Hot Nights and Good Friends

Started the week with laundry. The laundromat wasn't too bad when I got in around 11:30. President Obama was making a big speech on NBC; I loaded things in the washer as he droned on. Actually, I owe him one. His speech postponed Channel 10's morning talk show for so long, they still hadn't aired that awful housewives reality show thing that usually runs during the noon hour. The laundromat wasn't busy, and I was in and out.

When I got home, I folded laundry, ate lunch, watched more of The Green Hornet, and went right back out to work. The nice weather ended today. It was hotter and more humid, in the lower 90s despite a nice breeze.

The weather didn't keep our customers away. We were very busy all evening. It was only just slowing down when I finished. In fact, it was slow enough for me to shut down with no relief.

I was surprised to find a large package on the porch when I got in. Lauren said she was sending me a "little something" for a very early Christmas present. That "little" something was a long, wide rectangle. When I got in, I opened it up...and discovered a DVD recorder in a beautiful dark-blue corduroy bag. I've wanted a DVD recorder for a while as a cheaper way of replacing the pile of videos I made off of TCM when I was in college. Some of those movies aren't on DVD at all; others are only available on the Warner Archives. I figured I'd cut out the middleman and become my own Redmer Archives. Thank you Lauren, the best best friend anyone ever had!

(And thank you Amazon for not using plastic to ship items anymore. That bag will be just as useful as the DVD recorder.)

Breezin'

I slept in this morning. When I got up, it was still sunny and breezy. It was hotter than yesterday, but it also remained dry, so I kept the air conditioner off. I made Blueberry Pancakes for breakfast and watched The Green Hornet.

The Green Hornet was originally a 40s radio show about a Britt Reid, crusading newspaper owner, and his karate-chopping Oriental sidekick Kato, who donned green and black masks and clothes to fight crime. They drove the "rolling arsenal" Black Beauty and had their own ultra-plush hide-out in an otherwise normal part of town. The only people in on Reid's secret are his secretary Lenora Case and the district attorney.

The character was revived in the superhero-crazy mid-60s, but the show only lasted a season. Perhaps, despite the set-up, it just wasn't campy enough for the time period. Unlike Batman, Reid and Kato fought fairly normal goons and gangsters, not costumed supervillains. Their get-ups were plain black suits and green and black masks, not tights. They did use some nifty gadgets, like the gas-shooting gun, but nothing too bizarre.

I headed to work around quarter of 2. It was very busy there all day. Sundays are always busy at any time of year. Plus, there's lots of barbecues, family get-togethers, and large graduation parties going on, too, not to mention the last of the beginning-of-the-month people. This meant it also went fast. There were no problems, and I was in and out.

I picked up hand soap for the kitchen really quick, then came home. I had fried egg whites, toast with farm market honey, cucumbers, tomatoes, and some of that cole slaw I picked up on Friday for dinner. Ran the classic George Benson jazz album Breezin' while I ate. The title track and "This Masquerade" have long been favorites of mine.

Put on The Dress Circle after dinner. "Judy Garland at MGM" was tonight's theme. This meant lots of classic material to choose from - "The Boy Next Door" and "Under the Bamboo Tree" from Meet Me In St. Louis, "It's a Great Day for the Irish" from Little Nellie Kelly, "Minnie from Trinidad," from Ziegfield Girl, Judy's famous version of "You Made Me Love You" known as "Dear Mr. Gable," "I'm Nobody's Baby" from the Andy Hardy series, "Get Happy" from Summer Stock, "Be a Clown," from The Pirate, "I Love a Piano" and "A Couple of Swells" from Easter Parade, and her 1936 recording of "Stompin' at the Savoy."

Actually, my favorite song tonight never made it to the movie it was recorded for. Judy's myriad personal problems lead her to drop the role of Annie Oakley in the movie version of Annie Get Your Gun. She did film two numbers and apparently recorded more...including a very funny version of "Anything You Can Do" with Howard Keel.

I called Mom while The Dress Circle was on. She was just plain tired out. She spent the week babysitting my nephew Skylar while his mother works at Big Lots in North Cape May. Generally, he's a good kid...but for some reason, he has homework this summer. Not surprisingly, he doesn't want to do it, and Mom has to fight to get him to. I did relay my plans on visiting Erma in early September, the week after Labor Day. Mom suggested I call Rose sometime this week, too. She hasn't heard from her in a while, and I haven't heard from her since Lauren was here.

