The Longest Afternoon

Began a quick and early morning with breakfast and Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood. Teacher Harriet is upset when the class rabbit Snowball goes missing. Daniel, Miss Elaina, and everyone in the neighborhood help with "Looking for Snowball." "Daniel's Neighbors Help" when he's not feeling well. Lady Elaine takes him home from school and brings him and his mother chicken soup, while the kids at school draw Daniel a card.

Headed to work shortly after the episode ended. Everything went well early in the day. I came and went with no problems and spent most of the day sweeping and gathering carts. The trouble was, when I started to get tired later in the day, they had no one to help me out. I was the only daytime bagger. They had four evening and night baggers, but only me during the morning and afternoon. By the time I finished, I was so tired, I couldn't even find the broom when I accidentally left it up front. At least the weather was good for it, sunny, chilly, and windy again. Bought a container of no-salt tomato sauce and a sympathy card for Jodie, called Uber, and went home.

There was a mauled folder waiting for me when I got home. Turns out someone in the post office slashed open my food stamps renewal papers...which were due on the 7th. I would have had to completely re-do a lot of the application, anyway. A lot of my information changed this year, including my address and rent. I think I'll just put in a new application next week after the old one ends and live without the food stamps for a couple of weeks. 

Worked on writing after I changed and got organized. Betty and Sharon turn their sheets into tight dresses to pass themselves off as "ladies of the evening" escorting the sailors on-deck. They still need to get Brett from Goodson's, but she may be ahead of them...

Broke for dinner at 6:30. Had an omelet, then made Lemon-Coconut Muffins while watching Dick Tracy. Tracy (Warren Beatty) is a tough-guy cop in a primary-colored world filled with some of the most grotesque gangsters this side of a horror movie. He wants desperately to arrest the head of the gangsters Big Boy Caprice (Al Pacino), but he he has the DA (Dick Van Dyke) in his pocket. His moll Breathless Mahoney (Madonna) wants Tracy to see her as more than a witness, while Tracy's girl Tess Truehart (Glenn Headley) wishes he'd settle down and make more time for her. There's also The Kid (Charlie Korsmo), an orphan who may also have witnessed several gangland slayings. When an unknown figure with no face kills the DA and blames Tracy, then kidnaps Tess and dumps her in Big Boy's basement, it's up to Tracy and the Kid to figure out where she's hidden and who this Blank is, before they both get taken down.

An old childhood favorite. Mom took us to see this when it came out in 1990, and we played Dick Tracy with our friends in the neighborhood for the rest of the summer. The eye candy is really the thing here, with the amazing candy-colored sets and costumes and the incredible make-up that turns an all-star cast into the wild and weird characters from the Chester Gould comic strips. I'm also fond of the great score by Danny Elfman and Stephan Sondheim's songs, including the Oscar-winning "Sooner or Later" and the touching ballad "What Can You Lose?" Highly recommended for fans of comic book-based movies or the cast.

Finished the night online after a shower with a trio of vintage New Year's sitcom episodes . It's "A Night to Disremember" for Oscar Madison in a second season episode of The Odd Couple. Well-meaning Felix brings Oscar and his ex-wife Blanche together to remember the anniversary of their divorce. Their New Year's Eve party turned sour when they accused each other of jumping into the arms of the guests, and Felix, as usual, wasn't as much of a help as he wanted to believe.

New Year's goes better in the 9th season episode "A War for All Seasons" on MASH. We see a year in the life of the 4077th, from General Potter dressed as Father New Year to Winchester and Klinger making bets on the World Series to Father Mulcahy's garden and what the thing Hot Lips is knitting keeps turning into.

I was never a big fan of The Donna Reed Show as a kid. She always seemed a little too perfect...except for in the first season episode "Have Fun." When  Donna Stone's teenage daughter Mary runs home from her first date in tears, she's sure it went badly. Donna and her husband Alex recall how awkward they both were on their first date on New Year's Eve...but like Oscar and Blanche, they both remember things very differently.

Laugh-Ins and Matches

Started off the morning with work. I did spend the first half and the last half-hour with the carts, but the managers wanted me to refill the spray and sanitizer bottles after break. I had no problems filling the sanitzer bottles, but the refiller for the glass cleaner was broken. I had to get help prying the caps off the big refill bottles, and then the glass cleaner kept foaming and overflowing! The head bagger told me I had to add water manually.

I was very glad to finish work and go into grocery shopping after all that. The small crowd during lunch had died down by the time I was going over my list; there were still people in the aisles, but not as many. (And quite a few were not going the way directed by the red blocks and green arrows on the floor.) Actually managed to find a small container of chicken legs on sale. Got turkey bacon and asparagus for my Easter dinner next week and grape tomatoes and canned chicken for lunch. Strawberries were buy-one, get-one. I still have a coupon for the Acme's generic non-dairy pint ice cream; went with the almond milk Peanut Butter and Cookies. (The coupon worked this time.) Restocked butter, yogurt, cereal, vinegar, picante sauce, milk, and the one cleaning product they had plenty of - toilet bowl cleaner.

Oh, and I discovered when I paid that I suddenly have 265 in food stamps instead of 85! I thought it was a government oversight, until another bagger said something about my money from last month carrying over or something. All I care is that I now have enough money in there to pay for at least two and a half month's worth of groceries, rather than a half a month.

Another long schedule next week. In good news, all morning work again, and that'll mean another big paycheck...but my next day off isn't until Thursday! I do have Thursday and Friday off, but my last day off was Tuesday. I hate it when I have to work over a week without a break. I know I'm supposed to be happy I have a job at all, but it is tiring.

Went straight home and put everything away, then made that lunch. Tossed chicken and tomatoes with broccoli, asparagus, scallions, blocks of cheese, a lime-olive oil dressing, and whole wheat spiral pasta for Spring Vegetable and Pasta Salad. After I ate, I finally got around to vacuuming the apartment, which I desperately needed to do. I've been at home more than usual; the kitchen carpet was a mess.

Watched the Canon Movie Tales Rumplestiltskin while I worked. I'll go further into that one tomorrow in a review for my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.

Finished the night with the next Match Game Marathon. Dick Martin is best-known today as one of the hosts of Laugh-In, but he also brought his goofy wit and fun-time persona to game shows during the 1970's and early 80's. He could occasionally get a little too goofy; they bleeped him twice on two early episodes, one for an inappropriate answer, one for an answer that would have overly offended a celebrity. He turned up more frequently during the late 70's and early 80's syndicated years as one of several replacements for Richard Dawson. As such, he figured into several memorable episodes, including one that ended with him following Elaine Joyce off-stage and another that had Joyce and Eva Gabor constantly leaning over McLean Stevenson, placing him in full view of their not-inconsiderable curves. There was also the time Gene introduced Tab Hunter's young, beautiful valley-girl hairdresser to the audience.

Hope you have a "laugh-in" of your own with one of TV's most in-demand directors and wits! Tomorrow's marathon revolves around lovely and feisty sitcom actress Debralee Scott.

The Best of Dick Martin on Match Game Marathon 1974 - 1982

Independent Woman

It was cloudy, humid, and raining when I woke up this morning. Thankfully, the rain was long gone by the time I had breakfast and was starting Supergirl. As soon as I finished, I went on the computer to work on my proposal and look over jobs on Upwork. Trouble is...I look over them, but I have no idea what to say in that proposal. How can I explain my lack of experience? Or promote myself when all I've written is three blogs and a lot of fanfics? I don't know what to say.

I was still frustrated when I got off the computer. Had a quick Chocolate-Banana Smoothie lunch before heading out...and heading right back in briefly. I finally got a notice from Camden County about my food stamps. Due to my raised rent, they're bringing them up to 81 dollars. Still not as good as they were two years ago, but it's much better than the 15 I have now.

Dashed out the door to counseling after that. I was five minutes late, nothing to get upset over. I was more upset at myself for not doing better with job hunting. I am glad that most of whatever that cold or sinus infection was that I got hit with in early April is gone, I enjoyed seeing Captain Marvel for my birthday, that Dad's doing much better, and Lauren and I had a great time on our vacation.

The trouble is, I still need money, and contrary to what everyone thinks, I can't always rely on the Acme raising my hours. While I don't really have a problem with the Food Stamps anymore, I would prefer not to end up on Social Security. I want to be fully independent, with no need for help from anyone. I hate asking for money, or that everyone feels they need to give it to me.

The trouble is, I'm not sure how to make that happen. Every time I try, I get nervous. How can I promote myself when I've never done anything? I wish one person understood. No one in my family or at work ever listens to me. They give me suggestions, but they just don't seem right. I'm not getting a second retail job. The first one drives me crazy! I just need to find something I can do on the side that will actually work out.

Maybe it's just as well that I don't have any plans for this summer. I might take a day trip to Atlantic City now that the Transit trains are up and running again or make a quick return to the Cherry Hill Mall, but unless Rose and her family are going down to visit the family in Cape May County and I can tag along, I won't be going anywhere until likely September...and I'm fine with that. I'll concentrate on writing my stories and job hunting. There has to be something I can do that's better than working in a grocery store!

Mrs. Stahl said to either get an online job or take more hours at work. I'll see what I can do. I can't really control when they ask me.

I wasn't feeling great when I got out of work. Thought a water ice at Primo's might cheer me up a little. Surprisingly, despite it being just as the kids were getting out of school, they weren't busy when I arrived. Ordered a small Java Chip and had it outside on the bench, next to two women chatting together over ice cream. Turned out to be coffee-chocolate chunk, and it was really very tasty. It was wet, anyway.

Had to stop at the Westmont Acme on the way home. I needed pads rather badly. Also used a Monopoly coupon (they end today) to pick up Triscuits on sale to go with dinner. The lines were a little long, but not too bad, and they moved fast.

Took the long way home across Newton Lake Park. Despite the humidity and off-and-on clouds, I dodged quite a few fisher folk, dog walkers, and groups of kids out with their friends. The park's gorgeous now, with the trees almost in their full growth and white clover dotting the fields.

Went straight into writing when I got home. Harris tells Luke he can stay with him in his van until he can find a place of his own. As they talk it over, Kes Dameron, the owner and manager of the coffee shop, turns on Channel 11. Mara Jadeson is broadcasting her version of the destruction of the Death Ray. Kes teases him about Mara, but Luke's not entirely sure he wants to hear what she has to say...

