August 24 – August 30 (2020)

RANDOM PIC OF THE WEEK

One of the slides in my collection is this terrific shot of Michael Keaton being made-up as Beetlejuice! I LOVE this shot!

While listening to AM oldies overnight, as I worked away on cataloging my negatives, an old favorite came on! “It Don’t Matter To Me” by Bread is a song I haven’t heard on the radio in probably 30 years! BOY did it sound good!

Monday the 24th – THE WASHER/DRYER BUYER! – Since my dryer had finally given up the ghost on Sunday, my top priority was now to go buy a new washer and dryer set. The Kenmore washer and dryer set I had been using for the past 20 years (the set that came with the house when I bought it) were real workhorses! God only knows how long they had been in the house before I bought it, but they’ve been very reliable. But first I dropped off some mail, picked up a package at my mailbox, drove to Wendy’s to get some lunch, got dessert at Krispy Kreme, and went to Staples to get a few office supplies. Then I went to Lowe’s to shop for a new washer and dryer. The selection was easy, considering the only matching set they had in stock were a couple of Maytags. So, I purchased them, paid the extra money to have the old ones hauled away, paid even more extra for a 3 year extension warranty, and paid even MORE extra for new hoses and connectors. Without the purchase of the new hoses and connectors, the delivery guys won’t install them. They can’t take the liability of using the old hoses. It only makes sense to get all new stuff anyway. I drove home and chatted with my computer guy Brian about setting up my negative/slide scanner. Since I’ve had my new computer system, I hadn’t downloaded the drivers for this scanner (which I bought years ago) so we needed to get everything set up and working. I was intent on getting select slides and negatives from my collection digitized for printing and archiving. Everything worked out really well, and we test scanned some slides and some negatives. Amazing! I fed the kids and later I did my nightly auditions. I typed out Wally’s Week and then hit the hay so I could be up early for my first in-person visit with my “adopted grandma” Shirley on Tuesday morning!

Tuesday the 25th – IN-PERSON MEET-UP! – My “adopted grandma” Shirley has been locked away in her retirement/assisted living center since the lockdown started in late March. Being 93 she’s a high risk candidate for the Wu-Flu, so she really hasn’t even so much as left her tiny room. I’ve been trying to keep her entertained with a constant supply of movies and books, and I supply her with groceries and necessities as her needs warrant. If you remember last week’s Wally’s Week, I found out that the center has been allowing outdoor in-person visits for a half an hour, and at a safe, social distance. My friend Edi and I signed up for a time to see Shirley first thing this morning. The retirement center has two morning slots and two afternoon slots on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. But since we’ve been having triple digit temps in L.A. these past few weeks, they’ve discontinued the afternoon visits temporarily. Since Shirley needed water, I stopped at a local store to get a case of water to take with me. I met Edi at the center at 9:20 and got seated on the patio to wait for Shirley. Then they brought her down and we started our visit. It was our intention to teach Shirley to use her iPad to get on Amazon so she could purchase any supplies she needed for future occasions. The time really flew by, and it was great to see her – even at a distance. But at least it beat having to see her from yards away behind the glass doors of the center. When it came time for Edi and I to leave Shirley started crying. It broke our hearts, and after we encouraged her with words that we’d see her again next week, we took our leave. As Edi and I walked away I was filled with absolute rage. A steaming, vitriolic rage against those responsible for releasing this virus on to humanity – and I was wishing upon them violent, eternal damnation of every kind. I guess my rage was an alternative to crying. The comeuppance I was wishing upon those who altered our happy lifestyle with this madness was worthy of scenes from the most hideous horror movie imaginable. I started shouting wishes of ill-will and thoughts of fiery retribution out into the atmosphere, which luckily went unheard because of the loud traffic that was passing on the boulevard in front of the retirement center. I hopped in my car and settled down on the drive to Jerry’s Famous Deli to join Edi for lunch. I took solace in the fact that the pain and agony inflicted upon every person affected by this, will someday be poured on to the heads of those responsible for this plague a thousand fold. I truly hope they suffer for what they’ve done. There – I said it. Sorry, just being honest. Edi and I had a fun lunch at Jerry’s and talked about our visit with Shirley. We’re going back again to see her next week. Then Edi and I met at CVS to get some supplies, and afterwards I got some grocery items. I went home to unload the groceries and relax. I scanned the slides in my collection that I wanted to digitize and archive; some images for possible printing. I’ll be posting various images here on Wally’s Week over the next few weeks. Later I did my nightly auditions, and put labels on the sheets of slides in my archival books. Then they’ll be ready for storage in my underground storage area.

