More than Meets the Eye

(This image is from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autobot)

This has been an interesting weekend. I guess I should catch you up on Gram first. They were originally going to release her from the hospital and transport her by ambulance back to Frederick on Friday. Well, they got everything all set up and her discharged, when they realized it was a 'long distance' transport and there weren't any ambulances free for that until Saturday. Oops. Mom had stayed again Thursday night, but after getting Gram re-dmited to the hospital Friday, went home. Gram went home Saturday and arrived safe and sound. The big problem is that she's got to go back to Baltimore on Wednesday for a doctor's appointment. Well, there's no way mom can transport her by herself. I will be out of town in California again next week. (ugh!) Luckily Gak could get off on Wednesday. This means that Tuesday evening Mom will drive up here, pick Gak up and then they'll go down to MD. Wednesday they'll play shuttle Gram and then after taking her back home, come home themselves. The biggest problem is that it'll be an extra couple of hours on either end of the trip for Mom, since we live about 45 minutes away and she'll have to both pick up and drop off Gak. I wish I could come up with an easier solution... but there just isn't one.
Yesterday was supposed to be a do-nothing kind of afternoon. Well, just as I was about to head out to pick up Gak, Kat calls and asks if she could stop by quick to wash the ice cream out of Zoe's shorts. OK. No problem, stop on by. Well, we then end up at her place for supper and then try to go to the Kutztown Fair. Well, unbeknownst to us, the fair closed at 7 or 8 this year instead of 10 like in years past. We missed it. We make the best of it and stop at Outback so Scott can get food and the rest of us can have snacks of some kind. It turned out well, other than the fact that we got back into town right as all the traffic from the fireworks was trying to get out of town. Luckily, I know how to get around a lot of it, once I realized things just weren't going to move at all.
Today Gak started a new D&D campaign. There were originally going to be about 4 of us, but it turned into 7. That's OK, Gak's pretty good at adjusting on the fly. There were some really annoying and trying moments, but we got through them. I can't say how the game is going, we've only had one fight sequence and haven't really done anything or learned anything yet about where we are and what's going on.
I did get to go run in the woods this morning. Kat was supposed to go with me, but it was a loooong night for her and she just wasn't up to it. We were at French Creek, and one of the parts I like better. I only did a yellow course, but that was OK. I was beat by the time I was done. There wasn't any water on my course, which really made me grumpy. It was about 90/90 today (heat/humidity). It was a little rough. I wasted about 10 minutes on the first control, but saw my friends Rick and Uday get there. (I didn't get a chance to catch up with them as they weren't back yet when I finished and I had to get home for the game....) I still finished in about 100 minutes or there abouts. This means I won't have the slowest time, but not the fastest by a long shot either. I like the length of yellow courses, but some days they just aren't challenging enough. (There were only about 3 controls that I'd really call yellow controls today, the other 7 were really pretty easy and right on or just off the trail...) I like the challenge of orange, but I just can't seem to do the extra 1 or 2 Km that they often are. (Mind you, that's the as-mapped distance, the real-world distance is probably a good bit more...) I'm happy with my time and glad I got a chance to go out. I'll have to check the schedule again, but with everything that's planned for the next few weekends, I'm not sure if it'll happen. Oh well, I'll live.

Now for the part about the title. Gak was feeling pretty frustrated after today's game. He asked if we could go kill things. I said, OK, but I was thinking about trying to catch Transformers. His eyes lit up and we were out the door faster than you can blink. I must say, I didn't watch the cartoon much as a kid. (I wasn't really allowed to watch many cartoons and didn't really know what I was missing until I hit college and had no clue what people were talking about...) I did steal my brother's Transformers on several occasions. They're really cool and their epic struggles really catch the imagination. I've seen enough reruns to know that this movie was not the 80's cartoon. I think if it had been, it would have been chalked up as cheesy by today's teens/young adults who grew up after that and it wouldn't have had the spark it did. It did keep very true to the original characters. I really think they did a great job of updating the story and characters for today's world. I really enjoyed it. Yes, they spent 90 bajilion dollars on special efects and CGI. If they hadn't, it wouldn't have worked. Yes, most of it is either a chace scene or a giant battle. Well, that's what the theme of the whole franchise is, good vs. evil and earth caught in the middle. It is very much a summer action flick. But, it's got enough nostalgia and enough of a story line to make it worth watching. Most of you know, I'm not a "chick flick" kind of person, that I enjoy action/adventure movies much more. This is definitely not a chick flick. This is an action/adventure. They got great people involved, including some of the original voices and some well known actors from other things. Go, see it. It's a nice escape for 2.5 hours. It's fun, and for some of us, it's a walk down memory lane.
Well, it's way past my bedtime now, and I've got to wind down and get some sleep. I have to go into the office tomorrow. I leave for California Tuesday morning. I'll be back Thursday. Another whirlwind trip. Just what I've always wanted..... (yes, that was sarcasm....)
Peace to all and may your childhood memories be fond and the remakes good.