Friday, July 31, 2020

Shopping With My Sister

I was reading in bed this morning when I got a phone call. Rose got out of the hospital yesterday, and she was apparently well enough to look for a new rug and kitchen supplies in Cherry Hill. Told her to give me an hour. I hadn't dressed, written in my journal, or had breakfast yet.

Blockbusters was on by the time I finally got to eating. The young teacher not only handily beat the twins, but after a slow start, she finally won the Gold Rush round. She was starting a new round with a brother-sister team when the episode ended.

Rose picked me up around quarter after 11. She got out of the hospital yesterday afternoon, much to her delight. Her throat is sore, she'll be on a liquid diet for a few days, and she's tired after not being able to sleep in the hospital, but she claimed she felt well enough to shop. She and Jodie were chipping in 100 for me as a housewarming gift, enough to allow me to pick up some of the many things I still need.

The train station in Cherry Hill is behind a large big-box shopping center that includes Jo Ann's, Shop Rite, Gabe's, and Burlington Coat Factory. I'd never heard of Gabe's, but apparently it's the same type of discount department store as Ross (which is also in that mall) and Marshalls. We had no luck with anything there. Did much better at Burlington Coat Factory. Decided on a plush rug in neutral stripes for the under the box spring and long shelves in the bedroom, a nifty stacked dish rack for the kitchen, and the softest gray bath mat I ever felt.

When we got in, she helped me set up the rug in my bedroom. It actually looked pretty decent, its neutral colors contrasting with the red rag rug and working with the summer quilt I got from Mom last year, too. The bath rug went nicely in front of my tub. It took a few minutes to set up the dish rack. Truth be told, it's a tad big for the space, but I may end up doing some rearranging in the kitchen. I may also get one of those rolling carts for spaces on either side of the antique dresser.

After she left, I had a mocha-banana smoothie for lunch while watching Match Game. In the episode I saw from 1976, Gene danced with a contestant during the Audience Match, while the others dealt with an audience that was rowdy, even for this show.

Charlie called as I was finishing the bed. I got mail at Manor Avenue I needed to take home. That was fine. I wanted to get a walk in, anyway. It rained while Rose and I were at the stores, but by the time I strolled down Manheim, it was merely cloudy, humid, and in the upper 70's, far cooler than it has been lately. The threat of more rain (and it being a weekday) must have kept everyone at home. The only people I saw were two kids playing basketball on my way back. As it turned out, the mail was junk mail, but I'm glad I got the walk in anyway. It's been too hot to go for walks lately.

Put on two original Strawberry Shortcake specials from the 80's that are on YouTube while I did the dishes and made the bed. I'm not the only one who moved recently. Housewarming Surprise has the other residents of Strawberryland helping her settle into a new larger house. They invite the friends she met on a trip from around the world as a surprise...but the Peculiar Purple Pie Man and Sour Grapes are determined to spoil their fun and steal those international recipes.

The original versions of Angel Cake and Sour Grapes are introduced in Pets On Parade, the third special. Strawberry is the judge of kids' pet show, but The Purple Pie Man and his old partner Sour Grapes accuse her of cheating. It takes help from super-polite Angel Cake and a cute lavender skunk to remind Strawberry that she can stand up to bullies.

I'd no sooner settled down to write than I heard squealing and bumping in the other side of the house. Rose did say she was bringing the kids over to visit Jodie. I showed Finley the stuffed animals on my bed while her brother played with Little Tykes waffle-shaped building blocks in the den. Finley was especially fond of Luna, my black cat Webkinz. Luna looks a lot like Finley's black cat Toothless. Finley happily cuddled her before we returned to the main house.

She was even more delighted when Jessa came in with Midnight in tow. Finley squealed and chased Midnight around the kitchen while Jodie ordered us an early dinner from Phillies Phatties. I had a cheesesteak with fried onions that was so big, half of it is now in my refrigerator for lunch tomorrow.

Jodie mainly wanted to discuss Dad's finances with us. Evidently, we're all inheriting something, and there's a lot of paperwork that'll be done next week. Rose wants Jessa and me to talk to her financial planner to help decide what to do with that money, too.

After Jessa left and Rose started to encourage the kids to clean up their messes, I went back to my side of the house and did some writing. Fannie lands herself and Charles amid trolls. While Charles recovers from his ride in a cloud, Fannie blows the trolls out the hole left by Orson's sudden entrance. Richard sees her and wants to talk to her...but she knows she has to tell him the truth...

Broke to have leftover ratatouille to go with my cheesesteak from earlier at 6:30. On the 1977 edition of Match Game, Gene joked about someone losing a high heel on the stage, while Richard found himself being the only one who had to match the contestant. For some odd reason, Sale of the Century traded "True Romance" for Varsity Week. Three teens played against each other to win major prizes. A volleyball player dominated the main rounds, chose one of the two Instant Bargains, won the Instant Cash, and even beat the bonus round in more than enough time.

Finished the night with cartoons on Disney Plus and YouTube. Minnie plays Sherlock Holmes in Mickey Mouse Clubhouse as "Minnie's Mystery" takes the gang around the park to find out who ate more than half of her blueberry muffins. The creepy Land Without Feelings was the first Care Bears special. The bears and an upset girl rescue a little boy who is angry that his parents are moving from Professor ColdHeart, who has been giving kids a potion that turns them into frog-like slaves.

Thursday, July 30, 2020

There's No Place Like Home

Began a sunny, hazy morning with breakfast and Split Second. The woman champ was way behind when I joined in, but she made a stunning comeback in the Countdown Round, just barely getting ahead of the one man. I guess she figured two comebacks were more than enough; this time, she ended up taking the vacation.

The woman also won on Blockbusters, beating that father-son-in-law duo. Like them, she couldn't begin to figure out the Gold Rush bonus round and only got two answers right. She did better against fraternal twins sisters in their first round.

Called Rose as the show was finishing. At least as of this morning, she was still in the hospital for her throat. She didn't sound too happy about it, either...but she mostly sounded tired. She'll call me when she gets home.

After I got off with her, I took my laundry through Jodie's den and kitchen and down to the basement. I called her yesterday and got her permission to do my laundry here, saving me time and money. She doesn't have Dad's clothes to wash anymore, so it's just her using the washer and dryer. Her washer and dryer are fat and rounded and look more like cute fat stuffed polar bears than washing machines. I didn't have a big load, but I did want to get it done while Jodie wasn't using it. Dropped my clothes in the washer (after I figured out how to turn it on), said hi to Jodie as she watched Friends, and went back to my place.

Grabbed a pen and a notebook and spent the next half-hour or so making a list of everything I need to buy, replace, or upgrade after my move. Made sure the first things on the list were the small, less-expensive items I need now, like a dish pan and dish rack. Placed larger items like a streaming TV to replace the one I got used on Amazon that I've had for 9 years and the older Roku box further down. Some things are too expensive for me to get now; they'll wait for after I make money in the fall or Christmas. There's the Swifter and carpet sweeper, too.

Went back to the washer around quarter after 12...but the washer wasn't ready yet. It takes a while, according to Jodie. It was past 12:30 before I loaded my clothes into the equally cute and round dryer.

Next on the to-do list was sorting through the piles of paperwork and rent agreements leftover from the Manor Avenue apartment. I had a bulging file folder, plus two manila folders full of thick 8-page bibles about rules and regulations. I kept Miss Ellie's one and only rent agreement from 2006 and the most recent one from Willa for historical purposes. Everything else went in the recycling bin.

Broke for lunch around 1. Watched Classic Concentration while eating a peanut butter and jelly wrap, yogurt, and a banana. A young lady from Ethiopia just didn't have much luck. She couldn't get past the champ, who was fast on the draw and faster to figure out a puzzle. Even after he won a car and she was brought back due to a technical mishap, she still couldn't beat another guy.

Finally got all the electronics hooked up after I ate. I tried two weeks ago, but I couldn't figure it out then. I found another wire that allowed me to attach the TV to the splitter I have. Switched the cable box to the splitter. Set up the Wii, the DVD player, and the Roku on it, too. Everything worked just fine once I got them all into the splitter. Even the Roku, which took me forever to get running last December, gave me no trouble.

It took me so long, it was over an hour and a half before I returned to the dryer. Thankfully, unlike at the laundromat, everything was perfectly dry by then. Was able to carry it back to my side and fold it while watching a marathon of Brett Somers' best Match Game episodes on the Roku Channel's Buzzr stream.

Went into unpacking one of the two remaining boxes next. I had no idea where I was going to put the framed photos, until I pulled out the one of Dad-Bruce and Mom standing around me in my baby basket when I was a tiny newborn after he died and leaned it on the wide window ledge in the bedroom. Removed three older photos that were old or faded; replaced the one of me and my brother when he was a kid with the photo of him and his wife he sent me after they got married last winter. I still need to figure out what to do with my plaque from being the secretary for the college TV station for four years, and if my Monkees and Star Wars posters are worth framing.

(The last unpacked box is the one with the Star Wars action figures, which go on a shelf hung on the wall. I'm going to wait on hanging things on the walls until I can find a way to do it and not damage the new paint job.)

Watched Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood after The Roku Channel's live feed stopped working. "Daniel Gets a Shot," but it makes him feel really scared. (I know how he feels on that one. I hate getting shots, too.) His mother encourages him to think of something happy while he's getting it. Dan and O the Owl are afraid of thunder on "A Stormy Day." Once again, Mrs. Tiger tells them to think of something happy until their fear passes.

Did some writing for a while. Charles is more than a little nervous when Fannie returns them to the ballroom on a cloud she created. She's hoping for the element of surprise, but she may get more than she bargained for when the trolls try throwing things at her...

Broke for dinner at 6. Made ratatouille to go with my leftover chicken cutlets while Match Game ran in the background. Eva Gabor made her debut on the show in these episodes. She always seemed to have a good time, whether she was explaining her answers or laughing as Betty White, Brett Somers, and Charles Nelson Reilly sniped at each other.

Sandy, Jodie's next-door neighbor, arrived armed with curtains and curtain rods as the second Match Game episode was finishing. Her shorter, sheer pale-blue curtains worked nicely in the living room and matched the rug Rose bought almost perfectly. While we did find a nice periwinkle blue print for the bedroom, she didn't have the right curtain rod. She said she'd look for one and come back another day.

Sale of the Century was winding down as she left. Everyone won something, but this time, the one woman managed to just get ahead in the speed round. She totally messed up the bonus round and didn't come close to getting the extra money, though she did seem really thrilled about the vacation to Rio De Janaro she won.

