Gidget and Consignments

Things went along well yesterday, aside from an annoying blip: I was just about to leave for the Wellness Expo at Cypress Point Independent Living when the electricity went off. It was only for a few seconds, but I thought it was Time Warner getting back at me for a late payment. (That's such a boring story I won't go into it.) Anyway, I went to my car and pulled out my cell, called TW and they didn't know why--. At that moment, the phone went dead. Aagh--it's a TracPhone and I had forgotten to buy minutes! Vons Supermarket is near Cypress Point, so I drove there to get a phone card. As I tried to walk in, a clerk told me the electricity had gone out, so nothing was working. Oh-h. Here, I maligned Time Warner unjustly, but I'm sure they're guilty of something.
The wellness thing was the usual: Tables set up to remind one that one is getting older, maybe frail and nutty, and will need caregivers, of which the area seems to abound. I was amused by the fact that there was also a guy there selling grave plots--geez, they don't have to be quite that graphic. Anyway, I picked up the usual giveaways--pens and stuff--and met up with my pals, Carol and Doris.
At 11:00, we went into the great room and heard--believe it or not--the original Gidget, who is now 75-years-old. Her real name is Kathy Kohner (now Zuckerman) and when she was 16, she started surfing in Malibu. She was one of the few females in the sport and she did it, of course, for the same reason we used to go down the Ventnor beach: to meet boys. Her father, a screenwriter, wrote a little book about it, which was picked up by the studio who made the movie starring Sandra Dee. Later, it was turned into the T.V. show with Sally Field as Gidget. I hadn't known it, but Kohner wrote a number of sequel books, such as Gidget in Hawaii, Gidget in New York, and believe it or not, Gidget Goes Parisian. Several of these were turned into B movies, starring various teen actresses, all of whom seem to have disappeared without a trace.
"Gidget" just spoke off the cuff, in a somewhat disjointed way, but that added to the charm. She had brought a number of blowups of herself surfing, on the beach, talking to Sandra Dee, and with her father; these were shown around by others. Anyway, it was quite entertaining and I enjoyed it.
Lunch was served at tables in the courtyard and it was very good. I thought it was genius to skip the buffet and give everyone a covered plastic container with the entire meal in it. That included a turkey wrap (with pesto--yum!), a very tasty salad with walnuts and raisin, and a napkin, knife, fork, spoon, salt, and in sealed plastic. It was an excellent lunch, and much less messy than the usual.
I cut out before the drawing for the room-sized (or whatever it was) T.V., as I hadn't filled out whatever it was you were supposed to. Went directly home to get out of my "going out" clothes and change into summer stuff, as it had gotten quite warm. Went to the library and took back Arthur Schlesinger's and Jackie Kennedy's oral history disks and looked for a bio of A.S. They had none, which didn't surprise me. Picked up one on Sergeant Shriver by his son.
On the way home, I impulsively stopped at One Mo' Time consignment shop. I had had a number of items in my trunk (in bubble wrap and cloth) for some time, but had never gotten around to showing them. This time I did, to the proprietor, a very nice person, nicknamed "Bobbi," maybe 70 or so, with lots of golden curls on her head and, unfortunately, tears in her retina. (We chatted a lot.) Anyway, she skipped a few of my things, but took seven items, including that damn huge picture of boats in Vienna or somewhere. (At the consignment shop in Manahawkin, where I sold a number of things before I left Jersey, the owner specifies what she or he wants for the item, but also is asked to give a lower figure for what they'd take, if a full offer wasn't forthcoming. Incidentally, I sold almost everything in Manahawkin, most but not all at the higher price. At that shop, the split was 60/40, but I just don't remember who got what.)
At One Mo' Time, Bobbi sets the price and it's a 50/50 split, which is fine by me. What's left I'll first see if one of the historic houses wants them; last resort, I'll reluctantly donate to Goodwill.