Making Changes

Started off my day with breakfast and She-Ra and the Princesses of Power on Netflix for something different. Watched the first half of the two-part pilot "The Sword." This pretty much follows the original show, only here, Glimmer is an adorable hot-tempered spitfire who is far younger than the others (and is treated as such by her mother Angela), and Adora and Catra are buddies. In fact, Adora initially ends up in the Whispering Woods to give Catra something to do after she's not permitted to go on a raid. I really like the animation - the characters look less like muscular 80's models and more like the awkward young people they are, and the anime-esque designs surprisingly work well with them. 

Switched to Remember WENN while making the bed and getting paperwork organized. I enjoyed revisiting The Monkees so much last fall, I thought I'd check out another show that meant a lot to me. WENN debuted in January 1996 as a four-part mini-series, beginning with "On the Air." Betty Roberts (Amanda Naughton) arrives at Pittsburgh radio station WENN in September 1939, having just won a writing contest. Erudite manager Victor Comstock (John Bedford Lloyd) tells her she's an intern who has a lot to learn. He realizes that maybe he could learn a few tricks himself when their writer passes out drunk and Betty has to rush in and save the broadcast with her contest-winning play.

"Klondike 9366" further introduces estranged husband-and-wife acting team Hilary Booth (Melinda Mullins) and Jeffery Singer (Hugh O'Gorman) and brings in perky blond ingenue Celia Mellon (Dina Spybey). Ceila gets a baptism by fire her first day when Victor wants to do a call-in talk show. It's a bust...until they hear from a little boy (Nick Holmes) who is worried about an intruder outside. 

We learn more about Ceila in "A Rock and a Soft Place" as Victor and Betty try to figure out how to keep two very different sponsors happy. Mrs. Mellon of the Pittsburgh Public Library Theater wants more culture and less violence. Mr. Acton of Acton Anthracite Coal wants to ramp up the violence and tone down the mush. This is also the first of several times on the show we meet a character who isn't what they claim to be when Ceila keeps trying to avoid Mrs. Mellon, whom everyone assumes is her mother. 

"There But for Grace" brings in the first of three Broadway divas who would have prominent guest-star roles on the show. Movie star Grace Cavendish (Patti LuPone) makes a stop on a bond tour. Her stage rival Hilary Booth thinks she's there to steal her thunder, but she really came to see her former flame Victor (to Betty's consternation). 

I finally got that interview in while "There But for Grace" finished. I quickly went over my tax sheets with them, then my application. Showed them brand-new ID card and my much-mauled Social Security card, and that was that. I did need to photograph and email the application to them afterwards. I just need to get fingerprinted in Cherry Hill on Thursday, and that will be that.

Took Uber to the Best Buy at the Market Place in Cherry Hill after lunch. I didn't want to go through my laptop overheating again or risk it dying all together like my previous one did. I spent a half-hour looking over the two rows of Chromebooks. Ended up with a Lenovo that cost about $340, more than I spent on my previous laptop. It's my first real wide-screen laptop, though, with great audio and visuals...and really tiny words. I may have to figure out how to make the words on this thing bigger.

Watched Thrill of a Romance while I set up my new computer. I go further into this romantic comedy with music featuring Esther Williams and Van Johnson at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.

Thrill of a Romance

Jessa picked me up at quarter after 6. She had some great news. She'll be gone next week because she's using part of her inheritance from Dad to take a trip to Europe. She mentioned seeing Ireland, Switzerland, Germany, and Venice, Italy. We celebrated with dinner at Bahama Breeze. She had a bowl of plaintains, chicken, beans, and rice. I had blackened mahi mahi tacos and a bowl of fruit with mango sorbet. Oh, yum! The crispy fish was perfectly seared, and the fruit hit the spot a lot more than fries would have. And for once, the serving was just enough for one sitting without having to take anything home.

The main reason I suggested Bahama Breeze is because a second 2nd Avenue Thrift location had opened at the green-roofed shopping center next-door to the Cherry Hill Mall. That place was huge! It was easily twice the size of the one in Pennsauken, with more racks of clothes than they probably had in the Cherry Hill Mall JC Penney and Macy's. They had so many shelves of books and CDs, I spent almost an hour just going over those. Ended up with 6 CDs: 

Irving Berlin In Hollywood, a TCM collection of Berlin songs from Call Me Madam, Top Hat, Alexander's Ragtime Band, and Easter Parade, among others. 

The Rodgers and Hammerstein Collection, songs from there shows (including their lesser-known work) performed by vocalists of the 40's and 50's

Alabama - Christmas

Air Supply - The Definitive Collection 

Billboard Top Hits 1975 and 1977

And three books: 

Daisy Fae and the Miracle Man and Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg

Dancing to "Almendra" by Maya Montedro

Finished the night after a shower with my new Irving Berlin In Hollywood CD. We get a really nice overview of the songs Berlin wrote for films here, including one used in a non-musical (Clark Gable's rendition of "Puttin' On the Ritz" from the drama Idiot's Delight). I was especially glad to hear the outtakes and songs cut from movies, like Ethel Merman's "Marching Through Time" that was dropped from Alexander's Ragtime Band. Judy Garland was so hilarious singing "Anything You Can Do" with Howard Keel, I almost wish she'd been able to complete Annie Get Your Gun. She had a rather nice "They Say It's Wonderful," too. 

Before the Spring Rains

Got a very quick start today with breakfast and "All Wet" at Disney Plus. Oswald the Lucky Rabbit's selling dancing hot dogs at the beach when he falls for his girl Fanny. Hoping to impress her, he takes over as lifeguard. It turns out to be a far harder job than he originally thought when he has to rescue Fanny from being tossed around in the ocean after she loses her inner tube and ends up underwater.

Called Uber after the cartoon ended. The lady arrived within 7 minutes, but I was already late getting out, and the traffic was really bad in Cherry Hill. It honestly could have been worse. I ducked into the computer lab in the basement of the Cherry Hill Library one minute late. Slid into the back row just as they were getting started.

As it turns out, when they said "Basic Word," they meant really basic. I've known how to save, create a blank template, and mess with the font size and color for years. The only really new thing I learned was the Ctrl/letter shortcuts. Alas, they won't be having their series of intermediate classes until late May-early June, when Lauren will be down here. I might check Voorhees and see if I can get something earlier than that.

I wandered around the library for a little while, then used the bathroom and headed down King's Highway to Dave's Hot Chicken. This is an up-and-coming fast food restaurant that specializes in fried chicken and is basically a spicier Raising Caine's. I had two sliders, fries, and Coke Zero. The first slider was really good, if very spicy, despite my ordering mild. The second was a fried chicken finger on a slice of white bread, with no lettuce or special sauce. They must have run out of the buns. I just ate that like a regular chicken finger.

Strolled over to the Ellisburg Shopping Center to pick up more Coke Zero at Five Below. Ended up buying Easter gifts for Khai, Finley, and the daughter of a friend and the neighbor's daughter, too. Found a pale blue Strawberry Shortcake T-shirt I thought was really cute.

Called Uber on the other side of the shopping center near Whole Foods. The young woman didn't even take the 7 minutes listed to arrive. The traffic wasn't quite as bad, either. I was home within 10 minutes.

I changed my jean jacket for a heavier coat and made my grocery list while watching more Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. "Minnie's Birthday" happened earlier in the first season. This time, the others are making the surprise party for Minnie...but she doesn't take being put off as well and almost stomps off before they have to call her back.

