Somewhere Out There

Started off early with one last trip through the upstate New York countryside. It was a little cloudy, but neither rainy nor even that cold. We had one last breakfast at a fairly quiet Denny's. We made our own slams again. I replaced the turkey bacon with original bacon. Lauren replaced her sausage with fruit. Yum! They were still good, even if I couldn't finish the pancakes. 

Denny's and Cracker Barrel are less than 5 minutes from the Albany-Renesslaur Train Station. We sat on chairs by the closed for Sunday post office until my train started lining up. I gave Lauren a hug before getting into line. I didn't buy food this time, since I was getting on earlier. I told Lauren to give her parents and Rico and Elliott my love. I really did have a good time! Lauren's my best friend, and I'll miss her, even if we can talk online.

(Oh, and Lauren spent the rest of the day doing her own grocery shopping and stuff at home with her parents. And apparently, she'll be seeing Rico again on Wednesday.)

Thankfully, this time I had no trouble for the rest of the day. Every train arrived on time. They were also full to bursting. I spent the ride to New York wedged next to an older woman who mainly read. I admired the stunning views of sail boats bobbing on choppy silver waters past ancient, crumbling castles on tiny islands, smoke-belching factories, and sprawling hotels and mansions. 

Unlike the train going to New York, the one coming from Albany goes straight into Moynihan Train Hall. They were full to bursting, too! People lounged on their luggage in every corner and crevice, waiting for their train. The lines for the downstairs bathrooms were so long, I ended up lugging my bags upstairs to use the quiet bathrooms there. 

Had lunch at the Food Hall downstairs. This is a more lavish version of a typical mall food court. Given I was in New York and the only time we had pizza this week was at the Colonie Center Sbarro's, I had to get a slice of mushroom and a slice of cheese. Yum! Real mushrooms with just the right crust. I barely managed to find a seat near the Irish bar, but I did find a place to eat. Tried a banana bread latte afterwards at Starbucks. Yum! Sweet, but it really did taste like liquid banana bread.

The train to Philadelphia was actually a commuter train to Harrisburg, and it might have been even busier than the one to New York. It was so full, I just dropped my stuff in the last seat on the car where I didn't have to put my suitcase in a rack. A young woman, probably college age, settled next to me with her own bags. She spent the trip to Philly reading her phone. I spent it watching the rain fall on Newark arenas, New Jersey suburbs, and graffiti-laden factories outside of Philly

Instead of calling Uber right away when I arrived at 30th Street Station, I bought a ticket for the NJ Transit train. It wasn't leaving for over an hour, but it was quarter of 5 when I got in. I had so much trouble picking up Uber at the train station the past few years, I figured it was worth the wait. I bought a tuna and cucumber hoagie and ranch sweet potato chips from the food booth (they still haven't finished remodeling their own food hall) and had dinner, then went to the bathroom and read One Poison Pie until they announced the NJ Transit train had arrived.

Unlike the other two trains, the Transit wasn't remotely full. The only other people riding in the car with me were two curly-haired college age boys in Eagles sweaters. For once, it actually left the station on time. The only trouble we had were the lights going out and having to fix them briefly in Pennsauken. Otherwise, they ran on time too. It finally pulled into the Cherry Hill Pavilion around quarter of 7.

I picked up Uber at the big Shop Rite in front of the Pavilion. It's easier (and cheaper) to get a ride closer to home and at a place where the driver might actually see me. No trouble here, either. The driver arrived in seven minutes and got me back in a little over 10. Considering how wet everything in Camden County was, it must have rained pretty hard earlier. Now I'm glad I spent most of the day on the train. 

Finished the night after a shower and putting everything away with the Sunday Match Game marathon. Given the entire run of the show spanned most of the Sexual Revolution, there was an awful lot of sex talk on this show. If Orson Bean wasn't joking about stripper's chests coming off, Richard Dawson and Gene Rayburn were panting over barely-adult contestants. 

