My Hero!

Forget the crack-ferret. I love Scrat!

Tried to embed the video but it wouldn't work for some reason. So here's the link:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6736485077799381484&q=gone+nutty&pl=true

ZZZZZZzzzzz wha...? Oh, hello.

Lost a couple hours tonight to the Couchmonster. I sat down to sort some stuff and next thing I knew, my husband was home and asking how to cook pork chops. Even though I thought I was dreaming, turns out I wasn't; he really wanted to know. (I found out later he meant "which way" as in baked, fried etc... should have realized if it's meat, he can cook it. Usually better than I can.) I got up around 7:00 to find the kitchen clean and the table ready, but he was still waiting for me to actually make supper and had fortified himself in the meantime with cheese danish. Poor guy... I told him he really should be more assertive when trying to get me to wake up, but he replied that if I didn't hear him washing the dishes, as he wasn't being quiet about it at all in hopes the noise would get me up, then I probably needed the sleep.

That's the thing about being so amped most of the time. When I keep myself focused I can go like a ferret on crack, but once I lose that focus I crash pretty hard. That's one of the reasons I avoid the living room. Comfy surface + mind-numbing television = I am out within 60 seconds, usually. Can't sit and watch TV unless it's incredibly riveting or I'm in the mood for funny videos; usually I watch a minute, go do something else, come back, go away, etc. Same thing happens at work. As soon as I sit at my desk for five minutes I start to nod off. I had to turn down an office job last year because of that... a manager asked if I wanted to help get the new system ready, but I had to be honest and tell him there wasn't enough caffeine in the world for me to sit at a desk all day and do data entry. Just the idea itself made me sleepy.

Another bad thing about crash-and-burn effect is that I don't bounce right back, bright-eyed and bushytailed. There is no such thing as a ten-minute power nap for me. Once I'm out, I can sleep for 12 hours straight, if circumstances allow. Sometimes more. From crack-ferret to tree sloth in the blink of... zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...

*Above photo courtesy of HubbyCam.

I love piano!

Someone in the downstairs apartment is playing Black Sabbath. "Ironman" played on an upright piano is interesting. Much better than "Heart And Soul" in an endless loop!

As I was walking up to my porch, my dad drove by and honked. It must be spring because he was driving the '73 Electra. That 455 sounds soooo good... you can actually hear the dollar signs chinging at the gas pump when he hits the accelerator. He keeps trying to sell it to me, presumably so he can go buy a Nova. Or anything else that doesn't have a big-block which only runs on premium.

For the first time this year I had to close the shade blankets in the middle of the day to protect the plants from that odd bright thing called the sun. Caladium burns easily and after living under clouds since they were bulbs, the poor things were falling over once the sunshine hit. Many of the employees broke out their shorts and t-shirts today so there were a lot of pasty white legs running around. Tomorrow it's supposed to be in the high 60s and all the way to 70 on Friday. That means 80-90 in the hothouses. Guess I better find my shorts and start working on my sock tan. (Can't wear open-toe shoes there. Every year I get a nice tan on my legs, except for the ankles down, which makes me look as though I stepped in a bucket of white paint. When I wear sandals or heels on my days off it looks ridiculous, but even sillier is trying to use self-tanner on my feet and turning them orange... YES I've done it. Shut up.)

Piano stopped. Drat, she had a nice bass thing going on... I was about to go into the bathroom to listen better. Great acoustics in there and the downstairs sounds are amplified, especially if one sits in the tub. (Which I do, on occasion.) I don't think it works the same for them, though. Their bathroom is on the other end of the apartment, under the old attic stairwell. Good, cause I don't think they want to hear me playing mauling my harmonica too often!

Tuesday is my Monday

And I'm rockin' the typical return-to-work headache. I'd take a Tylenol but with all the dope the doc wants me on I'm unwilling to add anything else. He called me to say my thyroid levels had gone high enough to warrant a low-dose thyroid pill. Oh goodie. That's 4 pills a day, one of them twice a day, and I'm not even close to 40 yet. *Sigh* At least two of them are over-the-counters and not serious pharmaceuticals.

I want to just dump them all. I mean, I hate putting stuff like that in my system... I know it's doing some good, but still... I don't even like taking aspirin if I can avoid it. (Only thing I'll swear by is TheraFlu, and only when I actually have the flu.) I'm going to switch BC and get off the hormones this year, so that's one less thing, but I just wish I could can it all and chew roots and herbs or whatever instead.

