Pleasant Valley Sunday

Got a quick start this morning with something a little different. I saw a pancake breakfast at the American Legion listed on the digital sign outside of Oaklyn's City Hall when I rode home yesterday. Thought it might be a nice way to begin my vacation. 

First, though, I needed to stop at WaWa to use the ATM machine. I accidentally pushed the button for the fast cast $10. That would work for the American Legion breakfast, but I needed more for vacation. When I tried to get more, I was denied. I was denied several times. I finally decided I'd go to breakfast and call them after I ate.

As it turned out, they called me three times. Each time, they asked me if I was the one who used the account for that amount of money. I said yes three times on the bench outside of the American Legion. After the third time, I figured I was safe to go in.

Found the entrance along the side of the building. The breakfast was in what looked like a bar area, with tables set up next to it. There were a few people, including a teen boy, but no one I knew. At least the pancakes were good. They were nice and fluffy, with two good-sized sausages. There was orange juice and coffee in the back. I had the orange juice.

Tried WaWa again on the way home. This time, I had no trouble getting money. Don't know what happened before. Treated myself to a tasty but sweet Pink Pineapple smoothie and two Olipop sodas to get change for later.

Headed straight home after that. Watched the tail end of Family Feud and Split Second while I stripped the spring/fall sheets and dumped them in the laundry basket, then put on the lighter-weight summer sheets and took the laundry upstairs. The Split Second episodes were from earlier in the run, when they were still picking three boards to get a car or another prize. The contestants on the second episode were a bit closer than those on the first, but in both cases, they chose the car on the first try.

Switched to my Summertime Gold oldies record set while vacuuming, and then as I went downstairs to put my laundry in the dryer. While this copy is missing an album, there's still enough to enjoy this collection of summer-themed rock songs from the 60's. Among my favorites I listened to today were "The Happening" by the Supremes, "Groovin'" by The Young Rascals, "Lazy Day" by Spanky and Our Gang, "One Fine Day" by the Chiffons, "Dancin' In the Street" and "Love Is Like a Heat Wave" by Martha Reeves and the Vandellas, and "Pleasant Valley Sunday" by the Monkees. 

Watched Sale of the Century while I took down the spring decorations and put up what very little I have for summer. A pretty blonde was the big winner in the first episode. She picked up the money in the third Instant Bargain, won the game by a wide margin, earned a lovely pearl necklace that would look gorgeous on her, and did well in the bonus round too. The second episode showed off the last big winner on the final week of its run.

I was originally going to do The Price Is Right while resting and putting my clean clothes and sheets away, but they were the same episodes I saw earlier in the week. Went online for a little while before I decided I was too tired. Ended up watching The Persuaders! instead. Danny thinks "Anyone Can Play" when he starts winning big at an English casino. Turns out there's another reason he's winning - Russian spies think he's one of them.

Danny's in trouble again when he recognizes the lovely daughter of a politician accused of being a traitor in "The Old, the New, and the Deadly." Her husband thinks Danny is a blackmailer. So does a French count (Patrick Troughton) who was on the wrong side during World War II and sends his chauffeur after Danny, too.

I was half-way through "The Old, the New, and the Deadly" when a friend who had agreed to take me to pick up Lauren said it was time to go. We dropped off her daughter in Barrington first, then headed to Philadelphia. We did run into some traffic coming from the Shore on the highway and on the Schuylkill Expressway, but nothing really terrible. It had clouded up while I watched The Persuaders! and started to rain a little as she parked across from 30th Street Station.

30th Street Station is currently a mess. When they said they were renovating, I assumed they were finally remodeling the empty stores in the back near Market Street. They're doing those, too, but the entire back area was closed off. They'd opened a temporary Dunkin' Donuts and Hudson Newsstand in front of the scaffolding. The 30th Street entrance was being remodeled, too.

First of all, Lauren's train was later than she claimed. She said 6:35. It was almost 10 minutes late. Second, I had a hard time finding her in the busy building. She finally found me at the 30th Street entrance after going to the bathroom. 

Thankfully, we hit even less traffic going home. This time, she went over the Walt Whitman Bridge, past XFinity Live! and a sold-out Citizens Bank Park. This let us out across from the Acme, which also had a fairly full parking lot (and made me glad I wasn't there). We finally got in around 7:30.

