Uber Adventures

photo courtesy of Dreamstock - by Leopolo.

In case anyone is interested, I am still in my boot after toe surgery. The pin is out (whew!), but I'm still healing. After two weeks of foot elevated with ice, I graduated in May to being able to go to work but no driving. Say what?  This is Texas. I work an hour away. And no, there's no public transportation. Are you crazy?

What to do?  Hitch a ride?  Fat chance and nobody I know was headed north and west to the "country".  So I gave Uber a whirl.  Quite an adventure.

It was rather easy to get a ride in the morning. There were plenty of Uber drivers circling the Mid-Cities (between Dallas and Fort Worth).  The majority had clean cars and were very professional. Two drivers were older hippie dudes - one a retired trucker, the other just floating through life. They had good senses of humor and were enjoying being Uber drivers. I had another fellow who was a college student. Uber was flexible for his schedule.  Another young fellow surprised me - He was a big fellow. Based on his accent,  I surmised he was from an African nation, but he was listening to a pop station when I got in the car. I would have not have guessed him keeping the beat to Meagan Trainor or Justin Bieber.

Everyone was surprised at the drive and how rural it was an hour away. I hope they left bread crumbs to get back to civilization.  Indeed, it was much harder to get a ride back home in the afternoon. One of my work guys had to drive me into "town" about 15-20 minutes in to even get an Uber signal. Then it was surge pricing due to lack of supply.

All in all, I survived the two weeks of depending on strangers. I spun the roulette ride wheel and was lucky.  Now I"m back in my own glorious blue Chevy Cruz. I am allowed to drive with a sandal, and then put on the boot at work. I can play my own station and music, I can pop the sun roof.

 I feel free....

Movie Reviews

Fresh in the Queue -

Drive - Ryan Gosling is a stuntman who moonlights as a getaway driver. He lives a very isolated life until he meets his pretty neighbor (Carey Mulligan) and her son. However, her violent husband is released from prison and Ryan's character is drawn into the crime scene. Albert Brooks plays an exceptionally nasty man, and there's some double crossing going on. Ryan's a good actor but very expressionless in this movie. Guess he's going for stoic, reserving his inner strength. Plenty of chase scenes, great stunts, and lots of tension. This is a dark and violent movie. Not suitable for kids. It was good. I was expecting better, but it had some twists and turns, and a rollover or two.

Abduction - Here, Team Jacob (Taylor Lautner) stretches from the Twilight films and stars in his own tween flick. His shirt is off a few times, so as far as this critic is concerned, I give the film a thumbs up. When it came out in the theaters, real critics panned it. Aw c'mon, it wasn't that bad. Basically, here's an only child who's been raised and trained how to fight and think for himself. Well, turns out he was adopted by CIA type parents in a unique program. They are killed and he has to figure out who are the good guys, who does he really belong to, and adapt to his newfound freedom and identity. Sigourney Weaver, who's been his shrink, is on his side and helps him escape. Alfred Molina, for the government, claims to be good but is suspicious. There's plenty of chase scenes, guns, and action. This is brain candy and Taylor is adequate for the job. Good cast and it ties up well in the end, plus the boy does get the cute girl. Fun rental.

In Theaters Now:

This Means War stars Reese Witherspoon- too cute for words, Chris Pine - dreamy blue eyes, and Tom Hardy - British actor and a brute look, but a pussycat heart. Reese doesn't date, but her best friend (foul mouth Chelsea Handler) signs her up on a dating site. Well, Tom checks out the site and meets her on a date. They hit it off. After she leaves the coffeeshop, she meets Chris in the video store. He was just hanging there to keep tabs on his buddy Tom. Well, Chris falls for Reese. Now she has two great guys vying for her attention.

With a gentleman's agreement, they'll allow the best man to win and she has no idea. Plus they both work for the CIA and are trying to catch a notorious Russian terrorist. But that's merely side tension. The main thrust of the film is how they put their spy tactics to use to thwart each other's dates. It escalates and is quite humorous. Meanwhile, Reese is torn. She has a love/hate time with Chris, and Tom's almost too nice.

I know who I rooted for to win her heart. You'll have to see This Means War to make your own choice. This is a good date flick - plenty of blow 'em up action, plenty of luscious flirtation, down and dirty humor courtesty of Ms.Handler, and it's fun. It has Reese and she's so charming and smart and helpless and then heroic. It's been a dry spell for a good version of this kind of movie. It's your obligation to make it a night - dinner and movie, and hold hands, and laugh together. This Means War = Truce.