Halloween 2026

 

After years of requests from my coworkers, Russell is back!

Two of my workers and I. Dorothy and.... a hobbit?

I was able to leave work early and drive across the state to join my sister and brother-in-law. It was nice to hang out with them as trick or treaters came up. The ramen, pop rocks, fun dip, and the candy necklaces were a hit.

AI Helps Me With Memories

When I was a little boy, there was a movie that I watched. I only had a few memory fragments to go on. I've asked my dad about it it and he didn't know. I've talked about it with friends and they didn't know. I even search google and didn't come up with anything promising. What I had was this:

• A father, mother, and their young boy is thrown into a water well by a gang.
• This feels like a post apocalyptic scenario giving me Mad Max vibes.
• The gang takes the daughter.
• I remember hands gripping barbed wire until they bled.
• I remember the father climbing out of the well and I assume the rest of the movies is about him finding his daughter.

Well I ran that through Chat GPT and it was able to find it---Cyborg. It is a Jean Claude Van Damme movie from 1989.

I want to see it but I'm not holding out hope that I'm gonna find it on any of the streaming services that I have.

Since that was a success I tried a new one:

• It was an anime cartoon. It was similar to Robotech.
• There was a dome on a character's hand.
• The dome was important as if it was an energy source or a weapon.

It didn't seem like much to go on but it found it! Lensman from 1984. And yes, the Robotech ties are evident. Check it out at the 12:55 mark.

ND vs MSU I'm Here for It!

 

One of my coworkers offered to sell me her tickets for the Notre Dame vs. Michigan State game. Of course, I took her up on the offer!

With two tickets in hand, who was I going to bring with me? It turned out to be my friend Season who I've known since high school. She is a Notre Dame fan. I am as you probably know, a Spartan.

Fun fact: our high school's fight song uses the same melody as the Notre Dame Victory March. I couldn't tell you what the lyrics are, though.

Season arranged parking for us. We had to do a little searching and little asking but we managed to get parked.

Our seats were on the lower level at the south end zone. That made it hard to see what was going on when the action as down field (and most of the time it was). Still happy, though. Even when I was attending games at State, I rarely was down as close to the field as I was. 

I had an idea of what was gonna happen but I kept my hopes up for a good fight. That was largely in the first half. I really don't have much to say about the actual game. I'm no sports analysist. I just try to watch the plays.

While I was there, I saw one of my coworkers, Lejan, in my row but at the opposite end. I made my hellos. I didn't see them, but my boss was up and behind me somewhere and two other coworkers were somewhere there as well.

Fortunately the threat of thunderstorms and delay never materialized. There was just some bands of light rain that came through.

We ended up leaving at the end of the third quarter. I wanted to beat the crowd and getting out and we succeeded. No traffic had to be dealt with.

Medical and More

Today I had my first appointment with my new primary care provider. I needed to find a new PCP after a series of severe gout attacks that began shortly after I started losing weight with Zepbound. The latest attack was nearly debilitating, so getting back on allopurinol and having someone monitor my weight loss felt important. 

The appointment went okay. We covered the usual questions about weight loss, sleep apnea, gout, and overall health. I got the impression that my new PCP was not especially enthusiastic about Zepbound, but he seemed willing to work with it as long as I focus on eating the right food groups. 

One surprise was learning that I am Vitamin D deficient. It is apparently significant enough that I now have a goal of taking 50,000 IU per week. Since my multivitamin only has 1,000 IU in the daily dose, that feels like a tall order. 

I left the clinic with a goal of reaching 285 pounds by September 17. It sounds reasonable, but it does add some pressure. 

Later, my sister and brother-in-law, passed through Niles on their way back to Ann Arbor after vacation. We met at 2 Broke Eggs, a local eatery that opened last year but that I had not visited yet. It was good to see them again. My sister talked about applying for a new job, and her husband updated me on his research project about mobile medical clinics. They also shared some family updates, including a cousin's political shift and a possible confrontation with my aunt, his mom. 

In the afternoon, I met with a couple friends to see Stop! That! Train!, starring RuPaul. A little fabulous, campy humor was a welcome way to end the day.

The Looming Tree is Cut Down

See also: Roof Damage – Again! 

The big silver maple tree between my house and the power lines has finally come down. Because of the proximity to both, the cost was high. It ended up costing $6,000 to get rid of it. 

The hole has been filled in with the shavings and I’m told it will settle down. I’m not happy about the mound but I am more happy that I don’t have to worry about a tree crashing through my roof.

Fuck Off 2025

I will be heading off to work in about six hours to kick off my two days of hell at work. New Years Eve sucks where I work because it is the busiest night of the year. Inevitably something goes wrong. This year I suspect that I will have a call offs and who knows if the party favors for our guests have even arrived (I was off the day it was due to come in). I will stay late, go home and sleep for six hours and then come back for another round of festivities. 

My work isn't what has made me cranky. The year 2025, on the whole, has not been a good year for me. There were some bright spots such as my trips. But my personal relationships with my family is rough due to our political differences. My grandmother is declining in health. Work has knocked me on my ass a couple times.

I really hope that 2026 turns out better.

Disney World - I Ate and Ate!

I'm back from Disney World. Lots of food was enjoyed down there mainly due to to the Christmas Party and the Food & Wine Festival.

