Trouble In the Sunshine

Started off the morning with breakfast and Hogan's Heroes. "The Merry Widow" is a lovely German lady whom Hogan has described to Klink as a great temptress. What she's really doing is helping the guys deliver information on a new type of landmine.

Did the dishes while watching "Crittendon's Commandos." Annoying British officer Crittendon returns, this time leading his own shady and not-very-good underground unit. They're supposed to be kidnapping a Nazi, but that's a bit of a problem when Crittendon's men are also taken prisoner. Too bad Crittendon wasn't taken with them and insists on helping Hogan and the guys finish the job.

Headed out to run errands after the dishes were on the rack. First on the list was dropping off Agony of the Leaves and In the Heights at the Oaklyn Library; the latter was two days late. Darn it, I forgot they're only open from Monday through Wednesday. Left them in the book drop and moved on. 

Since Nicholson Road's closer to the library, I took that way to Audubon Crossings. It was a gorgeous day for a ride. The sun was out, the sky was a radiant blue, and there were no clouds in the sky like yesterday. Cool winds blew over my back as I passed waving green-gold trees and gardens bursting with lovely late roses and mums.

Next stop was Great Cuts. I badly needed to get my hair done. It was too long and frizzy. They were busy when I arrived; at least three people sat ahead of me. Though the lady said it would be a half-hour, thankfully, it was more like 20 before they called me back. 

My hair came out beautifully. This time, I got it layered and a bit shorter, over my shoulders. It looks wonderful, nice and bouncy, and it feels terrific. The lady did a wonderful job.

Went back to the Acme after they finished my hair to do my grocery shopping and pick up my schedule. Had some good coupons, including for butter, canned organic pumpkin, and already-on-sale Bryers ice cream. Found Oikos yogurts with an attached paper coupon, two shelf-stable coconut milk quarts on the clearance racks, and a container of shrimp with a manager's coupon. Acme brand aspirin is buy one, get one. Restocked white flour, canola oil, plain yogurt, pads, and bananas. Thankfully, they weren't terribly busy. I got in and out of the express lane pretty fast. 

I am not happy with my schedule next week at all. In good news, some days with shorter hours, including Sunday. I'll be home in time for most of the Eagles-Chiefs game. Trouble is, I only have one day off, and that day off is Tuesday. I'll likely be working another seven days in a row after that. One of the morning cashiers went on vacation, and there's still a lot of people on leave due to non-virus health reasons or returning to school. Not only am I exhausted, but how am I supposed to get anything done? I'm always working when I could be calling about apartments. And when will I have time to clean my apartment or pack for my visit to Lauren's in two weeks?

Cheered myself up with putting my groceries away while watching the fifth season finale of Hogan's Heroes, "Klink's Escape." Klink's determined to show Buckhalter he can find that underground escape processing station. The guys decided to take him for a ride and help him prove it, while helping local escapees to freedom.

Switched to Muppet Babies at Disney Now while having a smoothie for lunch. It's a "Kitchen Catastrophe" when Gonzo helps the Swedish Chef whip up delicacies at Piggy's Diner. He thinks Gonzo's pineapple, pickle, and sauerkraut sandwich is gross, but then has to figure out how to please picky eater Sam the Eagle. "Kermit Gets a Case of the Grumpies," and the others try to figure out how to get him out of it. Bunsen and Beaker loan him their latest invention, which separates unwanted things from wanted...but it pulls out Kermit's grumpy side. Kermit tries to avoid it, but it really just wants to talk.

Went out to do the laundry next. Everything went fine at first. Picked up cards for my friends Amanda and Lauren's October birthdays at Family Dollar, then went back and stuck my laundry in the dryer. The laundromat was crowded with a couple of women and an older man. I dodged them all and went down to WaWa for a pumpkin spice smoothie instead.

Heard an ambulance while strolling down the White Horse Pike. Didn't think anything of it, until I saw it pulled up at the laundromat. Went in to see what happened...and the dryer with my laundry was empty. The ladies told me the older man had a heart attack, and they decided to fold his laundry and take it to his car. Unfortunately, he hadn't told them his laundry was only in the upper dryer, not the lower. They assumed it was all his, despite the fact my clothes do not look anything like those belonging to an old man.

I was upset and very angry when I called the manager. His wife picked up; he was out, but would be back shortly. He did call the police about fifteen minutes later to find out what happened with the man and where the clothes went. The clothes were in his car, but the cops needed his permission to get into it. I left when they gave me their reassurance they'd bring it over as soon as possible. 

