Well, today was more exciting that I'd planned
So, the mild snowstorm forecast for tomorrow has the potential to be a lot nastier; they've tentatively pre-canceled school for tomorrow. Given that MiniPlu had zero time for homework until, like, after 8p and she collapsed into bed shortly after, I do hope that she gets her snow day tomorrow. Thankfully, I wasn't called to sub today, so I went out fairly early to hit the grocery store - not because I was panic-shopping as so many people do before a snowstorm, but because my usual shopping day is Thurs, and that wasn't really going to be practical with tomorrow's forecast. So, anyway, I went fairly early to beat the crazed rush.
Unfortunately, after leaving the store and heading up to the pharmacy to pick up a prescription, my Check Engine light came on, and my "Cruise" light started flashing - a combination that happens when my car is low on oil. For reasons we have never figured out, this car seems to leak or use up oil, but not consistently. Thankfully, after the last two times this happened to me, Will started making me keep some oil in my car. It wasn't a lot, but when I was at the drugstore, I poured it in. It was only barely barely enough to coat the tip of the dipstick, and the Check Engine light remained on. After consulting with Will, he felt that it really only needed another quart or so, so I headed back to the first shopping center, where there was a WalMart, to get more oil. Added that in - the Check Engine light was still on, but Will said it often took a little bit for that to shut off, so I cautiously drove home again. (Light did eventually go out, but only after I was driving the kids home from music lessons.)
Then this afternoon, someone knocked at the door. I thought maybe it was UPS or something, so although I don't often answer the door for strangers, for some reason this time I did. I thought it was a man and a woman, although later reports imply it was two men, so ... I dunno. They wore matching company-logo baseball caps and had ID tags but those were flipped backwards. They claimed to represent a solar panel company that had provided panels to the local military base. They were going through the neighborhood to see if anyone qualified for free solar panels, and also claimed that the house two doors over was getting solar panels. I turned them down and closed the door and didn't think anything of it. But then the neighbor across the street reported that the pair had said they knew her husband, and could they come in? She also turned them down. But it was this discrepancy that made us suspicious about the pair's motives. I put an email out to our neighborhood mailing list to see if anyone else had interacted with them. Four neighbors reported the men knocking on their doors but none of them had answered the door. One neighbor was also suspicious about whether the pair was legit or casing the neighborhood.
However, we've only just found out that the husband across the street DID know one of the "sellers" - his wife had taken a video of them, and he recognized one as a former student. So - still unclear whether they were legit or not, but it's definitely enough to make us twitchy, especially as there have been a number of small crimes lately - mostly people's unlocked cars being burgled, although occasionally packages go missing, too.
And THEN: I got an email from the school lunch-payment system that Two's account was overdrawn by 75c. Given that I had just given him a $20 a MONTH ago to a) pay off THAT overdrawn account, and get him through the entire rest of the school year, I was baffled and pissed off. I had to email the school meal director to get a list of Two's recent transactions - the online system only shows payment history, not purchase history, which is downright stupid IMO. Now, Two did tell me yesterday that he's decided the school food tends not to sit well with him, so he wasn't planning on buying any more lunches for the rest of the year. He CLAIMS he told me he'd been buying snacks to use up the credit, but I don't remember that. However, he knows perfectly well that I disapprove of his constantly getting snacks at school - usually junk - and I've talked to him about it repeatedly. If he's still hungry because he doesn't have enough lunch - not a surprise, as he's super picky and often doesn't have enough substance, just light foods - then that needs to be fixed on THIS end, not by supplementing it with a parade of chips and pretzels with fake cheese sauce. And he needs to tell me PROMPTLY if he's still hungry at school, not a month later, when he's already bought a pile of snacks. I've told him he owes me the $16 that had been in his account after the previous red was taken care of. Grrr.
Ok, now I can finally get to some of the reviews I meant to do days ago.
The Last Jedi: Saw it on Sat, 23 Dec.
