tinaalsgirl

I do need to get back into the intermittent fasting. I was doing the 16/8 version, which works well for me, 'cause I don't eat breakfast, so doing just lunch and dinner within the 8 hour window is easy. I just need to get back to paying attention to the time so I can actually be doing it properly. And gotta stop letting myself cheat on what I'm eating; I've gotta stick to the low-carb as best as I can because I can't take Metformin as a preventative because it collides with my IBS. With PCOS, I have a high risk of developing diabetes, so when Metformin didn't agree with me, my OB-GYN put me on low-carb plus intermittent fasting, and I lost nearly 40 pounds. I've gained all that back, and it's my fault. I need to be better at ordering food at restaurants when I'm on the road with my friends. I can't keep justifying eating bad when there are always options for better eating.

I'm really happy to have found those ice creams. I'm back up to almost 270, when I'd managed to make it down to nearly 230, so having a sweet treat available that I don't feel guilty about is a great motivator.

The specific re-theme I saw laid out by a cast member suggests just re-theming SM at Disneyland and leaving the original at WDW. The reasoning is that at Disneyland, it would be very easy to expand a PatF theme of the bayou/New Orleans because it can connect to the already-existing New Orleans Square. Whereas MK doesn't have that, so just keep the original. Plus, it seems WDW has become the "keep the original" when it comes to re-themes over the years; Tom Sawyer Island, Swiss Family Treehouse, and Tower of Terror have all kept their original overlays at WDW, while they've received new ones at DLR. And the re-theme idea I read/saw for re-doing Splash Mountain was AMAZING. It would fit in PERFECTLY and not take too much money/effort to transition into.

So, I mentioned the keto-friendly Rebel ice cream we've been getting from Walmart. Well, last week and this week, we've gotten big packs of a different brand of keto ice cream from our food drop. This brand is Enlightened, and they can be found at stores like Hy-Vee, Price Chopper, and I think Whole Foods (aka, stores we don't have within an hour of us). The flavor we got both weeks is Peanut Butter Fudge, and like the mint chip Rebel, it is 4g net carbs for a whole pint. It's really good, but I can't wait to be able to find other flavors at the stores when we go to visit family whenever our next visit gets to be.

1) Do you intend to visit parks as soon as they open? Nope. 2) What is your reasoning for your choice? I have zero problem with wearing a mask, using hand sanitizer every 15 minutes, etc. But I don't trust other people to comply with the parks' rules, and considering how stressed out I've been getting just during trips to Walmart for groceries seeing everyone not following the signs/wearing masks/etc., I would get even more stressed seeing rule-breakers at parks. And I can't change how my brain is gonna react because I'm autistic and I get thrown into near meltdown when I see blatant rule-breaking. If people can't even read a bright green or red sign on EVERY aisle of the store that says what direction to go down that aisle, I just can't trust anyone to read or follow the rules that parks are gonna need to have to try to keep people protected. Like, I've told my mom I wanna start doing grocery pick-up because I don't think I can handle going into the store anymore. So, me at a theme park during all this? HAH! Also, I worry about catching this thing and being one of those asymptomatics/carriers that could unknowingly spread the virus.... I do not want to be the cause of any human being's death. 3) Are there any stipulations that would change your mind? A well-tested, known-to-work vaccine. I'm technically not "at risk", in that I'm young and my labs are all very normal and my blood pressure is fine, etc. But considering there are young, super-healthy people who have caught and died from this virus, I see *everyone* as being "at risk". Remember the color-coded "Terror Alerts" system we had here in America post-9/11? I see every human being as starting at blue/"Guarded" or yellow/"Elevated"; then the people with co-morbidities/etc. would be orange/"High" or red/"Severe". I don't view anyone as being under green/"Low" in risk of catching this thing. I have orange/red-level grandparents and yellow/orange-level parents that I'd like to keep safe, so I just really don't wanna catch this and risk spreading it to them.

I'm so happy to see your progress, Bert! That's awesome! I... well, let's just say that I'm back where I started. UGH. I'm slowly trying to get myself back into keto. And speaking of, there's a new ice cream brand called Rebel that's sold at Walmart that is keto-friendly. An entire pint is only 4g net carbs. I got the mint chip to try the ice cream out, and I LOVE it. It is SOOOO good. And I cannot eat a whole pint of ice cream in a single sitting, so that's even less carbs for me! Much better than pigging out on edible cookie dough like I've been the last few months... UGH. So disappointed with myself.

