Helping Others

Awoke to a steady shower. It lightened even as I worked on reading The All-Girls' Filling Station's Last Reunion. By the time I ate breakfast, it had stopped. The roads were wet, but otherwise, I was clear to ride to work.

And that may have been the most exciting thing that happened the entire time at work. I ended up in a register for all of one minute this morning before I was pulled to gather carts. Really, there wasn't much to gather, but even on a day that was cloudy and crazy humid, I still didn't feel like hanging out inside. 

I did receive a compliment from a customer about how hard I work and helped two more outside to their cars. The Acme donated hot dogs, burgers, and buns to a lady with a non-profit organization that was having a charity event this weekend. The lady who owned the organization and loaded her car with the items was so funny and sweet, I hope her event was a rousing success! The other lady had stitches that were healing and was afraid she'd pull them out if she lifted her 35-pack of water again, so I loaded the water in her car. She was a real sweetheart and very appreciative. 

It remained cloudy and humid, even though it hadn't rained again. Decided not to take chances and just rode straight home across Oaklyn. By that point, the road was almost dry, and it was fairly busy for 3 PM with kids hanging out at Phillies Phatties and riding in clusters down West Clinton. They were probably trying to get out before Mother Nature did anything again.

After I got home, I changed and had a snack while watching Tattletales. I was surprised to see Marcia Wallace on the show today. A lot of her jokes on Match Game and Match Game-Hollywood Squares revolved around her perpetual unmarried state. She must have brought along whatever guy she was dating at the time. She was just as funny here as she is on Match Game, especially with the question involving whether or not she'd stay and disrobe at a nude wedding. Orson Bean and his equally hilarious then-wife Carolyn wound up being the very big winners, with over $1,500 for their section.

Finally wrote a letter to Rose I intend to put in Finley's birthday gift bag during Press Your Luck. The first round was fairly subdued, with no Whammies at all. That changed big-time in the second round. It came down to the one young man and the champ. In the end, the young man hit a Whammy, and the champ picked up money, a stereo, and a Bermuda vacation she said she really wanted.

Broke to work on writing. I had a hard time getting the USB port working this time. The mouse wouldn't roll, and nothing came up when I put my USB stick in. Refreshing it several times seemed to work for the stick. I didn't realize until much later that the battery I put in the mouse was loose. It works fine now. I was even able to transfer all of my in-progress Match Game stories to Google Drive. 

I did manage to get a little writing in. Mark (Goodson) the Red King feels a bit faint after catching sight of all the strange faces a green-skinned Mad Hatter Charles makes. He insists on a bologna sandwich. When that doesn't work, he asks for hay. 

Broke at quarter of 7 for dinner. Watched Match Game '77 while I ate. Gene admonishes Richard in the opening to tell his son Gary not to juggle and take everyone's mind off his performance. Meanwhile, we get a joke about the audience being so hostile, Brett won't go onstage without a __, we have a Buzzr crossover with Richard and Bob Barker, and Richard gets to figure out "__ Albert."

Had dessert during Match Game PM. Tall and gangling Peter Issackson and dear old Mary Wickes joined in to witness Gene hamming it up on one knee in his entrance and Charles' amusing answer to the question about what the inflatable doll gave birth to. Richard has a harder time with "__ Sour" in the Head-to-Head.

Finished the night after a shower with Tanned Legs from 1929 on YouTube. I go further into the early talkie tale of a young woman who tries to stop a blackmailer at a beach resort at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog. 

Tanned Legs

Computerized Harts

Started off the morning with breakfast and heading out, a little earlier this time. It was supposed to rain sometime today, but when I left, the sun still shown. It was a little humid and still warm, but a nice breeze did help somewhat. It wasn't busy anywhere, not even on the White Horse Pike.

Thankfully after yesterday, work was pretty dead. I suspect a lot of people may have gotten an extra day off yesterday for the holiday. We're now past the beginning of the month, the weather was iffy, and the next major holiday isn't until early September. I mostly shelved candy and organized coolers between customers. My relief was already in the store, and was right on time coming in for me.

Went straight home after work. In addition to the clouds building up in the sky, I wanted to do some things I hadn't done in a while. But first, I brought the laundry downstairs, then had a snack while watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. "Mickey's Big Camp-Out" has him and his friends hoping to earn badges for setting up tents and catching Gooey Fish. Donald isn't happy to be paired with Goofy and would rather be out on his own. He learns why camping with friends is so important when he damages the tents and has to lend his friends his.

Switched to an episode of The Odd Couple while taking down the patriotic decorations. Felix sadly recalled how "The Odd Holiday" turned sour when he, his wife Gloria, and Oscar and his wife Blanche went on vacation to the Carribean a few years before. He was hoping to save Oscar and Blanche's marriage...but as usual, he overdoes it, and the week ends with Felix's wife Olivia asking for a divorce.

Moved to more lovey-dovey couples on Tattletales while working on dusting the living room. Comedianne Patti Deustch and comedy writer Donald Ross were just about the perfect couple, and they proved it by making a major comeback in the second half. They even had a question about whether their baby son Max looked like his father or his mother. (For the record, everyone, man and woman, said the kid absolutely looked like his dad. Including his dad.)

Press Your Luck got really wild in the second half as Whammies flew fast and furious...and so did passes. Everyone kept getting money, tossing their spins to the next person when they got money, then losing the money. The one lady finally got a water bike that put her over the top over the champ.

Tried to go into writing after that...but my laptop wouldn't let me in. I tried to sign up, but it wouldn't let me. Then it wouldn't get off caps lock. I kept pressing at buttons, but then I'd add too many letters, and I couldn't erase them. It was being a pain before I banged on it. Truth be told, despite being only 2 1/2 years old, the HP hasn't run right since I upgraded to Windows 11. The sound will drop in and out at weird times, and it'll suddenly become hard for me to left-click on app buttons unless I left-click on them first. 

Finally gave up around 6 PM and called Uber. They arrived within 10 minutes. I figured Best Buy in Cherry Hill was my best bet this area for a wide vareity of laptops. Took less than 10 minutes before he pulled up in front of the Best Buy at the Market Place.

The laptops are scattered over displays in the back. I thought it was time to try my first Chromebook. I don't need much in a laptop. I don't play video games on it. When I have the time for games again, I'd rather have a separate console. I watch TV, write, and chat on it. That's it. Saw three Chromebooks I liked that were good prices. Naturally, the cheapest on clearance was gone, but the one next to it wasn't bad at $169 with tax. Got a young man to get it down from a series of cages over the display. I bought it from him at the nearest counter. Picked up Uber there in less than five minutes; got home in ten. The entire trip didn't take more than 40 minutes.

Spent the rest of the night after a tasty dinner setting up the thing. It may be cheaper, but it's also a lot different than Windows. For one thing, it doesn't use Windows. Considering how much of a pain Window updates were on my last two laptops, that's not an entirely bad thing. I inadvertantly set up a whole new Google Account trying to get in, though. I also didn't realize how many apps Chromebook doesn't support, including OpenOffice, which I use extensively. I really need to find something else to use offline. I don't trust writing things online. You never know when the internet will die on you. 

Finished the night on The Roku Channel with Hart to Hart. "Death Set" has Johnathan and Jennifer witnessing a friend of theirs accidentally killing her husband when he returns late and she's paranoid about him possibly leaving her. His brother hopes to fill his shoes, but the Harts have suspicions about his motives, especially after their friend's housekeeper turns up dead too. 

A Glorious Day In the Neighborhood

Started off a hot, sunny morning with breakfast and Split Second. This time, there was no contest. The woman champion did have a bit of a run from the other woman, but she blasted through the speed round before the other two barely had time to answer. They seemed to have reworked the bonus round a bit as well. Instead of just picking boards and either taking the car if you get it or what you get if you don't, contestants now get money if they don't win the car. They can keep the money, or keep coming back for the car and to win more money...which the champ ultimately did.

Spent the next two and a half hours wrangling with the darn printer. It just won't hook up to the internet. I have no idea how to do it. My laptop keeps recognizing it as a different model and won't show the actual one, no matter how hard I try. I keep typing in codes on the back, and it won't recognize them. I think I might see if I can pick up a new one somewhere along the line instead of continually fighting with this one.

