Friday, July 13, 2018

Meddling Kids on Friday the 13th

Began a gorgeous Friday the 13th morning with another Scooby Doo mystery. Skipping the oft-seen "The Creepy Case of Old Iron Face," we moved on to "Jeepers, It's the Jaguaro!" The members of Mystery Inc are on their way to Rio De Janaro for their Carnival when their private plane makes an unexpected stop in the Amazon jungles. They discover that the Jaguaro, a giant half-ape, half-jaguar creature, has been scaring the natives away from the river...and that the natives are head-hunters who are more interested in their noggins than in helping them solve the mystery.

Worked on writing for the rest of the morning. Vader gets out of his majestic Duseberg just in time to see the Silver Falcon and Wedge's plane the Rogue fly off in different directions. He strangles one of the Imperials to death for not being able to stop him or to stop the fire from consuming an entire wing of the Armory, including Tarkin and their original blueprints for the laser guns.

Broke for a peach-brown sugar smoothie and more Scooby Doo at 12:30. Shaggy and Scooby would love nothing more than to "Make a Beeline Away from that Feline" when they discover that a strange green cat-like monster is robbing jewelry stores in New York City. Daphne's aunt is convinced that a medallion she got in the mail is transforming her into the creature. Velma and Fred think there's more to it than a fairy-tale spell, starting with her rather creepy doctor.

Headed to the Acme after lunch to get my schedule and do some grocery shopping. This week's schedule is once again...actually pretty darn good. Only two days off, next Friday and Saturday, but more hours, and nothing out of line for this time of year.

While I didn't need a whole lot more this week than I did last week, I did need a few pricey things. Ground turkey and turkey hot dogs were the cheapest meats I could buy. Picked up cherries on a good sale. The Acme's also having a big sale this week on ice cream in pints; went with Ben & Jerry's new "Moolatta" PB Dough ice cream, which I had an extra online coupon for. Several healthy instant hot breakfast cereals were on the clearance shelves. I grabbed Cream of Wheat's Mixed Berry with Almonds. Restocked butter, cheese, skim milk, yogurt, canned black beans, and canned chicken.

Ran more Scooby Doo while I put everything away. "The Creepy Creature of Vulture's Claw" is a giant bug-man who's terrorizing a historic garden. There seems to be too many suspects in this case, including a bumbling professor who wants to buy the place, a developer who wants to tear it down, a nerdy assistant, and the gatekeeper, who just doesn't want anyone on his land. Even Velma is confused...until she and the others figure out why the bug is really after the gardens.

Went right back out to do the laundry as soon as the episode ended. Maybe I should have done this earlier in the day. It was mobbed when I arrived. I grabbed one of the last two washers open, and there weren't that many dryers, either. I focused on my story notes and tried not to bump into too many people.

Once again, I put everything away, then went out again as soon as I was finished. I wanted to have a nice swim and talk to Dad and Jodie. One of the neighbors and their 4-year-old daughter Savannah were already in when I arrived. I swam around them and laughed as they chased each other and dove underwater and played tag and hit each other with foam noodles. The water was just perfect, warm but not bathwater-warm like it was on the 4th. A cool wind blew ripples across the water's aqua-blue surface.

I offered to pay half of my train tickets for my vacation now and pay Dad and Jodie back for the rest in the fall. The bike was a birthday gift, but they did mostly pay for the air conditioner. I felt pretty bad about that. They said they were fine with the tickets, and that I should save for my rent and for spending money on my trip.

Found out from Jodie that, after having lived together and having two kids (and two dogs) together for at least a decade, Rose and Craig got officially married in the winter. TJ even married them. Something about insurance purposes. I don't care that they didn't do a wedding, but it would have been nice if they'd told me.

After we all got out of the pool and the neighbors went home for dinner, Jodie ordered us all hoagies, onion rings, and hot wings from Amato Bros on the White Horse Pike. She was fit to be tied when she finally came in with the food. Evidently, they made her wait for it, and they forgot Jesse's hot peppers. (Good thing he didn't really care at that point.) I was just happy to enjoy my enormous roast beef and provolone hoagie and crispy and oily onion rings. There was so much of both, I took half the hoagie and part of the order of onion rings home with me.

Went straight in the shower when I got in, then did two quick rounds of Lego Clone Wars. I'm finally starting to wind down most of the main missions. Picked up three pieces on "Grevious Intrigue" and one on "Rookies."

Finished the night with a horror-oriented Bowery Boys movie for Friday the 13th. They think they're Master Minds when Sach gets a toothache that allows him to predict the future, and they set him up as a carnival swami. They're not the only ones who are after his amazing powers. A mad scientist kidnaps him and actually manages to switch his brain with that of his hulking monster. Now a giant hairy man is talking like goofy Sach, and Sach is acting like a brute. Gabe, Slip, and the other guys follow the monster to a spooky mansion to switch them back.

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