Unfortunately, I overslept and got a late start, and thus, was late to work. I ended up cleaning the men's bathroom, too. The head bagger cleaned the women's bathroom. Otherwise, there were no major problems. This time, the head bagger swept, and I otherwise worked on carts. It was surprisingly quiet for Senior Discount Day. The carts weren't really that bad. It did start picking up a little by noon, but I was almost done by then anyway.
After I changed, I picked up a few gifts. My younger sister Anny's birthday is today. I grabbed a card and a gift card for her. Since I had an American Greetings online coupon, I also bought the most adorable little bright yellow and orange stuffed lion as a Christmas gift for my baby nephew Elijah. I did get stuck briefly in line when one lady had trouble with the free turkey, but thank heavens another line opened.
Headed to Oaklyn next to have lunch at Phillies Phatties. They only had cheese pizza out, but I did ask them to add mushrooms to one slice. Washed it down with a bottle of Diet Coke. They were surprisingly busy with older kids and adults picking up lunch while watching the news in Spanish on Telemundo.
After that, I treated myself to a maple oatmeal cookie at Common Grounds. Actually, it was more like a crunchy whoopee pie, with not-too-sweet maple cream between two chewy maple oatmeal cookies. Yum! I was more in the mood for baked goods than ice cream.
Since it was still a bit early, I went for a long bike ride around Oaklyn and West Collingswood after I finished my cookies. It was too nice not to! The weather couldn't have been more perfect for November, bright, breezy, sunny, and in the mid-60's. Unlike the last few weeks, it's supposedly not staying that way. The rain will be returning by Thursday.
Even with the extra ride, I still got to Thomas Sharp a little early. This time, I was able to join the teachers as the first kids arrived. The head teacher read them Planting a Rainbow, then had me take my group to the bathroom. I will say the kids are getting better in the bathrooms. There's not quite as much fooling around as there was at this time last year. (Though I do need to talk to them about blocking the door to the hall when the custodians have to get in. Their office is between the boys and girls' bathrooms.)
After snack, I sat down and colored with the kids. Most of the kids begged to color a print of a sweet-looking fairy...including me. I turned mine into a fall fairy in orange and red, with yellow and green wings. Most of the kids went for rainbow colors and wild skin tones. Some of the boys did the title character of Blaze and the Monster Machines instead. One of the girls even gave me her fairy artwork later.
With the weather so gorgeous, it would have been a crime not to get out to the playground early. When we first got out, I jumped in the small pile of leaves that had blown against the chain link fence with some of the kids, and we inspected leaves to find the coolest shapes and the prettiest colors. When they did get on the swings, they spent more time wrestling too close to the swing set than actually swinging. Three of the girls switched shoes, so each of them wore two different ones. They probably thought it was funny, but I was afraid they'd stretch their shoes and got them to switch them back.
When we went back to the library, some of the kids resumed coloring. Others made art with rubbery stickers shaped like fall leaves and pumpkins. Other kids danced to songs from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and PJ Masks. I left after I finished my own fairy artwork.
Took out the trash when I got home, then had a tasty tomato and Swiss omelet for dinner. Spent the rest of the night watching war-related classic shorts in honor of Veteran's Day. Though Bosko did the World War I short "Bosko the Dough Boy" in the early 30's, most of the Looney Toons war efforts were pure World War II propaganda. In fact, they were so hot on the war, they jumped into it before it even came to the US with "Rookie Revue" and "Meet John Doughboy." Daffy joined the Army as "Daffy the Commando." "The Draft Horse" is eager to join, until he learns that war is a lot more than glamour and shooting at guys when he gets caught in the middle of war games. The last war short went to Bugs, as he bedeviled none other than Hermann Gobeling in "Herr Meets Hare." "Weakly Reporter" (city and suburbs) and "Wacky Blackout" (country) were sketch comedies revolving around life on the home front. "The Duckinators" and "Fifth Column Mouse" acted as allegories for how the US got into the war, and how they intended to end it.
Three of my all-time favorite Looney Tunes shorts were war propaganda from none other than the truly wild mind of Bob Clampett. Bugs becomes a "Super Rabbit" when he eats a chemically-enhanced carrot. He does battle with a rabbit-hating cowboy (who sounds a lot like a prototype of Yosemite Sam) and his horse, but when push comes to shove, he dons the uniform of a real hero - a Marines officer. "Draftee Daffy" would do anything, and I mean anything, to dodge that remarkably persistent Little Man from the Draft Board!
My favorite Clampett short, Warners wartime short, and Bugs Bunny short is "Falling Hare." For once, Bugs deals with an antagonist who gives as good as he gets when he catches a Gremlin sabotaging planes. This little fellow is no dope and does everything he can to get Bugs off that plane...until it goes into a freefall...
The Toons weren't the only ones who jumped into World War II before the US did. Popeye also got an early start in "The Mighty Navy." It was so early, the enemy wasn't even named. By the time of "Blunder Below" and "Fleets of Strength" he's definitely fighting the (heavily stereotyped) Japanese. Popeye didn't just go off fighting, either. He and Bluto found time to argue over Olive Oyl, whether they were doing "the Conger" with her in "Kicking the Conga Around" or competing to show her around their boat in "Olive Oyl and Water Don't Mix."
Finished the night online with the Superman shorts of the early 40's. Given the tenor of the comic books at the time, it would have been surprising if Superman hadn't fought the Axis. He has to rescue Lois when "Japoteurs" sabotage an experimental plane. "The Eleventh Hour" features gorgeous, shadowy animation and a surprisingly mature story that has Superman doing his own sabotage in Japan while he and Lois are held prisoner there. "Jungle Drums" has Lois saving papers from a Nazi agent using natives and their temple to down Allied planes. Superman rescues her from being burned at the stake. "Secret Agent" is the only short not to feature Lois. Here, Superman protects a double agent who found out information about a spy ring from the men who want to stop her from delivering information on them to Washington.
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