Monday, July 25, 2016

Star Trek Beyond, Huey Magoos & Cheeseburgers In Paradise

This past week wasn't as exciting as I expected, but that is OK. I did not do anything last Monday the 18th so let me move onto the next day. On the 19th I went to Universal Studios CityWalk; I did in fact walk around there and as I hadn't ordered food from Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville in a long time, that's where I ate at for dinner. Their appropriately named Cheeseburger in Paradise is always great. For the most part CityWalk is the same as it was the last time I was there. Wednesday, I went to Wawa to get a sandwich. The last few times I was at that particular Wawa, I've had issues between some of the service I got and the general annoyance of having to deal with some amazingly stupid customers. Maybe I should take a break from going there for awhile.

Thursday, all I did was go to Pizza Hut and that wasn't out of the ordinary. Friday, I ended up in the Altamonte Springs area so I returned to the Safeway grocery store to get a few items. I also went to a new restaurant that's a local quick service thing and only has four locations, all around Orlando. It's known as Huey Magoos and I first found out about it as I drove by the Altamonte Springs location a few weeks ago, and I was curious. Turns out, for those of you living in the South, you'll understand it when I say that the place is in essence a clone of Zaxby's. I got some chicken tenders and to further drive home the comparison, they had the same style fries and also offered Texas Toast. At least it was good, and I was happy to support a local business.

Saturday, I stayed in and I was OK with that. When the Florida traffic in 2016 has been notably even worse than it ever has before and you're amazed you haven't witnessed any accidents happen (recently, I saw someone pull out right in front of someone else and like with me in the past year when the exact same thing happened, I can't explain how a wreck was avoided), laying low is a swell idea. Sunday night, I had a late dinner at Disney Springs. For the first time in awhile I had food from the fancy bowling alley known as Splitsville then went next door to see Star Trek Beyond in 3D on their giant ETX screen. I am not a hardcore Trekkie or Trekker but as a kid I saw episodes of The Original Series and watched the first six movies. The reboot movie was entertaining even if it had some dumb moments; Into Darkness was bad and not just for all the controversy over who Benedict Cumberbatch played and how it was billed up as being “a big mystery”. Thankfully, Beyond is a movie well worth seeing, despite some dopey moments and one moment that left me flabbergasted as I couldn't believe they went there. It at least is fun to watch, not so dour and feels more in line with The Original Series.

I'll be back next Monday, which is August the 1st. I am not sure yet what I'll be doing the last week of July.

Monday, July 18, 2016

Pokemon GO, Sprinkles, The Infiltrator, & Dr. Perfect Biotics

No I do not play Pokemon GO; heck, I've never played a single second of any Pokemon game. I just have to mention that I am amazed at how incredibly popular it's become. For some reason, that has gotten a lot of people bent out of shape and I really am not sure why; to me why is it even a big deal if it's a fad? It won't be too long before that fad dies down. I've heard it's helped people with depression issues by getting them out of the house. While some people have lost their jobs due to it... they were bound to lose them anyway if they would be so obsessed with it while on the clock. As for Dr. Perfect Biotics, that was the sender of one of the many spam e-mails I received in the past week, and it made me chortle. 

On the 11th, I was out and about. All I'll bring up is that I returned to Disney Springs. I was going to eat dinner there but plans changed and I ended up eating fast food at home. I did try out the Sprinkles confectionery and it was quite tasty. I ordered at the counter and not at the cupcake ATM (that's right) on the outside. I got some ice cream and a cupcake, the latter of which I had at home. Tuesday, all I did was go to Walmart to purchase a few items. Wednesday, all I did was spend some time up in Sanford and I had some delicious PDQ as a meal; as I've said several times before, I wish one of those restaurants was closer by me. 

Thursday, I went to a cineplex to see a movie. For the first time since last December I was at Cinepolis in Davenport, a little bit south of where I live. Aside from the first time I was there last summer, I hadn't had any problems with the place. I probably couldn't hide my befuddlement when I was told that the menus they have displayed may have food that they don't actually offer there because all of their locations have to display the same menu (?) but other than that... I went and saw The Infiltrator, as it sounded like something right in my wheelhouse, and it was. I know not everyone has loved it, but I do rate highly that based on a true story of a federal agent in the late 1980's going undercover and becoming involved with Pablo Escobar's drug trade. I laughed when I saw that a scene was set at the famed Tampa “adult establishment” 2001 Odyssey-yes, it's one of those places where women dance around and take off their clothing-even though I don't think that place was open at the time. I've driven by it before but never went in there... honest!

Friday through Sunday the only activities I did of note was make another airport run up to Sanford (this time to drop someone off; they will ride back in an automobile on the way back so I don't have to make another one of those runs for at least a few months), go to the Walmart up in Sanford in the wee hours of the morning, be forced to use a self-checkout lane-I am not a fan of those; they are too much of a hassle. Still, I got through it-and Saturday night I went to the high class establishment known as McDonald's to get some fast food to bring back home. It was a quiet weekend and I am OK about it.

When I return next Monday, it should be a more colorful week than the one I just had.