Barbecue Bliss

The storms took a breather today. I awoke to sunshine, pale blue skies, beautiful breezes, and temperatures as perfect as they're going to get in early July in southern New Jersey. It was so nice, I turned the air conditioner and fans off for the first time in days.

Switched on this week's American Top 40 re-run during breakfast and as I wrote in my journal. The charts during July of 1985 were almost as hot as this week's weather. Among the hits from this era were Bryan Adams' "Heaven," Journey's "The Search Is Over," Cyndi Lauper's "Good Enough" (from a favorite childhood movie of mine, The Goonies), Bruce Springsteen's "Glory Days," and Prince and the Revolution's "Raspberry Beret."

For once, the number one hit of the week was just as good - the title song of the very weird James Bond film that came out that year, Roger Moore's last, "A View to a Kill" by Duran Duran.

Since I didn't need to go to the bank today, I got a slightly later start than usual. I did a lot of riding around. July and August are slow months for yard sales. I hit one on West Holly in Oaklyn and one in Collingswood. I found a cute Roo-and-Kanga stuffed pair who would go nicely with my Poohs and Eeyore on the children's shelf after a washing machine bath in Oaklyn; nothing of interest in Collingswood.

Had a bit more luck at the Farm Market. Not surprisingly, on a gorgeous weekend when many people have barbecues and graduation parties planned, it was packed there. I saw the first nectarines and Italian peppers of the year; a woman told another customer that watermelon will be out next week. For my own part, I picked up honey, a small white eggplant, tiny plums, peaches, a red onion, blackberries, blueberries, fresh organic mint (complete with long, pretty lavender flowers), two yellow squashes, and a tomato.

When I got home, I put everything away and checked on the computer. Thankfully, shutting it down and restarting it seems to have cleared whatever happened last night. It's given me no more trouble.

It was so nice this morning, I baked blackberry muffins when I got off the computer. I got the recipe from that muffin and biscuit cookbook Jen Payne gave me for Christmas a few years ago. Yum! It came out very well, moist and tart and just sweet enough.

Headed to work a little early today, partially to avoid yesterday's tardiness problems. Mostly, I just wanted to deposit my change in the Coinstar counter machine. My change was almost to the top of the little container I keep it in. I got almost twenty dollars out of that little container, thanks to all the leftover quarters from the laundromat.

Work was pretty decent. There were some mildly annoying customers with bagging issues; otherwise, it was steady but not too busy, and I was in and out quickly.

Went out to dinner after leaving the Acme. A new barbecue restaurant, Basset's, replaced Fat Jack's in the mall behind work. They were in the same place and even used most of the same furniture and equipment, but the menu on the wall was more fast-food-like, the prices were lower, and there were cowboy hats, acoustic guitars, and vintage rock, country, and soul records tacked on the walls. (You could see the push-pins they used on the records quite easily.)

I ordered a Grilled Chicken Sandwich with a small side of slaw and a bottle of water. I'm glad I nixed the fries that originally came with the "meal" order. The sandwich was huge, and the plastic container the slaw was in wasn't all that small, either.

They were also awesome. The grilled chicken tasted fresh off of someone's grill. The slaw had real celery seeds and just a hint of salad dressing sweetness. I made quick work of the sandwich (despite half of it ending up in my basket), but it really filled me up, and I eventually took most of the slaw home (along with the water).

Stopped at the Acme on my way back to do this week's grocery shopping. (I worked too late to do it last night.) I needed to restock Oatmeal Squares, oatmeal, eggs, graham crackers (one of my go-to cookies when it's too hot to bake), and chicken. Stew meat was finally on a decent sale, and I used a coupon to get two Pam cooking sprays.

On the Banks of the Black Horse Pike

It was already cloudy and dreary when I got up this morning. I wasn't even going to attempt any running around. I slept in, watched more Danger Mouse, and went on the computer to do some writing work and editing.

The computer is giving me trouble. For some reason, AVG won't run at all, and it keeps giving me a lot of weird boxes. It won't let Start run, either. I push it, and it won't come up. I think it's something to do with bugs in the recent updates for AVG and Windows XP. I just updated both not long ago. I'll see if uninstalling AVG later tonight helps.