(And it finally started raining around 7, just as I was starting dinner. It was a pretty big thunderstorm for a while too, very windy and noisy. It seems to be gone now, though I've left the air conditioner on.)

Broke for dinner at quarter of 7. I had leftover black bean dip with Triscuits while finally finishing up Supergirl. Kara, aka Supergirl (Helen Slater), is searching for the Omega Hedron, a sphere with mysterious powers that she accidentally lost. It fell to Earth and was found by Selina (Faye Dunaway), an ambitious carnival witch with more on her mind than reading palms. She's determined to use it to take over the world, starting with forcing a handsome construction worker to fall in love with her. Kara poses as Linda Lee, a student at a local girl preparatory school. She ends up rescuing the construction worker from the havoc Selina's spells cause...and he promptly falls head over heels for her. Meanwhile, she has to keep dodging her roommate and new best friend Lucy Lane's (Maureen Teefy) questions. When Selina catches Kara, she sends her to the Phantom Zone with her mentor Zaltar (Peter O'Toole). But you can't keep a good Kryptonian down...and this super-lass isn't going to let some witch harm her new friends or her adopted home.

Ok, so this is campy as heck, with poor dialogue, slightly cheap-looking special effects, and a wooden love interest. It's still one of my favorite childhood movies. Helen Slater is a wonderfully naive Girl of Steel, and Dunaway chews every bit of scenery to atoms as the sorceress with a thing for glittery caftans. If you enjoyed Wonder Woman or Captain Marvel and are looking for another big-screen superheroine outing, give this one a try.

(Watching this again and checking some childhood cartoons I love on YouTube gave me an idea for a sequel-based Star Wars fanfic. It will replace and use ideas from The Wizard of Oz story I originally had planned. Though I've seen a few film and TV versions and have read the first book, I don't really know that much about the Oz series. I do, however, have fond memories of the girl-power cartoons of my childhood that had groups of females fighting sometimes fairly dark villains with the power of everything from rainbows to magical singing.

The year is 1989. Rachelle "Rey" Ridley works for a junk shop in Jakku, Arizona. She's good with plants and has coaxed a small garden to grow in her tiny backyard. She's quite surprised when a beautiful pony, then a young man, fall out of the sky and ask for her help. They're Finn and BeeBee, of the Kingdom of Alderaan. They're on the run from the evil Warlock Snoke, who has imprisoned Queen Leia behind a magic mirror. Her husband King Han and his manservant Chewbacca have simply vanished, and her brother, the flower mage Luke, has fled the land. Leia's greatest warrior, Poe of the Tiger Lillies, was captured and supposedly killed by the evil, magic-and-beauty-hating Kylo Ren.

Rey follows Finn and BeeBee to Alderaan, which has been stripped of the magical gemstone flowers that gave it the magic that kept it beautiful. With the help of outspoken Jannah of the Marigolds, sweet and chatty Kaydel of the Bluebells, and shy Rose of the Red Roses, Rey discovers the power within herself...and that friendship and giving others a second chance may be the greatest powers of all.

Hopefully look for this one by the end of the year, after I finish The Rebel League series and The Resistance Kids: The Last Good Cop.)

Played some Lego Pirates of the Caribbean after dinner. Only had time to finish the last round of Dead Man's Chest, "The Kraken." This is fairly complicated, for a boss round. You first have to gather up explosives and get them to the surface, then figure out how to detonate them, then toss enough bottles at the Kraken to anger it, then blow it up. It takes a while. I got hit by the Kraken too much to get a lot of studs, but I did pick up four bottles (this game's version of pieces). Wandered around the Port for a little while after that, buying a few new characters that had appeared.

Finished the night with The Glenn Miller Story. I go more into this biopic of the popular big band leader at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.

The Glenn Miller Story

Spring Cleaning and Other Day Off Tales

Awoke to a cloudy, cold day, much colder than it has been lately. It actually felt rather cozy as I had breakfast and put on The Dick Van Dyke Show. Mel Cooley is so impressed with Laura after she dances at a party, he lets her fill in for a dancer on The Alan Brady Show. He eventually offers her a contract, to the dismay of Rob, who's been eating frozen meals all week. He has to decide "To Tell or Not To Tell" his wife that she may have a shot at a dancing career.

Charlie had come up shortly after I started breakfast. He started putting the new siding on the house as I was leaving. Despite the gloomy day, I had to get all the paperwork I needed to renew my food stamps. I'd already planned on volunteering there today anyway. I organized the DVDs, then went on the computers to print out my electrical bill, once I finally remembered the password, and made a copy of my rent. (I still haven't figured out how to get my printer at home working.)

Next stop was a quick pop into Five Below. They sell electronics accessories, including ear phones. The only ear phones I have are the small ones I use for my iPod when I travel. I wanted a larger pair that would be more comfortable, so I can watch YouTube and online streaming after 10 PM without bothering the residents downstairs. Found a neat pair with a padded band in bright coral red.

I was mainly there to print out my pay stubs. I direct deposit my paychecks. One of the head managers helped me get onto the computer. From there, it was easy to print everything out. I didn't really need anything else. Bought a pretzel for a snack and headed out.

Ducked around Charlie when I got in, then went right into signing the remaining paperwork. Slid everything into the envelope that came with it, then took it downstairs and put it in the mailbox. I'm now glad that I had these three days off in a row. Unlike last year, when I had to rush to get everything out by the right time, this time I'm pretty proud that I got everything in the mail three days ahead of schedule.

Made a quick chocolate-banana smoothie when I came back upstairs, then started the spring cleaning. Scrubbed the bathroom and drowned out Charlie's potty mouth with more Dick Van Dyke. Laura has to remind Rob and Buddy that "Sally Is a Girl." They tend to treat her like one of the guys and forget she's even female half the time. Rob attempts to be a gentleman and take her out to dinner, which makes Mel and Buddy think they're having an affair.

Buddy's saying "Buddy, Can You Spare a Job" when he gets Mel and the others to write a bad letter of recommendation to get him to leave, only to not get the job. Sally and Rob find someone even more obnoxious to annoy Mel into taking Buddy back.

"Empress Carlotta's Necklace" is huge and gaudy, too much for Laura's taste. She can't bring herself to tell Rob that she loathes it. Rob bought it from a jewelry salesman and is thrilled about it. It takes a visit from Rob's parents to give Laura a way to get rid of the necklace without hurting Rob's feelings.

Did some writing after I finished the bathroom. Luke and Leia are chased to the edge of the unfinished catwalk...but Leia has a better solution for getting across the room than swinging. Her flame allows her to fly. She easily carries Luke to the other side of the room, where they join Chewbacca and Harris behind the Falcon. They're about to leave when Luke sees Ben and Vader burst into the room...and Luke doesn't like how the fight's going...

Broke for dinner at 6. Made macaroni and cheese with broccoli, cherry tomatoes, and the last of the ham and asparagus in the refrigerator. Yum! The white sauce came out a bit clumpy, but it mostly tasted delicious, just the thing to hit the spot on a chilly day.

Did one more Dick Van Dyke episode as I ate. Rod's buddy Sol from the episode where he met Laura turns up at his house one day for a visit. He'd be happier if the sponsor of The Alan Brady Show wasn't coming for dinner. Sol is a loud mouth mechanic and car salesman with questionable taste. Things don't look like they're going well for "Sol and the Sponsor" when he gets into an argument with the man over his taste in cars, only to end up helping him solve a major problem.

Finished the night with Lego Star Wars. The two rounds that have you rescuing Princess Leia are long and involved. Thankfully, I did find a way to build the mosaic in the second without getting shot at. The "power up" ball that you get from one of the explosives in the room lets you move twice as fast...and build twice as fast! I actually managed to get True Jedi on both rounds, though not much in the way of pieces. Both of these rounds will require far more exploring in Free Play.

Sunny Spring Days

Slept in a little bit this morning before awakening to an absolutely gorgeous morning. Began the next Rick Steves disc while I ate breakfast, and then while making Coconut Crisps from that Duncan Hines baking book I found a few weeks ago. His side trips from Paris and into the Loire Valley mostly concentrated on the stunning palaces and chateaus built by French nobility before the Revolution, including the wonders of Versailles.

His trip into Turkey was even more interesting. Turkey is a fascinating land, with a diverse culture of Arabs, Muslims, Christians, and many others living in one small country. I enjoyed seeing Rick visit several holy sites and talk with an actual family of Muslims.

(By the way, the cookies tasted pretty good, but I really made them too big. Plus, the first batch got a little burnt, though they're not inedible.)

Spent the next two hours online, writing, messing around, and waiting for Camden County to call. I didn't hear from them until 2:30. Same deal as the last two times they did this - they asked me how much money I make and said they'll send me a packet with the rest of the paperwork.

It was such a nice day, I went out for a walk after a very quick lunch. Left the bike at home and struck out on foot. My first stop was the House of Fun. They were pretty busy with kids and young adults off school and college. I browsed around, but eventually decided I'd wait for Lauren to visit.

The next stop was more important. I really needed to talk to Dad and Jodie. Dad was napping when I arrived, but Jodie was there. Yes, she'll drop Lauren off at the train station in Cherry Hill, and she'll tell Rose to pick her up. She and Dad are mostly fine. She went out to a family member's house for Easter. Dad stayed home. She wasn't happy when I told her that Rose is trying to find another doctor. She said she'll either get on Rose's rear and tell her to call the first doctor again, or get the paperwork and do it herself. (I hope either them do it. Jodie says she thinks the doctor will be perfect for me. Whatever. I just want a second opinion and someone to help me with my anxiety problems.)

It was too nice to go straight home after I left Dad and Jodie's. I treated myself to a Frozen Chocolate from Dunkin' Donuts on the White Horse Pike. It obviously came from a hot chocolate mix - it was kind of grainy - but it tasted pretty good. They were a lot busier on the drive-through than inside. The girl took my order while helping another customer at the window!

When I did go home, I briefly resumed writing, partially to drown out Charlie working on the siding. Luke does manage to rescue Leia...only to be nearly knocked out by a wall of water. Vader flooded the room and tried to drown her. Once Luke frees her, she manages to use her fire powers to (accidentally) knock out the computer consoles. Harris hands them his homemade weapons that shoot sticky gunk at people or freezes them.

