Friday, December 04, 2020

Afternoon In the Rain

Began the morning with breakfast and Christmas Unwrapped. This History Channel special goes further into the history of Christmas in general and how it evolved once it came to America. I love hearing how the holiday went from a noisy community affair through the Middle Ages to quiet domestic holiday in the Victorian era with mistletoe and Santa, to the holidays of today that (normally) manage to be a little bit of everything.

Switched to Match Game '74 as I got ready to head out. It started with Gene trying to drag out a plastic limb, and didn't get any less crazy from there. Gene did a bad Columbo impression, complete with fake cigar, for one question, and the panel giving interesting answers for what Tinkerbell lost in Never-Never Land in another.

Called Uber to get me to the Acme for this week's grocery shopping, and probably would have, even if the bike was in good shape. It was rainy and cold off and on all day. Thankfully, both Uber trips were on time, quick, and quiet, no problems going to or from Audubon.

Didn't have a huge order anyway. I ate out of the fridge a lot this week. Had online coupons for brown sugar and bananas and another for free eggs. Found a pack of all-natural ground turkey with a manager's coupon. The small frozen fish fillets were buy one, get one - got those wild tuna steaks. Restocked milk, yogurt, canola oil, pumpkin, unbleached white flour, and orange marmalade. 

I'm less happy with my schedule next week. I'm working 40 hours, including two 8-9 hour days in a row, with only Thursday off. I'm supposed to be part-time. I asked the younger front end manager what was going on. Apparently, between people taking time off for the holidays and people on leave because they don't want to deal with the virus, we're critically short-handed this week. 

When I got home, I put everything away while watching TV Guide Looks at Christmas. Lea Thompson hosts this salute to almost every type of holiday programming found on television, from beloved sitcom episodes to vintage commercials to favorite movies. I'm especially fascinated by variety shows, like the series Perry Como did set in other lands, or the ones featuring Bing Crosby. Most of these shows were long gone by the time of my childhood, and many have only just started appearing on YouTube after having been missing for decades. 

Had a very late and fast lunch while Tattletales was on. This time, Bill and Pat only got one answer right. The big winners were Scoey and Claire Mitchilll, who are still going strong together to this day. Put up the general winter decorations during Press Your Luck. The Russian gentleman just couldn't get anywhere. He got slammed with Whammies in the second round, allowing the one woman to pull ahead and win. 

Did some writing after I put the crate with the winter decorations back in the hall closet. Dolly's not the only one who's concerned about someone Governor Goodson arrested. Captain Tom Kennedy tells Gene that his own older brother, Captain Jack Narz of The Concentration, is currently a prisoner on Goodson's ship the SS Todman. Goodson's subordinates destroyed The Concentration just a few weeks before.

Broke for dinner at 6:30. Tonight's Match Game '75 episode is one of the funniest from that year. Hard pressed to find an answer for the Audience Match question "Trench ___," Richard comes up with the dreaded "Trench Hand." Everyone continues to make jokes about giving to eradicate "Trench Hand" for the rest of the episode. Match Game PM had everyone making jokes about what the Welcome Wagon lady drives in a bad neighborhood and Charles helping a young lady out with winning 10,000.

The champ finally got pushed around in the beginning of Sale of the Century by a young gentleman, which may be why he didn't buy the first two Instant Bargains. The third was a trip to Palm Springs...which happened to be the champ's current home town. Jim Perry switched it to San Francisco in order to convince him to buy. He did end up winning again, this time picking up luggage for all those trips he won.

Finished out the night on Hulu with classic Christmas sitcom episodes. "Scrooge Wins an Oscar" from the first season of The Odd Couple has Oscar Madison (Jack Klugman) refusing to appear in his roommate Felix Unger's (Tony Randall) stage version of A Christmas Carol after his wife Blanche demands more alimony. Oscar finally dreams that a very familiar and peculiar ghost shows him what it'll be like if he doesn't change his grouchy ways.

"Dear Dad" from the first season of MASH is the first of many, many episodes throughout the season to depict someone from the 4077th writing a letter that reveals their points of view. Hawkeye (Alan Alda) writes to his father and tells him about the goings-on in Korea during the Christmas season, from Frank (Larry Linville) and Hot Lips (Loretta Swit) continuing their affair to Radar (Gary Burghoff) sending a jeep home piece by piece to Henry (McLean Stevenson) attempting to lecture the doctors on sex. Hawkeye is supposed to be Santa for the orphans' Christmas party, but he ends up having to take a helicopter to the front in costume. 

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