Have a great weekend, everyone!
Saturday, July 19, 2014
Mothman: Fact or Fake?
We stopped in rainy Point Pleasant, West Virginia, home of the infamous Mothman! While I'm a bit of a skeptic regarding such things (including Bigfoot, UFOs, the Yeti, the Loch Ness Monster, vampires, zombies, and potential dates), I can't help but find them interesting. Anyway, here's the Mothman statue in all its glory.
Road Trip to Santa Claus
I broke one of my personal driving rules while taking a road trip. I make it a rule to arrive at my destination before 10 pm, particularly if the weather is bad. Well, it was bad. We left the suburbs of St. Louis this morning at 9, and traveled east. It started raining in Louisville, Kentucky, at around 4:30. I assumed we would have plenty of time to get to our destination, Point Pleasant, WV, before dark when we left this morning, and had already made our hotel reservation. It was past the cancellation deadline when I realized we weren't going to make it to Point Pleasant before 10. We overshot it by an hour and a half, arriving at around 11:30 pm. It rained continuously the whole evening. Because of poor visibility, the mountains of Eastern Kentucky and West Virginia, truck traffic, and the bad weather, we had some white knuckle driving. My neck, shoulders, upper back, and arms ache from the tense driving. So we're going to sleep now. Here are pics of some highlights from yesterday and today...
Merry Christmas, everyone!
Don't ask:
Santa Claus, Indiana:
Merry Christmas, everyone!
Thursday, July 17, 2014
Getting Our Kicks...
Route 66 sites...
Smiling water tower in Atlanta, IL...
Lincoln's tomb, Springfield, IL...
Paul Bunyan does like hot dogs...
A giant covered wagon with a giant Abe? Sure, why not? Lincoln, IL...
Me and my girl, Six Flags St. Louis...
Tuesday, July 15, 2014
Six Flags Great America Highlights
We had a great day at Six Flags Great America, just north of Chicago, yesterday, despite the news of little Macy's passing. Melody rode the swings...
Ummmm... Hang on....
Wait, I know I got her....
Okay, there's most of her. We also rode the brand-new Goliath (including waiting in line for over an hour):
And here we are on the old school Demon...
Overall, it was a fun time, but it was really crowded. At least the weather was nice.
Have a great evening, everyone!
A Small Loss
Macy The Hamster, daughter Melody's first pet, left this life on 7/14/14. You'll be missed, sweet little Macy!
Sunday, July 13, 2014
Pics From Our Trip
We left Chicago and G-Fest today, and took a side trip to Milwaukee. We had a delicious meal at a Spanish Tapas restaurant, which was a story all by itself. The highlight, though, was a visit to the "Bronze" Fonz, a statue of Arthur Fonzerelli (Henry Winkler) from the Happy Days TV show, one of my all-time favorites. The show was set in Milwaukee during the Fifties. The statue is located in a scenic part of the city in downtown along the Riverwalk.
Have a great evening, everyone!
Saturday, July 12, 2014
Thursday, July 10, 2014
Are You Kidding Me...!?!
Saw this guy OUTside my window this morning....
I don't know how these guys do this kind of work. Our building is 13 stories high... That's a LOT of windows to wash!
Have a great evening, everyone!
Wednesday, July 9, 2014
Coaster Accident
I saw on the news that there was a roller coaster accident at Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia, California, two nights ago. I hate seeing these things happen. I love roller coasters, and anytime they get bad press, it concerns me. In fact, I hear from my mother-in-law every time there's a roller coaster in the news in a negative way. She hates the fact that my daughter and I ride them. In fact, my wife hated them, too, and if she knew my daughter, Melody, and I ride them for fun, and seek them out all over the country, she'd kill me.
The Magic Mountain accident was just that, an accident. A large tree branch apparently broke off from a tree and landed on the track of the Ninja roller coaster, and the coaster train derailed after hitting it. Four people were hurt and were treated at the hospital. Their injuries were not too serious, from what I understand. The coaster passengers had to be rescued by emergency personnel via ladder. The accident is still being investigated.
