Leg Extension Machine

 By far, the most popular machine at my gym. 

I used to use this all the time but not anymore. Someone is on it from the time they open to the time they close guaranteed.

They used to have two but one broke months ago and they never fixed it so now there's just one and people will sit on it for 25 minutes before getting up and unless you're standing right next to it, you have no chance at getting a turn. 

I don't know what makes it so popular but every other machine is open at sometime BUT this one. Incredible. 

Have a good weekend folks! 

Jolt (review)

 Finally got a chance to try this! After seeing it on Amazon I've always wanted to try them out but they're a little expensive. A month ago they dropped the price and I bought a 12 pack. 

I never knew what the original ones tasted like, but this is an average soda, though now it's been turned into an energy drink. You can't tell. It still taste like a soda. 

I'm glad I got to taste it though I won't be getting them again. Not special enough. Just average. 

Fear the Walking Dead Season 7 review

 Wow. 

Ok, a lot to unpack here.

First off, Alicia (the girl in the picture) finally stopped using the broken off nozzle of a machine gun as a weapon. After 4 season of trying to convince the audience how "cool" it was to carry one around. By far, the dumbest weapon ever used in the Walking Dead universe. But at least its gone. 

So are the cars. Of course... the nuked the entire area, so maybe that's why they stopped. AND for the first time ever people died when surround, falling into, or being piled upon, zombies. Incredible the writers finally figured out that people constantly escaping those situations make no sense in the long run.   

Electricity? Only one episode featured it and it was the dumbest ever. This guy has been living in his home (perfectly clean and untouched by zombies OR a nuclear BOMB and has lights on and everything. 

So I guess the zombies have never bothered him before? Or and the raiders who go around looting building also leave him alone. Even when they come to his door they politely knock and ask if he's seen Alicia....yet the RAID other buildings. Wouldn't they want a house that still has running water and electricity???? Why this house even exist at this point should've been a dream instead of a real thing. 

Completely stupid. 

Strand finally goes full villain in this season. Killing humans, running the building he's in as a tyrant. He's the other "big bad" in the season. Which I was fine with at first. He started off as a selfish character, only looking out for himself, finally turns full evil. Good idea.

Until they give him a "redemption" arc while at the last minute he switches sides and the whole gang forgives him instantly....even though they know how many humans he's killed. RIDICULOUS.

Meanwhile, Alicia saws off her arm right after a bite but later tells everyone she was too late and was infected....yet never dies. I think they're telling us she beat off the infection, when in reality she cut off her arm just in time to survive. Also, 3 seasons ago there was an episode showing where she was exposed to dangerous radiation that is supposed to kill her.....but I guess she's cured from that too? They never mention it anymore. Guess the writers forgot? Maybe they'll talk about it in the last season...or maybe they don't care about that old story line either.  

And in the last episode....Madison comes back. Turns out, she didn't die after all. (zero surprise)  but why hasn't she been looking for her kids? We're never given a reason, just that she thought they were dead....though she sacrificed herself to save them in season 4. 

Yeah....a mom would totally give up hope after that. 

In reality, they decided to bring her back in the final season I guess and since they couldn't think of a good reason why she didn't go searching for her kids they just skipped over that plot hole because, at this point, no one was watching the show anyway so who cares. 

Total crap. 

No wonder this show shed another 500,000 viewers in one season. What a mess!

If this show went 10 seasons, THIS is where I would've quit it again. However, there's only one more miserable season left, so I'm currently watching it and will hopefully have it done later this week and be through with this garbage once and for all. 

At least I can say I finished it. 

Happy St Patty's Day

 You know...maybe one day when the kids get older we'll start throwing parties at our house to make this holiday more fun. 

These days I don't do anything special on it. It's really just a "meh" holiday. Nothing fun to do. 

But have fun wearing green folks! That's about all this day is really known for now. 

Gumbo

 Another thing my grandmother always made was gumbo. She made the BEST gumbo I've ever had! Thankfully, I was able to get the recipe before she passed away and me and mom make it every once in a while. Taste just like hers too!

But at a restaurant? Awful. Every time. 

Why? They burn the rue. 