Jodie knocked on the door to her side of the house shortly after Sale started. She's clearing out food that Dad mostly ate. Did I want the microwavable pancake containers or the boxes of Cream of Rice, Farina, and Instant Cream of Wheat? I don't own a microwave, but I do love hot cereal, and Cream of Wheat and Farina are too expensive for me to eat often. I eagerly took all three.

Finished the night online with Sextette. I go further into Mae West's notoriously campy final film at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.

Cult Flops - Sextette

Oh, and we had a big, noisy thunderstorm much later in the night, around 11. Looks like the rain isn't going anywhere. We're supposed to get rain in some form until almost the end of next week.

Wednesday, July 29, 2020

Feels Good to Be Home

Began the morning with breakfast and the second half of Split Second. Two men joined a woman who won before, but was thought to have lost her second game unfairly. She won decisively this time, beating the pants off the guys in the main round and just getting through the Countdown Round. Barely missed the car, though, and opted to return.

The father and son-in-law finally beat the one guy on Blockbusters, but they couldn't get through half the bonus round. Their next opponent was a  younger woman. They'd finished the first round as the episode ended.

Heard from Craig towards the tail end of Blockbusters. Rose is still in the hospital with that sore esophagus and Finley was at the babysitter's, so he and Khai were going to help me clear out the last of my stuff. It had to go out today to catch trash day on Manor Avenue. I messed around online until they picked me up around 11:30.

There wasn't too much left to do. I gathered the cleaning supplies, curtain, and magnetic rod I'd be taking back to my place while Craig took the bed apart. Gave my Garfield comic books and bag of marbles to Khai to thank him for being a tremendous helper for me and his parents over the past few weeks. There was so much left that went to Goodwill or that he wanted to sell on Facebook, we needed two trips to take it all to their house on Kendall. Craig said he'd turn my Comcast modem into UPS along with one of theirs that they wanted to upgrade.

Along with getting rid of the bed and three bags of stuff I didn't want and couldn't donate, I also ditched the vacuum cleaner and trash can. The vacuum cleaner still works decently, but it's too big and noisy for the new house. It was a cheap Dirt Devil I bought to clean carpets, not bare wood floors and one rug. I'll buy a Swifter and a carpet sweeper for the new apartment instead. The trash can is not only also too big for the new apartment, but it's an old plastic model I've had since I first moved to Wildwood, and it smells nasty. I've been meaning to replace it with a smaller metal can for a long time anyway.

On the second run, while the guys rounded up the remaining bins, I took one last look around the apartment. Everything seemed to be in order. We'd gotten everything out, even the door that no one ever put on one of the wardrobes and the old boards I used to hold up the broken bed springs, and the place was as clean as I could make it. Craig gave me a bag for the keys and the manual to the digital thermostat in the living room, which I dropped in the mailbox next-door. (He also gave me more vegetables, including tomatoes, more potatoes, two peppers, and another eggplant.)

Ended up walking back to Manor after Craig dropped me off and I put the cleaning things away. I realized I never gave the McHughs my new address or cell phone number. Thankfully, I caught Charlie outside with his dogs as I arrived. Handed him the note with my phone number and address and told him about the big hole in the wall in the back room. He said he'd look at it later.

At least it was a decent day for a walk. While it's still at least in the lower 90's, it's not quite as hot or humid as it was earlier in the week. That really nice breeze is lingering, too. Even so, I didn't see a lot of people out and about as I strolled home. There were a few kids on bikes, a guy walking his two small fluffy dogs, and two people working in their gardens.

Worked on writing for a while after I got back in. Charles convinces Fannie to rejoin the fight. They need her and her particular brand of airy magic. She gives her lover a kiss, then tells Charles they'll make use of the element of surprise before they go back in the ballroom...

Broke for dinner at 6. Had leftovers while watching Match Game. Both 1977 episodes tonight were hilarious. The first one ended with a college student who had once been a cheerleader and now taught cheerleaders. The panelists and the audience encouraged her to stand up and show what she could do. In the second, Richard claimed that he and Lynda Day George had a bet going as to whether Gene wore blue or brown socks with his brown suit. Richard actually pulled up Gene's pant leg to get the real answer! (They were dark navy blue.)

Charlie called around the time of the second Match Game episode. First of all, he made the hole in the wall of the back room, not me. According to him, he took apart pieces of the wall to look at the wiring back there years ago. Second, he convinced his mother to let him inspect the apartment and passed it with flying colors, commending how well I did with the cleaning. His mother will send the check from the security deposit within the next month, and more likely within the next week.

And that ends my involvement with the Manor Avenue apartment and the McHughs. Everything that I need or want has been moved to Hillcrest. I think I got out at exactly the right time. Beyond the problems with the rent and landlady, Jodie needs me here. I've been looking for a new apartment for over a year. The one at Manor is a dusty, musty mess in a desperate need of an major remodel. Now I have a place with cheaper rent that closer to family and away from Charlie's potty mouth and weird friends, and he can tear out whatever he wants, whenever he wants.

Was watching the next episode of that "True Romance" theme on Sale of the Century when I heard a knock on the door. I nearly jumped a mile on the futon before I realized it was Jodie, offering margarita pizza in big squares. I gratefully took them. I hadn't had a big dinner.

When I returned the plate, I discovered there were four other women from the neighborhood visiting Jodie in the kitchen of the main house, likely helping to keep up her spirits. I got to show them all my new apartment. While the other women oohed and ahhed over my record collection, Jodie's neighbor Sandy admired my teddy bear collection and offered some curtains for the bedroom and living room she wasn't using.

Finished the night after a shower with more animated offerings on Disney Plus. I've come to enjoy the current version of Muppet Babies almost as much as the original. "Animal Cleans Up" when he's been doing a lot of smelly activities and now reeks so badly, the others won't play with him. They try to play car wash to get him to take a bath. Fozzie and Kermit run "Best Pals Pizza Parlor Palace," but they can't decide if it should be fancy or fun, or what types of pizza to make. They have to figure it out in a hurry in order to please Rizzo the Rat, who is a very picky eater.

TaleSpin was one of my favorite cartoons in the Disney Afternoon line-up in the late 80's and early 90's. I don't know who decided Baloo the Bear from The Jungle Book needed to be a slovenly pilot in the mid 1930's with a tough boss named Rebecca who owns his plane and is a single mom, but I hope they got a huge bonus. "Her Chance to Dream" takes overworked Rebecca into Ghost and Mrs. Muir territory. Baloo and Louie insist they've seen a ghost at Louie's club. Rebecca thinks Baloo's trying to get out of work again...until she meets a handsome sea captain there who treats her like a real lady. Baloo and Louie, however, know there's something not quite right about the captain...

Gravity Falls, a series for older kids and pre-teens from The Disney Channel, gets even weirder. Mabel finds herself in "The Deep End" when the hunk she meets at the pool turns out to be a trapped merman. While she figures out how to free him, her twin brother Dipper and his crush Wendy have fun working as lifeguards and getting around the overly strict pool manager.

Tuesday, July 28, 2020

At Home With My Sister

Kicked off another sunny morning with a jelly omelet and Split Second. The young man with the glasses was behind the two women during the entire episode. I thought he wouldn't make it...until he came from behind to win the Countdown Round. That was his fifth win, allowing him to get the car outright. (He became the second person I've seen on the show to last five days and get the car.)

Blockbusters just started when I checked my phone. Rose called me. She was going to try to get over to the house. Did I want to watch Finley later? Ok, why not? Jessa texted, too. Did I want to get together? She didn't mind Finley being there. I told both their visits would be fine, and appreciated. I hadn't seen anyone since Friday.

Spent the next two hours getting organized. Made the bed, stacked the remaining milk crates to use it as a folder cabinet. Put the American Girl doll bin one of the crates originally sat on in the bedroom closet. Did the dishes, tidied up the futon, and put my crocheting up where Midnight and Finley couldn't get at it.

Rose texted me as I was preparing for Jessa's arrival. Turns out no, she and Finley couldn't come over or help me out after all. Her strep throat had gotten so bad, she'd gone to the hospital to get it checked out. She did say she and her family got tested for the virus and came out negative, so it's likely not that, but she wanted to find out what it actually was.

Jessa still came over, though, with Midnight in tow. We spent the next couple of hours together, huddled at the futon and kitchen table and watching game shows. She ordered the half-mushroom, half-cheese pizza this time, since I don't have much money left. We talked about Dad's death and my moving and played along with Classic Concentration, Password, and Super Password.

After she left, I decided I really needed to go grocery shopping. Trouble is, I have just enough money to pay Jodie the rent for next month, and definitely not enough for Uber. Maybe it was time I gave the bike a shot. The bike itself only needed its tires pumped. Once I did that, I rode to the Acme with no problems whatsoever.

Picked the right day for grocery shopping. Even at 4:30, the height of rush hour, they were stone-cold dead. They were having really good chicken sales. I grabbed cutlets for dinner tonight and legs for later in the week or next week. The Oikos Greek yogurt was a dollar each; the 50-cent coupons they came with made them free. Grabbed plums and grapes for fruit and an onion and zucchini for vegetables. Two small boxes of Breakstone butter were cheaper than one pack of any other brand. Acme generic ice cream was on a really good sale with an online coupon; went with vanilla this time. Picked up coconut to make cookies later. Restocked cereal (went with shredded wheat again), milk, bananas, canned no-salt tomato sauce, pasta, oatmeal, and cooking spray.

Went into Match Game after I got home and put everything away, and then as I had chicken cutlets and zucchini with potatoes for dinner. In the first episode, Brett told everyone about the adorable doll a woman in the audience gave her. In the 1977 shows, Brett tripped over the newly-laid shag carpet, then everyone did a chorus of "99 Bottles of Beer On the Wall" when it was the top answer on an Audience Match and Gene Rayburn claimed he never heard it before.

By the time Sale of the Century was on, I'd moved on to making Coconut-Lemon No-Bake Cookies. This time, the singles were two younger men and a ribald older lady who was clearly having the time of her life. She bought a Rodeo Drive shopping spree and the Instant Cash (even though she didn't win the money on the latter) and was ahead for most of the game. She was neck and neck with one of the guys in the speed round, and only lost in a tie. He didn't get anywhere near the money in the bonus round, though.

Briefly listened to Concentration while scooping the cookies onto trays and sliding them into the fridge, then finished the night online watching Walking On Sunshine. I go further into this British jukebox musical at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.