After the cartoon ended, I went back out on the bike. Though it was cloudy, windy, and cold, barely in the 50's, I really wanted to get my grocery shopping done today. It's supposed to rain all day tomorrow. 

I think I did the right thing. Neither Sprouts nor the Westmont Acme were busy, despite it being past 2 when I started to Westmont. I mainly needed bulk items at Sprouts. One bag of dried cranberries is for snacking on this week. The other bag and the bag of oatmeal is for a recipe I plan on doing tomorrow. Grabbed sparkling water, bananas, coconut milk, and granola bars on sale, too. Restocked yogurt at the Acme as best I could. They were nearly out of the yogurt on sale. The Made Good breakfast bars were cheaper at regular price than the Kind bars were on sale. Also picked up blood oranges and more soda that were on good sales. 

Rode home across Newton Lake Park to dodge rush hour traffic and the high schoolers finishing their day on Nicholson. Considering the kids were getting off even as I pushed my bike on the path over the hill, I was surprised the park wasn't busier. At least it looks like they're almost done with the playground equipment. They tore that down near the end of last summer. They should have finished it months ago.

Let The Price Is Right run while putting my groceries away, then went downstairs to make banana chocolate chip muffins. This recipe came from The Sunset Cook Book of Breads, which I found at a yard sale a while back. I took the Basic Muffins recipe, replaced some of the oil with bananas, increased the sugar slightly, and added chocolate chips. Oh yum! They came out perfectly moist and tasty and smelled great in the oven. 

Watched The Buddy Holly Story after I finished. I go further into this 1978 biopic of the rock pioneer at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.

The Buddy Holly Story

Had dinner while watching Match Game '73. They're now on the week that introduced Bill Cullen to the show and had "Mama" Cass Elliot in the ingenue seat. Though I could have done without some of Richard's weight jokes, she largely seemed to have a good time and played pretty well. Which was more than could be said of Jack Klugman, who spent that week arguing with his wife Brett. 

Finished the night with two episodes of Remember WENN in honor of my friends Linda and James Young. James just passed away on Monday. I met them on the WENN chats way back in the late 90's, when I used to chat on the machines in the computer labs at college. They've been good friends ever since. I even got together with them when they were in Philadelphia on vacation in November 2009. Linda is a sweetheart and a close friend, and James was a dear and will be missed. 

I went with two more upbeat episodes from the second season. Soap star Hilary Booth becomes "The Diva Who Wouldn't Die" when the sponsor Dusty Foxx (Rue McClanahan) insists on cutting her out of the WENN soap The Hands of Time in favor of having Hilary appear in the gossip show From Hilary's Booth. Dusty's not too happy when Hilary's gossip turns out to be all about her...and she's really furious when Hilary turns her death scene into a shambles as she does everything she can think of to keep her character alive and on the air!

Con-man station manager Scott Sherwood has even less luck putting one over on his Aunt Agatha (Jan Miner), insisting that he's "Scott Sherwood of the FBI." He drags writer Betty Roberts along for ride, claiming their cop shows are real interrogations. Meanwhile, actress and organist Maple LaMarsh wants to take over Hilary Booth's role on their crime show, something that Hilary (despite having a far worse Brooklyn accent) is very reluctant to do. 

Here's Linda's website and episode guide if you want to learn more about WENN!

Linda Young's Remember WENN Website

(Oh, and it did finally rain...at midnight, after it was supposed to have rained 2 PM. It's been off and on, sometimes hard, ever since.)

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. 

Up In Haddonfield

Began a late morning with a quick breakfast. Switched to making Chocolate Chip-Orange Muffins while watching The Care Bears Nutcracker. A young girl named Anna is upset when her best friend moves away, and she has no one besides her adventure-obsessed little brother to talk to. Funshine and Grumpy Bear come down to assure her that friends are always close to our hearts...but before they get far, a nutcracker doll jumps out of a hole, followed by a group of nasty rats. They eventually travel back through the hole to help the Nutcracker save the Land of Sweets from the rats and the evil Vizier.

Ran the unusual Rankin-Bass special The Leprechaun's Christmas Gold while getting ready to head out for the afternoon. This is the only holiday show I know of to mix Christmas stories and Irish mythology. A young sailor chops down a Christmas tree on a phantom Irish island, inadvertently releasing a banshee. The banshee wants the gold of the little leprechaun (Art Carney) who lives on the island. If she doesn't get it by Christmas morning, she'll turn into tears and wash away. She tries tricking the leprechaun's family, then the young sailor. It's the latter that finally brings the leprechauns back together and teaches them the importance of forgiveness.

First stop on my schedule today was the Oaklyn Library. The librarians were working on last-minute details for the baskets they're going to auction at the American Legion building down the block on Saturday. I ignored their chatter about politics on CNN and worked on organizing DVDs and picture books in the kids' area.

Went straight from there to Haddonfield. Had enough time to quickly pop into the CVS on King's Highway to see if they had the Pantene curl formula. Yes, but it's not on sale this week. I moved on after a few minutes and just decided to actually make it to counseling a bit early this time.

I was mainly there for counseling. On one hand, my November has largely been going well, and Halloween was a lot of fun. The trouble is, while I'm making more money at work than I figured I would be, it's still not enough. I did finish that game show essay...that took me over two months to write. It's hard for me to focus, especially when I'm online.

I'm frustrated with my lack of progress on the job front. I get so nervous when I look up jobs online! It's easier for me to write an essay about my feelings than to sell myself or talk up myself. I'll look at the job descriptions, see that they need more experience than I have or abilities that I don't have, and I don't even bother with them. I also have a hard time separating a large goal - like finding a job - into smaller tasks. I get an idea, then get overwhelmed when I try to implement it. Happens with my stories, too. I have these huge ideas (like the fairy tale thing I'm doing now), and no idea of how to break them down into smaller ideas. Every time I try, it never works out.

Mrs. Stahl suggested I might have high-functioning autism. I didn't have the heart to tell her that I still don't think I have anything besides stress and cripplingly low confidence. All I want to know is how I can build up my confidence and push through my fear, so I can do what I love and make enough money from it to live.

(Incidentally, we're not going to be getting together again until late January. We both have too much going on next month for me to run up here.)

I cheered myself up with a tall Iced Matcha Green Tea Latte at the Starbucks a block from Mrs. Stahl's office. I literally just missed the crowd. Less than ten minutes after I ordered my tea, there was a line of kids just out of school asking for hot chocolate and iced tea. I enjoyed my treat on a soft leather armchair in the large back room, watching a fire in the tinsel-swagged fireplace as kids chattered and teens and adults worked on their phones and laptops.

Went straight home after I left Starbucks. Took the long way across Newton Lake Park to avoid the beginnings of the rush hour traffic. By the time I got there, the sun was slowly sinking beyond the horizon, casting a golden glow over the dried flowers and bushes on the lakeside and the yellow leaves on the trees. Walked my bike up the hill to the Haddon Township Environmental Center and Museum, enjoying the quiet and crackling leaves under my feet.

Did a little bit of writing when I got home. Gene insists that he could find the merfolk...if his magic was working right. Malade drained most of it. Donald has his own way of finding them. He asks Bill the wolf to follow his nose. Bill does find something laying on the shore...