When I looked out my window around 1:30, I got a distinct feeling of deja-vu. It was thundering and storming and pouring something awful. Last year, I tried to call Dad for a ride to work during a similar storm, only to discover he couldn't get through flood water on West Clinton Avenue. I walked and was a half-hour late.

I wasn't going to do that again. This time, I just had a quick lunch, put the bag with my dinner in plastic, threw on my blue rain coat, and headed out on my bike. I did the right thing. Flood waters were so high at quarter after 2, the Black Horse Pike at the entrance to Audubon Park was one massive puddle. Traffic was backed up for miles. Since the rain had stopped by then, I just took off my shoes and socks, dumped them in the bike basket, and walked over the hills and around the water. The rain was just starting up again as I arrived at work.

It rained on and off for the rest of the night. The traffic stayed bad, too, if the complaining my customers did all evening was any indication. I was more worried about how a lot of my co-workers would get out of the parking lot in that mess than how I'd get home.

The Acme wasn't in great shape when I arrived, either. From what I've gathered, the store was built on swampland, and water seeps through Aisle 1 whenever there's an especially bad storm...like this afternoon. Thank goodness, the rain we had the rest of the day was more like a normal summer shower, which caused no further problems. It was mildly steady when I finally came in (ten minutes late, but that's better than thirty). When I headed home at 8:30, it was so dead, I spent most of the last hour doing returns.

Balance In Monsoon Season

The morning didn't begin pleasantly for the second week in a row. I felt a funny tickle on my right side...and awoke to find myself staring at a gigantic, mutant-sized brown beetle! Ugh! I shook him off, then got him outside as quickly as possible.

Yoga was much better. We worked on freeing up joints and hips and opening the back of the legs. The bending and twisting poses didn't always feel the best on my knees, but I am getting better at them.

Headed for the Collingswood Library next. My volunteer session there was short this week. There was only one DVD to shelve and nothing upstairs. I organized the DVD shelves for a while, then headed straight home. It was too hot and humid to linger for very long!

I spent the rest of the afternoon working on editing Bowery Boys stories, going over some stories I hope to work on this summer, and watching Danger Mouse. If you grew up in the 80s and had Nickelodeon, you probably have very fond memories of Danger Mouse and his fellow British animated expatriates Count Duckula and Bananaman. This many have been my first exposure to dry, Monty Python-esque British humor.

If you're a fan of the Patrick McGoohan BBC series Danger Man/Secret Agent Man or Mission: Impossible, you know the drill. In each 10-15 minute episode, Danger Mouse and his sidekick Ernest Penfold (a hamster) are called on by Colonel K to save the world from the nefarious Baron Greenback (a frog) and his French crow lackeys. The plots may be some of the most bizarre ever found in animation, much less spy stories - pyramids suddenly appearing in the middle of London, a world inhabited by antique machines with lives of their own, Greenback flooding the Earth with custard, a pastel cloud that makes nightmares appear.

As you may have guessed, this is one strange show. I don't remember it being this surreal as a kid. The budget for Danger Mouse was apparently very limited, even by BBC standards. Thus, the animation consists of Monty Python-style cut-outs with lots of blank or pale-colored backgrounds. The makers had a lot of fun with this. Anything goes on this show, from Danger Mouse driving off the edge of the universe to him and Penfield being attacked by spaceships that look suspiciously like cut-outs of antiques.

Folks who like their humor more linear and less weird or prefer newer, less limited styles of animation will probably be baffled. For those of us who enjoyed the show in our youth or are fans of British comedy, this is highly recommended.

I could see clouds gathering on the horizon as I rode along to work. They were still pretty far away at that point. They waited until about 5:30-6PM to burst. And when they burst...they went CRAZY. I looked over my shoulder at one point and could see nothing but rain. One of the cashiers said it looked more like a blizzard! There was heavy thunder and lightening. Water bubbled up and flooded Aisle 1 and the hallway leading to the back lounge area. The lights in the Acme flickered on and off for almost an hour and actually went out twice. (We never lost the computers, thank goodness - they must be on a separate battery.)

Surprisingly, the storm only somewhat cleared out the store. Even after the monsoon started, it was fairly steady. I needed someone to come in for me when I finally left. By that point, the rain had ended, and the sun emerged...but I could see clouds building up again. I went straight home and in the shower. To my knowledge, it hasn't rained since then, but it's still cloudy.