OK... I'm thinking about this now... what else am I putting into my system? Additives, preservatives, food dyes, more than likely chemicals and fertilizers at work, city water (mmm! chock-full o' chlorine!), processed sugars, hybrid and hormonally enhanced vegetables, and Pop-Tarts. A couple pills probably aren't anywhere near that bad now that I think about it. The Pop-Tarts alone are worse, I'll betcha. Let's not even start on cocktail weenies.

In other news: I'm searching for an elusive Unicorn. #121 for those in the know. I'll trade an Elf Queen and Cleopatra... and throw in a Pirate for good measure.

My darling hubby pulled one over on me last night. He wanted to stop at his sister and BIL's house; I didn't feel like going in, as I was tired and sore, so he did the visiting while I catnapped in the truck. When he came back I was informed that 1. he invited them over soon to play the CSI board game we gave them and 2. since they were coming over, he told them to bring their recent vacation photos so I could scan them on the computer and adjust them. And then he said they have a bunch of them...

Thanks hunny!... ?

So... I have to not only make my house presentable (no big deal, just give me a deadline) but I've also been volunteered to be a photo editor for the evening. I don't really mind because that will give me a reason not to play the CSI game. (I don't watch the show and probably wouldn't get it.) I like visiting with them though. Nice folks. Wonder if he volunteered me to cook supper too? I want to make some pulled-pork BBQ, sounds like a good a time as any. Show these Yankees what real BBQ is. And it AIN'T sloppy joes!

Sunday Morning Comin' Down

I am frustrated with the lack of 24-hour food establishments here. There are two, neither local: one is Denny's and the other is a truck stop. There's a diner over in the big town but it closes at night and when it's open it's either full of college kids or their visiting relatives. DINERS AREN'T SUPPOSED TO CLOSE! I guess that one does to avoid drunken frat boys from trashing the place at 3 AM. That's reasonable. They trash the streets enough as it is.

We need a Waffle House. Not here, in my town, but in the new development near the truck stop. Or even better, an IHOP. While I'm dreaming, how about a good buffet-style restaurant? The new Chinese one by the new Wal-Mart sucks; we'll drive 30 miles to eat Chinese rather than go there again. But I'm talking Old Country Buffet or Ryan's or something like that. Preferably a place with a breakfast buffet. One can GET breakfast at Denny's, Cracker Barrel, etc. but there are no breakfast buffets in the area.

Tomorrow morning we are going to get up, get in the vehicle, and drive to a city an hour away in time for OCB's breakfast. I have a mad craving for scrambled eggs with cheese and mushrooms on top. And silver dollar pancakes, and fruit and danish and grits and stuff. Now, we're on a shopping mission as well, so it isn't a frivolous trip. I need work shoes/boots and jeans; hubby wants to price tires for both trucks, which we're going to need soon; and of course we're scoping out all the car dealers as usual.

That's what we're going for. What will happen: we'll have breakfast, head for the flea market, look at cars, lose track of time, and wind up at either Best Buy or Wal-Mart since everything else is closed. I'll try on three pairs of jeans and none will fit right. If we make it to Gander Mountain before they close, they'll have the exact pair of work boots I want, but they won't be on sale (or will be, and they won't have my size) and I'll end up writing down the brand and searching for them on the internet, only to find that everyone is out of stock. Then two weeks from now I'll walk into Boscov's and pick up a different brand on sale for 75% off and be out the door in 10 minutes. (Oh who am I kidding? It's BOSCOV'S! More like an hour, if the Auditorium is open.)

That's what ALWAYS happens, but I keep trying anyway. I like wandering around in Gander Mountain. They had these sweaters... felt like clouds... I could never afford one, but I'd pick one up and carry it around the store with me like a stuffed animal just because it was so incredibly soft and wonderful. Only time I can recall ever wanting a white sweater. Boscov's had some robes like that too. I wanted to climb in the middle of the rack like I did as a kid and just stand there feeling all light and fuzzy. Now I'm imagining a memory-foam mattress and a warm, soft chenille blanket. I have neither, but I'm so tired I think I'll let my imagination take over.