Overall I enjoyed it but I didn't love it quite as much as The Force Awakens
Things I liked:
Anything involving BB-8, Leah, Poe (even when he screws up), Rey, the ice fox creatures, the way Luke just brushed ash off his shoulders after Kylo Ren blasts him (actually, his whole manifestation thing), the way Kylo Ren used the Force to turn Rey's lightsaber and kill Snokes with it, and the scene with Chewie deciding maybe he'd better not eat the Porg after all. Action scenes were done well. Vice Admiral was good in her cool dismissal of Poe, seeming to do nothing when she had a plan after all. I liked the telepathic means of Jedi communication, although not the way it seemed to show up out of nowhere (see below).
Things I didn't like as much:
Why have we never heard of or seen this ability to manifest in body before? It seems to take a tremendous amount of energy (killing Luke) but it also seems to just … happen … to Kylo Ren and Rey, involuntarily. We have heard voices manifest from ghosts, even if they don't appear in body, but just having this ability appear out of nowhere felt weird. Also, what is the connection they are attempting to portray between Kylo Ren and Rey? It's like they're siblings, or would-be lovers, but the first doesn't make sense and the latter is icky. And on the subject of familial relationships, I confess to being disappointed in the revelation that Rey's parents were nobodies. Frankly, I'm currently deciding that Kylo Ren just said that to upset Rey, and that it's not really true. :-P
I'm disappointed in Luke being so dismissive of Rey. I get that he's still stinging from Kylo Rey's betrayal, but still. You could say the same happened to Obi Wan, but he didn't hesitate to take on Luke when he was called upon. I understand why Mark Hamill said he wasn't thrilled with the turn his character took, even though he later apologized for voicing that publicly. I'm glad he redeemed himself in the end, but … previews really indicated that Rey was going to be trained, but she really really wasn't. All the shots of her practicing were just things she did on her own, except for the pebble-levitation trick.
Not sure how I feel about Rose and Finn. I kinda preferred Finn and Rey, tbh. I mean, I definitely like Rose as a character. Just … not with Finn.
I'm sad Admiral Ackbar died. Frankly, I'm sad as many rebels died as they did - it was almost like watching Rogue One again. Hardly anyone left.
I still miss Han.
I realize the "didn't like" seems longer than the "like" and yet I left the theater with an overall positive feeling about it. I guess the "likes" were easier to sum up?
Since VII was supposed to be partly Han's story and VIII was supposed to be partly Luke's story, IX was supposed to be partly Leia's story, except with Carrie Fisher gone now, how on earth will they handle it?
Pitch Perfect 3: Saw it on Sat, 30 Dec.
To sum up: Thin premise and silliness abounds, but the music and choreography continue to be awesome, and that, by itself, made it worth watching. Was also amused to hear John Lithgow with an Australian accent.
One teensy nitpick: At the end of PP2, Cynthia Rose announces she's getting married. In PP3 she's not wearing a wedding band, and there's absolutely no mention of whether she got divorced, annulled, the wedding never happened, or what. Only her pilot aspirations. What happened to her gf/wife?
On to books, the last two I read in 2017. hamsterwoman was kind enough to lend me RoL graphic novels #2 & 3 when we met up in SF (I read #1 from the public library, but that's the only one they have in their collection); I read both of them on the flight home two days later.
Night Witch: I liked all the Russian going on, but I found the plot and the flashbacks somewhat confusing. The … mom … faked her daughter's abduction? So she could go back to the Old Country without her husband? Why? And what was with Beverly hypnotizing the Russian mafia and having them do her bidding? Maksim seemed a little odd from the beginning - had she beguiled him already by then? Is he still under her thrall in the next book or is he staying there voluntarily now? I want to re-read this to see if it makes more sense. (Side note: DEFINITELY an adult graphic novel - was surprised by the open depiction of a probable sexual orgy, and snorting cocaine off a woman's boobs.)
Black Mould: I liked this one a lot better, aside from the idea of mo(u)ld becoming sentient. Guleed is awesome in general but she has a chance to shine here, and her reaction to the rental agent was pretty funny, too. Loved Molly's way of dealing with burglars. Anyway, all around enjoyable. Thanks again to hamsterwoman for the loan. :)
I've signed up for
chocolateboxcomm, a sort of low-demand Yuletide equivalent. Any fandom is up for grabs, as well as orig fic ideas, not just small fandoms, fic and art are both welcome, and fic minimum is a mere 300 words. Thanks to thesmallhobbit for pointing it out!
