On a Clear Day You Can See Forever

Started off another sunny day by sleeping in. By the time I was up and moving, so were the construction workers...and so was Charlie's potty mouth. I avoided both by starting the day with laundry. I didn't really have all that much to do anyway, not even a full laundry basket. I was mainly washing my work clothes. I hit it at the right time this week. There was only one person there when I came in, and after they left, I saw no one else until right before the dryer was finishing. I worked on story notes and ignored the news and Days of Our Lives.

Went home, put the laundry away, and then made a blueberry-tea smoothie for lunch. Charlie had mostly been listening to 80's and early 90's rap, but he briefly had Frank Sinatra on earlier. I continued that with Songs for Swinging Lovers, one of Sinatra's best albums. "I've Got You Under My Skin" and "You Make Me Feel So Young" are probably the best-known tracks here; other favorites include "It Happened In Monterey," "Old Devil Moon," and "You Brought a New Kind of Love To Me."

Next on the list of errands was running to the Acme for this week's grocery shopping. There's a lot of big sales this weekend, including 40 % off chicken. I picked up ground chicken that had a manager's coupon and breasts. Used online coupons for yogurt and Bryers Delights mint chocolate chip (the latter of which was part of a big ice cream pint sale). Restocked skim milk, plain yogurt for cooking, mandarin oranges, honey, chocolate chips, breakfast bars, butter, pudding mix, and laundry detergent. (I used the last of my previous bottle on this morning's load.)

My schedule is...not horrible, but not as good as this week. In good news, three days off again (Wednesday for counseling) and mostly normal hours the rest of the week...except a very early eight and a half hour day on Thursday. And I have fewer hours again, understandable given how quiet we've been, but still disappointing.

Went home and put everything away while listening to more Sinatra to drown out Charlie's mouth and the noise from the repairs. Strangers In the Night from 1966 was one of his biggest hits, reaching number one on the Billboard Pop Albums chart that year. The title song and "Summer Wind" were among his biggest hits, and remain associated with him today. Other good numbers from this album include "All or Nothing at All," "On a Clear Day You Can See Forever," and "The Most Beautiful Girl In the World."

Went back out again as soon as the record ended. This time, I went in the opposite direction to the Haddon Township Library. (Got several compliments on my bike from a couple of young ladies sitting outside the nearly-completed Target.) Like the Acme and the laundromat, they were pretty quiet today. They must have been much busier in the morning. The DVD cart was overflowing. It took me over an hour to shelve almost everything, and I still didn't get to the non-fiction titles. The adult shelves badly needed to be reorganized, too.

Took out a couple of interesting titles this week. Been wanting to see Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle since it came out over the holiday season. I wasn't a big fan of the original film with Robin Williams, but this one got such good reviews, I thought I'd try it. The reviews of the remake of Murder on the Orient Express from last November were more mixed, but the cast is awesome, and that's my favorite Agatha Christie novel. Decided to check out the independent animated film The Breadwinner after I enjoyed another indie cartoon, The Red Turtle, a few months ago. The 2015 remake/reboot Vacation didn't do very well when it came out, but I like the original series enough to take a look at this one too.

Took the long way back to Oaklyn across Newton Lake Park. They were much busier than the last time I was there. Everyone from joggers to teens lounging on the railings to fisher folk wanted to get out and enjoy the sunshine before heavy rain moves in tomorrow. We could really use it. While it's not as dry as it has been, there's still quite a few brown patches in the grass, and the leaves are looking thin and brittle.

My last stop for the day was at Dollar General. Their eggs are $1.50, much cheaper than they are at the Acme. Their sponges are cheaper, too. They were slightly busier than most everywhere else was today, probably because it was rush hour by that point.

Worked on writing when I got in and continued to ignore the cursing and pounding from the porch. Luke admires Yoda's many artifacts from the lost Central American kingdom of Alderaan, including a full suit of armor. When Luke asks why they're not in a museum, Yoda says he intends to donate the collection to the University of California, where he once worked, when he dies. Artie shows Luke some more recent photos of Yoda's digs, pointing out the boy's mother, the beautiful senator's daughter Padme Amidala.

Broke for dinner at 6:30. Cleared out the refrigerator, turning the ground chicken, some old stock, the last of the tomato sauce from when Lauren visited, and most of the vegetables in my crisper into Summer Vegetable Burger Casserole. Topped it with sharp cheddar cheese. Yum! Came out very nicely, an excellent melding of flavors. The cheese gave it just the right kick.

Continued with Lego Clone Wars after I ate. Finally completed "Shadow of Malevolence" and "Duel of the Droids"; got one more piece on "Lair of Grievous." Picked up Lando Calarissian and Han Solo respectively from the finished rounds.

Ended the night with an episode of Tales of the Gold Monkey. "Black Pearl" is an experimental bomb being worked on by the Nazis on a near-by island. One of the natives being used for slave labor escapes and is found by Jake, but is killed before he can reveal more information. Jake poses as an American scientist who was going to defect to the Nazis to get the goods on this new project.

(Oh, and the porch looks like it's coming along. It's all covered with wood now, though they haven't put the railings up yet on anything but the stairs.)