Tuesday, January 18, 2022

How Can I Change My Luck?

Started off a gloomy, windy morning with breakfast and Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood. The finally have three new episodes at PBS Kids. I began with the rather appropriate "The Neighborhood Snowstorm." The kids are called out of school early on account of the massive snowstorm dumping buckets of flakes on the Land of Make Believe. Dan's excited when his father helps their neighbors dig Trolley out when he's stuck, but the storm's less fun after a pipe bursts and soaks his room, including his beloved Tigey the Adventure Tiger books. He and his baby sister Margaret end up at the Platypus' house, eating warm soup and playing games, while his parents repair the damage. 

Switched to Match Game '74 as I cleaned up from breakfast and packed my niece Lilah's birthday present. Jimmie Walker made his first appearances on the show this week, as Kaye Stevens runs off and Brett and Charles tease Jimmie about his funky blue denim cap. Charles gives an especially strange answer to a question about what a cheap fortune teller looks into in the second show. 

Moved to online after the show ended. Did some research and looked around for more apartments, but there's just not much there. This is considered a hot market. Two and three bedroom apartments in Haddonfield alone are going for upwards to 3 and 4 thousand dollars! They're cheaper elsewhere in the area, but not that much cheaper. One house in Oaklyn is renting for 2,000 for two bedrooms! The trouble is, I need to find a decent job and make more money to get a decent home... and I can't start looking for a job until I find a decent home to do it in.

Had counseling on Zoom at 2 PM. Told Mrs. Stahl that I'm really, really hoping to get the apartments in Collingswood or Audubon. I don't have a choice. I need something. I'd prefer the one in Collingswood, but I'll take one of the ones in Audubon, too. I wish I was less awkward and better at explaining all this to people, not to mention that there were fewer people out there looking for a place to live. How can I convince these people that I'm a good tenant and mean what I say when I tell them I'm willing to pay in advance? How can I distinguish myself from the pack? 

My family is driving me crazy, too. I appreciate everything Rose did for me and enjoyed cat-sitting after the scare with Toothless...but I want to be far away from the drama between mothers and daughters. I love my sisters. I enjoy visiting Rose's house and liked going apple picking with them last September, and I had fun with Jessa and Joe and the kids on Christmas Day. I just wish we could all do things together, as a real family, and that the mothers and daughters would just get along. They all have families to turn to, and I'm the one who most often gets left out. And I feel bad for making Dad and Rose do things I should be doing and for relying so heavily on them to make decisions and pay for things. 

Mrs. Stahl suggested sending a thank-you e-mail to Kim at the Collingswood house. I did that quickly after we got off, then headed off to run errands. First stop was the post office to send that package. There was a small line because a guy couldn't get his credit card to work. It went fast after he was able to pay. The lady was really sweet, and I was in and out.

The laundromat was a lot busier by 4:30. They were so mobbed, I ended up with a larger washer that takes longer again and was barely able to get a dryer. Went to Family Dollar and picked up laundry detergent after I used up the last of my previous bottle. At least the families and college students were all bunched up front. I largely had the back where the vending machines are to myself.

Put away the laundry when I got home, then had leftovers for dinner while watching a new episode of Muppet Babies. Gonzo loves Valentine's Day and is excited about the party he, Nanny, and the others are having, until he finds no Valentines in his cubby! He then becomes the villain Dr. Meanzo and says "Happy Villain-tine's Day" when he destroys all the decorations. The others turn superheroes in an attempt to remind him that he should have talked over his anger, instead of being destructive. Summer and Gonzo are excited about her squeaky narwhal and his potato buddy getting married in "My Best Toy's Wedding." She's less delighted when Gonzo won't let Narwhal take part in choosing any of the activities. They almost call off the wedding before Gonzo remembers what Miss Nanny said about marriage involving compromise.

Worked on writing after I ate. Identically dressed Patti (Deustch) Dee and Donald (Ross) Dum are not amused when the kids start poking at them because they're standing still. They'd rather recite their own odd poetry and remind them to watch their manners.

Checked the e-mail while I wrote, and to my disappointment, I lost the Collingswood apartment. Kim was very polite, but she said she and her husband went with someone else. On one hand, I also heard from Mary Johnson later, and she said the Audubon apartments are still available. I'll take one of them if I can, but...I'm really disappointed about the Collingswood apartment. I thought it was so perfect for me! Kim seemed to understand, and it was such a nice place. I wish I knew how to compete with the hundreds of other people looking for a place around here.  

Switched to Kiss Me Again after I gave up on writing. I go further into this bubbly early talkie operetta at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.  


I desperately needed a laugh after I got that e-mail, so I finished up the night on YouTube with another marathon. This one honored another TV favorite who passed away over the New Year's holiday, Bob Saget, with his best episodes of America's Funniest Home Videos. The premise of this hit that began in 1990 is pretty simple. People send in their most hilarious home movies and compete for a big 10,000 prize. The winner can come back at the end of the season for a chance at $100,000. Saget provides goofy commentary or voices over many of the videos. (It still runs on ABC to this day, incidentally, with another TV comedian Alfonso Ribiera doing the hosting.)

I watched it regularly from 1990 to early '92, usually as background noise on Sundays when I was doing homework or reading. By the time I went to college and had cable again during the fall of 1997, Saget was gone, and the show was now a mid-season replacement for a failed action program. I'd never seen the episodes made from 1993 to 1997. While a lot of them were corny or too silly, others, from a baby who watches a dog constantly running by him to a little boy who breaks an oversized lollipop over his head to ABC's sports commentators at the time giving the play-by-play on football mishaps, remain hysterical to this day. Saget's fellow Full House alumni made several appearances in later episodes, including a full-blown reunion in his second-to-last one. Even the Olsen twins showed up to promote their series of kiddie video mysteries. 

Honor this beloved TV dad with some of the wildest mishaps to happen to ordinary people! 

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