Accepted

As promised here is the first review of the first movie that the Paisley and I decided to watch: Accepted. This 2006 film stars Justin Long, Lewis Black, Blake Lively and Jonah Hill and Ann Cusack.

Bartleby (Long) doesn't get accepted to any of the colleges he applies to and his family is quick to bill him as a do nothing loser. Poor fucker. I feel bad for him...........almost. His genius only-works-in-the-movies plan is very cool but in reality would never work.

Bartlelby and his friends create a fake college so that he can save face with his family, going as far to use tuition money from his dad to lease on an old psych hospital as the front for his made up school: South Harmon Institute of Technology. You got it. S.H.I.T.

When Bartleby's closest friend Sherman screws up the made up website, they find that they now have several students enrolled and a lot of tuitition money rolling in. With no intention of coming clean they use the money to fix up the building and actually turn it into a school for others just like them: rejected rejects.

This gem of a film is brought to us by Steve Pink. Writer, director, actor and producer. A good friend of John Cusack, some of his better known works are Grosse Pointe Blank, High Fidelity, and America's Sweethearts.

My personal favourite performance in this is film is by comedian Lewis Black as Sherman's uncle and the newly elected dean of students at South Harmon Institute of Technology.

Things start to go terribly wrong (as easily predicted) when the gang is found out. Seems the legitimate South Harmon College wants to purchase several derelict buildings in the area to expand their grounds. In true predictable plot fashion they do their best to discredit Bartleby and his friends and expose them for the frauds they are.

If you haven't seen it I don't want to go any further and spoil it for you. I can say that this really is an enjoyable movie even if it is predictable.

Mr E30 Favorite Quote: Sherman "Let's start this fake college. Then, we'll go start a meth lab somewhere. It's a gateway crime. That's how these things start."

Now for some guest review notes from Paisley Penguin:

As Mr E30 stated there are some far fetched plot points in this film (but what film doesn't have that).  I mean really, how many of you either get your first semester tuition as a personal check from your parents or have 100% of it ready to go.  My time at the Jr. college and my first year of university was paid for by a college fund but my parents did not just hand over a check for everything.  And, I had to get student loans and grants for the other two years I attended.  Yet, all these rejects have the money and just hand it over to some dude their age - no questions.

Conversly, the wide range of students at South Harmon bring about great supporting characters.  The delivery guy/army reservist paying his way through the GI Bill.  The former stripper turned fashion student.  My personal favorite is Glen, the wacked out weirdo who loves to eat and heads up the state of the art kitchen and culinary program.  Because at South Harmon, the teachers are the students. 

There is no way that five teenaged rejects can turn one derelict psych hospital in to a passable college with $10,000 and a  lot of sweat equity.  There are permits and building codes not to mention an 18 year old kid getting a lease for the property?

What I do love about the movie is the way the "college" evolves for the undecided.  Young adults who are expected to go in to higher education after high school but have no idea what they want to go to college for.  That was me.  I spent 1 1/2 years in a Jr. College and 3 years at Washington State University.  I did not graduate because I had no real direction.  In fact, I'm still wondering.  At least my student loans are paid off.

Paisley Favorite Quote: Glen "I got fired for making a shrimp slushy. Cause I got hungry and thirsty."

Movie Nite!! Popcorn for two please!!

So the wife and I have been purging in our home again. It's time to start that yearly spring cleaning and get rid of the things that we just don't need or use anymore.

So we have this movie collection. It's modest I would say. 399 movies worth of modest. I'm a film a geek and I know it. My wife not as much as me but she is nipping at my heels. After all she did attend Washington State University for film and theatre costuming.

We aren't purging our films. Sorry.

What we did decide to do was watch at least one movie a day (or more on weekends) and review it.

So whilst I've been home sick for the last couple of days I decided to inventory all the movies. I have one list for films with sequels, ie: Godfather trilogy, Star Wars trilogy, Riddick trilogy and basically any film that has at least one sequel.

The next list is comprised of the other films where there is only one and as such has no sequel, which I'm thankful for in regards to quite a few of these films.

Once each list was done they were each put into a master list combining the two lists together and then sorted in alphabetical form. Yes I sound like such a neat freak. I must confess that when it comes to my movie and music storage everything must be in alphabetical format and for those sequels they need to be chronological.

Shit. I am a neat freak.