Melody and I were at Six Flags Magic Mountain over Spring Break, back in April. In fact, we rode Ninja. It's an interesting coaster, very similar in design to the old Big Bad Wolf, no longer operating, at Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, VA. It's a suspended coaster, which hangs down below the track. Ninja is located at the top of a large hill in the park, the "Magic Mountain", and actually coasts down the hill using gravity to propel it for a portion of the ride. It's a good use of the terrain, and I love coasters that use the terrain as a part of their design. I find it interesting that it is still in operation. I imagine it was built at about the same time as the Big Bad Wolf, but Busch Gardens dismantled it three or four years ago, citing that the ride had reached the end of its operating life. The fact that Ninja, as well as the Iron Dragon, another coaster of the same design at Cedar Point, are still in operation leads me to believe that Busch Gardens may have just wanted to make a change despite the popularity of the Big Bad Wolf. The Wolf's replacement, Verbolten, is an awesome ride itself. Anyway, regarding Ninja, I wonder if Six Flags will keep the ride depending on the seriousness of this accident. It's rather sad. They just recently announced that they will be closing another of their long-time coasters, Colossus, a large wooden classic coaster that was featured in the movie National Lampoon's Vacation, which the Griswold family rode at the end of the movie. Magic Mountain stood in for Wally World.
The timing of all of this news is poor, since Melody and I are packing for our next big road trip. We'll be visiting a couple of Six Flags parks over the next week. We're looking forward to visiting these parks and are praying for safety, health, and happiness. The house-sitter is here, Faithful Pup Scout and Macy the Hamster are with my parents, and we'll be heading out soon.
If you're the praying type, please keep us in your prayers while we travel. I greatly appreciate it. More news will be posted when I have the opportunity, though the blog may not be updated every day. Thanks for your understanding.
Have a great evening, everyone!
The Magic Mountain accident was just that, an accident. A large tree branch apparently broke off from a tree and landed on the track of the Ninja roller coaster, and the coaster train derailed after hitting it. Four people were hurt and were treated at the hospital. Their injuries were not too serious, from what I understand. The coaster passengers had to be rescued by emergency personnel via ladder. The accident is still being investigated.
Melody and I were at Six Flags Magic Mountain over Spring Break, back in April. In fact, we rode Ninja. It's an interesting coaster, very similar in design to the old Big Bad Wolf, no longer operating, at Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, VA. It's a suspended coaster, which hangs down below the track. Ninja is located at the top of a large hill in the park, the "Magic Mountain", and actually coasts down the hill using gravity to propel it for a portion of the ride. It's a good use of the terrain, and I love coasters that use the terrain as a part of their design. I find it interesting that it is still in operation. I imagine it was built at about the same time as the Big Bad Wolf, but Busch Gardens dismantled it three or four years ago, citing that the ride had reached the end of its operating life. The fact that Ninja, as well as the Iron Dragon, another coaster of the same design at Cedar Point, are still in operation leads me to believe that Busch Gardens may have just wanted to make a change despite the popularity of the Big Bad Wolf. The Wolf's replacement, Verbolten, is an awesome ride itself. Anyway, regarding Ninja, I wonder if Six Flags will keep the ride depending on the seriousness of this accident. It's rather sad. They just recently announced that they will be closing another of their long-time coasters, Colossus, a large wooden classic coaster that was featured in the movie National Lampoon's Vacation, which the Griswold family rode at the end of the movie. Magic Mountain stood in for Wally World.
The timing of all of this news is poor, since Melody and I are packing for our next big road trip. We'll be visiting a couple of Six Flags parks over the next week. We're looking forward to visiting these parks and are praying for safety, health, and happiness. The house-sitter is here, Faithful Pup Scout and Macy the Hamster are with my parents, and we'll be heading out soon.
If you're the praying type, please keep us in your prayers while we travel. I greatly appreciate it. More news will be posted when I have the opportunity, though the blog may not be updated every day. Thanks for your understanding.
Have a great evening, everyone!
Tuesday, July 8, 2014
No Sugar Free Ice Cream and The War On Drugs
My daughter, Melody, and I had dinner tonight at Sakura, a Japanese steak house in Olney. It's a pretty good place for special occasions, and since we hadn't seen my in-laws since their anniversary party, tonight seemed like a good night to get together with them, even if we had nothing more to celebrate than the sun was out. Personally, I like Ginza of Tokyo, in Fulton just off of Johns Hopkins Road, much better. The chefs are a little more personable, and, frankly, the food tastes better. But Olney is closer to my in-laws home than Fulton, and we try to meet them halfway.
Anyway, we had a nice meal, but just as we started to eat, there was a loud crack of thunder, the lights flickered, and it started to rain cats and dogs outside. We were in the midst of a pretty bad storm. The lights flickered again, and we thanked the Big Guy upstairs that our meal was already cooked. There were many more patrons in the restaurant who hadn't been served yet, and if the power had gone out, things might get ugly. I ate just a little bit faster.
