Wednesday, February 13, 2019

A Windy Day's Work

Began the day at work. Spent the first half of my shift outside, doing carts and gathering trash and recycling. It wasn't a bad day for it, either. It was very windy, but also sunny, and not too cold for this time of year. I got stuck in the register for most of the second half of my shift. Someone called out, and we're still short-handed.

People weren't always in the best moods, either. One man was trying to figure out how much some of the clearance items were, backing up a long line. The man behind him got snippy with him when he offered him his Acme Monopoly tickets. I tried to step in and prevent open warfare. (At least the other guy apologized for cursing. The one behind him just stayed in a bad mood.) And the lady behind them was pregnant, had a fair-sized order, a son that wouldn't listen to her and just kept playing with his Hess truck, and was not happy with their antics. Good thing she was my last customer of the day.

I had a far more pleasant surprise waiting for me in the back room. One of the managers told me I was Employee of the Month! When you receive a compliment or a good review from a customer, it's put in a box. A lucky person gets chosen every month. I got a 50 dollar gift card and they took my picture holding the "Employee of the Month" sign. Used a little of that gift card for raspberries for my raspberry truffles and for a cream-filled donut (don't know how to make those yet).

Went right on the computer when I got home. The man passing through is Lando-a-Dale, a friend of Han's. He tells him and the others that the Sheriff is holding a contest for a golden arrow. Friar Yoda is certain that it will be a trap, but the others see it as an opportunity to lift jewelry and sell the golden arrow for more money to feed the poor and for King Bail's ransom. Leia, Luke, Chewbacca, and Thomas all agree to go into town with Han to keep an eye on things.

Broke for dinner at 6:30. Had leftovers, then tried to make fondant for the raspberry truffles. I must have put too much milk in, or the crushed raspberries made them soup. Whatever the reason was, I now have raspberry sugar soup instead of candy filling.

Had more luck with the next two episodes of Buck Rogers. "Ardala Returns" when she needs someone to pilot a prototype space ship that keeps exploding. She nominates Buck, whom she lures with a space capsule that appears to be from the 20th century. She proceeds to make clones of him and rigs one with a bomb to blow up New Chicago. Meanwhile, Buck's memories are being implanted in the minds of his clones. If he can't stop these menacing duplicates, Earth - and his friends - will be in deep trouble.

"Twiki Is Missing" is a bit of spoof of Charlie's Angels, which was also popular at the time. Three beautiful young women who have telekinetic powers are controlled by a mysterious man on a mining colony. The miners are pushing for better conditions and are ready to revolt. He's hoping to replace them with droids and thinks Twiki would be perfect. The ladies first try to buy Twiki from Buck, then steal him, prompting Buck to follow.

Ended the night with a round of Angry Birds Star Wars. This is pretty much what it says on the tin. The regular Angry Birds characters wear Star Wars costumes and have galactic-themed powers; Han can shoot, Luke can use a lightsaber, Ben can toss bombs and make himself go further. It's really addicting. I was almot three-fourths of the way through the first Tatoonie segment when I realized how late it was getting. I'll definitely be playing this again. It's fun and really cute.

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