Multiply 365 Day 224 - Batshit breakfasty (w/pics)

Yes kids, I am what's causing all of this.  And I got the pictures to almost prove it.  Just because that's the way I roll.  Anyway I was playing with my camera today (more on that later) and when it came time to download the photos I still had the ones I took from Mount Washington the other morning.  As I feared, they pretty much all sucked.  This was the best of the lot and for those that pay close attention to the page, you will note it is now the background image on the home page as well.  It isn't hockey season after all, so ditching the hockey stuff just seemed to make sense. 

Today was day 20 of 20 straight days at work and to start it off, well what better way to celebrate the end of this streak (and the firing of Curtis) than with a trip to Deluca's for breakfast.  Sammy and I decided to make a breakfast run this morning.  He asked his son to join us, but as is the case with us inviting people, they just can't get out of bed nearly early enough.  But like I always say, more breakfast for me then.

Sammy opted for the Steel City breakfast.  For those unfamiliar, that would be two eggs, bacon, sausage, home fries, either two pancakes or a waffle (obviously Sammy went with the waffle) and toast (not pictured).  If, when you die, you are looking to have your blood resemble something along the lines of the goo that was found inside a Stretch Armstrong Doll  then this is very possibly a good start.

But last I checked, I came here not just to eat, but to celebrate.  And there is really only one way for me to celebrate at breakfast.  Pass me a breakfast sundae.  Today it was the Reese Peanut Butter Cup sundae - peanut butter and chocolate chip pancakes topped with a scoop of chocolate ice cream that is buried under a mound of whipped cream, then chocolate and caramel sauce are drizzled over the entire creation and lastly it is topped with a cherry.  This much sugar before 8am is actually illegal in 13 states, unless it's not (thanks Ben Maller).  It is 11 hours after I have had this thing as I type and I am still wound up.  Which does not bode well for you, young blog readers.

We left Deluca's shortly before 8 am, and as is the case the line was already starting to form.  I am not a big "standing in line" kinda guy, so I would rather go early than late.  And yes, by 8am you are standing in line.  By 10am you will have a lengthy wait just to be seated.. 

Sammy and I had a plan actually, we would go in early, do some work reorganizing the stock room at Universal News, then meander down the street and do some stuff at Smithfield News.  But the filming of "The Dark Knight Rises" got in the way, it had all of the streets near Universal closed so we had to detour around the filming project to get back  to Smithfield and scrub the entire project at Universal for another week.  Not that I minded all that much, I still had plenty of work to do without adding the reorganization of another store on top of it.  Anyway, we scoot down Cherry Way to the Blvd of the Allies and hang a left to walk down to Smithfield when I see a helicopter take off from the top of a building.  At first I though, wow, they are using the Batcopter in this pic.  It was a thought that was probably stirred on by the fact I owned the Batcopter as a kid. But it wasn't, instead it was a film crew, looking to do some overhead shots of a car chase they were filming.  So instead I got to snag a couple of pics as the helicopter made a filming pass during a shoot.

And really, how cool is that?  I think if I were flying a helicopter that low between buildings I would probably be shitting myself the entire time.  You will also note the odd looking car in the foreground.  I can't be positive but I believe that is the camouflage Batmobile.  Of course one has to wonder just what would be the point of using camouflage in the city, but who am I do ponder such things?  I just know that if I have a camera on me and someone is flying a helicopter below building level right down the street where I work, I damn well better be getting a pic or two.

Of course I couldn't stand around all day doing nothing, unless I didn't want to be paid for my journey today (and I most certainly did, this isn't the United Way after all) so it was time to head down to my almost newly minted desk, set up shop and start banging out tasks for the day.  I say almost newly minted because the desk has been there a while, but now it is mine, all mine, bwah, hah, hah.  Astute people to the blog would recognize it as my desk for two reasons; 1) it's a mess and 2) directly above my laptop on the wall are the Ferengi Rules of Acquisition, (Rule 141  Only fools pay retail.  See, it is helpful.)

After a longish day that included getting all of my invoices caught up, adding products to the sytem that weren't scanning, changing prices from new tags I was sent as well as a 5 page note on effective price chages, breaking apart an old humidor, bringing up some new product from the basement and getting my ordering done it was time to call it a day, so I stepped outside.  On the plus side, with Smithfield Street being closed across the street from us my bus stop was detoured so that it was right in front of the store, so I managed to snag a couple more pics of what may or may not be the new Batmobile(s).  I almost wanted to run across the street, not so much to get a closer look at the set of wheels, but to see if the hot brunette would rough me up a bit.  What can I say, I was feeling frisky.

Of course another thought struck me as I was watching this all taking place and waiting for the bus.  They are spending a lot of time filming on Smithfield Street.  This is going to take a lot of creative editing on their part to convince me that this is a real chase scene.  Yeah, I am a stickler for details like that.  I remember seeing "Striking Distance" back in the day and among the mysteries from that movie (Can a movie get negative stars as a rating?  When did our rivers become crystal clear?  How can anyone find Sarah Jessica "Horse Face" Parker attractive?) was how none of the streets they used in their chase scenes were anywhere close to each other.  I know I didn't see any teleportation devices in the movie (though they couldn't have hurt it) so the car chases in the movie may have made sense to people not from around here, but to us locals it just made no sense at all.  And Sarah Jeesica Parker?  Really?  Trust me, there may be people out there running a great big conspiracy, but it isn't the Bilderbergers or the Freemasons, or the Knights Templar, it is the people trying to pass SJP off as hot.  And Matthew Broderick?  I just think he failed his saving throw.

But back to the topic at hand, if they are only going to use one or two streets in the chase scene in Batman, it is going to stick out like a sore thumb to me. 

But after waiting for my bus and getting stuck in traffic after it arrived (we had to wait for them to complete another shot), I managed to sneak in a lunch at the Squirrel Cage, pick up my bus pass and a couple of food stuffs to survive a day off and now I am shutting it down for the next 36 hours or so.  I heard a rumor that "Meet the Press" is on Sunday monrings and I want to confirm that.  So toodles.