Friday, July 12, 2024

Splashing In the Rain

Got a quick start today with breakfast and Bluey. The Heeler family are "Neighbors" when they each create their own space with blocks, blankets, and pillows. Chili is annoyed when Bandit keeps making noise, while Bluey has to deal with Bingo making more room for her toy animals and crowding her out.

I overslept and ran out of time to do anything but call Uber. Plus, I didn't like the look of the weather, Though it was much cooler than it has been, it was also incredibly humid and very cloudy. It started to rain even as the gentleman drove me across Haddon Township to South Jersey Radiology. Thankfully, the rain was brief, and was starting to slow down just as I jumped out of the car. I was only a few minutes late.

I had my first mammogram today. As it turned out, it really wasn't that big of a deal. I signed some paperwork after they let me in. The nurse came and got me. I changed into a mauve wrap and went into the scan room. It did hurt a little when I had to turn to the right or the left, but just standing out front wasn't bad. At any rate, none of the squeezing took more than a minute or two. I was in and out in less than 20 minutes. 

Since it wasn't raining when I got out, I walked home. There were a lot of people out and about for 10:30 on a gloomy, humid morning. Stopped at a Dunkin' Donuts in a Westmont shopping center for a special treat. I'm not normally a donut fan, but I do love their toasted coconut. Got that and an iced tea. Cooled off by the splashing waterfalls next to the luxury condos.

By the time I made it to the Westmont Acme, the traffic had picked up, and I needed to use the bathroom rather badly. Jumped in there, then bought a Peach Propel. Got money for the farm market tomorrow, too. At least it wasn't that busy in there. In fact, I had no trouble getting a self-checkout register. The weather must have scared everyone off. 

Headed down Cuthbert to Newton Lake Park. I was surprised at all the people out for strolls or walking their dogs, despite the humidity. Passed a dad pushing a stroller with a fussy baby...just as the rain started again. It picked up as I made my way down the back paths. By the time I dashed up the stone stairs to East Clinton, the rain was coming down much harder.

No matter. I couldn't be happier. It felt great to have so much rain after weeks of unbearable heat and humidity. When my sandals got too saturated, I took them off and walked in the street, splashing in puddles. Glad I brought my umbrella. I could have been a lot wetter when I got home. At any rate, it was the most fun I'd had since Lauren visited last month.

Went straight into The Scooby Doo Show when I got home.  It's "The Spooky Case of the Grand Prix Race" when a phantom driver makes the other drivers in the time trial disappear. The others talk Shaggy into driving another car as a decoy, then have to come after him when he vanishes, too.

Had lunch while watching Christmas episodes of Press Your Luck as part of Buzzr's "Christmas In July" marathon. The first one was the second half of the episode where Peter Tomarken turned up in his plaid robe, and the woman champ won a fur coat that was apparently made in Camden. (Incidentally, research reveals that the company still exists, though it's now in Pennsauken.) The second episode continued Christmas week. The guy who finally beat the lady got trips to Palm Springs and Rome as a great Christmas present.

Let it run into Match Game '78. This was my favorite episode from that year, the one where Charles Nelson Reilly turned up on the Christmas Day episode as Santa and Brett Somers was a little girl on his knee. Christmas Day on Match Game '75 was a tad more subdued. No Santa, but everyone did wish the audience a Merry Christmas in the opening. 

Spent the rest of the afternoon adding more CDs to the inventory. Artists added today included the rest of Billy Joel's titles, Elton John, John Lennon, Huey Lewis and the News, Jerry Lee Lewis, Kenny Loggins, Madonna, Bruno Mars, Bette Midler, Meatloaf, John Mellencamp, the Monkees, Pink Floyd, Queen, R.E.M, Linda Ronstadt, Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band, Simon and Garfunkel, and most of my Bruce Springsteen titles. I'm hoping to finish the rock CDs by Sunday and start in on the rock collections on Monday or Tuesday.

Listened to more albums while I worked. Stars of the Silver Screen 1929-1930 is a collection of songs from early sound musicals, some of them rare today. Sophie Tucker's "He's a Good Man to Have Around" is from her lost 1929 vehicle Honky Tonk.  Irving Berlin wrote "Where Is that Song of Songs for Me" for Lupe Velez in the part-talkie Lady of the Pavements. Other still fairly well-known songs include "He's So Unusual" by original boop-oop-a-doop girl Helen Kane, "Dream Lover" by Jeanette MacDonald, and "Louise" by Maurice Chevalier. 

The Eagles' 1979  The Long Run was one of their most successful albums. You can't argue with hits like the title song and "I Can't Tell You Why." "Heartache Tonight" remains one of my favorites of their songs. 

Broke for dinner and Match Game Syndicated at 7 PM. Phyllis Davis, Robert Donner, and Marcia Wallace join in to witness two very happy and upbeat contestants and try to figure out "Turn of the __" in the Audience Match. In the second episode, Gene shoves his way through his entrance door, breaking it into splinters! Brett's impressed, but it's not macho enough for Charles. Charles does wake up Mrs. Miller in the front row, and we get everyone's very funny answers to what Mr. Periwinkle does when his young wife says she's pregnant. 

Finished the night with The Wrecking Crew at Tubi. Matt Helm (Dean Martin) is back in action, this time to stop Count Contini (Nigel Green) from stealing a billion dollars in gold to wreck havoc in the world's economy. He kills off one of his former operatives (Tina Louise) with an explosive wine bottle meant for Helm. Helm's not to happy to have what seems at first like the dubious assistance of Dutch tour guide Freya Carlson (Sharon Tate), but she proves to be tougher and more useful than he thinks. 

Despite what the credits say, this would be the last of the Martin Matt Helm films. He was depressed after Tate's murder and wouldn't do another one. Too bad. While the films haven't dated especially well, they do have their moments. Tate proves to be a far more competent helper than she seems at first, even beating Contini's henchwoman (Nancy Kwan) in a fight. We also have Tina Louise's brief sequences and some decent scenery, not to mention Martin's crooning. If you're a fan of Martin or the late 60's spy spoofs, you can do a lot worse than Matt Helm and his wacky world of wine, women, and songs. 

Oh, and I checked my schedule late tonight. In good news, better hours and more hours, including a floral department day on Monday. Maybe it's just as well that I'm off Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. Tuesday is supposed to be especially killer hot, and it's going to rain for a lot of next week, too. 

1 comment:

Linda said...

I've always called it "having my boobs blocked and pressed."