Walking On Sunshine

Monday, July 27, 2020

Hot Times On Manor Avenue

Kicked off a clear, sunny morning with breakfast and Split Second. The ladies came close, but in the end, that young gentleman with the glasses got a decisive win in the Countdown Round. He missed the car right off the bat, though, and opted to return tomorrow.

Blockbusters pitted a young college student against a former vaudevillian and his daughter-in-law. It was a close match with hexagons lit up all over the board, but in the end, the young man won. It took him longer, but he did manage to get the Gold Rush round, too. He was just starting to play a father and son-in-law team when the show ended.

Went into writing after that. The group separates after Ira's trolls go after them. Charles returns to the alcove where he hid Brett to find her gone. While searching for her, he catches sight of Fannie on the balcony...kissing a woman. She says she was looking for her Princess Charming, not her prince. That's why she kept resisting Richard. Charles gently says he understands.

Broke for a quick lunch at 1:30 while watching Classic Concentration. Two new contestants figured out rebuses today. The young woman just won three prizes and solved the puzzle surprisingly fast as I finished eating.

I had a problem getting to and from Manor Avenue. Oaklyn's been repairing the street for at least three weeks now. They just laid new blacktop on the road in front of the apartment this morning. I darted across, hoping that it would hold and not get all over me. (A tiny bit got stuck in my shoe. Otherwise, yes, it held.)

Finished up what I could in the apartment. Recycling goes out today, so I dragged the remaining bins, boxes, and bags into the living room and went through them, then took the boxes downstairs. The only things left in the back room are the clothes rack that'll go in the trash, the older air conditioner I can't move on my own, and the box the other air conditioner goes in. Managed to move the bed well enough on my own to vacuum under it. Tried to scrub the mildew from around the faucet in the kitchen, but that just doesn't seem to be going anywhere.

Discovered two big problems as I finished with the vacuum. First of all, the drying carpet in the kitchen smells badly of mildew. I opened as many windows as I could to air it out, but it doesn't seem to do a lot. Second, I forgot there's a big hole in the wood paneled wall in the back room. It's been there for ages, and I know I didn't make it. I need to corral Charlie to fix it, before his mother sees it.

At the very least, the weather was pleasant. While it's still in the 90's, the humidity vanished in the night, leaving cool breezes and much drier (and slightly more tolerable) heat. It was actually kind of nice walking home. Took the slightly longer way down Manheim to avoid the just-ending road repairs.

I was so tired, as soon as I got home, I put away the one coffee table book on musicals I opted to keep, took out the recycling here, grabbed leftovers for dinner, and settled down on the futon for an hour and a half with Italian casserole, crocheting, and Buzzr. The first Match Game episode brought in Don Adams and Mitzi McCall for one of the funniest weeks of 1974...and questions as to whether "necking" matches "kissing."

The 6 PM episodes jumped ahead to 1977 as a contestant announced her twin was in the audience. For some reason, the episode after that was skipped (don't know why - it's on YouTube), and they went right into towering-yet-boyish Peter Isackson pointing out his mother in the audience.

Sale of the Century celebrated "True Romance" tonight with three single contestants who brought interesting stories and prizes themed around love, from a Florida spa trip for two to a bright red car. Two women were neck-and-neck all day, with the guy not far behind. In the end, one of the women won in the speed round by one question...but she didn't have much luck in the bonus round.

(Four episodes from this theme turned up the weekend before Valentine's Day as part of Buzzr's "Love Is On the Air" marathon. I hope they show the full two weeks this time. We never did get to see who won the car.)

Finished the night online after a much-needed shower with Shipwrecked at Disney Plus. Haakon (Stian Smestad) is a Norwegian farm boy who signs on as a cabin boy after his sailor father is injured. His family friend and shipmate Jens (Trond Peter Stamso Munch) helps him learn the ropes, so to speak, and earn the respect of the captain and crew alike. The trouble starts after ship leaven in London, when they pick up British officer Howell (Gabriel Byrne) to help them avoid pirates. Turns out Howell is a pirate, and he poisons the captain in order to take over the ship and bring his own men aboard.

He's about to punish Haakon for helping the young stowaway Mary (Louisa Milwood-Haigh) when a storm wrecks the ship and leaves the boy stranded on a tropical island. Thankfully for Haakon, the island is teaming with fresh fruit, debris from the ruined ship, and even old chests of pirate weapons. He and his friends end up having to rescue the other sailors from Howell and his band of notorious pirates, who are hoping to retrieve the treasure they buried on the island.

This ran on the Disney Channel a lot in the early 90's. As a lover of pirate stories and swashbucklers, I always wanted to see it, but never quite got around to it then. I'm glad Disney Plus has it. Based after a popular Norwegian children's novel, it's the enjoyable story of one young man who goes from bullied farm kid to confident sailor and survivor. There is a very brief sequence that involves Haakon trying to "save" Jens and Mary from natives, but they're friendly and not really played for menace.

In the end, if you or your kids are fans of pirate tales, survival stories like Swiss Family Robinson, or historical coming-of-age novels, you'll get a big kick out of this one.

Sunday, July 26, 2020

Adventures on Manor Avenue

I'm so bushed from all the work I've done over the past few days, I didn't get up until 9:30, and didn't get rolling until almost 11. Had chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast. Yum! They didn't come out too badly. I remembered to add baking powder this time, which did help.

Listened to a couple of Disney records while I ate. Kevin at Defunctland just did an episode on the Disney Channel 80's series Mousercise last week, which prompted me to pull out the record version. We had the Mousercise record as kids and listened to it all the time, and we loved the show. Mom didn't love the show. She thought the lady who worked with the kids was too perky and perfect, the exercises were too hard, and the diet tips were unrealistic. I thought Miss Kellyn was a ball of energy and the exercises were a lot of fun, even if some of them passed too quickly to really get them right.

We didn't have Mickey Mouse Disco (which Kevin mentions in the beginning), but I found it at a yard sale several years ago. The Disney Channel used the energetic cover of "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah" as part of their DTV music video series, and there's a couple of other songs I like as well. "Welcome to Rio" is a peppy Latin-flavored spoof featuring Jose Carioca, the title song is a great dance number redolent of the era, and "Macho Duck" is a hilarious Donald Duck take on Village People numbers.

Did some writing after I finished the dishes. Gene has begun to round everyone up to flee, including some familiar faces in the audience. Charles is ready to go with him, but despite being drained of her magic and possibly dead, Brett seems to have disappeared...

It was 2:30 before I broke for a quick yogurt lunch. Watched an episode of Match Game from earlier in the week as I ate the new French yogurt in the fancy glass. Richard and Gene made quite a few Humphrey Bogart jokes as they helped a gentle woman from Casablanca make it to the Audience Match.

Headed out before the show even ended. There's still a lot I want to get done in the Manor Avenue apartment. For one thing, the carpet in the kitchen hasn't dried yet. I spread the now-dry towels over the spot and left the windows open to get rid of the mildew-y smell. Scrubbed as much of the mildew stains off the tile in the shower as I could. It still doesn't look perfect, but it's mostly better.

Dusted the ceilings and around the baseboards, then vacuumed around them. Lord, are they dusty! I didn't realize how bad it got in there. I had to empty the vacuum cleaner twice. I'm still not done, either. I need to get into the back room when it's empty and go under the bed after Craig and Rose take that apart. (It's too big to carry down all together.)

Between vacuuming sessions, I went through all the bins I could carry out of the back room. Some of the junk admittedly did go in trash bags. Found another Bath and Body Works hand sanitizer I got from Amanda for Christmas I wanted to keep, along with a record, two cookbooks, and a stuffed black cat. Others I may see if Rose wants for her tribe. There's a bag I need to go through, though most of the bins contain books and records and will probably stay as they are.

By the time I finished there, I was too tired to cook. Strolled to WaWa to pick up a turkey hoagie and a Pineapple Perrier for dinner. Treated myself to a Bananas Foster Cream Smoothie for the ride home. This time, it wasn't busy at WaWa, and I had no trouble there or walking back to Hillcrest. It's still sunny, breezy, hot, and humid here. I'm surprised I saw as many people out and about as I did, taking walks or riding with their friends.

Flopped into the futon with dinner, my Perrier, and Supermarket Sweep after I got in. I was so tired, I just about passed out, even as one couple couldn't figure out the first question on the 5,000 dollar bonus round, and the other in the next episode found the money in record time.

Called Rose as I sat down at the laptop. No wonder I haven't heard from her since Friday. She's sick again. Craig will help me take apart the bed and take everything to Goodwill or the trash later in the week.

Managed to drag myself into the bedroom long enough to finish up with a couple of Disney Plus offerings. Mickey Mouse Clubhouse made one of their occasional forays into fairy tales during the first season with "Sleeping Minnie." Minnie sniffed a sleeping rose at Clarabelle's garden, and now she'll sleep for a hundred years...unless Mickey and the guys can figure out how to find the Golden Harp that'll awaken her.

Phineas and Ferb is a show for older kids that revolves around two creative brothers who create wild devices to make their summer cooler. Their teen sister Candace constantly tries to tattle on them, but their mother usually just misses whatever it is they were doing. Meanwhile, the boys' pet platypus Perry is somehow a secret agent who has to contend with decidedly not-very-super villain Doofensmirtz and his wacky schemes.

"Run Away Runway" has the boys creating their own line of summer-related clothes while Candace tries to become a model and Doofensmirtz makes clones of himself to stand in line for him. The guys want to make a giant sundae for their friend Isabella in "I Scream, You Scream," but somehow, the plans for their ice cream machine get mixed up with the ones for Doofensmirtz's space laser.

The Adventures of the Gummi Bears was one of my favorite cartoons when I was little. Lauren loved it too, and she inspired me to check it out again. I had no idea it ran for six seasons! Decided to start at the beginning with the first episode "A New Beginning." Cavin, a page at Castle Dunmore, is delighted to discover Gummi Bears living in a gnarled tree in the woods. Gummi Bears are supposed to be mythical. They're scared of him, until they see his Gummi medallion and he agrees to keep their secret. He eventually convinces them to help him get rid of Duke Igthorn, a former knight who wants to take over the kingdom, and his nasty trolls, with the help of their Gummiberry Juice that grants strength to humans and bouncing power to the bears.

Saturday, July 25, 2020

Keeping It Clean

Slept in again. By the time I really got rolling, Split Second was on. Had breakfast while watching the lady in the sweater from earlier in the week come from behind in the Countdown Round to win...and since it was her fifth day, win the car outright. Good. She was one of their best players and definitely deserved it.