Finally gave up again and called the Cooper Orthopedics office. After waiting for 15 minutes or so, I told the lady on the phone about my problem with the printer and that I was hoping to e-mail the paperwork to Dr. Ramerez. Turns out, all he needed was a state ID number from the top of the paperwork and he'd easily receive it and be able to send it out.

Had a quick lunch of blueberries, yogurt, and celery with peanut butter while watching Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood at PBS Kids. Dan's excited about "The Family Camp Out" with his dad. Katerina wants to come too, but it's supposed to be for kids and dads, and she only has her mom Henrietta. Henrietta and the dads remind the kids that families come in all shapes and sizes, and that moms can be dads, too. O the Owl has a similar dilemma in "A Game Night for Everyone." The library holds a game night for moms and kids, but his mother is his uncle X. X also insists that families are different, and they have no problems joining in the fun.

Went for a long walk around the neighborhood after lunch. Summer has finally started to make its way to New Jersey. Gardens are in full bloom now, helped by the tons of rain we've had and the many people who have more time to tend to them. The trees shading the street are brilliant shades of emerald, and the sky was a deep, soft blue. No wonder there were so many people out walking dogs, kids throwing basketballs in their yards, and teens biking with their siblings.

Rested my arm for a couple of hours after I got in while crocheting a dish rag and watching shows on Buzzr. On Password Plus, Elizabeth Montgomery of Bewitched set a record by getting her contestant through the bonus Alphabetics round in a little less than 30 seconds, twice as fast as anyone else. Orson Bean and Jo Ann Worley lent their own brand of odd wit to Super Password. There were some pretty strange couples on Tattletales today, including one - Fannie Flagg and Dick Sargent - who were actually gay buddies rather than married. Ever-nervous Bill Daily and his sensible wife Pat ended up being the big winners.

Worked on writing for a while after Tattletales ended. Orson, now twice his regular size, is happily wrecking havoc in Holly Woods. Gary and Sarah help him by setting a barrel on fire, then taking longer than they should to put it out. Debralee the water fairy sends Ira into the river to keep him out of trouble before sending Clifton and Charles on their way.

Broke for dinner at 6. Had pan-fried flounder, steamed broccoli, and pasta while watching more of the Match Game Misspelling Bee. Allen Ludden, of all people, was the one who misspelled the word in an episode from that classic week in 1975 where he and his wife Betty White appeared on the same panel. The second episode turned into something of a game show crossover, with Bob Barker of The Price Is Right and Arlene Francis of What's My Line? catching a spelling mistake from Fannie.

That musician champ just keeps right on rolling through the competition on Sale of the Century. He bought a washing machine Instant Bargain, but seemed nervous during the speed round and would have tied if the other guy hadn't missed a question at the last second. Instead of taking all the prizes available, he decided to do something no one else had done before and return tomorrow for the huge cash jackpot, too.

Finished the night braving the camp lunacy of Can't Stop the Music at Amazon. I go further into one of the most notorious cult flops of all time at my Musical Dreams Musical Film Reviews blog.

Cult Flops - Can't Stop the Music

All American Weekend

Began the morning with Banana Oatmeal Pancakes and my Rainbow Brite kids' album to cheer up the blah weather. There's some surprisingly good songs here; my personal favorite is Rainbow's insanely catchy country-flavored ode to her flying horse, "Starlight-Rainbow Brite." The opening "There's a Rainbow In Your Heart" also isn't bad, and Rainbow's fuzzy buddy Twink gets the Irish-inspired "In the Twink of an Eye."

Spent the next few hours wrangling with the computer. I did get the ink, and it went in fine. After that...it just wouldn't print. The laptop kept coming up with the wrong model, no matter how much I tried to change it or make it come up right. I kept entering numbers to get it synced with my internet, and it wouldn't take any of the numbers. It printed the diagnostics fine, so it wasn't the printer itself. The printer is a decade old, and has never synced well with any laptop I've had in that time.

Finally gave up on it around 1:30. Had yogurt with blueberries and strawberries for lunch while listening to another kids' album. Yankee Doodle Mickey is a patriotic Disney release from the early 80's. Like with the Rainbow Brite album, there's a few gems. The Disneyland Glee Club does a rousing "Liberty Tree" from their movie version of Johnny Tremain. A very young Molly Ringwald gets "God Bless America" and "This Is My Country." My favorite here is the Armed Services Medley, with Mickey singing for the Air Force and the Marines, Goofy for the Army, and of course, Donald for the Navy.

Cleaned up while starting my other patriotic album. America the Beautiful is a 2-Disc set released in 1986 in time for the remodeling and 100th anniversary of the Statue of Liberty. I remember it being a huge deal that year. They broadcast the reopening on the networks and everything. I listened to the first disc, which was the only one to feature some vocal music. Along with the title song, we heard "This Land Is Your Land" and Kate Smith's famous version of "God Bless America."

Went for a walk to WaWa after I finished the dishes. It suddenly got too nice to be inside. The clouds from this morning vanished by noon, becoming a gorgeous, warm day. I wasn't surprised to see lots of people out and about, from kids throwing balls in yards to families on bikes to young couples out walking their dogs.

WaWa was as busy as it's currently allowed to be. I decided to treat myself to a Peach Banana Smoothie. Drank it on the way home as I passed people working in their gardens and mowing lawns that had suddenly grown long again after the rain we had this weekend.

Took a nap when I got home. Lauren's been on shorter hours at work, and I've been up late with her for at least the past two weeks. Not to mention, I've just had a long couple of months, up to and including the broken elbow. One of the things I'm very much looking forward to doing in the next six weeks is catching up on my sleep!

It was past 5:15 by the time I rolled out of bed. No matter. Still got some writing in. Charles asks the head of the group of musicians, Jon "Bowzer" Bauman, if he'd mind having another performer. Not at all, says Jon. They'll even cover for Charles when he helps the others rescue Brett, Bill the Wolf, and Brett's sons from the dungeon basement.

Moved onto the rest of America the Beautiful as I had leftover chili for dinner. There's some classic material on these discs, which is why I always listen to at least the first record on every patriotic American holiday. Side 2 of disc 1 features The Grand Canyon Suite and a live medley of George M. Cohan songs you can clearly hear the audience singing along with. "American Patrol" kicks off disc 2, while side 2 boasts the theme songs of the various branches of the Armed Services, including "Anchors Aweigh" for the Navy and "The Army Air Corps Song" for the Air Force.

Finished the night online with Now You See It at Buzzr after tonight's Match Game premiere on YouTube. The blonde lady champ had no problems beating out two other women and getting to the final round...but that final round always seemed to make her too nervous. The most she won off the final round was 700 dollars.

Games for Christmas

Began the morning with early work. Unlike yesterday, it wasn't busy. I ended up in the register once very briefly to cover for another cashier early in the day, and that was it. Did the trash and recycling and hung up gift cards in the morning. After lunch, I did returns and alternated sweeping the store with the head bagger. I did have to go out and do the carts every once in a while, which kind of got chilly. Despite a bright day and warm sunshine, it was bitter cold, in the lower 30's, and very windy.

Needless to say on such a frigid day, I went straight home after work. Started in on the next batch of cookies after changing and having a snack. The biscotti I make are different than the hard rusks many of you dunk into hot drinks. I roll them into candy cane and wreath shapes, cover them in sprinkles, and bake them once. This is another recipe that came out of Prevention Magazine. It originally called for dried cherries and pistachios, but for Christmas, we keep them plain.

Ran Mrs. Santa Claus as I worked. I go further into this TV extravaganza at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.

Mrs. Santa Claus

Finished the cookies at 4:30, in time to start writing...but I didn't end up writing. I thought I'd give the Roku another shot. After I set up my Roku account on my laptop and two more attempts at getting the password in, I ended up calling Comcast. The customer service guy sent me to the Internet Service people, who helped me set up a second router with a new name and password. That did the trick. It went through. Both men were very nice and helpful, and I easily finished the set-up and added more apps.

One of those apps is for Pluto TV, a free streaming service that just happens to carry Buzzr. I came in just in time to have a quick leftovers dinner and catch the last Match Game episode of the evening. Buzzr's been pushing their "Betty White Christmas" theme for a while, which pretty much means Betty is in all episodes of Match Game and Password Plus this week. She livened up an episode from 1976, including rolling up Gene's pants legs when he talked to the panelists on the upper desks.