I got a free movie rental from Redbox for my birthday, so my mom and I finally got to see Dolittle. I can see and understand some of the negativity towards the movie, but overall, I really enjoyed it! Of course, I am very easily entertained and even with movies like this where there are admittable issues... I'm pretty good at acknowledging that and then pushing it aside so I can just enjoy the good parts.

Only thing I miss about Wehrenberg is the catchy jingle; I spent most of my movie-going time at the Regal downtown... it was within both walking distance, or if I was lazy, also close to the campus shuttle route. The other catchy ad I remember from movie-going down there was the Cox Health F.A.S.T. Stroke ad they would play that, well, I just managed to find it on YouTube:

If I'm lucky, I'll be back living in the KC area by the end of this year. Fingers crossed. I actually went several times to the cinema in Springfield that the Alamo took over, but sadly had already left the area when Alamo came in (I lived in Spfld 2009-2013; went to MSU). I was so glad when I heard they kept the mural of the horses on the backside of the building; I love that mural!

Oh man, I can't wait to finally be able to try out an Alamo. I've heard so many great things about them. In other movie news, I finally saw the movie "Idiocracy" after seeing references to it all over DailyKos comments the last few weeks. Woooowww. Yeah, I can see why people are referencing this movie right now. Also, I really enjoyed it.The r- and f-slurs were a big cringy, but considering the context in which they were used, and also acknowledging this movie is 15 years old, it didn't hurt too bad. But what was nice was that the comedy was... relatively clean outside of the fart/etc jokes. Like, the script never made fun of Rita's choice of profession; they only made fun of Joe and his assumption that she's an artist. It was refreshing, honestly. Anyway, enjoyed the movie, but kinda scared now that I understand all the references people have been making to it...

OOF. That's harsh. I like AMC, but then, their headquarters are in the Kansas City metro, so obviously they have some of their nicer venues in that area, which I have been to (their Leawood location is AMAZING, but of course it would be since that's where the HQ is). But overall, my favorite cinema chain has become B&B Theatres. Even our middle-of-nowhere rural location has great seats and is clean and has decent prices. So, I guess whenever a Universal movie comes out, I'll be going to B&B to see it.

My newest favorite show is Avenue 5 from HBO. It is HILARIOUS! Came for the Hugh Laurie, stayed for the laughs and the production design.

"Lovely Day" has always been one of my faves of his, though "Lean On Me" is, of course, a classic.

Musician Adam Schlesinger, age 52, from COVID-19. Best known to me as a member of Fountains of Wayne and their hit song "Stacy's Mom".

I am such a longtime, huge fan of Disney's parades that I can actually recognize specific performers; a lot of the cast members in this parade are familiar faces from Soundsational. They're all really great and I definitely expect them to keep the performances consistent. Also, I am in LOVE with this parade. It looks best at dusk; some of the effects pop out better in the dark. I think the only thing about this parade that disappointed me is that Tiana didn't get a new outfit... Fairy Godmother, Blue Fairy, even Merlin got updated costumes, and Cinderella and Aurora got amazing new dresses (Aurora's is SO AMAZING OMFG).... but poor Tiana is still stuck in that giant green thing. I mean, I get that the theme of the parade is Transformation, so her being in the green dress makes sense, but... couldn't they couture it up? Like they did with Cinderella and Aurora?

Actor Mark Blum, age 69, from COVID-19

Our membership is through SF Great America, 'cause we didn't know the park you activate at is considered your "home park". No e-mails from SFGA. They really should extend memberships, or at the very least, allow people to cancel their memberships without the cancellation fee that happens if you cancel before 12 months is up.

I have strangely received zero e-mails from SF, despite being a platinum member... Have they said anything about giving refunds or at least suspending payments for the months they're closed?

A bit of lightheartedness for y'all: Due to the recommended quarantine we can only tell inside jokes.

I noticed the lack of mac'n'cheese on our Walmart's shelves, too. I think that might be because schools finally started shutting down and kids are gonna be stuck at home now.

