Weekend Update - October 19th
Weekend Update
I had some successes and I had some disappointments this weekend.
My cold is much better. I think I am about over it now. That is a great relief for me.
I did some laundry and cleaning around the place. Cleaning is good.
Observation
If the European Union wants to take on Microsoft and its alleged monopoly power, it should focus on the Microsoft requirement of delivering updates to legally purchased Microsoft software only by a current version of Internet Explorer. That seems like it is exercising a monopoly power to force me to use IE when it is a piece of bloated, overpowered shit.
I’m certain that there are those out there who now can’t live without IE7.
I am one who can live without it. All I ever wanted to be able to do was surf the Internet, email, and chat with friends. I can say that I’ve never downloaded music or a film clip. I don’t use a peer-to-peer file sharing program.
It would seem to me that Microsoft can give us a version of IE that is IE Anorexic; you know, really, really light.
Woman of the Moment
I decided to feature these two related images that I picked up on the Internet. They seem to go well together.
Cinema
I had planned to go the cinema on Saturday and see two films that Doug had recommended to me. One was THE DEPARTED and the other was MARIE ANTOINETTE.
I had planned to go the new AMC Del Amo multiplex since it was about a mile and a half / two and a half kilometers from my house. I checked the times and found I could get in there and see both films and be finished by around 3:30. That would still leave me the rest of the day or most of the rest of the day to do other things.
It is a very nice venue, all stadium seating and a good sound system. I’m not sure I liked the limited movement with the seat back and a rigid seat cushion setup. I think it may take some time to get used.
My experience was very poor once I sat down.
The theater decided to change the screenings in the theaters and not tell anyone until it was too late to go to the new and proper venue and find a decent seat. Personally, I like to sit in the middle of the theater and about two thirds of the way up.
The attendant wandered in about ten minutes after the film was supposed to start and said it was showing in another theater and that the trailers were playing now and the film would start almost immediately.
That was hardly good customer service and intelligent planning on the theater’s part.
I had to wait around for the attendant to show up to give me my ticket refunds. She was surprised that I wanted a refund on the second film. I tried to explain to her that I like to plan and organize my life and the revised schedule was not going to work for me. I gave up instead and waited for my money.
The thing that really galled me more than anything else was that she made no effort to say she was sorry on behalf of the theater. I think I could have forgiven AMC if they had made a minimal effort at apologizing to the audience for the inconveniences.
One of the minimal efforts that they could have exerted was to restart the program in the other theater and give everyone time to travel to the other venue.
I felt the treatment I received was callous and cavalier. I would point out that AMC is not the only theater company operating in Southern California. Next weekend, I ought to be back at my old theater haunts and hope that the two films I wanted to see are still playing then.
El Gringo
I went to El Gringo on Saturday as well as on Sunday, the usual day.
I went on Saturday because I needed to have something go right for me during the day. I also had a healthy meal. I had a Pollo Negro Salad; it’s one of a handful of heart healthy meals.
A Pollo Negro Salad, as you can see, is a large salad. Pollo Negro is blackened and spiced grilled chicken that has been diced up. It is very spicy; my mouth had a burning sensation for a couple of hours after my meal. It was very filling and I enjoyed. I don’t think I would want to have this salad everyday; it is a little too spicy for my mouth and tongue. I do think it will be a regular meal for me, maybe once a month or so. That would be good.
I went for another spicy lunch today. I opted for the Blackened Mahi Mahi burrito. It is served dry; that is, without a sauce poured on top of the burrito. It is not as big of a meal as the other burritos and I think I am glad for that. The burrito certainly did fill me up and I am now set for the day. My mouth didn’t burn for as long or as much as it did yesterday.
Whitney is the server who works on Sunday. She also works on Saturday. Being an El Gringo server is not her main career. Whitney works in a professional photography studio and therefore can take better photos than I can. Maybe I should ask Whitney to take the food photos in the future. She said she likes to take surfing photos and prefers color to black and white photography.
Whitney is from greater Southern California and that is good. I did learn that Whitney goes home around 4:00 PM so I need to keep that in mind if I am planning to chat with her during my meal.
Our good Utah football team showed up on Saturday afternoon at Rice Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City. They beat a struggling and weak University of Nevada Las Vegas 45 to 23, boosting their record to 5 – 4 and 3 – 2 in the Mountain West Conference.
Even with the nice margin of victory, I still have to wonder about which team will show up at game time. Utah was scoreless in the First and Fourth Quarters. Utah’s defense held UNLV to a single field goal in the second and third quarters and then gave up seventeen points in the last quarter.
I think the trouble maybe a lack of discipline and focus on the part of the team and the coaches. There is too much inconsistency with their play. The former head coach, Urban Meyer, always seemed to coach focused teams. What is more disheartening is the current head coach was the defensive coordinator when Utah went undefeated for the season 12 – 0 and beat Pittsburgh in the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl on New Years Day, 2005.
About the only positive note that I could find in the game was the improved play of the Utah starting quarterback. Brett Ratliff had a great day passing the football; nineteen completions for twenty three attempts, four touchdowns, a career high, and most importantly no interceptions.
Next week is a bye week for the Utes.
The next game will be November 11th when Colorado State plays at Salt Lake City. Then the Utes will play Air Force and end the season with BYU at home.
That was my weekend gentle readers. I hope you had a great weekend.
Be well and stay happy.