Made flounder cooked in vegetable stock with steamed asparagus for dinner. Had it while watching the remaining Rick Steves episodes. Turkey, Isreal, and Palestine are all fascinating countries...but Rick doesn't shy away from a short discussion of all the trouble the latter two are having with their border disputes. The Dead Sea and the Jordan River are both gorgeous areas - no wonder people insist on being baptized in the latter.

Returned to Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga after dinner. Thought I'd give this one a third shot. Got through the first three Phantom Menace rounds in a little over an hour. Got True Jedi on all three, but the only one where I found a lot of pieces was the second that introduces Jar Jar. Didn't find much on the other two.

Finished the night with something totally different. I was looking up some game shows I used to love as a kid when I noticed that a lot of them were now run on a channel called Buzzr...and that they stream for free online. Got to see one episode each of Press Your Luck, Match Game, Password Plus, and Card Sharks, and two of Supermarket Sweep. Password is the only one that's totally new to me. I watched Press, Supermarket Sweep, and the later CBS version of Card Sharks when they first ran, and I'm pretty sure I saw at least a little of Match Game in re-runs.

This brought back so many memories. I used to watch game shows all morning when I was home, and then catch them in re-runs on the USA Network later. It annoyed the heck out of Mom, who would have rather I been outside, but I loved learning all kinds of crazy trivia and getting to make fun of bad fashion. If you want to relive some fond memories too, here's the link:

Buzzr

One Stormy Evening

It was still sunny, hot, and humid when I rolled out of bed this morning. Celebrated the first month of summer with one of the Looney Tunes specials from the 1980's while I ate breakfast and baked Banana Oatmeal Bars. Bugs Bunny's Bustin' Out All Over features three shorts with a mild late spring theme. In the first one, we see how Bugs and Elmer met as a little bunny and a boy with a pop gun. The second has Bugs brought to Mars by Marvin the Martian to be the pet for his new friend the Abominable Snowman. The last short gives us typical Wil E. Coyote/Road Runner antics with a slight twist ending.

Bugs and the Toons are the only ones trying to avoid the heat. Garfield and the gang at US Acres have their own way of keeping cool, under heat and pressure, in a first season episode of Garfield and Friends. Garfield wants to win Jon a birthday present, but "The Binky Show" is hosted by the most annoying clown in animation. Orson is terrified that his brothers will pick on him when they visit the farm. Bo the Sheep shows him how "Keeping Cool" can drive off his bullying siblings. Garfield admonishes Odie "Don't Move" when he goes into a shop to get food, but that doesn't stop Odie from having a wild trip around town.

The sun and humidity remained as I headed to work this morning, but a nice, stiff breeze made things a lot more bearable. Work was far less of a problem than yesterday. They're finally training new cashiers, which means we had plenty of help up front all afternoon. There were two other baggers around, too. I did round up carts when I came in, but I mostly spent the day doing returns.

My food stamps came through today...all fifteen dollars of it. I can't believe they did this to me! I had 120 up until now. I need that money. I can't live on 15! I'll call them first thing Monday and find out why the reduction was so extreme. I only make slightly more money than I did before, not enough to make much of a difference.

For now, I was able to buy a few things that I did need. Took advantage of some major produce sales to pick up strawberries, small sweet peppers, mini-cucumbers, and a container of Campari tomatoes. Restocked cake mix, skim milk, jam, toilet paper, black beans, sandwich bags, cooking spray, chocolate chips, oatmeal, corn meal, yogurt, and tuna.

The pavement was still wet when I finally made it out. It looked like it had rained earlier. Indeed, dark clouds lingered, even as I headed home. I'd just heard the first stray rumbles of thunder when I made it through the door.

Tried writing for a little while, but I was hot and distracted. Palpatine is escorted into the throne room. He announces that he's taking over the throne...and all of the magic after the Great Confluence, to the dismay of many. Leia's about ready to throw a few knives at him, but someone else has other ideas...

Broke for dinner at 7. Since it was so late, I kept my meal simple. Had an Italian Chicken Salad - sliced mushroom chicken with tomatoes and cucumbers, on a bed of the last of the greens, topped with home-made balsamic vinaigrette dressing. Yum! Came out very well, actually. All the flavors complimented each other nicely.

Played Lego Indiana Jones while I ate. I'm still having problems with glitches on "Shanghai Showdown" preventing me from getting the last piece. The last piece on the first round of the game requires out-running the infamous boulder, something I just can't seem to figure out how to do. I did manage to finish "Free the Slaves" and "Desert Ambush" (including the part I got stuck on before in the latter).

Switched to the Disney animated Cinderella after I got tired of the game. I really wasn't up to anything more complicated than the tale of a put-upon young lady who gets to attend a ball and win a prince's heart, with the help of her mouse companions and an eccentric fairy godmother. This is one of my favorite Disney movies. Cindy's a fun character, the antics of the mice are cute, the animation is lovely, and Lady Tremaine is one of the most chilling of all Disney villains. Highly recommended.

It had been pouring and thundering off and on since about 8 PM. Finished the night and honored the weather with One Stormy Night, one of my favorite record finds. This is a collection of instrumental music, interspersed with the sounds of rain and thunder. It's a lot more relaxing and enjoyable than it sounds from a group called "The Mystic Moods Orchestra."

Keep Calm and Make Movies

The rain from earlier in the morning was just ending by the time I rolled out of bed. Had breakfast while watching an episode of Wonder Woman on protecting the Earth, "Formicida." The third season had some pretty bizarre plots, but this one really takes the wooden cake. The title character is a scientist who has taken on the strength and stamina of ants. She kidnaps her own brother after he sells their pesticide formula to a major company. Problem is, it wasn't finished. If mixed with water and polluted air, it could turn deadly to animals and humans. When the head executive refuses to stop the production of the formula, she orders her ants to destroy his buildings. Wonder Woman has to show them that two wrongs don't make a right...and you can't save the Earth by harming others.

It was still showering a little bit when I headed to work. While I did do carts in the morning, before the afternoon baggers arrived, I spent most of the first half of my shift doing returns. I did get stuck in the register once before break...and of course, I had to deal with an obnoxious customer who made a fuss over not knowing where the right cheese for her WIC check was. She had the wrong one twice. By the time I returned from getting the right one, she'd already left.

The rest of the afternoon went far more pleasantly. I finally got to those two carts of candy. Spent a couple of hours shelving candy bars and Mentos. I'm pretty proud of myself. Not only did I manage to get both carts done, but I did it literally with no time to spare. Shortly after dumping the empty boxes in the baler, I was out the door and on my way home. The rain was long-gone by that time, too. The sun was in and out for the rest of the day, and it was warm and very humid for April.

The papers for the review for my food stamps were in the mail box when I arrived. To my shock, they're due on the 29th...which is a Sunday. I'm pretty sure the Camden County offices are likely closed on that day. Plus, I swear the case manager told me they were due by June, not within four days! I'll have to do it tomorrow, on top of everything else I have planned.

Calmed down with some writing. Leia challenges Palpatine to a duel. She's barely holding her own with the surprisingly nimble older man when she manages to get the table on him. Leia takes off with the others, sending Luke and Lando to retrieve the servants. She and Han get outside...just as a towering, fire-breathing black dragon smashes out of the dining hall window! Leia attacks the dragon while Han and Chewie rush to retrieve Falcon.

Palpatine, however, beats her back, finally getting her against the edge of the mountain. He sneeringly tells the girl that her beloved father had once worked for him, killing his political enemies, including children. Anakin turned away this life after he tries to stop Palpatine from murdering Sir Mace Windu, one of the Jedi Order's best knights, and Padme reveals that she's pregnant. He was banished from the kingdom after that, fleeing Palpatine's wrath with his wife and best friend. Leia's shocked, but he has no qualms telling her that he hopes she'll do what her father couldn't - work for him and be his right-hand.

Broke for dinner at quarter of 7. Had leftovers while watching an episode of Danger Mouse. "The Invasion of Colonel K" has Baron Von Greenback entering the slightly senile Colonel's mind and taking it over. He fires DM and Penfold, but Dr. Squawkencluck catches wind of his scheme and shrinks them as well. Now it's a race to the Colonel's mind to keep Greenback from accessing the highly sensitive information stored in his memories.

Did Wii Sports after dinner. Mostly focused on tennis this time around. While I'm not bad at hitting balls and I'm getting better at hitting targets, I still can't aim straight. I think the most I've gotten on the "Timing Your Swing" mini-game is 5. The actual game went better. Won the first three games; lost the second ones.

Moved on to Lego Star Wars after about a half-hour. Thanks to an online tutorial, I was finally able to get the last piece I needed for "Retake Theed Palace" and complete that round. Also did the first five bounty hunter missions. I was only able to complete three; I'll re-do the other two and play a few more another time.

Finished the night online with Their Finest. It's 1940 at a movie studio in war-torn London. Catrin Cole (Gemma Arterton) is hoping her new scenario, about two sisters who tried to take part in the Dunkirk evacuations, will allow her to make money for her artist husband Ellis (Jack Huston) and stay in London. She and three other screenwriters, including Tom Buckley (Sam Clafin), are recruited to write the screenplay. As the movie goes on, they find themselves expanding the part of a drunk uncle for aging leading man Ambrose Hilliard (Bill Nighy) and tacking on an American character to appeal more to the US. The American character is played by a Norwegian-American pilot (Jake Lacy) who is useless with dialogue. Catrin develops a friendship and rivalry with Tom as the location shooting continues that eventually turns to love, to the consternation of her so-called husband. But the movie's having it's difficulties...and when tragedy strikes, Catrin will have to decide whether it's worthwhile to continue with the movie, or leave it behind.

Ok comedy-drama isn't sure what it wants to be, a romantic comedy or a moving tale of people dealing with the tragedies of war time, or both. Clafin and Arterton do come off well as the romantic leads, and Nighy's leading man-turned reluctant teacher nearly walks off with the movie. Not bad for fans of the time period, the cast, or British war history if you can find it.