I was mostly doing research on laptops. I asked Dad and Jodie for a new laptop for Christmas. The keys on my old one stick, the lettering is worn off of the ones I use the most, and I know turtles who update faster. My current laptop is so old, it was made by Toshiba. They stopped making laptops in 2016. I compared prices on Amazon and sent Dad an email with three suggestions.

Jodie called me minutes after I sent off my email, asking if I'd seen it. Yes, I did, and yes, I'd sent a response. She then called me again to compliment me on my excellent writing, even in an email. It was nice to get such a sweet compliment.

Finished the night with leftovers and Everybody Sing. I go further into this early Judy Garland vehicle at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.

Everybody Sing

A Family Affair

Rose said she'd pick me up between 9:30 and 10 today, so I got up early. Had breakfast and did some chores around the apartment while watching Sabrina. The title character (Julia Ormand) is the shy daughter of a Long Island chauffeur. She's had a crush on the son of her father's employer, the playboy David Larrabee (Greg Kinnear), all her life. After she goes to Paris to study photography, David finally becomes engaged to the pediatrician daughter of the owner of an electronics company. David's workaholic brother Linus (Harrison Ford), who runs the family business, is hoping their union will help with a major merger he's planning. When Sabrina comes home a Paris sophisticate, she turns David's head...and convinces him he's in love. Linus doesn't want this deal to fall through, so he "takes Sabrina off his hands." Everyone thinks Linus is married to his job, but to his surprise, Sabrina helps him discover his hidden romantic side.

As much as I enjoyed the 1954 version, I really like this one, too. Ormand is no Audrey Hepburn, but Kinnear is at least on a par with William Holden. The biggest improvement is in the leading men. I love Humphery Bogart, but he's out of place in a romantic comedy and looked uncomfortable with Hepburn.  Ford's rugged sweet-tough guy fits in much better. He worked well with Ormand and was absolutely hilarious with Kinnar and Nancy Marchand as their mother.

This is one of the rare times I equally recommend both the original and the remake. If you love rags-to-riches romantic comedies, both versions are just as much fun.

Rose finally picked me up around 10. It was her, me, and Khai heading down to Cape May County for our oldest nephew Skylar's birthday party. Khai played games on Rose's iPad...until he started to complain about being car sick. Rose had to drive off the highway and pull in at a bank. Thankfully, he was fine; napped the rest of the way.

Rose reminded me that I really need to talk to Dad-Bruce. I haven't been over there in a while. I come home, and I'm dead tired. Not to mention, it's been too hot for a ton of running around. Though his cancer's in remission, there's still a distinct possibility that he may only be around for a few more years. I'll try to get over there tomorrow or Friday.

We got into Cape May County around 11:30. My sister Anny, her sons Skylar (12) and Collyn (7), her baby daughter Lilah (1 1/2), and her boyfriend JJ live in a tiny square-shaped house in the Villas. For a dwelling that would be barely big enough for me, much less five people, it has a good-sized back yard. They have two baby pools, a fire pit, a small patio table, a picnic table, and a nice shed. Our brother Keefe got leave from the Navy and is visiting, too.

Anny found a really cute idea on Instagram - sponge water bombs. You cut cheap dollar store sponges into strips, tie them together with floss, and fill them with water. Voila! You have a way to get wet without the mess (and potential choking hazard) of a balloon. The kids loved them. We got a nice sponge bomb war going for a while. Even I got in on it.

After the kids finally got out, we ordered pizza. Anny lives just a few minutes' walk from a local deli that doubles as a popular pizzeria. JJ and Keefe didn't even need to drive to bring it home. They got cheese, pepperoni, and bacon pies. Yummy. Maybe more delis should sell pizza. I had a slice of the cheese and two slices of bacon while chatting with Keefe, Anny, and the kids.

(And I did give the boys the Charlie Brown books. Turned out Collyn already had the animal one, so that went to Khai by default. Khai also got the "people around the world" book. Collyn and Skylar will share the Earth and space book.)

(Collyn mentioned that a kid who used to live across the street from my family in North Cape May had a crush on me in the 90's. Aw. Considering I thought most of the boys in Lower Township outside of my family hated me, I'm very flattered.)

(I can't believe how big Anny's kids are getting. The last time I saw them was at Thanksgiving. Lilah was just learning to walk and talk. Now, she talks very well for her age and walks fine on a her own, though she still needs help with steps. Her brothers are getting taller, too. Skylar is looking more and more like an adult every time I see him.)

We headed over to Mom and Dad's around 2. They had the 1983 version of Annie on when we arrived. While we watched and sang along, they got the cakes they bought from their local Acme out, along with Blue Bunny chocolate and vanilla ice cream. The boys played with their iPads while Rose and I watched Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Miles from Tomorrowland with little miss Lilah. Lilah just wanted to jump on the inflatable mattress Mom had for Keefe in the den/laundry room.

It was about 3 when we sang "Happy Birthday" to Skylar and he got to open his gifts. They were all video games of one kind or another, or video game tip books, or controllers, or a gift card to Game Stop...because his big present was a new XBox 360, one of the latest systems on the market. He was absolutely thrilled and swore he'd set it up as soon as he got home. I gave him 10 dollars - he can save up for another game, or a Diary of a Wimpy Kid book (his favorites).

We finally left around quarter after 4. Khai wasn't very happy about it. He wouldn't say good-bye to anyone or hug anybody but Collyn. He must have been pretty tired from all the running around with his cousins. He and I both passed out shortly after leaving the Villas. I didn't get up until we were just going by the exit to Deptford. He got up 20 minutes later.

Rose cheered Khai up by promising to take him to the Audubon Game Stop for a new video game of his own. I was just happy to do something to keep me awake. Khai finally chose Lego The Hobbit for the Wii U. I considered Lego Pirates of the Caribbean, but decided to save my money for vacation next month. We made a very quick stop at Tu Se Bella's next-door so Khai could go to the bathroom before they dropped me off at my place.

I spent the rest of the night playing Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures. I had a lot of trouble with both "The Temple of Kali" and "Freeing the Slaves." Some of the puzzles here were really hard, and there was a LOT of jumping involved, especially in "Temple." And it took me forever to figure out you had to free Short Round in order to defeat the big slave master at the end of "Freeing the Slaves."

Oh, and I finally updated to Windows 10. I originally upgraded last year, but it kept causing my computer to crash. I returned to Windows 8.1 and decided to wait until Microsoft addressed the bugs. It's been on 10 for a few hours now, and there's been no problems, so, hopefully, they've worked everything out.

Market Place Adventures

Thankfully, it remained sunny as I started the day with breakfast and How I Spent My Vacation. It's summer, and the Tiny Toons are thrilled that they're finally let out of the confines of Acme Looniversity. The movie splits into several different, fairly bizarre story lines. Babs and Buster's ongoing water gun war eventually morphs into a ride down-river, dodging two groups of critters who want to eat them. Plucky comes to regret his begging to join Hampton on his family's trip to Happy World Land, which involves annoying card games, never opening windows, a very smelly uncle, and picking up killer hitchhikers. Elmyra wrecks havoc in a wild safari park, chasing every animal she can get her hands on. Fowlmouth tries to get Shirley the Loon to go to the movies with him (and makes nothing but trouble when she finally agrees), Fifi Le Fume is desperate to get the autograph of her favorite movie star, but discovers it's not worth the grief when he turns out to be not at all what she imagined.