So stay tuned for some fun critiquing of our personal inventory.

military services: a must see at least once in your life

Last Thursday we put my grandfather to rest. As a United States Air Force retiree he qualifed for a military service.

 I have to say that the service was nothing like you see in movies and on tv. In true military fashion it is very regimented. There is a specific time that you get and you must arrive in time to adhere to the schedule.

My grandfather is in Tahoma National cemetery. It's really quite large and very well kept. Services are officiated by local VFW members and most of the staff are veteran volunteers.

The actual internment is held for family and friends in a private vestibule shelter on site. There is a presentation of the flag for our service as grandpa was creamated. If this had been a casket service the flag would be drapped over the casket. Then there is a 21 gun salute and a playing of taps as the flag is refolded and presented to the family.

The flag presentation and 21 gun salute are provided by current enlisted servicemen that have been assigned to the national cemetary.

Once taps is done and the flag has been presented armed forces staff from the cemetary take the body, or in grandpa's case his ash container, away to be placed at the final resting place.

The VFW volunteer then provides a map with the location of where your soldier will be.

All this in 30 minutes.

No one want to lose a family member, but if they are in the military I do recommend that if you have the opportunity to attend a military service that you do so. The camaraderie that these strangers had for my grandfather as a fellow serviceman is something that you can't put into words and something that can't be taken away.

Steampunk: It's all about nice clothes and manners.

So I'm having a phone conversation with a coworker of mine the other day. Mostly work related, but some non work items came up.

My coworker Lance is a Seattle Seafair Pirate. He's been involved with them for about 8 years now and really enjoys it. He very much looks the part of a pirate.

Seems he has been told that this current seasons outgoing captain is nominating Lance to be captain when he steps down. While he's honoured that he is being nominated he doesn't want the job. It's a huge leap in responsibility and one that my friend is just not prepared to do with the other organisations that he belongs to in addition to the pirates and is prepared to tender his resignation with the pirates should he indeed be elected.

Lance has recently found that the Paisley and I are steampunkers. He expressed an interest in joining the Seattle Steamrats if he is indeed nominated for captain. As he put it "it's all about nice clothes and manners". I had never really looked at it that way. In a way he is correct.

Manners definately play an important part of our group. It's one of our unwritten rules. Manners do go a long way and it's something that is lacking in most of today's society. I definately notice it when I'm speaking to directs and travel agents daily. I definately notice a lack of manners with my kids. My son in particular. Drivers on the road theses days.............yes. A definate lack of manners.

The nice clothes. Yeah I like that part. They don't have to be nice dressy clothes either. Just some accessory that really cleans up what you're wearing. I have a newsboy cap that I wear daily. I think it makes the rest of what I'm wearing look a little nicer. A lab length coat with some leather gloves is something else that I have and makes the rest of my clothing look nice.

Recenlty the Seattle Steamrats have started a function known as the Traveling Tea Party. It's a traditional afternoon tea held in a different location each month. The Paisley and I have periodically gone out for a traditional tea when we can manage. I think it's a nice addition to the day and really allows one to relax. For our wedding we had a traditional afternoon tea hosted by one of the local teahouses instead of having a standard wedding reception. Beside being a nice touch, I think it went well with our Scottish wedding.

I definately like dressing a bit nicer for no reason. The manners are a perk as well. I have to say that I've never been around such a large group of people with good manners.

I support my friend/coworker in his decision to join the Seattle Steamrats. Nice clothes and manners are a good reason if not for anything else. Steampunk is what you make it and this group definately makes everyone welcome.

Where is your moral compass

I have to get this out.

I'm so pissed at the moment over something that I should not be taking personally.

You see, in my job I communicate the needs of guests with disabilities to our cruise ships. My department also intervenes when a guest requires a wheelchair accessible room to travel on our ships and there are none available. We review all those staterooms marked as such and contact the ones that have not completed and returned our form advising of their specific need.

I have some guests that have been scheduled and waiting for a wheelchair accessible room for a once a year sailing since last May and somehow, another guest has scheduled the stateroom the first guest was waiting for.

So we contacted the agent and let them know that we have someone that requires the ammenaties of the room to be able to travel with us. The reply stated that these other guests require the room as well and they will complete our form to be able to stay in it.

The form was blank. Nothing but a name. Legally we cannot violate ADA and ask a person what their disability is. They have rights. My loophole was that the agent volunteered a physicians lettre stating why. I asked for it to be sent.