Staying Out of the Heat

I awoke to the phone ringing. Yes, it was the Acme. Could I come in early? I eventually told them 2:30. That would add a few more hours to the week. I won't be getting much of a paycheck on Friday, so the money will come in handy.

Spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon puttering around. I did things online. I got my rent together. I tried to load some CDs into boxes, but they didn't fit. I ran one of the remaining Danny Kaye movies Lauren brought me when she visited, The Kid From Brooklyn.

In this cross between the Bowery Boys boxing-based films and The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, Kaye is a mild-mannered milkman who accidentally knocks out a boxer who was picking on his younger sister (Vera-Ellen). The fighter's manager wants to make him a star, but his girlfriend (Eve Arden) is skeptical...and so's the milkman's singer girlfriend (Virginia Mayo). He thinks he's really doing the knock-outs, but his manager has other plans...

Not bad Kaye Goldwyn vehicle, one of the better ones, in fact. If you liked Secret Life of Walter Mitty or Wonder Man, this one's just as fun (though harder to find - to my knowledge, it's not currently on DVD).

I did go to work at 2:30. I'm glad I opted to spend the day inside. Though not quite as hot as the weather claimed (it was probably in the upper 80s-low 90s), it was also very humid. A nice breeze helped. For all the fussing this morning, work was steady when I came in, dead when I left, and never more than mildly busy. I didn't expect much else the week after a major holiday.

"Another Fine Mess You've Gotten Me Into!"

After the excitement yesterday, I wanted to keep my only day off this week more laid-back. I started the morning with taking down the Fourth of July decorations. I figured I might as well. I'm working the rest of the week after today. Besides, I don't like leaving most holiday decorations up after the fact. (Except for Christmas. I like having them up, and they take forever to put up and take down anyway.) My very few general summer decorations will stay up until early-mid September.

I took a leisurely stroll to the Oaklyn Library a bit later in the morning. It was very hot today, but surprisingly not humid. The sky was a pale blue, with a few fleecy clouds. Actually, I wish we would get some rain. The grass is looking so brown and dry!

The Oaklyn Library needed the organizing. I finally decided to take out the DVDs that were listed wrong and get the librarians to fix them. Someone listed at least ten or fifteen titles under the words "The," "A," and "An," which as any good librarian could tell you, aren't counted as words. I'm tired of putting them in the right places, under their actual title, and then having someone try to put them under the letter listed. (And The Mark of Zorro goes under "Mark," not "Zorro." Conversely, the Angelina Ballerina and Backyardigans discs should be listed as those series, not the episode names.)

The kids' section was worse. There were young adult titles mixed in with the picture books, non-fiction in with fiction, and very large gaps where older material had been hastily removed. I put the out-of-order books where they belonged and fixed the young adult series section, which had gotten completely disorganized after its move from the metal shelves to the wooden ones.

Hiked over to WaWa after leaving the library for lunch and milk. It was even hotter by the time I headed out. The sun beat down relentlessly, despite a not-bad breeze. I grabbed a half-gallon of skim milk, a turkey and Swiss Junior hoagie, and a pretzel, and quickly made my way home.

I spent the next few hours inside, watching The Devil's Brother and doing things online. The Devil's Brother is one of the few musicals Laurel and Hardy appeared in (usually as comic relief). Dennis King is the title character, a Robin Hood-like figure who robs from the rich to give to the poor. The "rich" in question is a lovely noblewoman (Thelma Todd) with an older and very rich husband. Stan and Ollie try to rob King after they lose their money to bandits, but King ends up taking them on as aids to help him pull the wool over not only Todd's eyes, but her husband's and a young soldier after King.

Finally headed to the laundromat around quarter of 6. It had cooled off considerably, enough that it actually felt quite nice outside. Some clouds had begun to build up in the afternoon, but they'd completely vanished by 6. The laundromat was quiet, too. There were only a few people and the local Channel 6 and Channel 10 newscasts. This was a good thing. I had a lot of laundry to do, thanks to Lauren's visit and the sheet I used yesterday at the fireworks.

When I got in, I ran Bonnie Scotland and made Flounder in Teriyaki Sauce with mushrooms, steamed green beans, and cucumber and tomato salad. Bonnie Scotland is something like a more exotic Bowery Boys movie. In this case, when Stan and Ollie come to Scotland for Stan's inheritance, they find themselves stranded with no money, no pants for Ollie, and no way to get home. Joining the Scottish Army provides them with clothing and travel...but they quickly prove to be even worse soldiers than they were Scotsmen.

