I have attempted to write this blog post three times now. I write half of it and get tired of writing so I save it and go away thinking I'll get to it the next day. Little do I realize, the next time I get to it, it's been a week and I don't feel like posting anything I wrote! So I start all over again. Hopefully, this post will actually make it to fruition!
Weather for a while here was really warm. Our store has almost no airflow unless the front doors are open and if it's windy, you can't have the doors open because the wind just BARRELS through it. So we tried to keep the doors open as much as possible, but the humidity was gross. The temperature this week has gone down a little, but our store still gets pretty warm and the weather of late has been that it's just a little too cold to leave the front doors open or the cashiers start to freeze to death. It's unfortunate that anywhere away from the doors ends up being warm and stuffy. I've been in the office a lot with our manager being gone and that room has no vent for anything so it's either stuffy as all get out or an ice box. Yuck.
Anyway, beyond that, our manager had the baby! Or, I should say, his wife had the baby. :) Baby will be three weeks old on Sunday (depending when I end up posting this, this could be either tomorrow or today). I've been managing the store and will be managing it for a total of 5 weeks. I'm glad he can take that time to be with the baby. Only get them at that age once, right? Mostly, the store is running. It's had its rocky moments for various reasons and we did, mostly, finish the month out strong, but we did miss plan altogether. Oh well, at least I got some good 4 days in there at the end. The start of July has been good (knock on wood!). We'll see if we can maintain that momentum the rest of the month, though. It's kind of early to be saying things like that. It took me about a week, but I think I've finally got my manager groove on. The first week was a big scramble because it was the end of the month and a lot of things happen at the end of the month. I got it all done, but I felt like I spent a week just scrambling. In fact, because my days off changed (just till our manager gets back), I almost had 4 days off in a row. I had two days off, worked one, and had another two days off. The one day I worked I spent almost all day in the office because I had a lot of things to do that had to be done before I left for another 2 days off. It was crazy! Mostly, though, it's been going well. I haven't seen any higher-ups and I'm not sure if that's because I'm managing the store well so they're not worried or if it's because they're all busy with our new CEO/President coming on (our old one's last day was June 28th -- he retired) and the new store opening in Soledad (opens the 25th). At any rate, I definitely feel like I've firmly planted in the "manager" role, though. Before, it was a lot of questions about where to send things and being a little more timid about doing some things. Now, I feel like I've got this. I think... :P
Other than that, not a whole lot is going on. My Aquarium report is in for peer review so I've got a little down time right now (it was ready for peer review on the 20th of June). So that's kind of nice. I'm doing some reading and have gotten into reality TV a lot. I'm watching Hell's Kitchen, MasterChef, Whodunnit?, and Top Shot. Mostly watching Hell's Kitchen because it's an easy extension of MasterChef, but I really like MasterChef more than Hell's Kitchen. I find MasterChef more interesting to watch, whereas Hell's Kitchen is a lot of yelling and people messing up how to cook food. MasterChef is more about how they cook the food and then criticizing how they cooked/prepped/handled the food. I've always enjoyed Top Shot, but I forgot the new season started and that it was an All Stars season. I have to admit, I was maybe a little *too* excited for the fact Top Shot was back. I'm enjoying the season and it's fun seeing people from the past 4 season. I really liked some of the people from the past so it's good to see them back and how a lot of the episodes and challenges are the same things from past seasons, but amped up. Whodunnit? was a fluke that I got into. It was just there and I had read about it so I just started watching it and now I'm curious to see how it finishes. I think it's clever, but I think part of its current cleverness is because it's a new show so you're not entirely sure how it'll play out. I will say, thus far, I think they're handling it in an interesting way. It is a little cheesy at times (there are no real dead bodies) or overly dramatized, but it works to a point.
Been feeling nostalgic over the closing of Hollywood Park lately. Its last summer meet is about to come to a close (1 more week) and it'll be sad! They'll get a winter meet in Nov-Dec, but, after that, it'll be closed and construction should start the first of the new year. 75 years of history demolished to build new housing and retail in Inglewood, CA. Sad...So many great and well-known horses originated and ran at that track. Three triple crown winners (Citation, Seattle Slew, and Affirmed) ran there. Zenyatta and I'll Have Another (last year's Kentucky/Preakness winner) were based there. Seabiscuit ran there too. So sad. Bay Meadows closing down was sad, but nothing like this. It's historic! The Warner Brothers (yes, THE Warner Bros) managed the track when it first opened. Great Hollywood industry leaders helped get that track off the ground. No clue who where all the horses will be stabled when Santa Anita is closed. Looks like California is getting closer, but we'll see. If I can, I think I'll try going to one of its last days in December (closing day and its LAST day is Dec 22nd). It was the first track I went to and I got to see Zenyatta there. I should try going.
