Rating Kings Dominion's Coasters

What a week!  We're finally home and we have cool air!!!  Our air conditioner is working fine (for now), so after a week away from our own beds, including a trip to Kings Dominion last weekend and camping out at my parent's house all of this week, we are relaxing at home, on our own couch, watching our own TV, eating our own food, using our own computers, and using our own bathrooms.  There's no place like home!

My daughter and I had a great time at Kings Dominion, an amusement park near Richmond, VA, that I hadn't been to in over ten years.  There are thirteen roller coasters at the park, and Melody and I rode eleven of them.  The only reason we didn't get around to the last two was because we ran out of time, but we also wore ourselves out.  Some of them were pretty intense.  The following list is followed by my daughter's impressions of each of them (in italics).

1.  Rebel Yell - Rebel Yell was OK... it made me kind of sick, though.  It was a little rough, too.

2.  The Hurler - This one was fun!  It is the only wooden roller coaster at the park that goes sideways.

3.  Woodstock Express (used to be the Scooby Doo Roller Coaster) - It was tight, but fun!  We had some trouble getting into the cars, but not as much trouble as some people did. 

4.  Volcano - Since we had Fast Lane (it gets you to the front of the line), we were able to enjoy the ride a lot faster then we would if we had stood in that line!  It's one of those rides where your feet dangle.  I really enjoyed this ride. 

5.  Avalanche - It was a little too smooth for a roller coaster.  It had no track, just rode around on a tube-like thing.  I had to sit on my dad's lap!  That was NOT comfortable!! 

6.  The Grizzly -  Like Rebel Yell, it made me kind of sick again.  It was still fun, but just a little rough.  

7.  Ricochet - This ride was the first Wild Mouse ride I've ever ridden.  We got in line for one once, but the line was too long.  It had lots of twists and turns that made you feel like you are about to fall off the edge, but it was still really fun! 

8.  Back Lot Stunt Coaster - Like Verbolten (Busch Gardens Williamsburg, VA), the coasters looked like cars.  Except these cars were like Mini Coopers.  I love Verbolten, and since this ride is similar, I loved this ride, as well.  

9.  Anaconda - Anaconda might have been in the same place as King Cobra, but I don't know that for sure.  It was a little wild.  It even went underwater once! 

10.  Intimidator 305 - This, I thought, was going to be the last ride of the day, but then we rode Shockwave.  They strapped you in good!  It goes up really high, and goes really fast!  It is NASCAR themed, and if you know NASCAR, you know that the cars go really fast.  So did this one.  It had these twists and turns that happened one after another, knocking you into your harness.  It was so rough!  I didn't really like this one.    

11.  Shockwave - Shockwave is a stand up roller coaster.  To ride it, you have to be able to have your feet flat on the floor and be able to stand above this stool-like thing.  This was my first stand up roller coaster, so it was really fun. One of the ride attendants helped me have a more comfortable ride by lowering the stool-like thing. It was a fun ride. 

I'm sad that we couldn't ride Flight of Fear or Dominator, but we rode some other rides that I really liked. We rode Blue Ridge Turnpike, three times, and a ride called Boo Blasters At Boo Hill, three times. Boo Blasters is where the ride that once had characters like Huckleberry Hound, Yogi Bear, Wally Gator, etc. etc. was, in Planet Snoopy. I look forward to going back to Kings Dominion soon!  

Numbers 12 and 13 are the Dominator and Flight of Fear.  Dominator, a steel, multi-looping coaster, was located near the entrance to the park, and for some reason, we never made it back to that area.  Flight of Fear, which I have ridden before, is entirely indoors, in a large, enclosed, building in complete darkness, and you have no idea what is happening until it happens.  It is located next to Intimidator 305, and we were too breathless from that one to be able to ride Flight of Fear.

Kings Dominion is a fairly nice park, better than I remembered, and my daughter and I plan to come back.

Have a great evening, everybody!

Technical Difficulties At 44 Years

This has truly been a blessed year! I am so thankful for 44 years of life. I hope the coming year is just as good! I'm so thankful for my great friends, my family, my wonderful daughter and traveling companion, Melody, and I'm so thankful for a wonderfully gracious God. I will also be happy to have my laptop back with a full keyboard so I can type again. Have a great evening, everybody!

