Monday, January 26, 2015

Blackhat, Mecum Auctions, & Cinnamon Toast Coladas

Here's the recap of what was really an up and down week. Monday I did not do a thing, as I'd be out and about on Tuesday; I ended up being out and about on Tuesday and Wednesday. I won't talk much about Tuesday as it was just a pretty bad day all around. I don't want to whine and complain about it as it could be a turn-off so on this occasion I won't. While it was nice to visit some places I haven't visited in awhile (including a restaurant) it was a crappy Tuesday, despite some decent moments. I had to deal with some dumb/rude people and it was part of a day where no one major bad thing happened but it was too many little things that went bad which soured things.

Wednesday was decidedly a better day. Someone I know had a hook-up for a complimentary ticket to the Mecum Auction that is in Kissimmee. It is an auto auction that has shows all across the country throughout the year where they sell like a few thousand cars per show. I had never been to it before so I was not fully sure what to expect. There were hundreds of cars outside (or covered via massive tents) that either were about to be sold later or were still on sale as the highest bid was not high enough. It was interesting to look at a mix of cars, from old muscle cars to newer luxury cars with a lot of horsepower, with random oddities along the way. As should be evident, I had to do a lot of walking on this day. I also went in the building and saw some hot auction action.

After the auction (which I was glad I was able to go to; I even got a shirt as a souvenir) I had to go to what will soon be Disney Springs as I had to visit one of the Guest Relations they have in order to settle something online that was broken for who knows what reason and at least that matter did get fixed. I won't get into talking about how stupid I think it is that Disney now has not only the Magic Band wrist band thing but also such things as the Fast Pass+ and I HATE all those changes they made. Again I'd like to be positive. I ate at Splitsville as I hadn't been in there for awhile. I had my usual of a burger & fries and the alcoholic drink I had there was new, a pina colada with a splash of the “college drink” of Fireball Cinnamon Whisky added and it's known as Cinnamon Toast Colada; it was good!

Thursday I didn't do anything except rest from all the walking around I did Tuesday and Wednesday. So, let me mention something I have to be negative about: I have stated before that Floridians in general aren't the most reliable people. That is unfortunately true for the typical working man, such as (to list random examples) those that mow lawns, fix something in your house, etc. What happened to some people I know is that they purchased a new refrigerator and they had to wait for it to be ordered and then delivered; they were supposed to call to say what exact time the delivery would happen and of course they didn't. So they had to scramble to clear the old fridge and it's just a rude thing to do, having to rush things like that.

Friday I didn't do anything either; as I doubt anyone wants to hear about me cleaning my room, I'll spare you those details. Saturday... more of the same. I still worked on cleaning my room and in the evening I saw parts of the UFC show on TV, which was fine. Sunday was the day where I finally did something of note. In the evening, I went and saw Blackhat, a film I was still interested in despite coming across real mixed reviews. While it has some flaws it was something I did enjoy watching. Maybe the lowered expectations helped but it wasn't anything I hated; I was always interested in the globetrotting adventure, even if it was ridiculous at times.

When I return next week I already pretty much know what I'll be talking about in terms of activities. It should be good times.

Monday, January 19, 2015

Barleywine, Smoldering Santa Fe & Mint Oreo Shakes

Yeah, another “meh” week from me. At least there's some unique tidbits to share.

Monday night I went out to see the major college football national championship, which is always a big deal. I first tried World of Beer. Well, some goofy trivia contest was going on so I couldn't even hear the audio from the game. Plus, some annoying people were around so I only had one drink there before leaving and heading on over to the nearby Buffalo Wild Wings. The drink I had was barleywine as I never had it before. It's alright but to me its main appeal is its 8 to 12 percent alcohol content. Things were more traditional at BWW and besides having both Smirnoff Ice and Miller High Life for the first time in years-I remembered that High Life isn't so great-I also had their boneless buffalo wings, with the limited edition Smoldering Santa Fe flavor, which actually tasted better and weren't as spicy as I had anticipated. As for the game, in hindsight I should have expected the result to be what it was. It wasn't the most competitive but alas...

