Really? For crying out loud...

Thanks to the magic of facebook, many of the three of you who actually read this probably know by now that my uber-expensive trip to Texas is just so much fun I can hardly stand it. But today as I was out for a drive, I got to do something I've really always kind of wanted to do - a 180 in an intersection.

Of course, that sounds pretty cool if you do it on purpose with a hot car. But when some yahoo in a Jeep decides to spin your new car around like a debutante at a cotillion by slamming into the back quarter panel - well, it takes some of the luster off what should have been kind of fun. If you don't see facebook, I've inlcuded my very own version of a demotivational poster here that shows my car - which I've made all of three payments on, by the way. You'll notice there is no hint of a rear bumper, yeah, the SAPD pulled off the last bolt holding that on so we could clear the car off the street. (The SAPD were really nice, btw, and I even got to ride in the back of a cop car without handcuffs - that was a treat. Note to all would-be criminals, if you are taller than say, 5'3" you do NOT want to ride in the back of a police cruiser -- you are literally wedged into that seat.)

So, that was the fun of my holiday weekend. Black Friday was no big deal here - the roads were actually pretty calm, but the stores - especially Best Buy and WalMart - jammed. For all of you who wonder what the difference is between WalMart and Target, I'll tell you. Go look at the room of your 6 year old - or remember it - and then think of how the room looks (looked) before you moved all your crap into the house before you bought it. That sums it up nicely. Target is clean and tidy and the WalMart looks something akin to downtown Kuwait 6 hours after the Iraqis decided they'd rather go home (or to belabor a point - the Basra Road before the Iraqis decided to go home, and the Basra Road after A-10s and B-52s left the area). The difference is that obvious. Seriously, you would have thought that we shipped in a bunch of Cold War Era Soviets and let them loose with Ronald Reagans' Amex Card.

Despite the car, which hopefully I'll find out this week whether or not its repairable (although the guy at the dealership said I probably wouldn't want it even if it is), this coming week looks interesting. T-W-Th I have my transition assistance seminar which will hopefully help make a civilian out of me and, somewhat ironically, I'll also receive my last military promotion before being promoted to "Mister" sometime in 2012.
 

A small stream in the hill by Payne Mtn - Northfield, VT


In other news, all of one person tried to take a guess at the photo posted here in the last installment. That photo is shown here in full - it's a small stream of water tumbling over rocks. The next photo detail is also provided. 

Right here. Take your guess as to what you think it might be by leaving a comment at the end of this blog.

You'll note that there is now a 'share' link at the top of this blog so if you like what you see and think someone else might get a chuckle - or if you think that someone else's life may seem a little more interesting by comparison and you want to cheer them up - feel free to click the link and it will post this blog address on your facebook site.

Enjoy the rest of your holiday weekend and look out for morons on the roads.

The movie-going experience is saved - and your first photo quiz

All right, I admit it. The other day I went to see Harry Potte 7 part 1. It was a pretty decent movie as HP flicks go - those kids (now in their early 20s) are finally starting to learn how to act. Too bad they put us through five movies before they figured it out. Anyway....

So I'm at the theater and I suppose I should preface this all by saying that my favorite theater experience was in England. Not the huge mega-opti-collosal-cineplex, but a theater with only a few screens. After the trailers they'd bring up the houselights about half way and a concession worker would come to the front of the audience and have a tray with candy and stuff. They'd sell this for a couple minutes - and there were always people who waited until then to get their food gear, and they'd leave. If the movie was really long (like HP7/1 at 2.5 hours) they'd come back for an intermission which was great because if you didn't want food, you could go to the loo and not miss anything.  All that and the Brits sell sweet popcorn - with sugar instead of salt - and it's awesome.

Anyway, I've been to this theater before since I've been in Texas and what I saw was new. After by-passing the candy concession - where they wanted $4 - yes, FOUR BUCKS for a 500ml bottle of water - I saw on my way to the theater, a small bar. Five feet of wooded splendor lined with adult beverages - beer, wine and I think wine coolers although I'm not sure technically a wine cooler can be considered an adult beverage as the only people I've ever known to drink them were 16 year old girls. Curious, I asked how much a beer was, expecting a typical movie theater answer - $12 or something similarly outrageous. But not so - only $3 or $4 depending on what you wanted.

Really. Beer is actually cheaper than water - and a whole LOT cheaper than a bucket of popcorn at the movie theater. And you can take it into the theater with you. It's a lot like being at home I imagine but without the potential comfort of sticking your hand in the belt of your trousers and just really relaxing.

Overall, I thought this was a good sign. A sign that the American movie-going experience is finally relaxing a little. Of course, I didn't have a beer because beer treats me like a urinary expressway. Not the best way to actually enjoy a movie. Still, I love the thought and think a little Europeanizing of America is good and it's only a matter of time before we can get a Heiniken at McDonalds.

In other news, the photo to the right (hopefully if I can figure out how to place it) is a detail of a larger photo. I don't think this will be difficult to guess but by way of hint, it was taken in New England not Texas. I'll get out and about with the camera soon. 

I invite you all - both of you - to give it a guess and when you do, please just note where you're reading from just for grins. Winner gets...well, probably nothing, but you never know. Maybe I'll take you to the movies and buy you a  beer.