We enjoyed the meal, but kept an eye on the window. The rain didn't let up at all for at least 20 or so minutes. It was a steady downpour. When we finished eating, we were hesitant to get up because we didn't want to go out and confront the storm. Dessert was sounding pretty good. But the rain did start to diminish, and we headed out. Melody and I decided we would get dessert anyway, over at Cheeburger Cheeburger. We love stopping at this location of the burger chain because they have sugar free ice cream for their milkshakes. I love them for this reason alone. As a type 2 diabetic, sugar free is a good thing.
So we entered the restaurant and sauntered up to the counter to order our shakes. Melody got her typical chocolate chip cookie dough and M&M's shake (blech!). I asked for a sugar free black and white shake. That's when the shoe dropped. The lady behind the counter said they didn't have sugar free ice cream anymore. I was incredulous. I asked why. She said they just didn't sell enough to make it profitable. I said they should put it on the menu if they want people to order it! I knew they had sugar free only because I asked every time we went there. I was really disappointed. It makes me angry that restaurants don't try a little harder to cater to diabetic customers, but I guess if there's no profit in it, they're not going to do it. And that just depresses me. It's bad enough that I have to live with this stupid disease. Stupid genetics.
***
I always Tivo Craig Ferguson's Late Late Show. Craig is one of the funniest late night hosts on the air, in my opinion, and I'm sad to hear that he's "retiring" at the end of the year. Anyway, I start recording his show early so I can record the last 5 minutes of the Late Show with David Letterman and check out his musical guest. Last night, he had on a group from Philadelphia called The War On Drugs. I'd never heard of them before, and while their style of music isn't necessarily my favorite, the song they performed, "Red Eyes", was excellent! I'm a fan! Anyway, I immediately looked for the song on Amazon, and downloaded. It's a pretty good song. I don't know how to describe them other than the musicians are pretty good, especially the lead singer/lead guitar player. Check it out. It's a good tune.
Have a great evening, everyone!
Anyway, we had a nice meal, but just as we started to eat, there was a loud crack of thunder, the lights flickered, and it started to rain cats and dogs outside. We were in the midst of a pretty bad storm. The lights flickered again, and we thanked the Big Guy upstairs that our meal was already cooked. There were many more patrons in the restaurant who hadn't been served yet, and if the power had gone out, things might get ugly. I ate just a little bit faster.
We enjoyed the meal, but kept an eye on the window. The rain didn't let up at all for at least 20 or so minutes. It was a steady downpour. When we finished eating, we were hesitant to get up because we didn't want to go out and confront the storm. Dessert was sounding pretty good. But the rain did start to diminish, and we headed out. Melody and I decided we would get dessert anyway, over at Cheeburger Cheeburger. We love stopping at this location of the burger chain because they have sugar free ice cream for their milkshakes. I love them for this reason alone. As a type 2 diabetic, sugar free is a good thing.
So we entered the restaurant and sauntered up to the counter to order our shakes. Melody got her typical chocolate chip cookie dough and M&M's shake (blech!). I asked for a sugar free black and white shake. That's when the shoe dropped. The lady behind the counter said they didn't have sugar free ice cream anymore. I was incredulous. I asked why. She said they just didn't sell enough to make it profitable. I said they should put it on the menu if they want people to order it! I knew they had sugar free only because I asked every time we went there. I was really disappointed. It makes me angry that restaurants don't try a little harder to cater to diabetic customers, but I guess if there's no profit in it, they're not going to do it. And that just depresses me. It's bad enough that I have to live with this stupid disease. Stupid genetics.
***
I always Tivo Craig Ferguson's Late Late Show. Craig is one of the funniest late night hosts on the air, in my opinion, and I'm sad to hear that he's "retiring" at the end of the year. Anyway, I start recording his show early so I can record the last 5 minutes of the Late Show with David Letterman and check out his musical guest. Last night, he had on a group from Philadelphia called The War On Drugs. I'd never heard of them before, and while their style of music isn't necessarily my favorite, the song they performed, "Red Eyes", was excellent! I'm a fan! Anyway, I immediately looked for the song on Amazon, and downloaded. It's a pretty good song. I don't know how to describe them other than the musicians are pretty good, especially the lead singer/lead guitar player. Check it out. It's a good tune.
Have a great evening, everyone!
