Going to the Show

Kit Kat came home this weekend to go to her friend's birthday party. She spent the night in her friend's dorm Friday night. But she stayed at our house Saturday night. Sunday morning the family planned to see the first showing of American Ultra at 11:00 am. Momoko likes to arrive 30 minutes early to get tickets and snacks.

When we arrived at the theater, the front doors were closed. They usually open at 9:30am in the summer. I guess it is no longer summer. They now open at 10:30am. And as usual, the theater was late in opening their doors. I got some crinkled and ripped bills from the ATM. So I volunteered to pay for the movie and snacks with cash. Momoko liked that plan.

Some of us got icee drinks. Momoko tried one of the movie theater meals (chicken with curly fries). The rest of us ate pretzel bites and nacho chess like normal. I liked the movie. I think the family did too. Before Kit Kat returned to her dorm, we went out for salads at Ruby Tuesdays. We ended up ordering more than the salad bar. But we chose this restaurant for its delicious salad bar.

Next weekend Kit Kat has another party to attend down by our house. We hope to see her.

Glimpse of Kit Kat

Kit Kat moved into her dorm last week. It is weird not to see her at home every day. I occasionally send her a text when I am thinking about her. She sent us her postal mailing address. So I sent her a card too. It made it there fine.

One of Kit Kat's friends turns 21 this weekend. Therefore Kit Kat said she would be coming by the house. I made sure I moved my car from her normal spot in the driveway. Want her to feel right at home when she comes by.

Kit Kat was a bit late coming over. I was busy working my job in the basement. Then I had to look for a job after work. By the time I was done, it was time for Kit Kat to go attend her party. She will be staying with a friend overnight at the dorms in another college.

I do think I will see Kit Kat some this weekend. We are scheduled to go to the movies. And we will have one luncheon together before she returns to her dorm. Hey. You got to take what you can get. I am hoping that Kit Kat will come home to visit every so often.

Wrong Turn

I had to report to a company office far to the North today. The good thing about it is that it is close to Ruby Tuesdays for lunch. I always try to leave early from that office to beat the traffic. I had to stay a little later than I liked. The traffic near the office was fine. Then I made the first exit onto another highway. Actually the exit was totally jammed.

There was a few minutes where I could have skipped the exit and took another route home. I decided against it. Wrong move. I stayed on the exit for about 20 to 30 minutes. As soon as I got on the highway, I got off at the next exit. I was able to take some detours home. At least I got home. Normally it takes 30 minutes to get home. Today it took an hour and a half.

Phone Fail

I recently upgraded to the iPhone 6. My old phone was having trouble turning on and off. I am looking for a new job. So now, more than ever, I need my cell phone to work.

Last night I got an email from a recruiter. He wanted to set up a call for today. This morning I turned on my phone. I saw some annoying message that my password was not correct. Previously I had dismissed this message. I use the correct password to unlock my phone all the time.

Before work I did a test. I called my cell phone from the home phone. Left a voice mail. Then I saw the annoying message on my iPhone. Doh! It wanted me to put in my voice mail password. I did so, and found I had a couple messages waiting for me!

Luckily I called the people back. One was from a guy at my work who was on another project. He was looking for developers that had skills with a new programming language. While I have been coming up to speed in the language, I do not have the expertise yet. So I had to pass.

I did get in touch with that recruiter about a job I applied for today. The job was across town, which will lead to a long commute. I told him for the right job I could make that commute. Right job to me means good money and interesting work. For that, I will travel.

Let's see how the hiring manager and rest of the team for this job opportunity feel about my resume. All I need is for them to set up an interview. Then I can handle the rest.

Gerbil on the Run

Today was Momoko's first day back to school. It was a rough day. She ate dinner and made Little Kat play with the gerbils. He played with them briefly one by one. Momoko went to bed early. I needed to head downstairs to take care of some business. All of a sudden, I saw a gerbil running on the carpet in our dining room. Apparently she had escaped under Little Kat's watch. Fail.

