It was a rainy weekend (May 9-10) in the NTX (North Texas) region and with that I decided to be lazy. I did little to no housework slept in a bit, breakfast with friends, a little geocaching (with some poison ivy as a result) caught up on some older episodes of Archer (bad stuff but funny) and on Sunday I decided to go to the movies to see The Avengers: Age of Ultron. I won't go into detail on the movie because to I am not sure I could give a fair review but I will say this: James Spader makes the movie, at least to me.
I arrived at the theater early, sat down, and watched TA:AoU, enjoying Ultron's facial expressions and head movement, which were very much like James Spader himself, as he is on NBC's, "The Blacklist". During the movie it was raining quite hard and when I exited the theater I noticed the park nearby was flooded due to the overflowing of Wilson creek. I snapped a few photos and drove off to grab a bite to eat before the next movie started (which by the way I had no idea I would be seeing but once I saw it was playing I had to make the time to see it).
I grabbed a quick bite at McDonald's, eating a 1/3 sirloin burger (I think), some fries, and a cup of the worst tasting iced tea I have ever had in recent memory (typically McD's ice tea is pretty good, albeit a bit sweet).
I arrived back at the theater with about 30 minutes to spare before the next showing of "Ex_Machina" started. I had spotted the trailer online and was intrigued after watching it a few times. I bought my ticket ($3.40 matinee, again! Two movies for $6.80) and proceeded to find a seat. When I got in the theater, it was completely empty so I find my favorite spot (3/4 of the way back, one seat left of center) and sit down. I am in my seat for all of 5 minutes when voice boomed out, "HEY! When does the movie start?" I turned around and see a a scary looking man who looks a lot like "Bubba" from the movie "Forrest Gump" standing in the aisle. I politely told him it started at 2:05 and he then asked me what time it was now. I replied it was about 1:30 and he disappeared. Wow, that was odd.
10 minutes later Scary Dude comes back in the still empty theater and sits down in the seat, RIGHT NEXT TO ME. He asks me if I have a car. He asks me where I live. He asks me if he gives me 5$ if I will give him a ride. This man is scary looking big. I am betting he can snap me like a twig.
Yes I have a car. I lie about where I live. Sorry, I do not think it is safe to ride with strangers, so no, I will be unable to give him a ride. Nothing personal. He could be a kid, male, female, black, white, young, old, whatever...I do not give rides.
He then goes on to tell me he is an out patient at a local hospital and he is on meds to keep from becoming paranoid. He assures me he is not paranoid at this moment but he will need to get home shortly after the movie to take his meds on time. He also says he lives very close to his church which is just up the street. He also states he does not want to walk in the rain. I can feel for him there...been there, done that.
More people come in to the theater including a family of four (with the children being preteens, it would appear), all sitting at various spots...no one group sitting all that close to another with the exception of the family of four, sitting in front of me and Scary Dude. Side note, a movie rated "R" that states it has nudity, language and sexual content is really not appropriate for preteens in my opinion, but that is just me.
He goes on to tell me his pastor (he tells me the name of his pastor and the church he attends) dropped him off after church because he wanted to go see a movie. Knowing what little I know about this movie, I am not sure this is the best choice for my scary looking friend, but I am not passing judgement. All I know is that he makes me very ill at ease.
He continues to make small talk while the pre-movie attractions play. He asks me if the movie is rated "R" and how long it will last. He even goes as far as making a phone call while on speakerphone. The call was to someone who was going to get a message to he sister to come pick him up...which I hope she did.
Finally the lights go out and the trailers for upcoming movies. Scary dude gets up a and leaves again and deep down I am hoping he will forget which movie he was in. There are 14 rooms in this theater...one can hope! Alas I was not so lucky.
Scary dude comes in moments before the movie starts and sits down one seat away from me, despite the vast availability of empty seats scattered around the room. During the movie he leaves and returns at least 5 times, always returning to the same seat one down form me. He makes comments here and there and I begin to realize Scary dude probably is not dangerous, but he might have a chemical imbalance and possibly mild mental retardation.
Upon return from his last venture out of the theater, he rather loudly announces, "That dude got drunk while I was gone!", referring to one of the main characters in the movie who was a heavy drinker. I realize at this point Scary Dude has no idea what the movie is about. If you walk away from it you will become lost. He just seems to be here to pass the time.
The movie is finally over and since there is no one in the row behind me, I jump the seat and move as fast as I can to the exit and then leave the building despite the fact I have to urinate like a Russian race horse. I do not want to take a chance of getting hung up talking to Scary Dude.