Monday, July 7, 2014
Perfect For Me
I'm down to the last three days of my subscription to Match.com. I have not had much luck or love in the six months I've been active on this site. I've contacted 18 women, mostly through messages (I hate "winks"), and only received two responses from those women, neither of which lead to a date. I've received unsolicited interest in the form of "winks", messages, and/or "likes" of pictures of me, from 32 women, of which only three came close to the preferences outlined on my profile, and only one lead to a date. I've only dated one woman in these six months, and we went out twice before we realized we just weren't a good match. My profile received 179 views, many well outside of my preferences in age and distance. Two dates, with the same person, in six months was all I received in my six months.
So was it worth it? I'm going to say yes, even if I didn't find love. Given my lifestyle, the fact that I don't go on many dates, that I don't meet many eligible single women in my age range, and that I'm really, really picky about who I date, using an online dating site really is the best way for me to date. While I'm certainly not saying it's even close to being the same, I liken this to searching for a used car. You fill out your search preferences, hit "go", and you end up with a bunch of possibilities. My favorite search function is where you can search for a "mutual match", where my search results are those who fit my preferences and I fit their preferences. I also tend to avoid contacting women who are too far "out of my league". I know my limitations. I'm not looking for perfection; just perfect for me.
I am disappointed that I didn't find more success. I've been on Match.com a few times before, and I've had better results on those previous attempts. I've also been on eHarmony and Christian Mingle. I've had my best experiences with eHarmony, though the dating process is much different from the other two. But Match has given me the most dates, even if I only had two this time around.
I hate dating. I really do. When my wife, Teresa, and I got married, we knew it was forever. 'Til death do us part, never realizing just how soon that would occur. Teresa died less than five years into our marriage. We were so thankful that God had prepared us both for the wonderful relationship that is marriage, and that we didn't have to be concerned about dating ever again. And now, here I am again, back in the dating pool. My marriage relationship was really great, though, and worth going through the misery that is dating to find that type of relationship again. I know it's worth it. And it's worth being picky. I will not enter into marriage lightly. So I will continue searching for that one who is perfect for me, who God is preparing even as I type these words. It's worth it.
Have a great evening, everyone!
So was it worth it? I'm going to say yes, even if I didn't find love. Given my lifestyle, the fact that I don't go on many dates, that I don't meet many eligible single women in my age range, and that I'm really, really picky about who I date, using an online dating site really is the best way for me to date. While I'm certainly not saying it's even close to being the same, I liken this to searching for a used car. You fill out your search preferences, hit "go", and you end up with a bunch of possibilities. My favorite search function is where you can search for a "mutual match", where my search results are those who fit my preferences and I fit their preferences. I also tend to avoid contacting women who are too far "out of my league". I know my limitations. I'm not looking for perfection; just perfect for me.
I am disappointed that I didn't find more success. I've been on Match.com a few times before, and I've had better results on those previous attempts. I've also been on eHarmony and Christian Mingle. I've had my best experiences with eHarmony, though the dating process is much different from the other two. But Match has given me the most dates, even if I only had two this time around.
I hate dating. I really do. When my wife, Teresa, and I got married, we knew it was forever. 'Til death do us part, never realizing just how soon that would occur. Teresa died less than five years into our marriage. We were so thankful that God had prepared us both for the wonderful relationship that is marriage, and that we didn't have to be concerned about dating ever again. And now, here I am again, back in the dating pool. My marriage relationship was really great, though, and worth going through the misery that is dating to find that type of relationship again. I know it's worth it. And it's worth being picky. I will not enter into marriage lightly. So I will continue searching for that one who is perfect for me, who God is preparing even as I type these words. It's worth it.
Have a great evening, everyone!
Sunday, July 6, 2014
An Incredibly Ridiculous Bad Dream
I had a dream a few weeks ago. I had been suffering from a severe head cold at the time, and I had been taking some meds that really knocked me out. So my head was primed for some pretty intense, crazy, horrendously ridiculous dreams, and sure enough, I came through like a really good episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000, if you know what I mean. (MST3K was a fantastic show that aired in the 90s about a guy and a couple of robot puppets who made fun of really bad movies.) I awoke at around 2:30 a.m. after this really intense dream. I really can't remember all of the details, and what I can remember was kind of embarrassing. But....brother, what a dream!
It started with me getting into a car, which was my Dad's '72 Oldsmobile Cutlass, a car I really loved, and which was sold before I ever started driving. I was driving down a dirt road and was really worried about getting the car dirty, because it was cleaned up very nicely. I came up to a bridge over a rapidly moving creek that was partially washed out, so I had to get out and walk. There were trees all around, and it was starting to get dark. I was a little spooked since there was no one else around. I crossed over the bridge and hiked down a path through the trees. I came across a small cabin, and knocked on the door. The door opened and there was a beautiful girl standing there. She looked like a girl I had dated three years ago that I had met on eHarmony named Ann. Ann invited me in and acted like she knew me, just as I recognized her. She greeted me with a deep kiss and hug, and led me over to the couch. She seemed really excited to see me.
