This morning the pilot flame on the nine year old water heater decided to go out and would not stay on. There was no room to try to replace the thermocouple so we decided to try to find a new one. We went to Sears but was saddened to find that they had none on display and that they do not install them anymore. Our next stop was Ace Hardware to price the water heaters only to find out that they also do not install them. We went back to Sears to find out that the only one that they had in stock was for a mobile home (they were totally disorganized and had no idea what they had in stock).

My mother was not very happy at this point so we went back to Ace Hardware. The salesman went to look for a thirty gallon natural gas water heater only to find none in stock. We decided to take the one on display.

We called our usual plumber and left a message. We know that he can pick up the water heater at Ace Hardware and install it. The only problem at this time is trying to get in contact with him so we can find out when he can install the water heater.

As a side note, Nina Belle is on my bad side right now. I tried to let Brandy out after we went water heater hunting and the puppy got out. I think she has greyhound blood in her for she got into the street and started running fast. I chased after her in my bare feet (yes, the sidewalk and streets were very hot) and called her every name in the book. I finally got her turned around and up on the front porch. However, she went running across the street as soon as I tried to pick her up. Nina Belle finally got back in the yard and I managed to grab her. The puppy got a stern pop on the behind and spent several minutes in the crate as a time out.

The pilot movie for Warehouse 13 will appear tonight on Syfy (formerly known as the Sci Fi Channel). Two Secret Service agents, Myka Bering (Joanne Kelley) and Pete Lattimer (Eddie McClintock) are transferred to Warehouse 13, a top secret storage facility in South Dakota that stores every supernatural artifacts collected by the United States. Artie (Saul Rubinek) is the caretaker and charges them to hunt down new objects. Be aware that the pilot movie will run for two hours and four minutes.

The neighbors are having their open house for interested buyers tomorrow afternoon between 4:30 and 6:00 pm.

I work only two days at the store this week since the plants are gone. Tomorrow morning is from seven to noon and Tuesday morning is eight from noon. Hopefully, the delivery truck is on time tomorrow morning.

Hope every one has a safe and happy Fourth of July. We might light up some smoke bombs but that will probably be it for our fireworks. Someone in the neighborhood were shooting off firecrackers last night so the dogs were restless. Tonight is going to be worse since there will be more people shooting them off even though it is illegal to shoot them off in the city limits.

My uncle came down late yesterday afternoon and will be leaving tomorrow. I worked four hours instead of the original two at the store. I threw away the dead plants and cleaned up the area before sweeping the entire store. We had thunderstorms early this morning and today was steamy.

Has grown into a very beautiful woman. I talked with her for fifteen minutes earlier this evening and we briefly caught each other up since high school. Her current boyfriend was there but I managed to tell her how great she looked before we parted ways. We never dated in high school and I wished I had a time machine so I could push myself towards her. She is the real reason that I love raven-haired women even after all these years.

Actress Mollie Sugden dies at 86 at the Royal Surrey County Hospital in Guildford after a long illness. She had parts in Benny Hill, The Goodies and Steptoe and Son in the 1960s. Her best known role was that of Mrs. Slocombe in the British tv sitcom Are You Being Served? (1972 - 1985) and reprised the role in Grace & Favour (1992 - 1993).


Mollie Sugden
July 21, 1922 – July 1, 2009

‘Streets of San Francisco’ star Karl Malden dies. His career spanned seven decades and he was in A Streetcar Named Desire, On The Waterfront and One-Eyed Jacks with Marlon Brando. Karl Malden, who was born Mladen George Sekulovich, was also in Patton, Baby Doll and How The West Was Won. I will always remember him as Lt. Mike Stone on The Streets of San Francisco (1972 - 1977). He died in his home in Los Angeles on July 1st, 2009 at the age of 97.

Karl Malden
March 22, 1912 – July 1, 2009

Western author Don Coldsmith dead at 83. He was born in Iola, Kansas on February 28, 1926 and died in Emporia, Kansas on Thursday, June 25, 2009. Don Coldsmith wrote more than forty books including The Spanish Bit Saga, a twenty-nine volume series about the Plains Indians when the Spanish explorers introduced the horse. He was a family physician until 1988 when he decided to concentrate on writing full time.

Don Coldsmith
February 28, 1926 - June 25, 2009

Comedian Fred Travalena dies of cancer on Sunday, June 28, 2009 at the age of sixty-six. He was known as the Man of a Thousand Faces and did impressions of Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Bob Hope. Fred Travalena was a regular on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson and also provided additional voices on cartoons such as The Jetsons (1962) and Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo (1979). He appeared on the short-lived tv series Good Sports with Ryan O'Neal and Farrah Fawcett.