Jodie heard my angry tears when I got home. Every time something goes right, things just keep getting worse and worse. I wasn't going to have time to call the realtors again. I'm never going to find an apartment. Jodie assured me she found three in the area, though I'm not sure about the one next to WaWa. Sounds loud to me. 

The cops called me back a few minutes later. I rode over while one of the cops and the manager struggled to open the man's van. (Despite them claiming it would be easy just a few minutes before.) We pulled his bags and clothes hamper into the laundromat and went through everything, letting me grab my things. I appreciate what the manager and the police did for me, and they were all very nice. I'm sorry the old man had that heart attack. But I do hope the next time the ladies want to be good Samaritans, they consider asking people who's laundry that is and maybe waiting a few minutes, instead of assuming.

After I got things organized at home, it was too late for any kind of phone calls. I barely had time for writing. Charles the Mad Hatter is the first witness at Sir Richard's trial. He's nervous as heck, chattering on about when he, Orson the March Hare, and Gary (Burghoff) the Doormouse started teatime. 

Jodie brought me her leftover crab cake, rice, and julienned root vegetables from her dinner with TJ last night. I had them with the shrimp while watching Match Game '74. They skipped the final episode of that week and went right into one with George Kirby, Betty White, Jo Ann Pflug, and a hilarious Morey Amsterdam. While George discussed his extremely bubblegum pink jacket, the ladies straightened Gene's bow tie.

Foster Brooks came over to Match Game PM for a round of drunk jokes. Gene tries showing off his body for the contestant, while Charles nudges Brett over a couple of racy answers. Foster's more nervous about helping the winner with "Goof __."

Moved online after a shower for more Mystery Science Theater 3000. Took me a long time to decide, but I went with the Joel episode Operation Double 007, aka Operation Kid Brother, or O.K Connery. Neil Connery, the younger brother of Sean, joins Adolpho Celli, Lois Maxwell, and Bernard Lee in the story of a surgeon who is searching for his Japanese girlfriend, who holds valuable information leading to the creation of a super-magnet that'll disrupt machinery across the globe. 

Uh, yeah. This 1967 Italian superspy caper is absolute late-60's cheese in its ripest form. Joel and the robots have a great time tearing the silly dialogue and obvious similarities to shreds. 

Finished the night at YouTube for the episode of Match Game '74 Buzzr skipped. I suspect it has to do with Gene Rayburn undoing the strings of Elaine Joyce's halter tops and his and Richard's attempt to "help" her fix it. There were also the obvious responses to "__ Maniac," and Richard and Brett sniping at each other in a question that asked who gave the worst answers. 

Hay Rides and Other Horrors

I was so glad to see an absolutely glorious fall morning after the iffy weather yesterday and the rain over the weekend. Put on a spooky Three Stooges short while I ate breakfast. The trio are detectives who encounter "Spooks!" while searching for a kidnapped young woman. A pair of mad scientists intend to switch her brain with that of a gorilla's. The scientists try to scare the guys out, but they have their own weapons - cream pies.

Had just enough time to finally finish Tales of the Gold Wookie before I left for work. Harry finally appears, in time to help Leia present the Swords to Poe, Finn, and Rey. They're going to take them to Coruscant to investigate rumors of a new Starkiller weapon being created by the First Order Company. After that, they're going to find Luke. Leia stops Rey for a final warning. Both women believe that Snoke - and Leia's son Benton, aka Kylo Ren - are planning something big with the Starkiller Ray. They just need to figure out what eventually. For now, they're off to adventure and to find the rest of their group.

Whew! That one took far longer than I'd planned, especially given that it wasn't nearly as long as the two novel-length stories I wrote last year. It'll likely be next winter before I do anything close to that length. The next story on the docket is the last of the backlogged short fairy tales, "Little Red Riding Rose." After that, I'm going to go through some of my original stories and see if I can update or finish a few to possibly sell later, then begin a Star Wars version of A Christmas Carol.

At any rate, here's Tales of the Gold Wookie at my writing blog and Archive of Our Own:

Tales of the Gold Wookie - Archive of Our Own
Tales of the Gold Wookie - Writer's Desk at the Riverside

Did one quick short while I ate a fast lunch and got ready for work. "Pink Plasma" finds the Pink Panther stranded in a haunted castle. A vampire really wants him for lunch, but he just can't seem to get a bite on that pink neck.

Headed to work shortly after the cartoon ended. Work was fine for the first hour. I had just come in to the bathroom from doing the carts when I was called up front. I figured someone wanted me to do a return. No, unfortunately, far from it. Three customers and two managers told me that my bike had somehow been stolen by a black man in red sweatpants.

