Tag: movie

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The “Ga” is Silent

I woke up at 6:30 so we could make it to a nine o’clock movie in Conway. The girls got up after I was out of the shower, and then we were off. Summer drove so I could try and order snacks on my phone, but we ended up ordering there instead because I couldn’t redeem Movie Club credits for online orders.

Summer drove stubbornly and reacted poorly when I scolded her for not letting the car move out of the passing lane. Then when we got to the theater, she tried giving up after one horrible attempt at parking. I got out in a huff and waited in line to order snacks, then had to yell at them from across the lobby to come help me carry stuff.

We watched Wicked, which evidently was a Part 1, in a smaller auditorium in 3D. I think we were there with only one other person. I accidentally spilled a bunch of buttery popcorn and had to deal with a slippery floor for the whole movie. I also got super tired and struggled to keep my eyes open for part of it. Otherwise I thought it was pretty good. I think I liked the live show better though.

After the movie, we went to Brick & Forge for lunch. Our server was super weird and kept wanting to hover while we were reading the menu. Then he brought our food out before our appetizer. In fact, that didn’t come out until Summer had eaten all she could stand of her pasta entrée. Eaddie liked her burger, and my brunch quesadilla wasn’t bad. The pulled pork bread roll appetizer was pretty good, but simply came out too late. I nearly asked for it to be removed from the ticket.

Once we finished eating, we headed to Kohl’s and Shoe Carnival to do some shopping. Summer wasn’t feeling well, and Eaddie needed to get back to practice before her rehearsal, so we headed home after just those two stores. I drove this time, and stopped at Walmart once we got back into town so Eaddie could get some body wash. Summer waited in the car, so we were in and out fairly quickly.

I took the dogs out for a run as soon as we got home, and they did fairly well. They got treats and food, and then I tried to clean up in the kitchen a bit. I cleaned up some leftovers, then had Eaddie pick up some dollar McNuggets before the coupon reset. She ended up going to get Eli first, so there was a bit of a to-do. I probably spent $10 in gas for her to get those $1 nuggets.

Summer went to bed, Eaddie eventually made it home and did the same, and I wrapped up late, unslept and aggravated from more general negligence around the house.

Some things I cannot change, but ’til I try I’ll never know.

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I’ve Got No Strings

Eaddie left early this morning for her orchestra rehearsal and concert. Summer and I got up pretty early as well, and headed to Conway early for a movie, shopping, and food before the concert. We ended up barely getting there in time for Venom: The Last Dance, so I missed a few previews waiting in line for popcorn. I thought the plot was pretty contrived, and they tried to pack a lot into it, but overall it was fun. It was definitely the weakest of the three. We ran to the lube to drop off someone’s jacket, then came back to Bargain Hunt to see what they had. It wasn’t much, so all I got were some dog treats.

We made it across town and ended up at Skinny J’s for lunch. I thought Randy said they were closing down the Conway location, but maybe I was confused. Or maybe I wasn’t, because we were basically the only people in the restaurant. It was a late lunch though. We ate quickly and then made it to the Conway High School to see Eaddie’s concert.

The kids did great, but then Eaddie wanted to race over to UCA to see Eli play in a low brass concert. Summer had to check her out with the teacher though, so I ran Eaddie a few blocks away and then came back for Summer. We eventually got back over to UCA for a charge, and watched the tail end of that concert, which was much less formal anyway.

After all the concerts were over, Eli came with us and we went to Old Navy for some more shopping. The kids wanted ice cream after that, so I took everyone to MarketPlace Grill. They said it would be a 20 minute wait, but it didn’t take nearly that long to get a seat. Our server was super talkative and kept asking the kids questions about stuff, and then talking about her family life.

The food was probably more miss than hit, with super stale chips and cold food. I remembered having the same problem with the chips last time, so it’s probably time for a review. We ate and then headed home in the rain, stopping first in Morrilton for some beer and to plant a promo sign in front of that carwash. Then we dropped the kids off at Eaddie’s car at the high school and headed home. The girls were super pooped and crashed immediately while I played with the dogs a bit and then tried to minimize distractions before bed.

All run and no stop.

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Stay on Target!

Someone said a big truck caught on fire on the interstate last night, and they still had the entire road blocked off when I got there. It took me an extra half hour at minimum to get through it after it started to divert me over the river. Somehow I was basically still one of the first ones to get into the office, and Randy didn’t seem too worried about any of it. Simply the most vocally relaxed boss ever.

