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Nasty morning surprise

Right around when I got to the Y this morning, my lower back started to hurt. It's been a while since I had any back pain and I thought it'd stay away long-term thanks to deep water fitness. There are quite a few core-centric moves I have to demo and I always do as much as I can. I slept pretty well last night and I wonder if it happened because I spent too much time sleeping on my back because I wasn't tossing and turning so much.

In a couple of months when my job has gone from part-time to full-time for a spell, I think a new mattress is in order. Someone I chatted with after class today said a nice, new firm mattress would be great but I think it's time to get a soft one. I've had a firm mattress for years now and and the only reason I can stand it at all is that I have a topper on it. I'll go to a store and try out a soft one and make sure I can exchange it if it doesn't work out.

Everyone in class was very understanding as I struggled through the hour, just like they were when I hurt my knee. I've already arranged for a sub for Monday if I need one, but I'd really like to teach that day since my last two classes there were canceled. I'm subbing for Nelly who does the other deep water day, so I'll do that class twice next week.

I got some feedback today regarding deep water, that it can be hard to keep up with the combination moves. The transitions are supposed to be part of the challenge but I'd rather up the reps for less switching around in order to keep the class happy. I polled the class on Tuesday to see if I should introduce a new routine and people were into the idea. A couple said they didn't want to switch immediately, so I said my goal would be to introduce a new routine in three weeks. It's about time I got some more use out of the site I subscribe to for lessons.

(Half of) everything old is new again

Our dishwasher decided to die in a very dramatic fashion. It stopped working, but the motor wouldn't stop running. Which is to say that if you turned it off, it would turn itself back on and keep running. We had to cut the electricity to it at the breaker. I already knew because of the last time we had an issue with it that we would definitely have to get a new one. The issue then was that one of the spring/pulley combos that stops the door from falling all the way open broke, and I had to replace it on my own because the minimum charge just to have someone come over to look at it was $150. Appliance repair that's not covered by a warranty is always going to be expensive, and for something like a dishwasher, it's probably not worth it.

It sucks to live in the era when appliances just aren't made to last. We got a full set of new ones for the kitchen shortly after we moved in 11 years ago, and ten years feels like a lot for a dishwasher these days. But since we were replacing it, we decided to go ahead and get a refrigerator, too. The ice maker on the one upstairs has been broken for a while, and again, it probably wouldn't have been worth it to repair that.

The bad news is that black appliances are on the way out in terms of availability, and that's what we had. We previously refused to get stainless steel because magnets didn't stick to it, and what good is a fridge if you can't show off your magnet collection? But they've figured out how to make stainless steel appliances easier to clean and less likely to be damaged, and magnets work on them, too. It doesn't bother me too much that the stove and oven don't match now, but I'm not in a hurry to fix that. Especially since there wasn't a standard setup for the microwave to mount to. Best Buy refused to do the installation, but for some reason it was very difficult to get them to refund the installation fee. Luckily our yard guy's crew can usually do handyman stuff too, and one of them took care of that back in the day. Does he have anyone who could now? Who can say.

We also went with a local appliance company instead of Best Buy this time, and will definitely go back to them when it's time to buy more.

My least favorite thing about the new dishwasher is that it holds less. It's the same size, of course, but the prongs in the racks are further apart. My favorite part about the new refrigerator is that the inside is blue! I've never seen such a thing and I'm so in love with the color.

Meanwhile, the refrigerator in the kitchenette downstairs that's probably 30 years old is still humming along and its ice maker not only still works, but is very productive. I will say I wish the ice maker upstairs was down here. It makes actual cubes instead of that moon shape that always lines up with the curve of the inside of the glass.

Early shows? Fantastic!

I'm on my own for much of today so I figured I'd see a matinee. Garrett is up north and it occurred to me that I might be able to see a movie and also get lunch at District 1, a fantastic Vietnamese restaurant and bar that's close to the movie theater in Marysville, and maybe he could join if the stars aligned. And maybe I could get takeout for later if they didn't.

I went to check the menu and that's when I noticed something very interesting about District 1: there's no pho! It's quite possible I noticed that the last time I was there which would have been in 2019. But I think I didn't notice because I didn't mention it in the post I wrote. The lack of pho greatly reduces the options for Garrett since he's allergic to soy and a lot of Vietnamese dishes use it in the marinade. Pho is always fine, though.

Incidentally, one thing that's great about that place is that they have fries. More places that serve banh mi should have fries, dammit!

My future plans for us going to District 1 and a movie dashed, I decided to look at movie times here in Everett and learned there's an RPX showing of The Fantastic Four: First Steps here at 9am! The ticket I bought online was definitely not cheap, but I'm grateful for something to do this morning. This isn't the only movie in theaters right now that I'd like to see, but Garrett's interested in the Superman one and the new Naked Gun. I hope we manage to see them.

It's wild how my moviegoing habits have changed. Back in the MoviePass heyday, I also happened to be working 4am-noon, so I went to the theater 2-3 times each week. A lot has changed in my personal and professional lives, but the biggest reason aside from my schedule change that I don't go to the movies much is COVID. It's funny and appropriate that my fourth outing since COVID came along is Fantastic Four. The others were:

- A Quiet Place 2 because the first one was absolutely incredible to watch in the theater.

- Spider-Man: No Way Home because I was traveling and had time to kill driving from Long Beach to Seaside, so a stop to watch a movie in Astoria was perfect.

- Final Destination Bloodlines, because obviously I had to see the long-awaited installment in one of my favorite franchises that features a knockoff Space Needle on the big screen. I actually already bought that on DVD and it came to streaming this week, too.

I'm trying not to have too much of an agenda after the movie. I might pop into White Lotus for banh hoi, my favorite dish that's only available at two restaurants locally, theirs being the best. I might pop into Lion's Paw because one of my tattoos needs a touch-up. In other movie news, I may as well share what I posted earlier on Facebook about a series I found this week:

I recently learned about a series of vampire movies called Subspecies via some gifs I saw on Tumblr. How a cheesy horror series with five chapters evaded me so long is a mystery, especially since it's absolutely terrible, which you know is a bonus for me. Parts 1-3 and 5 are on Tubi, and I thought I had to install Xumo Play to watch part 4. Xumo Play doesn't have a search feature so you're expected to search for it from your TV's main menu, and that's how I found out it's on Roku Channel as well, which is where I'm watching it, because apps that don't have a search don't deserve the traffic.
The movies came out in 1991, 1993, 1994, and 1998. Then part 5 came along in 2023 with lots of returning cast members. I love when that happens.

Kim Cattrall doesn't look Egyptian to me

I acknowledge that Illustra are not the good guys in Mannequin (1987) but I love their style. I originally wanted to get their logo in neon on the mylar strips background up the side of my torso, blending into my '80s backpiece. Then I realized it wasn't worth taking up the space that could go toward several smaller ones. So I did it on my hand instead. This was done as a walk-in by Catfish at Lion's Paw Tattoo in Everett.

It's so hard to take pictures of one's own hand!