Winds of Spring

Started off the morning with a quick breakfast and the Tiny Toons episode "New Class Day." In "The Just-Us League of Superheroes," Super Buster, Wonder Babs, Aqua-Byron, Beeper Flash, Pink Canary (Sweetie), Scentanna (Fifi), and Calamity Arrow invite Batduck (Plucky) and Decoy (Hamton) to join their group, then turn them away when it's revealed they have no superpowers. They regret it when they're attacked by Wex Wuthor (Montana Max) and the duck and pig are the only ones who can save the day. "Sound Off" spoofs Out of the Inkwell and other silent and early sound shorts. Buster and Babs are enjoying a picnic, until Dizzy spins through and ruins it. They find a (dialogue-free) way of getting even. Babs is Groucho, Buster is Chico, Hamton is Zeppo, and Gogo is Harpo in "A Night in Kokomo." They have to help Mrs. Rittenhouse get the money to save her hotel to Mr. Mayonnaise in time.

(This was by far my favorite episode on this set. "Sound Off" in particular was very well done. Someone at Warners did their homework - the cartoon does look very much like the silent Felix the Cat and Out of the Inkwell shorts. "A Night at Kokomo" was pretty accurate, too. Babs was born to play Groucho. And "League of Superheroes" may actually be more relevant now than it was in 1992. In the early 90's, the joke was Batman and Robin were by far the most famous of pretty much any of those characters except for Superman and maybe Wonder Woman, and they were still rejected. Now, almost every one of those characters has appeared in at least one major movie or TV show.)

Camden County called me for an interview about renewing my food stamps around 10:30. Basically, it was the same thing and the same questions as last time. They're going to send me another packet that I'll have to get off to them. I don't know how I'm going to get those pay stubs, though. I direct deposit my paychecks.

Worked on a little bit of writing. Han tells Leia that his friend Lando might be able to help get them back to Coruscant unseen. He's living in a mining town in Bespin that isn't friendly to Palpatine and his monsters. Maz reminds him that Lando may not be speaking to him after having lost his horse Falcon to him in a rigged poker game. Han waves this off, claiming he'd probably have forgotten about it by now.

Finally broke after messing around with the computer for an hour at noon. Despite the showers and blustery, cold wind, I had laundry to do. I got in just in time, and not only to avoid the weather. It wasn't too bad when I dropped my load in the washer. By the time I was pulling them out of the dryer, the place was packed. I half-listened to the news and worked on story notes.

There was an Amazon box waiting for me when I got home. Lauren's birthday present to me was a box of healthy snacks - whole wheat fig bars, fruit bars, granola bars, the Kind nut bars. Yum! That was literally very sweet of her. I was especially happy with the fig bars. The Acme used to sell the Nature's Bakery whole-wheat fig bars, but they've disappeared since the remodeling, and I haven't seen them anywhere else. 

After I put the laundry away, I considered calling it a day. While the rain showers weren't heavy, it was windy and still fairly cold for this time of year, 51 according to the digital marquee at Oaklyn's City Hall. I finally compromised and did a few small things. Had lunch at Phillies Phatties. They were surprisingly busy for 2 PM on a rainy Thursday, with another person having lunch and others coming in to order food. I had a slice of cheese pizza, a slice of broccoli, and a can of Pepsi Cherry Vanilla while watching ESPN discuss the NFL Draft next week. 

Dodged road work on the corner of Manor and West Clinton as I headed up to the White Horse Pike. I needed a few things at Dollar General, notably cooking spray (theirs is much cheaper than the Acme's), underwear, a card for Khai's 8th birthday today, and applesauce cups. They were also busy; thankfully, the line went fast.

Did a little bit more writing when I got home, then had leftovers for dinner while watching the remaining Toons episodes. "Fox Trot" has Babs and Buster being chased by two foxes they claim are "Fox Network executives." (The show moved from syndication to the then-new Fox Network for its third and final season.) Plucky thinks a tape of loud bagpipe music is "My Brilliant Revenge" for Hamton destroying his bagpipes. Hamton has a better way of handling their feud. Elmyra learns that you "Can't Buy Me Love" when her spoiled new neighbor demands her way in everything, or she won't be Elmyra's friend. But even Elmyra has her limits, and she finally turns the girl away when she demands that she give up Furball. Steven Spielburg is on the "Phone Call from the 405." He wants Babs and Buster to do their scenes with the foxes over and over. Babs and Buster finally pull him into the scene.

Got Khai's birthday present and card together and called Rose to ask her when to bring it over (she said Saturday) as the last episode on the set finished out. Buster and Calamity goes back in time to find out "What Makes Toons Tick." Dizzy has a literal "Whirlwind Romance" when he falls in love with a whirlwind that he thinks is a fellow Tasmanian Devil. "Going Up" is another adventure with toddler Plucky Duck, this time in an elevator. A monster who normally lurks in closets learns that going up against Lil' Sneezer is "Nothing to Sneeze At."

Incidentally, while this was probably my least-favorite of the four Tiny Toons sets, there's still some fun episodes to be found here. My favorites were "Toon Physics," "Acme Cable TV," "Love Disconnection," "Kon-Ducki," and "New Class Day." If you're a fan of this show, go ahead and get the entire series. There's only three seasons spread out over four sets anyway, and you can probably find all four sets for as little as ten dollars each in some stores. (My copy of Volume 3 was $9.99 at Rite Aid.)

Spent a lot of time working on Wii Sports after dinner, since I didn't really do much walking or moving around today. KO'd at least four guys in boxing, although the last took me two rounds. I also did much better at tennis, losing one set and winning another, got my best-ever bowling score, and didn't do too badly at beginner golf. Worked on a few mini-games later. I'm really getting the hang of hitting balls in tennis, to the point where I got a silver medal in that with a different character.

Switched to Lego Star Wars after about an hour. I finally found the red brick in the Pod Race round...which turned out to be the extra that helps you find the red bricks. I used it to find the few remaining red bricks I didn't have, including the 4X extra. Attempted to find the blue pieces in "Escape From Echo Base" and to do the Bespin stud-gathering extra; didn't do especially well in either.

Finished the night after a shower with Hot Shots! Topper Harley (Charlie Sheen) is called back to the Navy to help with a top secret mission. He immediately gets into a feud with a stuck-up fellow pilot (Cary Elwes) and is sent to the base psychologist (Valeria Golino) to deal with his father having flown in a mission that went wrong. After he's late for a flight and his wingman Dead Meat (William O'Leary) dies, he's almost thrown out, but the eccentric and slightly senile Admiral Benson (Lloyd Bridges) insists he lead the mission. Now Topper has to overcome his fears that he'll end up just like his father, save the free world, get the girl, and figure out who on the base is trying to sabotage the Navy's planes. 

While this is mainly a spoof of Top Gun, references range from Ghost to Dances With Wolves. Sheen, Golino, and Elwes are funny as the main trio, but it's Lloyd Bridges as the cheerfully impenetrable (seriously, nothing can penetrate him - he's had a part replaced in every major war) Tug Benson who really makes the movie, along with some decent gags. Also look for Jon Cryer as a sight-challenged pilot, Kristy Swanson as the only female pilot, and Bill Irwin as Topper's dad in the opening segment.

Of Singing Sailors and Sailor Guardians

Slept in this morning, which I very much needed. It was past 10:30 when I got to breakfast and the next Sailor Moon disc. "Labyrinth of Water: Ami the Targeted" has the Guardians' resident genius wondering if there's something else in her life besides studying to become a doctor. She hits the pool to soothe her rattled nerves and encounters fellow water-lover Micheru. The older girl scolds her after she holds back on a swimming competition between them. Usagi trying to push Ami into studying doesn't help. It takes team work from Sailor Moon, Tuxedo Mask, and the cats to get rid of the fishy monster that attacks Ami after a second go-around with Micheru.

Started the next one as I got organized to head out. The new and original Guardians finally start working together in "To Save Our Friends: Moon and Uranus Join Forces." Kaorinite uses a motor cross racer with big dreams to lure Uranus and Neptune into a trap. She captures Neptune...but Sailor Moon, who was riding home with Haruka on her motorcycle, shows up too. Moon and Uranus learn a lot more than they ever thought about each other when the tire-themed monster shackles them together.

Went out for a stroll around 11:30. It was cloudy and cool by that point, in the mid-70's, and very humid. The neighborhood is still fairly green for this time of year, with only a few spots of brown grass seen in uncovered lawns. Brilliantly colored geraniums, asters, lilies, late roses, phlox, and black-eyed Susans brightened gardens and window boxes.

First stop of the day was the Oaklyn Library. Despite the blah weather, they weren't busy. It was just me, the librarian, an older woman on the computer, and CNN fussing about politics the entire time I was there. I organized DVDs and looked over the board books before I got tired of hearing about what Trump did this time and left.

Went across the White Horse Pike to Family Dollar next. I was hoping to find batteries for cheap. Their Energizer packs were about the same price as Dollar General's, and they only came in 4-packs. The larger packs were more expensive. I could get larger packs for cheaper at the Acme.

WaWa is less than a block from Family Dollar. Decided to pick up a quick lunch there. Ordered a simple turkey whole wheat "shorti" hoagie and a black and white milkshake (which were on sale for $1.99). Turns out you can use your food stamps to buy all WaWa foods, including pre-made hoagies and milkshakes (you can't buy pre-made food with food stamps at Acme, but that may just include hot foods).

Headed down Manor Avenue, stopping at the wooden benches on West Clinton for lunch. They were surprisingly quiet for lunch on a summer's day. A lot of people probably went on vacation. I watched cars drive by and owners chat outside their storefronts.

The sun had emerged by the time I left the library...and with it came the heat. It had vanished again as I rounded the corner onto Manor. It even sprinkled a little.

Finished out the Sailor Moon episode I started earlier, then went back out to do the laundry. It was busy when I arrived, but by the time my clothes were in the drier, the crowds had mostly vanished. Good thing, because I had a big load, including clothes from vacation and the towels I used to soak up a wet spot on the dining area carpet. I focused on my story notes and half-listened to Who Wants to Be a Millionaire and General Hospital.