I was stuck in GAM all day trying to clean up old Google Classrooms, mostly unsuccessfully. I had a Soylent, a leftover slice of cheese pizza that Eaddie brought home from the concession stand, and a coffee to get me through the long morning. Then I rode with Jay and we followed Jim, Randy, and Maggie to a place in Scott called Scott Station for lunch. They had a really fluffy, black, quiet, mild-mannered dog in the restaurant, and it looked like a Cracker Barrel on steroids. Unfortunately I found the brisket sandwich to be pretty lackluster. It was better than Corky’s, but it was still bad.

The afternoon went by a little quicker, but I felt hot and was frustrated with GAM the rest of the day. Then I had to meet Summer on the opposite end of Little Rock for our movie. She ran even further behind than I did, so I parked at a hotel with a charger for a little while until she got closer to town. Then we arrived at the Promenade at the same time. We had dinner at the Local Lime, and then watched Transformers One in IMAX 3D.

I thought the movie was cute, but Summer was way more excited for it. The theater was super cold though, so I just kept trying to cover her up with my extremities. I was fairly tired and uncomfortable by the end of it, just from being clammy and wearing my work clothes all day. She drove on home while I looked for deals.

I went two both Targets in Little Rock and found one Pixel Watch 2 at the first store for $75. The store on University didn’t have any marked down. I had to stop in Conway for just a couple minutes to charge and then checked that Target as well, but didn’t have any luck. Then I finally made it home super late.

Eaddie was up and came out to talk to me for quite a while, but had to go to bed for an early day of community service hours for school.

BADASSATRON

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Too Familiar

We got up early to head to Tulsa this morning, and drove straight to the service center in one go. It wasn’t unbearable after driving so much, but I still don’t favor it. Life on the highway is boring. We got to the Tesla service center without any issues on one charge, checked in, and got a loaner to find something else to do in town.

We went to Michael’s and walked around, then walked next door to Kohl’s. We didn’t really find much, aside from a table of Mickey Mouse Farberware cookware. I sent some pictures to Julie, and then we left to find something to eat. I wanted something unique, which landed us at Oh-K Dog in the Woodland Hills Mall. They had Korean rice hotdogs with potatoes and stuff fried on the outside, and they were incredible. Summer and I each had one, and then went back for seconds. The price felt reasonable, which probably says more about my acclimation to inflation than it does about the value proposition of a hot dog fried in rice batter.

After we ate, we walked the mall in absolute awe of a functioning relic of our past. Only two or three shops were closed, and those appeared to be for renovations and not just due to a collapse in popularity. There were several stores with no customers at all, but it was also the middle of a Monday afternoon.

From there, we actually got a message that they were done fixing Summer’s Model Y, but we still wanted to find something else to do. We ended up finding a Cinemark nearby and went to see Beetlejuice Beetlejuice in D-BOX seats. Summer was surprised, but enjoyed the rumble motion seats. I thought it was a treat, but it would have been overpriced if it hadn’t also had a very large screen. Theaters in large cities astound me, but it’s not worth the people.

I didn’t think the movie was bad, but I just wasn’t interested in that world. I wasn’t nostalgic about it, so I could have easily gone without it, but at least it wasn’t boring. After the movie and a successful summoning of the car to the front door of the theater, we headed back to Tesla to get our car back. I had to drive the Model 3 Performance before we left though, and it really did seem to have a little more pickup than my old car. When we got back, I asked about a Model S Plaid, and the guy had to go ride along with us. We found an empty dead-end road and he let me do a full launch, and it was spectacular. If prices keep falling, I may have to hold out for one of those.

Once we were done there, we headed toward home with the hope we could make it without charging. I decided to stop in Van Buren for a restroom break anyway, and then got to Ozark where I decided to stop for some Taco Bell before it got too late. Eaddie beat us home from working the concession stand again, and I did my best to wind down quickly. She was still full of energy though, and ended up taking the dogs out for a late walk while Summer and I went to bed.

Just give me some stalks, man.