Coaster Summer Begins...

My daughter and I spent the weekend at Kings Dominion, just north of Richmond, VA, to begin our Summer of Coasters.  What a blast!  Kings Dominion is an amusement park that has been around for over 35 years. In fact, I remember my family visiting the park when I was a kid.  So it was really neat to be able to take Melody.

Kings Dominion has 13 roller coasters and we were anxious to ride them all.  Several are relatively new, and since it has been over 10 years since my last visit, many were new to me.  But there were some classic coasters that I remembered very well, particularly the quartet of wooden roller coasters.

We arrived at home this afternoon hoping our air conditioner had been fixed, but 87 degree temperatures greeted us when we opened the front door.  Fortunately, my parents invited us to crash at their place for a few days until we get a part that will fix the AC.  I will update our trip more fully once I get access to my laptop... I don't type as well with my thumbs. I need a full keyboard.

Have a cool evening everybody!

My Top 5 Roller Coasters

My daughter and I are getting ready for our Summer of Roller Coasters.  We have plans to visit not one, not two, but six amusement parks this summer, including Kings Dominion, Cedar Point, Kennywood, Idlewild, Hershey Park, and Busch Gardens, and one more possibility that remains a secret for now.  Thinking about all of these parks, all of which I've visited, made me think about some of my favorite roller coasters.  There are so many great ones at so many parks, but I do have a few that are awesome rides.  Honorable Mention goes to Cheetah Chase, Busch Gardens, Tampa, FL, The Incredible Hulk, Universal, Orlando, FL, and the long-lost Drachen Fire, Busch Gardens, Williamsburg, VA.  Here are my top 5...

#5 - The Cyclone, Coney Island, NY.  This roller coaster is the only wooden one in my top 5.  My daughter and I visited Coney Island over Spring Break last month and it overwhelmed me.  It was much more fun than I had anticipated, and much longer.  It was typically rickety, but that's what makes the wooden roller coasters as scary as they are.  Other great wooden roller coasters I've been on include the Thunderbolt at Kennywood in Pittsburgh, the Rebel Yell at Kings Dominion near Richmond, VA, and the Hurler, also at Kings Dominion.  But the Cyclone was pretty special.

#4 - Manta, SeaWorld, Orlando, FL.  Manta is very unique, in that you actually ride this roller coaster on your stomach.  I had never been on anything like it.  It was just wild enough that the unique position made it really enjoyable, with a nice mix of hills and turns.  We only rode it once, unfortunately, but it was certainly memorable enough to make my top 5.  I hope to return to SeaWorld to try it again.

#3 - Apollo's Chariot, Busch Gardens, Williamsburg, VA.  Apollo's Chariot was the first of the so-called hyper coasters that I had ever been on.  These coasters seem designed more for speed than the fast turns and loops associated with too many steel coasters nowadays.  I prefer the speed coasters, with many high hills and plenty of Gs.  This one is one of the best.  I may be a bit biased since I believe Busch Gardens is the best amusement park in the USA.

#2 - The Loch Ness Monster, Busch Gardens, Williamsburg, VA.  Nessie has long been my favorite roller coaster.  It was the first steel coaster I ever rode, and the first that took me upside down, as well.  I know I've ridden this coaster more than any other, and I still get a thrill from that first drop.  It is a classic roller coaster, with interlocking loops and a gorgeous design, using the topography of the park to good use.  This would be my #1 coaster if I hadn't been to Cedar Point a few years ago...

#1 - Millennium Force, Cedar Point, Sandusky, OH.  I have already established that I love the hyper coasters, ones that reach incredible speeds.  Apollo's Chariot was the first I had ever ridden.  About ten years ago, my brother and I decided to make a trip to Cedar Point to check out the dozen or so roller coasters there, and we had a blast.  But Millennium Force blew everything else away.  It was easily the best ride at the park, and after riding it a few times, it was unlike anything I had ever been on.  It was similar to Apollo, but so much higher and so much faster!  It was just an incredible ride.  I'm looking forward to returning to Cedar Point later this summer so my daughter can experience it, too.

Have a great evening, everybody!