Wednesday the 26th – THE NERVE OF THIS GUY! – After recording a quick, last-minute audition, I hopped in the car for a drive down the freeway to Culver City; my old stomping grounds. I was on my way to see a doctor who is a nerve specialist – about the occasional numbness I’m experiencing in my left hand and my left foot. The results from my ongoing chiropractic visits had plateaued, so I decided to seek more specialized care. Luckily, the traffic was pretty quick – and I got down to Culver City in record time. I had plenty of time to visit my favorite Mexican restaurant for some food to go. I used to eat at Campo’s all the time when I lived down there, but because they’re not a national chain (they only have a few locations on the west side of L.A.) I can only get their yummy food when I’m down in that area. I hadn’t had any reason to go down there since the lockdown, so I had gone without Campo’s for close to six months. I was going to enjoy this! I got my food and found the doctor’s office. I sat in the parking lot eating my lunch until it was time for my appointment. I consulted with the doc, he heard my story, tested me and said his diagnosis was (with 99% certainty) that I had a disc in my back that was moving around and pressing on some nerves. He suggested weekly Cortisone shots, and a regimen of ‘core strengthening’ exercises I could do to fortify the area of my lower back. This would keep the discs in my back more stable and less likely to move around and press on nerves. He gave me the shot in my left thigh and I was on my way. I got some gas and hit the freeway. On the drive I chatted with Shirley who told me how appreciative she was that Edi and I came to see her. I decided to stop off at the new JoAnn’s Fabrics location in Sherman Oaks. It’s a huge store, but unfortunately only about 1/16th of it is actual fabrics. The rest is frames, crafts, floral, and other stuff I have no interest in. Luckily I did find some groovy Halloween-ish fabric that will make a nice new bowling shirt. I know that cons will come back again someday, and I want to be ready with some new wardrobe items. Since the Halloween items were now on display I found a great pillow with “SPOOKY” emblazoned on it in gold foil lettering. It’ll be a perfect gift for my cat! After all, how many cats have their names on pillows?! I picked up a new pair of fabric scissors, some 2.5” styrene balls for a possible future puppet project, a package of buttons, and some faux suede for the contrast panels on my bowling shirt. As I was about ready to check out I caught my reflection in the Plexiglas blast shield at the checkout counter. My mask was on UPSIDE DOWN! The mask I wear in public has the lower half of my face printed on it from one of my headshots. I got tired of not looking like myself, so I had a custom mask made through Redbubble, and it gets a LOT of comments. But upside down it just looks confusing. Once I turned it around, people started commenting on it and laughing. I guess I have to be more conscious of its direction in order for the joke to play properly. It never fails to get a great response from people! The place on my thigh where the Dr. administered the shot was starting to get a bit sore. But it didn’t last long. I drove to my mailbox and both of my orders of glassine negative sleeves had arrived! I could now complete my negative cataloging project! I got home and fed the pets and did some work on-line. I recorded a quick audition, but the shot was making me a bit tired so I caught a quick nap. Later I finished my daily auditions, cataloged some of my negatives and stored them in my new sleeves. Then I made some hot dogs on the grill and started in on the Blu Ray set of the old TV show “The Time Tunnel” before bed.

Thursday the 27th – A VERY ‘NEGATIVE’ DAY! – I’m not sure if it was the Cortisone shot or not, but I just felt like taking it easy all day. I wasn’t feeling any numbness in my hands or feet, so perhaps that stuff really DID take down the inflammation that was causing my issues! I spent the day continuing to work on cataloging my negatives, did a few auditions, and had a nice, relaxing day.

