Star Trek Picard Episode Five

 I was in tears the first few minutes of this episode... more on that later but first here's a quick synopsis of Episode Five "Stardust City Rag".

In a flashback, Seven of Nine mercy-kills her foster son and Starfleet officer Icheb, a fellow xB, after his Borg implants have been ripped out by the black-marketeer Bjayzl. In the present, La Sirena arrives at Freecloud, where Raffi discovers that Maddox is being held prisoner by Bjayzl, who intends to sell him to the Tal Shiar. Picard's crew plan to recover Maddox by staging a prisoner exchange, with Seven (whose Borg implants Bjayzl covets) as the bait. When Bjayzl recognizes Seven, Seven drops the charade and reveals her true intention: to kill Bjayzl to avenge Icheb. Picard persuades Seven to relent, and Maddox is safely recovered and beamed to La Sirena. Afterward, Seven returns to Freecloud and kills Bjayzl without Picard's knowledge. In sickbay, Maddox tells Picard what he knows about Soji and Dahj, explaining that he sent them to Earth and the Artifact in order to discover the true motivation behind the synth ban. After Picard leaves them alone, Jurati tearfully kills Maddox, saying "If you'd seen what I saw". Meanwhile, Raffi tries to reconnect with her estranged son Gabriel, who is married to a Romulan woman, but is rebuffed and rejoins the La Sirena.

As I said at the start of this blog, two minutes in an it felt like my heart was being ripped out. The scene of Icheb's dissection was horrific, and actually a bit to much (for Trek). And when Seven had to mercy kill him I was a mess. I knew this was going to be a rough episode to watch. I loved watching Seven and Picard interact. Seven's life hasn't been the best the past 20 years. I like that she's helping the helpless, but at what costs. Jeri Ryan's acting (which is always amazing) was on point in this episode. My heart just broke for her and everything she's been through. When she confronted Bjayzl you can hear the hurt that she caused, the pain of being betrayed and the lost of Icheb really has effected her life. She felt responsible for his death since Bjayzl found him through Seven. I loved that Seven went back down the the planet and killed Bjayzl. I wish it as a slower more painful death but I guess it looked and sounded painful enough, for at least a few seconds before she disintegrated.

We had a side story with Raffi and her estranged son. She tried so hard to convince him that she's clean and sober but he's been hurt to much and for to long to accept it. Raffi tried so hard but in the end was rejected and went back to the ship. I'm sure she's going to go down a deep dark hole in the next episode. 

I knew something was up with Dr. Jurati but I didn't expect her to kill Maddox. I mean she was obviously shown something so horrific that will happen if things aren't changed to kill the man she loved. I'm not sure how her story is going to unfold. I actually liked her in the beginning but once Commodore Oh visited her I knew something was up. My speculation is that Commodore Oh mind melded with Dr. Jurati and showed she something, maybe a future where synths take over or destroy humanity. I think time travel is part of this series, but what Commodore Oh showed her was it real or fabricated? I mean I could be complete wrong about all of this but that's one thing I love about this series is I have no idea where this story is going and that's exciting.

Can't wait for the next episode.

Apartment Hunting Begins

So it begins... Apartment hunting. I'm looking for a 2 bedroom 1 bath apartment that's at least 1000 square feet. I need good size closets and a balcony/backyard (to store things). It must be a single level or top floor (I can not live under anyone). I'm looking to spend no more the $1800 a month. I'm looking to stay in the valley area (Van Nuys, Sherman Oaks, Valley Village, Studio City, Burbank and such). I know getting a 2 bedroom place in decent area is a tall order. When I searched Zillow only a handful of places popped up and only a three matched my criteria.

I had already set up an appointment at 1pm with this really nice place, they actually had two places available. My buddy Brian came with me as a second pair of eyes. The first place a Triplex (house), 2 bedrooms and 1 bath. The place was small but very cute and every clean. I only shared one wall with a little old lady. Best thing about this place is it had a rather large back yard and side yard, especially for being an "apartment". Downside the closets were non-existence. But I was super excited about this place. When then walked about a block away to another apartment that was available. This one was 2 bedroom, 2 baths, it was bigger in size and had hardwood floors, the last place had tile floors. Both bedrooms had a bathroom attached. The closets were much larger then the last but there was no outside space. Best thing about this place is that it was a good size, downside to this place was the fact that it was the middle apartment. I would have people on both sides of me. But I liked both places so I didn't make a decision at the time. I grabbed an application and said I would let them know on Monday.

