A Strangely Foiled Outing

On Wednesday I met my friend Scars to see a movie, “The Sound of Freedom”. My husband didn’t feel up to a heart-wrenching tale and gave his blessing.

Scars bought my ticket while I paid for our sodas. We walked into a silent theater. How bizarre. There should have been advertisements running and then previews before our 11 am showing.

This is all we saw:

Scars joked that maybe someone needed
to revisit the concession stand...

At around 11:15 or so, he and I returned to the lobby. Five other patrons sat baffled, waiting for word. I’m usually timid but I think Scars’ fearless nature inspires me. I walked behind a vacant service counter, looked into an empty office, and called out. Back in the auditorium, I even banged on a locked door.

Nothing. I later learned everything is automated, run by computer.

At long last two technicians appeared after Scars and/or I talked to a few different employees. Having climbed a ladder into the screening room, they apologetically claimed an inability to clear the glitch. Not even rebooting the mainframe. Issues included the system indicating no tickets had been sold. It all seemed stranger and stranger.

Around noon, the first fellow who approached us as opposed to the other way around returned and apologized because nothing had worked. Even calling their corporate office led nowhere. It seems corporate had been overwhelmed and stymied by this issue. Strangely, the nationwide problem apparently affected this particular movie alone.

I give all the staff credit for their efforts. And each individual patron received a refund offer, free food/drink tickets, and a complimentary movie pass.

All of us thwarted moviegoers remained calm, I’m proud to say. The others got their ticket cost refunded while Scars declined. He is financially well off and wanted the filmmakers to get their portion of the earnings.

Have you ever encountered something like this? Do you, like my husband, think it was a cyber attack on the theater chain?

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Feline Senility, Boredom, or Something Else?

Of late I've discovered our aged kitty Jezebel displaying new and strange behaviors. We can't help but worry a bit that she is fading despite her apparent physical health. For example, Tilly used to sit in the shower stall before her passing in September of 2019. And why Jezzy kept returning to sit on our top cellar stair this afternoon is a mystery.

What? I'm on patrol.

Do you think she's becoming senile? Or perhaps she needs an entertaining feline friend or two? Then again, did the huge hairball I cleaned up a few minutes ago cause her strange actions?

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Disturbed

Before delving into my usual silliness, I'd like to share a link to a fundraiser. As dear Strayer warned, images are disturbing. I averted my eyes from the poor kitty's disfigurement because I'm a wimp. ~shakes head~ Please donate if you are able.

Meanwhile, back to my goofy look at life in Southwest Ohio. Oh, and only in retrospect after updating this post, did I realize this poor animal's plight fits my title. It's odd how things happen.
 
Anyway, on the bright side, our yard is bustling with springtime activity. The other morning I mowed the back lawn, then hooked up the garden hose to clean the mower’s undercarriage. Beneath the shade of my horse chestnut tree, chore complete, I studied the tidy nest above.
 
To my delight, four or five beaks rose, opening and closing in hopes of a feed. It occurred to me that my presence, not to mention the noise, must have disrupted the dedicated mother robin. And our hose no doubt looked like a snake.
 
I wasted no time storing everything away and clearing out. Inside looking out the window, I was rewarded with sight of mama bird flying up to her offspring, a fat bug in her bill. But another development disturbs my poor husband.
 
Years ago I brought home a cute, tropical looking specimen the seller called ‘snake plant’ due to its interesting stem pattern. The thing struggled until I happened to see the same fellow at that garden center and he recommended a shadier spot. From one little pot its transplanted corms have since filled the space between our front door and weeping crabapple tree. And then we started to see blossoms emerge.
 
That doesn’t sound bad, now, does it? But one common name for amorphophallus konjac is ‘corpse flower’. The bloom, meant to attract and capture insects, smells like rotting flesh. Our home improvement contractor actually posed the question one spring, asking what had died. And this May we have a record eight flowers.

Can you see all eight?

My guy now dreads some delivery person calling the authorities until they wilt back and make way for its striking foliage. While I think the average person will simply go on with his or her busy day, the thought is a bit disturbing. It’s weird how I end up growing pervasive stuff like this and the menacing prickly pear cacti while my daylilies and creeping phlox disappeared into the ground.

What are the odds I’d plant this right next to my front door? Would you find such a stench suspicious enough to call the police?
 

