Monday, July 06, 2020

One Stormy Afternoon

Awoke to a ringing phone. Rose said Craig and Khai were able to come over in an hour and take boxes to the new apartment. Could I load all of those small boxes in my living room on the porch before they arrived?

As it turned out, they took almost two hours. I was able to read a chapter of The Four Story Mistake, write in my online journal, have breakfast, and put on Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood. Crafting is the theme of "Daniel Makes a Noise Maker." He and Katerina are playing superheroes, but Margaret takes back the rattle they were using to alert people that they're going to rescue them. Mrs. Tiger encourages the kids to put together their own noise makers. "Daniel Makes the Neighborhood" with Miss Elania and Prince Wednesday when they want to add their own houses to a set Lady Elaine made that represents their world.

There was more than enough time to move three big stacks of boxes to the porch. Most of them were too heavy to haul with my bad arm, so. I loaded the boxes on the top of my cart and wheeled them to the porch. Cleared out all the boxes in the music area, the suitcase with my oversized coffee table books, the artwork my grandfather did that was on my wall, and one crate of paperbacks. The only boxes left in the living room are the big ones with records and pots and pans. There's also the two bins and crates with records, cookbooks, and canned food.

By the time they were on their second trip, dark clouds gathered ominously on the horizon. The thunder moved in as I finally got to having breakfast and watching Match Game. Today's episodes brought in Scoey Mitchll and Bonnie Franklin as the contestant struck out in the Audience Match in the first one, and the second had Gene laying down on the job.

It started raining and thundering hard as I finished eating. Good, we needed it. I wasn't going to go anywhere else today, anyway. The kitchen badly needed to be scrubbed. Besides my moving, I've been here a LOT more often than usual in the past month. In addition to the usual Soft Scrub on the counters, I used lemon juice on the chrome sides and faucet to make them extra shiny.

After I ate, I ran the vacuum as well as I could with all the boxes and bags and crates still laying around, then made the bed and finally got around to doing the dusting. I meant to do it last month and never got to it. I wanted to wait until I did more packing and more things were out of the house to make it easier to dust under everything.

Listened to records and the rain as I worked. The first was another rock collection produced for radio station, this time WOR FM Solid Gold in New York. Among the great music on the first disc were "Smile a Little Smile for Me" by The Flying Machine, "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag" by James Brown, the original version of "Hooked On a Feeling" by B.J Thomas, "Happy Together" by The Turtles, "Dedicated to the One I Love" by The Shirrells, and "Johnny B. Goode" by Chuck Barry.

The ongoing rainy weather called for One Stormy Night. I've had this dreamy melange of moody instrumental jazz pieces and rain and train sounds for so long, I couldn't tell you where or when I got it anymore. It makes for a great mellow listen on a rainy summer afternoon.

Switched back to Buzzr as I continued dusting. Nathan Cook and Elaine Joyce were the celebrities on Super Password today. Nathan got that difficult CasShword for his contestant on the first clue, but Elaine and her partner had a less easy time in the Super Password bonus round. Comedian couple Mitzi McCall and Charlie Brill and soft-spoken singer Julie London and her songwriter husband Bobby Troupe split the win on Tattletales today. Both pairs made a comeback after missing questions in the first half.

Charlie arrived during the first half of Press Your Luck, squiring a dark-haired young woman in masks. About 20 minutes later, as it was ending, he brought around another young woman, this one thinner and bubbly with pale blonde hair. I hid in the kitchen while they were there, since I wasn't wearing a mask. Charlie kept touting all the things he intended to do once I moved out - tear out the rest of the walls and add insulation, tear up the carpets, widen the kitchen, add vinyl tiles to the kitchen, widen the closets. Frankly, I wondered why he was showing the women around if he intended to basically gut the place, but they both seemed to really like it.

Worked on writing for a few hours after they left. Betty leads Charles and the frog back into a chaotic ballroom that's filled with nobles and trolls fighting and slipping on cream pies. Betty joins the fray as crowds-phobic Charles hides in an alcove. He has a great view of the mess...including Richard's big duel with Ira...

Broke to make scrambled eggs with farm-fresh cheddar, baby bok choy, and mushrooms for dinner. Country star Mel Tills continued on Match Game, and even got to sing a bit of his big hit, "Ruby, Don't Take Your Love to Town." Meanwhile, Gene's door slammed in his face, and he and Richard Dawson shared a hug later after the Audience Match.

The woman champion from Friday on Sale of the Century had her work cut out for her keeping up with a cherubic younger man, especially in the beginning. In the end, she got two cash cards on the Fame Game that pushed her ahead in the speed round. This time, she was able to win the bonus round with seconds to spare.

Finished the night after the shower with a couple of nostalgic TV shows. Charlie's Angels jump into the world of Playboy-style men's clubs and magazines in "Lady Killer" when two waitresses at the club who were about to become centerfolds are found murdered and with their hair cut off. Jill dons the furry ears and tail as one of the "Feline" waitresses, Kelly poses as a singer, and Sabrina romances the Hugh Hefner-esque owner of the Feline Magazine empire to find out who's after his clubs and who wants these women dead.

The original Ducktales and its remake can be found at Disney Plus. I went with the original tonight, which I haven't watched in ages. Uncle Scrooge hopes to turn a crumbling castle into "Hotel Strangeduck," the most glamorous resort in Europe. He gets a lot more atmosphere than he bargained for when the first guest list includes a countess who seems very interested in looking for secret passages...and a ghost who is more than a little interested in the castle's original owner, an eccentric scientist.

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