Friday the 28th – SHIRLEY SHOPPING! – Once again it was up early and out on the freeway. I took my Donny Osmond stage-worn jumpsuit and boots out to Profiles in History to be included in their next auction. I got to see a few of the other items that will be in the next auction, and I was AMAZED! I hit McDonald’s for some food on the way out of town, and then went over to Rite Aid to pick up the remaining items I needed on Shirley’s list. Then I headed over to Bed Bath and Beyond to pick up a set of sheets and a few blankets for her. I dropped the stuff off at Shirley’s residence and called her to let her know that they had been delivered. She reminded me that I still had her watch which needed a battery. Rats! So I hightailed it over to a jewelry store and got the battery replaced. I went back to her residence and dropped off her watch. Then I drove by my seamstress Shelley’s place to drop off the fabric for the new bowling shirt, went to my mailbox to get my packages, and then went home. My pal Sara came over to show me a few core strengthening exercises which could help fortify my mid-section to mitigate my bulging disc issues. Later I spent all night working on my negatives, and I made a LOT of headway. I’m almost done with the South Dakota portion of my negatives. After I put those to bed, I’ll start in on cataloging my L.A. negatives, which should be considerably easier and not as chaotic. I made some lasagna and watched another episode of “The Time Tunnel.”

Saturday the 29th – PINK PUSSYCAT! – The majority of the day was a “rest and fast” day. Every once in awhile I like to fast, and today was one of those days. I fed the pets and started back in on the negative project. I finished all of the negatives in my collection from my days living in South Dakota! They’ve been cataloged, labeled and stored in individual envelopes in a file case. I will scan select ones for archiving and then I’ll store them away. It was a long haul, but worth it! I typed the contents of each negative set on to labels, which will be adhered to the corresponding envelopes. That way it’ll be easy to cross-reference the more detailed list in my computer if need be. Each envelope was given a control number as well. I ended up with 156 distinct sets of negatives; containing thousands of images! Spook jumped up on my lap at one point and I was petting him and looking through his fur. A few days ago he was completely free of flea dirt, but I noticed that he was filthy again! I attempted to take some water and wash him in areas, but the water re-hydrated the flea dirt (which is basically dried blood) and turned the fur on his back PINK! Though Spook wasn’t going to like it, he was going to need a bath…and SOON! This summer has been the worst flea season I’ve seen in a long time. As if we needed anything MORE to make this year monumentally horrid! I made my traditional Saturday Night Super Salad and watched an episode of “Space 1999.” I only have five episodes left and frankly, I’m ready to be done with this series. It’s been a tough one to get through in many instances. I found it to be an uninspired, totally charmless series with a cacophony of lousy acting, unlikable characters, stupid writing, and with storylines that are poor copies of “Star Trek” episodes.

Sunday the 30th – FREEZE FLEAS! – Mid-afternoon I sprang awake and called my pal Terry who owns Rusty’s Pets. I asked him about Spook’s pink fur and Terry suggested I call his main grooming guy Alex. After explaining the situation, Alex suggested bringing him in for inspection. I told Alex that I didn’t care how much Spook fought, growled and complained, he was getting WASHED! I left him at Rusty’s and came back home to do some auditions while I waited. When I went back to pick him up Spook was in his case acting very mellow. They said he was a good kitty and didn’t fight. I guess even Spook knew that he needed to get rid of all that disgusting flea dirt. (Why do fleas even exist? I mean REALLY!?) But as I stood there chatting with Terry and Alex, Spook eventually started to meow. He had endured enough and he wanted to go home and eat dinner. I got him home and his fur was soft, white and he smelled great. Best of all – NO MORE FLEA DIRT! I did some more auditions and then turned in so I could be up early on Monday to receive the delivery of my new washer and dryer combo!

And how was YOUR week?!?!

PIX FROM THE WEEK

Now that the Halloween stuff is on display in stores, I spied this kid while I was shopping for my washer and dryer. He found a skeleton he liked and dragged it all around the store. He would NOT put it down! You could hear the skeleton’s plastic legs dragging on the concrete floor all through the store and it was awesome! He LOVED that skeleton!

Spook seems to really like his new pillow!

Here’s the amazing material I found for my new bowling shirt! Creepy but cool!

I found these styrene balls at JoAnn’s…now what can I make with these?! (I wonder!)

These are slides I shot at my radio and TV class in Sioux Falls back in my high school days. Good times!

My final year in South Dakota, I was hired by an ad agency to be one of the staff photographers at the South Dakota State Fair. That was an amazing time!