One of the most famous episodes of the syndicated run got very into sexual matters. Betty White turned up in a short red dress borrowed from Sharon Farrell. As Sharon said, she did look fabulous, and she knew it. Later, McLean's answer to what a farmer thought should be an Olympic sport somehow ended with Sharon Farrell on top of Richard Paul. There was also the guy who claimed he started his children's day with laughter...but his wild, Joker-like cackling sent McLean running to Gene's door instead. 

It's all about the birds, bees, and the changing attitudes about what goes on between romantic partners in this hilarious and provocative marathon!

Match Game Sunday Classics - Sex Party Marathon

Oh, and I got my schedule yesterday. In good news, I don't work at the Acme again until Wednesday. Unfortunately, I also got an extra day on Friday, and for some reason, an 8 hour day on Saturday. Head bagger must be taking the day off again. 

Exploring New Frontiers

Started off a cloudy morning with material on Columbus Day from the Colliers Harvest of Holidays anthology. The biographical essay on Columbus was surprisingly honest about what he did and didn't do for something written in the 1940's, including his near-mutiny on his ship and poor treatment of the Cuban and San Salvador natives. Even the poems were more satirical than admiring. 

Made the bed and tidied up around the apartment, then ate breakfast while watching Hogan's Heroes. The boys say "Look at the Pretty Snowflakes" when they note that an avalanche could stop a Panzer division from heading northward. When a general has them shackled together, they need to figure out how they can work as a team to make enough noise.

Once again, no trouble with Uber. The driver going to Audubon and the one going to Haddon Heights picked me up in less than ten minutes. No traffic, and both guys were really nice. 

Work wasn't bad for most of the morning. It finally picked up around 1:30-2 PM, when people got in from the Shore and the clouds tried hard to break apart. Ran into trouble when there were absolutely no trash bags in the back; I had to borrow one from the floral department for the front recycling container. They just can't get them right now. The afternoon bagger took over sweeping at 3; he and another bagger helped me with the carts for the last two hours. 

There were several people standing on the lawn of the small 50's-era house at Haddon Heights when the man pulled up to the curb. Turns out most of them were looking at the bottom apartment. The realtor arrived a little bit early, surprised to not see my bike parked out front. 

After I explained the situation with the flat tire to her, she lead me up steep gray-carpeted stairs to a small attic apartment. Like the Manor Avenue apartment, it had low vaulted ceilings and a small bedroom. Unlike Manor Avenue, it also had a slightly larger kitchen and far more closet space. There's a huge backyard and a shared basement with a washer and dryer for each tenant. I like it. It's in a nice neighborhood, and while I'd still have to pay gas and electric (and internet), it's not unreasonable. The realtor and her husband were even nice enough to drive me home.

After I got in, I changed, then ordered a spinach and cheese stromboli for dinner from Phillies Phatties. I was just too tired to do any kind of cooking, and I figured I deserved the treat. Plus, I don't want a lot of leftovers sitting in my fridge for a week. Even the small turned out to be enough for dinner tonight and tomorrow.

Watched the last episode of Hogan's Heroes while waiting for dinner to arrive. It's "Rockets or Romance" when Hogan discovers three mobile rockets are aimed for London...and one's being kept at Stalag 13. While Hogan romances a lovely underground agent giving him information on rerouting the rockets, the others try to avoid radio detection trucks and get word out to England.

And that is that. According to Richard Dawson (Newkirk) and Robert Clary (LeBeau), there was originally supposed to be a seventh season that would have ended with the Allies liberating the camp, but CBS cleared out most of its sitcoms by the end of 1971. Considering its strange and now fairly dated premise, I'm surprised at how good this show is. The writing and performances are much better than they have any right to be. Werner Klemper made such a wonderful Klink, he was nominated for four supporting actor Emmys and won two. 

I will add that I generally prefer the slightly darker later seasons to the goofier early ones. The final few seasons really mine the war setting, especially episodes like "The Experts" that show they're still involved in some pretty harsh stuff, even if there's slapstick along the way. It's honestly worth checking out if you can get past the odd "prisoners in Nazi camp run spy unit" premise. 

Finished the night with dinner and another bizarre premise, the unique 1945 musical Where Do We Go From Here? I go further into this wartime fantasy at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog. 

Happy Columbus Day! - Where Do We Go from Here?