Can't burn the rue. Its essential to the taste. But EVERY place I've tried it at, does. 

I remember ordering it at a local place in town that serves excellent meals. But when I took one bite I spit it out immediately and asked the waitress for jambalaya instead. 

She must have told the chef what I did, because he came out shortly after and asked if there was something wrong with my gumbo. I felt like an asshole telling the truth so I just told him the gumbo wasn't for me and that I just wanted something else. 

But NO ONE made it better than my grandmother...though Mom's is very close.   

Hush Puppies

 My grandmother made the best ones I've ever had. But I've never been to a place I've ever enjoyed them before. Every seafood place I try, no matter how good, NEVER has good hush puppies. 

It could be that my grandmother made them a specific way and I'm used to them tasting like that. I'm aware it could be the case, but these days when I order a meal and it comes with the side, it's always the only thing left on my plate. 

And since my grandmother passed away years ago, I don't think I'll ever eat then again. 

Have a good weekend folks!

Sardines

 They sound disgusting, the look disgusting but you know what? I've come to enjoy them a lot lately. 

I usually get the ones with hot sauce, but ever recently have been eating them out of the can with a little mustard too and it's been a good snack while I'm moving forward on my diet. 

They're very healthy for you too. And cheap! I used to eat them on my diet all the time back in the day but over the years have forgotten about them until last month, when I bought a few for snacks at work. 

Delicious. 

I even remember putting them in a sandwich after I got off the diet and enjoying them then too. Don't know if I'll try that again but its certainly a treat eating them now. 

If you haven't tried them before,  I recommend it. Really not that bad tasting at all!

Bye bye HeavyWeights

 This was the place I went every first Monday of the month to get the best deal in town on my Ghost Energy drinks. It was an awesome deal and they had a lot of good flavors. 

But over the past few months, it's gotten worse and worse. 

The first time was in the fall when he told me he couldn't afford to give such a big discount on the Ghost drinks anymore. Everything else was going to remain the same but the Ghost he had to sell a little higher. (due to popularity)

Then I noticed the selection of flavors disappear. The best sellers began being pulled from the sale first, then it started becoming the excess Ghost flavors they couldn't sell and those have now dwindled into some of my least favorite flavors. To top things off, he's only giving a $2 discount now on 12 packs. I don't even know why I even bought them this month. It was a terrible deal. Something the 76 gas station gives me every day for buying a 12 pack and they have the best selection of Ghosts drinks in town. 

I can't believe I went through with the purchase in the first place. 

No I'm stuck with 2 flavors I don't hate but certainly don't enjoy that much and he practically dropped unsellable stock on me for almost full price. 

Sucker. 

So now I've moved out to online sales and have found deals WAY better than what they were a year ago when I looked. I guess some of these places are realizing they can put the squeeze on the brick and mortar people a lot more if they'd only stop selling at full price. 

I've gotten specials from both Amazon and Walmart the were exactly the original sale HeavyWeight used to sell me the Ghosts drinks for. 

Needless to say, I'm a happy man now but will never be going back to this place ever again. 

And they better watch out, because once word spreads that these products are cheaper online, this store's days are numbered and I won't miss them at all after they close either. 

KFC

 The first time I ever went to one I was 24 years old. The last time I went was in 2010 when they created the double down. A chicken on chicken sandwich without a bun. 

This is another place I would never say "Let's go to.." but I wouldn't argue with anyone if they ever wanted to go....which no one has ever suggested to me ever. 

The one by our house is ALWAYS empty. I have no idea how they stay in business. Even the Church's Chicken up the road has steady business. 

There hasn't been a single menu item or deal in 15 years that's made me say "Oooh, I gotta try that!"

KFC is just "meh"

Piccadilly

 Why would anyone want to go here? We have one in Monroe but I'm not sure who still wants to go to this place. I admit, it's been about 15 years since I've set foot in one but I wasn't impressed. 

Home cooked food at high prices. I don't even remember it being that good. It reminds me of when we had a Grandy's back in the day. Until it closed. Then everyone was complaining about it being gone, but when it was opened I only remember there being an empty parking lot. 

Sure their breakfast was ok, but no one really misses Grandys. 