The hubby and I went up to my dad's tonight. My stepmom's sister and her daughter are in town; they drove stepmom's mother up and are flying home Saturday. My step-grandma will be here for the next 6 months. She's OK, a southern genteel woman with a classic drawl. It's her little dog... "Jakeypoo" is 50% poodle, 50% bichon, and 100% annoying. He yaps, he piddles when he's scared, he yaps some more, he jumps around or waves his widdle paws like bichons do, and he yaps. When he yaps, the other two dogs bark. When the other two bark, he runs yapping even louder. And SG is so paranoid that the big dog (Rott/Lab) is going to eat Jakeypoo that she starts with the worrying and fussing. It's a cacophony only the deaf could tolerate.

-----------------------------------------

Dad saw a mountain lion tonight! Pennsylvania doesn't have any, according to the Game Commission, but there have been random sightings. Dad, stepmom, the neighbor, and one of the guys putting on the neighbor's roof have all seen this cat at one time or another over the past few years. Tonight Dad said it crossed the lower part of the driveway when he was pulling in. How cool! I wanna get a picture of it. I haven't seen any wild cats since I've been here, except the ones at wildlife exhibits and a rescue habitat. Neat that one of the rare big cats is on our property from time to time. There used to be a family of bobcats up on the ridge behind the house; I heard them once or twice but never saw one myself. Dad's seen them with two kittens in the field. Goal this year: photograph a wild kitty. Preferably from a distance!

----------------------------------------

Met another "Greenhouse God" today. Ron Derrig, horticultural consultant, makes an occasional tour through one of our sites; this time it was ours, and I was invited to go along on part of the tour. Although I've seen him before (and read his tour notes and articles whenever I get them) I never got introduced until today. This man is a walking horticulture encyclopedia. Most of our techniques and rates come from his notes and suggestions and if we have an enigma he's the one our head grower calls. I learned some valuable info about PGRs (plant growth regulators) today and was very happy to listen to him speak. Would have loved to go on the whole tour but even my supervisor had to break away... lots of work to get done! Gearing up for a madhouse weekend... again, not enough people and a lot of ground to cover, plus the potting crews will be working Saturday so we lost another "catch-up" day when we can spray or do other things without people driving carts or setting new plants down all over the place. Spring has sprung and we're sproinging around like crazy... and it only gets springier from here!

----------------------------------------

Stepmom's sister is from down Bama way, and she made REAL southern sweet tea up at Dad's. I had to... just half a glass... after some South Carolina muscadine cider I took up there. Yeah, I was in liquid heaven tonight.

Sweet tea rocks. That is all.

Flashback Post

I love this picture. I must have been really ticked about something!

-----------------------------------

Work is picking up rapidly. They're opening our last greenhouse tomorrow so we'll be spread pretty thin covering it plus the other two. Four people + eight acres = busy! Our company president was in today... he got sidetracked in one of the other plants, so I didn't get to meet him. Boss said we might be asked about how we're achieving our K.R.A.s (Key Results Areas), which include efficiency, productivity, and order fulfillment... the site manager quizzed me about it, and I said K.R.A. stood for Kick Royal A$$, which is what we're going to do this year... she laughed. I didn't come up with that, either; another co-worker did but I think it will be our motto for Spring 2006. K.R.A! K.R.A! Last year's was Git 'Er Done. (props to Larry the Cable Guy.)

-----------------------------------

Toasted Marshmallow Jelly Bellys rock. That is all.

Happy St. Patrick's Day to all my fellow Irishpersons! Sláinte!

May you always have work for your hands to do.
May your pockets hold always a coin or two.
May the sun shine bright on your windowpane.
May the rainbow be certain to follow each rain.
May the hand of a friend always be near you.
And may God fill your heart with gladness to cheer you.

When we drink, we get drunk.
When we get drunk, we fall asleep.
When we fall asleep, we commit no sin.
When we commit no sin, we go to heaven.
So, let's all get drunk, and go to heaven!


ERIN GO BRAGH

Dinner of Champions... or just us.

Breakfast for dinner is a wonderful thing. I'm not a morning-breakfast person, never was, and besides the last thing I want to do when I get up is cook. Putting on the full spread at a more reasonable hour is a lot more fun, and I have less tendency to burn myself!

