Tidying Up and Scrubbing Down

I spend the morning doing some research on my computer. I received my appointment for getting Food Stamps yesterday; it's next month. One of the items you need to get food stamps in New Jersey is an ID card or driver's license. My non-driver's ID hasn't been updated in ages. It was a lot easier to update it when I lived in Wildwood. The closest Motor Vehicles store to me was right over the bridge in Rio Grande. Here, the closest one is in Camden, which is the last place anyone wants to go on their own. I'll try the ones in Runnemede or Cherry Hill.

(I don't know why they can't just update the system to allow you to renew your ID online in New Jersey. It would be so much easier on people who can't always get to Motor Vehicles offices.)

After I gave up on that, I went for a walk. Wanted to volunteer at the Oaklyn Library before they closed for the day. They were having major computer programs. One woman complained that her console was corrupted; she kept getting interrupted by the site she was looking at a half-hour ago, or the site would switch to somewhere else before she was ready. At least two others had sound or picture trouble. I had a much easier time organizing the DVDs and the newly reorganized and thinned out children's DVDs and books. I went through their book sale again and bought A Knight's Tale with Heath Ledger (an old favorite of my brother Keefe - it made him a fan of Queen) and the discarded children's book Baby Kermit's Christmas, a vintage 80s Muppet Babies picture tale.

Went to WaWa next. It was cloudy, dry, and warm for the time of year, in the upper 40s-lower 50s. It was too warm for a hot chocolate. I'd already had some International House of Coffee this morning as well. Amanda sent me a container of French Vanilla International House of Coffee in her Christmas package. I used to buy it occasionally in college and during my Wildwood years, but it got too pricy for the occasional indulgence. It's a rare treat indeed. I settled on a Coke Zero fountain soda with chocolate and cherry syrups and a pretzel.

Spent the rest of a cloudy afternoon at home, giving the kitchen and bathroom a very much-needed scouring. I hadn't cleaned either since late November, before Thanksgiving. They both needed it badly, especially the bathroom. It was awful. I'm glad I bought the dollar store cleaner with bleach last month. The tub and the bathroom and kitchen sinks all needed the lift.

I continued running several of my new finds and Christmas presents throughout the day. Did two more Lois & Clark episodes this morning. "Smart Kids" pits DC's favorite reporters against a group of "special needs" children who were given a brain-enhancing serum by a mad scientist. While Lois tries to help one of the girls who was caught feel better about her situation, Clark looks for more information on the chemicals that were used on them.

"The Green, Green Glow of Home" takes the pair back to Clark's native Smallville, Kansas. No, it's not a reunion of Warner's next big Superman show after this one. Clark gets very nervous when they have to investigate the discovery of a chunk of glowing green meteorite that may not be what it appears. Seems this bit of rock has a rather nasty effect on Clark and on his powers....

Switched to a Faerie Tale Theatre episode featuring another famous Superman during a leftovers dinner. "Sleeping Beauty" is one of the earlier shows in the series. Its Russian theme and background music are taken from the famous Tchaikovsky ballet, with a few additions to pad a fairly straightforward plot. Bernadette Peters is the slumbering princess of the title who is put to sleep for 100 years; Carol Kane and Beverly DiAngelo are the good and wicked fairies respectively. Christopher Reeve is the noble prince who sets her free. This one is held back by some of the series' more dated special effects and the obvious plot filler with the wicked fairy luring the prince in the middle.

I finally started the second disc of that 350 cartoon set a few days ago. A few more Superman shorts ("Showdown," "Secret Agent"), a Mel-O-Toons version of Sleeping Beauty, and two song-based classics from the Fleischer Brothers studios, "Somewhere In Dreamland" and "Small Fry" rounded out the night.