Called Uber after the cartoon ended. I was going to meet Jessa later. It didn't even take four minutes for the driver to arrive. Even with a little bit of traffic, I got to work well before my shift started.
Work went just fine. We were steady, but never overwhelmingly busy. I swept and pushed carts for the first hour, but then another bagger came in and took over the sweeping. I spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon pushing the carts. It started out cloudy and cold, but warmed up once the sun started coming out around noon.
The moment I finished, I changed into a regular shirt and sweater, then bought some more spices and went out to wait for Jessa. Turns out she'd already parked to wait for me around the corner. I saw her text and finally joined her.
We had a late lunch at Tu Se Bella's in back of the Acme. I couldn't believe she'd never been there before. It's my favorite pizza place in Camden County. Given it was almost 2:30 by that point, they weren't terribly busy. We were able to easily get the table by the windows. She had a slice of vegetable and a slice of chicken ranch. I had a slice of mushroom and a slice of shrimp-broccoli and finished her chicken ranch when she couldn't. I grabbed a Diet Pepsi. She'd stopped and gotten a cherry limeade slush at Sonic before she picked up me.
We spent the next two hours checking out the Goodwills in Audubon across from Tu Se Bella's and in Pennsauken. They were both pretty busy, although I think the one in Audubon was slightly less so than the one in Pennsauken. I dug up three records and six CDs at Audubon (although five of the six were part of a set). They still don't have much in the way of records at Pennsauken, but I did pick up a cast album CD I've wanted for a while, a new glass small cake pan to replace the older metal one that got too scratched to keep, and a huge collection of nineteen F. Scott Fitzgerald stories and two of his novels, This Side of Paradise and The Beautiful and the Damned. (Neither of which I've read. I've read The Great Gatsby several times.) The records are:
Original 1948 cast recording of Carousel
Studio cast recording of Rose Marie with Julie Andrews and Giorgio Tozzi
Mary Martin Sings Richard Rodgers Plays
The CDs are:
Original cast recording of the Disney stage Aladdin
Mannheim Steamroller - Christmas Extraordinaire
The Smithsonian Collection of Classic Jazz, a 5-CD set of jazz favorites
My new debit card was there when I got home, so I spent a while updating my information online before today's Match Game marathon began. 1976 was the peak year for Match Game. It was the number-one show on daytime throughout the year. Charles, Brett, and Richard were all there, and it's when many of the most popular jokes on the show, like Gene's Old Man Periwinkle imitation and Betty rolling up his pant legs, were solidified.
The panelists came into their own, too. Fannie Flagg once turned up in a long red wig and Brooklyn accent that made her look and sound like a 70's Maple LaMarsh. Patti Deusch gave a very unique answer to what would make a peg-leg pirate jump in the air. Scoey Mitchilll traded seats with Charles Nelson Reilly, and they stayed "in character" for the entire episode. Richard and Lee Merriweather rolled up Gene's pants legs instead of Betty. Marvin Hamlisch and Charles wrote two songs during Marvin's one week on the show, one for the sweet contestant Pharnicia, and one for Brett. Brett added her foghorn contralto to the latter.
Speaking of contestants, Pharnicia was far from the only memorable one in '76. There was the older woman with the lovely white hair who hoped to win money for a vacation after working hard at her family's egg restaurant. One very funny lady from Louisiana threw Gene a curve ball by bringing her own breath spray and insisting on a "new kid on the block" kiss. Gorgeous blonde Darlene not only became the top winner the week she was on, she spent that week flirting with Richard. A former teacher was so excited after winning, he did kicks Gene Kelly would have envied. The funny little Puerto Rican detective prompted a round of private eye and Spanish jokes.
Celebrate the bicentennial year with the best of Match Game!
Finished the night with the Golden Films Snow White at Tubi. I go further into one of their earliest hour specials at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.
And why didn't I do this last night? I was so tired after that long marathon finally ended and I did that review, I went right to bed.
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