On a whim, I called Dad and my brother and invited them over for "breakfast" tonight, causing momentary confusion on my brother's part. He did get the part about "come over and eat" and that was all he needed to know! Standard fare... pancakes, sausage, toast, hash browns and dippy eggs. NOT the healthiest of meals, but since I rarely eat that kind of thing I guess it's OK.

I made the best dippy eggs I've ever cooked! Didn't break a one, and they were perfect. Funny since I don't eat them that way. I scramble mine and put ketchup on them. Everyone else likes over-easy so I had to learn to do 'em up right.

-------------------------------------------------

Work was interesting today. I learned that over the past 2 days, a water main for our floor heat came apart (with a whoosh!), one fertilizer injector stopped working again (On Saturday I had canceled the work order to get it fixed), production crew hung the wrong group of baskets before they were rooted, all the environmental changes I'd made on the computer had to be redone due to the loss of floor heat, two mini-injectors are broken, and the only two ATVs that are rigged with hitches to pull our 200-gallon sprayer aren't running. Boss has been gone since Thursday and he'll come back tomorrow to a stack of notes on his desk. Oh, I love a busy day! Absolutely no sarcasm there... in spite of the nonfunctioning items, I get a rush when things go awry. It makes me think of ways to get around them and still get the work done. Thinking outside the box was one of the Leadership exercises we did in that meeting and it's one of my specialties.

I picked up another dead snake in one of the hoophouses today. Poor little guy. Looked like somebody squished him... wish they'd leave the snakes alone! :-( I also taped a "No Critters" sign to the trash can by the office. The people in there tend to dump mouse carcasses in the can instead of outside in the dumpster, and we don't find out about it until we smell it. Ew.

---------------------------------------------------

Fazermints ROCK. That is all.

The Party

Not as many people as I expected there. Met some of hubby's family I'd never met before. One aunt is a minister who goes around to retirement homes to preach. Another aunt and uncle told us about a house for sale by owner, which we're going to look at; then we got to reminiscing about Sequoia Park. Food was OK, the sister who organized the party went a bit overboard so our share came out to be twice what we expected. But Dad's only turning 60 once! Might as well make the most of it.

We called B's grandfather to see if he was coming. He was, and did, and it was nice to chat with him again. The man is a riot. Case in point:

FYI, the bottles were not actual liquor, but the gun was an actual .357 Magnum. (Unloaded of course.) Pop wanted to see it so I grabbed the camera... he's 92, by the way. Just now starting to "slow down a bit." Gotta love him! (Sidetrack: this photo reminds me of Grandma Mazur shooting the turkey in a Janet Evanovich novel. If you've read the Stephanie Plum mysteries you're laughing to yourself right now.)

Hubby, his sister's boyfriend, and the kids had fun target-shooting with the .22 and his crossbow. They plinked coffee cans hung from a tree. Somebody brought out a shotgun and decimated the cans. This is what one of his family parties entails, y'all. Food, weapons, and endless banter among the guests. And usually at least one drama... this time it was subdued, but the drama was there nonetheless. Ah well, makes things interesting.

Miscellaneous

• The fish fry was good, except for a couple of things. One, my friend H. stood us up, which she's never done before, and didn't call to tell us she wasn't coming. Apparently she had some home issues and wanted to go hide for a while. Understandable. It just wasn't as fun without her. Two, my husband remembered to tell me that my uncle had a stroke. This was several hours after he learned about it from my dad. Of course I called Dad and found out that it happened three days ago and Uncle was home already. Gotta love the "oh, by the way" mentality of people up here. *Shakes head* Hubby's family is the same way.
• The gall of some people... we got separate checks for our group of three and our friends' group of four. Their tab was over $50 and they each pitched in a dollar for the tip. We took up table space at a popular restaurant for two hours and had a great waitress, and they left her four bucks. I swapped it out for a ten and some singles, all the cash I had, combining the tip on our smaller bill with theirs to make the minimum 15%. And I still felt bad. She deserved 20%.
• Got a new washer and dryer! Totally unexpected. A woman Hubby delivered to asked if he knew anyone who wanted her W/D set, as she'd just bought a stack unit to make more space in her laundry room. He looked at the set: Kenmore Elite, less than 2 years old! Oh yeah, he knew someone all right. We swapped out our ancient almond-colored set for these newer white ones and finally our kitchen appliances are all the same color. I had to figure out the controls because I've never had one that didn't have knobs and dials before. All electronic push-buttons... wow. Praise the Lord, we won't have to fix the old dryer every six months anymore. Bless that woman.
• The Leadership meeting ran a half-hour over. It was fun, in a way. The site manager at one point was talking about giving concise instruction to trainees, as most people's attention span is about 20 seconds before they start to tune out. Very ironic since we were in a 4 1/2 hour meeting, and she kept interrupting the training to go on and on and on about whatever. I don't remember; my attention wandered and I tuned out. ;-P They had a couple of logic excercises with prizes. I won a nice Day Planner. I love logic puzzles!
• Off to Dad's birthday party now. Hubby wants to go over early to help set up; if it wasn't raining and if I could afford to waste the gas I'd wait and go over in a couple of hours by myself. I just don't like being over there waiting. Never was too comfortable at his brother's house. He's taking his .22 and some targets so if the rain stops at least I can go out and shoot something. Whee!