Little Kat took it easy today. He had to help Momoko get ready for work at the crack of dawn. So I cut him some slack. But when he was still sleeping at 4pm, I needed to get involved. I woke him up to do the dishes and some laundry. I also enlisted his help in taking a photo of me in my suit for LinkedIn.

Little Kat also grilled us up some BBQ chicken for dinner. Add some sides of baked beans and potato salad, and we had ourselves a great meal. Tomorrow Little Kat goes to school. It is not too bad. He is on work study so he gets out after half a day. He does not have a job lined up yet. So he plans to just come home.

All Moved In

We had scheduled to leave the house at 9:00am to move Kit Kat into her dorm. At the last minute, Momoko said we should bring a dolly. So I tossed a matress on top of the big screen TV. Then I put the dolly on top. Kit Kat and Momoko drove our two vehicles.

At campus we took a wrong turn. Ended up backtracking to get in line for move in. The line around Kit Kat's dorm moved fine. Then we got into a five lane move in parking lot. We waited there a long time. Eventually we got to the move in circle.

Kit Kat and I got out. We tried to find out what we needed to do. Nobody seemed to know what to do with Kit Kat. Everyone else was a freshman moving into the freshman down. Kit Kat is special - she is a transfer student moving into the upperclasswoman dorm. We ended up going to her dorm.

There were a lot of stations inside for us to visit. Momoko and Little Kat were holding up traffic in the circle. Eventually Kit Kat got her dorm key, and we took a big laundry cart. Kit Kat's stuff filled the cart over the top. And we stacked stuff up on the dolly.

Then we sent Momoko and Little Kat to go park the cards. Little Kat was terrified. I told him a couple times to read the signs and ask one of the many people who worked there for help. They found the parking garage.

Inside Kit Kat's dorm, we found cable outlets for her TVs. There were no cables though. Kit Kat had her own small private room. She shared a bathroom with one other roommate who already moved in. After settling down, the family went out to lunch at a diner next to campus. They did not charge us for the drinks, so I felt happy.

Move In Day

Today Kit Kat was scheduled to move into her dorm on campus. So we had scheduled a time yesterday afternoon for the family to pack the cars with her goods. I was excused from packing because I had a prior dinner engagement.

After dinner, I returned home and found a strange car in front of our house. I did not sweat it. I figured Kit Kat was spending her last night home with some of her friend. I was surprised when none of the cars were packed. Momoko was asleep in bed. Little Kat was chilling on the couch. Kit Kat was talking with her friends.

Momoko was too worn out from working all day and afternoon in her classroom, preparing for school to start next week. So Little Kat and I got to work. We started by moving two TVs into the cars. One of the TVs is 50 inches. That was one heavy TV. Then we loaded up boxes, bags, and other bunches of Kit Kat's goods.

It was going to be a long night. I had work to do. I also had to do a lot of moving.

Unhinged

I took the afternoon off from work today. Went to meet a prior coworker of mine for lunch. We usually spend a good time talking at lunch. Did not want to hurry back to the office. It was raining when I left the office. But it cleared up by the time I arrived at the restaurnt.

After lunch I came home. There was a suspicious cabinet door under the sink hanging off in a weird direction. Seeing that Little Kat was the only one home, I asked him about it. He confessed that the top hinge broke off. I told him to unscrew the bottom hinge. Later I found that he broke that one too.

We found a replacement hinge in my study closet. But it was too small. So Little Kat and I went to the store to buy a new one. We only found hinges without screws. Had to go hunt them down too. Little Kat screwed the hinges into the door. He broke a drill bit, and stripped a few screws. Luckily I bought the big screw pack.

Then Little Kat brought the door to the cabinet. No way we could mount the thing up there. So we took the hinges off the door, and put just the hinges on the cabinet. That took Little Kat a long time. Next I got some phone books to propr up the door in the air. I screwed the hinge to the door. Then came the moment of truth: we tried to close the door. But it would not fit.

Darn. Not sure what to do next? I don't think we can suffer through the hinges one more time. Maybe shave off the edge of the door? Then put in some type of magnet or wedge to ensure the door swings shut and stays shut.

