Escape from New York (A Rant - you have been warned)

We've decide to move back to our beach home in Virginia Beach, rising oceans and hurricanes be damned. Rochester has been wonderful in many ways, but we miss our house and our friends in Va., not to mention that the winters are a little easier to deal with and the taxes are a fair bit lower. The last few weeks have been a mad dash of packing and goodbye's, the usual transition routine. My wife and I both have jobs lined up beginning this week and the original plan was to load the rental truck Saturday, get up early Sunday morning and hit the road. Arrive in Va. Beach in time for some dinner and maybe a little unloading. The fact that it's Tuesday afternoon and I'm typing this from our empty, very hot apartment in Rochester might be a clue that things didn't quite go like we thought.

Plot twist #1: I don't want to name names, so I'll just refer to the truck rental company as "U-HELL", they called Friday afternoon to let me know that they didn't have my "equipment" available for Saturday morning and would call sometime Saturday whenever it would be ready. I asked the nice lady, "So, if I haven't heard from you by noon, should I give you a call?". With more then a slight hint of irony in her voice she replied, "Ah, sure, if you like.". The next day, I got up early and finished packing and started cleaning, still hopeful that I'd get a call, but noon came and went. I tried calling the number I was given and sat on hold for over a half hour before giving up. I tried several times throughout the day to get through, but no joy. Ultimately, I would not receive a call from them until 5:35 pm Sunday afternoon. When the happy chap who called asked, "When would you like to pick-up the truck?", I replied, "Yesterday morning at 8 am.". I got a real problem with poorly run corporations who think it's o.k. to screw their "customers" over as was done in this case and will not give old U-HELL anymore of my hard earned money. If a company causes me great inconvenience and pain, then they had better be prepared to share that pain by offering discounts or something. Also, I received exactly two calls from them, one Friday night and one Sunday night, nothing in between to provide an update or status report. Bye bye U-HELL.

Plot Twist #2: As the truckless Saturday sunk in, we became resigned to the schedule shifting a day and went out to eat Saturday night. We had a lovely meal at a wonderful restaurant called "Basha" here in Rochester. Pay'em a visit if you ever visit. The great food and wine worked wonders on relieving the tensions of the day, until we got in the car to go home and the damn thing wouldn't start. I won't bore you with the details of the night, waiting for the tow truck in the rain and all of that. Let's just say I was wondering why God or whomever was picking on me, but then again, switching the news on put these small inconveniences into perspective, but even so, we all feel 100% of our own grief. The punchline is, "$720.00 plus tax and it won't be ready until Tuesday afternoon". Am I getting ripped off? Who knows, at this point, I'm a tad shell shocked and just want to get out of this frickin' town. BTW, the car is an old SAAB (pronounced SOB, as in what you do when you get the bill) and any repair seems to run $500-$900, I know, because we've had to take it to the shop too many times in the last year.

So the morals of the story are, never use U-HELL and never own a SAAB (unless you have loads of money you wish to give away).

Next post, hopefully will be from an air-conditioned place somewhere far south of here.

Wish me luck.

OK HW

Happy No More

Finished my acting commitment to the "Happy Walter" project. This was the third Sunday in a row of shooting and I'm sad it's over as I was getting used to putting on the wacky clothes and slipping into Mr. Walter's skin for a few hours. Zoje Stage, the writer/director of this flick really made it easy for me, exhibiting buckets of patiences and providing lots of guidance to help me be "Happy". She's a great person to work with. I salute you Zoje! I haven't seen any of the footage yet, actually avoided watching any of the dailies while we were shooting as I feared seeing myself being "Happy" might throw me into a self-conscious zombie meltdown the next time I had to be on camera. Now that I have finished my bit, I'm going to check out some of the footage later this week. I got to say that I've really enjoyed getting to take on such a substantial and colorful role. It was a good opportunity to stretch my acting legs and see what I could really do. I feel satisfied with the work that I did, satisfied because it has fed a part of my creative soul that has gone hungry too long. I am at my best when I'm creating something, when I'm stepping into the arena and accepting the challenge of simply living my life as close to my true nature as I can.

zahdah

OK HW

I AM HAPPY

Today was the first day of production for "Happy Walter". I was pretty nervous as this was the biggest acting gig I have ever attempted and I had a fair chunk of dialogue to work with today. I worked hard to know my lines and it paid off when the camera rolled I was able to deliver the goods. It was a great way to begin the production. We had some minor drama early in the day when we were politely ejected from what we thought was a public park but turned out to be private property for an institution that will remain nameless. It probably provided the old security a good opportunity to use the golf cart and drive out and "handle a situation", though to his credit, he was respectful and patient. Hopefully that will be the last of the reality intrusions to the shoot, but you never know. Back to my lines studying lines.

OK HW

Who is Happy Walter?

This is the biggest film making news that I've had to share in a long time. I've been invited to play the lead role in a film called "Happy Walter", a Master Builder Production written and directed by Zoje Stage. Here's the official announcement from Zoje's site:

"- I am currently in production on a new feature-length film, a mockumentary called "Happy Walter"!!! Hal Weaver stars in the leading role, along with more than a dozen other Rochester & Pittsburgh residents (shooting will take place in both cities). The film will feature original music by Jonathan Young. This is a very exciting time for us! Check the website for more info."

I don't want to give anything away, but it's a cool idea with plenty of room for humor, commentary on the art world and dissection of Daddy issues. I'll keep you posted as more details come to light. Maybe Zoje will let me post a clip or two up here. I'm really looking forward to having another acting role and this one is the biggest yet. Although I have had a little acting experience (heck I even have an IMDB credit page), I'm glad that Zoje has an acting background and will be able to coach me if I start ACTING too much (gotta keep my Shatner under control).

OK, nuff said. I got to go practice being Happy.

OK HW

June Hiking Report

And this is the point where I say, "my, where did that month go?". Ahem. Well then, I barely squeaked in my miles for the big halfway point for 2006. Had to snap on the boots and hit the river trail for a quick 5 miles Friday, but it was a beautiful, warm day, and refreshing break from the roving thunder drenchers that have been making drive by dump and runs on upper state New York this week (and from what I see much of the east coast). I don't mind hiking in the rain, but do mind the lightening and not find of high winds, so I've been off the trail too much in the last couple of weeks. Onward.

May Hiking Report

Got some good miles in last month including some time walking all over both sides of Niagara Falls with my visiting Mom and sister Darlene. Hit 41 miles for the month, bringing the yearly total so far to 252. Just need 48 miles this month to meet the 50% mark. Should do that and more. Looking to do some longer hikes this month. Some more stuff along the Eerie canal and would love to get back in the hills, been doing too much flat walking lately.