Sale of the Century was pushed back to 7 in early November. The format here was a little different than what I watched a few months ago. In what I'm guessing was a late 80's episode, instead of playing for all the prizes in the end, the contestant plays an extra bonus round to win a specific prize and cash. The more they return, the bigger the prize. The new champ won a wide-screen TV in literally the last second during the bonus round.

I haven't seen the Monty Hall Let's Make a Deal since the mid-80's. It's pretty much the same game as the current version with Wayne Brady. People in wacky costumes are chosen from the audience and given money or a small prize, then get the chance to trade up to something else. Sometimes, they may actually get a bigger prize or more money...but lurking under boxes and behind doors are the "Zonk" prizes, goofy "prizes" like pigs or a camel that mean you win nothing. Among the contestants today were a grizzled old cowpoke, a woman astronaut, another woman who was a baseball player, a mouse, a man dressed as a pig, and his wife, who was a sailor in a flotation device. The cowpoke ended up the winner of the Big Deal of the Day, netting a washer and dryer along with other appliances.

Betty White returned for Password Plus, hosted by her then-husband Allen Ludden. White joined Joanna Gleason, the Baker's Wife in the original Broadway cast of Into the Woods, for a real duel of words. I'd seen the ladies on the show before, and they both did really well...and did even better tonight. Each managed to help her contestant get to the Alphabetics bonus round at least once, and I think they both won, too.

After two more newer Supermarket Sweep episodes, we moved on to the mid-80's version of Card Sharks. They were doing their "Young People's Week," i.e, having kids between the ages of 11 and 13 as the contestants. The little boy and girl they had on the show were just too adorable! I loved their answers, particularly the little boy. The girl won, and while she didn't really have much luck on the bonus round Money Cards, she did still manage to nab a nice chunk of cash in a savings bond.

Worked on my last batch of cookies all through the night. The recipe for Cherry Coconut Bars is another one from The Betty Crocker Cooky Book. It's basically lemon bars with a super-sweet cherry coconut custard filling instead of citrus. Even with the cooking spray I put on the bottom of the pan, the bars still crumbled when I cut them and packed them into the boxes and container to be given away.

(Those, incidentally, were the last of the cookies. Tomorrow, I'll start in on the other baked goods - cupcakes and two loaves of bread - and candy.)

Finished the night with The Match Game-Hollywood Squares Hour. Gene Rayburn joins singer Jon Bauman in this combined version of the two most famous "goofy panelists" game shows. I've been enjoying it. As much as I like the 70's Match Game, it is cool to see celebrities I recognize from my own childhood. I did hear that Gene wasn't crazy about doing this - there were apparently changes to the format of Hollywood Squares, and he would have rather worked with original Squares MC Peter Marshall - but I've had fun. (Of course, keep in mind that I've seen two episodes of the original Hollywood Squares on YouTube. I'm more familiar with the version from the late 90's with Whoopi Goldberg.)

Blue Christmas

Began the day with Vol 33 of the True Value Happy Holidays series. There's a lot of favorites in this one, including Dolly Pardon's version of "Hard Candy Christmas." I also like John Denver's version of "Jingle Bells," Freddie Jackson's rousing R&B tune "This Christmas," and Willie Nelson's "Away In a Manger."

I did manage to get the carts done in the morning, but when I tried to work on shelving candy a little later, they just kept throwing me in the register. I was almost an hour late for break because I ended up in a register. The floral manager's mother is sick, and someone else had to take her place. I did manage to get a lot of candy shelved later and took a produce test to brush up on my ringing skills. At least a bagger was able to take over the carts and sweeping later. I also shoved a heavy metal rolling cart filled with boxes of plastic and paper bags into our new storage area (what used to be the medical office, which closed earlier this year).

It was a lovely day when I arrived. Dark clouds built up around noon, and by 1 PM, the other bagger had announced it was snowing hard. If it did snow hard, it never stuck. When I headed home, the sun was back out, and the clouds were gone.

Took out the trash, had a snack, and looked over Match Game 101 for a while, then went into writing. Nipsey's cousin Queen Isobel can't be convinced to go against Malade. She's even less convinced that Della is really the Princess of the Peacock Kingdom, either. She doesn't look like a princess or act like a princess. But there is a way to find out...

Broke for what I thought was going to be dinner at quarter of 7. I figured I'd get the Roku TV box set up really quickly. I got as far as hooking it up to the internet...but got no further. I typed my internet password in a hundred times for over two hours and checked every connection, but nothing worked. Put the box closer to the modem and further away, but it did nothing. When I looked it up online, it said to change something on the router. I tried, but that didn't do anything, either. I may just have to call Comcast tomorrow or Friday.

Gave up at quarter of 9 and switched to Moonlighting while finally eating baked breaded fish and the last of the farm market Brussels sprouts for dinner. "Twas the Episode Before Christmas" during the second season, and all through the Blue Moon Agency, Maddie can be heard yelling at Dave about his newest brainstorm, the Santa Hotline. Meanwhile, their secretary Agnes DiPesto found a baby in her laundry basket. Maddie and David search for the child's mother, while solving the death of a man on the witness protection program in Agnes' building and arguing over the idea of one of them ever having children.

One Stormy Evening

Started off an on-and-off cloudy and sunny morning with breakfast, then taking down the spring decorations and putting up what very little I have for summer. Summer officially starts in two days, and I was overdue. Besides, Charlie still hadn't come back. I figured I was good to go. And when he does come back, there will be fewer knick-knacks to deal with. The only "decorations" I have for summer are a sunflower-and-heart-shaped wooden plaque, a small wreath trimmed with sunflowers, and a couple of beach and ocean stuffed animals - three flamingos, a whale, a small tomato clown fish.

Ran two beach-themed cartoon episodes while I worked. In the second season of Sailor Moon, the Guardians are on vacation on a tropical island. While they convince Rei to temporarily forgo training, Chibi-Usa befriends a baby dinosaur who rescues her from sharks. She gets a chance to return the favor - and the girls show that they can use their Guardian powers for something besides chasing villains - when a volcano erupts on the island, trapping the baby and his mother in a cave.

The Tiny Toons discover that "No Toon Is an Island" during the first season of Tiny Toon Adventures. Babs and Plucky encounter a treasure map at the beach that sets them off in search of golden booty. Even after finding the treasure, they learn a bit about the "Green-Eyed Monster"...and find a very different monster's been stealing their loot.

After I put everything away, I turned on the computer and tried to figure out why the internet wasn't working. I unplugged it and plugged it, cleared my cache, put it on Ethernet briefly. Nothing worked. I finally removed a driver, which did the trick. I haven't had any problems since.

Managed to squeeze in some writing time before updating my blog. Luke, Wedge, and Rusty go back to Dagobah to complete Luke's training. Wedge reassures Luke that everything will be fine with Yoda, but Luke senses something's wrong when he can't find the elderly Jedi anywhere...

Headed off to work at 3. Dark clouds had begun to build up during lunch. It even rained a little bit on my way, but it didn't last long. By the time I had put on my rain coat and was pulling into the Acme, it was gone.

But not done. The clouds were getting worse as I and two other baggers rushed around, gathering as many carts as we possibly could. It showered off and on while we worked. The weather didn't get really bad until around 5, by which time we'd filled both sides of the patio with carts and I was on break. Thick, dark gray clouds blanketed the sky, and the rain came down in buckets. The roof in the back storage area leaks - I quickly covered boxes of soda with a trash bag to keep them from getting too wet. (Someone removed them all together later.) Although the rain slowed down by the time I finished doing the inside trash and was back outside, it did continue to thunder and lightning for at least another hour. Thankfully, it slowed down enough around 7 for me to head home and only arrive a little wet. I needed a shower anyway, so I just got pre-wet.

After my shower, I made scrambled eggs with cheese, zucchini, and mushrooms for dinner, then watched Dead Men Tell while going online. This time, Charlie Chan is engaged by an eccentric old lady (Ethel Griffies) who owns a pirate map that once belonged to her ancestor. She's split the map into four pieces, giving one to each member of the group who's going to Cocos Island to find the treasure with her. Alas, she never makes it. She dies of fright and a bad heart after seeing a supposedly real pirate who resembles her ancestor. While number two son Jimmy (Keye Luke) keeps ending up in the drink, Charlie has to figure out who done it, before the boat leaves the dock.

