Dish Hopper

Have you seen the Dish Hopper commercial with the parents and the little girl?

No?

Here.



So I have a question, why do the parents fear the child so much?

No child should be allowed to be able to act in such a way, especially towards the childs own parents or any adult for that matter.

But, what if the child is some demon spawn that would burn the house down just to prove a point?

This clearly must be it.  The parents are terrified of the child and the possible ensuing terror that will be wrought upon them for the accidental erasure of the hell spawns favorite show.

The kangaroo is a construct by the hell spawn to communicate to the parents in a way that is appeasing to them.

Stresss

I've known for the past several months that I have been under a lot of stress, from money issues, work and private life, it was wearing on me.  That largest contributor to that was my job; seeing that new ownership took over in May of this year and word throughout was they didn't see a need for a Purchasing Department and then add a new GM a few months later that carried that same banner, well, the writing was on the wall to say the least.  Even though the writing was on the wall and I had read the wall, I was secretly hoping that the message was going to change.

Now the end of this month, Oct, a large chunk of the hotel is going to be closed for renovation and I knew then that any company that was worth anything would be cutting staff back in a major way and that my department should be one that should be going away but again, I was hoping that the story was not finalized.

When I was asked to come with the F&B Director and there was that look on their face; you know the look, I knew it was my time.  They are calling it "Staff Reduction" and that I was not the only one that would be going; honestly I would hope not or you just look like hypocrites.

I'm not sure what I'm going to do at this time.  I haven't began to look as of yet, but I am an Herbalife Member so I can start pursuing that with a greater fervor than what I was have been.

I do know this, that I feel much less stress today than I have been feeling as of late.  My money issues mentioned from before were taken care of earlier this year as part of the "Writing on the Wall".  Even though I was hoping for a different outcome, it was better to get myself out of debt than to wait till the end.

Relationship stress was a mixture of money and work and some dunder-headedness upon my part.  My girlfriend and I live two hours apart and only seeing each other during the weekend makes it difficult for me to accomplish things at her place and for us to spend any real quality time together.

So with an unknown future income wise I face the day.

TMNT

I remember seeing the OG TMNT back at the Florida Triple with Heather and Jason (neighbors, sister and brother) and we loved it.  So much so that Jason and I could recite word for word the entire movie ad nauseum to the others that have heard it a thousand other times before then.

Fast forward the how many years it was to now...

The Girlfriend and I went to see the new TMNT this past weekend.  She had no interest at all in seeing it but seeing how I had no interest in shutting up about going to see it, she relented and we went.

Now I will say that considering that Michael Bay did Transformers 4 recently, as in a month or so ago, and that it did not meet the expectations that I had set oh so high for it; so, my expectations for the new TMNT was considerably lower.

This TMNT was a little different with the origin story that us old folk have known for all these years but it was only a small change in my opinion.  It was also different in the fact that there weren't people in foam rubber turtle costumes acting but people in caption motion suits doing that acting and the 'turtle' being cgi'd over the actors later.

There was also Meghan Fox playing a remake of the mannequin from Mannequin in mannequin form.  She was confused why she was called O'Neill throughout the shooting but she powered through like the professional that she is.

Overall, I highly recommend the movie if you liked the original TMNT.  Forgive the alterations they did to the origins but relish in the characters of the turtles, the action and the Shredder.

Freedom

When I started this site, my intention was for this site to be my way of becoming free financially through adverts or through becoming well enough to have the site as a pay per view type of thing.  Neither idea of which materialized to the point of becoming viable on a monetary stand point. 

I then took the idea of the site towards another imagining for a means for me to use it as a means to be free in my writing, not to shoe horn myself into a particular style or set of commentary.  If I wanted to journal goings on of my life, boom, there it was; if I wanted to wretch about social, economic or other matters of the world, boom; if I wanted to write stories, I do.  Albeit, in recent times, I have neglected this blog for a good bit of times, without nary a word or thought from myself towards it; I would use the excuse of not having the time but the truth was the time was there, I was being lazy.

As for the freedom that the title of this posting garners, I am debt free as of this month.  My place that I've been working at for the past eight years has been sold and in the process, my 401k was termed; I was luckily not termed.  This left me with choices, I could roll it into an IRA, cash out or just keep it going without being able to add more to it and without any company add in either.  After some tough consideration, I decided to cash out, this could be a mistake income tax wise but I was able to pay off some debt and become debt free.  Aside from some monthly subscription bills (cell, dish, insurance, etc., etc.), I am free financially.

This is has taken so much stress off of me not having to decide from one paycheck to the next what to do with the rest of the paycheck after bills are paid; necessities that are needed, vehicle needs, etc.

Transformers 4: Age of Extinction

The Girlfriend and I went to see the newest Transformers movie on Sunday, I am hopeful and she is being a negative Nancy towards the movie.  I am hopeful in regards that Shia LeBouef is not in this one and I had, erroneously, read that Michael Bay did not direct this one.  Girlfriend just is not into Transformers so her level of expectation is ridiculously high.

But aside from that, let's jump into this.

Oh, yeah, spoilers and such may be below.

T4 starts several years after Dark Side of the Moon, Chicago has been rebuilt and all Transformers are being hunted down, Decepticon and Autobot alike.