A Bunch Of Stuff

I woke up this morning at around 3 a.m. sick as a dog.  My apologies to all of the dogs out there, since I don't know where that saying comes from, but I was sick even if Faithful Pup Scout, the family dog, was not.  As a result, I ended up staying home from work. I didn't get out of bed until almost noon.  I was pretty miserable up until then.  I really don't know what caused it, except that our meal out at Houlihan's may have been a little too rich for my apparently delicate constitution.  Being a diabetic has its downside.

Once I was up and around, I watched TV.  I hated wasting the day away, but that's essentially what I did.

***

Our air conditioning is not working.  With a string of 90 degree days hitting us this week, this is a major problem.  We have plenty of fans, and they do make a difference, but it is hardly comfortable.  The repair company who I have an extended warranty with will be here sometime on Friday, which is anytime between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m.  It's good they can narrow it down a little.  I have a great father, though, who is willing to come over on Friday, suffer through the heat, and wait around until they show up so I don't have to miss another day of work this week.  It's going to be a rough couple of nights, though.

***

The NHL Stanley Cup playoffs finally move to the next round with my Pittsburgh Penguins taking on the Boston Bruins beginning Saturday night at 8, followed by games next Monday, 6/3, then 6/5, 6/7, 6/9, 6/11, and 6/12.  It has been a long time since the Pens last played, and I have to laugh at the schedulers for stretching the break between rounds, then rushing through the last two scheduled games on back-to-back days.

One thing about the Pens that I can't figure out is why they changed their color scheme a few years back.  They had matching colors with the Steelers and Pirates, with black and gold (more of a yellow) primary colors.  The Pens had those colors, too, but then changed to a bronze gold, more like the New Orleans Saints.  I only bring it up since the Bruins have the same black and yellow colors.

Anyway, the Pens should be well-rested for the series verses the Bruins, so I'm hopeful they'll be able to quickly get take the series and move to the finals.

***

If the weather stays tolerable, we may make our first trip to a roller coaster park of the season!  I haven't been to Kings Dominion in over a decade, and this would be Melody's first.  They have about a dozen coasters, several of them being wooden roller coasters, so, should the weather cooperate, we'll head down to Virginia in the next week.

***

For anyone wondering, the Grace Adventures Day Camp Flapjack Fundraiser pulled in almost $1500 for their scholarship program, so it was a huge success.  Many thanks to those that attended, and particularly to those campers and counselors who pulled it off.  Personally, I enjoyed the pancakes and sausage, and I even completely forgot to ask for sugar-free syrup, so despite a blood-sugar level far higher than what should be normal, I never once fell into a diabetic coma.  And my wonderful daughter has now decided her career track will included being a waitress.  So there's that.

Have a great night, everyone!

Teresa's Birthday

I had a wonderful evening with my daughter tonight.  On the spur of the moment, during a trip to the local Wegman's, I decided we needed to go out to dinner to celebrate.  Today would have been my wife's, Teresa's, 41st birthday.  So we ended up at Houlihan's, one of our favorite restaurants, to celebrate her life.  It was a delicious meal.  We had the Disco Fries as an appetizer, Melody had Mac & Cheese with carrots and apple sauce, and I had the fish tacos.  Then Melody had the s'mores for dessert.  The strawberries were ripe.

I'm glad we ended the day on a high note, since I was feeling a bit melancholy for most of the day.  Yeah, it has been nine years, and today was just another day, but the significance of the date still hits me.  It took on greater significance after a good friend of mine lost his wife on this date several years ago.  It just makes me sad.

I was thinking about things earlier this morning... My in-laws and my parents both are coming up on their 50-year anniversaries, and, even if I were to meet someone tomorrow, the odds of me getting to celebrate a 50-year anniversary are not very high, and really unlikely.  Yeah, it's just a number, but it is significant.  You only get one chance at this life.  I'm glad our next life is spent with our Savior.  I know that will be so much better.

Happy 41st birthday, Teresa, my wonderful wife.  Enjoy your birthday with our Savior.

First Cars

I was looking through some old pictures and I found a few of the cars that I owned shortly after I started driving.  The pics brought back a lot of great memories.