After lunch Brian and I drove around to other apartments that were available to check out the neighborhoods. Some were in decent areas, some were in not so decent areas. I called a few places to see if we could get in to see them but only left messages.

When we got back to my place Brian and I talked about the two apartments that we did see. I was leaning towards the smaller place because it had a great outside space where I could buy a small storage shed and store a lot of my things. As I looked around my house it dawned on me that I have alot of things, I mean I know I have a lot of toys and collectables, but I have alot of clothing, including lots of cosplay outfits and this smaller place had very little closet space and though it had a huge back yard I didn't want to have to go out back to get cloths every morning. So that place is out. The second place had two decent size closets but no place to store all of my empty toy bins once my toy room is up so that place is out as well.

This is going to be harder then I thought. Brian mentioned getting a storage unit to hold my excess and I'm good with that but then I was thinking maybe I can up my rent to $1900/$2000 and get a larger place that had storage area so I can't keep everything under one roof. Uping my rent from $1800 to $2000 had added a few more places to look at, so that's promising. .

Overall it was a good first day of apartment hunting. I know it's going to be difficult to find a place that's just exactly what I need but I do have a month to do it (or four weekends). I know what's important and what too look for. I'll keep you guys posted on how this hunt goes. If you hear of anything that meets my criteria please let me know.

"NerdStrong" Board Game Night

After taking a few months off because of holidays and such I had another "Nerdstrong" Board Game Night at my place. This is something that I've been doing every month the past year or so. This final one is kind of bitter sweet as this will be the last of the game nights for the foreseeable future, since I'll be moving in March and my new place will probably be much smaller then my current house. But who knows maybe someone will start having game nights at their place or I can plan to have them at the gym like we did in the past.

We had a great turn out for this one, we usually get 10 to 15 people per game night but this time around we had about 20 people. We had three tables playing different games, until it was just one table playing games. The last hour and a half there was a few of us playing games while the majority were in the kitchen/dining area socializing. One thing I love about these people is that we might be socially awkward nerds but you get us together and we can talk. It looked like everyone had a good night. We ate, drank, gamed and laughed, couldn't ask for a better night. Hopefully this won't be my last game night but for now it was a great way to end the tradition.

Why I'm Moving

Today I gave my 30 +9 days (be out by March 31st) notice at the house I've been living in for the past two and a half years. When Andrew (1st roommate) and I first got the place it was perfect, but soon we got to know the owner (he goes by Bunny), he's this older cooky British guy. Once a month he'd come by the house just to check up on things to make sure we weren't damaging his property. He did not like Andrew so he would always deal with me. After ever visit I'd get a call about something he didn't like about the house.

Some of the worst ones were during the summer when it's really hot outside and the outside plants started to wilt (as they do) he'd threaten to take money from my security deposit if the I didn't take care of them better. First of all per our lease he is suppose to supply a gardener (which he did once a year) and I did agree to water which I did once a week but even with that it's hot and things brown out here.

He complain if we changed door knobs even though the knobs that were there were from the 70's and did not work. Last year he complained about our cleanliness, he didn't like how we were keeping our bathrooms and once again threaten to use my security deposit replace shower/toilet and such. He then hired a cleaning lady to come clean our place, he paid for the initial cleaning and said that he wanted us to pay for her to come once a month afterward, if I didn't agree to it he would raise our rent. (we were no longer in a lease at this time so he could do whatever he liked). I agreed to pay for the cleaning lady.

He had a heart attack when I removed the shower curtain rod from my bathroom because it kept falling and hitting me. He hounded me until I put it back up and took pictures to prove that I have.

And recently our Fridge and Microwave broke, I informed him back in December and per our lease he is not responsible for fixing appliance and I'm okay with that. I have my own refrigerator in the garage and I purchase a small microwave. He asked that we get a repair man to come out and look at the appliances, which I was fine with but I have been busy the past few months and we have the back up appliances so it's not a priority. Well at the beginning of this month he texted me asking if I had them looked at and of course I had not but told him I still plan to. Well he flipped out and texted me back. "No more bullshit, I want those appliances looked at by end of week". That was it for me, I knew that I wanted to move out. I am a very patient and laidback guy and I have put up with alot of shit but that was it for me. Needless to say that I had already scheduled a repair man come out and actually paid a few hundred dollars to fix the fridge (which I now regret) but the mirowave was going to take over $500 to fix and there was no way I was going to pay for that.