It was too late by then to do much of anything but take a shower, have dinner, and watch tonight's Match Game marathon. Unique entrances were the theme of this episode. Gene Rayburn would do anything for a laugh, and that included how he entered the studio. He broke through his doors more than once. Another time in 1976, he came in with Fannie Flagg in a long wavy wig on his arm. In early 1979, he entered running around the studio. There was the episode late in 1973 when he was laying down when the doors opened, and the two times in 1974 he rolled down his steps. He climbed through the entrance in 1978 and "swam" up to it in 1975. He leaped through the doors in the beginning of the episode where Burt Reynolds visited. Everyone made jokes when Gene turned up in bright red shoes during a syndicated episode. 

He wasn't the only one who made wild entrances. Brett was late to the set twice in two syndicated episodes; Fannie was late with her the second time. Gary Burghoff chased after him during an entrance early in 1975.

You never know how your favorite star will make their grand entrance! Keep your eyes peeled in this wacky marathon!

Match Game Sunday Night Classics - Special Entrances On Match Game 

Oh, and as we always do on our first day, tomorrow we're going to head to Abbie Road to say "hi" to Bob and check out his store, then head to Audubon Crossings behind the Acme. 

It's a Most Unusual Day

Kicked off a sunny, hot morning with a quick errand run. Needed to stop at the bank for money first. Headed down Cuthbert after I left, dodging the lunch rush hour traffic, then pushed up the hill past McDonald's (and their long take-out line) to the Haddon Township Library. Dropped off a pile of books, then headed home. Not only did I have too much to do today to linger, it was too hot. It jumped into the mid-90's, and though it was a bit breezy as well, it still wasn't a day to be doing much running around.

Had a quick lunch while watching Match Game '77. Switched to Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood while I resumed dusting. Daniel and O the Owl are disappointed when a shower disrupts their trip in the cardboard trolley they made. They take it inside, but can't figure out where they should go. X encourages them to plan "Daniel and O's Road Trip" together. "Daniel's Puppet Plan" is to set up a show for his mother and X at the library. With a lot of creative planning, he can get Miss Elaina and Prince Wednesday to join in, too.

Moved on to The Cat In the Hat Knows a Lot About That next. I thought "Be Cool" was certainly appropriate for our current weather! I'm not the only one sweating in the heat. Nick and Sally are playing badminton in the backyard, but now they're way too hot. The Cat takes the kids to the desert to show them how animals who live in constant heat cool off. They go on an "Elephant Walk" in the African savannah to see how an elephant uses its trunk. 

Had counseling at 2 PM. Not a whole lot to report, under any circumstances. I'm waiting to hear from the counselor who is supposed to help me job-hunt. My next appointment is my long-put-off dental cleaning, which I'll be doing next week. I'll try to get to the gynecologist sometime this summer, but I was hoping to find something closer to home. Rose still isn't speaking to me or Mom, and I still think she's being silly about the whole thing. She fusses at me about not behaving like an adult, and here she is, shutting people out just because they won't do what she wants. That's not adult behavior, either. 

I'm looking forward, not only to Lauren's visit, but to a nice, quiet summer. I may try to take a day trip to Atlantic City or maybe a weekend in the Poconos later in July or in August, but...like so many of my plans, I come up with ideas, then never end up doing them. I make lists, I do research, but in the end, I don't have the money or the time or just never get around to it. 

Returned to dusting after I got off the computer. Watched A Date With Judy while I worked, and later as I finally dragged the mattress I borrowed upstairs. I go further into this adorable teen comedy featuring Jane Powell and Elizabeth Taylor on my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog. 

 

A Date With Judy

It took longer than expected to find an Uber driver who would take me into Philly at quarter of 5. In fact, it took nearly a half-hour for him to arrive, and then we hit traffic on the Schuylkill Expressway. Thankfully, I was only about ten minutes late arriving at 30th Street Station. Met Lauren at the departures sign. She was fine with my being late, too. It gave her a chance to use the bathroom.

Thankfully, it didn't take nearly as long to find a driver to take us home. It probably took longer for us to find her amid all the cars picking up passengers outside than for her to drive us into New Jersey. She went through South Philly and Camden, past Lincoln Financial Stadium, Citizens Bank Park, and XFinity Live, avoiding all the traffic on the highways. 

