In The Heart Of The Sea: One Pissy Whale = Low Sea Men Count

Posted on November 18, 2015 by geelw

Hmmm. On one hand, I don’t want to see In The Heart of the Sea in a theater because that means going in with people who know nothing about the true story of the whaling ship Essex and what happened to it and its crew sitting down and expecting some sort of action movie version of Moby Dick, a book that to some is nearly incomprehensible by modern standards. I’m betting myself a shiny new penny that most of the short attention spanners also don’t remember The Perfect Storm and its bleak (but somewhat too heroic to be plausible) finale that went for uplifting (in more ways than one, ha!) just so audiences would leave the theater in a somewhat more together condition and not drowning in all those salty tears.

On the other hand, it’s all that expensive CG work in the trailer and nothing at all in the commercials about the more horrifying aftermath where bad navigational decisions led to the Essex survivors forced to choose a little bit of cannibalism after weeks at sea that bugs me even more. Although I do wonder if fresh leg of man is safer than a movie theater hot dog globbed with chili and unnaturally orange “cheez”. Yeah, that’s a happy holiday film (and perfect Oscar bait) for your consideration, right?
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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 →

Hmmm… Who Are Newspaper Comics Aimed At Again?

Posted on March 3, 2013 by geelw

OK, I have a really good sense of humor and I’m a terrible non-prude, but I just HAVE to ask who decided to run these two dopey cartoons on the same day last week (and right above each other). Granted, I don’t read many newspapers much these days thanks to the lack of actual NEWS and focus on overly opinionated “journalists” (read: supremely loony egomaniacs) with an axe to grind trying to whittle anyone they see fit down to size that they don’t happen to like for whatever damn kooky reasons they’re wrong about if they got their heads out of the clouds and ass (amazing how they can do that, huh?) and actually wrote sans bile and other junk in their eyeballs.

But I digress (as usual)… Anyway, Gary Larson was at least regularly funny and stopped doing his fine work when he ran out of steam. These not-so great pretenders are good for a chuckle at best, but the retread rate has gone off the scale, I say. Of course, neither cartoon is really “offensive” at all…but what KID under ten has EVEN read Moby Dick? I guess everyone stares at boobies at some point, so maybe that one works on that level. I can’t tell, as I’m typing this in public and I was distracted… (*beet*… BUSTED!)…

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