Continued with Sailor Moon as I put my clothes away when I got home. Usagi is far from the only lover in Tokyo who gets unnecessarily jealous. Rei's friend Yurichuro is worried about her constant meditating in "A Man's Kindness: Yurichuro Heartbroken by Rei." He thinks she's interested in someone else...and goes absolutely ballistic when he sees Haruka giving Rei a ride home. Thinking Haruka is a man, he decides after challenging her to leave town. Determined to bring them back together, Usagi follows the duo to the trolley car stop...which turns out to be a monster after Yurichuro's pure heart.

Did some writing next. Leia awakens at the Alderaan Country Club on a private island near-by to find herself a prisoner of Peter Tarkin, a sleazy lawyer for Empire Industries. He and Vader want her to tell them where she hid the plans for their huge mall and resort...but she has no intention of telling. She wants to give the plans to her idol, Senator Martha Mothma.

Finished out the Sailor Moon disc as I made turkey hot dogs, roasted broccoli, and Blueberry-Honey Muffins for dinner. (Actually, the Usagi's bad birthday episodes are the last ones on the disc, but I just did them for my birthday in April. I may return to them later.) The normally cheerful Minako is feeling stifled by her calling as a Guardian in "I Want to Quit Being a Guardian: Minako's Dilemma." She wants to go back to playing volleyball, which she'd been good at. When a guy she used to play with that she had a crush on is targeted, she realizes just how important her job is.

Switched to Anchors Aweigh as I did the dishes and went online. Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra headline this 1945 musical extravaganza. Kelly and Sinatra are sailors on leave...but instead of New York (as in the later On the Town), they find themselves in LA. Joe (Kelly) already has a girl. Shy Clarence (Sinatra) is hoping Joe will help him find one of his own. He initially falls for Susie (Kathryn Grayson) after they bring her Navy-loving nephew Donald (Dean Stockwell) home. Joe claims Clarence knows renowned pianist and orchestra leader Jose Iturbi (himself) and can get an audition with him. Even though Clarence is now more interested in a waitress from Brooklyn he met at a cafe on Olvera Street (Pamela Britton), he still tries to help Susie get that audition. Meanwhile, Joe tells the kids of Donald's school the story of a king (Jerry the Mouse) who doesn't like to dance, and how he showed him how much fun dancing can be.

As you may have noticed, the story is barely of consequence. It's the musical numbers that are the thing in this big Technicolor MGM show. While Kelly's "Worry Song" dance with Jerry is by far the most famous routine, there's a lot of other good numbers, including Kelly's Spanish-tinged ballet towards the end and two lovely ballads for Sinatra, "What Makes the Sunset?" and "I Fall In Love Too Easily."

The dull script makes this second-tier MGM, despite it's cast and five Oscar nominations (with one win, for Original Music Score). If you're a major fan of the cast or 40's musicals or run into it on TCM, the routines are worth a look.

Secret Agents and Daring Detectives

Kicked off a cloudy morning with breakfast and some particularly strange season 4 episodes of Danger Mouse. DM and Penfold follow Baron Greenback from Gibraltar to the "Tower of Terror" in New York City. The tower isn't so much terrifying as it is plain strange, as it's the home of a group of practical jokers. Elephants randomly stampede, people climb around on the ceiling, and DM somehow manages to walk off the edge of the film strip.

"Four Heads are Better Than Two," or so Colonel K thinks when he sends robot versions of Danger Mouse and Penfold off to a pinball palace that Greenback is re-configuring to rule the world. One pair has to find Agent 57, the master of disguise; the other must secure Greenback. The robots prove to be a little too much like their originals...and then the mechanical Penfold is caught by the Baron...

I was about to head out to the grocery store when I happened to peek in the mail box to see if anything came for me. Sure enough, my new food stamp card had arrived! I went inside to call Camden County and set a password for it, then went back out.

The card couldn't have come at a better time. While I didn't need a lot of groceries, I did have to pick up a few that were fairly expensive, like whole wheat flour. Found a breaded flounder fillet pack and a small container of mini-scallops with manager's coupons. Restocked yogurt, butter, shampoo, canned pineapple, peanut butter, vanilla, and ground chicken. Had an online coupon for the new Halo Top ice cream; decided I couldn't resist the red velvet. Needed Liquid Plumber badly for the sink in the kitchen. They were having a dollar sale on small baguettes; bought a sesame seed-topped one. Bought a Dasani Sparkling Water for the way home.

Returned to Danger Mouse as I poured the Liquid Plumber down the drain and put everything else away. Moved ahead to the shorter episodes of the sixth season as I got organized. The dynamic rodent duo discover that "Alping Is Snow Easy Matter" when they have to stop Greenback from defrosting the ice caps and flooding the world. Penfold's yelling "Aagggh! Spiders!" when Greenback's crow assistant Silletto uses one of his boss' machines to create giant arachnids. "One of Our Stately Homes Is Missing" when a beautiful old mansion is stolen and held for ransom. DM and Penfold help a fellow government agency recover it.

Went back out again to run more errands, this time starting at the Westmont Bagel Shop for lunch. The "smokin' hickory" wrap I had - grilled chicken with cheese, bacon, and barbecue sauce - was amazing, thick and sweet and just tangy enough. As usual, I ate the pickles and cole slaw but put the bag of chips aside. I'm not a fan of chips. It was busy with people coming out of offices, though at least one couple had gone by the time I was finished.

Next stop was the Haddon Township Library. Spent an hour organizing the children's and adults' DVDs. The kids' area was especially bad. I doubt anyone's done that for a while. Someone did finally realize that we have so many Sesame Street and Thomas the Tank Engine titles, they don't fit in with the rest of the discs anymore. They've been moved to their own shelves.

Took out quite a few movies this week. Grabbed the last two Charlie Chan titles the library had, In Egypt and In Shanghai, and the next Star Trek title, The Final Frontier. One of Disney's newest shows is Tangled Before Forever After, apparently about Rapunzel and Flynn's adventures before they get married. I liked the movie enough to give this a chance. Also found last year's remake of Pete's Dragon. Took out He's a Bully, Charlie Brown in honor of the start of summer.

Made two quick stops on my way back to Oaklyn. Finally dropped Dad-Bill's Father's Day card in the post office, since I was going by there anyway. Went around the corner to Dollar General for sugar.

My last stop of the day was at Dad and Jodie's house. I haven't been over there since Dana's graduation party at the beginning of the month. They were watching an old Law & Order episode with a neighbor when I came in. I told them about getting my food stamps and about the repairs on the house. Jodie told me that they did finally call Greyhound. They won't be sending the tickets until likely next week. They don't want us to lose them before I go, which is perfectly reasonable. And no, she hasn't heard about the doctor. Rose and Mom apparently have to sign things, too, and Rose's focus is more on the baby that's due in a month at the moment.

We went out to the pool for a while and ate cheese and crackers while we talked. Mary and Emily and their mom arrived twenty minutes later to go swimming. I decided it was time to head home. It was a tad less humid, but the sky was still off and on cloudy, and the wind was getting worse.

Did a little bit of writing when I got in. Henry has been officially made part of the newly combined League of the Crimson Hawk and Rebel Society. He's going to lead the group that'll help out the people being forced to work the mines in Endor. Leia and Charles sign up immediately. Luke and Rusty do it the moment they come in the door. Leia realizes there's something different about Luke, but he says they'll discuss it later...

Broke around 6:30 to have a quick peanut butter and jelly sandwich and leftover snap peas for dinner. Did some crocheting while I watched Charlie Chan In Egypt. Charlie is asked to help out while on holiday when an archaeologist disappears, worrying his already nervous daughter Carol (Pat Paterson). Neither his assistant Tom (Thomas Beck) nor Carol's doctor (Jameson Thomas), nor his brother, a fellow archaeologist (Frank Conroy) know where he is...until he turns up murdered. His son Barry (James Eagles) insists it was a curse, but Charlie thinks there's something more down-to-Earth involved when he discovers that priceless artifacts from the late professor's expedition have been turning up in private collections and museums.

On one hand, this is one of the more interesting early Charlie Chan stories. It makes far more use of the setting than In Rio, with its shadowy tombs and bustling markets. There's a fairly involving plot, too, especially the ingenious way the son is killed later. This is also the first Chan movie I've seen with no number one or two son around to flirt or cause trouble.

Unfortunately, this one is marred by some heavy-handed stereotyping, and not from Charlie Chan. Stepin Fetchit, (in)famous for his portrayal of the worst kind of lazy African-American, plays Tom's helper on the expedition. His bumbling cowardice is likely supposed to replace Charlie's sons as comic relief, but not only is his character obnoxious, but he has the most annoying high-pitched voice, too. And those of you looking for Rita Hayworth in this will be disappointed. She only has a few scenes as a native maid under the stage name Rita Cansino.

Recommended if you love the Chan series or Indiana Jones-style mysteries, but do keep in mind that this is entirely a film of its time, up to and including Fetchit.

Sizzling (Almost) Summer

I awoke to another hot day that I once again spent primarily in my room. Charlie and his boys finally showed up around 9 (after saying he'd be here at 8:30). I was afraid to turn on the air conditioner. Between my laptop being on all day and all the drills and power tools the guys were using, I was afraid to blow out the electrical grid.

Finally broke for lunch around 12;30. I ate at the Square Meal, down the street from me on West Clinton. This new eatery emphasizes fast food that's good for you. I had a turkey-meatloaf sandwich with spinach and pepper-jack cheese and a vinegar and garlic German Red Potato Salad. The turkey sandwich was ok, with tons of spicy cheese. (I didn't realize the cheese was pepper-jack. Should have read the whole menu.) The potato salad was a tad too vinegary.

It was past 1 when I finally moved onto the Oaklyn Library. I was far from the only person there. The pre-school on West Clinton isn't air-conditioned and had brought their kids to the library to cool off. I couldn't have gotten to the DVDs or books, even if I wanted to. I just ended up using their printer for the remaining items I needed to send to Camden to get my food stamps.

It was so hot, I treated myself to a milkshake from WaWa after I left the library. The order monitor said they had a new coffee flavor, so I thought I'd try that. It wasn't terrible, but it was strong. It may have been a little too much coffee flavoring for me! At least it was also cold.

Went down to the post office next to send off the application at the post office. Since it didn't require postage, I probably could have sent it from anywhere, but I really want it to get to Camden by the due date on Thursday. Dollar General is around the corner, so I hit up there afterwards for batteries.