I couldn't believe it. How? I swear I locked it! Turns out he cut through the lock, then loaded the bike on the front of one of the buses that come down the Black Horse Pike. I was so angry, mainly with myself. How could I have been so irresponsible as to allow this to happen? I need that bike! It's my only transportation, other than the buses. Everyone kept saying that it wasn't my fault, that I shouldn't be so hard on myself. I'm sorry, but it is my fault. If I had locked it better or put it inside, this wouldn't have happened. I was so angry, I couldn't sit down.

The managers called the Audubon police. (Ironically, the police station is less than a block from the shopping center.) One of the managers has a boyfriend who is a cop in Mt. Ephram. She posted the photos of my bike with him. Thank goodness Dad and I did take those pictures of the bike back in March, and I remembered my phone today.

The Audubon cops did finally give me a new bike of the same brand as my old one that they'd previously confiscated from elsewhere, along with a new basket and lock. I love the bike. It's bright red with a tropical palm print. Dare I say, I love it more than the old one. I've been meaning to get a new basket anyway. (And yes, I put this one in the back room and took photos of it right then and there.)

The lock, however, is the same cheap design as the one that was cut. I'm afraid I agree with the meat department manager. It's not going to work. I'll check Target and Wal Mart on Thursday for something better.

(And thanks to the Audubon and Mt. Ephram Police Departments, my managers at the Acme, and everyone who helped out today! Please, if you see that man or my other bike, leave a comment here! Like I said at Facebook, I don't want anyone else to lose their bike this way.)

I spent the rest of the day doing carts and the outside trash. I probably would have even if I were in a better mood. We were dead as a doornail the entire afternoon. It was never even mildly steady. The weather was just too gorgeous! It was windy and a little chilly, but bright and warm when you were in the sun.

I rushed home after work, changed quickly, and went right back out again. Oaklyn was holding a fall hay ride at the park next-door. They were already in progress when I arrived. An older woman gave out free bottles of water, boxes of apple juice, and mini-bags of cheese balls and pretzels while people waited for the hay cart to rumble back to the entrance to the park.

As it turned out, the "hay cart" was pulled by a nifty little blue bulldozer. I got on the second round with several mothers and their children, including two absolutely adorable (and rather confused) infants. Older kids, one dressed as a zombie, ran in back of and beside us. The kids had decorated the park with spooky scarecrows, fabric ghosts, and plastic body parts.

A "pumpkin patch," pumpkins buried in a pile of hay, had been set up on the outer edge of the park, near the slope to the big tree with the strange roots. The kids and I all chose pumpkins and brought them back with us in the hay cart. We decorated our pumpkins with paper cut-outs and sticky foam eyes, mouths, horns, and noses. (I really appreciate the free pumpkin. The one I bought at the Collingswood Farm Market a while back is already getting soft.)

Had a quick beef and vegetable soup dinner while watching Raggedy Ann and Andy and the Pumpkin That Couldn't Smile. I'm glad I dubbed this rare special off a tape that I found at a yard sale a while back. Ann and Andy bring a glum pumpkin that nobody bought to a lonely little boy on Halloween night. The little boy's strict aunt won't let him go trick-or-treating or celebrate the holiday with his peers. The dolls change her mind by reminding her how much fun Halloween is for kids.

Switched to Boo to You, Winnie the Pooh! while making Maple Spice Fondant Patties to give out to neighborhood kids tomorrow and to my family on Friday. Poor Piglet also won't join his friend's Halloween festivities. He's too scared. Pooh says that, in deference to Piglet, they won't do Halloween at all. Gopher, Tigger, and Eeyore cry foul. They and Pooh do what they can to prove to their porcine pal that Halloween is nothing to be afraid of.

Switched to Halloween Is Grinch Night as I cleaned up from the candy-making. I review this one (along with Garfield's Halloween Adventure) at my Musical Dreams Reviews blog.

Halloween Short Subject Special - Halloween Is Grinch Night and Garfield's Halloween Adventure

Went into The Invisible Ray as I went online to chat with Lauren. Dr. Rukh (Boris Karloff) is an astrologist who has created a telescope so powerful, it can pick up light rays that reveal Earth's past history. He shows his skeptical colleagues Dr. Benet (Bela Lugosi) and Sir Stevens (Walter Kingsford) a meteorite that hit Africa millions of years ago, then goes to Africa to find where it hit.