This is another old favorite - we had the video for years. Like the regular show, a lot of the references and humor in this hasn't dated well. Many of the references will be obscure even to some people who were around then. Some of the segments work better than others. Fifi's story with the movie star is a bit cliched, while I just found Elmyra's to be annoying. The longer stories of Babs and Buster and especially Plucky's car ride from hell work somewhat better.

As much as I still enjoy it, I really only recommend it for fans of Tiny Toons and similar topical Warners animated shows from this era like Animaniacs.

Finally got the laundry done around quarter of noon. I worked on story ideas for my upcoming fanfiction while Action News droned on in the background about the snow we're supposed to be getting starting Friday. The one I'm working on now is the first of two Star Wars fanfictions I have in mind.

The year is 1983, and Student Council president Laura O'Gannon is in very big trouble. Galaxia High School in the Philadelphia suburbs is at war with the White Star Academy and its troublemaking Imperial Gang. The Gang gets their hands on her...but not before she leaves information about the Academy with two nerdy exchange students. They just happen to hide in the trunk of a station wagon owned by one Luke Walker, a shy newcomer. The three first get the help of Mr. Ben Kennally, a kind teacher who knows Laura's wealthy family. Luke knows there's no way his uncle's poky wagon will outrun the Imperial Gang, so he, Ben, and the nerds hire Hank "Solo" Solokowski and his big Cockney friend Charlie to drive them to White Star and find Laura.

Inspired by a series of Star Wars-80's high school art I found on DeviantArt, I'm going to dig deep into my childhood for this one. Along with the obvious John Hughes influences, I'm also going for the original The Karate Kid, as well as mildly fantasy-oriented 80's action comedies like Big Trouble In Little China and Back to the Future and slobs vs snobs comedies like Caddyshack and One Crazy Summer.

(The other Star Wars story I have planned goes in the opposite direction to pure fantasy. A very, very feisty maiden is locked in a tower by her wicked black knight guardian. The last thing she's expecting is to be rescued by a wanna-be stable boy-turned white knight and a cocky thief. She certainly never expected to fall for the thief, nor to pursue him until the almost literal ends of the kingdom when the black knight curses him and takes him away.)

As soon as I got home, I put everything away, then went right back out again. I wanted to head to the Market Place shopping center. I needed ink at Best Buy (it's cheaper than at Staples) and to use some coupons for Bed, Bath, and Beyond. It was still sunny when I hit the White Horse Pike to wait for the bus. The bus was on time, and there was no traffic going there at all.

It was late, past 2:30, when I finally got to lunch at Panera Bread. They were surprisingly busy for so late in the day. There wasn't a line, but there were still a lot of people in the dining area. I had a messy turkey Pannini with thick tomato slices and lots of cheese and ranch dressing and a cup of French onion soup. I didn't like the soup as much as the one I had at Applebee's a few weeks ago. While they did have Panera's home-made croutons and nice, thick onion pieces, they didn't use nearly as much cheese as Applebee's did. It was barely floating around in there.

I was in and out of most stores. Needless to say, given the weather, Wegman's was a disaster area. (And that was just the parking lot.) I bought brown sugar and two clearance Pumpkin Spice pudding mixes (I never saw them at the Acme this Christmas) and got the heck out of there. Best Buy was better. I just grabbed my ink and checked to see if they had the Sailor Moon season 2 sets. (Nope, just season 1, and only in Blu-Ray. I think I may end up ordering those online.)

Bed, Bath, and Beyond wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I've been meaning to buy new shower curtain rings. The old plastic ones came with the apartment. Two have already broken, and a couple of the others are cracking. I bought metal rings, along with a good,  heavy shower curtain and that same chocolate macaroon cookie mix I loved last year.

Ended up spending an hour or so at Barnes and Noble. Alas, I didn't see anything I absolutely needed to have. They didn't have any of the new American Girl books in, even for the new Girl of the Year. Nothing good in the Bargain Priced shelves, either. I walked out with nothing.

Once again, the bus was on time. While there was a little traffic going back, it wasn't anything out of the ordinary at rush hour. I got off at the former Camden Restaurant Supply Company building at around 6 and was taking out the trash by 6:30.

I finished out Tiny Toons while I made the chocolate macaroon bars. Did a quick 80's cartoon special while I ate leftovers for dinner. Rescue at Midnight Castle (aka Firefly's Adventure) was the very first My Little Pony cartoon. It's a lot darker than one might think of for a franchise about rainbow-colored horses. A young girl named Megan is recruited to help a group of magical ponies rescue their comrades from an evil demon who has turned them into dragons. The dragons will pull his chariot, helping to bring around an endless night. Megan and the ponies have to find the "Rainbow of Light" that'll defeat the demon.

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.

More Ups and Downs Than a Roller Coaster

Began another hot, humid morning with more Scooby Doo. We move to the 1989 "spinoff babies" spoof A Pup Named Scooby Doo for "Scooby Dude." The (much younger) kids are visiting Velma's Aunt Thelma at her ocean research institute. She wants to find out why her dolphins are disappearing. The kids are more concerned with a Headless Skateboarder whose tricks are definitely not looking like a treat, not to mention avoid Red Herring bullying them.

I ran to Studio LuLoo around 11 for this week's volunteering session there and to donate another bag of stuffed animals. The kids were there again, though not quite as energetic as last week. The heat must have been getting to the poor things. Most of them did muster enough juice to perform a few song and dance routines for me. They loved it when I put the bag of stuffed animals down and let them roam through it. I loved watching them play with their new friends.

Since I got out a little earlier than I planned, I headed to WaWa to pick up a hoagie for lunch. I also grabbed eggs (they're cheaper there than at the Acme), a bag of carrot sticks for a snack this week, and a sweet frozen peach lemonade.

Had lunch at home while continuing the Scooby Doo set. The second season of the Scooby and Scrappy show was fully devoted to the antics of the two dogs and Shaggy. Most stories, like the fairy-tale spoof "Scooby-Noccio," didn't involve mysteries at all. Others have real ghosts and monsters that aren't humans in masks. "Scooby's Roots" introduces Scoob's grandfather, who is having trouble with ghosts in the family plantation. "Lighthouse Keeper Scooby" takes the trio to a deserted lighthouse, where they're chased by a ghost who wants them out - yesterday.

Work was...well, dead again, exactly the same as it was yesterday, last week, and all summer. In good news, I got a 5 dollar gift card from work for a compliment on how I handled a nasty customer. I even got a letter (with a hand-signed note) from an Acme vice president! I treated myself to some decadent mini sandwich cookies I've been wanting to try. They cost five dollars, too expensive for one container of cookies without a sale or a gift card.

I had more trouble with the WIC Checks in the end. First of all, the lady said she was in a hurry. She ran her cart into the register trying to get it out twice - and she was pregnant! I was glad she didn't hurt herself. Second, she was my last customer, and I wanted to leave. Third, she didn't have the checks organized correctly. I had no idea she had those juices there, and she never did find the last one. She complained to a manger, and a manager fussed at me. We're not supposed to rush the WIC Checks. I didn't mean to cause trouble! I was just hurrying, like she said to.

I was so frustrated when I got home. Every time I feel like I go two steps forward with that job, I end up being thrown five hundred feet back. I've said it before, and I'll say it until someone listens - I am not meant to be a cashier. No amount of gift cards can make me a saleswoman. I can't stand that job. I'm only there to make money.

