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I went to see
Saltburn with Tracy last night, at the AMC 10 in the U District. The movie is playing both there and at Pacific Place, but for some reason both theaters scheduled almost exclusively crap showtimes—I mean, I could have done a 4:45 showtime on Thursday, but that was too early for Tracy. Ideally there would be, say, a 5:30 or even 6:00 showtime, but nope. The best option was U District, at 7:30.
I did gain some insight from this experience though. Going so often to weekday movies that show between 4:30 and 5:30, I've gotten kind of deluded into thinking people still aren't going to the movies all that often. It's not at all unusual for me to be literally the only person at one of these movies.
Well, much like it was pre-pandemic, showtimes after 7:00 in the evening are far nore popular than early-evening showtimes, even on weekdays. I had waited until the Thursday schedule was out at the AMC 10 before I confirmed we would still go last night, just in case Thursday had a better time, and that schedule didn't appear until yesterday afternoon. We still had to stick with 7:30 last night, but I had waited so late to book seats, I went into the AMC app and was stunned to find the only rows left with two seats open next to each other were either in the front row or the back row. (I chose the back row, among the four right next to the entrance to the screening room. This was in a smaller screening room with only something like eight rows anyway.)
Not only was I surprised to see how full the seat already were, but when I reached the theater at about 7:25, there was a line of like 10 people at the registers. I hadn't seen anything like that there since before 2020. But: then I realized, oh, this is a 7:30 showing. That must be in. Other people really are going to the movies! And this was a Tuesday—granted, also the discount night at AMC, so Tracy only had to pay me back $7.35.
Tracy didn't have time to come and pick me up, which was fine. I told her taking Light Rail would be super easy, which was true. I took a bottle of hot chocolate I made on the stove. I was surprised how hot it still was after an hour, as I left the condo at 6:45. Annoyingly, a northbound train was leaving just as I arrived on the platform, and I barely missed it. I had to wait around another eight minutes for the next one. And Tracy got to the theater earlier than usual, so she wound up waiting around for me for a bit.
Nether of us were super impressed with the movie.
She did give me a ride back home afterward, as per usual, and although I didn't intend to spend a lot of time chatting in her car, of course we did anyway—even though it was around 10:00 by the time we got back to my building. It was another hour before I was back in the condo and getting ready for bed. Shobhit was in bed when I got in, and had already fallen asleep. He also started reading my library book (
Aristotle and Dante Dive Into the Waters of the World), and the book was on my side of the bed, sitting next to him. I put it back into my backpack for reading on the bus downtown this morning.
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— पांच हजार पांच सौ अठारह —
It was fucking cold on the mile walk to work from downtown this morning—32°. Also dry and sunny as the sun rose, so in warmer conditions I could have read the book while I walked. But, I needed my hands in my pockets. I listened to a Christmas playlist on my new Apple AirPods.
I'm posting much later today for two reasons. Noah, Kevin and I just had lunch with Scott, who is finally moving to Phoenix for his new hob at KeHE. This was basically a goodbye lunch with Scott, even though he has now been gone from PCC for nearly two years. Also, I had my 1:1 meeting with Gabby right when I got back, rescheduled from Friday because she'll be at some event all day at UW on Friday.
We met at a nearby Mexican restaurant called Plaza Garibaldi, which I had never been to. It was pretty standard fare. I had a taco salad, which with tax and tip came to $16. (I gave slightly more than 20% tip just to get an even dollar amount.) Noah had to wait for some bread samples to get delivered before he could head over, so Kevin and I walked together, and Scott was cross the street toward the restaurant just as we were about to get there. Noah arrived maybe ten minutes later.
Nothing particularly momentous was discussed. A lot of talk about real estate markets in Seattle versus the Phoenix area where Scott is moving to. He'll be on a flight out of SeaTac at 5:45 Friday morning, but Linda isn't going down until the 15th. At that time, I guess, Scott flies back to Seattle and then they drive their car and trailer down to Arizona. They're in a rental for now but are looking for a house to buy, all of which are about twice the size for half the price. That's an exaggeration, but only a slight one. The people down there pay for it in other ways, like living in literal hell for half the year.
A slight surprise was hearing that Scott only intended to live down there for three years or so. He's moving for the job he took, which requires him to be in that area, but if he can find another job after that which allows him to work remotely full time, he apparently intends to come back to Seattle. He said he doesn't want to retire in Phoenix. On the other hand, his son also lives down there, so we'll see what affect that might have on his decision making in the long run. (Conversely, his daughter still lives in Western Washington.)
Anyway, it was nice to see him, and I'm glad I got to see him before he moves. Tracy has been trying to get a dinner planned with him and me before he moves, and it doesn't look like that's going to happen.
I had my meeting with Gabby at 1:00, which lasted a full hour rather than the usual half hour. It was very illuminating, filled with information I could never share here but included some truly juicy gossip that I immediately had to share in an email with Scott when I got back to my desk. We're talking holy-shit territory here, and it involves someone Scott could never stand. So I delighted in sharing the hot goss with him.
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[posted 2:35 pm]