Spent the rest of the morning writing. Charles rounds up the others, then goes to find Richard. He's being attended to by Gene and Lee. Ira bawls for everyone to shut up and do what they're told, but no one pays attention to him. Not only are the trolls on their way, but so's his boss...and Charles' best friend may be in danger...

Broke for lunch at 1:30. Watched Match Game while having a smoothie and a peanut butter and jam wrap. Charles gets to give Richard a kiss on his head for a good answer, while hosts Jack Narz and Gene Rayburn take offense to Brett's calling MCs "dummies" and the others joke with a soft-spoken French contestant.

Headed back to Manor Avenue at around quarter after 2. I really wanted to finish as much of the cleaning as I could. The refrigerator was defrosted, but the two old towels I put down to catch the water did nothing. I squished around a soaked carpet as I scrubbed the refrigerator inside and out and the square of linoleum between the living area and bedroom, wiped down the windows, and washed the blinds. I couldn't get the blinds out to wash them downstairs, so I tried to wipe them with that three-pronged plastic blind-washing gadget I bought a few years ago. I got enough done to haul all of the cleaning supplies but the Pine-Sol, Endust, a sponge, and a few dust rags to my new place. (And Charlie did fix the leaky pipe in the back.)

Made a tasty Italian Noodle Casserole with tri-color pasta, ground turkey, summer vegetables, and canned tomato sauce for dinner while watching Classic Concentration. While an older man failed to win a car, the woman who came after him did better, finally getting the right matches after two tries, along with a toy train she said her grandchildren would love.

Finished the night after a shower with Teen Beach Movie on Disney Plus. I go further into this cute Disney Channel spoof of the Beach Party movies of the 1960's at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.

Musicals On TV - Teen Beach Movie

Friday, July 24, 2020

Return to Manor Avenue

Slept in a bit longer than I have been lately. I needed it, after my long day yesterday. Got up in time for breakfast and Split Second. Once again, the champ dominated the competition...at least until the speed round, when one of the women answered several questions faster than he did. He finally got in enough to win. Still couldn't get the car, though, so he's coming back. A father and his daughter in-law were the big winners on Blockbusters, but they couldn't get through the Gold Rush round.

Spent the next few hours online. Finally announced Dad's death on Facebooks, then called Comcast to cancel my account with them. I'm using the internet at Jodie's house. It'll end on the 31st. I just need to get to UPS to send the box back.

It was 1:30 before I got to a Summer Fruit Smoothie for lunch. Had it while watching Classic Concentration. A young woman got the matching rounds pretty easily, before she had much time to amass a lot of prizes. She managed to make enough matches to get the car with literally no time to spare.

I called Rose earlier in the morning. She said she was going with Dana and her children to have Dad cremated. She did ask if I wanted to go, but I wasn't really up to it. I don't think Jessa went, either. From the sound of things, there was already going to be a lot more people around than there should have been as it was.

Opted to start cleaning the Manor Avenue apartment on my own instead. It rained hard this morning, but though the rain subsided by noon, it remained cloudy and killer humid. The rain thankfully waited to start again until I was just a block from my other place.

Turned off the refrigerator to defrost it, then scrubbed the bathroom and kitchen as best I could. The mildew stains on the bathtub caulking and shower tiles and around the kitchen sink are so bad, I can't get them off with anything. Can't get them off the toilet, either. Discovered while scrubbing under the kitchen sink that a pipe in the back leaked and left yet another stain.

Rounded up a few things to take home that I wouldn't need in the milk crate, including the toilet bowl cleaner and most of the dust rags. I probably won't need the whole container. Missed a soup can when I cleared out the pantry. Stopped briefly and told Charlie about the leaky pipe as he worked on his front yard.

I was going to write, but I was so tired by the time I got home, I eventually gave up and opted for Match Game and leftovers for dinner. Glad I did. The first Match Game episode was one of my favorites. Gene complained that everyone on the upper desks matched the contestant in the first round and couldn't play, so the folks on the lower tier pretended to be panelist above them. As funny as Richard Dawson was as Brett Somers, the ladies he was between outshown him. Jo Ann Pflug made a hilarious Dick Gautier, and Fannie Flagg was an absolutely perfect Charles Nelson Reilly.

Made Peanut Butter No-Bake Cookies during the second Match Game episode. I only had crunchy peanut butter, so this batch had nuts in them. Yum. They seemed to be pretty tasty when I was dishing them onto the cookie sheets.

It was a seesaw battle on Sale of the Century. Neither of the women would give an inch, and they were back and forth the whole show. It came down to a tie question in the end that one of the women just barely got. Like the previous champ, she still didn't manage to make it through the bonus round, though.

Finished the night online after a much-needed shower with Return to Oz on Disney Plus. Dorothy (Fairuza Balk) has tried to tell her uncle and aunt about Oz, but they don't believe her stories. They send her to a mental institution, where the doctor (Nicol Williamson) thinks his electrotherapy machine will help her sleep at nights. One little girl knows better and frees Dorothy, allowing them to escape. Dorothy ends up in a chicken coop in the river, floating into Oz with her talking chicken Billina (voice of Denise Bryer). It's not the Oz that she (or many kids who know this story) are familiar with, though. The Emerald City is in ruins, with its emeralds gone and everyone turned to stone. Dorothy makes some new friends, including sweet Jack Pumpkinhead (Brian Henson) and mechanical soldier Tik Tok (Sean Barrett), who help her find The Nome King (Williamson), dodge the wicked witch Mombi (Joan Marsh), and return the glitter and magic to Oz.

Considering how scary this one gets, you'd think it would have freaked me out when it debuted in 1985. Far from it. I've been fascinated by it since it's debut. For all my dislike of jump scares and bloody horror, I do have a taste for the macabre. It's probably way too dark for little ones who are familiar with the MGM musical or some animated retellings, but older kids and teens who share my taste for dark fantasy may get a kick out of the creepy stop-motion special effects, lush score by David Shire, and excellent performances, especially by Balk and Williamson.

Thursday, July 23, 2020

He Went at Home

Started off the day with breakfast and the tail end of Supermarket Sweep, then Split Second. This time, the champ was clearly ahead the whole time and had no problems getting through the Coundown Round. The solo woman champ had an even easier time with an older pair, and then breezed through the Gold Rush round on Blockbusters.

Went online to check my finances and do a few other things. After that, I sorted through all those holiday bins. I was able to move most of the larger bins from the hall closet into the bathroom closet, and most of the Christmas bins from my room into the hall closet. Grabbed one of the empty bins to use for extra blankets and moved some of the smaller stuffed animals onto those empty shelves in the hall. The only bins left in my room hold my winter clothes or the dolls' clothing and accessories.

And that's pretty much it. All I have left to do here are photos and other items that need to be hung on the walls. Rose and Craig suggested a Velcro that can help hang photos and other items easily without nails. I hope I can find that. Jodie just painted these walls, and I don't want to mark them up, like I did the walls in the old house.

Had lunch around 12:30 while watching Match Game. George Kennedy and Lee Merriweather joined in as Betty White rolled up Gene's pants legs again and Richard admired a pretty Japanese-American college student.

Headed out to run errands after the episode ended. First stop was WaWa. I needed laundry money. Picked up a Summer Berry Freeze and a pretzel to make change. Dropped my debit card and took five embarrassing minutes searching for it. The cashier finally dug it out of the shelves in front of the register.

The laundromat was so busy when I arrived, I threw my laundry into the nearest washer and dashed off to Family Dollar. They weren't nearly as full. I just needed sugar, anyway. The girls up front were very sweet, helping me right away with cheerful voices and admiring my gold teddy bear pendant.

Though it wasn't nearly as busy when I got back, I still opted to sit outside for the rest of the time. it was a hot one today, too. Hot, breezy, and killer humid, probably in the mid-90's. There were a few clouds on the horizon, but the sky mostly remained blindingly blue at that point. Good thing I had a really small load that took less than an hour in the dryer and washer.

Went straight home after that. It was too hot to go anywhere else! Put everything away, then worked on crocheting that pillow case while watching Tattletales. It's amazing that anyone can fit into the studio with Max Julien, Dick Gautier, and their massively goofy egos. The winners today were the somewhat more modest Glenn Ford and his then-fiancee Cynthia.

Rose came in during Press Your Luck. I'd heard a flurry of noise in the den ever since I got home. She told me Dad wasn't breathing and hadn't woken up since 4 AM. She wasn't sure he was going to last hours, let alone the weeks Jodie originally claimed. I went through the door as Press Your Luck was winding down and a new winner avoided Whammies.

Dad looked wrong. He was shrunken and small in the huge hospital bed placed so he could watch the river out the window. He didn't look at all like my dad. It was...scary, and not right.

He didn't last hours. He died less than 20 minutes after I came in the door, to the sounds of the sobbing of his heartbroken wife and two eldest daughters. I put my arms around Rose, and she stroked my hair, and we let each other cry. At least he died at home, the way he wanted to, surrounded by people who loved him and a place he knew.

Rose called Craig and said she'd explain it to Khai later. Jodie called her Aunt Colleen, who lives in Mt. Ephram and came over right away. I texted Lauren (who was likely just getting out of work at quarter of 5) and called Mom, who offered her condolences.

Jessa arrived with Midnight shortly after I texted Lauren. She was especially upset. Dad was her only parent after her adopted mother died in 1997. I put my arms around her in the living room and held her as Midnight tore apart tissues, then showed her and Midnight how the apartment looks now.

I finally left at a little after 6. Joe was there for Jessa, and Aunt Colleen, Jodie's sons Jesse and TJ, and Jesse's wife Dana were there. I needed to eat dinner and be alone for a while. Well, not entirely alone. I had Match Game on while I added potatoes, green pepper, and onion to the leftover taco meat for southwestern turkey hash. Richard did his best Humphrey Bogart impression early-on while helping a Moroccan woman with the Head-to-Head. Later, there were lots of jokes about how a strange lady thought blank was Never-Never Land.

The woman champ on Sale of the Century just keeps right on winning. Once again, she bought an Instant Bargain and breezed through the main rounds. Everyone had trouble with the speed round, but she built up such a huge lead, it didn't matter. She still couldn't get the bonus round, though.

Rose asked me during dinner if I wanted to say good-bye to Dad before the hospice people took him away. I should have. Jessa did. I just...I couldn't. I couldn't think of that shrunken figure as my father. That's not the way I want to remember him. Jodie said they'll have him creamated and do a big "celebration of his life" next year, when things are a little better and we can have more people in the house.

Finished the night with Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights on Hulu. I go further into this 2004 prequel to the original at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.