I was going to work on my story, but I realized when I went on my computer that I forgot to do the upgrade to the new Windows 10. I ended up doing that instead while eating leftovers for dinner and watching the rest of the Scooby Doo episodes.

Scrappy, Scooby, and Shaggy are back to shorts with three more stories from their solo show. "Excalibur Scooby" has the trio avoiding a magician who needs their hair and fur to make a potion that'll get the sword from the stone. "Scooby's Escape From Atlantis" pits them against a centaur who is determined they stay in the ruined city of Atlantis forever! "Scooby's Luck of the Irish" moves inland to Ireland, where Scrappy traps a leprechaun, and they encounter a banshee who doesn't want them finding that pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

"Cruisin' for a Brusin" is a real oddity, from just about the most bizarre Scooby Doo show ever, Shaggy and Scooby Get a Clue. Scooby and Shaggy are enjoying a vacation on a Mexican cruise ship. Unfortunately, so is their regular villain, Dr. Phibes. He tries to enlist his regular mooks to get rid of them, but all they do is repeatedly knock their boss overboard. He finally has them try to sink the ship instead...right as Shaggy and Scooby are about to help out with hot dog taco night!

"Hang In There Scooby" returns to the shorts format for some antics aboard a glider. Scrappy wants what he thinks will be an easy and fun way to get to the beach. His uncle and his uncle's best pal don't agree - and neither does a huge bird they encounter on the way down.

The next two are episodes from the mid-70's Scooby Doo Show. "The Creepy Case of Old Iron Face" has the crew going undercover underwater to find out what a strange iron-masked man has hidden on the former penitentiary Skull Island. "A Creepy Tangle In the Bermuda Triangle" has the kids stranded on an island that turns out to be the home base of a UFO and the alien, one-eyed skeletons who seem to be hijacking weather planes.

We skip ahead almost three decades to the new millennium and What's New Scooby Doo? for "She Sells Sea Monsters By the Seashore." A trip to a time share in the Pacific is waylaid by locals who are battling for spots for surfing and for sea turtles to lay their eggs. A huge green snake-like sea monster is frightening away locals, not all of whom are unhappy to see them go. The kids do a little underwater hunting of their own to find out what the monster is really after.

(The last two episodes on the disc are both from the the first season of the Scooby and Scrappy Show, which I just watched last week, so I skipped them.)

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.

Berry Big Rain Storm

Since I didn't have a lot of plans for today, I opted to sleep in. I ran the 2003 Strawberry Shortcake DVD Berry Blossom Festival, which I found at the Haddon Township Library's book sale shelves yesterday. In the first story, Raspberry Torte gets upset when she has to practice manners for the Berry Blossom Festival's tea party. She doesn't think that manners matter...until Strawberry invites her to two very different parties to prove that it is important to be polite and considerate of others. The Purple Pieman and Sour Grapes turn up in the second story in an attempt to win the Queen of the Berry Blossom Festival crown. Despite their cheating at every turn, the kids know that it takes more than a lot of brains or strength to make a real leader. (And I don't think I'm going to keep the DVD. No wonder the library got rid of it - the beginning and ending skipped like crazy.)

Spent most of the morning and early afternoon taking a look at my new laptop. I never knew there were so many apps out there. I don't think I even scraped the surface this morning. I took a look at some of the apps that came with my computer, including iCookbook (I may have to make those Rocky Road Brownies when  Mother Nature cools off a bit) and I Heart Radio. I looked at even more on Microsoft's main site. I'll look at even more over the next few weeks.

I got off with just enough time to have fried eggs for lunch and run a summer-themed Sailor Moon episode from the third season. While Serena and the other girls ogle hot guys on the beach, Serena's little brother Sammy ogles Amy. Tiger's Eye is determined to get Amy's dreams, even if he has to hurt Sammy to do it.

Work was quiet, much quieter than yesterday. It was once again hot, sunny, and steamy for most of the day. No one wants to shop in that. Besides, it's the middle of the week and the week before a major holiday and the beginning of the month. There were a few annoying customers, especially early on. Otherwise, there were no problems. I even got to help one of the new cashiers that just started today.

The clouds popped up around 7:30 this time. By the end of my shift at 9, we were once again in a full-blown storm. Thankfully, it started slowing down only a few minutes after I got outside. Though the thunder and lightning continued, the rain stopped long enough for me to make it home with only my sneakers wet after I stepped in a puddle.

Baseball, Blankets, and Spelling Bees

Started off a sunny, breezy morning with this week's American Top 40. We jumped back a few years in the 70s to 1975. Country, folk, pop, and hard rock reigned supreme...but disco was the new sound that got everyone's feet moving. Hits in late June of that year included "Thank God I'm a Country Boy" by John Denver, "The Hustle" by Van McCoy and the Soul City Symphony, "Sister Golden Hair" by America, "Wildfire" by Michael Murphy, "I'm Not Lisa" by Jessi Coulter, and "When Will I Be Loved?" by Linda Rondstat. The Captain and Tenille became only the third husband and wife team to have a number 1 hit on the charts with their classic "Love Will Keep Us Together."

It was still fairly comfortable outside when I made my run to the Farm Market. They were busy with people shopping for produce for barbecues and birthday and graduation parties. No wonder - the summer harvest was finally out. While strawberries and asparagus are gone, they've been replaced by a heady array of the first cherries, grape tomatoes, patty pan squash, corn, raspberries, blackberries, and New Jersey blueberries of the year. I ended up with cherries, blueberries, two spring onions, snap peas, raspberries, and cherry tomatoes. 

I had just enough time when I got home to put everything away and eat lunch while I took another quick look at my new laptop. Ran Dr. Seuss specials all morning. The grouchy Grinch tries to get the best of Seuss' most famous feline in The Grinch Grinches the Cat and the Hat, but the wily Cat thinks of a way to turn the tables. The Hoober Bloob Highway takes us into the far reaches of space, where Mr. Hoober Bloob teaches a new infant pupil the ins and outs of what makes us what we are.

Work was busy for almost the entire afternoon. It was especially bad during the first half of my shift, as people came out of fairs and farm markets and into the grocery store. Some kind of fair or give-away going on in our parking lot only caused more confusion. Thankfully, everything had settled down by the time I left, though it was still so busy that I just barely made it out with no relief.

When I got home, I had leftovers for dinner, then worked on a crocheted dishrag while watching A Boy Named Charlie Brown. From a kite that doesn't want to fly to a dandelion-covered pitcher's mound to Lucy's constant torment, Charlie Brown just can't catch a break. That is, until he joins the school spelling bee. Suddenly, he's coming up a winner, and even Lucy's impressed. While he tries to keep the streak going - and retain the respect of the others - Linus is pining for his blanket, which he gave to Chuck for good luck. He misses it too much, so he and Snoopy go after it.

The first and by far best of the four Peanuts full-length outings is also the most purely Peanuts of the lot. In fact, if you want to introduce your kids to the Peanuts, you may want to pick this up before you go to the holiday specials. It's a bit more episodic and somewhat lighter in tone than most of the other Peanuts features, and the spelling bee story fits in better without getting too dark. 

If nothing else, I love the awesome jazz score by Vince Guaraldi (deservedly Oscar-nominated), with lyrics by Rod McKuen (who also sings the sweet title song). Guaraldi really gets to shine in three beautifully animated but rather bizarre extended numbers. Chuck, Linus, and Snoopy rehearse the rules of grammar in the catchy "I Before E." We get a series of psychedelic images as Schroder plays a Beethoven sonata and Snoopy ice skates and plays hockey in a sequence set at Rockerfeller Center. 

