I finished memorizing “Asphalte” by Serge Gainsbourg. Tomorrow I’ll look for the chords but today I did a quick search and turned up nothing so I may have to work them out from scratch.
I played my Gibson les Paul Studio electric guitar during song practice. I changed the high E string yesterday and today it seemed to sound better than before. Tomorrow I’ll start two sessions with the Kramer electric guitar.
At around midday I packed up my laundry and went out in the heavy rain to get it done. There was a flood in the Himalayan Laundry and apparently every shop in the plaza was flooded because the roof was leaking. But the attendant in the laundrymat was particularly worried because it was coming down in the back room through the lights. I loaded one of the cheaper back washers as usual and started putting quarters in, but after a while I realized that the LED counter wasn’t working so I didn’t know how many quarters I’d put in. I’m pretty sure it was more than the required $5.25. I guess there was no way for the attendant to know either and so she just gave me the $5.25 in quarters and told me to use one of the front machines. Once the wash had started I left to go home and do the dishes but on my way up the stairs of my building the power went out. The hall where my apartment is was pitch black but I managed to find the keyhole. Opening my door put some light in the hallway and so I kept it open, then I propped open the door to the deck at the back. I did the dishes and went back to put my laundry in the dryer but as I feared the power was out at the laundromat as well. I waited about fifteen minutes and then decided I was wasting my time. I put my things back in the bags but because they were so heavy from being wet I didn’t think the handles of the bags would stand the trip home on my handlebars. So I left the bags there and went home to get my bike trailer. When I got my stuff home, since I didn’t know how much longer the power would be out I hung every piece of my dirty wet laundry out on the roof. I filled the new railing, the fire escape railing, then the board that the tenant in unit one put across some of the rooftop ventilation equipment that serves Popeyes. I put two more boards up and managed to hang everything.
I weighed 87.1 kilos before lunch.
I started lunch and then the power came back on about three hours after it went off. I started my computer and read the news while finishing my lunch.
I took a siesta from 15:11 until 16:30. Then I packed up all my laundry again, this time into my trailer bags, and headed back to the Himalayan Laundry but when I got there they were closed, I guess because of the flooding and the electrical dangers resulting from it. I rode down to the Monster Wash at King and Jameson. They don’t seem to have an attendant. They have three sizes of washers: the biggest for $11.50, the smallest for $4.00 and the mid sized one for $8.50. The mid sized one was plenty big enough for my stuff but it’s more than I expected to pay today. I got the wash going with pretty much all I had in my pocket. Then I went home for a few minutes and came back with $5. Their dryers are comparable in price to the Himalayan laundry but I think the latter ones do a better job. I went home again for a few minutes and came back with my trailer. Only my big towel was still wet but I hung it up in the washroom.
I had a potato with gravy and a chicken breast while watching season 5, episodes 5 and 6 of Bewitched.
In the first story Samantha is summoned to a witches council meeting but she refuses to go because she has too much houseworkto do. The council changes Darrin into a statue in the front yard. Samantha persuades the council to change him back so he can give his permission. But when she asks he says a wife’s place is with her husband. She says, “I guess that means you want me to play golf with you” but it doesn’t. Samantha decides to get Serena to fill in for her while she attends the meeting. But while Darrin is playing golf he is gnawed by guilt over his behaviour towards Samantha. He decides to make it up to her by taking her on a surprise romantic second honeymoon to the Moon Thatch Inn where he says they had their first honeymoon. But unless they had two honeymoons anyone who watched the first season knows they had their honeymoon in a big city hotel. They arrive at the Moon Thatch and are greeted by Madame Wageir. She shows them to their suite and leaves because she knows they want to be alone. Darrin keeps trying to get romantic while Serena keeps trying to avoid him. They don’t write Serena’s character consistently. The last time she appeared she gave Darrin a passionate kiss and he was none the wiser until Samantha showed up. In this story she avoids him. When they get back, Darrin goes to the nursery to check on Tabitha and that gives Serena an opportunity to become herself again. But when Darrin talks with Tabitha she tells him that Auntie Serena was there today and so Darrin knows who was with him at the inn.
Madame Wageir was played by Fifi Dorsay who made a career of playing a Parisian coquette but she was actually a Canadian from Montreal, Quebec. At the age of 20 she went to New York and joined the Greenwich Village Follies, lying to the director that she was an ex-Follies Burgère showgirl from Paris. She met Vaudevillian Edward Gallagher and they formed an act together. She then teamed with Herman Berrans in a student-teacher act that became a hit. She then headed for Hollywood and a career in films but continued to perform in vaudeville. She was one of the first Hollywood stars to appear on television. Even after all her success she never set foot in Paris or even left North America. She is said to be the one who popularized the phrase “Ooh la la!”
In the second story Darrin is feeling old as an advertizing man because more and more of his clients are under thirty and looking for something hip. He paraphrases the popular 60s saying, “Never trust anyone over thirty”. Samantha tells her mother that Darrin is worried about middle age but Endora says he’s vain. Samantha says Darrin doesn’t have a vain bone in his body. Endora tries to prove her wrong by casting a spell on him to make him vain. That seems silly. Forcing someone to be something doesn’t prove they were what you’ve made them. Darrin becomes obsessed with his own reflection and starts wearing the latest styles such as turtlenecks, love beads, bright colours and Nehru jackets. This doesn’t fit well with Darrin’s new client Whitney Hascomb of Hascomb Pharmaceuticals who is a very old fashioned person. But Darrin’s forced new attitude may be exactly what Hascomb needs to update his company. He is used to selling pills but recently his wife has forced the development of a new suntan lotion, which is more of a youthful market. Samantha realizes that Darrin is under a spell but can’t get Endora to come back to reverse it. They are invited to a business dinner party at Larry and Louise Tate’s house with Whiney and Emily Hascomb. Samantha decides to match Darrin’s gold lamé suit with a silver sequined mini-dress. Emily thinks they look magnificent. They tell Whitney that the younger the customer, the smaller the bathing suit and the smaller the bathing suit the more skin needs suntan lotion. Emily wants Whitney to hand over the Hascomb drug account to Darrin and reminds him that she’s the major stockholder in the company. Samantha lies to Larry that Darrin dressed that way to make a point.
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