Nostalgia – Sears Strikes Again!! - Ted For the Win

Yesterday was a very busy day as we woke up in Keene and my friend and I went out for a nostalgic trip around my hometown while my wife shopped.  We visited the junior high and high school we both attended as well as the Y Camp where I worked as a counselor during my college summers.  It really dated both of us as the junior high has been replaced and is for sale and we had trouble picking out the parts of the high school that existed when we were there because so many additions have been made.  We also stopped by the cemetery where I visited the graves of my father, grandfather, great-grandfather and great-great grandfather.  As I’ve said about Keene in the past - deep, deep roots.  We put together an impromptu birthday party for another of our high school friends before my wife and I headed home.  We arrived home to find a phone message from Sears, who leaves business calls on the 4^th of July, anyways?  One of the issues I brought up with the Sears case manager last week was questioning why I was charged an additional $40 on the last visit in addition to the $129 that I pre-paid on the first visit.  This message from some other section of Sears said the $40 charge never went through and since I wasn’t there to talk with them they are now going to charge me the whole $169 again, direct billing me, in effect paying twice for the same sorry level of service.  I’ve been a Sears card holder for decades but I think it’s time to cut ties with them, how can any business operate this way and retain customers?  My frustration level reached a new high and I was feeling a little queasy anyways due to over indulgence in birthday cake and ice cream.  I tried to calm down and watch the Red Sox only they once again lost to a team that should have dominated.  Boy am I getting sick of writing that over and over again.  The day was rescued when we paid our second visit to Cinemagic to watch the movie, Ted, popcorn much improved.  I wasn’t sure what to make of this, another movie recommended by my daughter, with her recent spotty history in this department. J  It was an absolute riot, so funny on so many levels.  It was vulgar, insulting and just delightful.  It takes a really smart script to make vulgar tolerable and funny and this film accomplishes that nearly impossible task.  My wife who immediately starts looking for an exit door at the issuance of the first “F” word thoroughly enjoyed it despite an F-word count that must have been triple digits.  There are some incredibly funny cameos which I also love.  It was irreverent and even had a huge connection to the 70s Flash Gordon movie.  This was one of the funniest movies I’ve seen in a very long time and totally rescued me from my Sears induced funk.

My High School - Brick Wall on Left is Only Part From My Day

Camp Wakonda - Pretty Much the Same - I Mowed that Grass Many Times

My Junior High - Now Ex-Jr High -
On the Right is the YMCA Where I Spent Countless Hours - Replaced Also

The House I Grew Up In - At Least It Looked Great

The Impromptu Birthday Cake