Wild Fall Weather

It was cloudy and windy when I heard the phone ring first thing this morning, around 10AM. For once, it wasn't the Acme. Actually, it was the electrical firm, wanting to know when I wanted someone to come over and look at the wiring in the kitchen. They could do it any time that morning. I finally told them an hour. I hadn't had breakfast or gotten dressed or even written in my journal yet!

They were earlier than that. I was finishing my tea when a large, shaggy middle-aged man with a tool belt and a slender college-age boy turned up on my porch. I directed them to the kitchen, the pantry shelves between the sink and stove, and the switch for the porch light in the living room that's been sticking.

They replaced the outlet in the kitchen and the switch easily. I do wish they hadn't put the outlet so close to the stove - it was fine next to the fridge. The older man said they couldn't save the outlet in the pantry, though. It had to be removed and covered, and the radio I had plugged in there was moved across the entertainment area until I can find a better place for it.

After they left, I tided up a bit, then headed for the Acme. Picked up this week's paycheck and did some grocery shopping. I needed to stock up on some baking essentials, like unbleached flour, Acme's dollar cinnamon container, Smart Balance 50/50 spread, and canned pumpkin. Finally found Betty Crocker's Spice Cake Mix on sale for $1.49. My best find was shrimp on sale. The container I grabbed was originally $7.19. It came with a $3.00 manager's coupon that brought it down to $4. A coupon for meat and seafood that I got in the mail knocked the price down to $1.19 for a pound of shrimp!

Went straight home when I was done shopping. Clouds had begun to gather as I rode home, but I didn't think anything of it until I'd finished my lunch and putting everything away. As I headed back out, the clouds became thicker, and it got windier. The rain started when I was just a block away from my apartment. It quickly picked up speed, until I was dripping wet when I walked in the door of the bank.

I had a quick chat with one of the tellers. My foot is still sore. I'm hoping that taking aspirin will help. She suggested ibuprofen as well. I meant to get some Aleve (or the generic version) at the Acme today, but I forgot. I'll either do it tomorrow or stop at one of the local pharmacies on my farm market/yard sale run.

Thank goodness the rain had slowed to spitting when I left the bank. I dodged huge puddles and made my way down to Cuthbert to pick up the bus. The bus had excellent timing. It arrived just as the rain was picking up again.

My trip to the Cherry Hill Mall was much faster than my previous excursion in August. I don't have much money, my foot isn't up to a lot of standing and looking at things, and it was getting fairly late at that point. JCPenny sent me a $10 off an order of $25 or more coupon in the mail, plus they were having huge sales at the store. I did get some things I needed. Picked up a new orange cable-knit sweater (to replace the old Land's End sweater whose collar was unraveling), white t-shirt, and tan pin-stripe button-down shirt for $36 with the sales and coupon.

I strolled across the mall to FYE after a brief stop at the Disney Store. I didn't really see anything good at FYE. Naturally, with Halloween being so close, they're pushing horror movies right now. I just ended up with Radioland Murders to replace the video copy I couldn't dub. I saw these cute 16-inch Disney Princess dolls at the Disney Store. I especially loved the expression on Tiana's face. Her sweet little smile was priceless. And with her huge golden curls and fancy blue dress, Cinderella was the very image of some of the better-preserved girl dolls from the 50s I've seen in books or on eBay. I thought that was rather appropriate, given her movie came out in 1950.

The bus home was late. I had the feeling I knew why, and I was right. Traffic was really bad in the area around the Cherry Hill Mall and Garden State Park Marketplace, and then it was held up by road work on the bridge over Cooper River. It was 6:30 before I got home, and nearly 7 before I began dinner and started The Sorcerer's Apprentice, which I didn't get to finish.

At least the weather's improved. The clouds were breaking up even as the bus inched its way over the Cooper River Bridge and seem to be gone now.

Down for the Internet Again

Yup, it happened again. My internet was down for four hours last night. When I did finally get back on around midnight, I discovered Verizon reset my entire account. I had to redo the software for their Internet network...again.

I was even less happy when I went online this afternoon and discovered that FIOS, Verizon's top-of-the-line cable-less internet service, isn't available to my apartment...but oh, let's shove the "triple play" (internet-cable-phone) down her throat! I DO NOT WANT CABLE!

That does it. Tomorrow, I'm calling Comcast and having them set up their simplest high-speed internet service, then calling Verizon to cancel their internet. I've had all I can take of Verizon. The internet goes down every time the weather gets even remotely bad, and when it's down for longer than an hour, I have to reset the whole darn thing. Not to mention, their customer service is lousy. I've long stopped calling them. They were never the slightest help whatsoever. Supposedly, Comcast's customer service is just as bad, but maybe if they actually stay up once in a while, I'll need it a lot less. I'm keeping Verizon's phone service, since that's never been a problem, but I've had it up to here with their internet.