What I received back has nothing to do with a disability, but the physician stated that the guest must have a wheelchair accessible room on this cruise. The guest is bringing ZERO mobility equipement!!!!

So now my hands are tied by ADA regulations and our own policies (which are based on ADA rules) and we cannot relocate said guest to another room to allow the first guests who really needs to the room to travel.

Even after pointing out that we have a guest requiring the wheelchair accessible, this guest is unwilling to do the good and morally right thing and move to another room.

I am so bothered by this!! I know it's not personal, but it still bothers me. Where is that guests sense of decency? Where is the physician's decency that provided the letter stating an able bodied person needs a wheelchair accessible room?

Sidestory time kiddies:

I have a friend who was taking his disabled mother grocery shopping a number of years ago. They went in his truck and she had her disabled placard to hang on the mirror.

Just as they were pulling into a disabled space at the store another car zipped right in and parked. The seemingly able bodied driver got out and nearly sprinting to the entrance yelled "sorry I'll only be a minute". He didn't have special plates or a hanging placard.

My friends mother was accepting the fact that she would have to walk further becuase someone was not courteous and took advantage of disabled parking. My friend was not ready to accept this.

He sloppily nudge the front of his truck (a four wheeler on 33" mudders and a lift and suspension kit) against the back of the other car. Moving around to the front of his truck he started pulling out the winch line and reached under this mans car and wrapped the cable around the rear axle. After tightning the winch and getting back in the truck he proceeded to drag this mans car out of the disabled parking and drag it some 150 yards to the opposite end of the parking lot and leave it high centred on a parking curb.

Not sure what happened to the other fellow nor do I care. Some people have no moral compass. Ignorance and lack of manners is a choice, disabilities are not.

and a peanut butter milkshake to go................

Saturday was the last day I was ever going to see my grandpa. He died that morning at 10:30.

Unfortunately I was not in time to see him before he passed. I shouldn't have taken time for granted.

I guess the begining of the end really started on Christmas day 2009. My grandpa fell at our condo on the way to our place. He went to the hospital about 2 hours later. No head trauma and nothing broken although he didn't remember anything about that morning. After a week in the hospital and another week in a live in rehab facility he was back home. A little tattered but still here. Getting around now with a walker and hooked up to oxygen at a rate of 2 litres.

Well after being home for two weeks he fell again. This time in his bathroom. He didn't set the brake on his walker. One of the aid car drivers remembered him and asked him if he remembered seeing him Christmas day. When asked how he felt compared to Christmas day, my grandpa replied: "a lot better".

It was serious this time. A femoral break at the head of the ball joint. This was going to require surgery.

Well that was delayed for about 5 days. The hospital felt that he was not well enough to safely do the surgery. The combination of his erratic pulse and the pnuemonia was making the situation bad to deal with.

The pnuemonia cleared up and a readjustment of his meds made the surgery possible a few days later. Hourly updates from the mom-unit brought some reassurances that day.

It was afterward where things started to drastically change. He never did fully wake up. He wasn't able to speak and his breathing was getting more shallow. He had been put on oxygen only a few weeks earlier after his first fall.

I really should have gone to the hospital this past week. I'm just not good in places like that. Never have been. I don't like doctours and I don't like hospitals. I don't visit people in hospitals and the one time I was in one for a surgery I was so high on meds that I don't know if people came to see me or not. Not sure I want to have people visit me in one. Obviously if you're visiting someone in a hospital they are not having one of lifes finest moments.

So in a period of less than 5 days he went from surgery ward to being placed in hospice. He was not able to physically eat becuase of a herniated esophagus. The hospital was not able to get a feeding tube into him becuase of this condition as well. His only nourishment at this point was from an IV drip. That was not proving to be very promising. He was given between 7-10 days. No one figured it would be far less than that.

Saturday February 6th:

I woke the sound of Scotland The Brave. It's the "generic" ringtone I installed on my blackberry. As a piper and someone who is part Scot it's a must. So anyway for the next hour and a half I'm getting call after call from the mother unit with upates on my grandfather. The Paisley and I have some brief discussions about getting to the hospital sooner than later in the day. Unfortunately sooner came quicker for grandpa than later. At 10:30 I got my last phone update on my grandpa. It was over. He was gone.

This is my last grandpa. I lost my first one in 1990 (on my 20th birthday) and the other in 1996. The math is wrong here if you're paying attention. Yes three grandfathers. This one is my step dad's father. He was the one that I just happen to be closest with becuase we lived so close to him. My other two grandfathers were on the other side of the state and I really only saw them during summers.