(In reality, she had broken it off with me, telling me she really wasn't interested in continuing to get together. I was a bit smitten by her. She actually fit the type of woman I was looking for, and I was disappointed she didn't feel the same way. But things were different here in the dream. She seemed to feel more strongly about me than I did about her.)
I should note that my dreams don't always have sound, and this was one that didn't. I can't recall any conversation. She handed me a box. I opened it, and inside was a can of shaving cream and a razor. She then led me into another room where there was a large barber chair. She had me sit in it, and she lowered the back of the chair so that I was parallel to the floor. She climbed over me, straddling my waist with her legs pinning my arms to the armrests. I couldn't move. Then she lathered up my face and shaved off my mustache and all of my facial hair. I was kind of angry at this point, since I didn't want her doing that, but she only laughed at me. Then things got really weird.
She had a lot of makeup on, and she leaned close and gave me a big, sloppy kiss on the lips. Then she pointed me toward a mirror and I had red lipstick smeared all over my mouth, almost like a clown. She hopped off of me, and I realized my hands and feet were strapped to the chair, so I still couldn't move. She moved over to a large lever on the floor, and moving it forward, my chair began to slowly spin. It went faster and faster, and pretty soon, the whole room was a blur. Even worse, I was getting dizzy, and as I got more and more dizzy, I started to get nauseous. Soon, I felt like I was going to throw up. Suddenly, the chair jerked to a halt, and I literally fell right out of the chair and onto the floor. I felt really sick, and I just laid there on the floor trying to catch my breath. I was sweating pretty badly, and my shirt was soaked. I tried to stand up, but I was just too dizzy. I realized I wasn't by myself, and looked up to see Ann standing there in a swimsuit. She ran towards me and pushed me backwards, and I felt myself fall into a pool of water. It was actually a fairly large swimming pool. I couldn't swim, and began to submerge underwater. I felt someone grab my arms and my head rose above the surface of the water. It was Ann, and she turned me around and kissed me once again. As she did, we went underwater again. I pushed her away, and felt myself surface again. And then I woke up.
And there was Faithful Pup Scout licking my face.... I can only imagine that the combination of my illness, the meds, and being tired caused me to have this crazy dream. I'm not one to analyze the hidden meanings of dreams, so I'm not going to try to guess what this was about. It sure was weird, though.
Have a great week, everyone!
It started with me getting into a car, which was my Dad's '72 Oldsmobile Cutlass, a car I really loved, and which was sold before I ever started driving. I was driving down a dirt road and was really worried about getting the car dirty, because it was cleaned up very nicely. I came up to a bridge over a rapidly moving creek that was partially washed out, so I had to get out and walk. There were trees all around, and it was starting to get dark. I was a little spooked since there was no one else around. I crossed over the bridge and hiked down a path through the trees. I came across a small cabin, and knocked on the door. The door opened and there was a beautiful girl standing there. She looked like a girl I had dated three years ago that I had met on eHarmony named Ann. Ann invited me in and acted like she knew me, just as I recognized her. She greeted me with a deep kiss and hug, and led me over to the couch. She seemed really excited to see me.
(In reality, she had broken it off with me, telling me she really wasn't interested in continuing to get together. I was a bit smitten by her. She actually fit the type of woman I was looking for, and I was disappointed she didn't feel the same way. But things were different here in the dream. She seemed to feel more strongly about me than I did about her.)
I should note that my dreams don't always have sound, and this was one that didn't. I can't recall any conversation. She handed me a box. I opened it, and inside was a can of shaving cream and a razor. She then led me into another room where there was a large barber chair. She had me sit in it, and she lowered the back of the chair so that I was parallel to the floor. She climbed over me, straddling my waist with her legs pinning my arms to the armrests. I couldn't move. Then she lathered up my face and shaved off my mustache and all of my facial hair. I was kind of angry at this point, since I didn't want her doing that, but she only laughed at me. Then things got really weird.
