Portola Hotel & Spa

Portola Hotel & Spa must be really expensive considering it is one block away from everything in Monterey, California, United States of America.

Comfortable?

Photographed on 30 July 2024.  Monterey, California was so effing cold that even bird needed to stay warm.

Fly Me to the Moon (2024)

The only way to get Math Teacher to see a romantic comedy movie was to have the story set in 1960s space race at NASA.

It was a cute movie.  I didn't see Channing Tatum as a smart NASA scientist, but he pulled it off.  Scarlett Johansson and Woody Harrelson stole the show.  The gay director was hilarious.

There were some over-dramatic scenes that could've been cut, but overall, this was a good movie to spend a Saturday afternoon with.

The broken American public services

Part I – Federal

Social Security Administration

    My father applied for social security benefits in November 2023 and was approved in July 2024.  My mother applied in January 2024 and was denied in June 2024.

    Why do we "apply" and complete a five-page questionnaire? The employers deduct the benefits from our paychecks and report them to the government. We pay taxes every year. Don't they have our records somewhere? Shouldn't we call Social Security Administration and say, "I'm retired. Give me my money back."

    And six months to process an application? What if I die in that six-month period? Well, sucks to be me!

United States Postal Service

    The post office nearest to me suddenly had a sign up saying "Closed Indefinitely." Nobody knew why. Did they process the mail already dropped in there? Did they distribute the mail? Nobody knew.

Part II – State

Department of Motor Vehicles

    My driver license expired. I went to DMV to apply. Did not receive it after a month. Called DMV and was told, "Post office returned your driver license to DMV. You'll need to go to DMV to apply for a new one." Went to post office to ask why and was told, "We'll never return something like that." So, who was lying?

    Went to DMV to apply; waited another month; did not receive it. Called DMV and was told, "Post office returned your driver license to DMV. You'll need to go to DMV to apply for a new one." Went to post office to ask why and was told, "We'll never return something like that." So, who was lying?

    Went to DMV to apply; waited another month; finally received it. Each time I went to DMV, it was two-hour wait. I wasted six hours of my life because people did not want to do their job and lied.

Part III – Local

Waste Management (trash collection company)

    Called Waste Management to request new trash bins. Never received them. The first nine times the excuses the customer service provided was, "We don't have new bins right now. Operational issue. We were busy so we didn't make it to your location."

    Called the 10th time. The customer service said, "The dispatcher noted in the system that you didn't put the old trash bins out there so we didn't swap out the new ones." Math Teacher was incredulous with this excuse. He put the old bins outside to wait for the new ones. Motherfucking liars! So the customer service made another request for me to receive new trash bins.

    Didn’t receive them. Called the 11th time. The customer service hung up on me.

    Called the 12th time. I was transferred three times before I was finally able to scream, "Do not transfer me again! You fucking service. I want my trash bins!" The customer service had the gall to tell me, "You can feel that way and scream all you want. You'll get your new trash bins eventually."

    Waste Management fucked and bribed the local government to be the only trash company in town. Their attitude was, "So what are you gonna do? Get someone else to collect your trash? HA!"

    People say don't be rude to the customer service. But, I called twelve times; waited hours on the phone; I was lied to; I was hung up; I was transferred. After all that, I still did not have new trash bins.

    Two days later Waste Management finally brought trash bins to my door and called me to tell me they were at my door.  However, they didn't bring new trash bins.  The truck driver explained nobody got new bins unless the old ones were completely damaged (i.e. wheels fallen off).  He showed me the dirty, dingy trash bins on the truck; they looked worse than.my current ones.  So, I kept my current bins.

    Why didn't they say so on the website, "Nobody gets new trash bins.  Keeping them nice and clean is customer's responsibility."  Two sentences; was that too much work?  It could have saved hours of my time, and the poor customer service didn't need to hear my screaming.

    Or Waste Management purposely showed me dirty bins so they did not have to give me new ones, because I yelled at the customer service.  Either way, Waste Management won.  I wanted new trash bins; they didn't have to give them to me.

Part IV – The Failures

    The incompetence of US government and its public services permeate throughout. No one wants to do their jobs. They will lie to my face, and I cannot do anything about it. They collect taxes from me, but I don't have social security, post office, driver license, and trash.

