Friday, December 17, 2021

Sunshine Holidays

Began a beautiful morning with breakfast and Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood. "Daniel Shares His Tigertastic Car" with Prince Wednesday when everyone brings cars to the playground and he forgot his. Generous Miss Elaina loans Dan her pink truck. "Katerina Shares Her Tutu" with Dan so he can be a lion and she can be a flower in their jungle dance.

Darted out before the cartoon even ended. Turns out the apartment was in a complex, Marina Apartments, way out on the edge of Collingswood along the Cooper River. Beautiful view, but it was too far from the main roads for someone who relies on her bike and public transportation. Not to mention, there was nowhere in the complex to park said bike, either. 

It also became obvious the ad I saw in Craigslist was a scam. The manager arrived shortly after I did. No, he had no viewings scheduled for today. There are apartments available, but they look nothing like the one in the ad. I did show him the ad and told him about the scam, so something came of my trip. 

Made quick stops at WaWa and CVS on the way home. Picked up a sparkling water from WaWa. Wanted to get a booster shot at CVS, but they're appointment only. At least it was a nice ride across Newton Lake Park. The sun sparkled on the green water, and it was oddly warm for this time of year, probably in the mid-60's. I was fine in my new blue hoodie from Eddie Bauer.

Put on Match Game '79 while making a quick banana-peanut butter smoothie for lunch. Bill Daily started off this episode by stressing out over the very first question, prompting Charles Nelson Reilly to toss cards at him. Meanwhile, Joe Santos of The Rockford Files actually matches a contestant while Lorrie Mahaffey of Happy Days has a hard time with "Neighborhood __" on the Head-to-Head. 

Went online off and on through the afternoon. Called and e-mailed the agent about the non-viewing yesterday, e-mailed another Craigslist ad that seemed a bit more legit than the other one, and kept looking for places. I wouldn't mind all of this so much if Jodie had just pushed the new owners to wait to take the house until after New Year's. Just because she and they don't want to celebrate the holidays doesn't mean everyone else won't, either. 

Headed off to the Acme for groceries and my schedule around one. I'll be at Rose's for a lot of next week, but I did need some things. Had online coupons for a bag of clementines, yogurt, and peanut butter. Found ground chicken with a half-off manager's coupon. Restocked bananas, cranberries, chicken drumsticks, whole wheat flour, brown sugar, and butter. Treated myself to a frosted donut (also with an online coupon) and the cutest Rankin-Bass Rudolph and Santa tote bag. 

In good news, not a bad schedule. Thankfully, I got Christmas Day off without a fuss, and I have Thursday off, too. It's also all cashiering, even the long 8 1/2 hour days on Wednesday and Friday. On the other hand, I'm supposed to be here on Sunday and Wednesday to talk to the new people. How can I explain that I'm not allowed to ask for those days off? We can't ask for the days leading up to Christmas off. I shouldn't have had this week off. Some of us have actual jobs and really do have to work. 

I'm still frustrated, and I told the neighbors that when I got home. How did I get stuck in the middle of this? All I want is to find an apartment, not for everyone to sue each other. Why is Jodie making such a fuss? If she had a hard time paying for the house, we could have dropped the cable. I would have paid extra for the internet and for doing the wash at the house. What about all those meals she constantly shared with me, all the pizza and hoagies and bar food? Where did the money for that come from? And why didn't we have a real lease? Either we should have made a real lease, or she should have made me officially a roommate rather than a tenant. 

Why didn't all of this come up over the summer, when Rose and the kids were cleaning the pool every few days? Why couldn't Jodie just TALK to Rose, like I told her to at the beginning of December? If Rose and Jodie were so angry at each other, why didn't they just TALK, instead of letting it get this bad?

Put on Frosty the Snowman when I finally got inside and put everything away. Frosty comes to life thanks to a magic hat that lousy magician Professor Hinkle threw away. Karen, one of the kids in the town, personally sees to it that Frosty gets to the North Pole so he won't melt. Hinkle wants the hat and its magic back and pursues them all the way up north. 

Checked my e-mail while the cartoon ran. Heard from the Collings Ave Apartments earlier in the day. They're finally giving tours. 11:30 on Sunday was pushing it a bit, but 10:45 would be perfect. 

Watched Press Your Luck while quickly cleaning the kitchen and dusting. It was another close game this time coming down to a battle between the two guys. The champ picked up a motorcycle and dodged Whammies to win him the game.

Worked on writing next. Brett and the Wonderlanders find themselves squeezed into a train car with a motley assortment of travelers that include a man in a newspaper suit (Steve Allen), a grumpy goat (Ed Asner), a grumpier train conductor (Joey Bishop), and a horse (Kate Jackson). They all scold Brett for forgetting her name...but a little voice in her ear reminds her of how important it is to know it...

Got a phone call while working. It was another realtor at the Main Street Realty, the agency handling the Collingswood house. Turns out Ms. Ferrante mistook that viewing session yesterday for one that was canceled. Ms. Ferrante is apparently out of town now, but the other realtor said she'd show me the apartment at 11:30 tomorrow, this time on my own. 

Broke for dinner at 6:30. Made Italian casserole with bow-tie pasta while watching Match Game '74. Producer Ira Skutch had to come out to explain his ruling and the difference between a stain and a little yellow spot. Charles even rubbed him with tissues and "prepared"  him to be on camera! 

Did the dishes and made a gingerbread loaf from a regular gingerbread recipe while Match Game PM was on. The female contestant asked if she could kiss Richard, even if she lost. That certainly perked up Richard, who otherwise looked pretty unhappy during this episode. (Except for making Nixon jokes during a question about what Nixon would wear during his next interview with David Frost.)

Finished the night on Watch TCM with Christmas In Connecticut. Elizabeth Lane (Barbara Stanwyck) is the most popular food columnist in the US. Her scrumptious dishes and descriptions of her cozy Connecticut farm and charming family makes her the idol of millions. There's just one problem. It's all fictional. In reality, Elizabeth is a confirmed city girl who can't boil water. Her uncle Felix (S.Z Sakall) provides all the recipes for her column. 

She has to get a farm in a hurry when her pushy boss (Sydney Greenstreet) not only invites himself for the holidays, but brings along a handsome Navy hero (Dennis Morgan). The guy who's been trying to propose to Elizabeth for months (Reginald Gardner) brings her and Felix out to his farm...but she never expected to fall for the soldier. Between mix-ups involving babies, judges, and runaway cows, Elizabeth finally learns that honesty is the best policy, especially where love is concerned.

Charming romantic comedy gets the best performances out of its two very different bosses Sakall and Greenstreet, both of whom want what's best for Elizabeth and the magazine in their own ways. 

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