After Lauren took her stuff upstairs, we decided we wanted a walk and went down the street to Crown Gyro & Chicken, the same place I ate at on Sunday. Since it was past 6:30, they were a little busier with older men picking up their orders. We both had rice dishes. She had shrimp, vegetables, and rice; I had fish. The fish was good, anyway, perfectly fried and crispy, but the rice was far too spicy for me! I gulped down my Diet Coke in a hurry. 

Took a short stroll down the White Horse Pike and back around to Johnson to walk off our meals. Besides, by 7 PM, the sun wasn't nearly as strong, and the breeze felt wonderful. Everyone must have still been eating or avoiding the heat. We saw no one but a few people walking dogs out and about. 

I put on more Daniel Tiger when we got in. "Daniel's Bicycle" belonged to his father, but he repaired it just for him. Daniel's nervous about riding at first, but his father encourages him to keep trying. Likewise, "Katerina's Magic Trick" doesn't come out perfectly at first, but she keeps working at it until she gets it right. 

Finished the night online with more Match Game; went with nighttime episode this time. Started with the one I missed when we were having dinner. Two of the most hapless contestants to ever play the game turned out rotten answer after rotten answer. Once again, one only made it to the Super Match because Charles matched each of them once, then matched them again in a tie. Charles wasn't really happy when he didn't choose him for the Audience Match, though!

I wish Buzzr would show the earlier nighttime episodes. Some of my favorite shows from the entire series were made for prime time. There's the two incidents where Gene thought Richard had a crazy answer on the Audience Match, only to see them turn up on the board. The episode after the Admiral Television answer was just as wild, with Charles and Richard showing of "your basic big picture hat society." A question from an episode a few weeks later prompted lots of "Raid" jokes. There was also the time Orson got so excited after the contestant won the Head-to-Head, he ran down and kissed everybody, and the twinkly-eyed older man who kept flirting with Brett, to her delight. 

Swimmin' USA

I awoke to the hottest day of the year yet. It was 95 degrees here in South Jersey, and not really so much humid as it was just plain killer hot. Good thing I'd planned to mostly spend today inside or in the pool anyway. (I'm just glad they never called me in to work. It was definitely not a bike-riding day.)

Brought the laundry over to Dad's after breakfast. There was a lot of laundry to do today. I wanted to get as much clean as I could so I could pack this afternoon. I had plenty of time to play lots of Super Smash Brothers Brawl with Jessa (our Samus/Ness combo kicked rear) late this morning.

After tossing the laundry back in the dryer for a second go-around (it was still damp after the first), I hit the pool. Though the water was a mere 82 degrees, it still felt wonderful on such a hot day. I mostly just swam back and forth, enjoying the relief from the sizzling weather and the fact that I didn't have anywhere else I had to run to today.

I was reluctant to climb out, but I really did need to get home to put my clothes away and start packing. When I came back to the pool with my clean (and dry) laundry, my cousins Amber and Brian, their daughter Ella, and another kid, Keisha, were in the pool. It would seem they're going on vacation tomorrow, too. Amber said they're visiting relatives in Wisconsin, the only place Brian ever seems to want to visit.

(I also talked to Dad. We'll be heading for the 30th Street Station in Philadelphia at quarter of 10 tomorrow. The train leaves at 10:55.)

Not surprisingly, I spent the rest of the afternoon packing and watching cartoons and National Lampoon's Vacation, avoiding the heat. Just about everything's packed that can be packed now. (I can't really pack my cell phone or contact lens case until tomorrow, for instance.)

Oh, Lauren's not only letting me use one of her laptops again this year, she's giving me one. She bought herself a Mac laptop back in the spring and said I could have one of her older models. I'll still be able to update this blog and my Facebook page while I'm on vacation.

Bike Trouble Again

Not a whole lot going on today. It was cloudy, hot, and humid, and not surprisingly, I spent most of the morning working on the computer. I looked up the departure gates for my trains going out of 30th Street Station in Philadelphia and Penn Station in New York. (I didn't know the 30th Street Station was this huge, gorgeous old building. It's from 1929, according to Wikipedia, and really cool. Now that's traveling in style.)

There wasn't really anyone around to change my tires, and I still don't have the right tools. I took the mountain bike to work...which would have been great, if the seat was on right. My neighbor switched the good seat on the mountain bike to the cruiser and put the broken seat from the cruiser on the mountain bike, and it just wasn't tight enough. I had to hold on tight to stay upright on the bike, but I did make it to and from work without incident.

Work was steady, with no major problems. I had no relief and left on time. It rained while I was in work, but was just wet by the time I finished.