Party Time at Work

Today was my early 8 and 1/2 hour shift. Oddly enough, despite being largely as dead as the rest of the week, it moved a lot faster than my equally quiet but shorter Sunday shift. I didn't even do that much, mainly gathering carts and baskets and bagging. Did a small cart of returns early in the day, put cold items away, and did the trash inside and out. It was cloudy when I headed out this morning, but the clouds vanished as early as 9, and it was sunny, hazy, and humid for the rest of the day.

It probably helped that there was another retirement party in the back room today. This time, the head of the scan department (pricing department) was the one on her way out. The tables groaned with chicken stuffing, sausage, meatballs, baked ziti, macaroni and cheese, ham and cheese pita pocket sandwiches, deviled eggs, roast beef hoagies, pasta salad, potato salad, cole slaw, and rolls. Along with my lemon icebox cake, there was a marble cake from the bakery with buttercream icing, a chocolate cake, a carrot cake, a huge pound cake, butter cookies with jam centers, and peanut butter-chocolate chip cookies. A bag was filled with soft pretzels, and there were baskets of crackers and thin pretzels. Someone ordered specialized retirement Hershey's Kisses. 

I had cole slaw, a roast beef hoagie, baked ziti, and chicken stuffing for lunch, with cookies and two slices of carrot cake for dessert. I attempted another slice of cake on break, but I was so full, I couldn't finish it. Took a soft pretzel home for later. I was so full when I got in, I didn't end up eating anything else. 

Ran into Charlie as I was heading upstairs. He says he's ready to put in the window for the other side that overlooks the park. On one hand, moving things here should be a lot easier...but he's understandably uneasy about going up on a scaffolding that's up that high. That window is on the hill, and it's a lot higher than the one that looks out over the path to my apartment (which is where the gorgeous view comes from). He says he'll be here after 8. 

Worked on writing instead. Yoda tells Luke that he'll be able to feel where Vader is next and what he's up to via the Force. They both get on their heads, letting the Force flow. Yoda's calm...but Luke sees Leia and Harry being tortured by Vader and Charel carrying Clarence. He knows he has to go to his sister...and this time, instead of letting his protege go off alone, Yoda decides to go with them. He can help with reading ancient Alderaanian and organizing the expedition.

I was on for so long, it was nearly 8 before I got off. Played a little Lego Clone Wars to settle down afterwards. Found the last piece in the run-from-the-zombie final segment of "Legacy of Terror" and got basic Darth Vader. I'm still not having luck anywhere else. I can't figure out where the last piece is in "Defenders of the Peace," and I can't seem to find the right combination of characters to get the last red brick. 

Did Vacation as I went online. Rusty Grizwold (Ed Helms) hopes that recreating his family's infamous trip to Wally World will rekindle his relationship with his wife Debbie (Christina Applegate) and his sons James (Skylar Gisando) and Kevin (Steele Stebbins). Once again, nothing goes as planned. The bright blue SUV he rents is overly complicated and elaborate. Kevin is a bratty bully who does nothing but insult everyone and pick on his older brother. Their mother connects with old college friends, but can no longer handle the drinking she did then.  They end up swimming in sewage, and then the van is broken into and everything stolen. Rusty tries to get help from his sister Audrey (Leslie Mann) and her handsome but obnoxious cowboy husband Stone Crandall (Chris Helsmworth). Rusty can't help but compare himself to the seemingly perfect Stone, especially after the Prancer blows to smithereens. It takes a talk from his dad Clark (Chevy Chase) and the revelation of what Stone and Audrey's relationship is really like to make him realize how important his family is, and how much he wants to spend time with them, even when things don't work out the way he'd hoped.

This was...ok. It was a bit mean-spirited, especially with the interminably jerk-ish Kevin, who should have been punished well before this. There were some nice moments, especially from Helsmworth as Audrey's sexist cowboy hubby, and it was great to see Chase and DiAngelo again. 

If you're a fan of scatological humor, the Vacation series, or the cast, this is worth a rental. All others will probably be happier with the original Chase entries.