I only had two noteworthy days last week but I have plenty to talk about just from last Thursday and Friday. Monday through Wednesday were not too terribly eventful. Monday I went to Best Buy (among other places) and Wednesday I went into town to make more random purchases. That is because I knew my Thursday and Friday would be quite busy, and they were. On Thursday, I first had to make another airport run; I dropped someone off in Sanford and on the way back I ate at a BurgerFi restaurant; that was where I was going to eat the last time I had to go to the Sanford airport, before the person I was picking up called and said they landed super-early. Their food is good so I was happy to eat there for the first time in a long while.
In the evening, I went and saw the new Star Wars, this time out of force of habit. The Last Jedi I like less and less the more I think about it, and there were all those production problems during the filming of Solo. Well, I am glad I had no expectations as I found the movie decidedly average. There were some cool moments, but also dumb moments and it seemed like a story not really worth telling, to be honest. I saw it at a new theatre which just opened in Mt. Dora; it was by the small chain known as Epic. The place looked nice and they even have two large screen auditoriums (I saw the movie in one of those two) with very nice reclining seats, yet between there being no sign advertising where this new place is located at, there only being ticket kiosks to purchase tickets via debit cards and other things, I won't be back there anytime soon. Heck, there are closer places to me that are nice so that is of no concern.
Friday was the huge comic con taking place in Orlando known as Megacon. I've been there the past few years and it is always a marvel seeing all the cosplaying, even if I sometimes have no idea what is being cosplayed. There did not seem to be as much of that on this day but that is OK. It should be no surprise that such things as Stranger Things, Star Wars, and comic book characters were all common sights while I was there. The most impressive costume was a young woman creating and walking around in a facsimile of that yellow exosuit which Ellen Ripley wore in Aliens & was used in the first act to lift heavy equipment but was used in the final act for the climatic battle. As Aliens is an incredible movie and that fight was unforgettable, I was greatly excited to see someone take all that time to create such a costume.
I otherwise did not spend too much there, just picking up some cheap items. However, I did splurge one time. There are always plenty of famous names at Megacon who sign autographs. They typically only are there for less than the 4 days of the convention; the biggest ones this year included Jeff Goldblum, Jason Momoa, Norman Reedus, Billy Dee Williams, Cary Elwes, Elijah Wood, Paul Reubens, and some WWE wrestlers; no surprise that they would all be popular, and the ones who were there on Friday, yes they were quite over.
To be honest, I did feel bad when I looked over at a table which had both Keir Dullea and Gary Lockwood (they were the astronauts who were with HAL in 2001: A Space Odyssey). The movie is celebrating its 50th anniversary so for that alone I hoped they would be more popular and yet the few times I was able to take a glance, no one was at their table. That was not fair so after a trip to the ATM, I went on over and I mainly talked to Keir for a few minutes. It was a typical conversation where among other things I talked about how great the movie is, how I was lucky enough to see it theatrically a few years ago, and as he was also in the original Black Christmas horror film with the late Margot Kidder, I brought that up and he was also sad she passed away as she was a nice lady and talented actress. While not cheap I got a photo signed by the both of them and it reminded me of how fun those conventions should be. I should do a bit of driving and attend more of those, in places like Tampa.
The weekend the only thing of note was that last night I went and got Papa John's pizza; I won't go into details but I'll mention that their employees were both idiotic and rude and it put a bad taste in my mouth... thankfully not literally as the food still tasted fine, although even I'll agree that the brand doesn't make the best pizza by any means. Some may think that is what I got for getting grub for them and that's fair... when I go a week from today, I'll explain why this Memorial Day for me will be different from the usual.
Monday, May 28, 2018
Monday, May 21, 2018
Bubba Gump, Voodoo Doughnuts, Royal Weddings, Laurel & Yanny
Yes, I have to comment on this phenomenon. I knew it was an interesting audio trick once I heard it as “Laurel” when I had my headphones plugged into the laptop and without headphones it was “Yanny” via the laptop's speakers. As for the preceding week, it being rainy pretty much the entire time did have an impact on my plans, especially on Friday. Last Monday, I ended up at Universal Studios CityWalk, as it had been awhile since I was there. It was largely the same; a new Voodoo Doughnuts opened there recently but there was too long a line to even get into the establishment. Eventually I'll try it out. It rained off and on both going there and getting back home but there was no precipitation while I was at CityWalk. For only the second time ever I went into the Bubba Gump restaurant; I am not a fan of Forrest Gump personally but the restaurant's food is fine. For something different I had their peeled shrimp and that was a good choice. Otherwise I just walked around there for a bit.