Monday, May 11, 2015
Tuesday, May 05, 2015
A Visit With the New Neighbors
October-November of 2014 my lovely neighbor Pam sold her home to a family from Garland, TX. I met the family while I was performing the last lawn mowing of the season. I had been cutting Pam's grass for 10+ years and continued to cut it while it was rented out to her friends until the last tenant left. But I digress. This post is about my new neighbors, not their lawn, although their lawn plays into this post a bit.
When I met my new neighbors, I detected the accent, Eastern European I had guessed but was not sure which country) so I asked and the woman, Maggy, almost sheepishly said, "Polish". Working in a global company has afforded me the luxury of speaking with and meeting people from all over the world, and that is no exaggeration. So when this woman tells me she and her family is Polish, I am happy to add them to our neighborhood melting pot.
Maggie* introduced me to her mother (or mother in law, not sure), her children (Kam, 10 and Nat, 8) and her husband, Walter. All seemed a bit shy and the children were very well behaved. They thanked me for mowing the grass (I do not think they knew I was being paid for it and to be honest it was in very bad shape by the time I was asked to cut it) and little was said other than simple introductions.
I saw them off and on over the next few months and since we had a wet winter and spring, I saw less of them than I would have normally. That all changed a week or two ago when Walter began working out in the yard doing some much needed landscaping and then assembling a plastic shed near their driveway.
While Walter was working on his shed with his wife I came over to give them a hand after I had finished mowing another neighbor's yard. I could not perform any fine motor skills while helping him but I was able to hold things, hand him tools and fasteners, as well as give him some insight/advice when needed. They had the assembly instructions but Walter did not seem to want/need them and his wife was having a hard time understanding them. Since I had put one of these together many years before I figured my assistance was not going to be wasted.
I helped them for a couple of hours until it became too dark to work effectively. They thanked me and I said my goodbyes.
During the next week (in between storms and windy weather) Walter would be in the yard finishing up his work on the shed by adding a stone border around it as well as planting some bushes and placing a park bench beside it so he and I could "have a beer or glass of wine" together or for the kids to rest on. I thought that nice.
Last night I took a 2 mile walk and on my way back noticed Walter had a a large pile of landscaping material sitting on his sidewalk and he was busy digging out the flower beds and setting stones in place to create a border. I went over to say hi and we ended up chatting for about 2 hours.
Spending this time with him was almost a bonding moment. I learned a lot more about him in that time then I did all the other time put together.
I learned he has a 23 year old son whom he does not get to see much. It was not clear if he was married to his son's mother or not, but I was informed that Maggie thought of him as a son early on before she and Walter had kids.
Maggie carries a nice iPhone 6+ but hardly ever texts or talks on it. The kids both have phones but only one (the little girl, Nat) likes to talk or text. The boy, Kam, is like his mother and does not use it to talk or text much.
Walter has an older brother who was once quite an athlete until he was diagnosed with Leukemia. Walter told me that he did not take traditional medicine but has kept the disease in check with herbs his mother told him about.
Walter and Maggie lived in Michigan for some time but moved to Texas 8-10 years ago. He stated the area they lived in was nice but a "negative element" started moving in and over the years the neighborhood became very run down with no one maintaining their property. I have read this is common in certain neighborhoods in Michigan but now I have a first hand witness to this to back it up.
Walter and the kids never seem to change how they look when I see them but Maggie looks different every time I see her. The first time she had just came from work, so she was dressed business casual but the next time I saw her up close she was working in the yard and really had "dressed down" so I was not sure it was her until she spoke.
He really works hard on household projects until they are completed. He has done quite a bit of updating in the house since they have moved in. He also tends to rush into things without any real plan, much to his wife's dismay. She did not want him to start on the landscaping until the fall now she is upset they have to finish it now so it will not be an eyesore all summer long.
Maggie's English is much better than Walter's. It is not that he is hard to understand...he just has a smaller vocabulary. I did a lot of filling in the blanks for him last night while we were talking, unlike the evening we worked on his shed when he spent most of the time speaking in Polish and his wife had to translate.
I also think that Walter does not have a job outside the house unless it is part time as I have been home several times during the day (because of doctor appointments, usually) and he is almost always there, or at least his truck is. I take it her pay must be good to afford a big 4 wheel drive truck and a econo-box for her to drive, plus a 200k home and his huge collection of tools and the improvements they have already done on their home.
As the evening came to a close last night, his wife and kids came home from some athletic event (track and field, I think) and we all said hi to each other. She ignored all Walter's texts and calls that he sent asking her for input on the landscaping so we spent a lot of time talking while we waited for her to respond or return home. When she did manage to get home I kept joking with her and Walter, caller her "boss" and asking what we needed to do next.
