Here are my activities since Monday the 28th. On that day, I did nothing until the evening, when I had to make another airport run. Even though most of that journey was in rainy weather, I did not mind. On the way there I stopped at a place I hadn't been to in months... the Friendly Confines in Winter Park. I had a beverage there and things went fine. Tuesday, I returned to the dentist; it was a simple teeth-cleaning so nothing to report there. Wednesday, that was definitely more interesting. I did not say it the last time, but I always did feel bad for what's going on in Texas. I mean, the next time I write, I hope I don't have to talk about how Hurricane Irma has done a number on Florida. Because of drama reasons, instead of the Houston Astros vs. Texas Rangers 3 game series moving from Houston to Arlington, the series instead was played at Tropicana Field, where the Tampa Bay Rays play. Houston wanted to switch this series and a later series; Texas said no so that's how those games ended up here. The Rangers had a reason for doing so but talk about a tone-deaf move and a PR nightmare as they still look like uncaring A-holes while that part of Texas just experienced a catastrophe.
Anyhow, Wednesday I did go to St. Petersburg to see the Houston vs. Texas game. The drive there and back... the traffic was even more brutal than usual, but let me try to be positive here, even when it comes to me almost running out of gas. I was at the mall in Brandon for a bit and I went into a new national chain store known as BoxLunch. I can't explain the name but it's run by the Hot Topic people so yes, it's geeky pop culture, just without the dark goth stuff. After I left there, I went to a local restaurant chain for the first time. I do not know how I came across Westshore Pizza, but the location I went to (in South Tampa) was a nice hole in the wall kind of place. They sell a lot more than just pizza; I decided on boneless wings and garlic knots. They were both tasty.
As for the game itself, Houston lost 8-1. It is easy to understand why those players had much more important things to be concerned about than them playing well in this contest. As all the money from the paying customers went to relief efforts in Texas, I was happy to attend and see some action. I was also happy that unlike in May, I did not sit by the most nauseating drunken ogres. There was general admission seating so you sat wherever you found an open seat in the lower level; I was behind home plate about halfway up so I can't complain.
Thursday I did nothing but Friday was definitely different from the norm. First, I went with both parents to a restaurant about an hour's drive north of us (the brutal traffic played a part in how long it took) in Weirsdale known as Eaton's Beach Sandbar & Grill. It was another hole in the wall kind of place, and they did have tasty food. A few hours later-in the midst of stormy rainy weather-I went into Altamonte Springs to see a movie at that AMC's Dolby Cinema, which I have praised before for being great. As nothing new had a wide release this weekend, it allowed for the 40th anniversary of Close Encounters of the Third Kind not only to be on regular theatre screens, but also Premium Large Format screens like Dolby Cinema, Cinemark XD, Regal's RPX, and the like. I've seen plenty of Spielberg movies before and I really like or love many of them, and yet this was something I had never seen before, despite seeing plenty of Spielberg as a kid. I heard some things which prevented me from seeing it until just now.
Well, the print looked real nice; there's plenty of film grain, but it was supposed to as that was how it was back then. There were some moments, and parts of the ending were great in scope so I am glad I saw it on a huge screen, but overall I wasn't a fan of the movie. I know, most will vehemently disagree but it left me with a negative opinion overall. I was fine with the Francois Truffaut/Bob Balaban scenes, and the Melinda Dillon/toddler son stuff was OK with me too. I felt different when it came to seeing Richard Dreyfuss and his family. He was not very likable in the first scene, even before he sees the UFO; what a goofus that character was to begin with. After he becomes obsessed, it was not fun watching him and his annoying family. I wish I know why this was so popular back then and even now has many fans, as I'll never comprehend it.
My weekend was not too excited, but yesterday I did go to a part of department stores in town. At JC Penney I got a pair of shorts and at Belk I got another pair of shorts; I was able to throw away one pair that had become pretty ratty from years of near-constant use. When I return a week from today, hopefully I won't have to spend a lot of time talking about Irma, but who knows for certain.
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