That brings us to yesterday when Bunny come over for his monthly visit. I stress out over these visit because I know he's going to complain about something and sure enough I got an call my Darcy (Bunny's realtor and ex) informing me that Bunny want's Adam (current roommate) out and wants him to take all his equipment with him (Adam is a black smith) immediately. She informed me that Bunny was fine if I stayed but Adam had to go. He says all of Adam equipment is a fire hazard, but Adam take precaution with all his work and Bunny has known about all this stuff for a year and a half. Bunny also claims that it's Adam's equipment that cause the appliances to fail which is BS as the appliances are old and not on the same circuit as the garage stuff. Anyways I immediately spoke with Adam and decided that we would move out as soon as we can so we don't have to give any more money to this person. As I said I was already planning on it but I wanted to wait until my downtime at work, but this forced my hand and we will be leaving by the end of March. I sent them the official notice this morning, still waiting to hear back from them, I also know that Bunny is going to try and make me pay for every little issue in that house (and there are alot but they were there before we moved in). I hope it doesn't come to this but I'm preparing for fight for my security deposit.... Stay Tuned...

Scots Festival

I've gone to the Scots Festival a few times and have always enjoyed myself. This time I wanted to take Brian so he could experience the festival. If you don't know what it is, here's a quick description. 

The 27th annual ScotsFestival & International Highland Games. Experience the rich culture and history of Scotland first hand through an array of authentic activities, athletics, dancing, entertainment, and cuisine, paying homage to the Queen Mary’s Scottish legacy. Eighty-nine years ago, in the quaint seaside town of Clydebank, Scotland, construction began on the Queen Mary. Exemplifying the finest craftsmanship of the country, the Queen Mary’s heritage is celebrated throughout the two-day festival honoring Scottish culture and nearly fifty clans and vendors.

Throughout the weekend, guests can witness professional and amateur competitions in piping, drumming, massed bands, darts, Highland dancing, and Highland athletics: the all-new North American Light Weight Women’s Championship and the North American Professional Male Championship. Whisky tasting sessions with aged malt experts are available for adult festival goers while the laddies & lassies can bear witness to Queen Mary’s coronation and knighting ceremonies, and even take part in the Wee Highland Games. With falconry, sheep herding, axe-throwing and archery, guests will have culture at every turn!

We went on Sunday and got there around noon, the place was packed and we were redirected to a near by parking structure. Once there we got in a long line to get on a bus to take us to the Queen Mary and Scots Festival. While we were in line I noticed that folks across the street were grabbing Ubers so I looked up the cost and it was like seven bucks at the same time I heard the couple behind us comment about an Uber so I suggested that we Uber together and split the cost.. so we did.

We finally got to the event around 1pm and had five hours to try and see everything. I always enjoy going to new places with Brian, I love watching him experience everything. He kind of just stands there with a big smile on his face and takes it all in, this was no different. Once he did that we wandered over to a stage where people were dancing and then I saw numbers on them and figured it was a dancing contest.

We then watched a bit of the Highland games before wandering over to the booths where they were selling all sorts of cool items. If I had unlimited funds I would have bought so many things. We strolled through the shops playing with swords and trying on hats. We watched a bit more of the Highland Games then we grabbed a favorite of mine Welch Cakes, I discovered these a few years back when I first visited the ScotsFestival. I introduced Brian to them at last years RenFaire, this time around we had them with lemon curd and clotted cream.

Things Brian never had were a meat pie and a scotch egg. I've had both in England and they were far superior to what we got here, but they were okay. We finished out day by watching more the Highland Games. Around 5:30 we decided to go back to the booths to buy things that we had saw earlier, I second guessed everything I was going to buy and got nothing while Brian made two purchases. I was close to getting this amazing winged Helmet but it was $160 and I couldn't figure out when I would wear it.

The place closed at 6pm so we decided to leave a little early to avoid the crowds. We opted to walk back to the parking structure instead of Ubering it, there was lots of traffic all over. It was a nice walk (about 30 minutes.)

Over all it was a fun visit to the Scots Festival. Brian seemed to have a good time. Will probably do it again next year when it comes back around.