My first car was one my parents purchased just before I started driving, in 1985.  It was the first time our family had three vehicles at the same time (other than a motor home), and it was bought in anticipation of us needing a third car for me to drive, as well as saving some mileage on the family conversion van.  I remember when we found it on the used car lot.  It jumped out at us.  We were at Ritter Nissan in Waldorf, MD, and the car we found was an Oldsmobile.  We always bought Oldsmobiles.  This one was a 1981 Olds Omega.  It was painted 2-tone white on gray, with a pair of bright red & orange stripes down each side, along with "sportOmega" in big white letters on both doors.  In hindsight, the car really was kind of an eyesore, but it stood out that day and we bought it after a quick test drive.  It ended up being the car that I used to learn how to drive, and I drove it until the summer after I graduated from high school.  I loved it, not just because it stood out of the crowd, but it was fun to drive, too.  It had a V6 engine, a sunroof, and was loaded with power windows & locks and a cassette player.  The car had its issues, though, and was in the repair shop a lot.  It wasn't very reliable.  In fact, when I had a flat tire, I discovered that the wheel was rusted to the car.  My SportOmega began to be a liability, and it became clear, with college starting in the Fall and my needing reliable transportation to commute to the University of Maryland in College Park, it was time to find a new car.

My second car was not nearly as exciting, but it was more refined than what I was used to.  And a lot bigger!  It was a pretty 1985 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme.  It had beautiful burgundy paint, cloth velour seats, wire wheels, and screamed middle age.  The Cutlass was a nice car, don't get me wrong.  I have always loved the Cutlass's.  But with the set-up this car had, it was more like what an older family man would be driving, not what a college student should have.  Dad finally agreed that we could fix it up a little, which meant getting chrome mag wheels with lettered tires.  The engine was a V6, which was good for gas mileage, but it didn't have a lot of get-up-and-go.  But it looked great with the new wheels and tires.  I drove it all through college, and when I started my government career, we decided I needed to get something a little nicer.  And a nice car it was!

Dad and I saw an ad in the newspaper for a 1987 Olds 442.  The 442s were the same as the Cutlass, but with a much more powerful engine, a V8 307, fancy 2-tone paint job and chrome wheels, dual exhaust with an aggressive throaty roar, removable glass-panel T-tops, and definitely a step up from the Cutlass that I had.  We bought it on the spot, trading in the '85 Cutlass, and I excitedly drove home in my first muscle car.  It was a great car...for a few weeks.  Then I started having problems with it.  It was just one issue after another, including a bad electrical problem that took over a year to fix.  As much as I loved that car, and it was a nice looking car, I sold it just over 2 years later because it had so many problems.   A lady bought it from me for her teenage daughter, who promptly wrecked it several months later.

I don't think you ever forget your first car(s), and I sure loved mine.

Mothra

Apparently we've been invaded.... by giant moths.  I found this behemoth next to the back door, and now I'm fairly certain we've been invaded.  Or maybe I've just been watching too many science fiction movies lately...

The Thing From Another World

When I was a kid, I loved staying up late on Saturday night to watch Creature Feature with Count Gore De Vol on Channel 20 here in DC.  I saw a lot of classic movies, but also some really bizarre movies, as well.  Between these late night viewings and the weekly Saturday afternoon sci-fi classics, I quickly became a big fan of these movies.  THEM! is a favorite, as well as WAR OF THE WORLDS (which led me to read the H.G. Wells novel...wow, what a book!), THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL, INVADERS FROM MARS, THIS ISLAND EARTH, FORBIDDEN PLANET, INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS,  CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON, THE BLOB, and, of course, GODZILLA, KING OF THE MONSTERS, which started my love affair with Japanese giant monster movies.

My absolute favorite movie from the era, though, is THE THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD, from 1951.  The movie, directed by Christian Nyby and produced by the great Howard Hawks, starred James Arness, who is best known for playing Marshal Matt Dillon on the TV show Gunsmoke, as the alien title creature.  The acting is very crisp with great, fast dialogue, a trademark of Hawks' films.  The movie is based on the book "Who Goes There?" by James W. Campbell, though it only loosely follows that story, and was remade twice, including another classic movie by John Carpenter, THE THING, in 1982, which actually followed the book much more closely, and is known for it's incredible special effects and make-up.

