Called Uber after the cartoon ended. I had always intended to use Uber today. This is my double-shift day. It's just easier to take cars than bikes. To my pleasant surprise, the driver going to work arrived in 4 minutes. The one going to Thomas Sharp came in 8 minutes. I got there just in time. The one going home rather surprisingly came in 5 minutes. No trouble anywhere on the road.
The Acme was more of a problem. They just changed how you sign in the sweeping that you're supposed to do every hour, on the hour, no exception. I totally forgot to type it in when I arrived and got scolded, then had to figure out that you only type once now, not three. The rest of the day went fine. It got a little busier around noon, but other than that, I had no trouble with the carts or the sweeping.
After work ended and I changed into regular clothes, I walked up to Market Street in Audubon. Even though it was sunny and hot as heck, in the upper 80's, I wanted something different for lunch. I ate at the Brown Dog Cafe, a coffee shop on Market. They were quiet for 1:30, with one person doing laptop work outside. I had a chicken salad sandwich on a huge, crusty croissant with thick wavy potato chips, a chocolate-banana-peanut butter-almond milk smoothie, and a slice of crumb cake. The chicken salad was delicious, with huge chicken pieces and sweet-tart grapes. The crumb cake wasn't bad, but it was a little more dry than the one at Common Grounds in Oaklyn. I sat on a leather chair at the counter surrounding the windows and watched cars go by.
After lunch, I finally took a brief look at Peak Secondhand two doors down. Their walls are painted in bright neon colors, and the shopkeeper was sweet and friendly, but their wares are mainly clothes, shoes, jewelry, and books. I don't need clothes right now, and I have an enormous pile of books from the last year I'm still trying to put a dent in. I thanks the kind shopkeeper, but moved on with nothing.
Went across the street to Desserts by Design to buy a treat and talk to the baker there. I told her how frustrated I was about not being able to get a loan. She said I would, eventually. It would just take time. Next year would be my year. I just wish it was sooner.
It was busy when I arrived (on time) at Thomas Sharp School. We had 24 kids today, 10 at my table. They did clean up well when we went to the bathroom first, but they were pretty noisy in the hall. They were even worse in the cafeteria, arguing, tearing paper taped to a table for coloring and stenciling, and running all over. It did get better once we got them outside. We weren't in the playground for long. It was hot and sunny, really too hot for games and dancing. Most of the kids either crowded under the trees around the chain-link fence, looking for ants and new leaves on the ground, or under the roof of the slide equipment. We did have to argue them into their shoes again. (I'm just glad it was too hot for anyone to even consider a jacket!)
It was also too hot for them to stay outside. We took them back inside to the library around 4:30. The ten remaining kids colored on regular paper this time, looked at books, and danced to "Try Everything" from Zootopia, "Zoo" from Zootopia 2, "Pink Pony Club," "The Big Pink Tiger," "The Checkout Song," "The Gummi Bear Song," "Candy Cane Crush," the themes from Hannah Montana and PJ Masks, and songs from Moana 2 and KPop Demon Hunters. After we were down to six kids, we moved them to the cafeteria to play with the remaining nine older kids.
By the time it clouded over and cooled off enough to take them all out to the blacktop, there were four younger kids and three older kids left. I left just after the last older kid did. There were still four younger kids left as I called Uber.
Watched The Price Is Right after I got in. Came right in time for the last game of the episode, "Cliffhangers." The lady did really well. I think the little man on the incline went ten steps. Usually, people way over-guess on that game. The first Showcase was a generic Department Store that ended with a lovely organ. It reminded me of the organ Uncle Ken had in the 80's and 90's, where the bar ended up from the 2000's onward. The second was summer-themed, ending with a trip to Palm Springs, a small desert car, and a speedboat. Alas, the lady with the speedboat went way over. The other lady got her organ, and likely her own fond family memories.
Had dinner while watching Match Game '90. Most of today's episodes revolved around the hilarious Halloween week with Vicki Lawrence, Ronn Lucas and Scorch, Brett Somers, and One Life to Live cast members Wally Willey and Jill Larson. Jill wasn't much of a player, but Wally wasn't bad, and was a looker besides. No wonder Brett complained when he didn't sit next to her early in the week. Alas, they didn't show the Halloween episode (they must be saving that for October), but the rest of the week is just as cute, especially once Wally did move next to Brett.
Finished the night after a shower with four of the best episodes of the underrated Match Game-Hollywood Squares Hour from 1983-1984. I never even heard of this until Buzzr started showing it; it's been a staple on their channel since 2019. The few things I did hear about it before that were never nice. The panels weren't great, Jon Bauman wasn't suited to be a host, the Hollywood Squares segments were mucked up and not played the same way as the usual show.
While there are no regulars, the celebrities are still the best thing about this. For one thing, this attracted a lot of comedians who otherwise never appeared on either show, like Arsenio Hall, Michael Winslow of Spaceballs and Police Academy, Jay Leno, Ted Knight, and a young Howie Mandell. A young Brian Stokes Mitchell was hilarious in his two weeks, especially the week he kept wearing increasingly huge boutonnieres on his jacket. Adorable older character actress Nedra Voltz probably got more out of the show than anyone else and became a fan favorite, as did erudite stage and sitcom actor Leonard Frey.
Along with the now-rare premiere episode, I chose three of my favorite episodes of the entire series. There was the week in December 1983 where McLean Stevenson spent the entire hour complaining about getting ink on his pants. The replacements they give him are way too big, causing him to show the camera way more than anyone needed to see when he goes to hug the contestant after the Super Match!
The episode with Mitchell and his flower shop also featured one of the funniest technical glitches in game show history. The huge tic-tac-toe board stopped working half-way through Hollywood Squares. Everyone who had been called on had to hold their hands in an X or O position. As you can imagine, no one was happy. Gene Rayburn made "I'm a Little Teapot" jokes, and Jay Leno spent ten minutes whining about calling his lawyer.
A few weeks after the board malfunction incident, Nipsey Russell and his poems made their last appearance on a Match Game episode. He was joined by Tom Poston for the first of two weeks, the hilariously sarcastic Fern Fitzgerald, Alan Thicke when he was doing his own talk show, Thicke's then-wife singer and soap star Gloria Loring, comedian Marty Cohen, and elegant soap star Constant McCashlin. One of the last weeks dove into game show history, featuring Arlene Francis in one of her last appearances and Chuck Woolery to promote the then-upcoming Scrabble, plus McLean joined Jamie Farr for a MASH reunion.
(Oh, and incidentally, if the theme music sounds familiar to Price Is Right fans, Goodson Productions, and later Freemantle, would use the music as underscoring for the showing of car prizes on Price for years.)
You won't be square if you match the weirdos of the 80's in this hilarious and underrated delight!
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