Not quite as good as Opera and a little too much of Jimmy's antics for my taste, but the story and its resolution are fairly unique.

Oh, and the storms have continued off and on for the rest of the evening, though they seem to be off at the moment.

Size Matters Not

It was an absolutely gorgeous day when I headed to work this morning, even cool. It did eventually become a little bit warmer and more humid than yesterday, but nothing like it was last week. I rounded up carts for about 40 minutes when I arrived and an hour after lunch, but I spent most of the day either doing returns or mopping up leaks and spills. We weren't all that busy - I only ended up in the register twice, both times going in for someone else's break, and in both cases I wasn't there long.

The weather was so nice, I took the long way home down Nicholson Road again. There was traffic around what appeared to be a fender-bender at the entrance to WalMart. Otherwise, traffic was relatively light, and I had an easy and pleasant ride home.

When I got in, I went right in a short bath. Ahhh. I needed that. Even though it's not as hot, I still sweat when I push carts. I soaked in those rose bath crystals I bought for my birthday and looked over two old Christmas With Southern Living craft books from 1986 and 1991 respectively. An old Gershwin-themed jazz CD helped me relax.

I was going to spend the next few hours writing, but the Internet was down again when I came on...and once again, the online light on my modem was on. That was the last straw. It lost me an hour of writing, but I did roll back to Windows 8.1. Maybe Windows 10 works for a lot of people, but it doesn't seem to work for me. I'll wait until I buy a new computer to upgrade my operating system.

After all that, I didn't have much time for writing. Jabba, still a merman, shows up with Luke as a hostage. He wants Beast-Han to shred Leia, or Leia to kill The Beast. Han's reluctant to do it. She's been nice to him, and he has feelings for her. Jabba reminds him that he holds all the aces, including Leia's beloved brother.

I broke for dinner around 6:30. Watched Ant-Man while eating leftovers, including the last of the green beans from Dad's birthday party. Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) is a thief who wants to go straight for the sake of his small daughter Cassie. His buddies direct him to one last big score - the huge old safe owned by eccentric retired CEO Hank Pym (Michael Douglas). What he finds there is a suit. He's not happy at first...until he learns the suit allows him to change his size.

Pym wanted him to find it. He's chosen him as the new Ant-Man, a size-shifting superhero who fights with his wits and through his friendship with ants, not with big weapons. Pym wants him to steal an experimental suit from his former protege who ousted him from his company (Corey Stoll) and intends to use the suit for evil purposes. Scott feels like he's in over his head (in many ways) at first, especially when dealing with Pym's daughter Hope (Evangeline Lily). He and Hank both discover that you don't need a fancy suit or a growth formula to be a hero to your daughters - the only thing that needs to grow is your heart.

This one was a huge and very pleasant surprise for me. I hadn't heard good things about it. I never even heard of this character until I saw the cartoon Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes a few years ago. This movie was so much fun, probably the most fun I've had with any of the Marvel Universe films that didn't involve Captain America. Rudd was a delightfully charismatic thief, and Douglas was equally good as his mentor. I do wish the villain had been a little more creative, though - he almost seemed like a replay of the villain in the first Iron Man movie.

Between this, Guardians of the Galaxy, Big Hero 6, and Kingsmen: The Secret Service, I'm really loving all these little-known comic books that have been turning up lately. I hope Marvel and other companies will continue to dig into their vaults and give more obscure properties a chance.

Sunny Day Dolls

Started off the day with breakfast, then moved onto dressing the dolls for August's (normally) hotter weather. Samantha, Molly, Whitney, and Jessa all get bathing suits and sandals or slippers. Sam's in the second version of her 1904 Bathing Dress with the white and blue cap and black Springfield Collection tights. Whitney gets the navy and white polka dot Springfield Collection suit and white Swiss lace sandals. Molly's wearing her tropical-print peach 1944 Bathing Suit and green towel. Jessa is ready for Hawaii in the mid-2000's AG Island Luau magenta-and-blue print suit.

Josefina and Felicity come from time periods where bathing and swimming weren't considered ladylike. I opted for summer frocks for them instead. Josefina sports her floral Party Dress (without the heavy black Spencer jacket) and matching beige moccasins. Felicity's wearing her lavender "Traveling Gown" with the embroidered flowers (aka her second "meet" outfit) and the wide green and pink ribbon-trimmed straw hat from Elizabeth's Summer Gown.

Headed out to run errands shortly after I finished with the AGs. It was still cloudy and cool when I left, though not anything resembling as humid as it was yesterday. I still brought my brown, white, and orange umbrella along as a precaution. First stop was the Oaklyn Library. They were surprisingly busy for a decent day, with one family doing summer school work in the children's area, and adults having annoying political discussions in the main room (even after the librarian got fed up with CNN and switched the TV off). I organized the DVDs, which were a mess, particularly the adult titles. Between how long that took and the kid doing work in the children's area, I decided to just head out after about 40 minutes.

Went across the White Horse Pike to the House of Fun next, just for the heck of it. They were pretty busy for quarter of 1 on a weekday. A lot of people must have been exploring on their breaks, including a family with a middle-grade-school-age son. I eyed a few Star Wars action figures and the Force Awakens older Han and Leia Funko Pop bobble heads, but ultimately decided to save my money for vacation.

Next stop was Jalapeno's Grill a few blocks down the Pike for lunch. They were quite busy for them, with several groups enjoying their inexpensive lunch specials. I had the vegetable quesadilla, with refried beans and Spanish rice. The beans and rice were probably from a can and a mix, but the quesadilla was really good, filled with lots of big, fresh vegetable pieces and a ton of cheese.

Went across the street next to WaWa for dessert. I wanted some caffeine, so I went with the Mocha Mint Smoothie. It was a little too much mocha, just a tad too bitter. Even so, I gulped up as I headed down Manor and towards home.

Despite the sun coming out at this point, I really had no other outdoor plans for the day. I spent the rest of the afternoon writing...or trying to. The Internet went down as soon as I got on. I didn't get it. This time, there were obviously no storms around. The online light was still on. I gave up and finally called Comcast. All they could tell me was there was nothing wrong on their end...and I should probably switch back to Windows 8.1. Ironically, the internet came back on shortly after I called them.

Honestly, I may do that tomorrow. It went down again briefly tonight. I really don't want to mess around with updating drivers I know nothing about.

I did manage to get some writing in. Leia and Chewbacca finally follow the currents to the center of the maze, a beautiful gold and silver garden. Unfortunatly, along with the gold and silver and jewels that belong to her family, Leia also finds a hideous sea monster, a nasty beast with a long, spiny tail, sharp teeth, and ridged skin...or is he? Chewbacca won't harm him, and Leia's not sure she wants to, either. The Beast's hazel eyes are sad and heartbroken...and very human.

When I finally broke for dinner, I finished Goldie & Bear while making Blackberry Chocolate Chip Muffins, my first baking in a while. "Pinocchio-itis" is a condition that makes one's nose grow when they lie. This becomes a bit of a problem when Goldie has to keep a secret from Bear for his parents. "The Clubhouse that Jack Built" is a club for boys named Jack only, including Bear (whose first name is Jack). That may sound like fun for the boys, but it alienates Goldie and their friends. When Goldie starts a club for anyone named anything, the Jacks begin to realize that they miss their friends and siblings.

"The Egg" falls from a beanstalk. Bear wants to keep what hatches from it, but it really belongs with its mother. Bear's "Golden Kickball" gets stuck in the yard of the Candy Witch, who supposedly turns children into gingerbread! Bear just wants his ball back. He and Goldie learn a lesson in appearances when they go after the ball...and discover the witch isn't nearly as scary as the rumors claim.

Bear and Goldie are surprised at the size of their babysitter when Bear's parents go out for the evening. But Thumbelina proves that size really matters not when she takes the kids on an adventure in "Thumbelina's Wild Ride." When the Big Bad Wolf accidentally blows down his own home, he becomes a "Big Bad Houseguest" who drives Humpty Dumpty crazy and refuses to leave, even after the Three Little Pigs rebuild his home.