THE THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD is so atmospheric and eerie, set at a military outpost in the Arctic.  The remoteness of the facility and the cold, snowy weather make the actors appear to be secluded and even captive to their environment.  The base is used primarily for scientific research, so there is a mix of scientists and military types, along with one lone female who assists one of the scientists and provides a romantic interest for the military leader of the base.  The script provides a nice contrast of seriousness and concern with some comedic relief at the appropriate times, and this provides the movie with a good amount of charm.

Early on in the movie, an object is discovered stuck in the ice some distance from the base.  After measuring its size and shape, the scientists conclude it can only be a UFO.  While attempting to free the ship from the ice, it accidentally explodes, but then they discover a humanoid shape also trapped in the ice.  They cut out the block of ice containing the creature and take it with them back to the base.  You can probably guess what happens next.  The creature thaws out and goes on a rampage.  For the remainder of the movie, it becomes a game of cat and mouse, with the creature repeatedly attacking the base from outside, proving also that it is quite intelligent.  It is also discovered that the creature is part vegetable, though it feeds on blood, which is why it keeps attacking them.  A group of the scientists of course wants to protect and capture the alien creature for study, and they debate with the military types who want to protect everyone by destroying the creature, if necessary.  The alien seems to solve this dilemma by his continuous attacks, and the climax of the movie is epic.

The special effects for the time are very good, but it is the atmosphere of the setting, and the feeling of terror as the creature hides then attacks which makes for an intense thriller.  Watching the movie as a kid caused a few horrific nightmares, I'm sure, but it never diminished my love of this movie.  I can still watch it whenever it's on and not get bored with it.

The movie has been on my mind this week since I discovered it was playing at the AFI's Silver Theater in downtown Silver Spring last weekend.  I only found out after the fact, however, and I'm kicking myself for missing an opportunity to see it on the big screen.  My daughter recently discovered the movie during a recent trip after coming across it on my Kindle Fire.  I'm curious to see if she'll hold the movie in the same regard as her Daddy.

Anyway, if you're a fan of these types of movies, then check it out.  It's a classic!

Good night, everybody!

Wanderlust - On the Road With God

One of my favorite moments in my roller coaster life was in November 2004.  It was just over six months after my wife passed away, and I had just received a promotion into my first management position at work.  Before I started that job, I had planned a get-away vacation to Southern California so that I could drive the last bit of Route 66 that I hadn't driven yet and basically clear my head of all of the grief that had flooded my life since Teresa's death.  I was by myself, and I had rented a convertible for the drive across the Mojave Desert.  Following that, I had planned to spend a night in Las Vegas, see a show, then head right back to Los Angeles the next day before flying home.

There is something to be said for getting away from it all, especially if you have the luxury to get away from not only "the things of man", but man (all people), himself, too.  I had taken similar trips before I ever got married, and found them to be some of the most profound times of my life, and, at least for me, it provided the opportunity to spend some time just with God.  I found that I could actually have conversations with Him while I was driving down the road, and that feeling of just the two of us, cruising down a ribbon of road in the middle of Nowhere, USA, had quite an effect on me.  Whenever I want to have that feeling, which comes over me at obnoxious, sometimes stressful, times in my life, I just want to be out there again, and I start planning a trip.  I call this feeling The Wanderlust.  It's a longing to be out on the road, heading to somewhere possibly unfamiliar, and enjoying the stress-free moments of getting away.

Though the sun was beating down on me that day, there was still a slight chill in the air.  I had the top down, anyway.  I had paid a little more for renting the convertible, so I was going to use it, as long as it wasn't raining.  I had just left the town of Barstow, which is kind of a crossroads at the western end of the Mojave, and I headed east on old Route 66.  The first chunk of the old road paralleled the interstate, so the sounds of the 18-wheelers were fairly prominent.  Also, the road itself had a bit of a patchwork surface to it, and the car, a beat up Chrysler, didn't seem to like the bumps very much.  The shocks were very springy, and it felt like I was actually bouncing down the road.