While I did like the swashbuckling Devil's Brother better than the bizarre Bonnie Scotland and neither are the pair's absolute best, they both have their moments. And the set comes with segments that Laurel and Hardy did for other MGM films (including Hollywood Revue and the otherwise lost operetta Rogue Song) and a documentary on the short subjects of the 20s, 30s, and 40s.

Yankee Doodle Woman

I ran a couple of summer and/or Fourth of July-themed cartoons this morning while having blueberries and Shredded Wheat for breakfast. In addition to the three Looney Tunes, Disney, and Pink Panther shorts I did last year, I added a trio from Walter Lantz. Woody Woodpecker plays boardwalk fortune teller and drives Wally Walrus up the pilings in The Beach Nut. Oswald the Lucky Rabbit finds Confidence from FDR when his farm is hit by the Great Depression. And we get a musical Hysterical Lesson In American History with a spoof of everything from Christopher Columbus' voyage to Depression breadlines.

The Oaklyn Town Parade was supposed to start at 10AM. Of course it didn't. It never starts on time. It finally showed up around quarter of 11. I showed up at 10 after 10 and easily found a spot on the curb. Good thing. When the parade did finally appear, the curb was packed with kids, parents, grandparents, and college students. The American Legion and VFW marched with flags. There were floats from the Boy Scouts, the Oaklyn Library, and several schools, small string bands, and local Little League teams. Everyone threw candy! Kids around me scrambled for Dubble Bubble gum pieces, Brach's Ice Mints and Butterscotch discs, Tootsie Rolls in flag-themed wrappers, taffy, Airheads, lollypops, lemon drops, Pixie Sticks, mint puffs, Starlights, and bags of Swedish Fish and sour gummy candies. Kids drove by in patriotically-decorated bikes. The fire trucks, with their noisy horn blasts, were the finale.

After the parade finished, I followed everyone to the end of Oaklyn School at the end of West Clinton Avenue for the annual Post-Parade Ceremony. One of the string bands played "America the Beautiful" as we all saluted the flag. The mayor made a speech and announced the winners of the float contest. (The Boy Scouts won first place. Oaklyn Library placed third.) St Mark's Church donated free hot dogs and fixings in the back of the school. I grabbed my free hot dog and headed back to my place.

I went to work about an hour later. The first half of work was even crazier than yesterday, with longer lines and fewer people to work them. Thankfully, by 4:30, most people had finally gone to their barbecues and parties. When I left at 6:30, the place was dead as a doornail.

Went straight home after work. I tossed chicken legs, onions, and barbecue sauce in the Crock Pot before I left. When I came back, my apartment smelled like molasses and chicken stock and spices. I made a cucumber and tomato salad, added one of the whole wheat rolls, and had a lovely Fourth of July dinner.

Ran Yankee Doodle Dandy during dinner. I remember watching this every 4th of July with my family when I was little. We loved it so much, Mom finally bought it on video a bit later. James Cagney won an Oscar portraying George M. Cohan, beloved early 20th Century performer, playwright, and author of such classic tunes as "Mary's a Grand Old Name," "Over There," "Yankee Doodle Dandy," "Give My Regards to Broadway," "Forty-Five Minutes From Broadway," and "Harrigan."

I headed out to the fireworks a little early. The fireworks are at the Collingswood High School's football field, but they're quite visible from Newton River Park. That's where I watched them, after a stop at CVS across the street for contact lens solution and floss.

It was really nice. I spread out an old sheet, took off my sandals, and poured myself onto the cool white and blue sheet. It felt so nice and soft against the dry, brittle grass. There was a delectable breeze coming off of Newton River. I listened to boys play soft ball in front of me and college students babble to my left and read Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm until it got too dark to read.

Unlike the parade, the fireworks were on time. The were gorgeous, as always. The people around me oohed and ahhed over the glorious, noisy rockets exploding into glittering poofy golds, sparkling floaty purples, brilliant patriotic blues, majestic reds, glistening sunset pinks, and emerald greens that glowed with thousand-watt brightness. It was nice to be able to just lean back and watch all that beauty go off, in the best seat in the house, one with plenty of room to spread out and an incredible view.