The men were still working on putting in the new front door when I got in around 2:30. I just continued to write. Rusty and Cedric find Luke at Benjamin Kenton's old cottage by the beachfront. He's working on a new electrical saber to replace the old one. Rusty tells him about Leia's capture. His saber now complete, he's finally ready to execute his plan.

He shows up at Jenkins' later that day, dressed as a sober gentleman in a dark suit. He tries to bargain with Huttman, but the obese casino owner doesn't want to give up his captives...including "pet" Leia in a jeweled collar and chain. He opts to have Fettson and another guard toss Luke into an aquarium with his man-eating squid instead.

After managing to dodge it several times and stuffing a board in its mouth, Luke finally crushes it in a pile of rocks. Jenkins' isn't happy about losing his other favorite toy and orders Luke, Henry, and Charles brought before him...

The men were done by the time I broke for dinner. Done for the day, that is. I knew Charlie wasn't going to finish installing a door and part of a roof in two days, especially given it got up to the mid-90's here today. Unfortunately, that meant my apartment is still a mess, with things moved all over the kitchen and living room. I wish they'd just told me sooner, so I could have packed everything in boxes and moved to Dad and Jodie's house temporarily, like we originally planned. This is a pain.

Not a fan of the new front door, either. It's too huge both ways, very tall and very wide. Not to mention, very white. I hope he plans on painting it. It doesn't match the brown/yellow/tan look up here at all. I don't know how I'm going to get my wreath back up, either. The window is enormous. I liked the smaller window in the old door - it had more privacy.

I was so tired and hot and frustrated, I just had banana-chocolate chip muffins, yogurt, and cherries for dinner. Listened to the Julie Andrews US cast album of The Boy Friend, a riff on 20's musicals, to cheer me up while I ate.

Finished the night with more Lego Clone Wars, after I moved the cookbook shelves enough to get to the TV. (Not to mention the cookbooks, which are piled up in front of the TV and VCR.) The last General Grievous mission is appropriately titled "Grievous Intrigue." When Grievous kidnaps a Jedi Master, Anakin, Obi-Wan, and his padawan board his latest battle cruiser to rescue him and bring the cyborg down for good.

This was another really long round, with multiple platforms. You start out with your basic puzzles and slice droids, then deal with Grievous and his MegaDroids. Grievous was tough until I figured out you have to toss him into the wall after you throw things at him. Taking him out (or at least enough to end the round) required switching back and forth between Obi-Wan and the padawan, who stood behind him and out of his sight...enough to attack him. It even switches to flying mode at one point when Anakin takes down his ship.

Next up will probably be Ventress' final stand, as the Jedi liberate Ryloth for good.

More Yard Sales Than There are In the Heavens

The weather was absolutely amazing when I awoke this morning. It was sunny, bright, and hot, but a cool wind kept it from feeling unbearable. Did a couple of random movie-related Looney Tunes to celebrate while I ate breakfast. "Daffy In Hollywood" has the kooky duck driving a director crazy on the set of his big romance. Porky and his buddy Beans don't have much more luck trying to get their big break and avoiding a robot that looks like Frankenstein's Monster in "Hollywood Capers."

It was almost 10 before I finally got out the door. Today was not only the day of Oaklyn's Town-Wide Yard Sale. Collingswood's got rained out last Saturday, so they tried again this week. I'd never seen so many yard sales at one time before! Ironically, considering most Oaklyn yard sales tend to be heavy on kids' stuff and knick-knacks, everything I got today I bought within walking distance of my apartment.

The first find of the day was a smaller sale on Landis. They had a big box full of DVDs, mainly comedies and action films. I've wanted to grab Roman Holiday at a decent price for a while now. Also finally picked up three James Bond films I didn't have, The World Is Not Enough, Moonraker, and Connery's 80's Thunderball remake Never Say Never Again.

The Oaklyn Library always has their annual book sale in conjunction with the Town-Wide Yard Sale. No good fiction books, but I did find the 1988 and 1992 Christmas With Southern Living books and The Little Red Writing Book on grammar and syntax.

There was so much going on, I didn't make it to the Collingswood Farm Market until past 11. Cherries and snap peas are out now, just in time for birthday parties, graduation parties, and barbecues. It was still pretty busy there as I dodged elbows and bought mushrooms, cherries, carrots, the small organic red and green romaine lettuce, and bananas.

Stopped at Rite Aid for a quick Dew SA and to peek at the magazine rack. They finally had that Vanity Fair issue with the Star Wars cast on the covers I've been looking for. They even had the Carrie Fisher cover.

Headed over to Oriental and then down to Park Avenue, but didn't see any good sales. Cut through Knight Park to return to Oaklyn. I did stop at a house near CVS and the car wash and buy a flower-shaped Wilton cake pan.

Rode up and down the side streets on Newton, where I found several good sales. The best had rows and rows of collectibles, including bags of loose Sectaurs and He-Man toys from the 80's that Matt from Dinosaur Dracula would have loved. I just bought a set of Sherlock Holmes radio shows featuring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce.

I'd looked at a really nice dark wood shelf at a sale two blocks down Manor earlier in the day. It was dirty, but otherwise in really good shape. The old man who owned the house said he'd made it himself. I ended up getting not only that for a dollar, but two small wooden wall shelves, too.

Charlie was there when I got back. I asked him about the air conditioner again, since it's going to get really hot starting tomorrow. Turns out neither he nor his mother are under any obligation to either provide or help with the air conditioning at all, according to the lease agreement. That would explain why the other air conditioner suddenly disappeared. I asked him to help me install it as a neighbor. I really don't know anyone else who can. He said he'd do it tomorrow.

He also told me that he's going to start the heavy work on raising the roof over the door on Monday and Tuesday. Which means everything in the living room is going to have to be covered. Great. I don't know why he wants to do it in 90 degree heat, but that's on him. I guess he's tired of waiting after the rain last week.

Went to work a little early to get this week's schedule. More-or-less the same as last week, only with a later day on Sunday. Tuesday and Friday off again. Other than I wish they'd give me more hours, that's fine. Par for the course at this time of year.

The Acme was fairly busy with people coming in from various events when I arrived. They cleared out fairly quickly after that. I mainly cleaned the bathrooms and did the carts. Wish I had more help with the latter. The teenager they kept sending outside with me would only push two or three carts per round. It takes forever to do it that way. You have to push at least five or six or more.

And after several attempts to try to remember a user name and password I hadn't touched in three years, two managers were able to help me log onto the Acme's system and print out my paycheck stubs for the last 30 days. Now all I need to do is find a place to print out my telephone/internet bill and make copies of a few things, and I'll be able to send out the food stamp application.

Had leftovers and a green salad for dinner when I got in. Made Banana-Chocolate Chip "Old School" Muffins while watching the second half of Moonraker, which I began during lunch. James Bond (Sir Roger Moore) is out of this world...literally...when he investigates the theft of a US space ship. His search leads him to the mysterious astronaut Dr. Holly Goodhead (Lois Chiles)...and to Jaws (Richard Kiel), the hulking, metal-toothed killer who is still after him. Bond's search takes him from a wild gondola chase through Venice, to a motorboat romp in the Amazon...and to the farthest reaches of space when it turns out Drax's plans are far more sinister than just stealing space ships.

As a kid, I always thought this was too weird for words, especially that wild finale in space. I kind of like it better now. There were some really nice action chases and set pieces (I liked the second boat chase in the jungle far more than that crazy gondola), and really, outer space isn't that strange for a Bond movie when you think of it. Wish Holly Goodhead was a bit stronger. Her going from scientist to spy for no reason in the middle of the movie seemed kind of random. Drax wasn't much better. His plot was almost identical to Stromberg's in The Spy Who Loved Me, except in space instead of under the ocean.

If this seems like an odd choice for Bond, the next Bond film after the hit The Spy Who Loved Me was supposed to be For Your Eyes Only. Then Star Wars happened, and flashy sci-fi was suddenly the hippest thing going. The change worked, at least at the box office. Moonraker was a massive blockbuster in 1979, the biggest Bond hit of the Moore years and the biggest hit in the franchise until Goldeneye in 1992.

Definitely one of the most "love it or hate it" of the Bond films. If you're a fan of Moore's run or like some of the more out-there Bond films or late-70's sci-fi, this might just be your cup of vodka martini.

Oh, and speaking of camp, a final "POW!" to Adam West, the original TV Batman, who passed away today. I was actually never that big on the 60's show (Rose is more into Batman than I am), but I did appreciate how the guy never took himself or the show seriously, especially in his many later appearances that often spoofed the original show and his "Caped Crusader" persona.

Battlefield Star Wars

Kicked off an early day with work. I arrived to a quiet store. Gathered carts for a half-hour or so, then spent most of the rest of the morning doing returns. I got stuck in the register twice, including ten minutes before I had to leave. We were once again low on help, which became a problem when we finally did start getting busier around 11:30-noon and there was no one coming in. I was almost late getting out.

Cheered myself up by taking the long way home down Nicholson Road. The sun had been in and out all day. Though it was a bit windy, it was still warmer than yesterday. Nicholson Road was a little busy, but once I got into Oaklyn, I was fine. Waved to two toddlers and their mother playing in their yard on the other end of Manor Avenue.

Changed and had a quick lunch when I got home. Ran an episode of Max & Ruby while I ate. With berries in season, I thought it was the right time for "Ruby's Berry Patch." Ruby wants to go berry picking and gather enough fruit for Grandma's big surprise. Max would rather eat his right away. "Ruby's Scout Banner" will be gorgeous...if Max can get his toys out of the way. When Ruby's stuffed duck Mrs Quack goes missing, "Ruby's Detective Agency" is on the case! But while his sister is busy tracking down clues, Max may already have an idea of who the culprit is.

Oh, and I did get the application for food stamps today, much earlier than I thought I would. I'll mostly just need to copy things, but I will need to figure out how to get my pay stubs when I do direct deposit.

Did writing for the rest of the afternoon. To Leia's horror, Henry has been encased in khyber crystal, with just enough left open for him to breathe. He's chained to a pedestal, arranged to look like a statute, and is pretty obviously drugged to the gills. Jenkins wants to keep him as a "decoration" to show others what happens when people don't pay him.