Recommended for Peanuts fans, animation fans, parents who want to introduce their kids to the Peanuts universe outside of the holidays, and those looking for well-written and unusual family entertainment. 

And I just discovered how out-of-date my last laptop was. Not only is Rough Draft discontinued, but so is Microsoft Works...and that's what the majority of my inventory databases are in. I'll go back on the other laptop and see what I can do about converting them to OpenOffice tomorrow.

Summer and Technology

First of all, I hope everyone enjoyed the first day of summer! It was a gorgeous day to start summer here, too, sunny, breezy, and warm but not uncomfortable. 

Started the morning with several black and white Silly Symphony shorts that revolve around summer, insects, and animals. "Summer" and "Night" are as simple as it gets - summer animals dance in time to the classical music, the latter during the evening hours. Later stories were a bit more exciting. "The Spider and the Fly," "Frolicking Fish," and "Bugs In Love" all revolve around the same concept - a larger animal (a spider, a crow, and an octopus) attacks smaller animals, until their friends come to the rescue using the often ingenious means at their disposal.

I didn't get to the groceries until about 11:30. The Acme was busy, but not overwhelmingly so. Good thing. I had a lot of restocking to do after Lauren's visit. The brown and white sugar both needed to be refilled. I used canned black beans and peaches last week and ate the canned mixed fruit this morning with blueberry muffins for breakfast. Grabbed Arm & Hammer Deodorant on one of the Acme's occasional dollar sales on that and Arrid. Needed sponges, chocolate chips, and wraps as well. Wanted to try the new 4th of July-themed Jet Puffed Starmallows. I found ants swarming around the whole wheat flour bin, which is up against the cabinet wall closest to the windows. Yuck! I was able to clean it off (and thankfully no ants got into the flour), but I did want to buy ant traps to make sure that didn't happen again.

The UPS truck pulled in at the same time I did. I arrived just in time to take my package from the truck driver. Yay! My new laptop had arrived from Toshiba. It's a beautiful Toshiba Satellite. It's smaller and lighter than my old Compaq, and runs three times as fast. I wish I could have had more time to handle it before I had to work. In fact, I was almost late because I spent so much time getting the laptop together, I was barely able to change or eat lunch!

Ironically, not only did I make it on time, but I was less late than yesterday. For once, I was glad. We were on-and-off busy all day. The Acme's going through some major changes, thanks to the company that bought them out a few months ago. We're putting major emphasis on lower prices (even the prices that haven't been lowered all that much). Most sales, except for some big promotions, no longer require the store card. The only reason a customer will need the card will be to get coupons on the machines. We're also emphasizing our genuinely good produce and meat. I know people (including Dad and Jodie) who say they shop at Acme mainly because we have the best meat prices and stock around. 

Went right back to the laptop when I got home. After I got the laptop synced to my internet, I bookmarked as many of my favorite sites as I could find. Alas, one I could not find was RoughDraft, which I've used as an editing-friendly alternate to Microsoft Word for years. It seems it's been discontinued since the last time I downloaded it. Lauren suggested OpenOffice as a replacement. I'll try it tomorrow. 

Rain On, Rain Off

After all the walking we did yesterday, we both opted to sleep in today. It was cloudy and cool this morning,  but even as we were heading for the Audubon Crossings Shopping Center, the sun was coming out, and it was getting hotter. I brought the cart this time; we planned on hitting the Acme for groceries and for me to take money out of my account.

Our first stop was Marburn Curtains. I've been wanting to get a better rug for the rectangle of linoleum between the entertainment area and the bedroom. The beige bath mat that's down there now came with the apartment. It's shot. The plush is matted, and the rubber on the underside is flaking off. Lauren and I found a runner. It's only a slightly darker shade than the old rug, and it's a real rug, not a bath mat that just happens to fit the space.

The first trouble started when I tried paying. I'd forgotten my wallet. I felt so embarrassed. Lauren ended up paying the 10 dollars for it. Lauren finally said she'd go back to my apartment for my wallet and would meet me down at Avenue. I browsed in Avenue for about a half-hour before I got a call from Lauren...who did not have the key to my apartment. I finally just joined her half-way, and we both went back to my place.

I was upset, but I calmed down on the way. We put the rug down (it's a little long, but certainly looks better than the old one) and cooled off a little. Turns out I'd left my wallet on the living room table, along with my coupons. We grabbed them, ditched our jackets (it was sunny and getting hot by that point), and went back out.

This time, we went straight to Sonic to have a much-needed lunch. Lauren had a Philly Cheesesteak, a Coke, and Tater Tots. I had a Coconut Cream Pie Milkshake, onion rings, and a Grilled Chicken Club sandwich. It was a gorgeous day for what amounted to a fast-food picnic, too. At that point, it was still sunny and breezy. We weren't the only ones eating there, either. A family finished and left half-way through our meal, and there were quite a few cars in the parking lot and even more going through the drive-in.

Our next stop was Staples. I've been wanting to replace my laptop for months. I finally have plenty of money in the bank for it. My laptop is 8 years old, and in fact used to belong to Lauren. She gave it to me when the computer I had before that started to die. We looked at a couple of different models, but Staples didn't seem to have any of the ones I liked in stock. Lauren and I suggested at least three laptops under 400 dollars, and none of them were in stock.

I finally chose an HP that was about 570, expensive but not beyond all the abilities it came with. For the second time that day, I couldn't pay. My debit card wouldn't go through, despite the fact that I knew I had money. We finally bought the mouse we'd chosen (which I also needed badly) and hurried out. Lauren actually said she'd pay, but I told her "no" this time. I felt bad enough as it was.

We were both angry when we came outside. We leaned back, and I called PNC to figure out what was going on. Thankfully they were really nice once I finally got a hold of them. Turns out I did have plenty of money in my account. They put my account on hold because I'd never made such a big purchase at once before. They were more than happy to take the hold off.

Lauren and I finally came to the conclusion that we could find a laptop for a much better price and in stock online directly from the manufacturers. We went back across the street instead to buy some other things I needed. I got a cute floral sundress and a new bathing suit, a simple black-and-white one piece. Avenue was having a half-price sale on bathing suits. I got the suit for about 40 and the dress for 20.

Our next stop was Acme. I needed money, and we wanted food for the rest of the week. Lauren wanted to restock her soda, too. I told her I'd do all the buying here; she bought lunch and had pulled me out of a jam twice. Besides, I needed money for the rest of the trip.

The clouds were building up again, even as we had lunch. By the time we were in Avenue, it was showering again. The rain was gone when we walked  home, but it returned shortly after we got in. We spent the rest of the afternoon playing Uno. I made chicken burgers, Cold Golden Beet Yogurt Soup, shrimp from the Acme, and salad for dinner, and we watched Tiny Toons Adventures episodes and listened to my Disney kids' albums.

I really hope our trip around Oaklyn for the Town-Wide Yard Sale goes better tomorrow.

The Summer Reading List

A phone call woke me up this morning. Again. Yes, it was the Acme. Could I come in at noon? No. I would come in at 1:30, an hour before I was scheduled. I'm completely aware that I should be grateful for the extra hours...and I would be, if they didn't disrupt my mornings and continually forget that some of us can't just automatically jump in a car and run to the store when they snap their fingers.

