“Monday is for people with a mission. Those who favor vacations, not weekends.” ― Cristina Imre
Well, it’s just past midday here in Lithia, Florida, on Monday, April 3, 2023. I’m off to a later-than-usual start because I woke up much too early this morning. As is too common for me, I had to answer the call of nature at the ungodly hour of 4 AM, and even though it was still dark, I had a hell of a time trying to fall asleep again. I eventually was able to take a catnap of sorts, but I was still tired when I finally forced myself to wander, bleary-eyed, messy-haired, and reluctantly, to go to the kitchenette and down my usual cup of café con leche.
Weekend Update, Part the Third
“Sunday, the day for the language of leisure.” ― Elfriede Jelinek, The Piano Teacher
If it’s the weekend, it’s Pizza Hut Time!
In sharp contrast to my previous life in South Florida – where I had many friends and neighbors to socialize with – weekends here in Lithia are full of empty hours and involuntary solitude. They weren’t always like that, but they’re like that now. Thus, Sunday, April 2 was…not quite boring, cos I kept my mind busy…but it was not exactly a fun or particularly happy day, either.
As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, on Friday night, I ordered a Big New Yorker (BNY) pizza along with cheesy breadsticks and an order of eight breaded and boneless chicken wings seasoned with sweet chili sauce. I could have consumed that Pizza Hut order in one sitting, but since I can’t use a gas stove (at least, not without a lot of stress and worry), I can’t even make scrambled eggs here. So, I ration my deliveries, so they’ll last the entire weekend.
Last night I had the one remaining slice of the BNY pizza – I heated it in the oven; “nuking” good pizza in a microwave oven is sacrilegious, plus it ruins the texture of the crust! – and finished off the chicken wings. I washed this repast down with what I assume is Gatorade mixed at home with water and powdered mix; we didn’t have any Coke handy, and even though I could have ordered a 12-pack via Amazon, I remembered that I had done that a few times during my brief time of living alone in my former home in South Florida, and often the results were not pleasant. Either the cans of Coke were handled so roughly that they were shaken often and violently and exploded when I opened them, or some of the thin aluminum cans arrived with tiny holes from which the fizzy soft drinks leaked out.
I could have had water instead, but I opted for Gatorade, even though I prefer Gatorade products that are already mixed and individually bottled rather than the mix-at-home version.
Sunday Night at the Movies
Alas, I can’t watch Devotion on that TV unless I buy the 2K HD Blu-ray. Paramount Home Media Distribution – perhaps because that Korean War movie was not made by Paramount, but by Sony-owned Columbia Pictures – decided not to bundle the older format disc with the 4K UHD one, so I’m forced to watch it on my least favorite TV set…the one in my room.
So, no joy on Devotion, at least not this time around.
I had planned to watch something – I didn’t have anything specific in mind – out in the Florida room, which is where the house’s second-best TV is set up. (The best TV, which is the one I intend to take with me to Brandon or die trying, is the 4K UHD set I bought in 2017 and now hangs, mostly unused and unwatched, in the master bedroom.[1]) That TV has a bigger screen than the TV in my room, which is the third-best TV in the house (it is 4K UHD, which has a sharper image than the family room set, but has the weakest sound because it’s not connected to the ONN soundbar affixed to the bedroom wall), plus it’s connected to both Roku and a 5.1 multiple speaker home theater system.
Ironically, I ended up watching a couple of episodes of The First World War, a 2003 British documentary based on the eponymous book by Hew Strachan. I say “ironically” because since I started watching those episodes – Blockade and Revolution – after I ate my BNY dinner, I did so in my room via that TV set that I have ambiguous feelings for.
And as is all-too common with me at age 60, I fell asleep while I watched my Sunday night programming. (This time around, though, I can honestly say I stayed awake for most of Revolution. Plus, I know the ending…I minored in history in college, so…)
Closely Watched Packages: “We Don’t Need to See Your Identification…”
Currently, I am keeping an eye on the status of a package that is due to arrive today from ShopDisney.com. It contains the latest addition to my Star Wars collection: an Imperial Stormtrooper Talking Action Figure based on the white-and-black armored enforcers of the Galactic Empire’s iron-fisted authoritarian rule as seen in the original Star Wars trilogy and other movies and TV series set in that era of that galaxy far, far away’s history.
Per the figure’s product page on ShopDisney:
You don’t need to see his identification. Hear real movie phrases from this armored talking Imperial Stormtrooper action figure. The included blaster also features lights and sounds so you can play out the Star Wars saga with authenticity.
Magic in the details
- Includes motion-activated E-11 blaster with light and sound effects
- Button-activated character phrases
- Features 13 points of articulation
- Removable pauldron
- Inspired by the Star Wars saga
- The bare necessities
- Ages 3+
- Requires 3 x AG13 button cell batteries, included
- Plastic
- Imperial Stormtrooper: 9 7/8” H x 4 3/4” W x 1 3/4” D
- Packaging: 11 3/4” H x 6 1/10” W x 4” D
- Imported
I didn’t plan on buying yet another Star Wars collectible at a time when I know I will be moving to a house in Brandon, and that every new item I purchase will become something else to worry about during the packing-up process, but I had a 25% discount coupon – digital, of course – since March is my birthday month.
I usually treat myself to an occasional Star Wars collectible via ShopDisney; I tell myself that the birthday present “from me to me” makes up for the gifts I can no longer receive from either Mom (who died in 2015) or my older half-sister, who I am estranged from and have zero wish to reconcile with. This year, it happens to be an Imperial Stormtrooper Talking Action Figure. It brings me joy, so….
Anyway, according to UPS, my package is scheduled to be delivered between 2:15 PM and 6:15 PM, and it is currently marked as Out for Delivery, so my collection will be slightly larger later today.
(I could have chosen a Darth Vader Talking Action Figure, but I already have quite a few Vader collectibles, so I went for one of his ground force soldiers instead.)
[1] I’ve already told my caregiver that either I take that TV and its associated wall mount and soundbar (which I paid for) to the house in Brandon, or she must get me a similar set as compensation. And yes, that’s a hill I am willing to die on.
A Certain Point of View, Too 
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