Friday, February 23, 2024

After the Rain

Began the morning with breakfast and Bluey. The girls want their "Daddy Robot" to clean up their playroom, but he ends up making even more of a mess. They finally realize when the "robot" overloads that there's some things they need to do on their own.

By the time I got a ride to work, it took them 7 minutes to get there. That was just enough for me to get to work right on time. I had a lot less trouble getting home. Picked up a ride in less than a minute. No trouble either way.

It looked like it rained earlier. The parking lot was wet when I pushed carts. It sprinkled lightly around noon-1 PM, but other than that, it hasn't rained again. There was once again no trouble whatsoever at work. We were quiet as can be. 

Mixed feelings on my schedule. In good news, Tuesday, Thursday, and next Friday off. I expected fewer hours after the schedules I've had for the past few weeks. I am disappointed that, even with no one on vacation, I'm still not doing any floral department work. It's all bagging. I guess they decided they didn't want more help after all. 

Did a little grocery shopping after work. Found Kind drizzled granola bars on clearance and two sliced fresh mozzarella balls with half-price stickers. Restocked yogurt, apples, and popcorn. Had an online coupon for Arm & Hammer laundry detergent, which was already on sale. The Acme put out the new Coke Spiced, which apparently is their raspberry-spice hybrid, earlier in the day. They had a Zero version on a display. I grabbed two. Bought a get well soon card and an Acme gift card for one of my former neighbors at Hillcrest who was diagnosed with cancer and is undergoing chemotherapy. 

(And unlike the previous limited edition Y3000, the Spiced was wonderful. The Zero version at least mostly tasted of raspberries, with a very subtle  hint of spice. Hope this is around for a long time.)

Watched the tail end of Let's Make a Deal when I got home as I changed and put everything away. I saw a few people make deals and trade up, then the Big Deals of the Day. No one got the Big Deal, but I suspect the surfer dude who won a trip to Mexico and furniture was probably happier with that than he would have been with sofas and a stereo anyway. 

Went back out about ten minutes later to run a few errands. Dropped a bag of shirts I didn't want at the clothes bin behind Dollar General, then went across the street to leave the get well soon card in my friend's mailbox. Stopped at Los Amigos Bakery on the way home and treated myself to a vanilla-chocolate-strawberry layer cake slice. It remained chilly and cloudy during my walk, but it never rained again. 

Listened to one of my new record collections while doing job research. Got in the first two records of the 3-disc The 30 Great Love Songs of the 60's, 70's, and 80's set. Some of the "love songs," like the Turtles' "Happy Together" and Meatloaf's "Two Out of Three Ain't Bad," are pushing the definition a bit. Others work far better with the theme. Favorites here include Dionne Warwick's version of "I'll Never Fall In Love Again," "Cherish" by The Association, "Key Largo" by Bertie Higgins, "Sexy Eyes" by Dr. Hook, and one of Air Supply's earliest hits, "Every Woman In the World."

Worked on writing for a while after that. The gate to Televisia City, a collection of shining late Art Deco spires, are shut tight. It's Charles who remembers how to call the gate keeper, who turns out to be Bill Cullen. Bill is an amiable fellow, but he's not supposed to let just anyone in. 

Broke for dinner and Match Game '79 at 7 PM. They jumped back to earlier in the season, on the first day with Foster Brooks and Lorna Patterson. Gene breaks his infamous spray before can kiss her, to his dismay! The others help a contestant with "It's Only __" on the Audience Match.

Finished out the first disc of the WKRP set next. It's "Straight from the Heart" when Herb ends up in a hospital to have his heart checked. He's not happy about being stuck there and drags Les to an X-rated movie instead. The others are all shocked when they find them there, and even more when they all land in jail and learn that Herb has been hiding his heart trouble. Bailey plays poker with him to get him to go back.

Everyone's switching jobs again in "Who's On First?" Arthur poses as Herb in order to make an important advertising sale. Les gets caught up posing as Arthur. Johnny claims he's Andy in order to get out of gambling debts.

Johnny finds a far easier way to get out of those debts in "Three Days of the Condo." He earns a $24,000 settlement when it turns out that California radio station fired him unfairly. Venus insists he invest it in real estate, but the "Gone With the Wind Condos" are too fancy for his taste. He's the one who finally figures out a way to scare the snooty owners enough to get out of his lease.

Jennifer is upset when her latest elderly beau (Pat O'Brian) dies during a date with him. She's even more surprised when she has to execute his will for his greedy relatives. Turns out the old guy was a lot sharper than his nasty relatives gave him credit for...and appreciated Jennifer far more than she realized in "Jennifer and the Will." 

Ended the night with something very different at YouTube. The Wizard of Oz is popular around the world, including in Japan. There have been several anime released over the years, including The Wonderful Wizard of Oz from 1986. The first half of this series is a pretty accurate retelling of the original book, up to and including Dorothy's shoes being silver and the long trip to the Emerald City. The second half ties in a bit of the next Oz book by bringing in Tip (who is a boy here) and Mombi for a few random episodes. Surprisingly, they skip the trip to visit Glinda, cutting straight to her after the Wizard takes off. Honestly, this is charming and even spooky, especially if you've read the original books this is based on.

No comments: