Close Encounters of the Sore Kind

Began my day with breakfast and Sale of the Century. The woman champ blew the competition away, coming way ahead of everyone else, finding a money card, and getting twice as much money on the speed round. She even got the Irish vacation she'd had her eye on. She made a few bobbles in the "guess the six-word puzzle" bonus round, but ultimately won the money with two seconds to spare. Headed off to work at Supermarket Sweep began.

Once again, I started off the day with gathering carts. It was the perfect weather for it. It was sunny, bright, breezy, and the hottest it's been since September, probably in the mid-80's. I did get called in later to do cleaning and sweeping after the head bagger ended up in a register, but I only worked four hours today. I didn't have to clean and run errands for that long.

Went straight into grocery shopping after work. I really needed vegetables. Bagged spinach and cherries were on a good sale, and I had online coupons. Blueberries were on sale too; we'd finally gotten the first US crop of the year. Cucumbers were also surprisingly cheap. Saw turkey bacon on sale and thought I'd have bacon spinach salad for dinner sometime this week. I also had online coupons for yogurt and Friendly's ice cream. The Duncan Hines premium cake mix flavors were on a rare good sale; thought I'd try making red velvet cookies. Restocked mushrooms, bananas, broccoli, minced garlic, brown and white sugar, lentils, and cereal. Found four pencil boxes on clearance. They weren't much nicer than dollar-store versions, but I thought they'd be useful for stray art supplies at home.

My schedule next week is a lot busier. Once again, I mostly work in the early morning...except for one random late afternoon-early evening day next Friday. Monday and Tuesday off. While I appreciate the money, it's also tiring, especially at a time when most people are supposed to be staying at home. At least I'm not sick, and I have no one sick at my apartment, plus I have the move to focus on.

I was so concentrating on all that, I wasn't really paying attention to where I was going as I rode down the sidewalk on the Black Horse Pike. I didn't see the white car turning into Audubon Park until it was too late and I'd already hit the side. Cherries went flying across the road, one cup of yogurt ended up in the grassy meridian, and I landed hard on the street on my left side.

A young woman in blue came flying out in horror and immediately offered to help. I told her it was my fault; she said it was hers. (Looking back later, I think we were both probably not paying attention.) She did put on a mask and helped me round up the cherries (at the proper distance), which I planned on washing when I got home anyway. The yogurt cup was in good shape, not a scratch or crack on it. Only two cherries got squashed, and that because we stepped on them while trying to gather them. I walked the bike until I got into Oaklyn, then rode the rest of the way home.

By the time I made it back to Manor, it was very clear that while the bike was running fine, I was not. My left knee had scrapes and a nasty bruise, but it otherwise moved normally. The left elbow was so sore, I couldn't bend it all the way, and it hurt to move it.  I had to carry my grocery bag upstairs and open the door with one hand.

As soon as I got in, I started putting everything away. My colored pencils and glitter fabric pens were kept in an old plastic cup and an extra-large coffee mug. The colored pencils, along with spare pens and mechanical pencils in the bedroom desk, went into the pencil boxes. The glitter fabric pens fit nicely into one of the plastic ice cream pint containers that are so thick, they can double as holders for small items.

Changed, then went online. First order of business was checking to see if Cooper Urgent Care in Audubon, which did a great job checking out my arthritic thumb in 2018, was open and accepting non-virus-related patients. They were, with the usual social distancing restrictions. I'll walk there first thing tomorrow. Audubon isn't far, and other than the scraped-up knee, my legs feel well enough to walk.

Second was ordering dinner. I intended to treat myself to a delivered meal anyway. I figured I needed it, after the last few weeks! Now, I really wasn't up to cooking. While it costs 2 dollars extra, Phillies Phatties does do at-home drop-off. I ordered fries, a chicken gyro, and a can of Pepsi.

Managed a little writing after that. Jo Ann (Pflug), the flower fairy, reveals that she and the other fairies can transform the women's outfits into gowns that will get them into the ball at Password Palace. Trouble is, the only way to get there is through the village of Holly Woods, and the town is heavily guarded by Ira and his men. Big Orson the troll has his own ways of dealing with them...

Went downstairs to pick up my dinner at five minutes of 7. I usually avoid ordering takeout. My apartment is in the back of a house, on the end of a dead-end street, and is next-door to a park. No one can ever find it! I decided to save the poor guy the trouble and waited on the curb for him instead. He was only five or so minutes late; I gave him the money right in his car, and he plesantly handed me the change and food.

Yum! It was worth the wait. The gyro was huge and filled with big, juicy, perfectly seasoned chicken slices and lots of onion, tomato, and Tzatziki sauce. The fries were crispy and salty, but I didn't realize the gyro came with fries, too. I'll see if I can re-heat the larger order tomorrow.

Watched more Sale of the Century before going online to chat with Lauren. For the second day in a row, it was a neck-and-neck race, this time between two men, that came down to a tie after the speed round. The guy who won decided he wanted to wait on other prizes and opted to return the next day.

And...I'm walking to Cooper Urgent Care first thing tomorrow morning. My lower left arm hurts like hell, even after taking aspirin. I even called out of work on Sunday because I knew darn well I wasn't going to be able to clean or push carts with a bum arm.

At the very least, I'm in a better position than I was when I chipped my ankle and had to stay home for two months in the fall of 2012. I have streaming shows and movies to watch and review along with DVDs and plenty of books to read and records and CDs to listen to. I'll finally have the time to build up my courage to look into work-from-home options. At the moment, I have more food stamps than I can use in a month. I just found out tonight that food stamp renewals from the first half of the year were granted six-month extensions, which means I won't have to worry about renewing mine until December.

But most of all...I have money in the bank, and I can walk. And not only that, with the pandemic going on, there aren't too many places I could go anyway. I'll have enough money to pay my rent and bills at least for next month. Plus, I haven't used any of my vacation time yet. I was going to save at least one week for moving in late June-early July, but maybe I'll use it sooner...

Anywhere I Wander

Began a humid, hazy morning with some Backyardigans. Tyrone thinks he has to "Escape From Fairy Tale Village" when a witch (Uniqua), a wolf (Austin), and the cutest giant ever (Pablo) seem to be after him. But it turns out that he may have misinterpreted their requests...

Austin's an Inspector Poirot-type detective on the trail of Pablo, "Le Master of Disguise." His chase leads him to the Orient Express. Inspector Austin is determined to find the crafty penguin. It won't be easy with suspects like Cowboy Tyrone, Circus Performer Tasha, and Conductor Uniqua around!

Headed out around quarter of 11 to get the laundry done. Not only was it busy there, but the road next to the laundromat was flooded. I forget what one of the women there said was going on, but it apparently effected the water pressure in the washers. It didn't effect my clothes getting clean. Good thing, too - I had a lot to get done, including towels. The weather may have been part of the reason for it being busy. There was a heavy rain shower while I was there. Thankfully, it disappeared pretty quickly, and it hasn't rained the rest of the day.

I had a bit of a scare as I was leaving. A woman was backing her van out of the parking lot...at least, I think that's what she was doing. I just barely jumped out of the way before her car went rolling out of the parking lot and onto the curb on the other side of the street! She almost hit the wall of the dentist's office on the next block. Luckily, I don't think anyone was hurt, including her or the car. I have no idea what happened there. And my clothes kept falling out of the bag - I just barely scooped them up and got them into the plastic bag to go home.

When I got home, I put my clothes away, then went right back out. I needed a nice, simple, quiet lunch after all the excitement this morning. I enjoyed a slice of bacon and scallion quiche and that wonderful spicy-sweet iced tea at Common Grounds Coffee House. And I got a nice bit of news. According to a sign on the window, someone finally bought the Dorias' abandoned deli. I did see Mr. Doria talking to a couple a few weeks ago. I hope they bought it - they looked nice.

Stopped very quickly at WaWa for money, then took Newton Lake Park down to Haddon Township. It may have been hot and humid, but that didn't stop people from enjoying their lunch outside. I saw kids and their parents having a picnic at the playgrounds. A group of boys fished on the Haddon Township side; a Hispanic family enjoyed a fishing trip near the Haddon Township entrance.

Haddon Township Library was booming when I arrived. The DVD return cart was overflowing so much, they had to find another cart for them all! For once, I had no problems getting all but a few B adult titles on the shelves. Even all the kids' titles fit. I also shelved new releases, a pile of audio books and CDs, and a bunch of kids' nonfiction titles.

Ran a few quick errands after leaving the library. Needed sponges at Dollar Tree. Grabbed generic strawberry and apple bars, too. It sounds like it'll be too hot for baking this week. Was briefly at Rite Aid, but I didn't like the price of their eggs. I ended up getting them back at WaWa instead, along with a Cherry Limeade Sparkling Ice and a Peanut Butter Twix Bar.

When I got in, I worked on my current Remember WENN fanfiction for a while. Scott White has been forced to work as a ranch hand by Rollie Pruitt, the nasty financier who married his late mother to gain her lands. Scott thinks Pruitt killed his mother to get the ranch, which is why he's stuck around. Betty Prince, a determined reporter, believes Pruitt is involved in a land-grabbing scheme. Pruitt just caught the two snooping around in his office. He takes Betty off the story, claiming there's nothing more to learn. He's also now suspicious of Scott. He calls in a bounty hunter to kill off his handsome, too-curious stepson. That bounty hunter, however, happens to be a familiar red-head named Maple who is friendly with Scott...