Fred Travalena
October 6, 1942 - June 28, 2009

TV sitcom pioneer Gale Storm dies at the age of eighty-seven on Saturday, June 27, 2009. She starred in two popular tv series in the 1950s, My Little Margie and The Gale Storm Show. Her real name was Josephine Owaissa Cottle but was immediately given the stage name when she won the "The Gateway to Hollywood Contest" when she was seventeen. Gale Storm appeared in movies with the East Side Kids, Edgar Kennedy and The Three Stooges. She shared top billing in Cosmo Jones in The Crime Smasher (1943). She also sang with I Hear You Knockin' being her first record followed by the haunting ballad Dark Moon in 1957. Gale Storm had several top ten songs, headlined in Las Vegas and appeared in numerous stage plays.

Gale Storm
April 5, 1922 - June 27, 2009

Billy Mays, OxiClean pitchman, found dead this morning in his Tampa, Florida home at the age of fifty. He was also featured on Discovery Channel's Pitchman, a reality show that follows pitch people in their jobs. Billy Mays also promoted Orange Glo, Kaboom and other as seen on tv products.


Billy Mays
July 20, 1958 – June 28, 2009

Tonight was a great night to watch BBC America. Primeval had a knight chasing a dragon in modern day London. Doctor Who: The Next Doctor was last year's Christmas special set in 1851 with the Cybermen as the major threat. David Tennant aka Doctor Who was on tonight's episode of The Graham Norton Show and I laughed during the entire show (my mother was also laughing).

I found a Hong Kong Phooey plushie for a dollar at a local thrift store this morning. I remember watching the cartoon series when I was growing up and it was one of my favorites. At the same thrift store, I also found the following three books for seventy-five cents each: Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Visitors by Laura Anne Gilman and Josepha Sherman, On Her Majesty's Secret Service by Ian Fleming and Good Guys Wear Black by Max Franklin. I do not have very many Buffy books and finding them around here are pretty rare. The James Bond book is the fifteenth printing from 1963 and has a picture of George Lazenby surrounded by eight beautiful women. I do not remember reading this book but if I have then it is time to read it again. The Good Guys Wear Black book has Chuck Norris on the cover plus eight pages of black and white scenes inside (remember when movie books did that?). I remember seeing the movie at the local drive-in theater as a double feature with Breaker, Breaker.
( Click here to view picture of Hong Kong Phooey and books )
At another thrift store, I found a pack of twelve magazine holders that you can use with three-ring binders. I always wanted to try them and I could not resist them since they were a quarter.

In book-related news, the local Dillons has done away with their paperback book section. The store's seasonal items is now placed where the book section was. They still have their magazine rack but I will not be surprised if they get rid of them soon as well.

I actually finished the writing work for June this afternoon.

Looks like we may be getting a break from the excessive heat on Sunday. I hope so because I really need to mow the yard.

Wow, this has been a harsh summer for celebrity deaths. Not only have we lost David Carradine, Ed McMahon and Farrah Fawcett but now the King of Pop is dead. Michael Jackson, pop music legend, dead at 50. I will always remember him as a boy when he was part of The Jackson Five and his later solo album, Thriller (1982).

Michael Jackson
August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009

Farrah Fawcett succumbs to cancer at 62. She was best known as Jill on tv's Charlie's Angels and as series of dramatic movies including The Burning Bed.

Farrah Fawcett
February 2, 1947 - June 25, 2009

CNN reports that Ed McMahon dies at 86. He was best known as the announcer and Johnny Carson's sidekick on the tv talk show, Tonight Show. His introduction of "Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeere's Johnny!" became well known and he hosted Star Search. Ed McMahon did appear in a few movies such as Fun With Dick and Jane (1977) and Butterfly (1982).

Ed McMahon
(March 6, 1923 – June 23, 2009)

Everybody at the store worked up a sweat this morning getting the truck unloaded. I started taking a bandana last week and I was glad that I did. I was wiping sweat off my face several times and my shirt was soaked. I was one of two in the truck doing the unloading but even those in the back room were sweating too. I was glad that I drank a bottle of cold water before I went to work this morning.

When we finished unloading the truck, I watered the plants and then picked up the trash in the parking lot. I had to use the bandana again to wipe the sweat off my face. My shirt was soaked again by the time I finished. I was glad that I spent the rest of the morning stocking in the store with air conditioning.

I wrote two stories for my online job this afternoon. They needed to be a thousand words each but I went over with a total of 2,156. I only have five more stories to write this week.

I spent a few hours this afternoon weeding the garden.

The temperature is expected to hit a hundred tomorrow and Tuesday. The rest of the week is expected to be in the upper nineties.

I am working at the store on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday mornings. Payday was supposed to have been last Friday but the checks were not delivered until Saturday.