(I didn't have the best view in the house. At least four or five planes passed by during the display. One went so close, I was sure it would get fried.)

With just me, the blanket, and my book and things from CVS to gather, I got home far quicker than many people who brought more, including other people. I followed the crowds past CVS and down West Lakeview, then went down Newton to West Clinton.

I was struck at how wonderfully quiet Manor Avenue was as I strolled home. There were only a few homes that had lights on. A couple more had their front lights on, or patriotic light displays. Most were probably on vacation at the Jersey Shore or Poconos, or visiting family, or caught in traffic coming back from the fireworks. The air had the earthy, fruity smell of blossoming lilies and dry grass and trees in full flower combined with the faint tinge of smoke from fireworks and barbecues. I remember a similar smell from the wooded area in Rio Grande around the old pond where Dad used to take my sisters and I swimming when we were younger. It brought up some wonderful memories.

I went online when I got home. I'm just finishing up the Ragtime original Broadway cast album, which I listen to every Fourth of July. I hope all of my American readers had an equally memorable Fourth!

I'll See Them In September

Slept until quarter of 10 this morning. I had French Toast and sugar plums for breakfast while running Brunch With the Beatles. Ringo Star, whose birthday is Thursday, was in the spotlight. We heard "This Boy," "Act Naturally," "With a Little Help From My Friends," "Yellow Submarine," and "Octopus' Garden" from his Beatles days. Solo numbers included "Photograph," "Back Off Boogaloo," "You're Sixteen," and "Oh My My."

Had a very nice and long chat with Mom during the second half of the show. We both decided that it wouldn't be a good idea for me to come down there during August this time. Mom's babysitting Skylar and Collyn almost every day this summer, and she'll be teaching knitting at the Michael's in Rio Grande starting this week. Not to mention, traffic in Cape May County is perpetual pain the entire summer long. I'm going to take my second vacation week in early September instead, the week after Labor Day. I'll go down there and visit for a few days, then take a few days off on my own at my apartment, as I did last year.

My brother Keefe finally got his Navy enlistment assignment. I was very happy to hear that he won't be leaving until mid-January. That means he'll be here for his birthday in late November and the holidays. I was really hoping we'd get one last holiday season with him. I'm gonna miss that kid. I've always been close to him, and he's such a sweet guy.

I put together yogurt, a peach, and honey pretzel twists for lunch, then rode to work. Mom said it was raining in Cape May County and mentioned thunderstorms earlier. If we're gonna get them, they haven't made it yet. It was humid, windy, and cloudy this morning. The sun was coming out even as I rode to work.

Work was busy when I came in. Unlike yesterday, we had more than half the registers open and plenty of help. By the time I shut down with no relief, it had quieted down to nearly being dead. Other than a few mildly annoying beginning of the month people, there were no major problems.

Went straight home after work. I listened to my Take Me Along Broadway cast LP while having spinach salad, leftover burgers, and yellow squash with pasta and tomatoes for dinner.

I got online in time for The Dress Circle. The theme was the new cast albums released by British company Sepia. We heard selections from the London casts of The Music Man, The Most Happy Fella, and Once Upon a Mattress, and the original British shows Make Me an Offer and Follow That Girl.

Back to Work

Before I spent most of the day at work, I did make it to the farm market this morning. Needless to say, they were packed with people buying produce and dairy for their 4th of July parties, picnics, and barbecues. Cherries, spinach, and peas are gone...but just about everything else is out, including peppers, Jersey corn, green beans, eggplant, peaches, and sugar plums. I ended up with Colby cheese from the dairy booth, organic zucchini and cucumbers, one ear of corn, green beans, a green pepper, sugar plums, small peaches, an eggplant, carrots, blueberries, red potatoes, and two tomatoes.

Even with rushing to and from the farm market, I still just barely made it to work. When I arrived, I could understand why they wanted me to work 8 1/2 hours today. It was off-and-on busy at work all day long.

People are usually in good moods on holiday weekends, and today was no exception. Other than some mildly annoying customers, there were no major problems. I was in and out quickly - picked up the Oatmeal Squares I forgot yesterday and laundry detergent on my half-hour break.

When I got home, I had leftovers for dinner and ran the disc in Looney Tunes Golden Collection Vol. 6 devoted to wartime shorts.