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It Ain’t Too Early

I set an alarm today so I could get up and ready to go to Conway with Summer. She needed to shuffle some chemicals around between some of her washes, so we went to Morrilton to pick up a bunch. Then we made it to Conway in time to watch Twisters. I found the first half of the movie to be pretty dull, but eventually they got some character discovery going and it made the last half palatable. It was just too much dumb cowboy storm chasing stuff, throwing caution to the vortex-shaped wind.

After the movie, we headed up to Greenbrier to drop off and get some different chemicals for Russellville. Fortunately we didn’t actually have to deliver those right away, so we went back to Conway and did some shopping.

Our first stop was Bargain Hunt where we picked up just a few small things. Then we went to Kohl’s and shopped for a while until Summer got hungry. I did a quick search and found a well-rated cajun and steak place on the east end of town called Almost Famous Smokehouse & Grill. They had a good variety and good flavors, but they appeared to have some trouble in the kitchen. Service was a bit slow, and the small dining room filled up quickly. Both of our meals were served with incorrect choices. I asked for beer-boiled shrimp, but got fried. I think Summer was supposed to have a potato with her steak, but got rice. She liked how her food was cooked, but I thought the steak was a little under. My catfish was overcooked and dry. Otherwise, everyone was super friendly, and I’d definitely give them another try.

After we ate, I made Summer follow me through Target and Home Depot before we headed toward home. I made a quick stop in Morrilton for a keg of Fireball in case Aunt Diane comes down to visit for the holiday. Once we got back home, I reflected on the small taste of the drive I’ll have to make five days a week if I don’t get an offer from Moodle. It really got me considering another Model 3, but I just think it’s a bad time to buy.

Eaddie and Eli were at the house when we got home. Summer and I took the dogs out for a quick walk around the block before it got dark, and we sent Eaddie to pick up her car after she left it at school from the football game last night. When she finally got back home, Summer went to bed and Eaddie and I chatted for a little while, and we eventually went to bed.

And It Ain’t Too Late

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DeepNot

Johnny called and woke me up this morning to chat about finding a decommissioned server that he wanted to use for SCCM. He interrupted a strange dream in which I was about to take a ski-lift from California to Washington D.C. I wondered if I would dream that in real time.

We chatted for a while and then I went outside to find the dog bowls. Then I started cleaning up around the coffee bar so I could place the new silicone drying mat that would be delivered later in the day. I tried to stay fairly busy, but then I got a rejection email from DeepNet that got me kind of sad. After hearing how excited the girl was about the company, I got excited myself, but I didn’t even make it to the second round of interviews. Maybe I was a little too honest about my worst boss story.

I finished up a bunch more leftovers and got the coffee bar put back together just before Eaddie got home, but she and Eli changed for a football game and then immediately left again. I waited around for Summer to get home, and she really wanted spaghetti, so I told her we could go out.

We ended up at Pasta Grill, and she didn’t even get spaghetti. We had to wait about half an hour to be seated, and then service was incredibly slow. The food was good though, and we left with a ton of leftovers. I thought we’d walk the dogs together when we got home, but dinner didn’t sit well with her and I ended up taking them on a quick walk around the block by myself.

We ended the night with the old movie Twister, which had me completely bored out of my mind. I thought it would be better after hearing so much about it years ago, but I just didn’t find myself caring about any of the characters at all. It all seemed really far-fetched and unrelatable. Dull.

Eaddie made it home late after a losing game against Morrilton, and then they were off to bed. I spent a couple more hours researching mopping robots before I got there.

Twister Cafe

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Video Game Movie

I slept in pretty hard today while Summer got up and did some working from home. When I finally got around to snack on some breakfast, she suggested going to Price Break and a movie in the afternoon. Dad said Uncle Giao, Erica, and Nova were in town, so I assembled my arcade stool and we stopped by their house for some lunch first. They were dropping Nova off at Tech, so they didn’t stick around super long.

Eaddie had band stuff all day, so Summer and I made a quick and mostly boring run through Price Break. It was $10 day, and there were a ton of people there rummaging through stuff. I think it’s more fun to find really cheap stuff that hasn’t been picked up yet.

After that, we went to UEC to watch Borderlands. I liked the visual style, but a lot of the CGI was really hoaky, and the story didn’t really grab me. I never really played the games because they weren’t made for mouse and keyboard, so I wasn’t invested in it at all. I was also still pretty exhausted from general stress and the heat, so I had trouble staying awake in the recliner.

