Powering Up & Down

Birthday Girl

The BRS marked her 1 month birthday by shutting down power in her house. There are rumors that loss had more to do with the savage snow/wind storm of the prior night but I’m skeptical. She, the ABFA and my Favorite Panamanian decamped to a nearby friend’s house which did have power while my Favorite Son headed out to purchase a generator. He returned home with his daughter’s first significant birthday gift and a healthy supply of gasoline to keep it running only to discover that power had been restored. I opined that if he hadn’t made the purchase that the power would still have been off and it was a good resource to have for future birthdays if the BRS continues this trend.

The news was less welcome down in New Jersey as it looks like it will be until tomorrow before my daughter’s house has electricity restored. They face a different problem since the FBR is geometrically more mobile than the New Hampshire granddaughter. They ended up in a hotel which I’m sure made for an interesting evening since they are dedicated to a strict bedtime routine for the FBR. She does seem to be sampling the hotel furniture and even ventured into the hotel pool.

Hotel Furniture is Cool

So this is the Swimming Thing Grandpa is Always Talking About

A friend featured this music video on Facebook yesterday and it really caught my eye (see how long it takes you to realize the interesting facet to the video). My sister and I had a running argument while we were growing up as to our ancestry. I always claimed we had a healthy dose of Scottish blood while she just as adamantly denied it. This usually resulted in me breaking into song, torturing her with my rendition of Taking the High Road to Loch Lomond. Anybody who’s heard my singing voice will understand why this would be considered persecution. Granted I based my claim of Scottish blood on my unexplained love of bagpipe music so my sister’s counter-claims were stronger (not that I would ever admit to that).

One of the nicest features of the DNA test I did last year was the revelation that I and certainly she both sport a full 34% of Scottish blood. She has been noticeably quiet on the issue ever since. It’s a brother-sister thing. I knew there was something in that bagpipe addiction! You’d need to have Scottish blood to enjoy that caterwauling music (at least that’s how my wife describes it). Speaking of my Favorite Panamanian she scheduled to return this afternoon from abuela duty up in New Hampshire. We’ll get to enjoy each other’s company for a full two days before she wings off to Panama again for a full month.

I went to see a movie last night using a Christmas gift from the New Jersey contingent. They gave me a membership in MoviePass which allows you to log in when you’re within 100 yards of a movie theater with your smart phone and then choose a movie you want to see. You then use the MoviePass card to pay for the movie. The card only costs a minimal amount each month so they will be losing a lot of money on me. I was particularly proud that I made my way through the process of setting it up and using it completely on my own without the usual technical calls for help to the gift givers.

The movie itself was less welcome. Death Wish was a great vehicle back in the 1970s and I was interested in seeing how Bruce Willis would fare in the Paul Kersey role as the vigilante husband/father seeking revenge for his shattered family. I’ve missed Willis since most of his recent acting ended up going straight to video instead of theaters. I now can see why. This should have been a great part for him but he sleepwalked through it. He seemed completely disinterested as times. It’s pretty sad when Charles Bronson can be pointed out as acting circles around you. The rest of the cast was very good and struggled mightily to rescue the film from Willis’ dedicated mediocrity. It was a tall order. There were some well-staged action scenes and since Eli Roth in involved the obligatory bloody torture events. I was really prepared to like this flick but I was left with more a “meh”.