(Side note: take a gander at some of the "orig fic" pairing prompts. Tagset here >> No Media >> Original Work. I'm trying not to judge, because everyone is allowed their kinks, but still. Some of them definitely made me go O_o.)
Unfortunately, after leaving the store and heading up to the pharmacy to pick up a prescription, my Check Engine light came on, and my "Cruise" light started flashing - a combination that happens when my car is low on oil. For reasons we have never figured out, this car seems to leak or use up oil, but not consistently. Thankfully, after the last two times this happened to me, Will started making me keep some oil in my car. It wasn't a lot, but when I was at the drugstore, I poured it in. It was only barely barely enough to coat the tip of the dipstick, and the Check Engine light remained on. After consulting with Will, he felt that it really only needed another quart or so, so I headed back to the first shopping center, where there was a WalMart, to get more oil. Added that in - the Check Engine light was still on, but Will said it often took a little bit for that to shut off, so I cautiously drove home again. (Light did eventually go out, but only after I was driving the kids home from music lessons.)
Then this afternoon, someone knocked at the door. I thought maybe it was UPS or something, so although I don't often answer the door for strangers, for some reason this time I did. I thought it was a man and a woman, although later reports imply it was two men, so ... I dunno. They wore matching company-logo baseball caps and had ID tags but those were flipped backwards. They claimed to represent a solar panel company that had provided panels to the local military base. They were going through the neighborhood to see if anyone qualified for free solar panels, and also claimed that the house two doors over was getting solar panels. I turned them down and closed the door and didn't think anything of it. But then the neighbor across the street reported that the pair had said they knew her husband, and could they come in? She also turned them down. But it was this discrepancy that made us suspicious about the pair's motives. I put an email out to our neighborhood mailing list to see if anyone else had interacted with them. Four neighbors reported the men knocking on their doors but none of them had answered the door. One neighbor was also suspicious about whether the pair was legit or casing the neighborhood.
However, we've only just found out that the husband across the street DID know one of the "sellers" - his wife had taken a video of them, and he recognized one as a former student. So - still unclear whether they were legit or not, but it's definitely enough to make us twitchy, especially as there have been a number of small crimes lately - mostly people's unlocked cars being burgled, although occasionally packages go missing, too.
And THEN: I got an email from the school lunch-payment system that Two's account was overdrawn by 75c. Given that I had just given him a $20 a MONTH ago to a) pay off THAT overdrawn account, and get him through the entire rest of the school year, I was baffled and pissed off. I had to email the school meal director to get a list of Two's recent transactions - the online system only shows payment history, not purchase history, which is downright stupid IMO. Now, Two did tell me yesterday that he's decided the school food tends not to sit well with him, so he wasn't planning on buying any more lunches for the rest of the year. He CLAIMS he told me he'd been buying snacks to use up the credit, but I don't remember that. However, he knows perfectly well that I disapprove of his constantly getting snacks at school - usually junk - and I've talked to him about it repeatedly. If he's still hungry because he doesn't have enough lunch - not a surprise, as he's super picky and often doesn't have enough substance, just light foods - then that needs to be fixed on THIS end, not by supplementing it with a parade of chips and pretzels with fake cheese sauce. And he needs to tell me PROMPTLY if he's still hungry at school, not a month later, when he's already bought a pile of snacks. I've told him he owes me the $16 that had been in his account after the previous red was taken care of. Grrr.
Ok, now I can finally get to some of the reviews I meant to do days ago.
The Last Jedi: Saw it on Sat, 23 Dec.
Overall I enjoyed it but I didn't love it quite as much as The Force Awakens
Things I liked:
Anything involving BB-8, Leah, Poe (even when he screws up), Rey, the ice fox creatures, the way Luke just brushed ash off his shoulders after Kylo Ren blasts him (actually, his whole manifestation thing), the way Kylo Ren used the Force to turn Rey's lightsaber and kill Snokes with it, and the scene with Chewie deciding maybe he'd better not eat the Porg after all. Action scenes were done well. Vice Admiral was good in her cool dismissal of Poe, seeming to do nothing when she had a plan after all. I liked the telepathic means of Jedi communication, although not the way it seemed to show up out of nowhere (see below).