I had some successes and I had some disappointments this weekend.
My cold is much better. I think I am about over it now. That is a great relief for me.
I did some laundry and cleaning around the place. Cleaning is good.
Observation
If the European Union wants to take on Microsoft and its alleged monopoly power, it should focus on the Microsoft requirement of delivering updates to legally purchased Microsoft software only by a current version of Internet Explorer. That seems like it is exercising a monopoly power to force me to use IE when it is a piece of bloated, overpowered shit.
I’m certain that there are those out there who now can’t live without IE7.
I am one who can live without it. All I ever wanted to be able to do was surf the Internet, email, and chat with friends. I can say that I’ve never downloaded music or a film clip. I don’t use a peer-to-peer file sharing program.
It would seem to me that Microsoft can give us a version of IE that is IE Anorexic; you know, really, really light.
Woman of the Moment
I decided to feature these two related images that I picked up on the Internet. They seem to go well together.
Cinema
I had planned to go the cinema on Saturday and see two films that Doug had recommended to me. One was THE DEPARTED and the other was MARIE ANTOINETTE.
I had planned to go the new AMC Del Amo multiplex since it was about a mile and a half / two and a half kilometers from my house. I checked the times and found I could get in there and see both films and be finished by around 3:30. That would still leave me the rest of the day or most of the rest of the day to do other things.
It is a very nice venue, all stadium seating and a good sound system. I’m not sure I liked the limited movement with the seat back and a rigid seat cushion setup. I think it may take some time to get used.
My experience was very poor once I sat down.
The theater decided to change the screenings in the theaters and not tell anyone until it was too late to go to the new and proper venue and find a decent seat. Personally, I like to sit in the middle of the theater and about two thirds of the way up.
The attendant wandered in about ten minutes after the film was supposed to start and said it was showing in another theater and that the trailers were playing now and the film would start almost immediately.
That was hardly good customer service and intelligent planning on the theater’s part.
I had to wait around for the attendant to show up to give me my ticket refunds. She was surprised that I wanted a refund on the second film. I tried to explain to her that I like to plan and organize my life and the revised schedule was not going to work for me. I gave up instead and waited for my money.
The thing that really galled me more than anything else was that she made no effort to say she was sorry on behalf of the theater. I think I could have forgiven AMC if they had made a minimal effort at apologizing to the audience for the inconveniences.
One of the minimal efforts that they could have exerted was to restart the program in the other theater and give everyone time to travel to the other venue.
I felt the treatment I received was callous and cavalier. I would point out that AMC is not the only theater company operating in Southern California. Next weekend, I ought to be back at my old theater haunts and hope that the two films I wanted to see are still playing then.
El Gringo
I went to El Gringo on Saturday as well as on Sunday, the usual day.
I went on Saturday because I needed to have something go right for me during the day. I also had a healthy meal. I had a Pollo Negro Salad; it’s one of a handful of heart healthy meals.
A Pollo Negro Salad, as you can see, is a large salad. Pollo Negro is blackened and spiced grilled chicken that has been diced up. It is very spicy; my mouth had a burning sensation for a couple of hours after my meal. It was very filling and I enjoyed. I don’t think I would want to have this salad everyday; it is a little too spicy for my mouth and tongue. I do think it will be a regular meal for me, maybe once a month or so. That would be good.
I went for another spicy lunch today. I opted for the Blackened Mahi Mahi burrito. It is served dry; that is, without a sauce poured on top of the burrito. It is not as big of a meal as the other burritos and I think I am glad for that. The burrito certainly did fill me up and I am now set for the day. My mouth didn’t burn for as long or as much as it did yesterday.
Whitney is the server who works on Sunday. She also works on Saturday. Being an El Gringo server is not her main career. Whitney works in a professional photography studio and therefore can take better photos than I can. Maybe I should ask Whitney to take the food photos in the future. She said she likes to take surfing photos and prefers color to black and white photography.
Whitney is from greater Southern California and that is good. I did learn that Whitney goes home around 4:00 PM so I need to keep that in mind if I am planning to chat with her during my meal.
Our good Utah football team showed up on Saturday afternoon at Rice Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City. They beat a struggling and weak University of Nevada Las Vegas 45 to 23, boosting their record to 5 – 4 and 3 – 2 in the Mountain West Conference.
Even with the nice margin of victory, I still have to wonder about which team will show up at game time. Utah was scoreless in the First and Fourth Quarters. Utah’s defense held UNLV to a single field goal in the second and third quarters and then gave up seventeen points in the last quarter.
I think the trouble maybe a lack of discipline and focus on the part of the team and the coaches. There is too much inconsistency with their play. The former head coach, Urban Meyer, always seemed to coach focused teams. What is more disheartening is the current head coach was the defensive coordinator when Utah went undefeated for the season 12 – 0 and beat Pittsburgh in the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl on New Years Day, 2005.
About the only positive note that I could find in the game was the improved play of the Utah starting quarterback. Brett Ratliff had a great day passing the football; nineteen completions for twenty three attempts, four touchdowns, a career high, and most importantly no interceptions.
Next week is a bye week for the Utes.
The next game will be November 11th when Colorado State plays at Salt Lake City. Then the Utes will play Air Force and end the season with BYU at home.
That was my weekend gentle readers. I hope you had a great weekend.
Be well and stay happy.
posted by Chuck Reinhardt at 4:00 PM
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