I spent most of the morning doing things on the computer. There were several lists I wanted to print out, including my reading list. There's a big pile of books I've bought over the years from thrift shops, yard sales, or used book stores that I've either never read at all (the Donna Parker books) or haven't read in some cases decades (I'm currently working on Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator, which I probably haven't read since I was 11). They include the Carol Higgins Clark mystery Zapped, the remaining Vesper Holly young adult novels I picked up with my birthday Amazon.com card, The Celery Stalks at Midnight, Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh, three Dear America books, and four show business biographies (of George M. Cohan, Joan Blondell, Louise Brooks, and Russ Columbo). The reason I'm doing this is to see which ones are worth keeping, and which ones I can donate to the libraries and church thrift shops.

(And this isn't even the whole list. It started in late February with that Dewey the Library Cat biography Linda gave me last fall that I didn't get to then. It just kept growing when I realized how many books I owned that I either hadn't read or hadn't read in a long time.)

I finally made it to work around 1:30. When I arrived, work was dead...which is what I figured it would be. Apparently, the woman in charge of the self-checkout line had called out, which would be less of a surprise if she didn't spend more time out than in. They didn't really need the extra help. The only time we were busy at all was during rush hour, when the lack of help was more of a problem. Otherwise, we were on-and-off steady, and I spent the down times shelving candy.

I was delighted to discover before I left that most of my Amazon.com birthday order had arrived! Mom gave me a gift card for my birthday...but before she sent it, I treated myself to a CD collection of songs from various musical versions of Cinderella, including the Rodgers and Hammerstein TV special, the Disney animated film, and the 1976 British film The Slipper and the Rose. It was made by Varese Sarabande, the same company that released the Lost In Boston and Unsung Musicals series. I enjoyed this one just as much as those. I really need to find more from that company; I think they may be long gone, which is why most of their CDs are currently hard to find.

Other things that arrived with the Amazon.com order - a USB drive (I'm out of them and they're cheaper on Amazon than anywhere else, including Staples), the Vesper Holly story The Jedera Adventure (which was in bad shape - I'll keep it, but I'd like to look around for a better copy), a new pair of capris (two of my old ones were too tight), and the Webkinz Rockerz Fox. The Rockerz Fox is a pretty beast - get a load of those huge eyes! She's by far the best-looking of the Rockerz pets. I named her Jetta, as in Joan Jett - her theme is hard rock. She naturally has a rock-themed room near Cyndi's on the edge of the house, where she mostly spends time in her private recording studio.

Into the Spring of Things

I was up late online last night and slept in. By the time I headed out to run some much-needed errands, it was past noon. My first stop was Avenue, the only clothing store left in the Audubon Crossings Shopping Center with clothes I would wear and could fit into. I just needed a pair of black winter work pants. My old pair finally wore out, and the slacks I bought from LL Bean turned out to be too knitted and sweats-like for the Acme. (That's ok, too. Those will replace a pair of somewhat similar pants I bought from WalMart at least five years ago.)

I did find a good pair on clearance for $15.95. They're a little thinner than I would have liked, but they're long and comfortable and fit pretty well. They're also cotton - and just right for work. I don't know why they have a tie belt when they also have three buttons, but whatever.

(Oh, and while the former FYE remains empty, something did replace the former Fashion Bug...a Rainbow. Yet another clothing store for teenagers and urban hipsters. Like we need another one. The mall already has Deb and Dots, and a similar store just closed in the FYE's old spot.)

Braved Saturday traffic to head across the parking lot to the other side of the mall. I wanted to check out the laptops at Staples. I saw two Lenovos for everyday use that I liked. The smaller one was about $379 on sale. The larger one had far more memory, but their was no price attached to it; I assumed it was out of stock. I didn't get a laptop today, but I did buy a Martha Stewart notebook on sale that would be perfect for my next morning journal.

Next up were two quick stops. Stopped at a very busy America's Best to make an appointment for my annual eye exam. After that, I dodged the traffic on the Black Horse Pike and hiked up the hill to Mt. Ephram's PNC Bank branch. The location isn't in the nicest part of town - a lot of the buildings on that part of the Black Horse Pike are empty or are a bit on the scuzzy side. This, coupled with the traffic, is why I never really liked using that branch. The bank was long closed by the time I got there. I quickly deposited my paycheck in the ATM machine and hurried back down the hill. I debated eating out, but decided I'd rather save my money after the shopping and just rode home.

Spent the rest of the afternoon quietly. I watched cartoons and Good Eats episodes while making scrambled eggs with Swiss cheese and winter vegetables for lunch. After I ate, I worked on some things on the computer, including household inventories and something that Mrs. Stahl, my counselor, asked me to do. She wanted me to write out all the negative thoughts I get into my head and think of ways I could put some positive ones in. I did do it...but when I turned on the printer, I discovered it was out of red and black/white ink. Arrgh! And I was just at Staples. I'll go back there Monday after my eye appointment.

I actually was asked to work late tonight by a manager last Saturday - one of the college boys had to turn down the hours suddenly. That was fine. All my plans today were for the morning and afternoon. As it turned out, I wasn't the only one who came in. We were really short-handed. In addition to call-outs earlier in the week, there were at least two people who called out that day. Thankfully, it was on-and-off busy until about 7, after which it died so fast, I left a few minutes early.

Dusty Balance

Hit yoga class first thing in the morning. My heel spur and sore fingers are still acting up, so doing the back bends and Camel positions we emphasized today wasn't easy. Not to mention, I'm still not terribly flexible. I did the best I could. The class was fairly busy today, not as much as usual, but more than the last few weeks. Now that kids are back in school, parents and some college students probably need things to do in the morning.

Volunteering was a bust. There was absolutely nothing going on at the Collingswood Library. I organized the DVDs downstairs and shelved three non-fiction books upstairs. I browsed through a couple of Images of America books on Collingswood, Camden, and Audubon before heading out.

The Oaklyn Library had been almost completely rearranged. The adult DVDs were moved to where the oversized and reference books had been, and I don't know where those books went. Two beautiful black couches and wood tables had replaced the old adult DVD shelves. The computers, formerly stuffed into an area along the left wall next to the circulation desk, now took over where the couches, table, and newspapers were. The kids' section remained the same, and that's what I concentrated on today, especially the series titles and picture books.

I did things around the house for the next few hours. I swept the porch, which badly needed it. I hadn't done it in weeks, and there was a ton of debris leftover from the last few storms. I shook the dust out of the rag rug in my bedroom and hung it on the porch railing to air. I changed the sheets on my bed, then made it, also for the first time in ages. (Who's going to see it?) I vacuumed the entire apartment. I cleared out the vacuum cleaner's canister. I updated AVG and ran a virus search on my computer. (Didn't find anything.) I made Summer Fruit Oatmeal muffins from the muffin recipe cookbook I took out of the Haddon Township Library yesterday. (They were originally Peachy Oatmeal Muffins, but I had a few plums and an apple that were starting to get soft. I tossed them in with two peaches.)

I went for a short but pleasant walk between vacuuming and making the muffins. By late afternoon, the cloudy, cool, slightly humid day had become absolutely gorgeous. The sun was out, there was a soft breeze, and it was warm and a little humid, but not nearly as bad as earlier in the week. I even turned the air conditioner off. I strolled over to the school, passing people firing up lawnmowers to deal with grass that had gone from fried to overgrown in the space of a week. A little girl climbed on the jungle gym with her daddy at the playground behind the school. Older girls chatted about their first two days back on the swings. A group of grade-school age girls in soccer uniforms practiced as their coach directed them around the field behind the Oaklyn School.