Switched to The BoxTrolls while turning the Sloppy Joes from Julie's Cooking Studio into Chicken Cheeseburger Rice Skillet Casserole with the addition of leftover brown rice and the last of the cheddar cheese. The Box Trolls are small, grotesque-but-harmless creatures who live under an English town in the early 1900's. They scavenge trash, including boxes, from the town to live. Like Goldie with the Candy Witch, the townspeople believe the rumors that they're awful creatures who eat people and steal children. In truth, they're more afraid of humans than they are of them...but one finds a baby in the trash and does raise him. Years later, the boy, whom they call Eggs after the box he wears, comes to the surface when all of his troll friends go missing. He meets a young girl named Winnie, the daughter of the town's magistrate, and a group of men in red hats who are bent on destroying the trolls and gaining entrance into the town's cheese-obsessed inner circle. While Winnie explains to Eggs what he really is, the two discover that the trolls are alive...but not for much longer, if the Red Hats use their new, more powerful weapon on them...

This stop-motion tale was a very strange fish-out-water story. At times, it was a tad grotesque, especially in the design of the villains. On the other hand, the relationships between Eggs and the Trolls and Eggs and Winnie were very sweet. I liked how they handled the slightly cliche "fish out of water/raised by animals/don't judge a book by its cover" story, too, especially the surprise ending and how they ultimately eliminate the villain. The steampunk designs are nifty as well.

It's a little strange and dark for younger kids, but for older kids on up, this is a very intriguing tale of belonging and finding one's place that's worth a look if you loved other stop-motion semi-horror stories like Coraline or The Corpse Bride.

Those Oldies But Goodies

Started off a partly cloudy morning with some quick Blueberry Pancakes before hurrying off to early work. It wasn't bad when I came in. I did get stuck in the register once, but I mostly did returns. I had plenty of help, too. There were at least two other baggers there for most of the morning. It picked up by 11:30-noon. I spent the last hour and a half helping with carts. It was hot and humid, if not quite as hot as it has been the last few weeks. The heavy clouds above me would look threatening for a few minutes...then the sun would emerge.

It was still on-and-off cloudy when I got home. I changed, had a quick leftovers lunch, then packed up my laundry and headed back out again. I heard it was supposed to rain tomorrow. I wanted to get my load done now, before Mother Nature figured out what she was doing. It's just as well I had a very small load. They were busy as heck. I got one of the last remaining washers when I arrived. There were lots of families and couples getting their weekly load done, too. Thankfully, by the time my clothes were in the dryer, it was starting to clear out.

When I got home, I put everything away, then worked on writing. I eliminated the need for Jabba to drug Leia. He uses Han's siren voice to put Leia in a trance. He wants her to agree to kiss him and marry him - it'll turn her into his slave and leave Han as a beast forever. A certain dogfish and Leia's beloved brother crash the party and attack Jabba, breaking his hold on her.

I'm still having problems with Windows 10. The start menu wouldn't work again. Getting off "selected start-up" helped there...but then my computer crashed again. I have no idea why Windows 10 won't work on my computer. I was really hoping to not have to fiddle with drivers, especially since my computer says mine is fine...but if this keeps up, I may have to uninstall and reinstall an updated one.

I listened to my Golden Treasures oldies record set while eating more leftovers from yesterday's party for dinner. I totally forgot I had this set. I need to listen to it more often. Not only does it include old favorites like "Five O'Clock World," "Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head," "Ferry 'Cross the Mersey," and the original "Rockin' Robin," but it (inadvertantly) came with a bonus. I bought this set from an estate sale several years ago. Two more oldies collections must have been put into the wrong album sleeve. I didn't realize it until I was long home. Oh well, more for me to listen to.

Finished out the night with more Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures. I was looking forward to the next rounds. Last Crusade has been my favorite Indiana Jones movie since it came out in 1989. Like the second Lego Indy game, we skip the "Indy as a kid" opening in favor of going right into the story. The first one takes us over, above, and under Venice in search of Sir Richard's tomb. Building that infamous "X" in the library (that Indy claims never marks the spot) is especially fun. The boat race is more challenging - it's hard to catch the man in the speedboat long enough to ram him!

"Castle Rescue" is a bit easier. You first have to get Indy and Elsa Schinider to where Dr. Jones is being held, then get the Jones duo out of the castle. The last part with the bazooka that shoots missiles (that often blow up your character along with what they're aiming at) was the toughest to figure out.

"Motorcycle Chase" is harder. You are on motorcycles, but this is no crash-and-bash. You have to get off of them to hit officers, steal their hats, and convince the Nazis to let you pass. It took me a while to figure out the part with the bridge, too - you have to shoot the lenses to get the material to raise the bridge. And the end, where you have to use the bazookas to blow up mounted guns (and more often than not, get blown apart yourself) was more than a little frustrating.

Hopefully, things will be better the next time I play - it'll likely be moving on to an airplane chase and a zeppelin ride.

(Oh, and to date, it still hasn't rained. We'll see what happens.)

Pool Party In the Rain

Began today with an early work shift. Did carts for about two and a half hours on and off. It wasn't quite as hot as it has been, but it was very, very humid. When I got tired of sweating, I did returns, tended to the women's bathroom, helped a lady in and electric cart outside, and got stuck in the registers for a little while. It had been cloudy all day. It spit briefly when I was outside in the morning, but it didn't amount to anything. I picked up sugar (which I forgot yesterday) and got home dry.

When I arrived, I worked on my fanfiction. Jabba, now a handsome merman who calls himself Lord Jasper, is doing his best to seduce Leia. His voice has hypnotic qualities, thanks to Han being a real merman. Coupled with a drugged drink, it's easily luring the princess into his arms. But help is on the way....

Unfortunately, when I went to turn off my computer, I found I couldn't. The Windows 10 shut-down button wouldn't work, no matter what I pushed. I had to shut it off manually. All the messing around made me much later than I'd planned for Dad-Bruce's birthday party. And of course, it finally started raining hard the moment I came out. I arrived very wet.

Everyone was just starting to eat when I arrived. Jodie cooked tons of food. She thought it was too hot to barbecue, so they made ordinary indoor banquet items - baked ziti, roasted potatoes, Chicken Marsala, asparagus cooked in garlic sauce, green beans, shrimp scampi, hot sausage with peppers, and meatballs. There were tiny tarts and eclairs from Desserts by Design in place of the usual cake. I had everything but the sausage (too spicy), green beans (the salad and asparagus was enough), and meatballs (I didn't realize they were even there until I was already too full). I took a ton home, too.

Jodie said it was just a small thing, but nothing is ever small in my family. I saw Jodie's parents, Rose and Khai, friends of the family and their children, and Jesse, Dana, and their dog Helio. Jessa, Joe, and Joe's kids came shortly before I left.

After I ate, I hit the pool with the kids and their moms. Wow. The water was so amazingly warm. Rose was right that it felt like bath water. I was in for over an hour and a half and finally only got out because it was getting late. It had started to rain again after we came out, but that was actually kind of fun. The rain felt nice on my face as I floated around the kids, watching one of the moms teach them how to dive.

When I finally got in, I hung everything up to dry, took a shower, and then went on the Wii to play Lego Indiana Jones. The last two rounds of Temple of Doom were far shorter and quite a bit easier than the preceding ones. The only problem I had with "Escaping the Mine" was the mine cart ride. You had to hit levers from red to green in order to complete the course. I couldn't do it fast enough! Every time I hit one, it would take me forever to find another, and the last one I did would blink out.

The last round was "Battle on the Bridge." Once you got to the bridge and figured out you have to cut the ropes on the bridge to get rid of Mola Ram, this one was a piece of cake.

Next time I play, I'll be beginning Last Crusade. If I finish this before vacation, I'll double back to Lego Indiana Jones 2 and see if I can get closer to 100% on that.

I had less luck on the computer. It opened in safe mode. It took me forever to figure out how to switch back to regular mode. At least the start bar is working now. If it's still giving me trouble after a week, I'm rolling back to 8.1.

Oh, and I got my schedule at work. Pretty much the same as last week, other than early hours on Sunday and Saturday off instead of Wednesday. Not that I have much planned. I'm broke and need to start cleaning and getting ready for my vacation.

