wasting time is my game

i managed to get my truck successfully inspected on saturday. it’s nice not having to deal with emissions testing. (or pay for it.) seatbelts weren’t mandated federally in pickups until 1973 (iirc, and 1967 or 1968 for cars) so Texas law is if your vehicle came from the factory without seatbelts then they are not required. i knew i’d find some way to not have to wear a seatbelt. (beyond the obvious of riding a motorcycle.) now i just need to get it properly registered and titled in my name. getting it inspected and getting a vin verification form at the inspection was the first step.
i figured up the gas on my trip. assuming i got all the receipts, which i think i did, all of them had price and all but one had the number of gallons i got. so i had to guess on that one. here’s the damage:
$485.03 in gas, 151 gallons used. based on a distance of 1884 miles, that’s right at about 12.5 miles per gallon. i was estimating i was getting around 12 during the trip, and beforehand i’d guessed i’d spend around $500 in gas, so that all worked out pretty well. add ~$200 in hotel stays, ~$160 in airfare, ~$35 in oil, and around $12 in tolls, and total cost of the trip comes out to around $900.
friday night i watched the bad news bears (the original 1976 one). it was pretty good, but the dialogue (especially the kids) and the situations were kind of surprising, especially given when it came out. but i think it’s well-documented that it caused some raised eyebrows and anger back then. it was kind of nice that it wasn’t a generic feel-good movie with two-dimensional cardboard good and bad guys though. it’s one of those classic movies that doesn’t necessarily have a happy ending or tie up all loose ends with neat moral bows.
it makes me think people forget about the dark side or touchy aspects of films. like they just remember how funny it was, or the drug and alcohol jokes, or that kind of stuff. take, for example, fast times at ridgemont high. everyone seems to go on about how funny that movie is. but i rewatched it a couple of years ago and i was shocked that so many people seem to gloss over or forget about the very serious stuff going on in that film. i’m not going to mention it though…i’d rather give everyone else the opportunity to rewatch it and see if you have a similar experience. (granted, the movie does have some hilarious stuff in it, and phoebe cates is…. she’s…. yeah….)
saturday i went by soundwaves and picked up a few cds:

• drive-by truckers – a blessing and a curse (new west)
• johnny cash – american v: a hundred highways (american / lost highway)
• the knife – silent shout (rabid / brille / mute)

the knife is an electronic band, evidently out of sweden (from the liner notes). i heard a song of theirs (“we share our mothers’ health”) on sirius satellite channel 34 (boombox) and thought it was pretty cool. i’ve yet to listen through the cd enough to decide how i feel about them overall. kind of an 80’s electronic sound with some dark/gothic vibe and affected female (and some male) vocals, somewhat sparse and minimalist, but with cool beats.
after that i headed to work for some maintenance window webserver upgrades. gotta pay the bills.
today i went to the alamo drafthouse and watched talladega nights: the ballad of ricky bobby. it’s pretty typical will ferrell fare. i don’t think it’s as good as anchorman, but if you like will’s humor and the zany ad-libbed dialogue he and his co-stars do in his films, you should like it. be sure and watch the credit sequence, mostly for michael duncan’s (lucius) confession while will is in the hospital.
i finished the weekend by heading to the house of pies for a slice of bayou goo and some coffee.