Monday, October 28, 2013

Windows 8.1, Trollops, & Tampa Bay Road Trips

Here's what I've done in the past week. Last Monday I ended up going to Walmart for a bit and that went about as expected; nothing too crazy there. I was reminded of something else I did in the preceding week which caused some frustration. I installed Windows 8.1 on the laptop of a parent; I was hoping it'd be less aggravating for them to use than the terribleness that is regular Windows 8. It was a major hassle and took way too long but it finally downloaded and installed... and it's hardly different from Windows 8. That did not make me happy. On this day, I had to install Toshiba updates (yeah, that's the brand of laptop they had) and that provided more frustrations.

Tuesday was dull so let me skip ahead to Wednesday. In the evening, I went and finally saw Machete Kills. I enjoy the original Machete; I think it's a lot of fun. The sequel, though... a real mixed bag. There are good moments, but also bad ones. Overall I would rate it as average which makes it disappointing as it definitely was less than the first one. Alexa Vega and how she looked in the movie, though... that was a good moment! I've never seen any of the Spy Kids movies but she definitely has grown up from her child days.

Thursday, I had dinner with someone at a restaurant. It was Red Robin, a place I've been to once in Illinois and once in Kansas. One opened nearby last December but when I tried to go to it before it was always busy as hell. Thankfully, on this early evening the place wasn't crowded at all so that was a relief. I had my almost always of a burger and fries and also a spice pumpkin pie milkshake; all were at least good and at least I can say I finally ate at one of those places in Florida.

Friday, that was an interesting day... or at least night. In the evening I returned to the lovely place known as Ghost Bar & Lounge. It had been too long since I was there. It wasn't the busiest there but it still was a fine time there. I did see my favorite, which was Drunk White People Attempting To Dance, and as always it was fine entertainment. What was interesting was seeing a lady with fake boobs who had on a skimpy tank top and no bra, so she had total sideboob action going on. Not to be judgmental, but when I see such a thing, I have to think that the lady is a trollop! Anyhow, a random lady decided to give me a free shot, as there was one extra. I did not get to talk to her; this is because her guy friends did not look happy about her giving me a shot and gave me a less than friendly stare. They're probably tools... after I downed it, I thanked her and got the heck out of there.

What made the night noteworthy besides laughing at some dumb drunk people in general was that some people decided to dress up in Halloween costumes. I saw several people wearing sugar skull makeup, a young lady as an old lady, a shuffling zombie, Miley Cyrus' foam finger (speaking of trollops), and a guy who looked a lot like Chris Hemsworth with a full beard, so his Chris Hemsworth Thor outfit was perfect. Who knows when I'll return there (I may not go there in November) but at least I had a fun time there this time even if it wasn't one of my wackiest time at that establishment.

Saturday I stayed at home and relaxed, which was fine with me as Sunday I once again had to pick up a parent from the airport in St. Petersburg. As the Bears don't play this week the day was up in the air as to what I could do. I was lazy and I left in the late afternoon. I was going to eat at a restaurant on the west side of Tampa before making the pickup. The first place I was going to go to ended up being closed for good, so I had to go to a nearby spot. It happened to be a place I was at once before a few years ago. In Canada the place is known as Boston's Pizza, and in the U.S it's known as Boston's The Gourmet Pizza. While I was there I did have water (and some alcohol...) and the pizza I had was pretty darn good. I got a call while I was there that the plane flight would be delayed for 2 hours so I ended up spending a few hours there, and oh what an interesting few hours.

The male bartender was kind of a tool. The way that he acted was unfortunate. His behavior towards a lovely young waitress... he loudly noted how her boyfriend had given her a hickey, and he spoke in Spanish to her and what I could make out, he called her a cheap whore! I know he used the word “puta”. Even as a joke, not very funny or nice. One guy there looked like Dante from Clerks. Appropriately, a pair of Boston Red Sox fans came in. They are playing in the World Series against the St. Louis Cardinals. That game and an NFL game were taking place at the same time, so I watched that to kill time. Those fans ended up living to the worst stereotypes of Boston fans... Massholes, that's what the stereotype is. Oh, and I saw some douche walking around and he looked like someone you'd see star on a (hopefully never going to happen) Jersey Shore 2 show on MTV. He had on a black shirt... and fuchsia pants! I kid you not. It was a rather interesting time there, as you can see. It sometimes provided more entertainment than the sports games did.