San Andreas (2015)

I'm not a big disaster movie fan, but I enjoyed this.  The Rock's movies are always solid entertainment.

Math Teacher enjoyed it more than me.  So this is his review.  In the beginning the girl should've died.  At the end the girl should've died or at least sustained some brain damage.  However, it was expected in this type of movie people defied laws of nature and gravity.  Anyway, everything else was exaggerated but still truthful.  All the disastrous events happened before, during, and after an earthquake.  🌟🌟🌟

Apocalypto (2006)

I was not expecting much of this movie.  The title looked ok; I didn't even know how to pronounce the name.  The description on the DVD box was ok.  In the first ten minutes I was like, Did I need to read subtitle the entire time?

It turned out to be a great movie.  I'm not judging who was wrong and who was right; that was for people in the future.  I'm simply understanding the culture a little bit more.  Nobody wanted to see their villages pillaged, their women raped, and their children abandoned.  When big important people did enough bad things, the little people wouldn't want to help when the Spanish showed up.

I was warned of blood, gory, and violence.  I didn't think so.  This movie wasn't any more bloody than, say, John Wick shot someone's brain out.  In fact, a lot of gory scenes in Apocalypto were kind of blurred in the background, or quick cuts, or implied.  🌟🌟🌟🌟

Deadpool (2016), Deadpool 2 (2018)

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON 27 SEPTEMBER 2022:  My gosh, it's been four years!?  I totally forgot how gory, bloody, violent this movie was.  I couldn't watch a lot of scenes where Deadpool got chopped into pieces.  How did I watch this movie in the big screen theater before?

On the other hand, Math Teacher laughed so much he choked.

Perfect timing.  Today Ryan Reynolds put out a video announcing Deadpool 3.  Math Teacher was watching the video while I was cooking.  I only heard the song dropped, "And I~~~ will always love~" in the background.  I asked him what he was watching.  He said, "Deadpool 3 announcement.  Wanna see?"  I said hell no.  I no longer watch any trailers to the movies I want to see.

I thought about it for five minutes, then I got mad at Math Teacher.  "You spoiled the movie for me!  You know that song 'And I~~~ will always love~' is Deadpool's song to Wolverine!  You basically told me Wolverine will be in Deadpool 3 without saying anything!"

So I watched the Deadpool 3 announcement video.  Yes, I was right just by hearing a line of a song.  Wolverine will be in Deadpool 3.

They better not kill off Wolverine again, or I'd be really pissed.  I already cried during Logan (2017); I am not about to cry again.

Updated on 30 June 2024:  I re-watched both movies to prepare for Deadpool & Wolverine (2024).  What I wasn't prepared for was, I CRIED in Deadpool 2, when he reunited with his girlfriend.  Oh no~ I don't know how I would react in theater for Deadpool & Wolverine.  Logan was the ONLY movie that I ever cried during its TRAILER, and then I bawled my eyes out at the end of that movie.

Pumpkin Pie Spiced Banana Bread, ver. 5.2

ORIGINALLY POSTED ON 07 JUNE 2024:  Saw another recipe online; it was almost identical to Pumpkin Pie Spiced Banana Bread, ver. 5.0, except this version 5.2 had no baking powder.  I was curious so I gave it a try.

Weirdly enough; Math Teacher and I tasted no difference without baking powder.  I'm not a baker so I don't understand the science.  But, I understand money.  If I don't need baking powder for the banana bread, then I won't use it.  Save some money.

I will try again to make sure it's not a fluke.  I'll post the recipe, a picture, and a final verdict.

UPDATED ON 29 JUNE 2024:  I made the bread one more time with baking soda only, and one more time with both baking soda and baking powder.  Strangely, the bread with baking soda only either was about 5% too greasy or 5% too dry.  The bread with both baking soda and baking powder was fluffy and the right amount of non-greasy and non-dry.  I didn't understand how extra air from the baking powder could make something non-greasy and non-dry, given all other ingredients were the same.  I guess I'm still making the original recipe with both baking soda and baking powder.

I've decided to start measuring the amounts of chopped walnuts and chocolate chips that I mixed into the bread.  In the past that I merely eyeballed it.  This time I used 1/4 cups of walnuts and 1/4 cups of chocolate chips.  Walnuts were not enough; chocolates were enough.  When I figure out the exact measurements, I'll post the recipe, a picture, and a final verdict.