Would anyone miss this place if it were gone? 

I don't think so. 

Fear the Walking Dead Season 6 (review)

 What?!? Morgan didn't die in the last season??? Oh wait...everyone knew they wouldn't kill him off anyway. 

Well, well, well, here we are. One more season down and not much has changed. They blew up the gas refinery, so speed chases in cars and constant driving around for weeks in vehicles is coming to a stop. There was only one place that conveniently had electricity which went unexplained because the story needed them to live underground....but still be in a well lit room. And every 4 episodes it was guaranteed someone would fall inside a zombie hoard and make it out without a bite. 

So my main issues with the show are still there, though 2 of them appear to be dying off. But this season....dang. It got dark. 

A main character is killed in a shocking episode. I was confused as to why they'd kill off one of their best characters until I read the actor wanted out of the show. Figures, this was the last time they'd see 1 million viewers, so I guess he got out just in time. 

But that's not the worst of it. There's a scene where a mom ties up her mouth and ties herself to a railing so that when she turns she doesn't eat her baby that was traveling with her. (eww)

They even nuked the entire area with a missel at the end of the season. How's that for being poetic? Kinda like how they nuked this show years ago and couldn't find their way back into the good graces of the audience. 

But I think they knew that this season and went for broke when they aired the darkest episode I've ever seen on Walking Dead. 

In this episode the mom is told she will die during childbirth. As she's in labor she has a dream where she meets her daughter in the future when she's 16 and they fight off zombies. She sees into the future that her child will bring "peace" and lead a new generation in the zombie world. 

As she awakes in time to have the baby, she asks to see her.....but she's dead. 

Not the mom. The baby. As they carry it's limp lifeless corpse to the mother. 

Wow. That was dark. That they had the balls to show a dead baby too was shocking. No wonder they shed another 500,000 viewers from the next season. 

But bravo Fear....that shocking moment granted you another season of me watching. Who knows? I just may make it through this show after all? 

Have a good weekend folks!  

Rental Family (review)

 Brendan Fraser knows how to pick his movies these days. This one is about a washed out actor who moved to Japan thinking it would improve his career. Year later he's not getting much work until he gets hired by an agency that pretends to be whatever their clients want for at the time. 

He's assigned many roles and through them makes friends he didn't think would happen. I think you may know how this ends and you'd be right, but it was still a fun movie and even made me laugh out loud once. 

I was always a fan of his in the 90s and am glad he's been making a comeback. Here's to seeing many more come from Mr Fraser in the future. 

Sushi

 

Megan loves it. But I'm so-so on it. 

I don't mind it. And if anyone ever asked if I wanted to go with them for sushi, I'd say "sure" but I'd never choose to go eat it on my own if that makes sense. 

I somewhat get why people enjoy it so much. It's not bad. Especially some of the sauces that comes with it. But in a laundry list of things I could eat, this may be dead last. 

Well....I'd probably pick this over Indian food but that's about it. Not really a big sushi fan. However, if you want to go sometime....I'm down. 

Eating alone

 Ugh, I can't stand seeing this. 

It's different if it's at lunch somewhere, I'm pretty sure that person is just taking a break from work. But at dinner? Alone? Can't stand seeing it. I want them to sit by me. 

Don't know why, but it bothers me a lot. Have I eaten dinner by myself? Sure. Several times. But it's just when I see others doing it, I can't help but feel bad for them. 

Maybe it's just me (I'm pretty sure it is) but I when I see someone eating out at night on their own I think they must not have many friends. 

One of the reasons I never at anywhere nice for dinner when I was traveling with the company alone. Would rather pick something up, go back to the hotel and read a book. 

But that's just me I guess. 

The Fasting Diet

 Trying a new diet this year. I fast for a few days, eat regular a day or two and then go back to fasting. 

I feel it's working, but most importantly I feel great!

I'm a little surprised I was able to slip into it so easily. But once I got it going, it really isn't that bad. Even at nights when I struggle the most, I just start cleaning around the house until I'm tired and need to lay down. I rest well too and my hunger pains are gone the next morning. 

It's a great feeling. Don't know how long I'll keep up up, but so far so good!