First mate's log:
November 3, 1973
Ginger called Mary Ann today and told her about the Hinkleys' new neighbor, and Mary Ann passed it on to me. A middle-aged lady named Mrs. Payne moved in next door and she, well, she sounds like a bigot. Not only did she say something catty about Ginger being an actress, but she called the Professor an egghead, and not in kind of a nice way, like Mr. Howell does. Worse than that, she said something about "the minorities" living in the neighborhood and how much "trouble" they can be. I don't know if she knows about Ginger's adopted sons, but she'll find out soon.
No, she hadn't moved in yet on Halloween. She seems like the kind of person that would give rotten apples instead of candy.
Carol Brady's diary:
November 5, 1973
Marcia has a new steady boyfriend, Jeff. He's very good-looking, although his hair is very long, past his shoulders! Even Peter's isn't that long, and he's been growing it out this Fall. Anyway, Marcia seems very smitten. She's promised me she won't neglect her schoolwork, but she does spend a lot of time on the phone with him, when they're not out on a date.
I know, I've gone through so many of her relationships in the past four years or so. They never last, but they mean a lot to her at the time of course. And I still remember how I thought I was in love with Tank Gates, but we dated for months, not weeks (or as with some of Marcia's "boyfriends," days).
November 7, 1973
Peter told me he's been looking for a job for a week. He hasn't been having any luck. He's mostly been looking on our island, but a little on Blenford. Obviously, he can't use Mr. Martinelli as a reference.
"Are you saving up for your own boat, like Greg did?" He was about Peter's age when he started.
"Nah, I just want a stereo tape deck with four speakers."
"Oh."
"Then today Marcia said she saw a job posting on her way to the Blenford Library, for after school and Saturdays at Haskell's Ice Cream Hut!"
"That sounds perfect!"
He shook his head. "Yeah, perfect for Marcia." He told me that Marcia applied for the job and immediately got it. So Peter is very annoyed with her, which I can understand.
I wonder if she's saving up for a boat. She's definitely old enough, but I don't think she's even got her boating license yet.
November 9, 1973
Marcia got her first real job! I mean other than things like babysitting. She's working part-time at an ice cream parlor on Blenford. She's promised me that she won't let it affect her schoolwork, but I don't know how she's going to juggle work, her studies, and of course Jeff. I am very proud of her though. (No, I don't worry as much about Greg balancing it all when he has a job, maybe because he generally doesn't get so invested in his romances, Jennifer the cheerleader aside.)
Her new job is a challenge, however, to a bet that Mike and Alice have going. Alice started a diet and Mike boasted about how he hasn't gained any weight since college. I'm pretty sure he's gained weight since we landed on this island, so that couldn't be true. And when he stepped on the scale Alice had in the kitchen, he weighed more than he expected.
The two of them have a bet to see who can lose the most weight in a week. Alice definitely wants to wrap it up before Thanksgiving. Neither of them is that heavy, but they could both stand to lose a little weight. I'm not participating, just judging and helping them to stay on track. So I hope they'll be able to resist visiting Marcia at work.
November 11, 1973
Peter is a lot happier now, because Marcia got him a job at the ice cream parlor. Her boss, Mr. Haskell, never takes any time off work, so she convinced him to take a few hours off every day. And Mr. Haskell let her hire an assistant, so she offered the job to Peter. He gets to eat ice cream and make money, so it's his dream job. I'd be jealous, if I didn't work in a pizza parlor for the most wonderful woman in the world.
November 13, 1973
The dieting seems to be going well, near as I can tell. It's of course hard on Alice, since she's surrounded by food much of the day. I am trying to do more of the cooking, but Alice keeps coming in to "help," meaning do most of it. As for Mike, sometimes he has business lunches with Mr. Howell over at the mansion, and I imagine it's hard for him to turn down anything he's offered there.
It's a good thing Peter isn't on a diet. Marcia got him a job at the ice cream parlor, and it sounds like he's trying all the flavors. I'm worried that he's not taking this job as seriously as he took the bike-repair job, but at least he's not, for instance, spending hours making one sundae.
November 15, 1973
Peter told me that Marcia fired him! I know, she wasn't even technically his boss, just his supervisor. At first, he claimed that she was bossing him around for no reason, but after awhile he admitted that he was goofing off, more than he would've if he weren't working for a relative.
"And now she's hired Jan as my replacement!"
"Oh, how's that going?"
"Well, I guess she's not goofing off, yet."
That probably means she's doing a great job, but I let it go.
November 17, 1973
Well, Marcia had to replace Peter with Jan because Jan is a much harder worker than he is, at least when ice cream is involved. However, Mr. Haskell, who's been trying to take time off and relax, decided that he'd rather be at work than golfing or doing any other leisure activity. And he could keep only one employee. Although Marcia had a week's seniority, Jan apparently was the better worker.
Marcia was as angry about that as Peter was about losing his job. I had to make peace in both cases. Jan insisted she was just trying to help and she didn't want to "steal Marcia's job." Marcia didn't believe her and called her, yes, Benedict Arnold. Then Jan offered to quit and ask Mr. Haskell to give Marcia the job. Marcia was touched by this, and then the phone rang.
It was Jeff. He and Marcia had some sort of quarrel, but I don't know the details. (She definitely doesn't confide in me about her romances like she did when she was younger.) They made up over the phone and he has lots of dates planned for her, so she told Jan she could keep the job.
Meanwhile, Peter found another job: delivery boy for Mary Ann's Pizza Parlor! He promises he'll work hard this time. And, yes, he gets free pizza, so he brought an extra large home for the family.
Mike indulged, but Alice resisted. And when we did the weigh-in, she lost weight and he gained. However, it was just a friendly bet, and they didn't actually bet anything. He said he'd owe her a favor, but she's so unselfish I don't know that she'll ever cash in.