September Heat

Started off the morning with breakfast and what I believe to be an early 2000's episode of Supermarket Sweep. I came in just as they were beginning the Big Sweep. Two out of three groups of contestants got bonus items; one also picked up the candy, and all grabbed envelopes off of a giant Cheer box. Team 1 swept everyone else away and got twice as many groceries and bonuses as the others, but they spend too much time on the first riddle in the 5,000 dollar sweep and didn't have the time to look for the third.

Watched Split Second as I made my grocery list and prepared for work. Yesterday's champion had no problems with the contestants today. Once again, it was the ladies all the way. The champ killed in the Countdown Round and opted to return when she once again missed the car. The father-daughter pair just lost to a young woman on Blockbusters as I rushed out.

Work wasn't much fun. It's the beginning of the month, and I had to deal with a lot of people who didn't read the prices right and put back half their orders, or were in bad moods, or gave me a hard time over prices or being out of items. I was ready to tear out my hair a lot of the time. The weather didn't help. It was cloudy, warm, and humid all day, too warm and humid to do much else besides shop. I was so happy when it slowed down enough for me to shut down with no relief.

I didn't need a ton of groceries, but there were some good sales. I almost never buy Ben & Jerry's, partially because they don't go on good sales that often, and partially because their overly-chunky ice creams are usually too decadent for me. They were $2.50 each and I had an online coupon for two, so I grabbed Strawberry Cheesecake and dug out what I believe to be the last Cherry Garcia on the shelf. Had an online coupon for the already-on-sale Dannon Oiko's Greek yogurt that more-or-less gave it to me for free. Had online coupons for bananas and the Acme generic Greek yogurt, too. Bought scouring pads and wire hooks I hoped would work better than the previous ones I bought. Treated myself to a half-price bag of sugar cookies off the clearance baker's rack. Restocked apples, strawberries, bananas, ground turkey (another good sale), chicken legs, an onion, cucumbers, sweet potatoes, and milk.

I got very lucky. Lines were starting to snake around the store again as I waited in the one for the express lane...but one opened up a minute later. The teen boy was quick and helpful and got me out pretty fast.

When I got home, I quickly put my bags inside, then grabbed the check for the rent. Jodie met me outside as I wheeled my bike to the garage. She sent the paperwork for our inheritances in today...which means I do have some money coming soon. Right now, I mainly want to pay off what little remains of my student loan and do some "upgrades" to me - get a hair cut, buy new glasses, replace worn t-shirts, shorts, and blouses, finally call Dr. Jessica about that blood work she wanted to do back in February, and call the dentist and see if he can either remove or replace two broken teeth.

Put everything away while watching Match Game. For some reason, they skipped the end of the Brett/Jack Klugman week in '78 and went right into the next week. I wasn't complaining too loudly, though. This week featured Robert Walden, the hunky journalist from Lou Grant, in the first seat. Brett sure found him a pleasant change from her ex (kind of) husband!

Worked on writing for an hour after I changed into regular clothes. Patti's legs begin to flicker, even as she points to Malade's neck. Donald knows what she means - Malade wears her voice in a shell on her neck. Della uses the last of her strength to wrestle it from Malade...but the the clock has just about finished striking midnight...

Broke for dinner at 6:30. Had leftovers while watching the 1974 Match Game episode. Sweet Janet Finn was finally defeated by a spicier Italian woman whom Richard certainly had his eye on. The champ just kept on rolling on Sale of the Century. No one got anywhere near him. He killed in the speed round and matched a gorgeous fur cape for his wife.

Tried hanging the calendar again while Sale was on. Nope. It still didn't work. I don't know what I'm going to do. I might just have to make one hole in the wall and see if I can cover it before I move.

Finished up the night online after a shower. Lauren's smitten with the late 80's-early 90's TV version of In the Heat of the Night. To be more specific, she fell for hunky Alan Autry, who played tough guy Officer Bubba Skinner. In the season 2 episode "Hot Nights," Bubba falls for a beautiful woman who jokes about him giving her a traffic ticket and spends more time with her when she claims her husband is trying to kill her. Chief Gillespie (Carroll O'Connor) has his suspicions about her, especially after she shoots a man who most definitely is not her husband.

Having thoroughly enjoyed the Monty Hall Split Second, I thought I'd check around and see if there's anything left of the original mid-70's version hosted by Tom Kennedy. Alas, ABC wasn't terribly good about keeping its older programming around. They wiped their tapes long after the other networks stopped doing it, which is why there's only six episodes still in existence today.

Even the two episodes I watched today were enough to understand why most game show fans prefer the original show to Monty Hall's. Tom Kennedy is far quicker on the draw than Monty, who's used to lingering over people in chicken suits. He keeps everything moving at a lighting pace; you barely have the chance to see one set of questions before the next set comes on! I do wish the set wasn't that blinding shade of orange - it's distracting - but I do like the "climb into the car; if it starts, you keep it" bonus round.

Here's the series finale from June 1975 on YouTube, complete with the original commercials!

Split Second Series Finale