I think I am going to like my new neighbors.
*Short versions/alternatives to their Polish names
When I met my new neighbors, I detected the accent, Eastern European I had guessed but was not sure which country) so I asked and the woman, Maggy, almost sheepishly said, "Polish". Working in a global company has afforded me the luxury of speaking with and meeting people from all over the world, and that is no exaggeration. So when this woman tells me she and her family is Polish, I am happy to add them to our neighborhood melting pot.
Maggie* introduced me to her mother (or mother in law, not sure), her children (Kam, 10 and Nat, 8) and her husband, Walter. All seemed a bit shy and the children were very well behaved. They thanked me for mowing the grass (I do not think they knew I was being paid for it and to be honest it was in very bad shape by the time I was asked to cut it) and little was said other than simple introductions.
I saw them off and on over the next few months and since we had a wet winter and spring, I saw less of them than I would have normally. That all changed a week or two ago when Walter began working out in the yard doing some much needed landscaping and then assembling a plastic shed near their driveway.
While Walter was working on his shed with his wife I came over to give them a hand after I had finished mowing another neighbor's yard. I could not perform any fine motor skills while helping him but I was able to hold things, hand him tools and fasteners, as well as give him some insight/advice when needed. They had the assembly instructions but Walter did not seem to want/need them and his wife was having a hard time understanding them. Since I had put one of these together many years before I figured my assistance was not going to be wasted.
I helped them for a couple of hours until it became too dark to work effectively. They thanked me and I said my goodbyes.
During the next week (in between storms and windy weather) Walter would be in the yard finishing up his work on the shed by adding a stone border around it as well as planting some bushes and placing a park bench beside it so he and I could "have a beer or glass of wine" together or for the kids to rest on. I thought that nice.
Last night I took a 2 mile walk and on my way back noticed Walter had a a large pile of landscaping material sitting on his sidewalk and he was busy digging out the flower beds and setting stones in place to create a border. I went over to say hi and we ended up chatting for about 2 hours.
Spending this time with him was almost a bonding moment. I learned a lot more about him in that time then I did all the other time put together.
I learned he has a 23 year old son whom he does not get to see much. It was not clear if he was married to his son's mother or not, but I was informed that Maggie thought of him as a son early on before she and Walter had kids.
Maggie carries a nice iPhone 6+ but hardly ever texts or talks on it. The kids both have phones but only one (the little girl, Nat) likes to talk or text. The boy, Kam, is like his mother and does not use it to talk or text much.
Walter has an older brother who was once quite an athlete until he was diagnosed with Leukemia. Walter told me that he did not take traditional medicine but has kept the disease in check with herbs his mother told him about.
Walter and Maggie lived in Michigan for some time but moved to Texas 8-10 years ago. He stated the area they lived in was nice but a "negative element" started moving in and over the years the neighborhood became very run down with no one maintaining their property. I have read this is common in certain neighborhoods in Michigan but now I have a first hand witness to this to back it up.
Walter and the kids never seem to change how they look when I see them but Maggie looks different every time I see her. The first time she had just came from work, so she was dressed business casual but the next time I saw her up close she was working in the yard and really had "dressed down" so I was not sure it was her until she spoke.
He really works hard on household projects until they are completed. He has done quite a bit of updating in the house since they have moved in. He also tends to rush into things without any real plan, much to his wife's dismay. She did not want him to start on the landscaping until the fall now she is upset they have to finish it now so it will not be an eyesore all summer long.
Maggie's English is much better than Walter's. It is not that he is hard to understand...he just has a smaller vocabulary. I did a lot of filling in the blanks for him last night while we were talking, unlike the evening we worked on his shed when he spent most of the time speaking in Polish and his wife had to translate.
I also think that Walter does not have a job outside the house unless it is part time as I have been home several times during the day (because of doctor appointments, usually) and he is almost always there, or at least his truck is. I take it her pay must be good to afford a big 4 wheel drive truck and a econo-box for her to drive, plus a 200k home and his huge collection of tools and the improvements they have already done on their home.
As the evening came to a close last night, his wife and kids came home from some athletic event (track and field, I think) and we all said hi to each other. She ignored all Walter's texts and calls that he sent asking her for input on the landscaping so we spent a lot of time talking while we waited for her to respond or return home. When she did manage to get home I kept joking with her and Walter, caller her "boss" and asking what we needed to do next.
I think I am going to like my new neighbors.
*Short versions/alternatives to their Polish names
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