Final Friday Harvest

Though it rained early in the morning, by the time I got out of bed, it was sunny and bright. I watched a couple of episodes of Danger Mouse from the second season as I had breakfast and got organized. The entirety of England has been cursed with bad luck by "The Bad Luck Eye of the Little Yellow God." Danger Mouse and Penfold travel to Australia to figure out how to end the curse. The duo have a "Close Encounter of the Absurd Kind" when they're kidnapped by aliens while chasing Baron Greenback over the Bermuda Triangle.

Headed out for a little grocery shopping around 11. I heard it may rain later, so I figured I'd get everything done as soon as I could. The clearance shelves are groaning with products the Acme is either phasing out, or were a part of their previous generic brand. I bought butter yellow cake mix, batteries, aspirin, cranberry-almond cluster cereal, and rum extract. Found Purdue ground chicken that was on sale and had a dollar manager's coupon. Restocked diced tomatoes, brown sugar, spiced wafers, skim milk, and peaches. Thought I'd try more of those frozen juice bars Lauren and I tried earlier in the summer. All they had left were Jolly Ranchers and sour flavors. I grabbed the former.

Went home, put everything away, then went right back out. First stop was Common Grounds Coffee House. I had a quick sweet spicy tea and an "Orange Creamcicle" Muffin. It was a little disappointing. Other than the orange-white chocolate on top, it didn't taste very citrus-y. The tea was as tasty as ever, though. It was around 1. There were a few people there, mainly local office workers looking for peace and quiet.

I rode by Dad and Jodie's house on my way to Haddon Township, but there was no van in the driveway, and it appeared that no one was home. Headed across the Newton River Park instead to the Haddon Township Library. Neither the library nor the park were busy. There wasn't a whole lot for me to do at the library. I shelved the few children's DVDs and new releases and the one audio book sitting in the stacks.

Did take out a few movies and another cartoon set. Renewed Ant-Man, which I still haven't gotten around to. Rose recommended The Box Trolls when we were talking about movies on the way to Anny's house on Wednesday. I've seen it at both libraries and have been meaning to take a look at it for a while now. Goldie & Bear is another Disney Junior show, this one with a fairy tale theme, that looks like it'll be fun. Found a lovely picture-book version of Beauty & the Beast (one of the inspirations for my current fanfic).

Made a quick stop at a very quiet Thriftway for Gatorade and a gift card before dodging the early traffic on Cuthbert and riding over to Dad and Jodie's. Jodie was there when I arrived; Dad came later. Jodie was making tons of food for Dad's birthday party tomorrow. I said "hello" to both and told them when I'm leaving on August 15th for vacation. Sounds like Dad will probably drive me to Cherry Hill that Monday, and Rose may pick me up on Sunday evening.

Spent the next few hours writing. Leia appears in a beautiful old sunken castle, dressed in fine clothes in a dining room with a table laden with seafood goodies. Her host is a handsome blond merman with Han's voice. He's charming and witty, but something seems very off about him...especially his large yellow eyes...

Today was Oaklyn's second Final Friday Food & Farms Festival. It was even busier than the first one last month. I didn't run into Rose and her family this time, but I did see one of the managers at work. (She apparently had off today, too.) As the farmer told me last month, there were two small farm stands this time. I'm glad. It made up for me not being able to make it to the Collingswood Farm Market this week. I was able to buy two perfect red tomatoes, two leeks, and a nice, small head of red-leaf Boston lettuce. The cheapest food I could find was the $3 hot dogs, soda, and chips deal from Viola's International Deli. The other food booths all sold fancy salads, crepes, or gourmet sandwiches that cost an arm and a leg. I ate the hot dogs, then strolled home with my soda.

Finished the night with a tomato and Boston lettuce salad and the first episode of Goldie & Bear. The title characters are Goldilocks and Little Bear, who are now best friends who happily play and romp with other fairy tale characters.  "The Birthday Chair" has Goldie repairing the chair she broke for Little Bear's birthday. Big Bad Wolf tells her it's not much of a gift. She tries to get the Three Little Pigs to make her something fancier, but they keep arguing over what to make it from. In the end, Goldie discovers that the simplest gifts are often the most appreciated.

Little Bear wants to be a "Big Bear" when Papa Bear tells him he's too young to do many things. He learns a lesson when he eats Jack's magic bean, which makes him grow into a huge, monster-sized bear! Though he can scare away villains from the gnome's magic tree, he's also too big to fit into his own home or really play with his friends anymore. It'll take a wish from the grateful gnome to set things right.

Windows 10 just doesn't seem to like me. It crashed twice tonight, once while I was working on my story. It hasn't done it in a few hours. If it does it again within the next two to five days, I'm going to start looking around for a patch or update or something that'll fix it.

Oh, and as you may have guessed, it never rained today. Never even came close. There were clouds off and on, but they were never that bad. It was actually really nice by 6 PM, perfectly blue and windy (if still very humid). Tomorrow, however, is supposed to get messy. We'll see what happens.

Music of My Childhood

I was up late chatting with Lauren last night and didn't get up until quarter of 10. It was near 11 before I got going. I made Pineapple Pancakes while listening to one of my 80's music collections. I picked up Everything 80's from what was then the Super Fresh in Westmont shortly after moving here. It's two discs of pop and dance songs from the 80's, from "Our House" to "Karma Chameleon" to "Walking On Sunshine." It makes for a great pick-me-up and some wonderful memories. I remember dancing around the house to these songs on the radio when I was little.

Work was steady, but not quite as busy as yesterday. It slowed down considerably by 4 PM. There were a few annoying beginning-of-the-month people, and I was tired and got frustrated easily. Thankfully, my relief was early, and I was able to easily get out on time.

I went straight home. I had originally planned on spending the rest of the afternoon writing. I spent the rest of the afternoon trying to get my internet working. I called Comcast three times; got cut off the first two times. I knocked down my bulletin board trying to find the cables to the modem. The broadband connection just wouldn't connect, despite the fact that the modem was working.After an hour and a half of struggling, Comcast finally told me to check and see if the Wi-Fi was enabled. Oops. It was not. Somehow, the computer had shut it off. I turned it on, and the internet has been working fine ever since. I wasted an hour-and-a-half that I could have been writing and feel like a complete idiot.

I tried to cheer myself up with scrambled eggs with farm-market fresh tomatoes, mushrooms, and cheddar cheese and the Debbie Gibson album Out of the Blue. I listened to my cassette copy of this constantly as a 10-year-old. Tiffany, too. My sisters and I had a pink and silver radio/cassette player that was our first "stereo." I remember listening to Tiffany and Debbie Gibson while reading or doing homework and making up my own "music videos" to the songs in my head.

Cracked Windows

Started off the day with the soundtrack from the 1965 Rogers and Hammerstein's Cinderella while getting ready for work. Though I like all three TV versions of this popular musical fairy tale, I tend to listen to the 60's version with Leslie Ann Warren the most. That may be because I grew up on it. This is the one that used to turn up on cable constantly when I was a kid. I'm especially fond of the lovely "Loneliness of Evening," a ballad added for the Prince in the opening. Originally cut from South Pacific, it's a gentle song of longing that gives us slightly more insight on the Prince. (The recent stage version uses it, but moves it to closer to the end, after the ball.)

Work was still dead. It did pick up a bit during the noon rush hour, but other than that, I was standing around and working on notes again. By the time the dinner rush hour was starting, I was heading home.

I spent the next few hours working on fanfiction. Maple takes Betty shopping, showing her how complicated human clothing is. They meet Scott for lunch, and then take in one of those new "movies" at the picture show. They end their day at the beach, chasing each other and listening to Scott's stories of his travels.

What they don't know is they're being watched. Ruth has come to the surface to see this human that's captured the heart of a mermaid. She finds him very attractive indeed...enough that she decides that she wants his soul for herself.

I was lucky. I had just saved my work and was about to shut down anyway when the computer crashed. Again. It crashed twice last night after I upgraded to Windows 10. I figured it would be ok if I let it cool down. I turned it off and went right into dinner. Dinner was all the remaining leftover vegetables in my refrigerator with canned chicken. Not bad, amazingly enough. I added two carrots for color.

Ran more Faerie Tale Theatre while I ate. "Sleeping Beauty" is one of the earliest stories in the series. Christopher Reeve is the very handsome prince who hears a story about a beautiful princess (Bernadette Peters) who was cursed to sleep for a 100 years by a wicked fairy (Beverly DiAngelo), then goes to rescue her himself. While the special effects do show their age, I may actually appreciate the jokes on this one now that I'm a bit older....and I definitely like that heart-stopping final battle between the fairy and the prince.