Job Hunting

This year Little Kat plans to do work study at school. So he has to find a job that he can work part time. This program is required for him to graduate high school. Therefore the heat is on.

Little Kat has been applying for jobs online, mostly when Momoko gets on his case. Kit Kat recommended he go talk to hiring managers in person. We made Little Kat go to the movie theater to ask for a job.

Little Kat did not know what to do or say. We coached him before hand. I wanted him to be able to find out exactly how to apply for a job, and to get the name and phone number of the hiring manager there on site.

Well it turns out that the theater is not hiring right now. But at least Little Kat got out there pounding the pavement. He gave the manager his business card. The theater will be hiring in about two weeks. Follow up Little Kat. Follow up.

iPhone Timing

My iPhone 5 has been on the fritz. It is difficult to turn on and off. I am the last one in the family to upgrade to the new iPhone 6. I gave my slot to one of the kids because I thought I did not need the new version. I still don't need the new version. I just need a new phone. Trying to get a new job here. And I use my cell phone number as the contact.

So I place an order for a new iPhone 6. The thing will cost $649. That's a lot of dough. The phone company will spread the cost of the phone over two years. Still is expensive. While I am waiting for the phone to arrive in the mail, I hear that Apple is releasing a new version of the iPhone. Darn. I just missed out.

I would send mine back and get the latest version. But I need my phone now. So I guess I will have to be more careful next time. And I will make sure that when it is my turn to upgrade, I take advantage of it and not pass the opportunity off to someone else in the family.

Manual Transmission Time

The whole family got up early this morning. We went to see the new Fantastic 4 movie. The theater had not opened yet when we got there. We waited until the doors opened before leaving the car. We got our normal pretzels and cheese plus a large soda.

I was a bit concerned that Kit Kat purchased her tickets online, and that I would not have a ticket stub to prove I belonged in the theater. Luckily Kit Kat presented her online proof with her phone. Then she got ticket stubs for the whole family.

After the movie, Little Kat and I discussed the theory behind manual transmission vehicles. Then I drove him to the local elementary school, explaining how I was using the clutch as we drove. There were a couple cars at the school. But by the time we we under way practicing driving, they had all left.

Little Kat picked up on getting it into first gear pretty quickly. He could do it from a stop if he started on level ground. He could also do it easily if he was on the downhill. Heck. He was progressing so fast, I decided to take him to an uphill section of the school parking lot. Little Kat did not seem phased by the vehicle going backwards at first. He had trouble adjusting to getting it going up a hill. But he did okay.

Next week I plan to teach Little Kat reverse. And we will continue to practice getting the car into first gear from a stop. At the rate he is going, Little Kat might even try going into second gear pretty soon. I was pleased that Little Kat could drive my Chevy S10 pickup truck. Kit Kat could not reach the pedals, and the non-tilt steering wheel messed her up too. Little Kat felt right at home in the truck.

Speaking of trucks, Little Kat used to think he wanted to drive a large sedan such as a Ford Crown Victoria. Now he says he is getting more into short bed pickup trucks. He said he did not mind if they were a regular cab (as opposed to extend cab or 4 door). He just does not car for the long bed style trucks. Hmm. If I could find a Chevy S10 pickup that is automatic transmission, we might just have something new for Little Kat to drive.

Saved by the Steel Pipe

I was walking down the hill behind the fence in our back yard. The hill is on my property. It is just not fenced in. I have been working on clearing the area on the hill. I pick up sticks and branches. I cut down other low hanging branches that get in the way. This is a slow process. But at least the county comes to collect sticks and branches every week. I keep them busy with my full trash cans of sticks.

I noticed a steel pipe on the hill. It seemed loose. Must have been part of a previous fence. I know a past neighbor once mistook the shape of the back yard and put a square fence around part of the yard. The fence went over into the neighbor's yard in one section. The neighbor had them take the fence down and reconstruct it so it stayed on my property. I guess this pipe was from the old disassembled fence. I saw other evidence of the fence such as other steel pipes, and even part of a pipe coming out of a concrete post area.