The grotesquely obese gangster is also interested in Leia. He actually gets her in his lap at one point, but she kicks him in a sensitive spot and escapes. She finally agrees to dinner with him in the hope of finding a way to free Henry.

Broke for dinner at quarter of 6. Ran an episode of Wonder Woman while I ate. "Diana's Disappearing Act" throws the female spy into the world of magicians and magical acts. Someone is trying to turn lead into gold and sell it to several oil-manufacturing countries, which will drive up the prices of oil even further and make them rich. When the scientist who was inspecting a gold pendant found at a crime scene vanishes, Diana knows she's on the right track. But if she's not careful, she'll be the one who disappears...

Finished the night with Lego Star Wars. "Storm Over Ryloth" was another "fly and fight" round. This was a bit more complicated than the previous fly and fight round, owing to there being more up and down between ship levels. It took me a while to figure out, but I did get through it. "Defenders of the Peace" was much easier, one of the rounds that has you building cannons and creating clone bunkers in order to shoot down enemy weapons. Didn't take me long once I figured out how to get to the battlefield.

Next time - back to Grievous to train a couple of "Rookies."

The County Interview

I'm still a little embarrassed. Dad and I were out the door at a little after 8. He suggested taking the PATCO, mentioning that there's nowhere to park at Camden's City Hall. He put money in the parking meter, we got our tickets, and made it upstairs. As we were waiting for the train to Camden, I pulled out the paper they sent me with the time to check where we were going...and I noticed that "telephone interview" was checked, not "in office interview." I showed Dad the paper, and we went right down the stairs and back out.  We wasted money on tickets and on the parking meter.

Charlie and his men were setting up tools when I got home. He'd decided to start building the dormer over the roof today because of the iffy weather. I also heard him mention to his men that the reason the door is so high up is because the porch isn't a porch. It was apparently a low part of the roof over the back of the house originally. He mentioned finally replacing the porch/roof later this summer. We'll see if he actually does it.

I'd just finished Supergirl at Super Hero High and had gone online when Camden County called. As it turned out, I didn't need all the drama last night with the printer. I went on PNC's website and told her my current balances, answering all the usual questions - how much money do you make, what's your rent, do you have a job, where is it, etc. For all the fuss, the lady was very pleasant. The whole thing took 20 minutes and was really no problem at all. She said they'll send me an application within two weeks.

Spent the rest of the morning writing and online. Broke for lunch around noon. Ran an episode of Sailor Moon from the first season while eating. The Guardians have gone wedding-crazy in "A Girl's Dream: Usagi Becomes a Bride." No, she doesn't get married. She's only 14. The person getting married is her home-ec teacher, who is hoping to sew the wedding dress of her dreams and win a contest for a lavish reception. She can't find the perfect fabric for her creation...until Nephrite hands her a bolt that he's cursed. Usagi's delighted when she ends up going undercover in the contest, but the monster that appears with her teacher is decidedly of a less romantic nature.

Returned to writing around 1. Leia gets Aunt Breha caught up with the news and explains where she's been since the Royal Regatta as they head to Lothal. Breha doesn't mind how she feels about Henry, but she's not sure how Bail will respond.

Charles finally lands the Falcon at a sheltered cove alongside the Rogue. Hera and her crew bring them to the hospital in town, where Luke has had a new mechanical hand grafted on. The entire group reconvenes as Langdon tells them his plans to take Charles and the Falcon on ahead to the Tatoonie Islands. Leia and Luke have plans of their own and gather the others around to tell them...

Did a quick Garfield travel special as I got ready for work (and Charlie and his boys put their tools away and fled to escape the incoming shower). Garfield Goes Hollywood when he, Odie, and Jon win a local Star Search-style contest. Garfield and Odie desperately want to win the big movie studio contract, but Jon's worried that their success may mean leaving him behind.

Work was busy all afternoon. Except for the first half-hour, when I bagged and returned a basket of cold items, I was outside for most of my shift. The head bagger was in a tizzy when I arrived, complaining that she hadn't had help all day and had been dealing with the carts on her own. The other bagger elaborated - she'd gotten stuck in a register and hadn't been able to help with the carts or anything else for hours.

The weather hadn't been wonderful all day. It started raining shortly before I left for work, and has showered off and on for pretty much the rest of the evening. It was hot and humid and sticky, but it was still better than dealing with all the upset customers inside. Those online coupon sales are getting a lot of people very angry. More than a quarter of our customers are older people who either won't, can't, or are terrified of trying any new technology. Half of them don't know what an app is, never mind having ours on their cell phone. If you haven't clipped the coupon online, you won't get the sale. And then there's the people who just don't read the signs.

At any rate, I was lucky. I had plenty of help, especially later in the afternoon when the kids let out of school, and I never landed in the registers. (Considering all the people annoyed about us being short on help again, I'm surprised they didn't call me in early.) The rain was gone when I finally headed home, but the clouds and heavy humidity lingered, and continue to at press time.

After a much-needed shower, I finished out my night with more Lego Clone Wars. Padme is in trouble in "Destroy the Malevolence" when she and C-3P0 are supposed to be on a mission to talk to General Grievous and end up surrounded by attack droids instead. Anakin, Obi-Wan, and R2-D2 go in after them. A lot of puzzle-solving in this one, with both droids and both Jedi. It took a little while to figure out, especially the crane that lifts a section of monorail car so you can walk across it and Obi-Wan trying to put together the mechanism for one of the doors. I'll give "Jedi Search" another shot next time I play.

Sunshine and Shadows

It was still sunny when I headed out to work this morning. Started out doing carts, and went between bagging and gathering carts for the remainder of my shift. The weather ended up being the reverse of yesterday. By noon, dull gray clouds began to gather and the wind picked up, though it never got as chilly as yesterday morning. We were very busy all day with people coming out of church, beginning-of-the-month people, and folks who didn't get to their Memorial Day barbecues last week due to the weather.

I took advantage of the relatively decent day to take the long way home down Nicholson Road. Surprisingly, considering what the Acme looked like, the only traffic I ran into was around the Hispanic church. No problems the rest of the way home, not even at the Wal Mart entrance.

When I got in, I had a quick lunch while listening to the first disc of The Best of James Bond, one of the CDs I bought during vacation. As an older collection (from the early 90's), this only features theme songs up to License to Kill. There's some good ones, though, including a few surprises. Moonraker was never my favorite Bond movie - the space theme is really odd, even for this series. The title song isn't bad, though. Other themes I didn't expect to enjoy as much as I did included Matt Munroe's lovely From Russia With Love title song and Shirley Bassey's searing theme for Diamonds are Forever.

Spent the rest of the afternoon writing and doing things online. Leia, Charles, and Cedric make their way into Chalindria Court, grabbing Hux to tell them what happened to the others. As it turns out, Ahsoka, Cassian, and Jyn have already rescued Breha and Mon Mothma and are leading them out through the mansion's numerous secret passages. They drag Hux along to the Falcon, where Charles proceeds to drop him on a near-by pile of compost. After they get rid of him, Leia turns the Falcon around to Lothal, where they intend to meet up with Luke, Langdon, and Rusty at the hospital.

Broke around quarter of 6 to eat and bake. Had tuna salad on hot dog rolls with farm-market-fresh lettuce for dinner. For dessert, I added butterscotch chips to the Butterscotch Brownies from The Betty Crocker Cooky Book in place of walnuts. They really made the brownies a tad too sweet. I'll cut down on the sugar level next time I make these.

Listened to the other CDs I bought on vacation while I baked. Those Were the Days are two collection of songs from the late 20's through the mid-30's. I listened to the first one with all the late 20's material to cheer me up on an evening that continued to be gloomy. Favorites here included "Dream a Little Dream" and Ruth Etting's version of "Button Up Your Overcoat."

Returned to my laptop to print out pages from my bank account to show for my food stamp appointment tomorrow, since I have direct deposit and I don't get pay stubs. Trouble is...my printer never printed. I spent over an hour trying to get it to work, and it refused. It printed tests, but not what I wanted it to. I uninstalled it and reinstalled it, plugged it in and took the plug out, took it off wireless and put it on Ethernet. Nothing worked. It will not print. I hate this stupid wireless printer, and I have since my stepdad gave it to me. It's always been so darn complicated. It says it'll only print apps...and since you can't print from your phone, I have no idea what it means. I'm just going to have to hope that my bank statements are enough tomorrow.

Party Time In the Sun

Began the day with an episode of Sailor Moon as I ate a quick breakfast and listened to a heavy spring shower. The guardians get up close and personal with the glamorous world of modeling in "Usagi Is a Model: The Flash of the Monster Camera." Usagi thinks her dream has come true when a young local photographer who attends Rei's school puts out an audition for young women for his photos. It turns out he's taking a lot more than nice pictures of pretty faces. Nephrite implanted a monster in his camera whose photos absorb the person whose picture is being taken! Now Sailor Moon has to use all her wits to deal with this shutter-bugged creature without the others' help.

The rain was winding down by the time I headed to work. I did do some returns and ended up cashiering during the first hour, but I spent most of the day outside. The first time I went out, around quarter of 11, it was starting to shower again, this time heavily. It didn't last. When I went back out after an early break, the clouds and the rain were long gone, leaving a gorgeous, breezy spring day in its wake.

Went straight home, dodging Charlie dragging the door and wood for the repairs on Tuesday upstairs. Changed into regular clothes, read a few chapters of Supergirl at Super Hero High, then headed back out. Today was another big party at Dad and Jodie's house, this time to celebrate the college graduation of Jodie's son Jesse's fiancee Dana.

The party was even bigger than Rose's baby shower was. There were so many people around, most people sat at tables under blue and white event tents set up on the driveway. There was another tent on the grass at the back of the pool area, and that's where I parked myself for most of the next two hours or so. A lot of the kids, including my nephew Khai, hit the pool, despite the fact that it was only in the 70's and not really that hot. I had a lovely chat with Chloe, Emily, and a friend of a cousin, Asia. Asia was apparently from the Dominican Republic and was unaccustomed to chilly water or chilly spring weather. While she warmed up, the girls and I discussed our families, their end-of-the-school-year Field Day, and the movies and cartoons we like. I spent most of my time talking to the girls or to Dad. I didn't know Dana's family or most of Dad and Jodie's friends who weren't from the neighborhood.