Cult Flops - Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights

Oh, and around 11:30, there were some massive storms. One peal of thunder produced such a loud blast, I just about jumped out of my seat!

Wednesday, July 22, 2020

Before the Rain Arrived

Kicked off a sunny, hazy morning with breakfast and Buzzr. The morning Sale of the Century run is now up to the episodes with their first version of a bonus round. You have to match two panels to win the prize of the day. The new champ hit on a trip his first time out.

The Supermarket Sweep episode was one of the early 2000's ones with the Password-esque "30 second shoot-outs." One half of the pair gives clues to a certain word that their partner has to guess. If they get all the words, it spells something you can find in a supermarket or a familiar brand name. Only one pair got the 30 seconds this time. The Big Sweep was a good one, but the winning couple didn't get close to the 5,000 dollars.

The contestants did better on Split Second. One woman dominated the entire day, including the Countdown Round. She missed the car by one board and opted to come back tomorrow to try again.

Spent the next two hours after that organizing the American Girls and their things. Moved their bench to where the chair was in front of my bed. The rack I used for their clothes was also too big for the room and didn't fit in my closet. I ended up loading their clothes into a bin and the two boxes Samantha and Whitney came in. I also moved the sweaters and wraps in my seasonal clothes bin onto a shelf in the closet and the remaining clothes into a smaller bin. That still left room for two Christmas bins.

As I worked, I happened to look up and notice a van stop in front of the main house through the small bedroom window. Big men unloaded an inflatable mattress, and I thought I heard Jodie's voice. Dad was home! I didn't go say 'hi,' though. I wanted to let him get settled before he had visitors.

Had a quick lunch while watching the tail end of Match Game and most of Classic Concentration. The young man from yesterday continued cleaning up in the main rounds, but just could not get close with the car. He finally met his match in a college girl in the beginning of the second episode.

It took longer for Uber to show up than I'd hoped. It probably has to do with people avoiding the heat. It got back up to 96 again today. Thankfully, I didn't wait there for very long. There was no traffic in Cherry Hill, and I scooted into the elevator and upstairs as fast as I could.

It was pretty much the exact same deal as last time. A few minutes after I arrived, they brought me into the x-ray room. I waited about five or so minutes for them to be ready, then another five for the doctor. He says the elbow is healing nicely. Told him I put in for the first week of August as my first vacation week and would come back for my last appointment then.

The prices for Uber were so expensive after I got out, I decided to wait a while. There's a brand-new, very modern Dunkin' Donuts next-door to Cooper Orthopedics. Picked up a green iced tea with lemon from their otherwise quiet counter. Waited about 15 minutes after that before prices went down to a reasonable level and I was able to get home.

I was shelving the Star Wars toys when Rose called. Thursday is trash day on Manor Avenue. She and Craig wanted to get the furniture I no longer need out to the curb. Could I watch the kids? Sure, why not? I'd just finished with the Star Wars toys when they arrived.

Finley was a ball of energy! She raced ahead of Khai and me to Veteran's Park next-door to my apartment. We goofed around in the gazebo there, then walked along the path, admiring the giant sunflowers in the community garden. The kids climbed on the World War II gun in front of the VFW (which was recently repainted a more realistic gunmetal green and white) and tossed a ball in the parking lot.

(And yes, all furniture is now out of the apartment. Rose and I will probably go through things for Goodwill tomorrow or this weekend.)

Dark clouds gathered, even as I chased Finley across the street to her parents. I'd been home for less than 20 minutes when they finally burst. It was pouring when I stepped out to drop the Pepsi bottle in the recycling and saw Jodie watering plants on her porch. Yes, Dad is home, and she says he's doing as well as he can in his present circumstances. He must be. I heard his usual 12-hour Law & Order: Special Victim's Unit marathon through the door to their side of the house. She also mentioned that their tomatoes are finally coming in and offered me a few when they're ready. Sure! I can always use tomatoes.

Shelved the remaining Star Wars toys, then did some re-arranging. Dropped a crate of folders onto one of the American Girls bins. Moved the Christmas bins that were in the kitchen into my room and covered them with a blanket. I may try moving the Christmas tree bin into the bathroom closet, but I don't think it'll fit. It will likely stay in the kitchen until further notice.

Had leftovers for dinner while watching Match Game. Alas, the last episode of the week with Ron Pallilo, Patty Duke, and Patti Deustch seems to be lost. I wasn't too upset that Buzzr went straight into the next week, though. It's a classic, with Dick Gautier, Jo Ann Pflug, and Fannie Flagg joining Gene and the regulars in matching an attractive, soft-spoken contestant from Casablanca.

The woman champ just kept rolling on Sale of the Century. She bought a brass baker's rack and a trip to Palm Springs and the other two contestants still didn't get close to her. Didn't have much luck with the bonus round, though.

Finished the night with The Sign of Zorro on Disney Plus. The Zorro TV show used to run on The Disney Channel in the evenings in the 80's. Rose was more into it than I was then, but she always loved anything that involved Spanish or Mexican culture. Me, I enjoyed the swashbuckling and watching Don Diego de la Vega (Guy Williams) stay one step ahead of the evil Captain Monstario (Britt Lomond) and foolish Sargent Garcia (Henry Calvin). Diego invented his Zorro persona as a way to get back at Monstario and help save the people of California without undue bloodshed. Monstario is so determined to capture Zorro, he arrests his hot-blooded father and holds him without a trial and hires an impostor to discredit him with the people. Diego, however, knows every trick to get around his traps, with the help of his mute manservant Bernardo (Gene Shelton).

I hope Disney puts the full Zorro show on Disney Plus sometime in the near future; until they get to it, this is a good sample. Williams always did have fun in the role, with Calvin also having a grand old time as one of the great buffoons in Old California. It's kind of episodic, having been edited together from the TV show, but the swordplay and jokes alone make it enjoyable for action fans like me.

Tuesday, July 21, 2020

Putting It Together

Started off the morning with a phone call from Rose. She, Craig, and Khai wanted to bring over the rest of my stuff this morning. Sure! I didn't have too many other plans for today besides continuing to organize the apartment. I'd barely finished eating breakfast when they arrived.

There's really not much left in the apartment I needed. It was mainly the remaining crates of records, one crate of books, the bins of holiday decorations, and the rug covering the linoleum rectangle between the living room and the bedroom. At least the apartment was much cooler than I assumed it would be after being locked with the air conditioner and fan turned off for three days. Anything remaining is either cleaning supplies or things I don't want.

Rose wants me to go through that stuff I don't want and clear out what can be trashed and what can go to Goodwill. I think all of it should go to Goodwill (except the giant wardrobes that are too big and the broken bed and loveseat), but they're being picky about what they take due to the pandemic. She wants to make use of the bins, too. Jodie's going through the garage and basement and has no room for any of my stuff besides the bike and its accessories in the garage.

She joined in to help the rest of us get the crates and bins in. Just as I'd suspected, the bins take up way too much room. Rose admonished me to move all of the decorations into smaller bins and crates and get rid of the larger ones.

Stacked the remaining record crates in the living room closet and next to the entertainment center. I'll reorganize them after a boring day at work next month. The decorations proved to be tougher. Manged to get everything but the Valentine's Day and Christmas items into the smaller crates and bins...and they still largely didn't fit in the hall closet. Since I had them out, I figured I might as well put up the general summer decorations, too. Better late than never!

Rose suggested buying long, narrow bins for some things. I wanted to get one for the Christmas tree, but those long rolling bins are expensive. Maybe I'll just pick up a long bin for the tree and the small bins for the seasonal decorations and cover the Christmas bins with tablecloths during other times of the year.

Had a quick smoothie lunch while Classic Concentration was on, then went into organizing mode.  Unloaded all of the dolls and stuffed animals but the American Girls and remaining Star Wars toys. The porcelain dolls and collectible Effanbee hard plastic dolls went on top of my dresser, the floppy rag dolls are on one of the long Ikea shelves next to my bed, and the bears and some smaller stuffed toys went on the table next to the door. The journals are on the other long Ikea shelf.

Ended up getting rid of the rug. Like the green rug from Dad and Jodie's basement, it was too stained and dirty to use. I also decided against keeping my big soft chair. It was pretty battered when I rescued it from a trash pile in Wildwood over 15 years ago, and time hasn't been kind to it. Not to mention, it's too big for this small apartment and took up a big chunk of the bedroom. Moved the American Girls' bench in its place.

Worked on writing for a while after I finished with the dolls. Mostly went back and edited some early passages. Charles encourages the others to get while the getting is good, but the door is blocked by trolls who are a lot less friendly than Orson. Help is coming, though, from the least-expected source...

Dragged the pile of trash to the curb around 6:30, then had leftovers for dinner while watching Patty Duke and Patti Deustch give some very creative answers on Match Game. The sweet female contestant on Sale of the Century just barely lost in the speed round to a smart lady who also won big on Password Plus a decade before.

Jodie came over briefly during Sale of the Century. Dad's coming home tomorrow and will be sleeping in the den. He's not going to last much longer, and he (understandably) wants to die with his loved ones there. She got to briefly check out the apartment and see everything I've done there so far. She also warned me that Rose wasn't happy about my getting rid of the chair. Her main concern was it being too heavy to lift with my bad arm. That's not a problem. That chair is light as a feather. I got it up the steps to my apartment in Wildwood alone, and they were even steeper than the steps going up to the Manor Avenue apartment.

Let Concentration run while I experimented with lemon custard no-bake cookies. I think I overdid the lemon juice or the milk. The cookies came out a lot wetter than my previous batches, though they tasted pretty good when I was making them.

Finished the night with Dirty Dancing at Hulu. I go more into this smash hit 1987 exploration of a teenage girl's coming-of-age at a Catskills resort in the early 60's at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.

Dirty Dancing

Monday, July 20, 2020

Having a Heat Wave

Began the morning with breakfast and Buzzr. I'd seen the To Tell the Truth episode with the three women who claimed to write a book on cleaning the oceans before, but What's My Line? was new to me. Meredith MacRae finally guessed that the first man sold camping backpacks, but no one realized the lady was one of the first State Troopers in Pennsylvania. The Mystery Guest was Darren McGavin, best known to most people nowadays as Ralphie's "old man" in A Christmas Story.

Made my grocery list while Sale of the Century was on. This was my first grocery trip in my new home. I have a much larger refrigerator to fill! Tried calling Rose to see what she was doing after Supermarket Sweep started, but she was at work. (She called later. In addition to being at work, it's just too hot to move anything today.)