The Pastrami egg rolls were a party exclusive and were released at 7pm. And there was a line waiting for them. Don't wait as I hear they will close when the fireworks start or when they run out. They tasted good but for $11, I don't think it is worth the price. Found near the entrance to Adventureland.

Arroz con Leche Holiday Wreath. Also a party exclusive. Found at Pecos Bill Tall Tale Inn and Cafe. It's a molded rice pudding with coconut and citrus jelly in the middle. The texture threw me off as the coconut made me think I was eating undercooked rice. I was also eating this in the dark so maybe that didn't help matters. I would get it again.

There were various stations throughout the park that was giving out various cookies and drinks. Of course it took until the last station to find the egg nog. I didn't take all the cookies, however. I like cookies but I don't like them that much. I did ask for two drinks though because they give you basically a shot of whatever they have. Cookie chasers, I'd say.

Over at Casey's Corner there was this party exclusive: mini corn dogs topped with cheese, pot roast, crispy onions, and a horseradish like sauce. Came with fries. I thought that this was an excellent value and would definitely get it again. Unfortunately by the time I got this, I was already full on the above snacks.

ABC Commissary during my park day at Hollywood Studios. Chicken Sandwich and a Linzer cookie cake. Meh, standard. It was just to fuel me up as I don't eat breakfast.

Kakigori at Animal Kingdom. Watermelon, shaved ice, and sweetened condensed milk on top. On a hot day, this was a god send! And I wouldn't share.

Park day food at Pizzafari at Animal Kingdom. Chicken Caprise sandwich in a baguette and a side ceasar salad. The chicken was over cooked and dry which is a pity because it would have been a good sandwich.

Best food festival booth at Epcot for me was Australia. Shrimp and Lamb.

Grilled Bushberry-spiced Shrimp Skewer with Sweet and Sour Vegetables and Coconut-Chili Sauce.

 Gyozas of the Galaxy was over rated. The line when I went was crazy long.

Buffalo-style Dumplings: Chicken Dumplings with Buffalo Sauce, Celery Root Puree, Blue Cheese Cream, Cumbled Blue Cheese, Shaved Carrot, and Micro Celery 

I basically only ate the dumplings themselves and the blue cheese. Didn't really care for it.

French Onion Soup-style Dumplings: Pork and Beef Soup Dumplings with Caramelized Onions, Sherry-Beef Broth, Onion and Gruyere Soubise, Parmesan Cracker and Micro Chives

This is was the best value. Soup and dumplings. It was also the better tasting of the two.

Lump Crab Cake with Cajun-spiced Vinegar Slaw and Remoulade

Seaside Pot Pie with Shrimp, Scallops, Crawfish Tails, and Lobster Bisque topped with Puff Pastry

This was very watery but I still enjoyed it by smashing down the puff pastry to soak up and thicken the liquid.

Berbere-spiced Beef Stew with Sweet Potato Mealie Pap and Kachumbari Slaw

As far as I am aware, I've only had berbere spice in doro wat so I expected this to be more spicy and hot than it was. That said, it still was tasty and was a large portion size/value. Make sure you have a drink with this.

Gulf Coast-style Seafood Roll with Warm-water Lobster, Rock Shrimp, Obster Bisque, and Sherry-Creme Fraiche on a Toasted Brioche Bun.

Rip off. I'm, sure technically, there is lobster in there somewhere.

Peach Manto Boba: Crafted Calpico Peach Juice with Mango Popping Boba (non-alcoholic).

At first, I was a little mad when I picked this up as I was expecting a bigger serving. However, this was a thick and sweet drink that I enjoyed with little sips. It is also the only thing that I purchased again.

Creme Brulee Vanille, Confiture Myrtilles et Citron Vert: Vanilla Creme Brulee with Blueberry-Lime Compote.

Just delicious. Would buy again.

All these years passing by Canada, I thought about getting maple popcorn.This time went for it. Better version of kettle corn.

After a few hours of rope dropping Magic Kingdom, I went to Gaston's Tavern for a creme brulee croissant and a LeFou's Brew (frozen apple juice). The pastry was a good idea. The brew--not so much. It was in the 40s when I got there.

Truffle burger and truffle fries and Cosmic Rays. Too strong of a flavor. If I could apply the sauce myself and put on less, I'd be more happy but I probably would pass on this.

Cast Iron-seared River Troud with Vanilla-Butternut Squash Puree, Brussels Sprouts Salad, Candied Pecans, Spiced Pumpkin Seeds, Dried Cranberries, and Maple Dressing

Everything tasted great expect the brussel sprouts. Those were trash. I'm still not sure of the outer fried skin of the fish. I'm not convinced that I'm supposed to eat that.

Liquid Nitrogen Frozen Pumpkin Cheescake Mousse featuring PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese with Candied Pegans and Maple-Caramel Sauce.

I wish I had a food buddy with me to share this food with because I was getting full and I couldn't finish this. I probably would have wished for a different flavor than pumpkin, though.

Oskana Karaage: Crispy Fried Pollock with Spicy Mayonnaise and Sweet-and-Cream Yuzu Sauce

This was not crispy but it was delicious. It reminded me of the food cart fishballs back in the Philippines. It was also another round for the Peachy Mango Boba.