New Blog!

Since I like to talk about cars so much, I started a blog just for that purpose.
www.alteregomutters.blogspot.com

Going to post the car stuff over there from now on. Check it out, feedback welcome!

In other news... well, there isn't much, actually. Next two days will be busy at work; tomorrow I have a Leadership meeting to attend for four long hours, but at least lunch is provided. Saturday there's only two of us in my plant so I expect to be running around like crazy all day. I wish I could skip that meeting to get some work done in advance but I guess it's mandatory attendance. Fooey.

I won't be able to take St. Patrick's Day off this year. Double fooey! I haven't been to a real St. Pat's Day celebration since I lived down south, when I'd go to Savannah every year. One of these years I'm going to book a plane ticket just to fly down for a couple of days. I just want to hang out and soak up atmosphere, listen to the street musicians, eat crawdads, and people-watch. This year I'm working Friday and Saturday so catching the parade in Wilkes-Barre is out. Might just go have a wee nip of Bailey's or Irish Mist with my dad and toast our Irish heritage. Did you know that there are more people of Irish descent in the U.S. than there are in Ireland? Faith and begorrah!

My mother got a really great deal on a cool old chair, gold curved frame with red cushions... she calls it the Throne... I'd love to have a place for something like that. It would go well with my planned Victorian-themed room. I have the rug and draperies (and bay window!) but haven't moved up to actual furniture yet. Or the actual room to put said furniture in. Someday...

Booked a table for eight at an all-you-can-eat fish fry tomorrow night. The Creekside has the most delicious fish, it's cheap, and we've got a group of friends to catch up with over dinner, so that should be a nice evening out. The restaurant is insanely popular; they have a Trash Bash every Sunday which involves huge piles of food- BBQ ribs, chicken, fish, fries, corn, baked beans- being served on metal trash-can lids. (Not lids used for real trash cans, of course.) I love discovering places like that. Nothing against the chains, but the best food is where the locals eat!

Impeccable Timing

Previous comments about dragging home a 1965 Barracuda were written half-jokingly. I pulled that car, at random, out of my head as ONE of the vehicles I've always loved, not the ONLY specific classic that would go over a newer Toyota. (Still... look at that rear window! I've always been a sucker for huge, rounded rear glass on old cars. Ranks right up there with chrome and tailfins.)

Dad just called. There's a red '65 Barracuda for sale in town. He saw it and immediately thought of me... and yes, we're going by to look at it later. Along with a Toyota Matrix, if I can get past the sheer fugliness of the thing.

Dad must be returning the favor. We took him a sale sheet for a '63 Falcon Ranchero yesterday. He drooled... see where I get it from? Even so, he spent our last car confab trying to convince me I needed another Buick, in this case a new Lucerne. *Shudder* I really wonder about my genes sometimes. Will I someday be trying to convince my own kid that he/she needs a Cadillac instead of the hydrogen-powered MitsuToyoMazDai that they want?

A Recollection

I bring this up after reading on a friend's site that his father recently passed away. I was a bit more surprised than I expected to be, maybe because I'm one of the few friends who ever met and interacted with the man. I bought one of the best cars I've ever owned from him, talked about getting better gas mileage out of a Cadillac, laughed at some of the things he mailed to my friend. But the first thing that popped into my mind was the time I scared his real estate agent.