Thankfully the pickup and then the drive home was spectacularly uneventful. That may also describe the upcoming week for me. Nothing at all is planned yet. Hopefully some wackiness happens to me, even if only to give me something to write about.

Monday, October 21, 2013

Gravity, Disney Drunks, & Neanderthal Sports Fans

Here's what I've done in the past week, which for as of late has been pretty eventful. Monday the 14th, I went to Walt Disney World. Heh heh heh. I was at Ecot as right now they have their annual food & wine festival. I walked around, saw the sites, had some treats rather than any non-dessert food (those are my tastes; I call it being a “selective eater”)-I had dinner at home-and oh yeah, I had a bourbon & honey shot and a frozen dragon berry rum drink. Both were good! I also enjoyed the desserts I consumed. The Dole whips are like nectar from the gods, and whether it be pineapple or orange, it's a must-eat.

I did not stick around to see the act that performed in the park for a half hour a few times a day... Wilson Phillips! I remember when they were a hit act in 1990, and that makes me feel ancient. I would have watched it if it was a more hard-rockin' act, like Survivor or Night Ranger, which are actual acts playing there later in the festival. Of course, there being plenty of alcohol around, that brought out the tools and drunken idiots; I always see them there during that festival and the flower and garden festival. I try my best to ignore them.

Tuesday, I went out to eat with someone. We could have gone to a frou-frou type of restaurant which opened right in town last month but looking at their menu, there isn't that much of a selection, and besides its pricy nature, there's what I've heard online about bad service and too small portions. I may go there on my own one night but with those complaints and the town I live in, there's a pretty decent chance it won't last for too long. Instead, we went to an old favorite, Steak & Shake. They somehow ran out of chicken fingers (this was during the 5 PM hour, too; how does that happen? I guess I'll blame the federal government being shut down!) so I had my almost always of a buger and fries, and I also had their limited edition caramel apple shake; now this was a fantastic idea, as it was great.

Wednesday, I returned to the Walt Disney World area. This time it was to watch a movie at the AMC Theatres at Downtown Disney; it was a film on their giant ETX screen. It was the film Gravity, and I heard from various people that it was best to see it in 3D and on a giant screen. Turns out, they were right. The movie actually was as great as I've heard from just about everyone. It is the type of movie that I'd enjoy and it was awesomely done. Hopefully you saw it already and were able to watch it on a giant screen, such as ETX, IMAX, or anything similar. Thursday was dull and Friday I only went to the familiar haunt of Winter Garden Village for a bit (I got a pair of magazines, among other things) so onto Saturday... I was speculating if I should go on a small road trip or not; I didn't, for a variety of reasons. In hindsight, after what happened the last two days, that may have been for the best.

Saturday I did not do anything until the evening; I went to the local Buffalo Wild Wings to watch the latest UFC pay per view. I figured it would be a busy day as there was a huge football game going on between the Florida State Seminoles and the Clemson Tigers, and there was a big baseball game too. Yep, it was packed there and of course the people running the joint were dumb in trying to figure out which events to put on which TV's, something that has always aggravated me. It's a shame that this happens and there are usually dumb customers there as the regular employees there are almost always pretty cool and I enjoy the food. And boy were there many stupid Neanderthals there; they were happy to yell and scream as their FSU team surprisingly destroyed Clemson. I wonder how many of them actually went to Florida State... or even went to college at all. And the thing is, the UFC pay per view was pretty good overall as there were many nice matches and one was great. I am happy that I likely won't have to be back there until late December; the next pay per view next month is also being shown at various movie theatres and barring anything unexpected that's how I'll be watching it.