When I got in, I made chicken burgers and steamed Chinese beans for dinner while running Supergirl. Superman's little cousin Kara got her first (and to date, only) big-screen outing in this notorious mid-80s cult favorite. Kara (Helen Slater) comes to Earth looking for a powerful sphere. She turns herself into a (brunette) prep school student, Linda Lee, to fit in. Turns out carnival sorceress Selina (Faye Dunaway) found the sphere, which she hopes will give her world domination. Dunaway also has her sights set on a hunky carpenter who has done work for the school...who falls for Linda after one of Dunaway's spells goes awry. Supergirl has to retrieve the guy and the sphere, all while dodging Selina's powers and keeping up appearances with her new best friend Lucy Lane.

As with fellow early and mid-80s oddities Xanadu and The Pirate Movie, your mileage will probably vary on this one depending on how cheesy you like your superhero movies. Personally, I get a big kick out of it. Slater is very cute as Supergirl and her school girl alter ego (and she manages to change hair colors in a single bound!). Dunaway chews everything in sight as the evil witch, and Peter Cook, as her mentor in evil, is only slightly less hammy. Like Flash Gordon, the colorful special effects haven't dated well, but otherwise, this remains a fun ride and one of the few times a solo superheroine has made it to the big screen.

It's a Wonderful World

I'm so happy I got a lot done today. First of all, Dad did come over this time to help get the old TV downstairs. We both finally decided that it wasn't worth the drive to Best Buy for a $10 gift card when salvagers and recycling trucks drive around all the time, picking up old furniture and electronics.

Taking the TV out went so well, after Dad left, I brought my old upright computer, tube monitor, and the printer that was replaced with a wireless version last Christmas to the curb as well. I also had a package waiting for me on the porch. It was the copy of the original 1974 LP version of Mickey's Christmas Carol I won on eBay. I've seen this mentioned in a few places and have always wanted to hear it.

My next stop was the Oaklyn Library. Since Storybook Hour was in full swing when I arrived, I concentrated on the DVDs and the young adult series. I never did get to the kids' books.

I was delighted to see that someone did, indeed, pick up the electronics as I walked down the street. Every last bit of it was gone. I noticed my old computer and TV in the back of a truck that picks up local salvage. Good. Maybe they can make it into something that runs faster or find someone who can use it.

It was sunny when Dad and I took the TV out, humid but cooler than it has been. Dad said it probably wouldn't rain today. Mother Nature said differently. The clouds were starting to build up, and they continued to build as I organized things in the back room and worked on finishing last night's DVD and starting the next one.

The 1957 musical Silk Stockings was the last movie to go on the disc I started yesterday. This movie was the last for director Rouben Mamoulien, who made two favorites of mine, Summer Holiday and Love Me Tonight, and one of the last musicals for Fred Astaire. In this remake of the 1939 comedy Ninotchka, Astaire is a Hollywood producer who convinces a Russian classical composer to stay in Paris and write the score for his newest movie. But it's the late 50s, and Russia is still under Communist rule, which frowns on such things. The Russian government first sends three commisars to bring him home, and when THEY want to stay in Paris, too, they send a very straight-laced young military woman. Will she fall for the charms of Paris...and the movie producer...as well?

Not the best MGM musical in the world, but the second paring of Astaire and Cyd Charisse (after Band Wagon) does have some fine numbers. "All of You" is the standard, and as appropriate, gets one of the movie's best duets.

Bob Hope had less luck with Joan Fontaine in Casanova's Big Night. One of Bob Hope's later 50s vehicles, Casanova is somewhat reminiscent of another Hope swashbuckler comedy I have, The Princess and the Pirate. Here, Hope is Peppo the Tailor's Assistant who finds himself pushed into playing the great Italian lover Casanova when the real Casanova sneaks out without paying his creditors. Hope must get a petticoat from the daughter of a duke to prove she's faithful to her betrothed. Fontaine and Casanova's valet go along to make sure Hope isn't any more cowardly than usual.

Highly recommended if you're a fan of Hope, Fontaine, or comic swashbucklers. There's some really fun gags here, including Bob "Orson Welles" Hope's attempt at a happy ending and him and Fontaine cross-dressing to get the petticoat back to the right person.

It started raining lightly as I went to work, and apparently continued showering on-and-off for the rest of the night. The weather didn't deter the crowds. We were steady right up until about a half-hour before I left. There were no major problems, and I was in and out quickly.

The Heat Is Really On

Ugh. It was slightly cooler this morning when I headed out to the bank to deposit my paycheck, but still very humid. Good thing the bank was dead and I wasn't out for very long. I spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon at home, fooling around with my new laptop. I eventually intend to try to download the photos from my digital camera onto here. Hopefully, it'll go MUCH faster than with my old ones.

Continued the third season of Wonder Woman. The first three episodes on Disc 1 weren't too bad, but by the time I got to the shows about the psychic who uses a disco to lure top Washington brass into his clutches and a woman who controls ants, I started to understand why most people consider this to be the worst of Wonder Woman's three seasons. The ant thing in particular was just too weird for words, and saddled with a dated moral about the use of chemicals on insects to boot.

Work was a bit busier than yesterday, not helped by several annoying customers. Two middle-aged men fussed and grumbled all through their orders. (From what they were saying, it sounds like their wives roused them from air-conditioned TV viewing to do chores.) Another woman squawked at me when I told her I could help her bag the last of her groceries. I don't know why she got so upset. It was during the 4-6 rush hour. I guess she was just tired after work.

Goin' Home Train

Today was the last day of my vacation. Lauren and her parents saw me off at the Albany-Rensslaer Train Station. I didn't see much of it last week, but the building is new (2002, from what one plaque said) and gorgeous, with high, vaulted ceilings and beautiful wood-paneled walls.

Once again, my train rides all went smoothly. There were no problems anywhere and no delays. This time, I opted to avoid downtown Philly traffic and take the NJ Transit train to Cherry Hill. The Cherry Hill "station" is a platform behind a mall, but it did its purpose. Dad picked me up 10 minutes after I arrived. (He said he would have been faster, but he missed the turn-off for the shopping center the platform's behind.) Only problem I had anywhere was forgetting to pull out my ticket at the New York station and holding up the line, which was a little embarrassing, but I did get on the train.

It took me a mere 20 minutes to unpack, put the new items away, and unload my dirty laundry into the laundry basket after I got in. I called Mom to tell her I was home, then called the Acme. Alas, I'm working at 2:30 tomorrow, but maybe that's just as well. I could use the money. I debated going out to Taco Bell for dinner, but finally decided I've eaten out enough in the past week and opted for an omelet and an English muffin at home instead, watching third season Wonder Woman episodes.

It was gorgeous this morning in Albany, but dark clouds had begun to gather as early as the New York suburbs. By the time I arrived in Cherry Hill, it definitely looked like a storm. The storm roared to life as I unplugged my old upright computer and set up the Compaq laptop Lauren gave me. She bought herself a Mac a few months ago and asked me if I wanted the laptop she was using. She has two others in addition to the Mac (one is a very old one she uses exclusively for playing music). The one she gave me is about a year or two old, and works like a charm. It's much faster than my old upright. The upright computer is in the back room until I can figure out what to do with it.