Monday, July 11, 2016

UFC 200, Coca-Cola Stores, Michael Landon & Saskatoon Berry

Here's a recap of what I've done since last Monday; on the 4th of July I did not do a darn thing except watch the fireworks on TV and I got to hear idiots in the neighborhood shoot off their cheap fireworks. Tuesday, that was more interesting. I had a dentist appointment, but it was only to get my teeth cleaned. That went fine and I don't have to go back there for 6 months for another cleaning. A little later, I got food at Arby's; ever since I moved down here way back in 2004, the closest restaurant of that chain was like 15 miles away. Finally, a matter of days ago one opened a few miles from where I live. I went there for food not just for me but also for someone else. That someone else got the correct order. Me, before I left I took a glance at my order of a turkey & Swiss sandwich as I figured that'd be sufficient before I left and went home as a confirmation that my order was correct. Once I actually got home, I realized I was in error. I was not happy. I tried to make due to what I had, but I was not happy my order was wrong despite the receipt on the sandwich being correct. It does not make me want to go back there anytime soon, that is for sure. At least on Tuesday I got in the mail something I ordered from Amazon. It was a Canadian energy drink I had when I was in Canada was back in 2009. It was Beaver Buzz Saskatoon Berry; it's real good, IMO.

Wednesday the only thing I did was end up at Denny's for a bite to eat when I was out & about, let me skip ahead to Thursday. On that day I was out and about again. I won't get into the particulars until I talk about how I stopped at a random grocery store (Gooding's; from what I saw things were overpriced and I saw something on the shelf long past the expiration date but I got some items that are hard to find elsewhere so that's why I spent money there, although I likely won't do so again) then returned to the Sea Dog Brewing Restaurant; I went there once before in May. Yes, it's that Maine brewery and they have several restaurants around, mostly in Maine but there are two in Florida. I had some chicken tenders for dinner and washed it down with a tasty beverage. On the way back I decided to stop at Disney Springs as it was right by. A new Coca-Cola store opened. It mostly has cheap crap but on the top floor is an open air deck where you can order various beverages, and while I had to hear this on random websites and have random people explain it there (as it's not explained on any signs there), there is an option to sample 16 different Coke beverages from across the world and there's another option where you can have 8 different floats. Solo, sampling those 16 was rough, as that's a lot of liquid. One day I'll try those floats. Hopefully the next time I am there I won't see any tools doing the sadly popular thing of making stupid faces at the camera as they take selfies or pictures with their significant other/squad.

Friday I stayed in, so onto Saturday. Saturday night was UFC 200, which was a huge show not only for the nice round number but because they always try for huge shows around this time of year. Even with Jon Jones being Jon Jones and being pulled from the show from doing some recreational or performance enhancing drug, it was still a great-looking card. In actually, the show wasn't better than it being “fine”, but it was a decent time at Twin Peaks, where I saw it. I had a late dinner along with something to quench my thirst. I tried to ignore the meatheads there and I guess I shouldn't complain as most people stayed around after the semi main event involving Brock Lesnar and did not leave because it was women who fought in the main event. In fact, they loved that exciting fight. One interesting sight that night was a fellow customer: he looked a lot like 1980's Highway to Heaven era Michael Landon! Talk about something you don't see every day.

When I return next Monday, I do have some idea of what I'll be talking about.

Monday, July 4, 2016

Heads Up, Midnight Espresso, Sugar Daddies, & Flapjack Johnny's

Here's what I've done since last Monday. On that Monday the 27th, I returned to Walt Disney World, this time to Epcot. In the past few weeks several changes were made there. They changed the Soarin' ride to where it doesn't just cover California but now the entire world, and there is a Frozen ride. When I arrived at Soarin', between the lines and hearsay I overheard, that ride wasn't working. I soon then ended up at Frozen. I waited in line for awhile and it was standard, until it was announced that they were not in operation either. I was not too happy about this, especially considering the last time I was at Disney, I also had a problem w/ a ride breaking down. You'd expect better from Disney, you know. Still, I waited in line and during that long time period, I saw several groups of people playing a game on their phone that I had no knowledge of before, due to me being lame and all. Later I discovered it was the game Heads Up; someone has to guess what name or thing is on the phone screen via clues someone else gives. Anyhow, they finally got it going again so I was able to ride it. I've never seen the movie and it's really best for those that are fans. Still, it was at least done to a high quality and standard. I then had a late meal right by the ampitheater where they had a Tina Turner cover band, of all things.

Tuesday, I did not do anything so let me skip ahead to Wednesday. That evening I first went to the Artegon Marketplace; that was pretty much the same as usual. Most of it is arts & crafts things of little interest to me. However, I did have a delicious chocolate chip cookie from the amazingly named Sugar Daddy Bakery. Then, I returned to the good old Twin Peaks. That was the same as usual, and I had a local porter beer. It was Motorworks Brewing (out of Bradenton) Midnight Espresso, which to me is a great name. Despite the name it's heavy on the coffee flavor. Still, it tasted fine, even as someone who doesn't drink coffee. I then went to the nearby Bahama Breeze as I hadn't been to that particular location in years. I had a tropical drink then went home. I did not have food at either, despite thinking both are pretty good at that. Next time...

Thursday was dull; Friday, someone I know had their birthday. Me, that person and someone else went to a local restaurant. The person of honor decided to try out a place in nearby Groveland called Flapjack Johnny's. The name is amusing to me. They just started serving dinner Friday and Saturday evenings. I thought my food was fine-enough; thankfully the birthday meal for that person (haddock fish) was rated as “excellent”. Saturday, I decided to go down to the outdoor mall in Davenport, as I hadn't been down there since last December. It's the same old same old there. I got gas at a new Love's gas station in the area; as I rarely go on that particular route, I'll only rarely visit that station.

As I relaxed on Sunday, I will say that I'll be back next Monday and I actually do have some plans for the upcoming week. I won't do anything on the 4th of July but I will still have plenty to talk about, I reckon.