I got off around quarter after 5. I took down the 4th of July decorations, then had leftovers for dinner while watching Hans Christian Anderson. My personal favorite of Danny Kaye's vehicles is a charming "fairy tale about a spinner of fairy tales." Anderson (Kaye) is a gentle cobbler in a small Danish village who loves telling the local kids stories. Their teachers and parents don't love it - it's interfering with their children's schooling and Hans' real job as a cobbler. Anderson and his apprentice finally take off for Copenhagen. Hans falls in love with a beautiful ballerina (Jeanmarie) whose shoes he repaired, and who turns his most romantic story, "The Little Mermaid," into a ballet. Thing is, she's married...and despite their Hilary-and-Jeff quarrels, she and her husband really do love each other. But Hans will always have his stories, and his bountiful imagination.

I'm rather glad the local independent TV stations used to run this a lot during the afternoons in the 80's. This movie gave me my first taste of ballet outside of The Nutcracker, not to mention my first taste of Kaye. If you love Kaye, ballet, or Frank Loesseur (who also wrote the music for Guys and Dolls and The Most Happy Fella, among others), this charming tale is worth tracking down on DVD.

One Tired Woman

I kept busy on what turned out to be a warm but not humid day. First thing on the agenda was the arrival of the house inspector at 10:30. Before he came, I made my bed, changed the sheets, did the dishes, and vacuumed the whole apartment. I was airing out rugs when I heard a commotion at my front door. Not only had the inspector arrived, but so did a middle-aged man and a 10-ish boy. The latter turned out to be Andrew's brother Mark and his son, who have been cleaning up the yard. They were working on taking down some of the more unnecessary trees, including an older one that had been blocking my window on the music area side of the apartment and Miss Ellie's kitchen window overlooking her garden.

Oh, and the inspector said everything was fine. The only problem were loose boards on the steps leading up to my place. Mark actually fixed them later in the afternoon. The kid was even nice enough to bring up my mail before I left for the Haddon Township Library.

Haddon River Park was busy today! There were tons of people around, enjoying the still relatively dry weather. I dodged a dog walker and her two sons with a huge brown sheepdog who looked more like a big, fuzzy bear, other bikers, and kids and their parents at the playground. For all that, Cuthbert Road wasn't hard to cross at all, and McDonald's wasn't too bad.

Neither was the Haddon Township Library. While it was pretty busy with people getting things done before the holiday, they had lots of help and not a lot for me to do. I organized kids' DVDs, pulled foreign titles from the adult ones, and shelved the few DVDs coming in. I didn't bother taking anything out today. I had plenty to watch at home, including more Three Stooges.

I made a really quick trip to Super Fresh on my way home to pick up maple syrup; their prices are cheaper than Wegman's or Acme's. I also grabbed Cool Whip and a graham cracker crust on sale to make a mousse pie. On my way up to the Westmont Plaza, I pushed my bike past what appeared to be two cop cars and an ambulance cleaning up a car accident. One of the cars was ok, and it didn't look like anyone was really hurt (though I heard complaints about someone's back) ...but the smaller dark blue/black car had a really smashed front bumper. I've always thought the back entrance to the Westmont Plaza across from the Library was dangerous. I've had a few close calls. The street is narrow, and visibility isn't great, especially coming from down by the schools. People pull out of the library and the Plaza often without looking or slowing down.

I went straight home after Super Fresh. Spent the rest of the afternoon at my place. I made a Strawberry-Blueberry Swirl Mousse Pie. Used French Vanilla mousse mix, swirled Strawberry-Banana Jello mix through it, and added fresh farm market blueberries. After that, I continued cleaning. I scrubbed the bathroom, which badly needed it. I probably should have done it last week, but I ran out of time. I swept cobwebs out of random corners, including a gigantic one attached to the light fixture in the kitchen!

Continued running more Stooges shorts all afternoon as I worked. Some of Shemp's best-known shorts are in Volume 6. In the oft-seen public domain short "Brideless Groom," he has to find a wife by 6PM, or he loses his inheritance. He and the others capture a bank robber using nothing but their tailor equipment and their wits in "Sing a Song of Six Pants." The trio want to prove themselves as reporters in "Crime On My Hands," but they have a lot more than a scoop to deal with when Shemp accidentally eats a diamond that a robber wants back - NOW. And in "Heavenly Daze," a departed Shemp finally gets to give out the smacks to his buddies when he's sent back to Earth to keep them from swindling a society couple.

Sick though he was, Curly did manage to get a few good shorts of his own. "Monkey Businessmen" sends the three to a sanitarium for relaxation...but the scam the owners have going is anything but relaxing. "Uncivil Warbirds" pits the Stooges on opposite sides of the Civil War. Will they finally make it back to their sweethearts in one piece? It's Three Stooges and a Baby in "Three Loan Wolves," when three pawnshop owners discover an infant in their store and raise it themselves.

I wish I could have stayed with the Stooges. Work was awful all night. The four and a half hours I worked felt way too long. It was busy right up until 9PM! We didn't have nearly enough help that late, either. How long have people been putting off their holiday shopping? It's still the beginning of the month, too. Then there was that guy who whined to the manager because we dare to shut the self-checkout lines down at 9PM. What's wrong with standing in line with two items? Does it kill you? I was so happy to finally get out of there.