Sunday, things actually got worse. Traffic was pretty bad when I returned to the Friendly Confines sports bar to check out all the NFL games going on, but focusing on the Bears playing against the Washington Redskins. The traffic was pretty crap going there and back. Sometimes I thought I was on the Autobahn people were driving so recklessly fast. Chicago lost in a shootout, but considering that several key players got hurt during the game (I now know the quarterback tore his groin; ouch!) I am surprised that Chicago still almost could have won it under those circumstances. There were SO many stupid people there... I won't talk about all of them and why they were cretins, except for one. He was a fan of Chicago's rival the Green Bay Packers, which was fine at all. Unfortunately, to put it bluntly he decided to be a drunken PRICK and ASSHOLE and loudly cheer for the Redskins to win, and in the most repugnant way too, and of course he cursed too. I did in fact give him an evil stare a few times; that's not something I do in general but this ogre really deserved it. In fact, I almost gave him the finger as I left! Flipping someone off on the highway is one thing (and yes I've done that before...) but doing it in person is completely different. It's good that I didn't as I (unfortunately) may see him there in the future. But he deserved a middle finger! With the Bears schedule, I don't have to go back there for a few weeks and after yesterday, thank goodness.

For the upcoming week, I really hope I don't have to deal with more Neanderthals, that's the most important thing. I have some ideas what to do for the weekend; besides that, I hope to have a cheerier blog and I don't have to rant and rave next time.

Monday, October 14, 2013

Dryck Julmust, The New Corvette, & Columbus Day

Yep, not too interesting of a week this past week. That is alright with me, though. This past Monday I did not do much, except drink something that I had purchased from IKEA the previous week. It was a drink I had never heard of before; of course it's a Scandanavian beverage; it's known as Dryck Julmust. I had some and well, to me it was really blah and flavorless. I'll stick with their apple and pear drinks they sell in cans and the lingonberry they have on draft.

Tuesday, I volunteered to take someone's vehicle to the car wash as they were in a rural area and they ended up driving through a swarm of bugs. That's happened to me before. I went to a 7-11 station, got gas for them then went through the car wash, which did the job pretty well. While on the way there I saw quite the sight... the new Corvette! It's brand new and I noticed it had Michigan plates, so I believe it's either a test car or it's a car for the press for them to review for websites or newspapers. I was driving behind it but not close enough for my tastes. It got on the Turnpike as I pulled into the 7-11. That is a great-looking car, BTW.

Wednesday was pretty dull so let me skip ahead to Thursday, which was the one real interesting day of the week. I ended up going to a few different places. I first went to a MovieStop, a place I've been to a few times before; it's a new and used DVD/Blu-Ray store that has a wide selection and it's mainly used discs. I did pick up some discs. After that I returned to Rocket Fizz for some more gourmet soda. I picked up some random bottles, including one known as Margo's Bark; it has a dog on the label and all the profits are said to go to such places as animal shelters, so of course I had to get it. I had it last night and it was a root beer, and it was good. While I was there, I actually ran into someone I know from the days way back when I attended local independent wrestling shows. Yeah, he's a wrestler. I briefly chatted with him and that was a nice surprise.

After that I drove on over to the Friendly Confines sports bar, as I hadn't been there in over a month. It was the same old same old there. There thankfully was less in the way of loudmouth meathead sports fans there. I appreciated that. There actually were several boisterous hockey fans in attendance. Yes, there's more than a few hockey fans in Florida. I had some food and drink there (yes, alcoholic in nature) and I had a good time. I could have watched it at home but I decided to go there to see Thursday night's NFL game between the Chicago Bears and the pretty lousy New York Giants. Well, it wasn't the prettiest game but thanks in part due to Giants miscue, Chicago was able to win.

Friday, I went to the local Blockbuster. Yes, they are still around. I got a Blu-Ray disc amongst the rental haul. The lady who checked me out (no, not in a romantic way! I mean the lady who rang me up) asked if I had a Blu-Ray player. She then mentioned that there are plenty of people who try to play Blu-Ray discs on their DVD player... this is NO surprise to me! Saturday and Sunday I did absolutely nothing of note... at least not worth mentioning. I did see in the neighborhood a Porsche 911, and not an old one from previous decades but one from the past few years. If I ever win the lottery (or find a rich girlfriend) I just might get that car... although I wouldn't mind driving that new Corvette either.

I know, not the most exciting of weeks for me. However, I am expecting the upcoming week to be more interesting and more filled with events, so that will make for a more entertaining blog next Wednesday. I mean, I'll be doing something later today, which happens to be Columbus Day. I won't get into the whole controversy over whether Christopher Columbus should even be celebrated. I'll just plan on having a good day today.