Called Uber as the Big Sweep wound down, but they took 20 minutes to show and stopped at the wrong house. I didn't see them until almost 5 minutes after they arrived! At least there were no other problems and no traffic in Oaklyn or on the Black Horse Pike.

Grocery shopping was a lot easier. Everyone must have been hiding from the 98 degree heat in air conditioning, their pools, or down at the Shore. Had a free online coupon for eggs and a much smaller one for Acme's generic ice cream. Chicken parts are still cheap; grabbed a pack of legs. Since ground turkey was on sale, I decided to have tacos for dinner and bought soft taco shells. (The hard ones are too messy for me.) Restocked cereal (went with shredded wheat), peaches, bananas, yogurt, peanut butter, apricot preserves, milk, and low-salt canned diced tomato, black beans, and chick peas.

 Of course, just as I finished and was calling to go home, my phone died. What was I going to do? I couldn't get through to Uber, and everyone I knew was at the hospital or work. I ended up getting a ride home from a manager on lunch who used to live in Oaklyn and knows the area pretty well.

Had a quick banana-berry-basil smoothie and peanut butter-jelly bar lunch while watching Match Game. Lots of girdle jokes early-on here, including from the contestant. Later, Charles and Brett fussed at each other's answers on a Jeckyl-and-Hyde question.

Let Buzzr run in the background as I did the dishes and resumed unpacking. Switched the wider black shelf at the door to Dad and Jodie's house with the narrower brown one. The art supplies went on two of the shelves in the entertainment center, where the kids could get at them. Put the boxes of photos and the board games on the top shelf in the living room (and found three of Dana's old college papers). The two Frisbees were all I had left of my outdoor toys; they went in my full hall closet. The self-help books went back on top of my desk, where they were before.

Rose came in as Super Password started. The prognosis for Dad isn't looking good. He'll come home on Wednesday, but he's not expected to last the week. She kept saying not to be shocked, but...I knew when he ended up in the hospital, it was likely all over. Rose also reminded me to bring the mountain of boxes accumulating on the patio outside to the curb. Oh, I wouldn't forget. I didn't want to see them stacked there, either.

Finished shelving the photo books and board games as Press Your Luck wound down. One lady got close, but in the end, Friday's champion came through. She did even better today, winning a pool table and an Orlando vacation to go with her money.

Tried to do some writing after the show ended, despite being incredibly tired. The others join Charles, dancing with the crowd and distracting them while he dodges Ira. The angry sheriff eventually gets spun into the dessert table, sending cakes and pies flying everywhere. He screams for the trolls...but Charles has his own army, of sorts...

Broke for dinner at 6:30. Made my tacos with sliced tomato and Asian green beans while watching the last Match Game showing of the day. Ron Pallilo of Welcome Back, Kotter and a pair of Pattys, Duke and Deustch, joined Gene and the regulars for jokes about cow manure and an Audience Match involving "Dr. ___."

It was finally cool enough for me to take out the boxes and the plastic recycling during Sale of the Century. Jodie called during dinner to remind me, too. She was there when I dragged out four huge stacks of boxes in all shapes and sizes. Took out some trash, too, and consolidated that.

Finished the night after a shower with the Match Game syndicated premiere and the 1921 silent version of The Three Musketeers on YouTube. The first of Douglas Fairbanks Sr.'s big costume adventures has him as D'Artangan fighting the schemes of the Cardinal Richeleu (Nigel De Bruller) with the help of Athos (Leon Bary), Porthos (George Siegmann), and Aramis (Eugene Pallatte). It moves a bit faster than his later costume tales, and other than condensing some characters, actually sticks to the book pretty well. Recommended for fans of swashbucklers, Fairbanks, or early cinema.

Sunday, July 19, 2020

Leave the World Behind

Began the morning with my first Sunday pancakes in my new home. Had blueberry pancakes while listening to By the Beautiful Sea. I've owned this 1954 Broadway vehicle for Shirley Booth for over 20 years. It was one of the few cast albums I could find at the music store in North Cape May in the 90's. Booth plays Lottie Gibson, a vaudeville actress in 1907 who comes home to visit her father's Coney Island boarding house for show folk and falls in love with singer Dennis Emry. The singer has a teen daughter whose stage mother dresses her as a child, and the singing waiter she has a crush on regards her as a kid. Lottie has to figure out how to help the girl grow up and earn money to give to Dennis

There's a couple of songs here I really like. Booth's big song "I'd Rather Wake Up By Myself" amusingly describes her many disastrous romances. "Alone Too Long" is a lovely ballad for baritone Wilbur Evans as Lottie's beau, and "Happy Habit" is a cute cheer-up number for Lottie's maid Ruby. Two of the chorus numbers, "Coney Island Boat" and "The Sea Song," aren't bad...but there's too many of them, and most don't have anything to do with the story. They never did figure out what to do with Baby Betsy; she doesn't even get a song. There's some nice numbers, but I mostly recommend it for fans of Booth or 50's musicals.

Started out by unpacking anything that belongs on the desk. I don't think there's too many other places it can go, and I wanted to get it set up so I could write. Stacked two milk crates next to it to hold my accordion and school folders.

Spent the rest of the day emptying boxes and bins and filling shelves with books and linens. The plastic bags in my bed room were mostly stuffed with towels and wash cloths, but I did find the checked flannel blanket I usually put on my chair, the red rag rug, and the green knitted afghan that now goes on the futon. All the towels went in the bathroom closet.

As it turned out, I had no problems fitting my books anywhere. I moved the oak shelf into the living room and loaded the books on media history and the children's picture books on it. The shelf Rose gave me at Thanksgiving joined the black shelves in the hall. They don't begin to hold my children's books and adult paperback novels. There's tons of room on all three.

The adult hardback novels and large Star Wars books went on two shelves in my bedroom. I moved the narrow shelf from the bathroom back into my bedroom...but it was too close to my desk chair, so it ended up going across the room. I may move it somewhere else tomorrow.

Had more luck finding a place for my big comfy chair. It's now between the antique table and the closet. It is kind of close to my bed, but that's not so bad. I can put up my feet!

Broke for lunch around 1:30. Had quick yogurt and fruit lunch while listening to Steel Pier. This unusual 1997 musical takes place in Atlantic City in 1933. A mysterious stunt pilot joins a professional dancer at a grueling dance marathon on the famed pier run by her sleazy promoter husband. All she wants to do is go home, but he sets up a fake wedding after he sees how much the pilot has fallen for her. The pilot, however, isn't what he seems...and he ends up teaching her a lesson in believing in yourself and making the most of the time we have on this Earth.

This was a huge flop in 1997, and despite some good numbers, I can understand why. The story is way, way too complicated. Either "ghost on Steel Pier" or "dance marathon on Steel Pier" would have worked. Throwing them together just makes things too awkward, with too many characters to keep track of. Songwriters Kander and Ebb did put in some good work, though. I'm especially fond of the dancer Rita's introductory number "Willing to Ride," the dreamy "Leave the World Behind," the big ballad "First You Dream," and Debra Monk's ribald comedy number as a former cook in a lumber camp, "Everybody's Girl."

This is really for Kander and Ebb fans. I bought the cast album when it came out because it's pre-New York try out was a big deal in Atlantic City. The Press of Atlantic City ran several articles on its creation and arrival in New York. After all that publicity, I had to hear it.

Switched to writing around 4:30. Charles is really pepping up the crowd as he dances around Ira. He finally lets Ira lunge himself into a crowd and knock over a fat woman. Meanwhile, Gene has escaped his attackers and has gone to tend to Richard's wound.

Broke for dinner at 6:30. I was originally going to make stove top tuna casserole, but then I remembered those rolls Rose gave me yesterday. Made a tuna salad sandwich with cucumber and tomato and a bag of apples instead.

Went back to unloading boxes after dinner. The Christmas books went on the long shelf to my left next to the bed; the comic books went on my right. The Christmas books will probably stay where they are. I may move the comic books into the hall and put some of my dolls or more folders there. Cassettes went on the smaller dark-stained shelf and one space of the long shelf.

Finished the night online with four Match Game syndicated premieres at YouTube and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. "Minnie Red Riding Hood" wants to bring her famous Minnie-strone soup to Goofy, who has a bad cold while on a camping trip. Mickey helps her dodge hungry Big Bad Pete and find her way past a boulder and up steep hills to Goofy's tent.

Saturday, July 18, 2020

Movin' In

I just had leftover pizza for breakfast and put on my K-Tel record Starflight when my cell phone jingled. Rose was ready to come over with her crew to bring a box spring mattress for my bed until I can get another one and start bringing around the rest of my furniture. She said they would be over in 20 minutes, but I still had plenty of time to strip the stuffed animals and blankets off the mattress and pull out art supplies for the kids.

As soon as Rose and Craig put the box spring down, they headed out again. I made the bed, then killed two birds with one stone by unpacking the other bag of large stuffed animals. Finley loved them, especially the two Cabbage Patch Kids dolls and my two-foot Meowth. We chased each other around the apartment, making the big yellow cat Pokemon go "boo!" Khai went with his parents during the first round, but he'd gotten tired of it by the time they went back for the furniture and settled down in front of Split Second, drawing a Pikachu.

So...yes, all of the furniture I intend to keep is at my new apartment. I'm typing this at my desk, in a corner of my bedroom. Craig said they brought over everything but a few crates of records and the bins with the seasonal items. I'm crossing my fingers they'll be able to go back for those on Monday. All that remains are the furniture I don't want, the modem I'll be sending back to Comcast, and cleaning supplies.

They all finally left around 12:30 to get lunch and for Finley to take a nap. I had my lunch at 1:30, but otherwise spent the next three hours moving CDs from boxes and plastic cases to binders. They took up all five of the binders I bought this week, splitting the rock and pop CDs over two binders. I guess I cleared enough CDs out. I actually had a few binder pages leftover after I finished. I also had four empty boxes and a little bit more space in the living room.

Moved on to the kitchen around 4 as Classic Concentration began. Put all the cake pans and large appliances I didn't use as often into the cabinet I got from Jodie. Pots and pans I used more frequently went under the sink or in a cabinet next to the stove. Rearranged my dishes, cups, and glassware in an attempt to get those on the shelves along with the Tupperware.

Rose called a bit earlier. Did I want blueberries they didn't need, eggplant and fresh mint and basil from Craig's garden, potatoes, lemons, and a few rolls? Sure! I really don't have much in the way of food. I cleared most of it out before I moved. Rose came over with Finley again as I was working in the kitchen. Jodie joined us as well. Rose gave me the fruit and vegetables, and they both admired  the colorful cookbooks stacked up on top of the kitchen cabinets.