Things eventually smoothed out as the road began to drift southeasterly away from I-40, just outside of the village of Ludlow.  I was really out in the desert at this point, and there were no other cars on the road.  There were train tracks that roughly paralleled the old road, and I saw the occasional train pass by, horn roaring its approach.  But as I drove further down the road, the familiar feeling of God's presence came over me, and while I was all by myself out there in the middle of the desert, and at times I knew I must be the only living person for miles around, I never felt like I was truly alone.  God brought such a peace to me, and I actually felt a tear or two as I looked around at the beauty of the desert, mountains way off in the distance, the blare of a train echoing across the valley in front of me....  It was truly one of those God-moments.  I stopped the car right in the middle of the road, got out and stood on the useless double yellow line separating the opposing lanes, since there were no other cars in either direction.  I could see for several miles in every direction.  I turned in a circle to take in the moment, experiencing the beauty of the American West, God's creation, inhaling the fresh air and embracing my aloneness (not loneliness).  I took several pictures, hoping to somehow capture this profound moment, knowing a picture could never capture what I was feeling just then.  I sat back down in the car and thanked God for that moment, for my family, for my friends, for my career, for my health, for my wonderful little daughter who was about to turn 1 year old just a week later....for my life.

I headed back down the road again, continuing to my turn off, just past the little town of Goffs, CA.  I had completed all of Route 66 at this intersection.  The same intersection I had reached from the opposite direction with my wife only 4 years prior.  Then I headed north on US 95 towards my next destination, Las Vegas, a thing of man.

Exploring Stress-Free Home Remedies

I haven't decided whether it was a good or bad idea to have told my boss about the anxiety attacks I had been experiencing over the past few months.  The bad thing is I'm afraid it might appear that I can't handle the job I was promoted into last month.  The good thing is the exchange I had with her during a staff meeting this morning, when she proclaimed that I should not be shouldering all of the responsibility for the work associated with a chart we publish, and that she would take on some of it herself.  That's great, and it does keep me somewhat less stressed about it than I could be, but this is pretty minor stress compared to some of the other things I've been dealing with.

It hasn't all been dread, though.  The weekend, as full as it is, should be a lot of fun, especially our first trip to the drive-in this season (an all-night show with ESCAPE FROM PLANET EARTH, STAR TREK, and 42 being notable).  It's also my mother-in-laws birthday on Saturday, and we'll get a chance to celebrate with her and about 40 of her friends on Sunday.  There's the exciting Grace Adventures Camp Flapjack Fundraiser at Applebee's in Columbia on Saturday morning.  The weather looks to be pretty good, too.

I was talking to Kay, my wonderful Office Administrator, and who seems to be able to sense when I get a bit stressed out, and she suggested I needed to go to a spa for a manicure, pedicure, and massage.  Now, I've never experienced any of these, and I don't know that I'm really comfortable discussing these things for myself.  I occasionally treated my wife to a day at the spa, but never myself.  Kay said they're great!  It's relaxing, feels great, and it's good for your fingernails and toenails.  Plus, the massages are incredible.  I just can't talk myself into doing it.

So I'm trying to think of some other things that could help me relax.  Maybe I can get one of those wooden beads seat cushions like what taxi drivers always use.  Faithful Pup Scout loves to lick things, so maybe she'll lick my toes for me.  If I can keep from being ticklish, that might relax my feet.  Cruising around in my 2-seater with the top down is a good way to relax, as well.  And reading a good book just before going to bed is enough to put me to sleep in about 5 minutes, so that's restful, as well.

I think I've convinced myself that there are any number of ways that I can find to relax myself.  I don't need a spa, or someone else picking at my toenails, or even some stranger rubbing alcohol all over my back.  Home remedies are the way to go!  Right?

Have a great evening, everyone!

Oklahoma

What happened in Oklahoma over the past few days is a tragedy.  It's a natural disaster of incredible proportions.  The deaths of so many, especially the kids, is hard to comprehend.  My daughter took it hard, the news of children dying.  This one is harder to explain compared to the tragedy in Connecticut, which was caused by an individual; an evil bad man.  This time it was Mother Nature.  Some may even say that, since God created the world, and He made the tornadoes, then He killed all those people.  As a Christ-follower, I know better, but kids find it hard to understand.  It's more black and white.