Tuesday through Thursday were pretty uneventful; Wednesday I went to the Longhorn Steakhouse with someone I know as the neither of us had been there in a long time. That did go fine; the traffic there and back was less than fine. While I don't mention it, note that the way people drive here is never not terrible. Friday, I wanted to do something different. I went to Lakeland and I hoped the weather would be OK enough to where I could see some college baseball action... the opening round of the NCAA Division II baseball playoffs, to be exact. Well, it did not rain at the neat ancient stadium, but the lightning... there was some in the area. In short, there were games going on all day and evening but the terrible weather played a lot of havoc on the tournament being played; I only got to see the last few innings of the game where Nova Southeastern (of Florida) beat Motevallo (of Alabama) and I ate dinner at the stadium during a lightning delay; I was going to see another game but when a second lightning delay happened before that even got started... I left.
I'll consider the money I paid to get in to be a charitable donation and next spring I'll see a full game in that stadium, I promise. I feel bad for all the teams and their fans that the weather here was so poor. I am not sure if I'd eat the stadium burger again... don't ask why I say this! The day was not a total loss; at least the temperature was not too hot while I was outside and on the way there I unexpectedly went in a Walmart. You see, I usually have a Walmart gift card and while sometimes that's used for purchases in the store, it is also used at their Murphy USA gas stations as the cards give you a 3 cent discount per gallon. When I got to that Walmart to fill up, those gift cards weren't working at the gas pumps (I later filled up at an Exxon), so I instead went into the store and purchased a few random items; I was glad I did not have to make a separate trip later to another Walmart.
My weekend was rather dull; I did nothing at all. I did not care too much about the royal wedding-I felt the same way about the last one also-and it was still poor weather. When I return the afternoon of Memorial Day, I know I'll have a lot more to discuss.
Tuesday through Thursday were pretty uneventful; Wednesday I went to the Longhorn Steakhouse with someone I know as the neither of us had been there in a long time. That did go fine; the traffic there and back was less than fine. While I don't mention it, note that the way people drive here is never not terrible. Friday, I wanted to do something different. I went to Lakeland and I hoped the weather would be OK enough to where I could see some college baseball action... the opening round of the NCAA Division II baseball playoffs, to be exact. Well, it did not rain at the neat ancient stadium, but the lightning... there was some in the area. In short, there were games going on all day and evening but the terrible weather played a lot of havoc on the tournament being played; I only got to see the last few innings of the game where Nova Southeastern (of Florida) beat Motevallo (of Alabama) and I ate dinner at the stadium during a lightning delay; I was going to see another game but when a second lightning delay happened before that even got started... I left.
I'll consider the money I paid to get in to be a charitable donation and next spring I'll see a full game in that stadium, I promise. I feel bad for all the teams and their fans that the weather here was so poor. I am not sure if I'd eat the stadium burger again... don't ask why I say this! The day was not a total loss; at least the temperature was not too hot while I was outside and on the way there I unexpectedly went in a Walmart. You see, I usually have a Walmart gift card and while sometimes that's used for purchases in the store, it is also used at their Murphy USA gas stations as the cards give you a 3 cent discount per gallon. When I got to that Walmart to fill up, those gift cards weren't working at the gas pumps (I later filled up at an Exxon), so I instead went into the store and purchased a few random items; I was glad I did not have to make a separate trip later to another Walmart.
My weekend was rather dull; I did nothing at all. I did not care too much about the royal wedding-I felt the same way about the last one also-and it was still poor weather. When I return the afternoon of Memorial Day, I know I'll have a lot more to discuss.
Monday, May 14, 2018
Irn-Bru, Lakeland Flying Tigers & Cherry Cola Oreos
It was a mundane week, with some interesting moments. Last Monday and last Tuesday were not too terribly exciting; at least on Tuesday I had interesting beverages. Late last month (the night that I unexpectedly saw the wrestling show) I was able to stop in Lakeland and get some gourmet soda; one of those was Irn-Bru, which is the famed carbonated soda from Scotland. As I had heard, it does have a sort of bubblegum taste and I thought it was fine. So was the Canada Dry ginger ale and lemonade I had. I don't drink ginger ale but someone I know blind bought a 20 ounce bottle and only had a small amount because they did not want to have so much sugar; I polished off the rest. Wednesday was definitely more interesting.
Wednesday, I went and saw a baseball game, albeit one that was minor league. I drove down to Lakeland to their stadium to see the Lakeland Flying Tigers (as the area used to be into aeronautics) play against the Clearwater Threshers. It did not matter to me who won... I just wanted to be entertained, and I was. The drive down there and back wasn't great as there were too many dum-dums on the highway but believe me I got used to such things long ago. The actual stadium experience was nice... for only 15 bucks I sat 4th row right behind home plate AND got a wristband so I could be a part of the promotion they do each Wednesday where if you participate, you get as much of a few items as you want for a few hours; that includes burgers, hot dogs, pizza and popcorn. I was happy to participate in that. As for the game, Lakeland won 6-5. They scored the 6 runs early on but did not do much offensively after that while Clearwater scored 3 of their runs in the final inning so Lakeland had to hang on to win. I can't really complain about the random people around me; sure, I could but honestly it's minor so I would likely come off as a jerk if I did.
Thursday I did nothing but Friday, I ended up at Walt Disney World. I hate saying that I had a bad day when I was at such a location... regrettably that is true. There were just too many rude and/or dumb people, and that includes individuals who were working at Disney at the time. I won't go in-depth and heck, some moments were still nice. I got to see some more pretty scenery at Epcot's Flower & Garden Festival and after that I got to eat the great pizza that Blaze Pizza offers at Disney Springs. I did nothing of note this weekend so I'll mention that after I left Disney Springs, I went to Walmart, where some random items were picked up... including the limited edition Cherry Cola Oreos. I understand many aren't fizzing with excitement over them but to me they taste fine.
Next Monday, nothing is on the schedule as of now.
Wednesday, I went and saw a baseball game, albeit one that was minor league. I drove down to Lakeland to their stadium to see the Lakeland Flying Tigers (as the area used to be into aeronautics) play against the Clearwater Threshers. It did not matter to me who won... I just wanted to be entertained, and I was. The drive down there and back wasn't great as there were too many dum-dums on the highway but believe me I got used to such things long ago. The actual stadium experience was nice... for only 15 bucks I sat 4th row right behind home plate AND got a wristband so I could be a part of the promotion they do each Wednesday where if you participate, you get as much of a few items as you want for a few hours; that includes burgers, hot dogs, pizza and popcorn. I was happy to participate in that. As for the game, Lakeland won 6-5. They scored the 6 runs early on but did not do much offensively after that while Clearwater scored 3 of their runs in the final inning so Lakeland had to hang on to win. I can't really complain about the random people around me; sure, I could but honestly it's minor so I would likely come off as a jerk if I did.
Thursday I did nothing but Friday, I ended up at Walt Disney World. I hate saying that I had a bad day when I was at such a location... regrettably that is true. There were just too many rude and/or dumb people, and that includes individuals who were working at Disney at the time. I won't go in-depth and heck, some moments were still nice. I got to see some more pretty scenery at Epcot's Flower & Garden Festival and after that I got to eat the great pizza that Blaze Pizza offers at Disney Springs. I did nothing of note this weekend so I'll mention that after I left Disney Springs, I went to Walmart, where some random items were picked up... including the limited edition Cherry Cola Oreos. I understand many aren't fizzing with excitement over them but to me they taste fine.
Next Monday, nothing is on the schedule as of now.
Monday, May 7, 2018
Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers, Gourmet Donuts & Cow Chip Bingo
Cow Chip Bingo refers to the rural game where cows are in a field covered with squares and where they take a dump determines the winner; I am shocked that wasn't popular in my old Illinois hometown! That was covered during this past Saturday's Live PD; the show always entertains me due to all the lunatics on there but that particular episode was the funniest due to all the hilarious pieces of white trash and total goofballs that were on there... for example, there was a guy who tied a shoestring around a certain body part, someone else having synthetic urine and a domestic disturbance call over a woman clogging the toilet!
Anyhow, last Monday I did not do a thing but Tuesday, I ended up in Orlando. The highlights there were me trying out Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers for the first time. I've known of it for awhile but mainly due to location, it was just now that I finally tried the place out. It was fine; I had the burgers and fries, which both were quite reminiscent of Steak & Shake. The main difference is that Freddy's is fast food; one day I'll try their frozen custard or another one of their treats. I also went to a Barnes & Noble, where I purchased one item; I wish there was still a B&N close by me like there used to be. I ended up driving through different parts of Orlando on this day and well, experiencing those areas for the first time was not a revelation or made me regret not having driven through there before.
Wednesday, I ended up getting food from Chipotle; that went as expected. I also spent some time fixing a laptop issue that someone I know had; I won't go into the particulars except that it involved reinstalling then making sure Windows 10 was updated. It took hours but at least the laptop is now operational again. Thursday I did nothing but Friday I returned to the downtown area of my city, where the first Friday evening of every month has food trucks come to the main street of the city; I hadn't been there in a long while and I was happy to correct that mistake. I did not purchase the healthiest food... what I acquired include some gourmet donuts (they were such flavors as raspberry lemonade and Fruity Pebbles), gelato that happened to be vanilla mixed with Fruity Pebbles, and candy that was from a “Raw pure honey” trailer from the small town of Polk City, a place I've passed through many times by now.
Saturday, it was a rainy, dreary day so I was happy to stay home. I did watch the big horse race; I picked Bolt d'Oro to win due to some random news article breaking down the reasons why he'd win. Bolt did not win, but as I bet zero dollars and did not make any wager, it's no big deal that Justify was the winner. Sunday was another dreary day; all I did was go to a Wawa to get dinner; even on a simple trip like that I run into dumb people... as I was there a large party of really LOUD people walked in, and I couldn't wait to get away from individuals who literally had trouble finding a trashcan and figuring out where the cash register was.
When I return a week from today, I have some ideas as for what I'll be doing.
Anyhow, last Monday I did not do a thing but Tuesday, I ended up in Orlando. The highlights there were me trying out Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers for the first time. I've known of it for awhile but mainly due to location, it was just now that I finally tried the place out. It was fine; I had the burgers and fries, which both were quite reminiscent of Steak & Shake. The main difference is that Freddy's is fast food; one day I'll try their frozen custard or another one of their treats. I also went to a Barnes & Noble, where I purchased one item; I wish there was still a B&N close by me like there used to be. I ended up driving through different parts of Orlando on this day and well, experiencing those areas for the first time was not a revelation or made me regret not having driven through there before.
Wednesday, I ended up getting food from Chipotle; that went as expected. I also spent some time fixing a laptop issue that someone I know had; I won't go into the particulars except that it involved reinstalling then making sure Windows 10 was updated. It took hours but at least the laptop is now operational again. Thursday I did nothing but Friday I returned to the downtown area of my city, where the first Friday evening of every month has food trucks come to the main street of the city; I hadn't been there in a long while and I was happy to correct that mistake. I did not purchase the healthiest food... what I acquired include some gourmet donuts (they were such flavors as raspberry lemonade and Fruity Pebbles), gelato that happened to be vanilla mixed with Fruity Pebbles, and candy that was from a “Raw pure honey” trailer from the small town of Polk City, a place I've passed through many times by now.
Saturday, it was a rainy, dreary day so I was happy to stay home. I did watch the big horse race; I picked Bolt d'Oro to win due to some random news article breaking down the reasons why he'd win. Bolt did not win, but as I bet zero dollars and did not make any wager, it's no big deal that Justify was the winner. Sunday was another dreary day; all I did was go to a Wawa to get dinner; even on a simple trip like that I run into dumb people... as I was there a large party of really LOUD people walked in, and I couldn't wait to get away from individuals who literally had trouble finding a trashcan and figuring out where the cash register was.
When I return a week from today, I have some ideas as for what I'll be doing.
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