It’s been more than a year since I’ve updated anything on this site…
Today I updated to WordPress! Everything is still in flux as I re-organize entries, archive and delete old and pointless entries, and generally re-build the entire site. Hope you enjoy it!
Yes, this blog is stale. Yes, I’ve put off not only re-designing it but also making any posts to it. You want postings from me? Then you should check out Easily Entertained, a new-ish blog I’ve created to justify my extensive tv watching.
Ah ha! An Anderson Mill West Neighborhood Association exists. Google doesn’t link to them yet, so hopefully this one will help. It seems that the Association wasn’t really working for a while.
Now if someone would just tell me that someone else owns every friggin’ fence in our yard… and is responsible for their upkeep! And why must all the feces in Texas be those ugly old board fences, which don’t last that long, get all grey and bendy, and must be replaced. I know some people might say the same about cinder block, but even after 30 years, cinder block needs way less maintenance than these annoying fences. (Did I mention I’m annoyed because replacing my fence will cost about the same as a decent down payment on a car?)
I opened up this week’s Entertainment Weekly and started to look at the article about how movie theaters just aren’t exciting anyone these days. My first instinct was to skim the article to see if they mentioned theaters that didn’t suck… hoping they’d mention the Alamo Drafthouse. So, nestled into the article is a list of 10 Theaters Doing It Right. I didn’t have to look far for the Alamo, it’s number 1.
When we were looking at moving to Austin, one of the bigger items on the plus side was the Alamo Drafthouse, and then… there was only one location. Now there are more. My parents are getting sick of hearing me talk about the wonderful things we get to see there. I was never one to speculate about heaven, but I now believe that heaven will be something like a cross between the Library of Congress, Florence - Italy, and the Alamo Drafthouse. If it’s not, then I don’t want to be there.
I hadn’t stepped inside a normal movie theater for over a year, until I went to see Episode 3 for a friend’s birthday. Then I understood why movie ticket sales were down. It just wasn’t a good user experience. Needless to say, the Alamo provides more than a good user experience.
The article mentions the Lord of the Rings Hobbit Feast (showing all three extended episodes) which I’ll be missing next week, but that barely scratches the surface (more on my experiences soon.) This summer, the Alamo is traveling across the US with their Rolling Roadshow. If I had more money, I would be there with you to see Planet of the Apes at Lake Powell.
My family knows I’m awful about mailing packages. Christmas presents usually get there sometime between Martin Luther King Day and St. Patrick’s Day. So, after looking at my Dad’s Father’s Day/Birthday present for months (his birthday was Saturday), I used USPS Click-N-Ship to mail his package without leaving the house. (I’ve known about it for a while, but I figured the day before Christmas wasn’t the best time to play with it.)
After creating an account, you can print labels, pay for them with a credit card, or just attach a whole bunch of stamps. You will need to know the weight and size of the package and there are restrictions, but my small digital kitchen scale worked just fine.
If you’re like me and lack a mail slot (or box) big enough for the package, and you’ve selected Express or Priority Mail shipping, you can set a pick-up date once you’ve printed out the address label. (You’ll have to re-enter some package dimension and weight information as well as addresses and such.) Same day pick-up is available, as long as you request it before 3:30pm. There are options for where the package is to be picked-up like “Knock on Door/Ring Bell” and “Front Door,” but you can also specify something else like, “Underneath the blue pot with the dead bush to the right of the front door.”
If you’re feeling ambitious or you selected one of the less expensive shipping methods, you can drop the addressed and postage-d package at any USPS (no UPS or Fed-Ex) drop-off box, at the post office, or in your envy-inspiring, spacious mail box.
It’s not the world’s greatest application, but it’s far more understandable than most post office signage. Plus, I didn’t have to go out in the humid and stormy 90 degree weather (Today is a 0 out of 10 on the Weather.com Fitness Comfort Index.) My dad may actually get his birthday present before Christmas this year!