Melina goes to the movies

Actually that should read Melina sits on her butt and watches STARZ.

After failing to convince anyone to see the movie Zombieland with me last fall, it finally made it to cable. And it was funnier than a Dallas City Hall meeting. 

I've watched it twice over the last week, which is extremely rare for me. Here's a list of the few other films I'll watch more than once (some movies, like Con Air, I watch repeated times because of their amusing awfulness):

• Dr. Strangelove
• Grosse Point Blank
• Con Air
• Days of Being Wild
• The first two Godfather films
• Beetlejuice
• A Better Tomorrow (or just about any other John Woo film with Chow Yun-Fat in it)
• Blazing Saddles
• Kill Bill Vol. 1

I won't go through the plot of Zombieland, as there really isn't much of one. Let's just say that if you're stuck in a post-apocalyptic America, be sure to take Woody Harrelson with you.

Here's a link to a nice HD trailer. Enjoy!

Road trip

I am going through biker withdrawal so I've decided to head east this weekend and rent a motorcycle, even if the weather's miserable. Just as long as it isn't raining.

Fry me to the moon

I have two potentially risky chores ahead of me this week:

• A tree limb has fallen on the electrical line in my back yard.
• The toilet keeps running and needs fixing.

Usually toilets are not risky repairs, but my predecessor had one of those 7-feet tall Victorian toilets installed. Like a lot of other stuff he did, it makes no sense. Why put a Victorian-era appliance in a 1920s bungalow?

But the reason it's risky to work on is that I can't get a ladder in position to reach the tank. Instead, I have to stand on a thin tile wall between the bathtub and toilet, with very little to hold on to. Getting on and off the wall is a bit nerve-racking as well; I have to go from floor to bathtub to wall.

Usually I have someone around to call 911 if I fall, but all my friends are busy today, and I'm tired of hearing the toilet running nonstop. 

The problem with the tree limb on the power line isn't that big a deal, except for one thing: I have to call the power company to do a "temporary disconnect" before I saw the limb. This will take me about 30 seconds, but I'm afraid the temporary disconnect will end up being an all day-disconnect. And I do not want to be without air conditioning for longer than about 30 seconds.

Since it's such a small limb, I'm tempted to just cut it without having the power cut off first. But it's kind of like skydiving: get it wrong once and you don't get a second chance.

Be still, my heart...

... I just heard thunder. Then I walked out to my porch and could smell the rain.

For the uninitiated reader, thunder has a serious aphrodisiac effect on me.

Finally ...

I can say that I'm 100% over that awful case of strep throat, or whatever it was.  I went for a four-mile fast walk last night with no ill effects (except frizzy hair).  Huzzah!