While I was able to shelve the DVD boxes after they left, I had less luck hooking up the DVD player. I couldn't remember how I hooked it up at the Manor Avenue apartment, and I couldn't figure out how to get it on with the cable box. I'll mess with it again tomorrow.

The mid-80's version of Card Sharks was on by the time I had dinner. Had the last of the tomato-cucumber salad with an egg salad sandwich and fried potatoes. A young Asian college student from New York kept on winning in the card rounds, doing very well with the high-low questions. She had less luck with the Money Cards, going bust twice before finally netting over 13,000 in one go.

After a shower, I moved my laptop and a few other things to my desk. Finished the night there with Oliver & Company on Disney Plus. I go further into this 1988 New York retelling of Oliver Twist at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.

Animation Celebration Saturday - Oliver & Company

Friday, July 17, 2020

Dog and Kid Show

Began the morning with breakfast and Supermarket Sweep. Really exciting one this morning. It was an early 2000's episode, meaning one Mini-Sweep in the beginning, a guess-the-price of the items game in the middle, and a wild sweep with everyone trying to remember the individual bread list David gave them. In a rare turn of events, the third couple won the Big Sweep by a long shot. They got stuck on the first riddle in the bonus round, though, and didn't get close to finding the 5,000.

The contestants did better in Split Second. This time, they were a lot more evenly matched. One of the women won the Coundown Round, but she missed the car in the bonus round and opted to return.

Headed out around 10:30 for my first errand run of the day. Wanted to pick up the few remaining things I could carry in my cart. I realized this morning when I did the dishes that I forgot the Tupperware under the kitchen sink. Brought the Tupperware, the remaining cereal bowl, the magnetic cork message holder for the front of the fridge, the bamboo cutting board, a shelf that slid out of one of the book shelves, and the other bag of journals.

(Incidentally, this now truly clears out the kitchen and the bathroom. I'll go back and check, but I don't think there's anything left in either. I got rid of an old plastic colander, the dish rack and dish rack holder, and the dish pan. They're all old, dirty, and rusty. Been meaning to replace them. Everything else is bins, furniture, coats, and one big box of books, though we still need to figure out what to do with the Goodwill items and the furniture I don't want.)

It was past 11 when I went down to West Clinton to order lunch. Phillies Phatties was so dark, I thought they weren't open, until I saw a guy in a mask making pizza. Ordered a large half-cheese, half-mushroom pie and a bottle of Pepsi and was on my way, dodging a couple of pre-teen boys on bikes looking for lunch.

Watched the second half of The Match Game-Hollywood Squares Hour as I put everything away, cleared off the left side of the table, and made my bed. I'd no sooner gotten my pizza and soda from the delivery guy than I heard a knock. Craig was on the other side with Finley and two bags. One held my new bright-yellow futon cover that he zipped on immediately. The other was a tool bag. I'd asked him to remove the doors to the closet in my bedroom. They make it harder to get to my dresser, and they swing when you push them despite being sliding doors. The kids have already pushed them several times. I don't want anyone getting hurt.

Jessa showed up with her black shizu-tzu/terrier mix puppy Midnight while Craig worked on the door. Finley kept chasing him all around my tiny apartment! She was playing with my stuffed Star Wars toys, and then Midnight decided they were his squeaky toys and tried to bite them. Thankfully, Rey and the Hallmark Itty Bitty Han Solo weren't chewed. (I washed them in the sink later.)

Midnight settled down after Finley and Craig left for their lunch. Jessa and I spent a pleasant two hours watching Match Game, Classic Concentration, and the original mid-60's Password and eating pizza. We chatted about my move, her new job, the changes wrought by the virus, Dad being in the hospital, and Lauren's decision to not visit this year.

I asked Jessa to drop me off at Manor Avenue on her way home. There was one last thing I could bring to the new apartment myself. Jodie said I could keep my bike in their garage, and I wanted to get it out of everyone's way. Despite it not having being ridden in two months, I had no trouble wheeling it down the street and over to Hillcrest.

As soon as I left the bike in the garage, I grabbed my cart and went right back out. Wanted to run to Dollar General and see if they had any of the things I couldn't find at Family Dollar yesterday. They didn't...but it turned out to be just as well. Rose called while I was in the store. We could pick up anything else I needed, including a second rug, from Burlington Coat Factory tomorrow afternoon. Just picked up a Bai coconut drink and my favorite pecan roll and was on my way.

Went online for a much-needed rest and writing work when I got in. Charles figures out that he'll never beat Ira by fighting his way...so he goes to Clifton and the others and ask them to play silly music. He does a comic dance around Ira's attempt to skewer him, distracting the laughing guards enough for them to free Lee and Gene.

Broke for dinner at quarter of 7. Settled for a berry-banana smoothie while watching the end of Match Game. Annoyed with Gene about being fussed over his shoes, Charles put his feet up on his desk towards the end of the episode. Sale of the Century crowned a new champ today. A young woman who had befriended a friend's children was the clear winner, buying an Instant Bargain, walloping everyone in the speed round, and having no trouble at all with the bonus round.

Finished the night with Concentration and my first batch of cookies made in the new apartment. Kept things simple with Peanut Butter-No Bake Cookies. They were tasty but a bit crumbly. I don't think they held their shape as well as my previous Coconut-Lime-Honey Cookies.

Thursday, July 16, 2020

Trouble Under the Sun

Kicked off my first full morning in the new apartment with breakfast and Split Second. Three new contestants battled it out today, but no one came close to the lady who was a substitute teacher. She got the most money, breezed through the countdown round, and chose the right billboards for the car on her first try.

Made a list of everything I needed at Family Dollar today and did the dishes while watching Blockbusters. This one began and ended with the ongoing solo lady champ winning the Gold Rush round, the first time barely. In between, she handily beat a son and father-in-law.

Headed out around quarter after 11. I had a lot to do today, starting with laundry. Picked the right day to do it. They were dead when I came in, and stayed dead the entire time I was around. I chose the largest laundry machine to give me more time at Family Dollar.

Family Dollar was a little busier, maybe because it was past noon by the time I got there. Unfortunately, their kitchen and bathroom sections were really picked over. I would have replaced the shower curtain anyway, and the metal rings are rusted. My dish pan and rack have just about had it, too. Found a decent shower curtain and inexpensive rings...but no dish pans or racks. Also grabbed sponges (needed to replace those too) and more binders for the CDs.

Despite the quiet inside, I still sat on the curb when I got back. It was a gorgeous day. The wind remained, and while it was still a little humid, it was neither as hot nor as humid as it has been the past week. Worked on story notes and basked in the sunlight.

Went to WaWa after I pulled the laundry out to buy lunch. Surprisingly, despite it being almost 1 by then, they weren't busy either. I picked up a sparkling water and a six-inch turkey hoagie for dinner and a pretzel for a snack and was on my way.

The trouble started when I got home. I just could not open the door, no matter how hard I tried. The knob wouldn't turn, and Jodie was at the hospital with Dad. Luckily, Jodie's son Jesse drove up at that moment. He told Jodie he'd continue to do yard work for them. He, Dana, and their dog Nala are very happy in their far larger house in Woodbury Heights about a half-hour from here. Jesse has a massive yard to landscape, and Nala has somewhere to run and play.

He and a neighbor tried to figure out how to get me into the house. Trouble is, none of them had a key to the main house, and the windows were either crank models, or too high off the ground. After 20 minutes of frantically searching, I finally left everything by the door and went back out again with my cart.

The other big thing I wanted to do today was haul more small things over to my place from Manor Avenue. By far the most important were the two small recycling canisters. One will double as a trash can until I can get a metal one. I've had the big trash can since I lived in Wildwood. It's made of plastic and smells terrible in the summer. Other things I brought over included my large brown and orange umbrella, one of the bags of journals (I'll get the other tomorrow), Khai and Finley's artwork, and the few things remaining in the refrigerator.

Jesse did indeed tell Jodie to open my door. It was open when I got in. Put away the food, then had some fresh pineapple while watching Tattletales. Started putting up the new shower curtain rod while the show was still on. I had trouble doing that, too. The big rod just would not stay where I wanted it to or remain level, no matter how hard I tried. Press Your Luck was on by the time I finally got it to stick and was able to put up the rings and curtain.

Finished putting everything away, then had the hoagie and sparkling water for an early dinner as Match Game began. The first 1974 episode had Jackie Joseph sporting a pretty pink dress and a flowered headband in honor of her recent trip to Hawaii, while Gene tried to look tough for fellow host Bert Convy, dizzy Louisa Moritz, and ever-laughing Kaye Stevens in the second. Things got really wild in the 1977 shows, with Brett's chair somehow vanishing and Charles putting in an appearance in his Santa Claus costume (which he hadn't been allowed to wear that past Christmas).

By the time Sale of the Century was on, I'd settled down on my new, very comfortable futon to work on that crocheted pillow case. It was a tight race today, with everyone getting something and no one being ahead of anyone else. In the end, the champ just barely pulled ahead in the bonus round to win. (I don't know if he won the speed round. Verizon cut out briefly on me at that point.)

Called Rose after I gave up on the TV. She still has work tomorrow, though she did mention she might bring the kids over later to say 'hi.' I'll go over to the house and get one more load on my own before Jessa comes. I have to order pizza anyway. She also said to call her or Craig the next time I get locked out. They have keys to Dad and Jodie's house.

Jumped in the shower after that. Ooh, I love my new shower. The tub is longer and narrower, but also deeper, in a pleasant shade of pale yellow. The spray is one of those hand-held ones, and it felt absolutely amazing on my tired back and stiff neck.

Chatted with Lauren tonight. Yeah, as I suspected, we're not getting together this year. Travel is still too restricted, and there isn't much for us to do. We'll try again next May. I'm far less disappointed than I was when she originally pushed back the date in March. We now know more about the ramifications of everything with the virus. Not to mention, I'm still getting the apartment organized and am recovering from a broken elbow. This is a bad time for vacations all around. I might have pushed my trip to later in September to give me more time to do things here even if things were normal.

Finished the night on a more pleasant note with Royal Wedding. I go further into this English jaunt with Jane Powell and Fred Astaire at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.

Royal Wedding (1951)

Wednesday, July 15, 2020

Rushed Move

Got a quick start today with breakfast and To Tell the Truth. This is the first time I've gotten to see this show in full. It started off with Gary Moore so enamored by two pinball machines, he couldn't be bothered to greet his panelists! (Kitty Carlisle still snuck a kiss in, though.) The creator of the pinball machines was easy to spot; as Peggy Cass said, he was "the greatest philosopher since Aristotle" when it came to his beloved machines. (He said he works for Bally Manufacturing, which still exists as Bally Technologies.) The panel also had no problems spotting the man who spoke with passion about the beautiful artwork he'd done for postage stamps.