Tuesday I didn't do a thing but Wednesday I had to go to the dentist. It was just a simple filling and I won't be back there until the summer. After I left there, though, another bad thing arose: yet another driver appeared who I almost called 911 on! Already. I got to see who it was and it wasn't a young punk but a woman who appeared to be in her 40's, and in an SUV. She drove like a maniac, constantly weaving in and out of traffic. I don't know if she was just that awful of a driver, if she was drunk, high on drugs, having a medical episode or what. I hope that someone did call the cops on her before a tragedy happened.

Nothing happened on Thursday, so let me skip ahead to Friday. I had more than one option from that point until now. I decided to be lower-key and all I did was drive on down to Lakeland to visit a few stores and eat dinner at a restaurant I've always marked out for, that being PDQ. The food was tasty, as I expected. Their limited edition mint Oreo shake was as good as you'd think it would be. Among the highlights of the stores I visited was getting soda at Rocket Fizz and eating a cupcake from a chain known as Smallcakes. The drive there and back was uneventful, thankfully.

My weekend was even more low-key. The only exciting things I did was get gas, pick up some items at Walmart to assist me in cleaning my bedroom, and get sandwiches at Wawa for me and someone I know. I do have to mention that when I heard there was a shooting at the big mall in Melbourne, Florida, I was shocked. It's a place I've been to a few times before, including just a few months ago. What a sad situation it was, a domestic dispute ending like that. Concerning the Sunday football games, I did not pay too much attention to either. The first one was pretty bad until there was a pretty incredible ending and the other was a blowout most of the time. Otherwise 

When I return a week from today, I know I'll be doing a thing or two out of the ordinary so that will give me something exciting to talk about.

Monday, January 12, 2015

Disney Springs, Illinois State University & Blowhard Sports Fans

Here's a recap of this past week. Several interesting things happened. Just not on Monday and Tuesday, so I won't spend any time talking about those days.

Wednesday, it was a different day as my parents got a new TV and the old TV in the main room got moved to their bedroom. I was the guy who unhooked everything then hooked it back up. Things went awry when I tried hooking up the cable to and I needed to install a new cable in the bedroom for the TV to get any channels. But at least that is as difficult as the task was, at least if you don't include moving those TV's around.

Thursday, I was thinking of things to do so around dinner time I decided to visit the place known now as Downtown Disney and will soon by known as Disney Springs due to all the things they are taking out and adding. I was hoping it wouldn't be too crowded there due to the chilly (for Florida, anyhow) weather. I was wrong. At least I was able to use the new parking garage they just completed. I walked around for a bit so there was my exercise. I was thinking of where to eat at for dinner and I realize I hadn't eaten at the House of Blues in a few years. The concert venue next door I've been to relatively recently but the restaurant itself, it's been awhile. The meal I had was fine and I can't really complain. It was interesting to see all that's new there, and know that there's a lot more to come. I could have done without all the rude people there-my fellow guests there, not anyone that was working at Disney-or the bad traffic, but alas...

Friday I stayed in and relaxed but Saturday, it was unique. For the first time ever, my old college (Illinois State University) made it to the championship game of the division it plays in, so it's a big deal. They played against North Dakota State and I definitely did watch the game on TV. I could have done it at home but I decided to go out to see it, and also have lunch. I chose... The World of Beer! I had lunch there while consuming some of the many beverages I had there. I won't go into detail on what I drank except it was exclusively from small American breweries. I was happy to support them, as the brews were at least fine. As for the game, ISU had their opportunities but unfortunately for me North Dakota State ended up winning 29-27 in what turned out to be a very entertaining game.

Sunday, what a blah day until I got back home. Before that it was pretty crappy. I went to the east side of Orlando, to get gas that was like 15 cents per gallon cheaper than home in Clermont. I did that at a Citgo station. I then went to Friendly Confines to enjoy their food and watch the big game between the Green Bay Packers and the Dallas Cowboys. I am not sure it was worth it to go out there for the food and gas. The traffic was so bad (not helped by the rainy weather on the way there) I wondered more than once if I should call the cops, as a driver was either driving erratically due to impairment... or sheer stupidity! I really did not know so the calls were never made. Then, at the actual joint, the lunch I had was tasty but some of the people there, they were so dumb. Most of the crowd seemed fine and yet I had to be by some loudmouth idiots who acted like they were football experts, only what they said was either moronic or flat-out wrong. They fit the worst stereotypes of sports fans.