Wonder Women

Lauren headed home around 1:30 this afternoon. We spent most of the morning at my place, watching cartoons together. I'm so happy she visited. She's the best best friend anyone ever had. I had a great time, and she said she did, too.

Bruce and Jodie drove us to the Cherry Hill Train Platform. It was another gorgeous, sunny, warm day. Lauren had checked her iPhone to make sure there were no train delays. It would appear there wasn't, at least not in Cherry Hill. The train to the 30th Street Station was only a few minutes late, nothing to worry about.

After I bid Lauren adieu and Bruce and Jodie dropped me off at my place, I ran upstairs, grabbed my backpack and a tote bag, and went back out on my bike. I needed to do my usual Friday grocery shopping and run some errands I didn't get to with Lauren last week in the Audubon Crossings Shopping Center.

I wish I hadn't needed my paycheck so badly. The line for the customer service desk ended up going past Register 1. In addition to the holiday weekend, it's also the beginning of the month. Many people want to cash government checks before the 4th of July kicks in. Not to mention, the store was so busy, the line only had one manager for at least 10 minutes.

I wasn't a happy camper when I finally rode over to Sonic for a late lunch. Happily, it came out much better than my last visit there a month and a half ago. I just bought a regular burger, onion rings, and a Diet Coke. The burger was ok, same as any other fast-food burger. The onion rings were the best darn fast-food onion rings I've ever tasted. Blew Burger King's tiny, stringy rings out of the onion field. These were piping hot, with just enough crunchy breading surrounding thick, juicy slices of onion. Delicious, and just the thing to cheer me up after the trouble at the Acme.

Took the bike into the mall next. The lining in the red change purse/card holder I've had for at least six or seven years finally frayed so badly, the change was falling out. I replaced it with a larger wallet from Fashion Bug, a pretty long floral holder with spots for money and cards and a little purse for change. Went across the parking lot to Staples to check out the CD wallets, but the prices weren't wonderful. I'll try online instead.

The Acme was much quieter when I finally arrived back to do this week's grocery shopping. I didn't need that much. Needed to restock fish, buttermilk, yogurt, tissues, and diced tomatoes after Lauren's visit. I noticed when I made macaroni for us the other night that the pasta canister was running low; time to refill it. I was out of brush picks, and I grabbed some on-sale rubber bands to replace the dollar store ones that had stretched too much. I treated myself to Bryers' second-best flavor, Butter Almond, on sale.

Rode the bike back to my place when I was done. I put everything away, then once again went right back out. I really needed to get to the bank before it closed for the holiday weekend. I just made it. Said "hi" to the tellers, explained my new tan, and told them Lauren and I both had a great time on our vacation.

I had no major plans for the rest of the evening. I work 8 1/2 hours tomorrow and need to make an early quick run to the Farm Market! I swept the porch, then did stuff on the computer for a few hours. I had a late dinner of salmon, green beans, fresh Jersey tomatoes, and whole-wheat rotini pasta while watching the animated Wonder Woman.

I'm not a comic book fan, so I don't know how much this goes by Wonder Woman's "cannon" origin. As in the pilot movie for the first season of the TV show, Wonder Woman leaves her home, an island that's home to an Amazonian all-woman race, to return pilot Steve Trevor to the US. Instead of dealing with Nazis, this updated version goes to Diana's Greek/Roman influences and brings in the God of War, Ares, who escapes the island and heads for the US in order to create chaos and bring more souls who will give him power.

While I thought it lacked humor and the feminist discussions were a bit awkward, by and large, this was an enjoyable outing. There was tons of action (including blood and two decapitations - this one works hard to earn its PG-13 rating), the animation was quite well-done, and the voice cast - including Keri Russell as Diana and Alfred Molina as Ares - was excellent.

Oh, and I heard from Lauren shortly before finally getting dinner going. At that point, she was about 45 minutes outside of Albany. The trains were all on time, and she apparently had no problems anywhere. I imagine she's either at home or on her way there with her folks by now.

And thank goodness my schedule for next week isn't nearly as bad as tomorrow's! Granted, I only have one day off (Tuesday), and I do work the 4th of July. However, I work in the afternoon on the 4th. That means that while I'll miss the barbecues, I should make both Oaklyn's Town Parade and the fireworks at Collingswood. None of my shifts the rest of the week are very long, which will leave me plenty of time to catch up on household chores, library volunteering, and yoga.