Turns out that the meteor's radiation is deadly. Not only does it make Rukh glow in the dark, but his touch can kill anyone. It's not doing his mind any favors, either. Desperate for a cure, he turns to Benet for help. His friend does create a potion that will keep it at bay, but he has to keep taking it. He does, and uses the meteor to help others, including cure the blind...until he learns that his wife Diana is having an affair with Ronald Drake (Frank Lawton), the nephew of Sir Stevens. Enraged, he passes himself off as dead, then stops taking the medicine. He becomes a glowing killing machine who goes on a rampage of vengeance against his wife and the other members of the African expedition.

Uh, yeah. Wow, this was a weird one. This sci-fi/horror hybrid did have some effective moments, especially in the second half, when Rukh goes on his killing spree. The special effects weren't bad for the time, although Rukh glowing looks more like someone Photoshopped a glowing light around him.

This one was a little too strange for me, but it might be fun if you're huge fans of Karloff or Lugosi or are more into the weirder side of science fiction than I am.

Ended the night with the slightly less-strange The Bowery Boys Meet the Monsters. Sach and Slip go to the Gravesends' house on Long Island to try to get them to use their plot of land as a baseball field for the local kids. The Gravesends are more interested in using the guys for their science experiments or to feed a carnivorous plant than selling them anything. While Sach and Slip dodge murderous robots and a woman vampire out for their blood, Louie and the other two come looking for them and create even more chaos.

Here's a few more spooky vintage Halloween specials and cartoon shorts that I've dug up from YouTube, for your after-trick-or-treating enjoyment:

The Halloween That Almost Wasn't
The Wickedest Witch
Buttons and Rusty In Which Witch is Which? 
Silly Symphonies: The Skeleton Dance
Ub Iwerks at Columbia: Skeleton Frolic
The Ub Iwerks Studio: The Headless Horseman
Disney's Haunted Halloween (Educational Short)
Halloween With the New Addams Family
The Littles' Halloween
The Last Halloween

Cops and Balance

Started a gorgeous, mid-30s January morning with yoga class. It was far smaller than last Thursday's morning class, only seven people counting the teacher Karin. We worked on core focusing - standing poses and back-bends. I'm still having a hard time with balance. I can do certain poses, but not for very long, and I can't get my leg all the way out when I lift it for Tree Pose.

I did, however, meet a newcomer to the class and had a nice chat with her. I think she said her name was Maria or Moira. She lives in Haddon Township and is a massage therapist...and is the only person I've met in the entire South Jersey area who is close to my own age and lives alone. She seemed very friendly, and I hope to encounter her again sometime soon.

Headed to the Collingswood Library after leaving class. For once, they had plenty for me to do. Their CD racks are very old and badly flaking paint. Not to mention, the way they're set up makes it impossible to actually get CDs out of the rack. I removed CDs, loaded them onto a cart, and brought them to the shelves in one of the offices where they're being kept until the shelves arrive.

I stopped briefly at the thrift shop first. Bought four records, all featuring the old-time radio shows Fibber McGee and Molly or Texaco Star Theatre With Fred Allen. Went to WaWa next for milk, then headed home. I took the long way down Collings Avenue and past Knight Park, since it was such a nice day.

Volunteering took me longer than I thought it would today. I had just enough time when I got home to have chili for lunch, change into my work clothes, and head back out. Good thing the weather continued to cooperate, making for an easy commute both ways.

Wish work was that easy. It wasn't really that busy, steady more than anything, but some of the customers I did have today were real pains. One lady had what were obviously starter checks, blank checks without addresses, though she kept claiming they weren't. We can't accept checks without addreses; it's the rules of the company that cashes our checks. She had to leave behind her whole order because she hadn't brought any other means of payment.

(And let me add a tip here - whenever you're out shopping anywhere, always bring two methods of payment. You don't always have the right amount of cash on you, checks can bounce or not be accepted, and cards don't always go through.)

I thought I was fine riding home. I don't know what happened, but about 20 minutes after I got in, a cop showed up at my door. He asked me about my bike and said someone had seen me riding near Woodland Terrace and thought I looked suspicious! Apparently, someone had stolen a bike around there. I gave the police officer the information he asked for, but I wasn't happy about it. I've had my bikes for years. I ride around this neighborhood all the time, and my neighbors know it. Many of my customers at the Acme often comment on seeing me on the bikes. It's more likely one of the kids in the neighborhood decided to be cute and took the bike. The person who thought I looked suspicious must be a newcomer. At least the cop seemed to know who Uncle Ken was; he asked me if I knew Ken Redmer after I told him my last name.