Saturday, May 16, 2020

The Unkindest Break

Began the morning with breakfast and Rick Steves' Europe. Rick takes a trip through France's Loire Valley, exploring ancient Medieval castles and vast Renaissance chateaus, both the home of kings and queens for centuries. Kids will probably be happier at Leonardo Di Vinci's home, where they can run among and play with some his most famous and unusual inventions.

Headed out as soon as the episode ended and I took some aspirin and wrapped my arm in a bandage. At least it was a nice day for a long walk, much nicer than it's supposed to be next week. The sun blazed overhead, the sky was a brilliant robin's egg blue, and the bare hint of a breeze stirred my hair. While still warmer than it has been, probably in the 70's, it wasn't quite as hot as yesterday.

Just like last time, there was no one at Cooper Urgent Care when I arrived. I quickly signed in, told the lady at the desk what happened, and was whisked into a room. The first nurse, clad in a plastic mask and gloves, took my vital signs and temperature and asked me what happened. A doctor once again checked my blood pressure. A young man lead me to the x-ray room, where he took photos of my arm.

Watched Flea Market Flip on the DIY Channel until the doctor returned. Verdict - yeah, it's a fracture. No wonder it won't bend. She gave me a signature to get out of work for the week and told me I'd have to see an orthopedics office. She also repeated Dr. Jessica's warning about my blood pressure being too high and eating better. After she brought a packet of papers, I got a tetanus shot, had my arm bandaged and dressed and placed in a sling, and was on my way.

Stopped at WaWa on my way home for lunch. Opted for a turkey hoagie with spinach and tomato this time. Limited my drink to a Pineapple Perrier. Surprisingly for 1:30, they weren't busy at all. The lunch crowd must have been long gone. I was in and out.

Put on Match Game as I ate. The first episode was another one from that week in 1978 featuring Jack Klugman and his sort-of-ex-wife Brett Sommers battling it out. The second went further back to 1976, as Ed Asner and Lynn Deerfield joined Betty White and the regulars in dealing with a nerdy good ol' boy and wacky Lyle, the strangest male contestant ever on the show.

By the time of the third episode, I was nodding off. I didn't sleep well last night, probably thanks to the pain in my arm. I was originally going to wait until Charlie stopped blowing fuzzies off the roof to take a nap, but I was just too tired. I finally opted to ignore the leaf blower and snuggle down into bed.

I must have been really wiped. I went down at 3:30 and didn't wake up until 6! Had leftover lentil stew over spinach for dinner while watching Mr. Bug Goes to Town on YouTube. I go further into the tale of bugs trying to save their community from humans and a greedy beetle businessman at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.

Animation Celebration Saturday - Mr. Bug Goes to Town

Did two episodes of Tattletales a bit later in honor of Jerry Stiller, who passed away at 90 from natural causes this week. Stiller and his wonderfully sarcastic wife Anne Meara appeared several times on the show, notably with Dick Gautier and Gloria Stuart and Elaine Joyce and Bobby Van on one week early in 75, and Stuart, Gautier, Greg Morris, and his wife Lee in another. At this point, the show still used its original format, with one couple guessing a clue as to what their spouse might say on a subject. Meara and Stiller's down-to-Earth warmth made a nice contrast to the more glamorous or traditionally sexy couples around them.

Finished the night on Shout TV with another Mystery Science Theater 3000 episode. Mike and the robots explored another Russian fantasy epic, The Sword and the Dragon, while playing Dungeons & Dragons and creating their own topical comedy variety show. The complex plot of this one I think had a warrior helping out his king with a Mongul invasion, only to be betrayed and lose his family years later. After the Mongols invade again, he's released from prison, only to end up fighting his own son. This one has more in common with cheesy Italian epics like Hercules and lacks the fairy-tale romance of Jack Frost. It absolutely needed the wisecracks, if only to make sense of the plot. (And that "dragon" only shows up in the last 20 minutes of the film and is barely used.)

Mystery Science Theater 3000 - The Sword and the Dragon

No comments: