Thursday, March 17, 2016

No Luck of the Irish

The men showed up around 8:30, while I was reading a story about St. Patrick in the Colliers Book of Holidays. Yes, they tore apart my bathroom, though they really only had to take out the toilet. Unfortunately, it turns out the pipes in the bathroom are under the floor. So they had to take out what little floor I have in there, too. I still don't know why they didn't figure all this out when they first started spying leaks downstairs months ago. This is an old house, I'm guessing anywhere from fifty to ninety years old. The previous owner was an elderly woman who probably hadn't done anything to her apartment or the plumbing or electrical wiring in years, maybe decades. What did they expect? Of course the plumbing is going to be old.

After I ate a bagel and a half a grapefruit for breakfast, I went in my room, closed the door, and spent the next few hours working on my story. Ben says he'll open the drawbridge so they can escape while the others look for the princess. Luke wants to go with him, but he sends him after the others. As the guys make their way across the castle complex, they hear a beautiful voice singing a sad old Aldran folk tune. The voice leads them to a high tower on the edge of the complex's prison area. They see a man in dark armor climb a rope of very, very long hair. The guys have no idea how they'll get in, until Luke insists he might be able to mimic Vader's voice well enough to fool the princess and get them into the Tower.

Headed out to run errands around quarter after 12. First stop was the Oaklyn Library. Other than one guy reading the newspaper, they weren't busy, not a surprise on a nice day. I organized the DVDs and took a quick look at the kids' area before the local kindergarten arrived, all dressed in green, to hear a St. Patrick's Day story.

Next stop was WaWa for lunch. I didn't see corned beef on the menu, so I bought a ham and Swiss hoagie instead. Also treated myself to a Mint Smoothie and a cupcake with white and green mint icing from Viola's International Deli. Bought a bottle of water from Common Grounds Coffee Shop for later. Checked Studio LuLoo; they still weren't open.

I headed home with just enough time to toss lunch together, change, and head back out. Great splotches of blobby black clouds had begun to gather even as I was riding home from lunch. By the time I headed to work, it was raining in earnest. It didn't last. It had begun to slow down even as I was making my way across the Acme's parking lot to work.

Work was on-and-off busy. We're supposed to be getting some snow and sleet on Sunday, though given how warm the ground is, I doubt it'll stick for very long. Many people were buying Irish potatoes, soda bread, or food for their St. Patrick's Day dinners as well. When I wasn't in a register, I gathered baskets, dug around in the back closet for more boxes of plastic bags, and tried to get boxes of huge posters meant to be hung in the store to the trash compactor in the back. (The last was so big, I needed help from one of the college boys to lift it.)

The spotty rain showers had continued on and off all evening. Thankfully, by the time I got out at 7, it was long gone. The ground was mostly dry, and I got home just fine.

Oh, and Happy St. Patrick's Day to all of ye! I hope you've been having far more luck than I have lately.

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