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Splintered – a Quality Control Fail

Despite repeated advisement against inserting cotton swabs in my ears I sometimes can’t resist. Lucky for me, I didn’t suffer damage from a bizarre product flaw. An actual metal splinter with very sharp ends (!) got caught up in the cotton fibers.

Having made this discovery when checking the used swab for excessive wax, I feel extremely fortunate. How did I not injure myself? And now I check for foreign objects prior to use.

I’m horrified at thought of some oblivious parent swabbing a sick baby’s clogged nostril with that thing. ~shudders~ On that note, I should notify the manufacturer.

Would you ever expect to find such a thing?

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Things Are Looking Up (?)

Well, our perfectly fine 2013 Chevy Volt has been totaled by the insurance company. Hidden damage to a very important battery skyrocketed the cost to more than the vehicle’s monetary value. While disheartened, I’ve been assured by my husband it would probably never have driven the same again, anyway.

That car fit our lifestyle so well, and Volts are no longer in production, but my husband is willing to go pre-owned. The charging station mounted in our garage cost over a thousand dollars, providing serious incentive. He hopes we can afford a 2017 model, which would be an upgrade over 2013 technology.

We have to wait on the insurance reimbursement check, of course.

In other news, tomorrow our area is supposed to see the coldest temperatures of the season. So of course our heat pump acted up. ~sigh~ I am happy to report the repairman made it out within hours. And the $3,000 (US) replacement part (!) for our high end unit is under warranty. We hope it will come in for replacement on Friday.

Thank heaven the heat pump has an electric back-up!

Is it too paranoid of me to think the warranty company will find a way to weasel out of paying and make us foot the bill?

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Mixed Blessings and Tremendous Joy

Just to warn my Facebook friends, this has already been shared there. But it seemed worthy of repeating as my busy morning explains why I am not joining in the Positive Sparks Monday blog hop.

Anyway, only I would develop an impacted ear canal during a deadly flu season while my doctor is on vacation. As a result I had to go to an urgent care center. There I spent two hours with a roomful of desperately sick people and had to shell out $100(USD). That stung.

In addition, my social anxiety kicked into high gear again, partly because I was nervous about potentially losing my hearing. Also, I fear catching this flu that is killing my fellow US citizens.

Before leaving I coating the insides of my nose with antibiotic ointment hoping to create something of a germ barrier. Returned home, I washed every exposed surface of skin, put my clothes in the laundry hamper, and sanitized everything I could think of. Paranoid much?

But the staff was great and my ear is better than before (wax was building up for a while, no doubt). I’m ecstatic to be able to enjoy music again. Yesterday and this morning sounds echoed in my head and made me feel claustrophobic.

And now that half my head doesn’t feel stuffed with cotton, my jitters receded. I feel wonderful at the moment, about to get better delving back into my latest WIP. By the way, I write strictly for personal pleasure, which I’ve failed to make clear. So there is no publishing or financial anxiety involved. ~shakes head~ Anyway, I appreciate all the kind words regarding this condition.

Oh, we also have a health savings account (!), meaning the money came from a predetermined, dedicated source. So it could have been much, much worse. The universe is very kind to me, generally balancing out small nuisances with great fortune.

A Random Bit of Hilarity That Cracks Me Up

Back to being serious, I feel bad for all the really ill folks. One little girl in kitty slippers and coughing behind the medical face mask her socially responsible mother put on her made me want to cry.

~raises hand~

Does this influenza bug strike you with fear?

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March is TryPod Month

Introduced to podcasts a few years ago, I have found them a wonder when forced to drive long distances. No longer do I struggle tuning in a good music station only to have to start over in another ten or twenty miles.

Apparently, podcasting is still a fledgling industry. So the hosts of the various programs have asked their followers to share their favorites with family and friends. They know that furthering one will benefit all.

Surprisingly I could not even find ‘TryPod’ (get it? Try a podcast?) with online searches, so maybe I’m spelling it wrong. Or maybe that's telling something about Internet and radio conglomerates not wanting their audience taken away.

Anyway, my favorite podcast is called Stuff You Should Know hosted by Charles Bryant and Josh Clark. These guys are hilarious, though sometimes they ramble pretty far off topic.

I have mentioned them before, in fact. They take something that sounds completely boring, such as grass, then proceed to entertain and inform. My partner and I have taken to listening while we run local errands. If the show hasn’t concluded before we come home, we often finish listening on the couch. A favorite has to have been the one on professional clown hierarchy.

You should check them out:

SYSK

Do you listen to any podcasts? Please share in the comments.

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