Assorted Reviews

Since I've gotten into the habit of doing reviews, here are a few I want to get out of the way.

Back about a week or more ago, scotica and I went to see the second Fantastic Four movie: Rise of the Silver Surfer. ( I have no taste. )

This past Friday scotica and I scheduled for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. ( Synopsis: meh. )

The advantage of seeing HPOP in scotica's neighborhood is that I could crash the night there before continuing south Saturday morning to Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk for the Big B company picnic. It also meant I had the excuse to take highway 9 over the hills rather than 17. Highway 17 is a way to get from one place to another. Highway 9 is a journey through another universe with winding forest roads through stands of redwoods and creek-filled canyons. Some day I want to try bicycling that road, although I'm not entirely sure I have the guts. It isn't a matter of stamina -- it's the narrow margins and the lack of long-range visibility. As a bicyclist, you're putting your life in the hands of all the Sunday drivers zipping around the curves while yakking on their cell phones. *shudder*

The picnic was a bit of a reminder of what sort of clout a big company can wield: with about 3000 people in attendence, we had one of the arcade buildings all to ourselves (and free) for the first couple of hours and then moved on to a large reserved picnic area for lunch (mediocre cafeteria BBQ, alas) with our own private performance of the ( Moscow Circus )

( And a few other random musings on corporate family events. )

Blazon: hrj couchant

Having done my preliminary research and window-shopping on the web over the last several months, today I popped up to the Levitz store in Pinole and ordered a convertible sofabed. It not only is very similar in style to my recliner chair but is covered with essentially identical fabric -- a major plus. This means that some time between now and next Sunday (when it'll be delivered) I need to disassemble the two old couches sufficiently to get them out the door. The Levitz saleswoman was amused (stunned?) that not only had I come in already knowing what fabric and approximately which style I wanted, but I also knew what my maximum dimensions were in terms of available doorways. You can call me a ditherer and a dawdler, but you have to admit that when I finally decide to act, I generally know what I want.