His house was a big expensive one in a nice neighborhood. He didn't live there. The house was on the market; my friend was staying there in one room until it was sold. I happened to be homeless, and in my mind all those empty rooms in that beautiful house were going to waste while I was sleeping in my car in the WalMart parking lot. My friend would let me crash there sometimes but if his father was coming to town I had to go elsewhere. He didn't want others staying there (understandably) and I don't think he liked me all that much anyway. More than once his car would pull in unexpectedly and I'd have to act like I was just visiting. I don't think he ever believed it though.

There was one time... I'd been without sleep too long and had no other place to go, so decided to stay in the empty guest room at the house. There was a bed with a blanket though I'd have been fine with a patch of floor at that point... I was sleeping more soundly than usual and didn't hear the realtor, potential buyers in tow, arrive the next morning until they came in to look at the room I happened to be in. I finally heard them and bolted straight upright in the bed, hair and blanket flying. Until that point they hadn't noticed me at all... whoops! There were some exclamations and muttering from the group and a hasty exit to another part of the house. In my waking discombobulation I thought the best course of action for me was to hide, so I dove under the bed, pulled my bag with me, and stayed there until I heard the cars leave. I always wondered what the agent said to the father about that little incident.

I really miss that car, and that neat house. I still have one of the garage-door remotes. And a memory of an odd man who probably let me get away with a lot more than he could have.

Weekenders

• I think I'm going to get a Toyota Camry or Corolla instead of another truck. With two 4WD vehicles in our family already, a third would be pointless, when what we could really use is a newer vehicle that gets better than 15 MPG. I still want that Tacoma but it can wait. For once I'm going to be practical instead of emotional. (Check back in a couple months, when instead of a Camry I've dragged a 1965 Barracuda home from Carlisle... if you know me, you know that's more than a remote possibility.)
• Blue Diamond smoked almonds rock. Almonds are supposed to be great for lowering cholesterol, but I'm pretty sure that refers to plain nuts, not the salt-and-smoke-flavor-covered ones. It's the thought that counts, right? Same with oatmeal and cholesterol... is it defeating the purpose to eat maple & brown sugar oatmeal? Or iced oatmeal cookies? Probably. I don't care.
• I tried some fruit water flavored with Splenda and had a NutraSweet gag reaction. I reallyreallyreally hate aspartame. To this day I can taste those sampler gumballs NutraSweet sent through the mail in the 80s to get consumers to try their new sugar alternative. It's not a good memory. Splenda brought that back... don't think I'll be buying it anytime soon.
• Almost over that persistent flu at last! Except for the bronchitis symptoms. The random coughing will probably continue for another week or so like always. Flu shot? No thanks. My extreme dislike for injections is greater than a week or two of feeling like I've been hit by a truck and had cement poured into my head.
• My husband is not only a mind reader, but must truly love me. Love is when a guy who never frequented Taco Bell will agree to eat there to satisfy his wife's cravings every two weeks. True love is when the same guy will go pick up burritos on his way home without waiting to be asked. He did it of his OWN FREE WILL. You could have knocked me over with a spork. This is the man that will never suggest Taco Bell if there is any other viable alternative within 15 miles. And by "viable," I mean "vaguely food-like." (I kid... he likes the Bell, just not as much as I do. Nobody likes them as much as I do.)
• Hubby's dad is turning 60 and the family is throwing a major shindig. The most interesting reason to go, besides Dad himself: B's brother invited "a couple of Dad's girlfriends" to the party. Dad's a widower, so he's entitled I suppose, but I asked Bro if the two women had met each other yet. There was a long silence on the other end of the phone... and then Bro said in a cheerful voice, "Well, if they haven't, nobody's gonna be bored at the party!" Dad knows lots of women... I'm sure these two are just friends... but just in case, I'm not missing it for anything. Anyone know where I can buy Hai Karate cologne? We need a birthday present. *grin*
• Skipped out on bowling tonight, hubby's back was bothering him so we're opting for a quiet night instead. Maybe I'll be in the mood to go see a movie. It's been so long... they still have movie theaters, don't they? With popcorn and sticky floors and all that? Will I need a loan to see a film? Too bad the local drive-in isn't open for the season yet. We have several in the area; my goal this year is to hit the one with three screens for the triple-feature. Funny how I know about that one but have no clue where the closest actual theater is.