What to Do on Those Dog Days of Winter…

Posted on January 26, 2015 by geelw

Well, it’s already snowing outside, but it’s a light snow so far. Things aren’t expected to get “serious” until later tonight, but I’m prepared to go home and hide under some blankets at the drop of a hat. I’m thinking a nice long sleep will do me some good, but my backup plan for any restlessness might involve making my own rescue dog just to keep my hands busy (and warm, should the heat go out).

Yeah, you know you want one of these paper Saint Bernards for yourself. Go print one (or a few) out and get busy trying to put it together. Er, BEFORE you soak yourself in that brandy you bought yesterday (or will buy today at some point). Better to do your paper-crafting while sober, as you don’t want to lose any digits to slippy scissors or end up with a pile of crumpled paper mistakes instead of that cute and easier to care for doggie in that pic to the left…

Project CARS’ New Trailer: Stare Into The Skid!

Posted on January 19, 2015 by geelw

Nope, I didn’t forget about you, Project CARS. I’m still holding out hope that the Wii U version is as wonderful to play as it’s promising to be and makes those who only own that console and not an overpriced gaming PC at least happy to have a decent licensed racer. While other consoles and PC have gotten some stellar realistic racers, the amount on Nintendo’s home consoles is embarrassingly low. Well, the amount of GOOD licensed racers, to be precise. Yeah, yeah, I’ll check this out on the PC, and PS4 at some point. But my Wii U needs this game just to shut down the haters who don’t own one who still think it’s “underpowered”. So, Bandai Namco Games… let’s do this! March 2015 is rolling up sooner than you think…

Random Art: A Minor Cure For Some Major Madness…

Posted on January 7, 2015 by geelw

Well, I was going to post more pictures yesterday of the kitchen, which has been partially painted despite a rather glaring repair omission that sticks out like two sore thumbs thanks to that fresh coat of paint. But this whole mess of ass-backward insanity that should have taken maybe a week or less according to This Old House rules has sucked up too much of my energy and is affecting my workload. Blech. Anyway, I’ll probably post some pictures in a few days, but here’s something to look at in the meantime. My poor mind is boggling over how such a straightforward job anyone else would do or have done in a specific order has gotten so surreal. Thursday should be interesting, as it’s when we see if the next guy who shows up to do some work actually figures out what the hell it is he’s supposed to do and gets it right the first time.

The (Welcome and Hopeful) Silence of the Spams…

Posted on December 30, 2014 by geelw

Bleh. I’m trying to wind this year down on an interesting note, but my mind is elsewhere. Too much home improvement stuff, some new ventures creeping into my schedule, perhaps a business thing popping up in a weird place and so forth and so on. Meanwhile, the internet has ticked me off royally this year on a few fronts to the point I almost kicked myself off a few social sites. I hate predictions and forecasting, but I kind of feel that 2015 will be the year people want their privacy back. Nearly everywhere you look or dink around online, you’re tracked, hacked and cracked over the head continually by folks good, bad and ugly. That has to be dealt with not by so-called “security” services or outside elements telling you they’re “taking care” of the problems. It has to be dealt with by people wisely retreating from spilling all their beans to the world thinking it’s okay because a site says it’s “secure” or “values” your safety at the end of the day. I’d bet a penny that most of them don’t because they can make bad news into good and gain users from it when all is said and done by tossing stuff into the spin cycle.

Eh, I suppose being cranky like this has its merits. But I want to end this year on a high note. No, not THAT kind of high, you sillies. Just a little rest and popping up to see the sun rise on that new year before zipping out a few posts to welcome in 2015. Back in a bit…

Kitchen Nightmares VI: Wood Work and More Oddball Occurrences…

Posted on December 15, 2014 by geelw

So, they sent a carpenter today instead of a plasterer… but that was actually a good thing. It turns out that most of the fault lies in the overall incompetence, laziness and just not listening to what tenants are saying folks who answer the phones in the management office. According to the carpenter, they pretty much just sit around and talk about reality TV for the bulk of the day and those work orders they write up from half listening are often incorrect.

Which of course means workers showing up to do jobs with the wrong equipment or being thrown under the bus by the office because they have to deal with irate tenants who’ve been sitting around waiting for scheduled appointments that can’t be completed. There are also a bunch of newer maintenance guys and gals who aren’t very good at what they do because they’re still being trained, but there seems to be not enough of the old guard around to walk them through what they need to know. That’s how we get painted leaves and some sketchy plastering and painting jobs around here.

There’s a lot of other crap going on as well, but it all boils down to the folks who run this place wanting to keep making a profit even at the cost of current renters being given the shaft. There are also politics involved and a lot of it the usual dumb stuff that always results in the bad apples being rousted and roasted in public once their plans are foiled and the truth rises to the top. Noe of which I care much about because I just want my damn kitchen back to 100%. That carpenter made up a short list of stuff he saw that needed to be done as we chatted for about 20 minutes or so before leaving. Another call was placed to the office and they’re supposed to send what seems like the sole inspector they have in the complex here in a few days (Thursday) so he can take another look around. Yep, the notes I left are still up and will stay up so he can see what needs fixing. Hopefully this time stuff gets done right, but we’ll see. At this point, I’d be happy for at least an acknowledgement that the place is clearly in worse shape after what’s been going on, but again, we shall see…

Kitchen Nightmares V: Doing the Limbo for No Good Reason…

Posted on December 14, 2014 by geelw

Believe it or not, my kitchen STILL isn’t done and for the life of me I can’t figure out why. Well, other than the management here in Parkchester being incredibly insensitive and frankly, virtually shiftless in responding to the basic needs of renters. Being put on hold or hung up on after a time, then being put back in line for repairs that should have been done right the first time around is bad enough. But having to reschedule appointments because the workers didn’t even do the job they were contracted to to correctly is just insanity. What’s the definition of insanity, folks?

