Breezin'

Charlie was just coming upstairs as I got moving this morning. He was mostly outside on the porch while I was here. I ran an episode of Rick Steves while I was eating breakfast. This time, he went further north in Italy to three cities that had once been owned by Venice. Of the three, Ravenna, with its beautiful churches and colorful amusement park, was my favorite.

When Charlie came in, I moved to my room, checked out a few books, and made my bed. I'd already gotten my lunch together before he left. By the time he was in the bathroom, I was heading out. As Charlie pointed out, at least it was a nice day to do the work. While not as warm as over the weekend, it was still pretty nice, probably in the lower 60's, sunny, and breezy.

Work was off-and-on steady. I did do the carts with the help of one of the college kids this morning, but after that, I was mainly inside. I manage to get the candy done early this afternoon, the inside trash later in the day, and most of the returns shelved in the last hour...but they kept throwing me in the register, usually for someone's break. Thankfully, it slowed down well before I finished. I needed tissues again; grabbed them on the way out.

Charlie was just finishing when I got in. The new window in the bathroom is the same as the ones in the living area that you crank to open. At least it's high up enough that no one can see you going to the bathroom. That had always been a problem. The bathroom window was so low, anyone could see someone using it. That's why the shades in that room were always down. (I do want to know how he's going to replace the tile on the wall...)

Had leftovers for dinner while continuing across Europe with Rick Steves. We head west from Italy to The Netherlands for two episodes displaying the charms of that low-lying Scandinavian country. Amsterdam, its largest city, is home of lovely architecture from its "golden era" of the 1600's, beautiful museums, and the adult pleasures of its street life. Things are more quaint in the smaller towns situated on land the Dutch has reclaimed from the sea, home of farms, windmills, and tons of flowers.

Worked on writing for a while after dinner. Backtracked to the Mufasar Iron Works, where Vader is keeping Leia hostage. He and his crony Tarkin threaten her parents' home Aldera Hills if she doesn't cooperate and tell them where the plans are. She does...but they still destroy it and say they'll drown her.

Ended the night after I finished off the Netherlands episode with the final episode of the fourth season of Smallville. Smallville High's "Commencement" is going well...except for the fact that Lana and Lex are missing. Clark doesn't have the time to ponder where they might have gone to. There's a huge meteor shower coming their way, thanks to Lana having used one of the Stones of Knowledge to kill Genevieve and expel the witch from her. Now Clark has to get the stones and stop Jason from hurting his parents, or none of them are going to have much of a future beyond high school.

When the show actually focuses on Clark coming into his powers and the various strange things going on in Smallville, it can be a lot of fun. The problem is, it tends to go off on tangents. The entire side plot with Lana and the witches was unnecessary, out of place, and awkwardly tied in with the main story. This is Smallville, not Charmed. There was no need for them to go to China in that one episode, either.

I liked it enough to give that second season set I found at Goodwill a shot...eventually. After four sci-fi series in a row, I think it's time to try something different. I still haven't watched all of at least four full series Lauren gave me a while back. I think it's time to give a sitcom a shot, either the first season of Wings or The Dick Van Dyke Show.