I passed through Moore, OK, several times over the past 6 years or so.  I remember it just as a bunch of exits off the interstate between Oklahoma City and Norman, the location of many car dealerships, restaurants, and a really cool movie theater.  I never stopped there, though.  My business was in OK City and in Norman.  Then I would fly home.  But I have colleagues and employees who live in Moore.  Some have had their lives altered forever.  One died, a contractor in our organization.  Another broke both legs.  Four others lost their homes and everything they owned.  Those are just the ones I have a connection to.  So many others, especially those poor parents who lost their children in the school, also experienced loss.

I used to date a young lady who lived in Oklahoma City.  Our relationship was quite serious.  Romantic.  Passionate.  We were truly in love.  Both of us had a personal relationship with Christ, and we felt He was directing us towards marriage.  Except.... I told her early on that I could not live in Oklahoma.  There are a myriad of reasons why, most importantly because I didn't want to take my daughter away from all or our family, but also because it was so far from everything I knew.  I grew up on the East Coast.  I had no desire to live in the middle of the whole country.  Besides all that, it was in the middle of Tornado Alley.  I had always been fascinated by tornadoes as a force of nature, and that fascination led to a bit of fear, as well.  Tornadoes are dangerous.  I just couldn't move there.  The only way our relationship would work is if she moved to Maryland.  She agreed.  She was originally from Nebraska and though Oklahoma felt like home to her, she told me she would move.  I wish she had been honest with me.  Seven months later, we had a nasty breakup due in part because she lied to me about moving here to Maryland.  Oklahoma was her home, she said, and she just couldn't understand why I didn't want to live there.

I've been trying to stay positive today in the face of this tragedy.  It's a lot easier to say, "Look at all of the lives that were saved."  Yeah, it could've been a lot worse.  But that doesn't make anyone who experienced loss on any level feel any better. It was a tragedy, plain and simple.  I will be praying for all of the families and colleagues in Oklahoma impacted by this disaster.  May God's blessings be on them all.

Grace Camp Flapjack Fundraiser

If you live in Central Maryland, come on out to the Grace Adventures Day Camp fundraiser this Saturday, May 25!  Here's all the info:

Each year Grace Adventures Day Camp is able to bless several families in our community with scholarships to attend camp. This year, over 30 campers have requested scholarship assistance. We would love to have your assistance in bringing them to GADC for an amazing summer camp experience!

On May 25^th from 8am-10am GADC will be hosting our annual Flapjack Fundraiser at Applebee’s in Columbia. In previous years, camp was able to raise over $1,000 to go towards the scholarship fund. Join our directors, counselors and Impact Team members as we serve an all you can eat pancake and sausage breakfast. See your previous counselors, meet new counselors and have a whole lot of fun with us while supporting a great cause.

Please reserve your tickets in advance by emailing graceadventures@gcconline.org. A limited amount will be sold at the door. Adults $7.00, Children 12 & under $4.50

Location: Applebee’s Neighborhood Grill & Bar – 8335 Benson Drive, Columbia, MD
When: Saturday, May 25^th 8 am – 10 am

If you are unable to make it to the Flapjack Fundraiser and would still like to donate to the GADC Scholarship Fund, please visit gcconline.onthecity.org/give and select the Camp Scholarship Fund option.

We can’t wait to see you there!

Come on out and support a wonderful cause!

Have a great evening everybody!

In Search of Great Pizza

I consider myself a bit of a pizza connoisseur, and I'm always looking to find good pizza.  I tend to prefer the New York style, with thin crust, slightly sweet sauce, and good mozzarella cheese, with ample toppings (veggies preferred over meats).  That said, I have yet to meet a pizza I didn't like, and will eat all types, and all toppings.

My favorite pizza is something I made for myself and my family when I was a kid:  Chef Boyardee's homemade pizza kits.  I learned early on how to make the crust (something that I don't have the patience for anymore), and the sauce was almost perfect.  I then added lots of cheese (usually a combination of mozzarella and provolone), and mushrooms were the favorite topping.  I think that the pizza one has as a kid is what becomes one's standard pizza as they get older, and all pizzas are judged to that standard.