Fast X (2023) Trailer & Movie Review

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON 30 MARCH 2023:  This is my first time reviewing a trailer.  I couldn't help it.  When I saw the trailer for Fast X, I laughed out loud.  Then Jason Momoa showed up.  So I'm definitely seeing this movie, even though I never watched Fast & Furious 2 ~ 9.  I could barely remember The Fast and the Furious (2001) that started it all.  I watched only 1/3 of Fast & Furious Presents:  Hobbs & Shaw (2019).

I noticed The Rock is not in Fast X.  Wonder why.  Is it because the movie can contain only so much muscles at one time?

Math Teacher prediction:  Jason Momoa joins the family and becomes one of the good guys.

UPDATED ON 21 JUNE 2024:  This was a great movie to watch when one was sick.  Math Teacher and I were both sick, but this movie was so ridiculous that we were so riled up that we forgot to cough and sneeze.  It was one dumb thing after another.  Why would they bring a boy into the battle?  If they were going to bring the boy into the battle, why drove across the desert to hide?  Then they jumped out of an airplane, leaving the airplane door open and endanger everyone else on the plane?  Then the boy learned to kill when he was twelve years old without remorse?

Gravity and physics did not exist in this franchise.

Maybe because I didn't watch the previous movies, but how did they all have their own cars in every country they went?  If those cars were rentals, how did they immediately feel comfortable driving rental cars?  And the rental cars were all equipped with their favorite gadgets?

Math Teacher's review of Fast & Furious Presents:  Hobbs & Shaw (2019) - this movie was more fun.  There were a lot of self-deprecating jokes, and the actions were good.  Unlike Vin Diesel in Fast & Furious franchise, he acted like he was a saint and could do no wrong, and only the side characters could make mistakes.

Jason Momoa was the best thing in Fast X.  He was adorable.  I will be copying his hairstyle.  Math Teacher was actually rooting for him to kill off all Fast & Furious characters.

I asked Math Teacher now we know Jason Momoa will be in Fast XI, will he watch the sequel.  He was struggling to answer.  Jason Momoa either dies, and Math Teacher would be pissed, or Jason Momoa joins this stupid franchise, and Math Teacher would be pissed, too.

もののけ姫 / Princess Mononoke (1997)

Second time watching this movie, still thought it strange.  The title was about Princess Mononoke, but the movie was about the boy.  I found it strange that every human in the movie was able to run as fast as animals and jump across huge boulder rocks on the river without slipping.

Math Teacher couldn't understand the whole thing.  I said it was about destroying nature.  He said something must be lost in translation.  Yes, it was about humans destroying nature, but what was the motive?  What was the resolution?  Nothing changed in the movie.  The humans didn't learn any lessons.  The animals still hated humans.  The next war was inevitable.

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (2024)

They tried to expand the universe and give backstory to a lot of things. They made this movie darker and grittier. I don't like movies that made me think. This was supposed to be senseless action mindless summer entertainment.

For example, there were the Citadel, the Bullet Farm, and the Gas Town. The economy was barter system, but it got me thinking. This economy was unsustainable because there was no actual food. They showed cabbages, but they didn't show people working on farms.

Then there was the man-to-woman ratio. It seemed 100 men to 1 woman.  Only the top brass got to breed, but the sons looked deformed. In the beginning they kidnapped Furiosa because she was a potential breeder, but half way through it seemed everyone forgot she was a woman. I was hoping she lost her arm early on so they didn't see her as a perfect breeder, but no. She lost her arm towards the end. So it got me thinking; this population was unsustainable.

Anya Taylor-Joy is not Charlize Theron. Nobody is Charlize Theron.  Charlize Theron is currently the only woman in movies that is beautiful and can act. Anya Taylor-Joy tried to look tough, but Charlize Theron's eyes showed more dominance.

I'm surprised that Chris Hemsworth was a good villain. He was batshit crazy, but they also gave him a deep side by saying to Furiosa, "You kill me. I'm dead, but you live on in misery."  Eff! It made me too sad.

Overall, not as good as Mad Max:  Fury Road (2015), and they knew it, because at the end they showed clips of Fury Road to sum up the movie. I was glad to see Fury Road on big screen again, but Furiosa:  A Mad Max Saga simply forgot it was supposed to be fun.