I had nothing but trouble the rest of the night. Windows 10 didn't get better when I turned it back on. It got much worse. Now, it was going down every 5 minutes or so. I finally texted Lauren and told her what was going on. She suggested switching back to Windows 8.1. I finally did as soon as the computer was behaving well enough. It seems to have done the trick - it hasn't gone down since then. I then had to try to remember where the router number was in order to get back online, which took another half-hour. I'm on a cable modem. I didn't remember the number is on the bottom.

Cheered myself up with some Remember WENN while waiting for Windows 8.1 to come back on. In the third season episode "A Star In Stripes Forever," character actor Mackie Bloom is working as the station manager while Betty is out of town. He's taking every advantage...until an old and unwanted acquaintance from his past shows up and starts making demands.

So, yeah. Next time, I do some research before I upgrade anything. And I don't recommend anyone upgrades to Windows 10 until they figure out the bugs. I haven't had any trouble with Windows 8.1. Sometimes, more really isn't better.

Presto Computer Magic

I began a hot, steamy day with records. I ran another one of my 20s CDs as I made Raspberry Orange Pancakes for breakfast. I did call Mom, but wasn't able to talk to her for very long. Mom was enjoying some rare free time. Dad took my nephews Skylar and Collyn out to the boardwalk, so she had the house to herself. I told her about the party yesterday and all the calling in.

Speaking of work, I worked fairly early for a Sunday, at noon. It was sweltering hot as I rode to the Acme, though a decent breeze helped make the heat somewhat easier to take. Work was very busy all afternoon. If people aren't having barbecues and family reunions, they're either coming home from the Shore, or getting ready to head down there. I was in and out with no major problems.

When I got home, I put the air conditioner on and got back into a cooler sundress. Since I was off earlier than usual, I decided to take advantage of the extra time to transfer my Microsoft Works files to text that can be opened in OpenOffice or Word Pad. I turned on the older Compaq laptop and went through my portable hard drives to see what had to be moved. Thankfully, not much, about 30 files all together. Took me an hour and a half to transfer everything that needed to be moved, mostly inventories, budgets, and a few stories. (I loved Works' spreadsheets and databases, but I wasn't a big fan of their word processor.)

I learned a really big lesson from all this. I need to try to be more on top of technology, especially software and apps. If I'd have known that Rough Draft and Works had been discontinued, I would have stopped using both and downloaded similar, still-updated programs years ago.

Spent the rest of the evening listening to records with music from the 20s and 30s and making Chicken Stir Fry and romaine salad for dinner. Nothing Thrills Half as Much as Fred Astaire collected the famous dancer's best-known songs from his vehicles with Ginger Rogers, the Rogers-less A Damsel In Distress, and Second Chorus from the early 40s. Fannie Brice and Helen Morgan covered another record. Brice's side included "My Man" (which I also have on my RCA/Victor 20s CD), "I'd Rather Be Blue," "Cooking Breakfast For the One I Love," and several comic numbers. Chanteuse Helen Morgan gets "Bill" and "Can't Help Lovin' That Man" from Show Boat and "What I Wouldn't Do For That Man" from Sweet Adeline, among others.

Goin' Down

The day didn't start out badly. For once, I had time for a nice, long volunteer session in the Haddon Township Library. Newton River Park was busy with joggers and dog walkers and people pushing children in strollers two and three cars wide. No wonder - it's beautiful there. While there was some alge on the river, it was mostly green and shining. The trees are just starting to blossom, and the grass is so much brighter. There were carpets of smooth yellow flowers along the riverbanks.

Since I didn't have a lot of plans for today, I spent more time at the Haddon Township Library than usual. Did a lot of kids' DVD organizing. I arrived a bit early, so there wasn't much for me to do at first. By the time I finished with the kids' section, there were plenty of adult DVD titles and picture books for me to shelve.

I arrived at the library at quarter of 11...and didn't get out until 12:30. I took out a book on healthy cooking for kids with simple recipes I thought looked interesting, along with five DVDs - the newest Scooby Doo direct-to-home-media movie Scooby Doo and the Mask of the Blue Falcon, Lady and the Tramp II: Scamp's Adventure (Linda Young said in her blog a while back that it was pretty much a rehash of the original film, but I'm willing to give it a go after enjoying Bambi II and the Tinker Bell movies), the French animated fantasy The Triplets of Bellville, and the stop-motion animated movie James and the Giant Peach (I have several sweet songs from this film on my Classic Disney CD set and have wanted to see it for a while). I've enjoyed watching the Rick Steves DVDs this week so much, I decided to try another other; this time, I went with trips to Spain and Portugal.

My original plan was to stop at Dollar Tree for a few things, then go out to lunch. I still had to go to Dollar Tree, but I curtailed my lunch plans. I didn't have a lot of money on me, and it was really too nice to be sitting in a restaurant. I dodged a busy crowd stopping on their way from lunch at Dollar Tree to buy sponges, sweater storage bags for my winter scarves and hats, a large laundry bag to store my winter blankets in, vinegar, orange marmalade (they were almost out of the jars of those tasty preserves), and a birthday card for my sister Rose (hers was Sunday). I picked up a turkey and spinach hoagie from WaWa before heading home.

By this point, it was hot and breezy, well into the mid-80s. This was no time to be eating indoors. I enjoyed a small picnic on my porch, reading the cookbook and gulping my hoagie. This would have been a nice idea in late May or June, when the leaves on the trees around the porch were large and shady. Right now, they're barely existent or not there at all. I wound up going back inside for a while.

Did things around the apartment for a while. Loaded the scarves and winter things into one sweater bag; the other holds electrical cords that were taking up room in the living area closet. I'd really like to organize that more, but I think I'll need a couple of bins to do it properly. Loaded the blankets into the laundry bag. That worked great, and the bag was so big, it should fit my smaller deer-print blanket when I no longer need that.

Around 4PM, I thought I'd try to brainstorm hobbies. I switched on my Compaq laptop like I usually do...but while the computer did run (I could hear it humming), the screen wouldn't come up. It stubbornly remained blank, even after turning it off and on several times. To put it simply, I panicked. I called Rose and asked her if she knew anyone who knew something about computers (and to see if she ever got the call I made on Sunday). Then I called Lauren to tell her I might not be on tonight.

After all the fussing, I finally got on using Secure Restore. I'm guessing it was the updates last night that caused the problem; I don't know why, since updates never did that before. I just won't turn it off anymore until Lauren visits in June.

Rose actually returned my call just ten minutes later. She didn't return the call I made on Sunday because she's been very busy with work (she's a part-time waitress and a lawyer), and she and Craig are still negotiating on their new house, which needs a lot of work. Ironically, she said she also needs to find someone who knows something about computers, as she too needs a new laptop. While the problem with my Compaq is sheer age, she says she just needs one with more memory.

And I'm beginning to agree with her suggestion that there's a reason people own all these computer devices, like iPads and Kindles and what have you. The Compaq is all I have. My cell phone is so old, I can't do much more with it than text, take calls, and play games. Lauren owns four laptops she's bought at various times over the last decade or so, plus an iPad. She's still giving me a Kindle Fire for my birthday...and maybe it's coming at a good time.

I needed a bath. It was late, past 5:30, but I still did it anyway. Not only did it help me relax, but cooler water than previous soaks proved a great way to beat the heat. Alas, things went downhill from there. I tried to make Flounder with wine sauce and Corn Fritters from the cookbook I took out for dinner, along with a spinach salad...but doing that and chatting with Lauren at the same time took so long, it was 9:30 before I was finally making Dark Chocolate Mousse for dessert.

Mother Nature did not help. Of course, as soon as I realize I forgot to take out the trash, it starts pouring. I did it anyway. It's poured off and on all night. At one point, it was so heavy and windy, I had to close the window overlooking the park - the wind was coming in and soaking everything.

On the Banks of the Black Horse Pike

It was already cloudy and dreary when I got up this morning. I wasn't even going to attempt any running around. I slept in, watched more Danger Mouse, and went on the computer to do some writing work and editing.