Dad gave us their Roomba, so I cleaned it up when we got home, and had it vacuum the living area. I think I’d really like to get a mopping one for the hard floors, because that’s where the dirt ultimately comes from. It did pull a bunch of crap out of the carpet though, so I need to start seriously shopping for a new vacuum cleaner.

Eaddie didn’t get home until super late, and I spent too much time dawdling before bed. The overbearing heat has me lethargic, and is possibly causing anxiety attacks again, because I’ve been having at least one a day for the past few days. I couldn’t think of anything else that could be triggering them, but I hate it.

Park it.

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National Lazy Day

Stilgar chewed up the extension cord from under the deck last night, so I tried to take the reel away from him, and he ended up chewing straight through the cord by morning. I got up and made some more eggs with Ro☆Tel for breakfast, and then went out to clean up after them. It felt pretty nice outside, but I still felt sleep deprived and tired all day. It really was fitting for what was apparently “National Lazy Day.”

Eaddie went out with friends, but then brought Autumn and Eli back to make chocolate covered strawberries in our kitchen while she took a shower. Confused, I left to take the dogs for a run. We stopped briefly at my parents’ house, and then continued through the basin trail and on home.

The kids were gone again, so we settled in for a while, and eventually sat down to watch Deadpool 2. I stopped halfway through to make some popcorn, and eventually made it to bed.

Threefer

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Breakfeast

I got up this morning and wanted to make a big breakfast for the girls, so I ran to the Neighborhood Market for a bunch of stuff. One of the things I really wanted to try and reproduce was the jungle juice from Boma, the restaurant from our Animal Kingdom Lodge stay. I also really wanted to make some waffles, and we already had everything for that, but we needed some bacon and sausage too.

Everything turned out pretty good. Eaddie took her friend home after that, and Summer went to the gym before coming back to mow the lawn. I tried to help with some other yard work, and I figured out the edging wheels on the string trimmer for her.

The day went by pretty quickly. Once we were cleaned up from working outside, Summer and I started watching Logan. I had to stop near the end to run the dogs, and then pick up some more food for them. Eaddie was out late with Eli, and went to bed pretty quickly once she got home. I took some NyQuil and we finished our movie, and then it was off to bed so I could go to work for the last few days there.

Right or wrong, it’s a brand. A brand sticks.

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Last Minute Nonsense

As if yesterday’s news wasn’t enough, we got a message from the Tulsa Tesla service center just as we were ready to walk out the door that they wouldn’t have a loaner vehicle available for us, and also likely wouldn’t be able to complete the repair in a day. Rather than drive separately, we decided to reschedule. Fortunately they were able to get us in next Friday instead of the app’s first available date in September.

Since our day was completely foiled, I took the dogs out for a run and then Summer and I went to Little Rock for Deadpool so we could have Saturday for other things. We stopped at a pretty impressive Kroger Marketplace when we got to town, and I had to laugh that Walmart got into groceries with their “Marketplace” stores, and Kroger got into “everything else” with their “Marketplace” stores.

I picked up some cough medicine and we found a few snacks, and then we headed to a Mexican restaurant up the road called Los Cabos. The food was good, and though we were both completely satisfied with our portions, they did seem smaller than what we typically see in town. I was also hoping the food would be somehow different, but it really was just like everywhere else. The only thing that stood out was the salsa that tasted like pizza sauce.

We finally headed toward the theater with a lot of time to kill, so we walked through Home Goods before driving around the shopping center. We saw a Cybertruck in person, and I thought it was fairly impressive looking. We quickly walked the area, but without much of interest, I decided to kill our final hour at an upscale flea market called Painted Tree Boutiques. Summer enjoyed browsing what I considered to be overpriced stay-at-home mom junk. I mostly gawked at the price tags.

We made it back to the theater with just enough time to settle in, and the 3D showing of Deadpool & Wolverine wasn’t very busy. I appreciated still being able to find good seats, and the 3D was actually really well done. So well, in fact, that I wonder how it’ll look in 2D, because a few of the scenes were pretty specifically shot for 3D. Summer struggled with some of the ultraviolence, but otherwise we found it to be a great fanservice movie. I think it really might have the momentum needed to shift Marvel’s recent struggles.

After the movie, we headed straight home and I played with some more Amazon Vine stuff that had come in before heading to bed.

Some motherfuckers are always trying to ice-skate uphill.