My mom and I went to Walmart yesterday and it looked like all the others I've seen pictures of. Empty shelves everywhere in the grocery area. Also out of soap/pet food/TP/cleaning supplies/etc. Before journey up to Walmart, though, we stopped by the bank which is in the town over from us and then decided to eat lunch at the Chinese place there in town. We were the only ones who stayed to dine-in, and we were worried not seeing any cars there at the time that they're usually full, but while eating, we saw and heard a lot of takeout orders being filled/picked up, so I'm glad their business is still doing well. It's kinda weird still how our routine still hasn't changed really. Yet at the same time, seeing all our friends and family talking about preparing to be stuck at home and stuff, it's rubbed off on us and so we both grabbed some stuff at Walmart for us to play with while at home. Got Frozen II on DVD as well as the Frozen II Monopoly. I grabbed a couple new Barbies and accessory sets. I was gonna get a Lego set to build, but I feel like I got more for $40 getting 3 Barbie dolls and 3 accessory sets compared to $40 for a 300-some piece Lego set. 300-pieces sets are... well, they're like having a 300-piece puzzle - doesn't take very long to build so you don't get into that nice calming groove that you can get into with the bigger sets. My dad has thankfully taken all this seriously and has prepped his household for isolation. Him, my aunt, and my grandma are all high-risk (especially Grandma, who already has a "6-12 months to live" prognosis because of her stage 4 breast cancer that spread to her organs).... So I'm glad they're able to basically "shelter in place." I do hope I'll be able to visit my grandma at least one more time before she passes... I just don't know when we'll be able to start visiting family again because of all this.

Interesting take. Robb and I were just talking about this. I think that this 'shut down' is affecting people quite differently. Those of us who live in touristy places or big cities see DRASTIC changes. Those of us who travel a lot, are seeing tons of cancellations. More 'average' Americans (and that is not derogatory at all!) may not see big differences in their lives. Honestly, I'd consider my house to be "below average". We live in a rural town of 1200; nearest town to us is 2800pop and we have to make a 10 mile drive with only crop fields to look at to get there. Our nearest Walmart is a 30 minute drive northeast of, again, just crop fields. Our town has a Casey's and a Dollar General... that's it. We have to go to that above-mentioned nearest town to find a grocery store and pharmacy. There are a couple restaurants, one Chinese and one Mexican. The only franchise food is Subway. We have to drive south 20 minutes for McDonald's. So... our routine has mostly consisted of just... "chilling". My mom and I don't work (she's got Lyme disease, I'm autistic). So she plays games on Facebook and binges shows on Netflix. I spend most of my time online; keeping caught up on Tumblr takes up a good chunk of my day, and when my hyperfocus turns to it, I can spend hours/days on YouTube watching video game play throughs (because my own computer is 10 years old and I can maybe run Roller Coaster Tycoon... but only 1 or 2. I've felt rather bad the last few days and very helpless because while my routine is the same it's been for the last 5.5 years, my friends in the city are dealing with empty shelves at the grocery stores and worse. My friend with whom I travel relies heavily on the income he and his boyfriend get from running a traveling Pachinko parlor at various conventions. This weekend was supposed to be their biggest weekend of the year - 20% of their annual business. But that con had to cancel.... and now they're having to run a GoFundMe because they are short this month without that business and if they can't pay the rest of what they owe on property taxes that they got behind on... the city will take the house and auction it to collect. Thankfully, the fundraiser has, just as I'm writing this, managed to reach its goal. *PHEW* I have been so worried for them!!!

I feel really bad because so far, my household's routine has had zero changes. If we didn't watch/read the news, we'd never know something was happening. Okay, maybe that's a bit of hyperbole. We did make sure to stock up on some shelf food items last week at Walmart. I grabbed 3 12-pack boxes of ramen noodles. Not healthy at all, but it'll keep me fed, and since I live solely on food stamps, gotta go cheap. My friend and I were planning a road trip in July, but we'll just have to see how things are going by then... Don't know if any of the conventions that far in the future will have had to cancel or not.

I'm expecting activity in the Roller Coaster Games sub-forum to pick up - if ya can't go to the real parks, make your own at home!

I think that was one of the hurricane evacs.