Today I got tired of dealing with my faulty gate to the hill. The gate itself is fine. But the pole that the gate latches onto is not secure. It falls down (taking the fence with it) if the gate is not shut holding up the pole. I figured I would eventually replace this faulty fence. This broke fence is a result of the Home Depot boys damaging it when they installed my shed.

So I figured I could put a 4x4 post in the ground, secure the gate pipe to the post, and hope thing become stabilized. Then I had a better idea. I checked the bottom of the wobbly pole. It was hollow. Great. I went to retrieve the loose pole I found on the hill. I used a hammer to bang that loose pole down into the ground. Then I set the gate pole on top of the secured one, inserting the secure one into the bottom of the gate pole. Voila. My gate is once again secure.

I might still put the 4x4 post in the ground and further secure the gate pole. It all depends on how soon I am going to replace this fence and gate. Fixing is much cheaper than replacing for now.

Dress to Impress

My time on my project at work is coming to an end. So I need to find a new gig. I am going to look for other jobs in my company. Will also be looking outside the company as well. Need to make sure I keep on some payroll.

Last time I went looking for a job was around 7 years ago. The suit I wore back then no longer fits. Time to go shopping. I saw that JC Penny's had 50% off suits. Yes. They also had an additional 15% off coupon. Momoko came with me to see how I looked in the different suits.

Only two suits in the store caught my eye. I decided to buy the one that fit the best. The lady at the cash register rang me up. The wrong amount came up. I told her the prices on display. She took my word for it and manually overrode the register. I got a great deal.

Last I visited this custom tailoring shop we walk by every weekend when we go out to lunch. This was the first time I went into the tailor shop. It was very small. Two Asian women worked there. I had trouble understanding the one I dealt with.

I put on my pants and jacket. The tailor pinned up the ends where they needed to be shortened. I return in a week to pick up my fitted suit. Now I need to get those interviews to get the job. You know what the Nightcrawler says? "You got to make the money to buy the ticket."

Early Morning Movies

The family decided to see another movie today. We planned to see Vacation very early in the morning. Momoko and I woke up on time. I came out of my room right at departure time. Momoko and Kit Kat were in their rooms. Apparently Kit Kat's alarm went off but she did not hear it. Momoko was waiting for the rest of us.

Kit Kat drove us to the theater. There were not many cars in the parking lot. This was one of the first movies of the day. Then some type of day care showed up. Tons of little kids came out of vans. Unfortunately the front doors were locked. It was 10 minutes until the little kids' show was going to start. There were employees inside. They were just not opening the doors.

We worried that the kids would crowd all the lines. Luckily they already purchased tickets. And they skipped the snacks line. We bought the tickets to our show. Only one other set of people were in the theater with us. All three of us ordered mini pretzels with nacho cheese. I added jalapenos to mine. We all shared a large coke.

The movie was okay. The other people in the movie left half way through. Did they decide to go see another show? Who knows? We saw a record number of previews before the show started. There was no secret clip after all the credits were shown. Darn. I felt like we got a good deal today. Each ticket cost less than five bucks. Unheard of!

This Chicken is a Rip

I kept seeing a Popeyes advertisement for their new rippin chicken. It was supposed to be some chicken tenders joined together at the top. They serve it with some habanero ranch sauce. Sounded tasty. So when Momoko asked where I wanted to go to dinner, I said Popeyes.

I thought I was in luck. They had the rippin chicken in platter form. That means I could get a large drinks and two sides with the thing. Yum. I ordered double red beans and rice on the side. Plus I asked to Hawaiian Punch to drink.

Usually I check the order at the store to make sure it is correct. I found that they did give me rippin chicken. But it looked like a rip off. It had about as much meat as a chicken wing. I knew something was wrong when I lifted the box up and it was really light.

To add insult to injury, Momoko got a three piece meal that was bursting with chicken meat. Oh well. You live, you learn. Popeyes specials are not that special. You get what you pay for. $3.99 for a meal means you are not getting much food.

Time to try Arby's. They say, "We have the meats."