Yeah, you know the rest…

Based on the slapdash work done in the kitchen and other rooms here, it almost seems as if they’re telling the maintenance folks to do as little as possible and pass this off as actual quality work because it’s become a common thing over time and a few management transitions. Do they really want this nice three-bedroom top floor corner apartment that’s been in the family since oh, about 1976 or ’77 SO badly that they’re willing to make it look worse to the point the current tenants flee in frustration? It sure as hell seems like it. Hmmm, I guess Yelp can be trusted for fair reviews after all? If this is even the tiniest bit true about what’s taking place in this apartment, it’s wrong, inhumane and needs to stop before someone gets sued and loses somewhat badly in court.

Or at least the court of public opinion. With all the stories I have to tell about this apartment alone, I’d hate to be doing PR for a place that claims “comfort and convenience are the hallmarks of every 1, 2 and 3 bedroom Parkchester home”. Given that no one could drop by for Thanksgiving this year and this Christmas may be a bust for company as well thanks to this nonsense, my own “comfort and convenience” levels are fully drained to the point of glaring laser eyes at every maintenance guy or gal I see walking around this place smiling and laughing away… Continue reading →

Throwback Thursdays: I’ll Trade Almost Any Other Thursday For This One…

Posted on November 20, 2014 by geelw

Hee-ho! So, I find out that the now asbestos-free kitchen here won’t get that new wall and ceiling until DECEMBER. Over the course of four or five non-consecutive days, at that. Yaaaah. So much for the idea of even thinking of having anyone over for Thanksgiving. Who do I need to send a herd of elephants to run over to get a break here? Anyway, some good news comes in the form a a diversion this evening downtown thanks to La Maison du Chocolat inviting me to sample some of their Holiday Collection. hey, chocolate is good for you when you’re stressed! Okay, I’ll make sure to think of all of you while I’m at the event. I may end up oversampling because I’m thinking of all of you out there, so it’s your fault if I end up in a chocolate haze in some alley near La Maison’s NYC shops selling my coat and shoes for a fix.

Hmmm. I feel a song coming on… fortunately I’m NOT doing the singing:

(Thanks, DetroitLives313!)

Back tomorrow or perhaps later tonight if I’m not in a cocoa coma. I’m sitting on a ton of drafts and almost done stuff. I just need to get enough time to get away from the madness here to finish stuff up.

Project CARS Halloween Trailer: A Few Scary Things Going On Here Drive Me Batty…

Posted on October 24, 2014 by geelw

You may have noticed that this is the European PEGI-rated trailer for the game and not the North American ESRB one, but that’s because at my current download speed, it will take (looks at timer)… seven hours to download that US trailer (Yaaaah!) We can’t have that, now, can we? The other scary thing? How amazing this game looks, as this is all in-game footage put together by a really talented video editor/player. I guess the third (and perhaps most frightening) thing is I’m now wondering how good the Wii U version of the game will look and how fast it will be. Not that the system can’t do an excellent racing game with real cars, mind you (Need for Speed U is still the pinnacle of realism on the console in terms of visuals). It’s more of a correcting of perception thing among the die-hard skeptics that have been hating on the console before it was launched who still haven’t been convinced even after some recent and great software releases.

Oh well, those folk may never be convinced (and it’s their loss), but as someone who owns and likes his Wii U quite a lot, I’m holding my breath that Slightly Mad Studios blows all those haters out of the muddy water they’re trolling in with a stellar version that wipes the smirks right off their faces.

The Tale of The Princcess Kaguya: Studio Ghibli’s Back With Some Classic Beauty…

Posted on October 1, 2014 by geelw

Currently, this one’s only part of a children’s film festival here in NYC, but I’m hoping it at least gets a limited release in regular theaters after that’s all said and done, as it’s quite lovely and yes, it’s Studio Ghibli doing some amazing animation work as usual. Check out the trailer below for some lovely visuals:

(Thanks, Movieclips Trailers!)

This is one of those films that NEEDS to be seen even if you know the classic story by heart. Let’s hope this gets more notice and that wider theatrical release before it pops up on Blu-Ray/DVD and people somehow forget it exists because it’s not being promoted outside of a niche audience. Oh, wait. OOPS. It IS getting a US release on October 17, so I guess I can see this after all and not have to deal with squealing kids, shushing parents and overpriced tickets. No wait, the tickets will still be overpriced, but one out of three is just fine by me…

Stepping Into The Rift @ The Marriot: Traveling Light Might Be A New Option…

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Hey, Kids! Time travel exists! Okay, it doesn’t (sorry, folks!), but I’m making it so with this post because I started it when I got back from the FUTURE, but my stupid computer decided to freeze up and not want to post it when I finished. Boo. Anyway, I was HERE for a while seeing part of the future of entertainment and travel courtesy of Marriott Hotels and a few very hard working and talented folks at Relevent and Framestore. More on this in a longer article shortly. My time-bending skills are limited at this point and I need my beauty rest… good night!