The computer is giving me trouble. For some reason, AVG won't run at all, and it keeps giving me a lot of weird boxes. It won't let Start run, either. I push it, and it won't come up. I think it's something to do with bugs in the recent updates for AVG and Windows XP. I just updated both not long ago. I'll see if uninstalling AVG later tonight helps.

When I looked out my window around 1:30, I got a distinct feeling of deja-vu. It was thundering and storming and pouring something awful. Last year, I tried to call Dad for a ride to work during a similar storm, only to discover he couldn't get through flood water on West Clinton Avenue. I walked and was a half-hour late.

I wasn't going to do that again. This time, I just had a quick lunch, put the bag with my dinner in plastic, threw on my blue rain coat, and headed out on my bike. I did the right thing. Flood waters were so high at quarter after 2, the Black Horse Pike at the entrance to Audubon Park was one massive puddle. Traffic was backed up for miles. Since the rain had stopped by then, I just took off my shoes and socks, dumped them in the bike basket, and walked over the hills and around the water. The rain was just starting up again as I arrived at work.

It rained on and off for the rest of the night. The traffic stayed bad, too, if the complaining my customers did all evening was any indication. I was more worried about how a lot of my co-workers would get out of the parking lot in that mess than how I'd get home.

The Acme wasn't in great shape when I arrived, either. From what I've gathered, the store was built on swampland, and water seeps through Aisle 1 whenever there's an especially bad storm...like this afternoon. Thank goodness, the rain we had the rest of the day was more like a normal summer shower, which caused no further problems. It was mildly steady when I finally came in (ten minutes late, but that's better than thirty). When I headed home at 8:30, it was so dead, I spent most of the last hour doing returns.

Stop the Printing Presses

I ended up spending most of the morning trying to get the printer working. It wasn't a matter of getting it hooked up to the computer. I did that just fine. It was getting it online where I had problems. I tried all morning. I connected it six times, counting tonight...and it wasn't until tonight that I got it to print online as well as offline. Otherwise, the thing worked fine. It even came with ink cartridges, which I appreciate - ink cartridges aren't cheap.

While I was cursing at electronic devices, Mother Nature was doing her own work. By the time I headed for the Acme, the snow was half-gone from anywhere exposed to direct sunlight. I was able to ride to work on the street once I got off of Manor, which is still covered with packed snow.

Work wasn't a problem. It was on-and-off busy, and I filled in the slow times with candy stocking. My relief was on time, and I was in and out quickly.

Watched Three Stooges shorts when I got home and made steak with fried mushrooms and onions and roasted Brussels sprouts for dinner. Some classic material here, including the boys' attempts to sell medicine in "Dizzy Doctors" and save their father (Curly in a double role) from a conniving blond after his money in "Three Dumb Clucks."

I work early New Year's Eve and New Year's Day, so I decided to make special dinners both days to make up for it. Tomorrow, I'm going to finish my after-Christmas shopping at the Audubon Crossings Mall tomorrow and have lunch out. I'll make ground chicken lasagna New Year's Eve with Whipped Syllabub from Felicity's Cooking Studio.

The Cooking Studio will also provide a New Year's Day Colonial dinner - chicken pudding, sweet potatoes and apples, Sally Lunn Bread, and baked pumpkin pudding. This will be in honor of Felicity's retirement on the American Girl site.

Hot Enough to Fry a Cow On the Sidewalk

I don't know if it got up to 100 today, but it was very hot, and even worse, very humid. Nevertheless, I got quite a bit done. I ran the usual Saturday errands this morning. Checked out a yard sale. They were just selling baby toys, so I moved on to the bank. After I left there, I headed for the Collingswood Farm Market. They were surprisingly busy for such a hot day. I found lots of things I wanted to try - peaches, an ear of corn, tiny apples, tomatoes, blackberries, blueberries, romaine lettuce, perfect purple eggplant, and the first regular-sized plums of the season.

I was sweating buckets when I finally got home. I put everything away, then thought I'd add music to my MP3 player for my visit to the family in Cape May County next weekend. I did manage to delete a bunch of old stuff and add a jazz CD and part of the first disc of the Birds, Bees, and Monkees special edition that I bought in February before I got a strange error that said "This USB Device can Perform Faster if Connected to Hi Speed USB 2.0 Port." I don't know why it said that. It WAS connected to a hi-speed 2.0 port. I checked three times. I rebooted twice and reset twice. Nothing seemed to change.

I got so frustrated, I finally decided to ignore the heat and go out to the mall behind the Acme and see if I could find an MP3 player. I didn't get an MP3 player, but I did finally buy a new pair of cheap sneakers to run errands in from The Shoe Depot and a new purse from Fashion Bug. (The lining on the old one was ripped, and I really wasn't that crazy about it. The handle wasn't nearly long enough, and it wasn't big enough for everything I haul in my handbag when I'm on a trip.) I took a look at MP3 players at Wal Mart and Staples, but I finally decided I'd see if I could do something about the old one.

After I got home, I changed into my bathing suit and went right over to Dad and Uncle Ken's for a swim. Dad's still out of town at a wedding, but Uncle Ken, Dolores, and several neighbors and Dolores' grandchildren Mercedes and Blake were around. I swam with the kids in the pool for a while, playing something called "Cattergories." You name a category (stuffed animals, TV shows), and everyone has to guess something in that category. If the person guesses something someone's picked, they have to chase them. If they make it to the other side, the other person is still it. Mercedes never did get anyone.

After I got home, I made a lovely dinner of steamed yellow squash and zucchini, cucumbers, and cornmeal-battered salmon. Oh, and Lauren helped me figure out what's going on with the computer. I'm going to have to re-install the problematic driver tomorrow.

In the Summertime

After two days of heat and humidity, I was so happy to stick my head out the door this morning and feel a cool wind. It got up to about 85 degrees today, but the stifling sticky feeling had vanished along with the storms. I managed to get out of the house fairly early for my farm market run.

It was a fantastic morning for a ride. After a quick stop at the bank, I headed for the farm market. It was pushed to the side of the parking lot again, but just as noisy as usual. Cherries and carrots were gone, but I did eventually pick up zucchini, yellow squash, tomatoes, a cucumber, a green pepper, mushrooms, peaches, blueberries, bananas, a small jar of honey peach butter for Lauren's parents when I go on vacation, and sugar plums to replace the cherries.

I rode around for a little while after that, checking out yard sales. Perhaps because of the gorgeous weather, there were tons of them today. Alas, I found nothing of interest besides a lovely ride and eventually headed home. Spent the rest of the early afternoon working on editing and posting the role-play (as mentioned before) and having lunch (Garden State Turkey-Bean Soup and farm market vegetable salad) before heading for work.

I left early enough to take a peek at the Rite Aid that's closing next-door to us. It was about half-empty. The shelves in front were still filled with food, cosmetics, electronics, magazines, stationary, and seasonal items...but the ones in back near the pharmacy were totally wiped out. I saw why when I tried to make my way around the store. There were very, very long lines, going half-way across the front of the store, and only two cashiers to handle them. I was looking for contact solution, but needless to say, I left without buying anything.

Work was just as much of a pain in the rear. First of all, it was busy for most of the day. Second, the computer system that handles our debit, credit, and food stamp cards and our checks was offline all day. This had little effect on the checks or food stamp cards, and only caused slight problems for credit cards. Debit cards, however, were nothing but trouble. You'd have to sign them, and if anyone tried to buy over about $150 worth of food on them, the card wouldn't allow it and they'd have to run the card through twice or however many times until the order was paid for.

Add some annoying customers to the mix, too. My very first customer of the day was the obnoxious old man with the patch who thinks he owns the universe. He refuses to write a check and makes the cashiers do it, even though I think he's perfectly capable. I've seen him do other things. I think he's just lazy. Later in the day, I had an elderly woman who wanted one item in each bag. This wouldn't have been such a problem, if she hadn't had a very full cart...and if she hadn't kept treating me like I was five years old. I know exactly what I'm doing, and I did hear her when she said one item per bag. I hate it when people are condescending to me.

Thankfully, it was quiet enough after work for me to do my grocery shopping in peace. I took advantage of several excellent sales, including $1.00 for an 18-count container of eggs, $.40 each for Dannon Light Yogurt, half-off all chicken breasts, and two Fiber One Granola Bar boxes for $6...even less, with the $1.10 coupon I got last week from a sample table.