The game was actually quite entertaining, until a controversial moment happened which allowed the Packers to win. It was technically the right call, but it's a horrible rule that for some reason was never changed even after a few years ago it allowed the Chicago Bears to get an unjust victory. The crowd there was loud so I doubt many heard that rule explained but I knew what it was right away. The dopes got really mad and just could not understand it; even if I tried to explain it to them eloquently I have a feeling it would have been like talking to a brick wall. I was quite happy to get out of there and get back home.

I'll return next Monday on MLK Day. I have some ideas in mind as to activities I'll be doing.

Monday, January 5, 2015

Rex Attitude, Peppermint Bark Beer, & Eating More Chicken

I had some interesting experiences as I closed out 2014 and started 2015. The last days of the year I did not do much at all. I went out and got fast food but I don't need to spend any time talking about that. So, I'll skip ahead to New Year's Eve where I did... nothing. I am OK with that, though, as I rarely have ever done anything on that day anyhow. As someone I know recently said, NYE is “a night for amateurs anyhow”, and I tend to agree. Staying at home was fine with me.

Thursday was definitely more interesting. The action started in the afternoon when I walked around the neighborhood. Out of nowhere some random kid I've never seen before in the back of a vehicle yells at me, and it was, “Hey, you! Eat more chicken!” I swear this is true. It is clear he likes those Chick-fil-A ads. What's muddier is WHY he yelled such a thing at a random stranger.

I went with someone to the local IHOP for dinner and that went fine. I had the chicken and waffles. Back home I saw the rest of the Florida State vs. Oregon football game. For the first time ever in major college football there's a playoff, albeit only with four teams. I just mentioned what the first one is (Oregon won in a blowout) and I actually went out and about to watch the second game, which was Ohio State vs. Alabama. The Buckeyes won in an upset in a more competitive game so on the 12th is Oregon vs. Ohio State and I'll go somewhere to see that too. I wasn't sure at first about the crowd there at the two places I went to in order to watch the game (more on that in a bit) but they ended up being fine. People being yelling meatheads or loudly clapping as if you're actually at the stadium... it was hardly an issue.

First, I went to the World of Beer, because I felt like going there. Among the alcoholic beverages I had there was peppermint bark beer; seeing that on the menu just about literally made me lol, as it just sounds preposterous for a beer flavor. It's from Two Brothers brewery out of Illinois. It tastes exactly like you think it would. I also had something from the Yeastie Boys brewery out of New Zealand. The name itself is tremendous but listen to what they call one of their brews: Rex Attitude! That sounds like the protagonist to an obscure 80's action film. A T-rex is on the label so there's the joke. The nice bartender lady did give me the warning that the beer has a very strong smoke flavor and she was correct. As the place closed down at midnight and the game wasn't finished I went on over to the nearby Buffalo Wild Wings to see the rest of it.

Friday I didn't do anything so onto Saturday. There was a UFC pay per view, but once again you could see it in movie theatres. I decided to try out one on the east side of Orlando and that went fine. The crowd was like 40 or 50 people at most and yet that's the most that I had seen at one of those deals throughout the years. Once I got back home I saw that many people online thought the show was bad aside from the great main event. I did not quite understand that. I thought it was fun and interesting throughout. The main event was great and I was glad to see it on a giant screen. Sunday, the only thing I did was go to Winter Garden Village. I had to stop in a store there for a minor matter. I had to talk to someone about something and I am not 100% sure I was told the right answer but honestly, in Florida I am used to people not being reliable or correct. At least I got a late lunch from the nearby Five Guys and while the entire area was ridiculously busy the food was still tasty.

I will return a week from today and I do have some things in mind as to what I'll be doing and what I'll be talking about.