She had a lot of makeup on, and she leaned close and gave me a big, sloppy kiss on the lips. Then she pointed me toward a mirror and I had red lipstick smeared all over my mouth, almost like a clown. She hopped off of me, and I realized my hands and feet were strapped to the chair, so I still couldn't move. She moved over to a large lever on the floor, and moving it forward, my chair began to slowly spin. It went faster and faster, and pretty soon, the whole room was a blur. Even worse, I was getting dizzy, and as I got more and more dizzy, I started to get nauseous. Soon, I felt like I was going to throw up. Suddenly, the chair jerked to a halt, and I literally fell right out of the chair and onto the floor. I felt really sick, and I just laid there on the floor trying to catch my breath. I was sweating pretty badly, and my shirt was soaked. I tried to stand up, but I was just too dizzy. I realized I wasn't by myself, and looked up to see Ann standing there in a swimsuit. She ran towards me and pushed me backwards, and I felt myself fall into a pool of water. It was actually a fairly large swimming pool. I couldn't swim, and began to submerge underwater. I felt someone grab my arms and my head rose above the surface of the water. It was Ann, and she turned me around and kissed me once again. As she did, we went underwater again. I pushed her away, and felt myself surface again. And then I woke up.
And there was Faithful Pup Scout licking my face.... I can only imagine that the combination of my illness, the meds, and being tired caused me to have this crazy dream. I'm not one to analyze the hidden meanings of dreams, so I'm not going to try to guess what this was about. It sure was weird, though.
Have a great week, everyone!
Saturday, July 5, 2014
Food, Fun, and Fireworks
Happy birthday, America! Yesterday was a beautiful day, and my daughter, Melody, and I decided to get out and enjoy it. We spent part of the day up at Arundel Mills, where we got a few necessities and I was able to use a birthday giftcard at Bass Pro Shop, where I got a new watch and some socks, plus we got a new pair of sneakers for Melody. We had fun, since that's a fun store to walk around in. Lunch at DuClaw is always great, too, since it's never busy (how do they stay in business???). Melody tried the French dip (her first cheesesteak), and I had a quartet of sliders, which is a new item on the menu (at least to me...we haven't been to DuClaw in at least a year). I had a crabcake, sausage, pulled chicken barbecue, and duck. They were all great and unique. The crabcake was the most ordinary. The sausage was spicy. The duck was the best of the bunch. Our server mentioned the Ahi Tuna being his favorite, so I'll have to try it next time. I also had eggplant fries, and they were awesome!
We stopped by the house before heading back out for fireworks over at the Lakefront in Columbia, MD. It was really crowded and I regretted going over so late in the evening. It was about 7:30, and the only parking available was over near the lower entrance to Sears. We found a space to park and I made a mental note that this would be a good spot to make a quick exit when the fireworks ended. We walked over to the Lakefront and it became clear just how crowded it was. There were probably thousands of people there. There was entertainment on a stage, and a bunch of food trucks.
We were hungry, since we hadn't had dinner yet, so we got in line at one of the food trucks, behind at least a hundred people. The line moved fairly well, and within 20 minutes, we had gotten over half the length of the line closer. We kept moving up, and then I noticed a group of about five teen boys who had gathered just ahead of us. They weren't in line, but they just kind of hung around the line, talking among themselves. The line would move forward and we would pass them, then they would move up right next to the line. They were clearly not with anyone else ahead of us in line. We got to within about a dozen people of the front of the line, where you place your food order, and I finally said something to the boys. "Hey, you guys know that the end of the line is way back there, right?" They all looked at me, then turned back to themselves and continued to chat, totally ignoring me. I didn't care for the way they acted towards me, and I was feeling ornery enough to say something to them again. "You guys know there are a lot of people in line that have waited a long time." They turned to me again, and started laughing among themselves. One said that they were with the people further up in line, but it was clear they were not. It they were, they would be in line with them. Instead, they were directly in front of me. Not liking this response, either, I said, "It must be nice to not have to stand in line behind all of these people who have been waiting a lot longer than you have." They continued to laugh at me. They were at the counter by this time, and showed no guilt at all about ordering their food out of turn. I then said, quite loudly, "America sure is a great country when you can do anything you want without any ramifications, even if you cheat." They laughed again, and when the final kid got his food and started walking away, he turned to me and said, "Happy Fourth!" Their boldness and defiance shocked me. I thought I had embarrassed and brought enough attention to them that they might just disappear, but I guess being in a group gave them more confidence. I was disappointed, but I'm convinced this was an isolated incident. I've worked with teens most of my life, and I'm not about to condemn all kids by stating that they all act this way.
