprise down with him.

I'm never going to be as big a fan of this franchise as I am of Star Wars, but I have to admit that I did enjoy this one. Jaylah was really cool, the characters were a bit more fleshed-out, and the villain was pretty decent. The awesome makeup was Oscar-nominated; the special effects and dynamic editing are worth noting as well.

If you're a fan of this franchise, you've probably already seen this, but newcomers and casual fans like me shouldn't have any problems catching what's going on, either. Recommended for hard-core sci-fi lovers or Star Trek nuts.