Thursday, August 20, 2020

I Love a Summer's Day

Kicked off a lovely morning with Split Second. The male champion had stiff competition from the two ladies, but he came on strong in the Countdown Round and just barely won. He missed the car by one board and opted to return for his last attempt at getting it.

Finally got to Farina and a plum for breakfast by the time Blockbusters was on. A gentleman played two ladies, who finally beat him in their third go-around. They didn't do nearly as well at the Gold Rush round, only getting three questions right. The second contestant was a very funny lady who claimed she was a backup singer in Hollywood and even performed a little bit of a song very well.

Headed out around quarter after 11 to hit the laundromat. This time, I chose the right time to do it. They were quiet as can be when I came in. Went to Family Dollar while the laundry was in the washer, but they had nothing I needed. Treated myself to an Oreo Most Stuff Smoothie. It was a vanilla smoothie with tons of chocolate syrup on the bottom and pieces of Oreo on top, topped with an Oreo cookie. Yum! It was really, really sweet, but I'm not going to quibble with a smoothie that comes with an Oreo cookie. 

Sat on the concrete barrier between houses outside to work on story notes while my clothes were in the dryer. Even with it being quiet, it was too nice to sit inside. While it was hot, likely in the mid-80's, it was also dry as a bone and clear as can be, without a hint of the humidity and haze that stifled South Jersey last month.

Two boxes awaited me on my front stoop when I got home. Most of my Amazon order had arrived! The smaller box held The Merry Rise of Skywalker, the final Shakespeare Star Wars spoof. I have the others for the original and sequel films and of course had get this, too. I'll read it later this weekend.

I was so excited to get my new vacuum cleaner! I love the current design of appliances. They're so rounded and cute. My Bissell vacuum is admittedly cheap plastic, but it's a slim design that works on small rugs and hardwood floors. It even worked on the narrow rag rug that my big old Dirt Devil would have sucked up easily. I'll buy a dust mop or Swifter for the hardwood floors eventually to pick up anything the Bissell misses, but for now, the Bissell worked very well. It was a lot quieter than the Dirt Devil, too. My only complaint is I wish the cord was longer, but this apartment isn't that big anyway. 

Watched Bitter Sweet while vacuuming and putting everything away. I go unto further details on this tragic Technicolor romance featuring Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.


Went out again around 2:30. My original thought for lunch was The Square Meal on West Clinton, which specializes in healthy and organic food. Oddly, despite it being the middle of the afternoon, they weren't open. I wonder if they're gone? Most of the smaller restaurants are closed on Mondays, not Thursdays. 

Ended up taking a slice of cheese and a slice of tomato-basil-mozzarella pizza and a can of Pepsi from Phillies Phatties out to the sidewalks instead. I would have eaten at the picnic tables out there, even if things were normal. The only other person out there at this time of day was a kid noshing on a paper container of fries, but people started lining up for Phillies Yummies as I rode down West Clinton. 

I've been wanting to get over to the Target at Westmont for a while now. They're not big, but they suited my purposes. Thanks to back-to-school sales, they had plenty of dish pans and hangers for pictures and the calendar. My old dish pan was dirty and dingy, and I would have replaced it under any circumstances. The shampoo I use was slightly cheaper, too. The didn't have apple cider vinegar either, but I was able to get olive oil and blueberries. Like the Acme this week, they were steady, but not overwhelmingly busy. 

Didn't have luck anywhere else at Westmont Plaza. Jo Ann's is now gone, and despite what I heard, they weren't replaced by Michaels. Tuesday Morning is also closing. They have 4 days left, according to the sign on their windows. Looked it, too. Other than a few toys and bags of Frozen II Jelly Bellys and tins of cookies, they had nothing. Dollar Tree's windows were covered in black tarp. A sign said they just started remodeling and will be closed through late next month. 

Finally opted to go straight home. Went into writing as soon as I got in and put everything away. Did a lot of re-writing. Malade's fed up with just about everything and attacks the guests, turning almost everyone in the ballroom into stone statues. The princesses and Gene use their magic to deflect it and protect anyone who can't...but not everyone is so lucky...

Broke at 6:30 to hang the calendar and Linda's Home Sweet Home picture. Used the other hanger for the artwork of Princess Leia Linda and James sent me a few years ago. Leia went over the shelf with the Star Wars hardbacks and 12-inch dolls. The Mary Englebret calendar went in the hall, across from the front door. 

We had a bit of a Match Game/What's My Line? crossover today as Buzzr jumped back to earlier in 1974 and host Larry Blyden joined Kaye Stevens of the noisy laugh, bombshell Elaine Joyce, and the regulars for jokes about Christopher Columbus. Sale of the Century was a close race between all three contestants. In the end, the woman contestant made too many mistakes in the Speed Round, and the champ pulled ahead. She still didn't get that bonus round, though...

Watched Hart to Hart on The Roku Channel after writing my Bitter Sweet review. It's "A Question of Innocence" during the first season when the funny older woman who runs Johnathan Hart's favorite newsstand comes to him for money. Turns out she's being blackmailed by a member of her late grandson's fencing team, who saw her kill the professor that provided the young man with the drugs that killed him. The youth wants to stiff her for more money. Johnathan and Jennifer talk to a college girl and the owner of the professor's house and find out who the real murderer was.

Finished the night on YouTube with an old-time radio show I've wanted to hear for years. I Love a Mystery is the atmospheric tales of a trio of unusual private eyes - stoic Midwesterner Jack, girl-crazy Texan Doc, and cultured Brit Reggie - who get involved in some of the wildest adventures this side of Indiana Jones. The show was so popular, there were two different runs; the few episodes that exist today mainly come from the second run in the early 50's. 

I listened to "The Thing That Cries In the Night" from the later Mutual run. In this tense old dark house mystery about an elderly woman who wants the guys to find out who is trying to kill off her comely but difficult granddaughters, Jack was played by Jim Bannon, Doc by Jim Boles, and Reggie by a very young Tony Randall. It wasn't one of the more action-packed stories, but it was an enjoyable mystery, though Jack solved everything way before I (or his partners) did.

Here's "The Thing That Cried In the Night" in full on YouTube. I loved it so much, I ordered a set featuring the existing episodes, plus other adventure stories by the show's creator Carleton Morse, from Amazon. 

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