I decided not to let what happened bother me, and we continued to enjoy the festivities. It was really crowded, though, and we decided to trek back to our Jeep and watch the fireworks there. I have to say that the crowds were very orderly and everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves. We had the top off the Jeep and it was almost chilly with the cool breeze blowing, a remnant of Hurricane Arthur. However, we waited and waited for the fireworks, and they still weren't starting. I kept checking Twitter to see if something was wrong, but only saw the same questions. Everyone was wondering why the fireworks hadn't started. We were exchanging text messages with my parents, too, and they said the fireworks on the National Mall had already ended, and we were still waiting for the ones in Columbia to start. Melody was getting restless. I kept trying to decide whether we should just go on home, anticipating the traffic we might encounter once they ended, assuming they were even going to start. Then, with a loud boom, the first fireworks exploded into the sky. It was 10 p.m.
The fireworks were great. It was a neat show. But I noticed more and more cars beginning to head out of the parking lot, and lines of cars were already backed up into the lot. As the big finish began to fly into the sky, I pulled out of our space and thus began our long wait to exit the parking lot. Nobody could move. I could see from where we were that no one was moving all the way over to Broken Land Parkway. Every once in a while, a handful of cars would pull up, but then they would stop and no one moved. After 30 minutes, we had only moved about 30 feet from where we had been parked. Tempers flared, and patience was tossed aside, and horns began honking. I had decided that the quickest way out was to exit onto Little Patuxent, turning left, then turn right past Toby's and exit onto 29 south. Frustrated people would not let cars out in front of them, though, even if they were going in the opposite direction and weren't moving. Our civil county wasn't acting very civil. Finally, traffic moved enough that we were able to get out of the parking lot. Frankly, I couldn't figure out why it had been so hard to get the congested parking lot cleared out given how easy traffic moved once we exited the Mall. We got home at midnight.
While we drove home, Melody and I talked about our day, and we concluded it really was a great day. The good always far outshines the bad, and I'm glad to live in such a great country. Happy birthday, America! May the wings of Liberty never lose a feather!
Have a great weekend, everyone!
We stopped by the house before heading back out for fireworks over at the Lakefront in Columbia, MD. It was really crowded and I regretted going over so late in the evening. It was about 7:30, and the only parking available was over near the lower entrance to Sears. We found a space to park and I made a mental note that this would be a good spot to make a quick exit when the fireworks ended. We walked over to the Lakefront and it became clear just how crowded it was. There were probably thousands of people there. There was entertainment on a stage, and a bunch of food trucks.
We were hungry, since we hadn't had dinner yet, so we got in line at one of the food trucks, behind at least a hundred people. The line moved fairly well, and within 20 minutes, we had gotten over half the length of the line closer. We kept moving up, and then I noticed a group of about five teen boys who had gathered just ahead of us. They weren't in line, but they just kind of hung around the line, talking among themselves. The line would move forward and we would pass them, then they would move up right next to the line. They were clearly not with anyone else ahead of us in line. We got to within about a dozen people of the front of the line, where you place your food order, and I finally said something to the boys. "Hey, you guys know that the end of the line is way back there, right?" They all looked at me, then turned back to themselves and continued to chat, totally ignoring me. I didn't care for the way they acted towards me, and I was feeling ornery enough to say something to them again. "You guys know there are a lot of people in line that have waited a long time." They turned to me again, and started laughing among themselves. One said that they were with the people further up in line, but it was clear they were not. It they were, they would be in line with them. Instead, they were directly in front of me. Not liking this response, either, I said, "It must be nice to not have to stand in line behind all of these people who have been waiting a lot longer than you have." They continued to laugh at me. They were at the counter by this time, and showed no guilt at all about ordering their food out of turn. I then said, quite loudly, "America sure is a great country when you can do anything you want without any ramifications, even if you cheat." They laughed again, and when the final kid got his food and started walking away, he turned to me and said, "Happy Fourth!" Their boldness and defiance shocked me. I thought I had embarrassed and brought enough attention to them that they might just disappear, but I guess being in a group gave them more confidence. I was disappointed, but I'm convinced this was an isolated incident. I've worked with teens most of my life, and I'm not about to condemn all kids by stating that they all act this way.
I decided not to let what happened bother me, and we continued to enjoy the festivities. It was really crowded, though, and we decided to trek back to our Jeep and watch the fireworks there. I have to say that the crowds were very orderly and everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves. We had the top off the Jeep and it was almost chilly with the cool breeze blowing, a remnant of Hurricane Arthur. However, we waited and waited for the fireworks, and they still weren't starting. I kept checking Twitter to see if something was wrong, but only saw the same questions. Everyone was wondering why the fireworks hadn't started. We were exchanging text messages with my parents, too, and they said the fireworks on the National Mall had already ended, and we were still waiting for the ones in Columbia to start. Melody was getting restless. I kept trying to decide whether we should just go on home, anticipating the traffic we might encounter once they ended, assuming they were even going to start. Then, with a loud boom, the first fireworks exploded into the sky. It was 10 p.m.
