The rains came down again like crazy yesterday, to the point where my mother bought a bunch of bags of children's sand to use as sandbags in case there was flooding like there was, what, two weeks ago. It did come pouring down, a shocking amount in a very short time, and there was spectacular lightning crisscrossing the sky (too many Marvel fans claimed to like Chris Evans over Hemsworth, apparently), but there was no flooding that I know of. I called my mom and she said there had been hail and hours and hours of rain, but nothing like we'd gotten the last time.
Last night, my cousin and I went and saw FREE GUY, the new big-budget non-IP Action Comedy with Ryan Reynolds. I've loved Reynolds since meeting him on the set of VAN WILDER--holy shit!--twenty years ago, and am pleased as punch that such a talented, funny, likeable human being could achieve so much success. Shame about his face, though--just imagine the heights he could've soared if he'd been born good-looking.
FREE GUY was pretty remarkable. It reminded me of other movies I'd seen over the years (the JUMANJI sequel, WRECK-IT RALPH, and others (my cousin said it was like READY PLAYER ONE, in his mind), but managed to seem fresh and a clever twist on familiar stories. I have to admit that I was saddened to see the word "Fox" removed from the familiar searchlights logo at the beginning, but I'm sure, if I live long enough, Tinkerbell from the Walt Disney Pictures logo will be replaced by Tiffany Haddish.
I guess I have to say that, other that propelling Jodie Comer to the A-list in Hollywood, FREE GUY's most impressive accomplishment was in making me feel affection for a 90s Mariah Carey song.
Push-ups Today: 66
Push-ups Today: 2168
Big Anklevich has come to town this week, to visit his son, and drop his daughter off at college, only a year late. His oldest daughter is pretty exemplary, a self-starter, ambitious and smart and motivated to excel (something both Big and I find hard to grasp), while his younger daughter is creative and passionate, artistic and more like her old man. Stuff like that is pretty remarkable.
I had hoped we could hang out together more than we did the last time he came to town, but it looked like that wasn't to be--he's got familial responsibilities, and I'm not a part of that. I wanted to go to the cabin--rather selfishly, I must admit--but I was willing to skip it this week, if it meant he and I could get together, even if it was to see a movie or get something to eat. But he was allocated one day--Friday--for us to do something, and he suggested we go to the Bonneville Salt Flats together, which I've been wanting to do for several years.
I tried to get all my work done, so I could have the afternoon free, but I had made an eye doctor appointment, and they sent me a text to remind me. I headed over there, and paid seventy dollars to look at letters on a iPad (a little different from the slides they've been using since World War II), and reveal whether lens 1 or 2 was clearer.
Turns out I'm nearsighted in my right eye and have astigmatism in my left eye, but not bad enough to warrant needing glasses to drive. The doctor filled out the form, took my money (he did this himself, which you'd think any of his three assistants/secretaries could have handled), and I headed back to the DMV, as fast as I could make it (but not too fast--wouldn't want to get pulled over without a valid license).
Once again, they asked if I had made an appointment. I guess that's what responsible people (like Big's daughter and wife) would do, but it hadn't even occurred to me. Of course, I didn't even know where I'd be sleeping tonight, let alone that I'd be hitting the DMV again. So I sat and read my book* until they called my number. They said they had deleted the photo they took yesterday, when I'd combed my hair and worn a shirt I'd be happy to see over the next eight years, so they took another one, with messy hair and a yellow shirt I'm not particularly fond of, and I was able to pay to get my driver's license, just like we'd always talked about.
I went back home, ate some hot dogs (my tradition is to meet my cousin for lunch on Wednesdays, but he had a meeting and I had my appointment, so that got skipped this week), packed up a few things, then had to hit the storage unit (which I should've done at ten this morning, since I was only one street over), to drop off a big box, and by then it was raining so hard I hid in the unit until the hail turned back into rain again. And then I was free to drive down south.
There was more heavy rain today, and something that upset me yesterday--and was repeated today--was that while I had to slow way down so as not to hydroplane on the standing water on the road, there were trucks who barreled down the freeway (and highway today) going at or above the speed limit, passing me by as though I were the asshole, shooting up high sprays of water in their attempts to get home and watch bowhunting videos or WWE.
It was dark pretty much the whole day, and even darker up here in the woods. I almost didn't go to the dam, since I was sleepy and lethargic, but I have the tradition of going up there to check my texts and watch a YouTube video--which I know is insanely lame, but hey, you knew what I was when you picked me up--so I took off right before what would normally be sunset, but today, was just the time the clock said.
There was no sun to set, only clouds in varying shades of grey, and by the time I got to the dam--
Oh, I meant to mention this, but forgot. A tree had fallen and blocked the road, which I discovered on my way to the dam. I got out and tried to move it, but it was too heavy for me to move**. I might have been able to roll it out of the way, if I'd had to, but it was jammed in between other trees, so I just left it where it was, backed up my car, and managed to turn it around on the dirt (mud tonight) road and go back the other way.
When I got to the dam, the owls were already hooting, so I made myself run from one end of the dam to the other, watch Seth Meyers, and headed back to the cabin. It was probably not worth going there to begin with, but I do enjoy the little runs, even if it does nothing to extend my life or make me more palatable to other people.
I decided to record yet another story when I got back, but I was saddened to discover the old couple up the hill had their generator running, and it was loud enough I could hear it with the doors and windows closed, AND over the podcast I was listening to. Around eleven, they shut their generator down (honestly, I'm surprised those bastards don't go to sleep at nine or ten, since they're invariably up and out on their porch when I get up to go to the bathroom around seven), and I went ahead and re-recorded the hors de combat line, but then it started raining again, including thunder, so I didn't record the M.R. James story I had been planning on doing tonight. Maybe I can do it tomorrow.
Sit-ups Today: 111
Sit-ups In August: 1893
As enjoyable as running was/is to me, I did not want to do push-ups, and I absolutely didn't want to do sit-ups. I said to myself, "Give me an effing break! Just let me not have to do this shite for a single day!" But hey, I forgot to do push-ups one day just last week, so I went ahead and did a few, the bare minimum, really, and there are definitely times that I don't know why I continue ANY of this, let alone the stupid exercise.
Schlong is a word I used to use all the time, especially back in college (because of this hilarious line "Sheldon, the Wonder Schlong" in WHEN HARRY MET SALLY...), but has completely fallen out of my vocabulary. It's funny how words are like that. I'm going to try to bring schlong back, use it in a sentence every day.
Words Today: 913
Words In August: 12,487
*"The Children of Men" by P.D. James, which I'm really enjoying, but the author keeps using three dollar words--which are utterly alien to me--and I try always to stop reading and look them up, even though I'll forget what they mean immediately, since most of them (like "apposite" and "anomie") will never appear before my eyes again. Before I die, I mean. You, sir, will live forever.
**I think two people could have lifted it, and three fairly easily, but one would've taken a truly impressive specimen like you to get it out of the way by himself.
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