Otherwise, things have gone fairly well. My electrical problems turned out to be the old wiring in this house and the ancient plugs in the wall behind where my mini-pantry is. I'll just have to be more careful when I'm rooting around in the pantry.

Even though the kitchen was now up and running, I still decided to go out to breakfast. I had a pleasant meal of scrambled eggs, whole wheat toast with jelly, and fruit salad, then went up the hill to the Haddon Township Library. I organized DVDs, shelved children's books, and took out two animated DVDs, Belle's Magical World and Gnomeo and Juliet.

Made a quick stop at Dollar Tree after that for sponges, then just rode home. I spent a lot of yesterday and today working my way through the dubbing. I finished up the Perfect Strangers episodes last night while the internet was down and prepared some more stories to post at my site.

This morning, I ran through two musicals and a John Wayne comedy. Mother Wore Tights is the only movie out of this batch that isn't on DVD. I'm very happy I was able to dub it...especially since Mom told me this is her long-time favorite film. It's basically a cross between Meet Me In St. Louis and Alexander's Ragtime Band. A pair of vaudevillians (Dan Dailey and Betty Grable) meet at the turn of the 20th century and get married. They raise two lovely daughters while still performing and traveling. After they send the girls to boarding school, the oldest becomes embarrassed of her parents' profession. Can they prove to her and her snobby friends that not all performers or vaudeville numbers are created equal?

Mom's not the only one who loves this movie. This was one of Betty Grable's biggest hits and was reportedly a favorite of hers. It also introduced her to Dan Dailey, who would join her for three more Fox musicals in the late 40s and early 50s. No wonder they were such good friends. They partner each other beautifully, a pair of warm, vibrant, pals-next-door blonds. The Technicolor is vibrant and rich, showing off both Dailey and Grable to best advantage.

I moved to MGM for the next musical I dubbed. Gigi was the Oscar-winning film for 1958 and the last major musical to be released by the legendary Freed unit...but what a way to go out! This is the elegant tale of the Parisian girl of the title (Leslie Caron) who is being prepared by her grandmother (Hermione Gingold) and aunt (Isabel Jeans) to become a courtesan. Meanwhile, a playboy (Louis Jordan) is getting tired of his current mistress and is looking for someone different. When he takes the innocent, child-like Gigi and her grandmother to the sea, he falls for her...but is Gigi ready to take on the adult responsibilities of love?

A classic musical with fabulous Paris cinematography, lovely music (by Lerner and Lowe, fresh off of the somewhat similar My Fair Lady), and a fine cast. Maurice Chevalier, who begins and ends the film with his "Thank Heavens For Little Girls," revived his career in the states for another decade thanks to this movie. He and Gingold have the best number, the hilarious nostalgic reverie "I Remember It Well."

Donovan's Reef is something all together different. My stepfather is a huge fan of John Wayne, and I grew up watching many of his films, especially the ones he made in the 50s, 60s, and early 70s. I have fond memories of watching this one with Dad when he bought it in the mid-90s. Wayne plays Donovan, the owner of a popular bar on a Polynesian island. He and the whole island are thrown for a loop when a snooty young woman from Boston arrives, looking for her father. Will Donovan fall for this head-strong, prim young woman, and who really is her family?

If you like other Wayne battle-of-the-sexes comedies like McLintock!, you'll love this. Basically, it's McLintock set in Polynesia instead of the wild west, and while not his best, it's a lot of fun. The cast's having a great time, too, including Lee Marvin as Wayne's sozzled bartender, Dorothy Lamour as a singer at the bar, and Caeser Romero as the island's governor.

Donovan's Reef ended with just enough time for me to hurry to work. I needn't have bothered with the rush. Other than a mild spurt during the usual rush hour, it was very quiet all night. There were some annoying beginning-of-the-month people, otherwise no problems.

Out Like the Kitchen Light

The day went well up through late evening. I spent the morning dubbing Perfect Strangers episodes. Work was fairly quiet up through the usual 4PM rush hour, after which it got busy but not insane. Thankfully, I finished at five, and my relief was on time. There were a few annoying customers, otherwise no major problems.

I went straight home. I was working on baking an Applesauce Cake and dubbing more episodes when the light suddenly went out in the kitchen. I couldn't figure out why. I have one of those fancy new bulbs in there that burns cool and isn't supposed to go out for years. I changed the bulb, but it still didn't work. The light in the refrigerator was out, too, and it didn't sound like it was running. I tried pulling the plug in and out, but it did nothing.

I finally called my landlady Miss Ellie. She and her nephew both checked the circuit breaker. Nothing seemed to be wrong. It appears to be the wiring. That's a problem. I pulled out fish for dinner tonight and was able to cobble together a meal of flounder and farm market apples, red potatoes, and heirloom cherry tomatoes. I went to WaWa after dinner to buy ice. My Styrofoam cooler is ready, but I'm hoping the things in the freezer and refrigerator will be fine if I just leave them.

I need to run to the Haddon Township Library tomorrow anyway. I'll just go out to breakfast.