Things I didn't like as much:
Why have we never heard of or seen this ability to manifest in body before? It seems to take a tremendous amount of energy (killing Luke) but it also seems to just … happen … to Kylo Ren and Rey, involuntarily. We have heard voices manifest from ghosts, even if they don't appear in body, but just having this ability appear out of nowhere felt weird. Also, what is the connection they are attempting to portray between Kylo Ren and Rey? It's like they're siblings, or would-be lovers, but the first doesn't make sense and the latter is icky. And on the subject of familial relationships, I confess to being disappointed in the revelation that Rey's parents were nobodies. Frankly, I'm currently deciding that Kylo Ren just said that to upset Rey, and that it's not really true. :-P
I'm disappointed in Luke being so dismissive of Rey. I get that he's still stinging from Kylo Rey's betrayal, but still. You could say the same happened to Obi Wan, but he didn't hesitate to take on Luke when he was called upon. I understand why Mark Hamill said he wasn't thrilled with the turn his character took, even though he later apologized for voicing that publicly. I'm glad he redeemed himself in the end, but … previews really indicated that Rey was going to be trained, but she really really wasn't. All the shots of her practicing were just things she did on her own, except for the pebble-levitation trick.
Not sure how I feel about Rose and Finn. I kinda preferred Finn and Rey, tbh. I mean, I definitely like Rose as a character. Just … not with Finn.
I'm sad Admiral Ackbar died. Frankly, I'm sad as many rebels died as they did - it was almost like watching Rogue One again. Hardly anyone left.
I still miss Han.
I realize the "didn't like" seems longer than the "like" and yet I left the theater with an overall positive feeling about it. I guess the "likes" were easier to sum up?
Since VII was supposed to be partly Han's story and VIII was supposed to be partly Luke's story, IX was supposed to be partly Leia's story, except with Carrie Fisher gone now, how on earth will they handle it?
Pitch Perfect 3: Saw it on Sat, 30 Dec.
To sum up: Thin premise and silliness abounds, but the music and choreography continue to be awesome, and that, by itself, made it worth watching. Was also amused to hear John Lithgow with an Australian accent.
One teensy nitpick: At the end of PP2, Cynthia Rose announces she's getting married. In PP3 she's not wearing a wedding band, and there's absolutely no mention of whether she got divorced, annulled, the wedding never happened, or what. Only her pilot aspirations. What happened to her gf/wife?
On to books, the last two I read in 2017. hamsterwoman was kind enough to lend me RoL graphic novels #2 & 3 when we met up in SF (I read #1 from the public library, but that's the only one they have in their collection); I read both of them on the flight home two days later.
Night Witch: I liked all the Russian going on, but I found the plot and the flashbacks somewhat confusing. The … mom … faked her daughter's abduction? So she could go back to the Old Country without her husband? Why? And what was with Beverly hypnotizing the Russian mafia and having them do her bidding? Maksim seemed a little odd from the beginning - had she beguiled him already by then? Is he still under her thrall in the next book or is he staying there voluntarily now? I want to re-read this to see if it makes more sense. (Side note: DEFINITELY an adult graphic novel - was surprised by the open depiction of a probable sexual orgy, and snorting cocaine off a woman's boobs.)
Black Mould: I liked this one a lot better, aside from the idea of mo(u)ld becoming sentient. Guleed is awesome in general but she has a chance to shine here, and her reaction to the rental agent was pretty funny, too. Loved Molly's way of dealing with burglars. Anyway, all around enjoyable. Thanks again to hamsterwoman for the loan. :)
I've signed up for
chocolateboxcomm, a sort of low-demand Yuletide equivalent. Any fandom is up for grabs, as well as orig fic ideas, not just small fandoms, fic and art are both welcome, and fic minimum is a mere 300 words. Thanks to thesmallhobbit for pointing it out!
(Side note: take a gander at some of the "orig fic" pairing prompts. Tagset here >> No Media >> Original Work. I'm trying not to judge, because everyone is allowed their kinks, but still. Some of them definitely made me go O_o.)