My favorite pizza that I didn't make was from the Dino Restaurant in Suitland, MD.  It was a square pizza, thin flaky crust, sweet sauce, and ample cheese.  Sooooo good!  Unfortunately, the Dino was in a very bad neighborhood, and disappeared by the time I reached my teens.  By that time, I had also discovered the Ledo Restaurant (thanks to my mom), over near the University of Maryland in Langley Park/Adelphi.  This pizza became famous on a national level, and was eventually franchised.  Now there are Ledo's restaurants all over the area, but they are not quite as good as the original (or its twin, T.J. Elliott's in Bowie).  The original Ledo recently moved to a busier and much safer College Park location.  Ledo's pizza is much like the Dino's, square with a thin flaky crust, sweet sauce, and lots of provolone cheese.  It truly is unique.

But I really want to find a great pizza in Howard County.  I've tried quite a few, but I'm still searching.  All are good, but not great.  I try to stay away from the chains (Ledo's notwithstanding), since I've learned that the holes-in-the-wall tend to be the best.  I've tried Coal Fire in Ellicott City, and it was okay.  I've tried Facci in Fulton, which didn't impress me.  Three Brothers, a local DC area chain, is pretty good, a nice thin-crust, NY style pizza.  But I still can't find a great pizza.

Tonight, my daughter and I tried out Pub Dog in Columbia after reading a recommendation for it.  Pub Dog is basically a bar, which takes away a few points since it doesn't have a family-feel at all.  Service was good, though I couldn't help noticing that the three servers were all cute young ladies with blond hair who looked barely legal age, which bothers me only because it tells me that the folks doing the hiring are looking for a particular look.  I may be wrong, but I think that's wrong.  The pizzas are all 10-inch personal pizzas, and we were told we could customize them, if desired.  My daughter had a basic cheese pizza (called the Cheese Dog).  I had a Veggie Dog, which had mushrooms, spinach, red onions, and green peppers.  Ample toppings and the pizzas were good (though I didn't get to taste the Cheese Dog), but the size didn't appear to be enough to fill up either one of us.  I finished mine fairly quickly, and my daughter, who almost always saves a slice of hers for me, finished off hers in record time.  That was disappointing.  Overall, it was good pizza.  But not great.

So I'm looking for recommendations, though I'm guessing the size of my audience isn't going to help me much.  If you care to comment, though, please do.  Thanks!

Have a great evening, everyone!

Gosh Darn It, #%@&!!!

I just read about a study on profanity and found out that Maryland ranks 2nd in the nation in cursing, behind only Ohio.  Personally, I don't like cursing, and I have never cursed on purpose in my life, believe it or not.  My parents never cursed around us kids as we were growing up, and most of the adults we were around didn't, either, and in the days before cable TV and VCRs, there really wasn't anywhere else where you might hear curse words.  So, as I grew up, I just didn't pick it up, though many of my friends did.

I don't have a problem with cursing, necessarily, and am actually around it quite a bit in my daily office setting.  There are a few colleagues who seem to recognize that I do not curse, and they purposely keep it clean around me.  Most, if not all, of my colleagues and employees know that I'm a Christ-Follower (which I guess means to them that I don't like profanity), and respect my preference not to curse.  But there are others, even some who know me well, who can make a sailor blush and really could care less what I think.  And I have never even discussed it with anyone at work (or anywhere else, actually, except with my daughter), so their actions really have to do with their perception of me, which I find interesting.

I don't think cursing is a big deal, if used in moderation and at suitable times or situations, but certainly not around children of any age.  My daughter has heard pretty much all of the "standard" curse words, and understands that she should never say them, and always points out situations when she hears them.  She is mature enough to handle seeing some (not all!) PG-13 movies, which seem to always contain some profanity.

What does the Bible say about cursing? There are a few verses, and two in particular, that I think are relevant:

• James 3:10 - "From the same mouth come blessing and cursing.  My Brothers, these things ought not to be so." (ESV)
• Ephesians 4:29 - "Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear." (ESV)

I do not believe Christ ever cursed.  I believe he heard profanity fairly often, and he didn't judge others for doing so, but I also think that he probably didn't care for it.  That's enough for me to not use it.