Anyway, movies I'm watching about one a week in theater and rentals have been sort of low. A lot of "eh" movies to watch on DVD. I want to see Beautiful Creatures, but I really had problems reading through the book (not even sure how I made it through the 2nd one!) that I can't seem to bring myself to watch the movie. I am curious to see how they did it, but...eh. We'll see.
Monsters University (Pixar) - Good Pixar film. Not their best, but it was cute. I liked learning the little tidbits here and there about the characters when they're in Monsters, Inc. It is pretty predictable, but what are you going to expect when this is a prequel? I did like how they made you see the parallels between Monsters University and our Universities. That was fun to see. I just don't think it was *that* good, though. It was a little too "kiddy" perhaps? I'm not sure. Some of the enjoyment of Pixar films is how an adult can see the film and get just as much enjoyment out of it as a kid can (or so I think it does), but this was maybe just a little too predictable...? Not sure. It just didn't quite live up to my own hype, but it was still cute and a good film. Grade: B
Man of Steel (Henry Cavill, Amy Adams) - This actually was a lot better than I thought it was going to be. True, Cavill doesn't say a whole lot, but I generally liked it and I liked the origin building and how they explained things. I liked his costume, flying stance, and the way they did the story. I liked how they didn't go immediately into a Lex Luthor story and I liked how it was more flashbacks to the past instead of starting firmly in the past and building forward. I liked Russell Crowe and Michael Shannon. Costner wasn't the greatest, but that was also how his role was written. Adams was a little flat for me, but she wasn't terrible. There were some bad/stupid moments, but it was generally pretty good and fulfilled the reason you're seeing it in theaters rather than at home. Grade: B
Side Effects (Rooney Mara, Channing Tatum, Jude Law) - This was not what I expected the movie to be when I saw the previews. I saw the previews enough that I wanted to see it and thought it'd be more like a thriller version of Contagion. Yeah, that wasn't it. I had the thriller part right, but it was NOTHING like Contagion. I think if I hadn't had Contagion in my head, I would have been okay. This was much more of a thriller than I thought it was going to be too. I rather enjoyed it, though. I thought the acting was good and the plot was good. There's a twist that you catch on to about midway through the movie, but you're still somewhat unsure how it's completely going to pan out. You get the general idea of how it's going to end, but you just don't have all the facts. The trailer also leads you slightly off the correct path too so I was surprised how instrumental Law's character is to the movie. To say the least, it's a good drama-thriller and leads you on a little chase. Grade: B
Oz the Great and Powerful (James Franco, etc) - I knew this was going to be bad (reason I didn't see it in theater), but I was curious to know how bad and what they'd do to the "origin" story of the Wizard of Oz. Uhm, yeah. My conclusion from the movie: Oz became the Wizard of Oz because he was a player. Yes, he was a player. Being a player gets him into all sorts of trouble that result in him needing to "become" the Wizard of Oz behind all the theatrics. And, him being a player, is what turned the Wicked Witch of the West into the, well, Wicked Witch. Wow, it was bad... Grade: D (it entertained a little, hence the reason it's not an F)
Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters (Jeremy Renner, Gemma Arterton) - I was curious to see what they'd do to Hansel and Gretel and knew it'd be bad, but, again, I didn't realize how bad it was going to be. It's laughable sometimes, but it did entertain if you can go with the fact the plot is supremely weak and it's just a lot of chasing and nonsense. With that said, I do think they appropriately cast because Renner is good for the females and Arterton is good for the males. So, I guess they got something semi-right... Grade: D
The Call (Halle Berry) - If they took out all the screaming and whining from the abductee in the first half of the movie (maybe 2/3), I think I'd have liked it better. I mean, okay, if I was abducted and thrown into a car trunk, I might be a little hysterical at times, but this girl (and, again, she was young) was really grating on my nerves. I just couldn't take all the hysterics...And, again, I understand that a girl who is 16 or something, abducted, and tossed into a trunk is going to be devastated and scared, but it wasn't pleasant to listen to or really watch. I did enjoy Berry's character, though, and thought it was actually kind of interesting to watch even though Berry's character is on the phone for 3/4 of the film, but...gah. The girl! When she got over the hysterics, I was more inclined to watch. I could NOT stand the ending, though. I 100% disagree with that ending. The ending completely killed the movie for me. Sure, they're both traumatized and everything, but I honestly can't fathom that ending. The ending was more about vengeance and I can't support that type of ending. So, despite the fact I probably would have given the movie a C on its own, I'm giving it a D for the ending alone. Grade: D
I'll be seeing Despicable Me 2 in theater on Monday. Don't think I'll see Lone Ranger in theater...I don't think it'll be bad in the sense I'll dislike it, but...I don't know. Something turns me off from the trailer. I need to find someone who's seen it...
Anyway, off to keep reading. :)
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