1st gear, Swedish subtitles, Almost an epic fail
This past weekend was supposed to be a Randall visit which typically is filled with all sorts of sillyness. Randall rescheduled for a few weeks in the future, leaving me with a more or less wide open weekend.
Saturday was a stark contrast to the weekend before that was filled with tons and tons of ass busting labor. This Saturday may have been the most laid back weekend day I have had in a year. Other than doing the normal weed pulling/garden tending, the day was almost totally void of chores thanks to Cindy knocking out most of it during her day off Friday. It felt weird not buzzing around like normal but the overcast and rainy skies made it feel almost appropriate to just hang out.
One of the things I did was start watching The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo series of movies. (not the American Daniel Craig version) Cindy had recommended this awhile back but I sort of disregarded it when she told me it was actually a foreign film with subtitles. Reading a movie just was not something that interested me. Well for whatever reason on Saturday I was more willing to give it a try.
As I expected, watching a film where everyone was speaking Swedish was pretty annoying at first. Scanning between the subtitle and the movie seemed unnatural. However Cindy had told me that after awhile it becomes less obtrusive. ( I didn’t believe her) It turns out she was right. Eventually my brain adjusted to the format and I was able to take in what was going on without much difficulty.
The films are very dark but compelling. The version on Netflix are the extended cuts, each movie is broken into two 90 minute sections which means in total I spent about 6 hours watching the first two movies. I never thought I would give a subtitled film an A- rating but here it is.
On Sunday morning Cindy and I did the 30+ mile Ave Maria ride we had planned to do with Randall. The weather was not as dreary as Saturday and the temps in the high 60’s when we started felt refreshing. The ride went pretty well. When we do it we switch off the lead every 5 miles or so to allow the other to benefit from a wind breaker.
Cindy actually struggled during part of the ride, her legs were tired from running 8 miles on the treadmill (while I played Haerthstone) the day before. Several times when I was ahead I looked back and had lost her which is very rare since she is normally a stronger cyclist than I am. However she had the last 5 mile lead segment, during which, she was averaging 21+ mph for the majority of it so maybe she was just playing possum to make me feel better.
I had ideas of knocking out half of the pressure washing jobs that are looming over me, the pool area and sheds. I thought possibly after biking I would have time to do this before the Eagles game. However after grabbing gas for the cans and running errands I didn’t get back home until after 11:30, too late to get it done. Plus it was abnormally warm yesterday which helped melt away any motivation to do the work. Instead I quickly planted the additional crops we bought for the garden, a tray of kale plants and some stevia.
Wow that Eagles game was truly a tale of two cities. For basically three quarters the Eagles confirmed that they are truly a much improved team, pushing the Redskins around to build a dominating 24-0 lead. Then, in the span of 15 minutes they erased that perception.
The Eagles completely imploded, allowing the Redskins to score two touchdowns AND convert two 2 point conversions while doing absolutely nothing on offense themselves. I guess last weeks 9 minute plus drive to close out the Packer game was just a fluke.
When the defense allowed the Redskins to convert a 3rd and 25 during the final drive I felt sure that they were going to find a way to somehow lose the game which would have been one of the biggest collapses in recent NFL history. I could feel the anger and rage boiling up inside me as the Skins drove down the field, only 20 yards from scoring a ridiculous third touchdown in the quarter. Thank goodness RG III made a boneheaded throw which Boykin picked off in the end zone to save the game. Not only did he save the game, he saved me from looking like a raving lunatic in front of Cindy.
It’s hard to feel great about a game such as this. Despite the great start, the horrible finish was a sobering pull back into reality. I will do my best to look at the bright spots like the Eagles being in first place despite a thoroughly mediocre 6-5 record. Or perhaps we can all celebrate the Eagles winning their first game at the Linc in over 400 days. Yes a win is a win is a win. I can only hope they learn from the black hole they stepped into in the 4th quarter and do a much better job of closing out teams consistently.
Sunday night we watched Bullet to the Head, my latest Netflix rental. Cindy never heard of the movie and was skeptical that Stallone could pull off a solo action movie himself nowadays. Her questions were answered, he still can. Despite being in his mid-60’s I found the movie a quite satisfying rental. It had everything a brainless action movie should have, good fight scenes, strong one liners, hot chicks and a revenge plot. It get’s a B+ all day long.
There were several high quality Vines produced this weekend. I will leave it up to you to find them. However ironically, the funniest one of all may have been produced by Jeremy.
So when I was doing my bills yesterday I noticed my Comcast bill was magically $20 higher than the month before. I fired up Comcast chat and started ranting. Evidently the promo I did in April where they gave me basic cable tv service, that I don’t use, and internet for 49.99 had expired. I was on a new “step” promo where they ONLY raise the price 40% until April of next year and then I get smacked with another 5 bucks which is the full rate.
Argh I am so sick of doing this song and dance with Comcast. I fired off my normal “I’d like to cancel my service” deal starter but was told only their phone reps in the “Customer Loyalty Department” could offer me any new deals. In the past I have been able to secure better deals via Comcast online reps. I angrily clicked the CLOSE CHAT button.
Obviously I need high speed internet service since a large portion of my tv entertainment is delivered down Comcast pipes however paying $70 for that service and throw away, crappy tv service (not even HD) annoys the hell out of me. I may need to look closer at what high speed DSL can do for me nowadays.