I had done things with this one that I had never done with the others: build things in the garage, fix cars and even go to work with him before he was retired. When I was 5 he took me for a ride on his motourcycle. First time I had every been on one. His driving scared me. I think I actually pissed myself and the bike. His driving scared a lot of people. It's one of my best memories of him.

It was very much like a scene from a scary movie walking into his hospital room yesterday morning. He was pale and jaundiced. He had died with his head back and his mouth open. It was as if he was in a permanent position for snoring. He did that very well and very loud. He and grandma had not shared a bedroom in the 35 years he had been grandpa becuase of  his snoring and probably had not shared a room for an even longer time prior to me being in their lives.

Maybe his head was back and his mouth was open for his soul to escape. Maybe I watch too much Dead Like Me.

It was creepy too. Eyes closed, head back and mouth open makes for a situation in scary movies. It gave me the willys. I felt myself hesitating to enter the room any further upon seeing him this way. My son was the most upset by this of my two kids. Grandma is a rock. She has her religion as her foundation. She was upset and crying, but dignified. As my wife stated: I've never seen grandma lose her composure."

My mom was acutally crying.

I am concerned about my step dad. Like me, he's the only kid. Unlike me, he's never had to deal with anyone close to him dying. This was his dad.

If I don't think about it then it doesn't bother me. I wasn't this upset with my other two grandpa's. Why? Was it becuase they lived so far away and the social and generational interaction was limited compared to this one? I can only suspect that as the cause. When I think about it, I become and emotional rollercoaster. I'm actually choosing to block this right now. I'm sure there will be plenty of emotional breakdowns later this week.

Grandma will have a service for him at their church later this week. There will be a final one at the military cemetary about 20 miles away. As a retiree of the United States Airforce and someone who served during two wars he qualifies for a military burial.

Grandma told us all in the room that morning that all grandpa wanted when he was lucid and awake was a peanut butter milkshake. It was his favourite.

I waited for everyone to leave the room. I closed the door a bit and approached the bed where my grandpa lay. I said my final goodbye to him as I grabbed his hand and squeezed it one last time. He wouldn't be squeezing back this time.

Taco Del Mar

So the other nite my wife and I went to the local Taco Del Mar for a some of their extremely generous mondo burritos.

In and out, quick and easy as always. The food is great and the portions huge. Well sad to say that will be our last trip to Taco Del Mar.

Last nite my wife was balancing the check book and seeing what charges had cleared and what was still pending. Taco Del Mar cleared for $2 more than what our receipt had on it. Hmm.

Well the Paisley put in a call to their store and asked to speak to someone in charge. The voice on the other end stated he was in charge and when confronted with this information, all of a sudden he was no longer the person to speak with. As a matter of fact he suddenly didn't have a name either when repeatedly asked what his was.

She finally asked who the manager was and how to get ahold of that person. The employee gave her a first name only and a phone number for the owner of the franchise.

When she spoke to him he accused her of lying. Seriously. It's $2. Why would anyone lie about such a small amount. So I called the owner and spoke to him. Of course he had a different story and said he would check it out. I also let him know that he really needed to apologise to my Paisley for being rude and accusatory to her. She has yet to get her apology call.

Meanwhile I have contacted their corporate office with an overview of the happenings in their franchise store. The franchise relationship manager emailed me pretty quickly, but seemed to dismiss my claim as an "unfortunate incident" and as an apology offered up gift certificates to keep us as customers and too pass along our comments to the franchise owner. I"m not satisfied with this and let her know that. It's not about the $2, it's about being stolen from by a business that we frequent and to be called liars and brushed aside when we call them on it.

So after consulting our attorney, we did as they advised. Stop dealing with the store. Called out bank to dispute the charge for the $2. They of course credited out account themselves and will conduct their own investigation. Our attorney and the credit union both advised that we call the police.

The police advised that we try to work it out with the store. So Paisley and I went to the TDM to get the $2 and to get a photo copy of the store receipt. After much hassle we left with both. Just as we suspected: the added amount for tip on the receipt was not my wifes handwriting. The employees on hand last nite had no comment. The corporate office has had no comment to this at this time.

I personally would urge people to skip over Taco Del Mar. Not based soley on the theft, but also the mishandling of the situation by the owner and the corporate office.