The movie follows the same form as the other three; introduce humans, introduce Transformers, insert conflict, love interest of someone mixed in, Autobots die, Decepticons die, destruction, resolution of conflict, roll credits.

The Dinobots that we know and love are not there, but something that is a metalheads wet dream is so I will accept them as such.  Galvatron shows up and true to canon, he is a resurrected Megatron.  Also, Galvatron is not under his own control at first, sort of; like canon.

Optimus Prime is being hunted down by another Transformer that seems to be neither Autobot or Decepticon.  His goal is to clean up the mess that the Autobot/Decepticon war has caused throughout the universes.  The Creators have wanted this.

Honestly, Creators?

Anyways.  So, the humans are in cahoots with this Bountybot to be able to get Seed; which is a terraforming bomb that turns organic matter into metal.  This was all orchestrated by Megatro...Galvatron somehow so that means there is a huge battle between all three for the seed.  I should say all five if you add in the Dinobots but they are fighting with Autobots, so let's go three.

I will say this, I am done with Transformers movies in the theater.  I will wait for the next to go to RedBox before watching it.

I am slightly interested in TMNT remake but Michael Bay has his name on it so I am reluctant.  Even though the theater preview did look much better than the previous one but I think I will hear what others say before plopping my bucks down on that one.

Garden 2014

Started working on the garden at moms house this year and with the excessive rain that happened June/July of 2013, it has been decided to with deeper beds this year.  The rains from last year caused many of the less resilient plants to die off; corn, bush beans and tomatoes for one.

There were mistakes made last year, beds not deep enough, ground beneath beds not being broken up initially to name a few. This year, I am building deeper beds using old BP gas station sign material that was just laying around. 

Using a 4.5" angle grinder with a cutoff wheel, I measured and with the best ability tried to cut the sides as straight as possible.  The sides aren't the straightest but for the purpose of the design, they will work.  Cutting down a 2x4 that was used as a border for the old garden, it was re-purposed as the corner pieces for the raised beds.  Secured with #10x1.25" self tapping screws to attach the sides to the 2x4s.  Holes dug in the ground fighting roots from nearby tree using post hole diggers.  Ground was turned over to remove grass and to break up dirt as well as cut some of the hidden roots underneath.

The tires in above pic are from a failed potato crop from last year.  Aphids and ants did a number to kill off the potatoes.  I had a little better success at my girlfriends house using a trash can with similar method, no aphids there, ants but they didn't kill off the plants.  The harvest only consisted of fingerling sized potatoes once it was all dug up.

Back to the above raised beds, there are enough material to make another six beds, not sure if that many are needed but we'll see how it goes.  Also not sure what all to plant this year either, probably lettuce, cukes and tomatoes but unsure beyond that.

Death?

Driving down a dark road in Alabama on the way home, my girlfriend sitting in the passenger seat beside me.  "Don't you think you should slow down?", she asks.
"No. I got this." I reply.
More curves.
Entering a curve, hitting a slick spot. The car slides.  The rear kicks to the right. The tire runs off the road.  The whole car slides sideways half on the roadway, half off along the apex of the corner.  At the exit of the corner, the car slides off the roadway, at this point, there is no saving it.  The car begins to tumble down the embankment.  I remember three rolls before nothing more.

__________

I remember being in a daze.

I am standing in the living room of a house.  The car sits there, banged up and stripped, on the dirt floor in the living room of the house that I am standing in.

A State Trooper questions me about the accident.  Asking if I had been drinking? No.  Had I been speeding?  No; I lied.  Alright, that's all he had and he was gone.

Someone asked me if I was ready. "Yeah." Then I went to my Granny's red F150 and we left.

Open Letter To Michael Bay

Dear Michael Bay,

 A local radio station today mentioned a spot for Transformers 4 that aired during the Super Bowl this past Sunday and after a quick Google search, I was able to find it and watch it.  I am thrilled that there was no Shia LeBeouf to be seen, in his place there was Matt Wahlberg.

Thank you.

Now onto the teaser.

I want more.  Optimus Prime riding a dinobot.

I am sold.

I do not know the premise of the movie but am hoping the dinobots are those from the original series and that which Prime rides is the one Grimlock.

I am hoping you don't mess this up.  You have a chance to fix the first three and erase them from my memory with this one.

Also, while I have your attention, I hear you are doing a reboot of TMNT.  I like the look of the leaner meaner turtles but Transformers looked good too in the first one.

Please learn from your past and keep Shia away, I know Meagan Fox is April O'Neal but I'm willing to look past this if you keep true to the canon of TMNT.

Sincerely,

A fan of both franchises that grew up with them both.

Wall

The wall blocks my path; it stands higher than I could climb and is wider than what is possible to go around. A sinking feeling envelopes me, a desperation comes over me as the need to forward is great but that wall still stands before me. It does not care about me; it does not worry about anything that I need to do beyond it but it will not move or allow passage of my person.

The sun shines brightly overhead, warming the earth and the grass beneath my feet but does not warm the cold wall. The hand cut granite, that hand laid granite, stacked neatly, high to the sky by crafted artisans yields not to man not to the suns warmth.

A breeze blows across the field, whispering through the grass the secrets of its life but the grass turns away not hearing the lies of that untrustworthy breeze; the grass clings to the truth of its life. The wall is set upon that truth but does not hold as fast to it as the grass does.