Friday, March 28, 2014

All Kinds of Help

Started off a gloomy day at work. It rained a little on my way, but nothing major. It was pretty much the same as it has been - off-and-on steady, only really busy during rush hours. There were no major problems (other than a few annoying beginning-of-the-month people) and my relief was on time.

I rode over to America's Best quickly as soon as I got out to pick up my contacts, then went right back to the Acme to get my schedule and do this week's grocery shopping. I had a lot of things that needed to be restocked, starting with sugar. The Acme's having a big four-day sale on their generic frozen vegetables; I got the small bags of peas and green beans for 88 cents each. Picked up Acme generic whole-wheat rotini pasta buy one, get one. (I normally avoid sales that require you to buy more than one of an item. I rarely need more than one of anything...but I was really out of pasta. I used the last of it on my pasta bake last night.) Needed to refill grapefruit, apples, Romaine lettuce, bananas, mushrooms, cheese (bought the generic Acme sharp cheddar block and the new small Sargento wedge of Parmentino), Cheerios, and parchment paper.

My schedule isn't all that much different than it has been all winter and early spring. In good news, I have two days off, Tuesday and Thursday (Tuesday for counseling). In annoying news, I have one late day (Monday) and two long days (Monday and Wednesday), though nothing as early as the last few weeks.

By the time I finished work, the rain was gone, but it remained cloudy and windy. This time, it didn't stop it from getting warmer. It was probably in the upper 50s-lower 60s. It was so warm when I got home, I opened both windows to let the apartment air out.

Finished out the newest Strawberry Shortcake set, Berry Big Help, as I put everything away and started lamb chops with "French Salad" (Romaine lettuce with home-made dressing) and the last of the Brussels sprouts for dinner. Helping each other - and the importance of helping out - is the theme of this set. In the first story, a Baby Berrykin has the ability to turn anything different colors, not just fruit...but he's so little, he turns everything different colors without realizing the confusion this causes. Strawberry finally gets him to understand that he has to ask before he uses his powers for others. The second story has Raspberry determined to make Strawberry a beautiful new dress all by herself. When the other girls see that she's wearing herself out, they act as "fashion elves" and try to make a dress for her. The final tale is a variation on the "kid adopts huge pet who wrecks havoc" story. The kid in question is Orange Blossom, who becomes attached to what she thinks is a fish. It's really a tadpole...and when "Tad" grows up, he proves to be far larger and more energetic than Orange can handle.

Switched to Charlie Chan In Honolulu as I made Pineapple Upside-Down Cake from a Betty Crocker mix that was on sale at work. The famous Asian detective (Sidney Toler in this one) is awaiting the birth of his Number One Grandchild, so his number two son and his younger brother take the call from a cargo ship where a man has been murdered. Was he after the money one of the women has stashed in her room? Was he a victim of a freaky scientist? Or was he eaten by the lion owned by a rather goofy little trainer?

I have fond memories of the Charlie Chan movies from when they turned up on AMC (and later, TCM) during my childhood and college years. This one is especially interesting because we get to see a little of Charlie's home life, including more of his kids than usual. Considering this series' reputation (and that Chinese Chan is played by a Swedish character actor), there's surprisingly little stereotypes of any kind - Chan's son-in-law is more "stereotyped" than anyone in his wife's family, including Chan. With minimal violence and lots of gags with the Chan boys, this isn't a bad introduction to Charlie's world, and a nice starter film for older kids, too.

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