Monday, October 7, 2013

Mass Effect 2, Malathion, & IKEA Madness

Yeah, another less than action packed week, although at least this time I have a rather amusing story or two to tell. This past Monday I did not do anything at all, except remember that the night before when I picked up that person from the airport in St. Petersburg, the spot I pulled in... right in front of a Bentley Continental GTC convertible; meaning, it was at most only a few years old. Must be nice.

Tuesday, in the evening I did not go far; I ended up at the closest GameStop; I picked up the game Metro 2033 (it isn't the cheapest but I heard it's a quirky and different survival horror game, probably because it's from The Ukraine) and got some more Microsoft Points; I know, they don't do points anymore and now it's a cash system but they still have those cards and old points-based cards still work and it converts after you enter in the code. Anyhow, driving there (it's in an open-air mall) I noticed a trio of teenage boys and they were walking in the road instead of on the sidewalk. I thought it was a tool-like thing to do but maybe that's just me. In the GameStop, those guys came in... yep, they were tools! They were loud and stupid, and one of them admitted to “farting” and they all left together, where they then continued to be total bros... or at least that's how I view it. I mean, when you hear one of them in the new game section of 360 titles (meaning that no one has bought it yet and it's not a used title like most of the games there) ask, “Why is Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 still a new game?” Um, because no one has bought that copy yet? Idiots! I did not actually respond to them as hey, I was outnumbered. Hearing that was enough right there to confirm my total judgmental first take on the trio.

Wednesday was dull but Thursday I did go to the nearest Aldi's to help someone pick up some items. That place has some quirks (at least to my American eyes) but they do have some good pricing at times. Friday was another boring day; I wasn't sure how it'd turn out but after a rough start it ended up being fine; long story which I won't get into. I did see something for the first time; me, my mom and a neighbor (a guy who is the best source of gossip in the neighborhood) were briefly outside and we noticed that a truck was driving slow and spraying something. I had no damn idea what it was at first but it turns out it was spraying for mosquitoes; I had no idea that was a problem as the house is in a subdivision, not in the middle of the woods. I was then informed by my parents that they were spraying Malathion, a mildly toxic mosquito killer substance. Back in both of their heydays, people would spray it around their hometowns.

Saturday, that was the interesting day for me, although not as interesting as some of the days I had last month. I went to the IKEA in Orlando, as it's been awhile since I've been to the giant Swedish retailer. I walked around, looked at the funky layouts, and I got some miscellaneous items that are only a few bucks each. That includes some food & drink. It was as busy there on a late Saturday afternoon as you'd expect; at least it being busy was fine and I did not get annoyed by anything or anyone. I then ate at Burger 21, a joint I've been to a few times before. The burger was more medium than medium well but it was still edible; the cookies & cream shake I had was pretty grand, though. I then walked around the Mall at Millenia for a short amount of time before driving home.

Sunday... before I get to talking about the Bears loss, I should mention that the past few weeks, videogame wise on the 360 I've been tied up replaying the first Mass Effect game before diving on into the second one. This was a good move on my part; I've mentioned the series before and you might have heard about it last year when the Internet was collectively pissed over how bad the Mass Effect 3 ending was. It's an action RPG set in space where throughout the trilogy you have to defend the galaxy while running into a wide variety of species and characters; there's action but there's also character interactions that is always interesting and the big deal is choice, as you can be a paragon of virtue in terms of how you act or you can be a jerk of a hero; also, you can import your character into the later games so your choices really do matter and you can have many unique experiences depending on your decisions. It's great. I thought the first one was pretty sweet but the second is a clear improvement in every way. Getting the three games in a bundle was a great decision. This past week I've been preoccupied with Mass Effect 2.

Anyhow, that was more interesting than the Bears game against the undefeated New Orleans Saints, who are still undefeated as they won 24-16. Once again the score was closer than the game actually was. Once again aside from a few plays the offense was blah and their defense was like a sieve, to use a phrase my parents like to say. I am glad I did not have to go out to see it as it wouldn't have been worth the trip. The next Bears game is this upcoming Thursday against one of the worst teams in the league, the New York Giants. I have little worry about Chicago losing that contest.

When I return a week from today, there isn't anything on the docket yet aside from-likely-staying at home to see the Bears game. Hopefully it'll be more interesting than most of my blogs as of late.