Birthday

A couple of days ago was Della’s birthday. Last night, we celebrated. So we had this cool cookout / picnic at Midcounty Park, which turned into a rather not fully-cooked fiesta.

In the hours leading up to this, I did quite a few things. I think the first event of the day was getting a shower. Then I went to New Harvest for some soup. Which was actually really good. It tasted sweet, and you added bacon pieces on the top so it was like OMG…….. The events of the afternoon were kinda hot. So obviously a half-priced frap from Starbucks was in order. In celebration for their new “make it how you like” fraps, they are having happy hour (3-5pm) till the 17th I believe. Pick your milk, your flavors, coffee amount, and voila. But just a heads up for all you chai lovers, you’ll need to add an extra pump or two to get the normal taste of chai cream frap. And do a good service to all those in the world that drink chai from Starbucks, and remind them to fully clean their chai pumps every night. It tastes bad otherwise.

I filled up my gas tank today, coming to a total of 19.6 miles per gallon. I was hoping for more, but what can you do? I use Shell gas now, cause I’m a sucker for progress. Not only do I pay out the ear for the same amount of gas, I actually believe that their gas will eventually clean all the gunk from my engine that other gases leave behind. And I also believe it will give me better gas mileage. So until I am proven otherwise, I will probably continue sinking my money in the hole of ill-gotten fuel prices. I suppose there could be another way to get more to the gallon, as one college physics group invented one car that got over 2700 miles to one gallon. I think if we even got a tenth of that awesomeness, we’d be in better shape to demand $10 a gallon.

Ever been to College Creek? I have. Just went there again today. Just take Colonial Parkway from 199, as the route from the Jamestown area is under construction. And as one man said while walking passed where we chose to sit for a bit, “It’s like your own private beach, eh?” Yes, sir. Private indeed. Not only is it within a mile of a federally and locally protected animal reservoir, a high security power facility, and viewable from more than 10 miles down river, it is a highly private location. It has a warning sign that urges you not to swim, as the waters are known to have very strong rip currents and the area is unfit for swimming. But what would anything with ‘college’ in the title be without a significant amount of rule breaking? If you get a chance to go, it’s a nice peaceful place. It’s pretty out-of-the-way, so there aren’t too many people there all the time. I obviously say that based on the two times I have been there and not seen more than fifty people.

So while we are at college creek, I get a call from Jason that he needs me to bring a lighter. Apparently the whole idea of a cookout was planned with the grill, the charcoal, the hamburgers, condiments, buns and no fire-creation utensil. Flint? Two sticks? Pure hydrogen and a car lighter? The sun? ( now you laugh at the idea of the sun being an instrument to lighting a fire, but just take the story Della told us tonight at dinner: A man walked into Starbucks asking for a cup of water. He was very calm and patient, waiting for this cup. When he was given it, he said he was going to use it to put out the fire in the mulch just outside the door. When asked if he threw a cigarette in it to cause said fire, he denied and blamed the sun for being so hot as to ignite the mulch) So in 15 minutes, we arrived on scene and helped ‘light’ the fire. The first time. It went out and we used a very large quantity of lighter fluid to get it working. Our burgers were ‘undercooked’ as everyone was so very quick to point out. Jason said he would never throw another picnic. Poor Jason..

The ending of this night was a viewing of Iron Man 2. I simply can’t understand why it would cost $10 for a movie ticket. I could, in a matter of months, wait and pay that amount to watch the same movie, not fight for lines or seating, and watch it many times over in the comfort of my home, with a pause button, unlimited snacks and drinks, and a private bathroom that I don’t feel awkward taking a dump in. Even still, a theatrical performance is stunning, with the size of the action being larger than life and the sounds coming from all angles, with bass so loud you can feel it in your stomach.

Iron Man 2 takes place immediately after the events of Iron Man, even going the distance to show the footage from the end a second time. It doesn’t take long to get into a lot of action, and good humor. And then some pervy humor. All within a good bounds. Russians, physics, electricity, race cars, bad guys, prison, out of prison, blood toxicity, fake good guys, stupid government, stupid bad guy, drones, The Ex-Wife, new elements, explosions, lasers, kissing, kicking ass, CEO, not CEO, crazy desk objects, dear-old-dad, Expo, and an eye patch. There also is a little segment at the end of the credits, as with the first movie, only this time it takes place in Mexico, and only gives a slight hint at the implied continuation of the story.
There were so many people at the showing that we had to buy tickets early in the day and still couldn’t sit in the same area. Which was fine.

So all in all, Happy Birthday Della