Before the Rain Arrived

Kicked off a sunny, hazy morning with breakfast and Buzzr. The morning Sale of the Century run is now up to the episodes with their first version of a bonus round. You have to match two panels to win the prize of the day. The new champ hit on a trip his first time out.

The Supermarket Sweep episode was one of the early 2000's ones with the Password-esque "30 second shoot-outs." One half of the pair gives clues to a certain word that their partner has to guess. If they get all the words, it spells something you can find in a supermarket or a familiar brand name. Only one pair got the 30 seconds this time. The Big Sweep was a good one, but the winning couple didn't get close to the 5,000 dollars.

The contestants did better on Split Second. One woman dominated the entire day, including the Countdown Round. She missed the car by one board and opted to come back tomorrow to try again.

Spent the next two hours after that organizing the American Girls and their things. Moved their bench to where the chair was in front of my bed. The rack I used for their clothes was also too big for the room and didn't fit in my closet. I ended up loading their clothes into a bin and the two boxes Samantha and Whitney came in. I also moved the sweaters and wraps in my seasonal clothes bin onto a shelf in the closet and the remaining clothes into a smaller bin. That still left room for two Christmas bins.

As I worked, I happened to look up and notice a van stop in front of the main house through the small bedroom window. Big men unloaded an inflatable mattress, and I thought I heard Jodie's voice. Dad was home! I didn't go say 'hi,' though. I wanted to let him get settled before he had visitors.

Had a quick lunch while watching the tail end of Match Game and most of Classic Concentration. The young man from yesterday continued cleaning up in the main rounds, but just could not get close with the car. He finally met his match in a college girl in the beginning of the second episode.

It took longer for Uber to show up than I'd hoped. It probably has to do with people avoiding the heat. It got back up to 96 again today. Thankfully, I didn't wait there for very long. There was no traffic in Cherry Hill, and I scooted into the elevator and upstairs as fast as I could.

It was pretty much the exact same deal as last time. A few minutes after I arrived, they brought me into the x-ray room. I waited about five or so minutes for them to be ready, then another five for the doctor. He says the elbow is healing nicely. Told him I put in for the first week of August as my first vacation week and would come back for my last appointment then.

The prices for Uber were so expensive after I got out, I decided to wait a while. There's a brand-new, very modern Dunkin' Donuts next-door to Cooper Orthopedics. Picked up a green iced tea with lemon from their otherwise quiet counter. Waited about 15 minutes after that before prices went down to a reasonable level and I was able to get home.

I was shelving the Star Wars toys when Rose called. Thursday is trash day on Manor Avenue. She and Craig wanted to get the furniture I no longer need out to the curb. Could I watch the kids? Sure, why not? I'd just finished with the Star Wars toys when they arrived.

Finley was a ball of energy! She raced ahead of Khai and me to Veteran's Park next-door to my apartment. We goofed around in the gazebo there, then walked along the path, admiring the giant sunflowers in the community garden. The kids climbed on the World War II gun in front of the VFW (which was recently repainted a more realistic gunmetal green and white) and tossed a ball in the parking lot.

(And yes, all furniture is now out of the apartment. Rose and I will probably go through things for Goodwill tomorrow or this weekend.)

Dark clouds gathered, even as I chased Finley across the street to her parents. I'd been home for less than 20 minutes when they finally burst. It was pouring when I stepped out to drop the Pepsi bottle in the recycling and saw Jodie watering plants on her porch. Yes, Dad is home, and she says he's doing as well as he can in his present circumstances. He must be. I heard his usual 12-hour Law & Order: Special Victim's Unit marathon through the door to their side of the house. She also mentioned that their tomatoes are finally coming in and offered me a few when they're ready. Sure! I can always use tomatoes.

Shelved the remaining Star Wars toys, then did some re-arranging. Dropped a crate of folders onto one of the American Girls bins. Moved the Christmas bins that were in the kitchen into my room and covered them with a blanket. I may try moving the Christmas tree bin into the bathroom closet, but I don't think it'll fit. It will likely stay in the kitchen until further notice.

Had leftovers for dinner while watching Match Game. Alas, the last episode of the week with Ron Pallilo, Patty Duke, and Patti Deustch seems to be lost. I wasn't too upset that Buzzr went straight into the next week, though. It's a classic, with Dick Gautier, Jo Ann Pflug, and Fannie Flagg joining Gene and the regulars in matching an attractive, soft-spoken contestant from Casablanca.

The woman champ just kept rolling on Sale of the Century. She bought a brass baker's rack and a trip to Palm Springs and the other two contestants still didn't get close to her. Didn't have much luck with the bonus round, though.

Finished the night with The Sign of Zorro on Disney Plus. The Zorro TV show used to run on The Disney Channel in the evenings in the 80's. Rose was more into it than I was then, but she always loved anything that involved Spanish or Mexican culture. Me, I enjoyed the swashbuckling and watching Don Diego de la Vega (Guy Williams) stay one step ahead of the evil Captain Monstario (Britt Lomond) and foolish Sargent Garcia (Henry Calvin). Diego invented his Zorro persona as a way to get back at Monstario and help save the people of California without undue bloodshed. Monstario is so determined to capture Zorro, he arrests his hot-blooded father and holds him without a trial and hires an impostor to discredit him with the people. Diego, however, knows every trick to get around his traps, with the help of his mute manservant Bernardo (Gene Shelton).

I hope Disney puts the full Zorro show on Disney Plus sometime in the near future; until they get to it, this is a good sample. Williams always did have fun in the role, with Calvin also having a grand old time as one of the great buffoons in Old California. It's kind of episodic, having been edited together from the TV show, but the swordplay and jokes alone make it enjoyable for action fans like me.