Things went equally well for the panelists on What's My Line? Meredith MacRae got the first one, a man who designed a simulator to teach people to sail. Arlene Francis figured out that the female contestant created a kit that made wine. (I know a lot of people around here who would want that one.) They mystery guest was Burl Ives; appropriately, fellow singer Mel Torme guessed him right.

Rose arrived promptly at 9 with Craig and Khai in tow. They hefted the antique dresser I use for odds and ends like my tools, the dresser, the dry sink, and a couple of boxes and a crate. The dresser wound up being a tight fit in the kitchen and may not stay there. My bedroom closet is so big, the dresser easily fit in it. (The dry sink went back to Jodie. I like it, but it won't fit in here, and I really don't need it anymore.)

I also got a scolding from Rose about having brought so much stuff with me and not letting go of more. There's a lot of dust and spider egg sacs under the shelves, too. I have a hard time explaining to her that, first of all, I live alone. It's not easy for me to pick up and dust under a lot of my furniture. Second, I did get rid of stuff! There's a huge pile sitting in the back room.

Ended up clearing out the older flower-print dishes. I've had them since college, and while the cups and bowls are in decent shape, all of the plates are chipped and cracked. I'm fine with the Fiestaware. In fact, I wouldn't mind getting more, or something similar. Loaded the cookbooks on top of the cabinets, too.

Headed back to the Manor Avenue apartment just as the first set of Match Game episodes were winding down. I let the first episode of Classic Concentration run as I had yogurt, peanut butter, and fruit for lunch. Both contestants did amazingly well today. The lady missed the car but got a vacation to Singapore she really wanted. The man got the car with seconds to spare.

Spent the next hour packing up the rest of my bathroom and kitchen. Threw everything left in the bathroom, including my toothbrush, into a small box. Used the box for the old dishes to pack the Fiestaware and a smaller blue box for glasses and the remaining mug. Loaded everything else into a milk crate and one of the wooden crates I snared from the North Cape May Acme years ago. After I finished, I sprawled on the bed, resting my feet and intending to pack up a few things, then do some writing.

I only got to packing. Rose called around 2. I'd mentioned sleeping at the new apartment tonight. Could I pack all the things I'd need to sleep there? She, Craig, and Khai were on their way over. Yikes! I didn't expect them until 4 at the earliest. I rushed around, frantically packing as much as I could. The TV and Roku fit into one bag, the bed linens and stuffed animals in another. Grabbed the laundry bag, basket, and detergent to get that done tomorrow. After they came the first time, I threw the remaining food into a bag and a Styrofoam cooler. Stuffed my shoes, pajamas, journal, crocheting project, and various odds and ends into my backpack. Grabbed the lamps and remote controls, too.

Everything was in my apartment by 3:30. The guys set my oak shelf and the mattress from my bed, along with the things I packed, in my bedroom and the coffee table in the living room. (I'm not keeping the bed. The frame is broken.) Rose stayed to get the cable working with my old TV. I don't really like cable. There was only one channel I had any interest in, and it took me ten minutes to find it. (No one person really needs 500 channels.)

Let Card Sharks and Match Game run in the background as I put everything away. My new refrigerator is huge! Items that took up the whole refrigerator back at home now barely took any room at all. All the fruit and vegetables fit in the crisper, and the freezer barely had anything. The medicine cabinet isn't close to being full, either. Made the bed and pulled out at least one bag of stuffed animals to keep me company tonight. Put appliances away as Jackie Joseph asked Gene to sign her tongue depressor and Richard Dawson started a riot when the judge didn't match his answer of "friend" and "girlfriend."

By the time the 1977 episodes of Match Game were on, I was starved. I tried to order Phillies Phatties for dinner online again, but I couldn't remember my password, and then, for some reason, they kept insisting my e-mail address wasn't a "real" address, even though it's the same e-mail address I've used for almost 20 years. Ended up having Star Wars chicken soup and cucumber-tomato salad for dinner.

Briefly went outside and chatted with Jodie and some of the mothers in the neighborhood after dinner. Jodie sadly mentioned Dad had a setback and won't be home tomorrow. The moms and one dad watched a little boy chase his baby brother around the front lawn.

Watched Sale of the Century while I ate. The contestants all did really well tonight. The woman bought a fancy diamond and ruby ring for her engagement; the champ picked up a refrigerator he said he really needed and tried his luck at the Instant Cash, In the end, not only did the champ win by one question in the speed round, but got through the bonus round with one second left, too.

Finished the night with various TV shows online. The first and fifth seasons of Hart to Hart are now on The Roku Channel. "Does She or Doesn't She?" is the question asked by the wealthy clients of popular hair stylist Barry. Jennifer loves how he does her hair, but she's more than a little worried when a woman suddenly rushes in and shoots up his salon. She and Johnathan jump into action to investigate a loan shark who is using Barry's salons to blackmail his rich customers.

Did two episodes of Cheers on Hulu. "Tan n' Wash" is Norm's newest business venture, a combination laundromat and tanning salon. The others all jump in with their money, then regret it when a heat wave hurts their business. Meanwhile, Diane is dating a man to make Sam jealous, but he's trying not to show it. "The Boys In the Bar" from the first season has Sam receive a major shock when he learns that a close friend and teammate from his baseball days has come out of the closet.

Tuesday, July 14, 2020

Sunshine Movers

Slept in a little bit today. Started things off with breakfast and Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood. With all the changes in my life right now, I can certainly relate to "Daniel's Very Different Day." Dan's upset when he has to wear a trolley t-shirt instead of his red sweater and can't get the pink cupcakes he wanted for a picnic with Katerina. His father reminds him that things may change, but it's not so bad to do things a little differently sometimes. His whole class learns this during a "Class Trip to the Library" that gets curtailed when O the Owl's uncle X explains that they're repairing shelves and can't have the kids there. Teacher Harriett encourages the kids to create a classroom library and be their own librarians.

Switched to The Roku Channel for The Adventures of Paddington Bear. Paddington, his friend Mr. Gruber, and Judy and Johnathan Brown take a tour of a real manor in "Paddington and the Stately House," but Paddington's curiosity and discovery of secret passages constantly disrupts the guide. "The Opal of My Eye" takes Paddington and Mr. Gruber to Coober Pedy, Australia, the opal mining capitol of the world. Mr. Gruber's miner friend thinks his claim might be tapped out, but Paddington uses his nose - and his love of marmalade - to uncover a real treasure. He takes "Too Much Off the Top" when he helps a barber by giving an American tourist too much of a haircut. Good thing the fellow is interested in one of Mr. Gruber's antiques.

Switched to Split Second as I cleaned up from breakfast and made my grocery list. The lady in the glasses was clearly ahead the whole time, and she had no problem coming out on top in the Countdown Round. She decided to come back and try for the car again instead of taking a fur coat.

Headed out shortly after Split Second ended to hit the Acme. Took Uber again to avoid the heat. Ironically, while still hot, it's not quite as hot or as humid as it has been, and that wind is refreshing. No wonder the Acme was dead. I had no problems picking up the few things I needed. I loved that ahi tuna steak I had for dinner last week so much, I grabbed another one. Not only is there no toilet paper at the new apartment, but the roll at the Manor Avenue apartment likely won't last the month. I bought two small rolls for ten cents each that were leftover from the toilet paper panic in March and April. Restocked peanut butter, honey, milk, yogurt, and bananas. The Acme had a buy two, get one deal on most of their stationary. I was able to buy three sturdy binders for the CDs.

When I got home, I had a Berry-Banana Smoothie for lunch while watching Match Game episodes from 1976. The first one finished out the run for Gary Burghoff, Susan Howard, and Fannie Flagg with several military jokes revolving around an attractive Air Force recruiting officer. The officer continued her game in the next episode as cranky Joey Bishop, Arlene Francis of What's My Line?, and sweet Joyce Bulifant joined in.

Took my first load over to the apartment after the shows ended. I've taken most of the kitchen stuff over by now, so both loads today focused on things that'll go in closets. Brought the yoga mat, the bike pump, the bag with the legs for the wooden shoe rack, the very long vinyl bag with the Christmas wrapping supplies, and a bag with odds and ends from my bedroom. Threw everything into the bedroom closet or the hall closet as quickly as I could, then strolled back home, waving to my new next-door neighbors on my way. Brought back the two crates that didn't fit in Rose's car yesterday.

Did writing for the next few hours after I got in. Charles defends Richard with his sword, but Ira thinks he's a joke. He's a terrible swordsman and has no idea what he's doing...but the distraction gives the fairies a chance to snitch Gene's wand from the sheriff's pocket and return it to him. Ira calls the fairies "rainbow mosquitoes," which doesn't amuse fiery Debralee one bit!

After Rose called and told me she was helping Jodie with her TV today, I opted to take a second load over on my own. This time, I stuffed the bag with my out of season shoes into the carriage. The bin with the American Girl dolls' clothes and accessories and the bags with my Christmas wreath and Easter baskets went on top. Got there, threw the decorations into the hall closet and the bin into my bedroom closet, and was on my way. Both trips took less than an hour.

Returned to Match Game and made ahi tuna and zucchini with southwestern sauce for dinner when I got home. Joyce also finished out her run with Nipsey Russell and Rosemary Forsythe as Gene took a tumble that lead some folks to wonder if he'd been imbibing with the panel. (No. He apparently took some kind of medication and couldn't drink.) Gene had more luck in the next episode with Fannie, goofy Dick Martin, and squeaky-voiced Sarah Kennedy, giving the audience one more chance to get their call-back response to one of the questions right.

Cleaned the stove after I ate. I haven't scrubbed the inside in ages. This is the perfect opportunity. Even if I wasn't moving, it's so hot, it'll likely be weeks before I bake again. I even made my own cleaner with vinegar, baking soda, and dishwashing liquid. Seemed to do the job well enough.

Finished up as Sale of the Century came on. The young man from yesterday came up against two good players and bought the Instant Cash mini-game (and only got 100), but won in a very decisive speed round. I don't know if he won the bonus round. Pluto TV started glitching out at that point. I finally gave up and took a shower instead.

Ended the night after my shower with Luxury Liner. I go further into this fluffy sea-going musical from 1948 with Jane Powell at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.

Luxury Liner (1948)