Friday, September 07, 2018

Busy Day Before the Storm

It was cloudy and a little bit cooler when I got up this morning. Started off my day with breakfast and some Peanuts. There's No Time for Love, Charlie Brown actually has more to do with school than romance. The gang is supposed to be going to the art museum to do a report, but somehow Chuck, Sally, Peppermint Patty, Marcie, Snoopy, and Woodstock mistake a grocery store for the museum.

Headed out to the laundromat after the special ended. They were absolutely dead when I arrived. I think I saw maybe two or three people the whole time I was there. Just as well. I had a really big load this week, including towels, and it took me a little bit longer than usual to get it all done. Looked over issues of Country Living and Martha Stewart Living, since I forgot a pen to write notes with.

Went home, put everything away, and went back out again. Next up on my agenda was the Oaklyn Library. They were relatively busy for them, with several people on the computers. I worked on organizing the DVD while the librarian tried to explain why one of the guys lost his work. (He hadn't saved, and the site he was using had gone down.)

Took Nicholson Road to the Audubon Crossings Shopping center for lunch. Though it wasn't raining, and was less hot than it has been lately, it continues to be very humid. I opted for pizza at Tu Se Bella's. Had a slice of cheese and a slice of broccoli and tomato on white with a fruit punch Powerade. They weren't busy at all, a bit of a surprise for 12:30 on a Friday. I still ate at one of the big, rustic tables in the main dining area. (The smaller table in the window was already taken when I came in.)

I had even less grocery shopping to do this week than I did last week. I've been so worn out from my long hours at work, I've just been eating leftovers. I restocked peanut butter, yogurt, skim milk, canned pineapple (I used the can from last week for a pineapple-escarole smoothie this morning), canned chicken, tape, and vanilla and almond extract. Thought I'd try some Jiff "Pick Me Up" bars I had an online coupon for.

My schedule for next week is really strange. I do have Tuesday and Wednesday off, along with next Friday and Saturday for my vacation to visit Lauren up in Pittsfield...but Monday is 8 and 1/2 hours, and Thursday is 7 hours, and I have far fewer hours than I did this week. Our schedules are now done by a computer, rather than a person. I guess they're still working out all the glitches.

As soon as I got home, I put away what little I'd bought. Ran two episodes of Tiny Toon Adventures while I got organized. The Toons are "Test Stressed" during mid-terms at Acme Looniversity. Plucky's so freaked out, he asks Shirley the Loon to channel Einstein into his brain in the first story. The second has a hands - or paws - on test as Furball goes after Lil' Sneezer, as instructed by his mentor Sylvester. Fowlmouth has a different kind of test in the third story as Buster tries to keep him from swearing long enough to ask Shirley on a date.

"Looniversity Daze" is another school-set anthology episode. Buster is sent to the principal's office for goofing off in class in the first story. The kids are all terrified of this flaming spook, but it turns out that he's not what he seems. It's lunch time in the next story, but Sweetie would rather chase Bookwork through the library. The last story has Plucky trying to get out of a test again, this time by faking sick. Turns out he couldn't have picked a worse time. The new student nurse is Elmyra, who isn't what you would call helpful.

Took the long way across Newton Lake Park after the Toons ended. I was really hoping it would rain soon. It's finally starting to look dry here, with brown patches in the grass and brittle tan leaves already falling off some trees. There weren't too many people out and about, probably due to the ongoing clouds and cut-it-with-a-knife humidity.

The Haddon Township Library was a lot busier. I mainly shelved and organized DVDs. All of the families with kids must have returned movies before school started again. The return cart was overflowing, and there were some kids' titles I could fit on the children's area shelves.

There were also a lot of new kids' titles. I took out a few of them today. Grabbed another My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic set spotlighting a member of the Mane Six, this time country girl Applejack. Also found a special for Elena of Avalor, a Lego DC Superhero Girls movie, and more of the current version of Ducktails. There were so many awesome new animated titles in, I'll have to wait to get to the fourth and final season of Star Wars: Rebels and Big Hero 6: Back In Action until after vacation.

Made a quick stop at Target on the way home. They were finally starting to put out the Halloween candy, but that meant their back-to-school aisle was decimated. I couldn't find the dry erase board markers I was looking for (I'm on my last one), but I did pick up the Parmesan cheese I forgot at the Acme earlier.

It started to shower as I rode home. Hurried inside and got on the computer before the rain could get worse. Re-wrote what I did last night. Leia attacks Yasmin more aggressively with the sword. Luke helps her after he gets most of the male dancers off the stage. She sends Harry to find Laurence, who went after Roberto Fettara. Yasmin tries to get the Sword of Wisdom back from Leia, but it doesn't want her...and it's magic throws her offstage, to the audience's amazement.

Broke for dinner at 6:30. Made a fried egg sandwich with cheese, tomatoes, and mushrooms. Watched the My Little Pony DVD as I ate, and later as I went online. Applejack may be in charge of the Element of Honesty, but she learns just how hard it can be to stay honest in the fourth season episode "Leap of Faith." The Flim Flam Brothers have come to town with a tonic that can supposedly make the elderly young again. Apple doesn't buy it, but her Granny Smith drinks a bottle and suddenly can swim as well as she did when she was a filly. The brothers convince Apple that it's only making her grandmother happy...until Granny nearly gets hurt doing a dangerous stunt, and Apple finally calls them out.

The remaining episodes are all from the sixth season. Rarity just wishes Applejack would leave her chores and join her for some pampering at the spa in "Applejack's "Day" Off." Apple gives Spike and Twilight a list of chores, then finally goes off with Rarity. She can't stop working, even at the spa, when she discovers that their steam bath is broken due to stress from the constant laundry on their plumbing. It isn't until they return to the farm and Twilight complains about all the unnecessary steps in her list that she realizes what happened at the spa. People and ponies sometimes get so used to doing things a certain way, they don't realize when their ways stop working as intended.

Rarity, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash put "The Cart Before the Ponies" when they agree to help their sisters Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, and Scootaloo build carts for their school's rally, but ignore the girls' suggestions and make them what they want them to be. It takes a crash at the finish line for the older ponies to see how much they got carried away...and pushed their siblings aside.

"P.P.O.V (Pony Point of View)" has an angry Pinkie Pie, Applejack, and Rarity telling Spike and Twilight three very different versions of how they capsized their boat. They finally trick the girls into another boat trip in order to show them what really happened.

We end with an extended flashback episode, "Where the Apple Lies." Applejack tells Apple Bloom how she made a rash business deal with Filthy Rich, the owner of the local grocery store, to sell their juice. When Granny Smith says no, she tells Rich that Granny's sick. Her lies get bigger and bigger, until her brother Big McIntosh somehow ends up on an operating table, and Apple's the only one who can stop Granny from opening up his insides.

(And wow. We did finally get that rain. It started as I was writing, and continued until just about an hour ago. It was really noisy, too. Thunder, lightning, torrential downpour, the works. Looks like we're supposed to get quite a bit of rain this weekend, too. We'll see how things go.)

No comments: