Apples, Antennas & A-holes, oh my
Even with the blowout with the neighbor it was a great weekend. We got a bunch of stuff done around the house, saw 3 different movies, relaxed and had a great 3 days. On Friday evening we started things out by watching Farenheit 911. I snagged it off the net. My PC has a video out connection so with the assistance of a 50 foot rca cable I am able to watch stuff on the PC on the big screen TV. I think the version we saw was a bit different than what is playing in theaters because several key scenes that I saw in the previews did not show up in the version we saw. The video quality wasn’t great but good enough to view. It’s a good flick and further reenforced my ideas about the Bush administration. Their ties to the Saudi’s and the bin Laden family are DISTURBING. I thought the film dwelled a bit too much on the actual war in Iraq. Moore spends lots of time documenting how horrible war is which is already a universal truth and didn’t need to be rehashed as much as he did IMHO. It was a good flick but not quite as good as I thought it would be. Of course if I saw the theater version I may have enjoyed it more.
On Saturday we knocked out a bunch of housework during the day. I was a bit in the obsessive mode as I mopped the tile floors and also ran the steam cleaner throughout the house. Yea it is a lot of work but it looked good when I was done and seeing how dirty the water was that came out of the steam cleaner reenforced that it was time to use it. On Saturday night I had a surprise lined up for Alison. I took her to the Fort Myers dinner theater to see Grease. It was great food and I enjoyed the show much more than Pirates of Penzance. It was a really nice evening out.
On Sunday we ran a few errands and then afterward finally saw The Day After Tomorrow. (spoiler) I was disappointed in this flick. Like 10.5 the special effects were awesome but the storyline was just ludicrous. In a nutshell there is a killer storm descending on NY city. In the eye of the storm temperatures were dropping to -150 degrees. Dennis Quaid was in DC, his son is trapped in NYC. He is going to save him. He can’t drive any further than Philly and has to WALK to NYC in the greatest storm in history. It was just ridiculous. It wasn’t like he was walking there with a kerosene heater, how was his presence there supposed to save his kid? Dumb flick.
When we got home from the movies is when the crazy Jack the neighbor war unfolded. I don’t need to rehash that mess other to say that if the guy thinks I am an a-hole because I didn’t want to see his dog wind up as roadkill, so be it. I have his message archived for safe keeping. I wish I had the 2nd phonecall on tape, it may have set a record for the amount of F’s you can work into a 2 minute conversation. At least he knows I have no intentions of taking his shit. It still amazes me the guy waited almost a month until actually contacting me about it. F’in crazy bastard. My message which was by no means friendly, wasn’t rude, threatening or ridiculous.
Yesterday we mowed all the grass. It was hot and humid as hell. Although it was only 10am I literally had streams of sweat coming off my head as I weed whacked. Times like that make having the pool a godsend. We cleaned up and went out to grab lunch and then see Spiderman 2. Believe the hype, the movie is GREAT. It is better than the first one. The special effects are amazing. The plot is compelling. I loved it. I am so glad we saw this one last. Definitely 2 huge thumbs up from me.
Oh yea I mentioned apples. Our one apple tree actually produced an apple. (several actually) We tried the first one yesterday and it was great. A bit on the small side but it tasted like an apple from the supermarket. So far we have grown and consumed broccoli, pineapples, tomatoes, peppers, and eggplant from our garden. Cool stuff.
For the first time in 2 months I got to spend some extended time working on the Vette. I did several small fixes and then tackled a job I was putting off. My power antenna never worked on the Vette. I could hear the motor run but the antenna didn’t move. I bought a replacement mast. In order to replace the mast I had to drop the antenna assembly down. To do so I had to rip out some of the trim in the trunk, pull the driver’s side rear wheel, pull back the wheel well and access the motor through there. As I was on my back trying to get some bolts loose I had an old wasp nest and a spider drop on my face. That is one of the negatives of having a car that sits in the garage 90% of the time. After some trial and error I was able to get the old broken mast out and a new one in. I was pysched to see the antenna go up and down as it should. It seems like a simple thing but I really got a kick out of it. The only other car I ever had with a power antenna was the Probe. I just enjoy watching the antenna disappear into the fender as I step out of the car, something from childhood I imagine that still appeals to me. 🙂