There was tons and tons of food! The dining room table groaned with two kinds of chicken (breaded and Marsala), meatballs in sauce, hot and sweet sausage, ribs, hot dogs for the kids, potato salad, two kinds of pasta salad (mayo-based and the oil-based vegetable one I had), green salad, baked ziti, a tasty baked macaroni and broccoli dish, cucumber salad, green beans, and crusty rolls. Rose provided a bowl of cut-up fruit and berries and another one of watermelon. For dessert, there was a massive sheet cake from the Acme, tarts and petit fours from Desserts By Design, a plate of candy-covered pretzels, and giant sugar and chocolate-chocolate chip cookies and an apple pie from Shop Rite. I had the baked ziti, macaroni, vegetable pasta salad, green salad, two chicken sandwiches, two slices of cake (one vanilla, one chocolate), two cookies, and a chocolate-covered pretzel.

I rode off around 5 with a very full stomach. There was one other thing I wanted to do before I made my way home. Sugar is cheaper at Dollar General and Family Dollar than it is at the Acme. Since Dollar General was closer, I went there. Went in, grabbed the sugar, went out.

Finished out the night before a shower with a little bit of writing. Leia, Charles, and Cedric make their way through a hedge tunnel (as best huge Charles can) and towards Chalindria Court. The mansion is swarming with Coruscant soldiers. They're all about to get a surprise, though...

And I got a notice from Camden County. My appointment is between 8:30 and noon on Monday. That, I can pull off. I don't work until 3 on Monday. I'll need a ride from Dad, though. That part of Camden is no place to be riding.

Sunny Day Dolls

It was sunny and breezy for the first time in ages when I awoke this morning. Celebrated with classic Dr. Seuss. The Cat In the Hat arrives to brighten two bored kids' day indoors. His wild antics searching for a (supposedly) lost family heirloom amuse the kids. The family fish doesn't think it's as all funny, especially after the Cat brings out his "Things" helpers who make an even bigger mess.

Headed out around 11:30 (after messing around with my phone for a while) to run a few errands in Oaklyn. Started with a quick stroll down to the CVS on the border of Collingswood and Oaklyn. I was looking for that Star Wars-themed Vanity Fair issue. No luck here either. I walked out with nothing.

Next stop was the Oaklyn Library. With the day becoming nicer and nicer by the minute, they were even less busy than CVS. It was just me and the librarian for most of the half-hour or so I was there. I mainly organized DVDs, then took a few out. I haven't seen The Secret Life of Pets at the Haddon Township Library yet, and it'll likely be a while before they get La La Land. I have fond memories of the original The Flash TV show from the early 90's and thought I'd give the first season of the recent version a try.

Strolled quickly to WaWa to pick up skim milk, then went down to Phillies Phatties for lunch. I had my usual slice of cheese and slice of mushroom, plus a can of Pepsi Fire. It was so nice by quarter of 1, I sat at the benches to eat, listening to a pair of college students chatter.

(By the way, the Pepsi Fire is...accurately named. It tastes pretty decent going down, sweet but a bit earthy, and very much like real cinnamon. The aftertaste, however, is spicy and biting and lingers rather unpleasantly in the back of your mouth afterwards. I don't regret having tried it, but I think I'll stick to Dew SA for the next few weeks for limited edition Pepsi flavors.)

Since it was still pretty early, I dressed the American Girl dolls for warmer weather when I got in. It turns out that Whitney does fit that Our Generation outfit Lauren gave me for Christmas (just barely). I'm not a fan of the Crocs that came with that outfit, so I added the fancy sandals from Jess' modern white formal dress instead. Sam's in (Rebecca's) Lace Dress and shoes. Molly got her birthday pinafore with the ruffled sleeves. Jessa's wearing (Ivy's) Rainbow Romper with the purple jelly sandals from her late-90's birthday outfit. Put Felicity in a white and blue cabbage rose-print gown I found at a doll clothes booth at the Deptford Mall one December. Josefina wears her lovely, hard-to-find Weaving Outfit and her beige moccasins.

Spent the next couple of hours at home, working on my story. Leia tends to Luke's wounds while Charles and Langdon drive the Falcon. Vader is on his ship the Death Star II, trying to take them down and get his son. Cedric thinks Rusty is crazy for wanting to fix Henry's experimental turbo engines...but he manages to do it just in time, blasting them out of sight.

Luke's worried about Vader going after them. Leia decides it's time to head home to Chalindria Court to figure out their next move. Besides, her aunt has to be worried sick by now. Langdon tosses his hat in, too. He can't go back, and he wants to settle the score with the Empire and make amends with Henry.

I also reapplied for food stamps. I've been putting it off because trying to get a hold of Camden County was such a pain back in February and March. I'll try again. I really need it.

Broke around quarter of 6. Made baked chicken with green beans sauteed in olive oil and turkey stock and a hot dog roll for dinner. Ran the first episode of The Flash while I ate. Barry Allen (Grant Gustin) is a forensic scientist for the Central City police department. He saw a flash of lightning as a child that killed his mother. No one believes him; his father (John Wesley Shipp) was arrested for the crime. One night, he too is struck by a strange lightning that makes him super-fast and gives him the ability to heal quickly and out-run time, among other powers. He's in a coma for 9 months after the lightning strike. Turns out a lot of people's lives changed that night, including an industrialist (Tom Cavanagh) who ended up wheelchair-bound. He and his assistants at STAR Labs want to test Barry's DNA and sell his regenerative powers. Barry, however, thinks he can be a force for good...and he gets his chance when he stops a thief previously believed dead who has the ability to call up killer wind storms.

Wow. Very impressive. Grant Gustin is an especially charismatic Barry. Can't wait to see where the rest of this goes...

Finished out the night with more Lego Clone Wars. An online tutorial at YouTube finally helped me get through that long round with Anakin and Obi-Wan chasing nasty Sith witch Asjji Ventress. That one got really complicated - you ended it by fighting her on her spider-like vehicle while it's falling to the ground! Although Jar Jar Binks was nominally the star of "Gungan General," the Clones were more useful in shooting vehicles to use to blow up power transmitters and rescue Anakin, Obi-Wan, and Dooku. Finally got to do a flying round for "Destroy the Malevolence," General Grievous' accurately-named ship. Kindly older Jedi Plo Koon got to target parts of the cyborg's massive war ship.

The third missions have opened. I'll probably return to Ventress and see where she takes me the next time I play.

What to Do Now

Began a cloudy morning with some quick Max & Ruby as I ate breakfast and got ready for work. There's a blizzard outside, so Ruby declares "Ruby's Snow Day." Her brother keeps trying to get outside. Max wants to find "Max's Snowbunny" after hearing an abominable snowman story on the radio. Ruby's more interested in making snow angels. Max wants to stay outside and go sledding in "Max's Mix-Up." Ruby wants to go inside. Max switches places with Louise's brother Morris in order to continue to have fun.

Work was steady for most of the day. It was a bit of a surprise after the weekend was so crazy. We never got as busy as it did over the weekend. Thankfully, the weather was better. It was sunny and still cold, but not anything resembling as windy as yesterday. I alternated between rounding up carts and bagging the entire day.

There was a message for me from Rose when I got home. I called her back while I was working on writing. First of all, she's right and they can't legally raise the rent that much, only about $50. Second, I need to look more into transportation. I can't always call the family for a ride. I never heard of Uber, beyond a few ads online. I need to make copies of the new lease for her, and she still wants to talk to Mrs. Stahl. I don't think I can do Social Security, but I could probably reopen my Food Stamps account.

I still have no idea what's wrong with me, or if there's anything wrong with me besides deep introversion and general anxiety problems. I hate my Acme job, but my few attempts at finding something else haven't gone well. Every time I've made attempts at trying to job hunt again, I don't know what to do, or I talk to someone and they never respond or they move out of the area, or I get overwhelmed. It's hard to explain to a lawyer that you're not good with people.

Actually got some writing done after letting Rose go. Han heads to Maz Kantana's pub. She's not happy he lost the fireworks shipment...but more to the point, she's worried about what Jabba will do to him when he finds out. Lando Calarissian's there, too. He recently had a good run of luck at the gambling tables and is about to get himself a sharp new suit for the royal ball next week.

"What ball?" Han asks. Maz shows him the poster...and sure enough, right there is the girl he'd rescued from bandits. Turns out she's the Princess Leia. Her brother Prince Luke is already engaged, but she's turned down every suitor. Her father King Anakin has turned her birthday ball into a marriage hunt. Every eligible man in the kingdom is to attend, and he wants Leia to choose a husband from among them.

Broke for dinner around 7. After a quick meal of leftover turkey meatballs with the last of the green beans, I made a new winter collage to finally clear out the last of the holidays and get rid of a bunch of Christmas catalogs. (I'm hoping to get the winter decorations up later this week, after I finally clean.)

Ran The Glass Bottom Boat as I worked. What do you get when you cross a romantic comedy with a spy spoof? Doris Day finds out when she plays Jenny Nelson, a widow who works for a top-secret think tank. The head of security (Paul Lynde) just found out there's a spy in their midst...and he's convinced it's her. Her boss (Rod Taylor), who is starting to fall for her, thinks that's ridiculous. When Jenny finds out the boys have her under suspicion, she gets mad and tries to turn the tables. Now she has to figure out who the real spy is, and who's giving him his orders, before she ends up under the boat of the title that belongs to her dad (Arthur Godfrey).

If you ever wanted to see one of Day's usual romantic comedies crossed with Get Smart, look no further. It's pretty obvious this one was directed by former Looney Tunes animator Frank Tashlin. It feels like a live-action cartoon at times, especially with a crazy cast of character actors that includes Dom DeLouise, Dick Martin, Alice Pearce, and George Tobias along with Day, Taylor, Godfrey, and Lynde handling some really wild slapstick. At the very least, it gets points for trying something different with Day's vehicles. Definitely fun if you're a fan of slapstick, spy spoofs, or Day.

Finished the night with another unique product of the 60's, the Oscar-winning MGM animated short "The Dot and the Line." MGM has fun with limited animation in this tale of a line who falls in love with a dot, and eventually does all he can to please her, including turning all kinds of crazy angles and crazy curves.