The fireworks were great. It was a neat show. But I noticed more and more cars beginning to head out of the parking lot, and lines of cars were already backed up into the lot. As the big finish began to fly into the sky, I pulled out of our space and thus began our long wait to exit the parking lot. Nobody could move. I could see from where we were that no one was moving all the way over to Broken Land Parkway. Every once in a while, a handful of cars would pull up, but then they would stop and no one moved. After 30 minutes, we had only moved about 30 feet from where we had been parked. Tempers flared, and patience was tossed aside, and horns began honking. I had decided that the quickest way out was to exit onto Little Patuxent, turning left, then turn right past Toby's and exit onto 29 south. Frustrated people would not let cars out in front of them, though, even if they were going in the opposite direction and weren't moving. Our civil county wasn't acting very civil. Finally, traffic moved enough that we were able to get out of the parking lot. Frankly, I couldn't figure out why it had been so hard to get the congested parking lot cleared out given how easy traffic moved once we exited the Mall. We got home at midnight.
While we drove home, Melody and I talked about our day, and we concluded it really was a great day. The good always far outshines the bad, and I'm glad to live in such a great country. Happy birthday, America! May the wings of Liberty never lose a feather!
Have a great weekend, everyone!
Thursday, July 3, 2014
Past Pics of G-Fest XVIII
"So, what happened?" you're probably wondering.... I've been trying to get my wonderful daughter to write a guest post for the ol' blog all week, and we're still working on that. Last night, we celebrated my sister's birthday, so we were not home until late. So, no blog post last night. Tonight, you're going to get a nice post with a bunch of pictures from G-Fest XVIII in Chicago, which Melody and I attended in 2011. G-Fest is the official gathering of the largest group of North American fans of Godzilla and other giant Japanese monsters from movies and television. We've been attending G-Fest for the past four years, and since we're heading back to Chicago for G-Fest XXI next week, I wanted to share some pictures from our trip in 2011. Enjoy!
Tuesday, July 1, 2014
Not The Guest Post I Expected...
Well, once again I was counting on my wonderful daughter, Melody, to write a guest post for tonight's blog, just like last night. But, once again, she has been distracted by a lot of other stuff tonight, so I'm going with a repeat of post from the early days of this blog, and originally published on 9/19/12. In some respects, I guess this IS a guest post, since most of it was written by my wonderful wife, Teresa.
I've been going through a bunch of files on my old PC and came across the following essay written by my wife, Teresa, shortly after our daughter, Melody, was born. Teresa was suffering from severe exhaustion that, in hindsight, can be linked to the heart issues that eventually took her life, but we didn't know that at the time she wrote this. The TODAY Show was having some kind of contest, which is why Teresa wrote this, but she never submitted it. I posted it on her memorial website at mem.com, and am reproducing it here. And I'm convinced that Melody has been inspired by her mom. Enjoy!
I sat this morning as she napped in my arms and held my hand with her two little ones and thought of all the inspiration she brings. A new baby represents hope, and I have so much hope for our future when I look into her blue eyes. As I watch my parents effortlessly turn into grandparents, I see that she has inspired them to laughter, youthfulness and fun. As I place my infant into my dying grandfather’s arms and see his whole demeanor change, I see how she inspires healing and smiles. Even as I interrupt the writing of this essay to answer her cries, I realize that she is daily inspiring me: to prioritize, to be a better mother, to be a better daughter, a better friend and a better woman, and hopefully, to one day inspire her right back.
***
I've been going through a bunch of files on my old PC and came across the following essay written by my wife, Teresa, shortly after our daughter, Melody, was born. Teresa was suffering from severe exhaustion that, in hindsight, can be linked to the heart issues that eventually took her life, but we didn't know that at the time she wrote this. The TODAY Show was having some kind of contest, which is why Teresa wrote this, but she never submitted it. I posted it on her memorial website at mem.com, and am reproducing it here. And I'm convinced that Melody has been inspired by her mom. Enjoy!
When I first heard about this contest on The Today Show, I was sitting in my living room with my mother nursing my four-week-old baby girl. I looked at my mom and looked at Melody Grace and thought, “Inspire me? All this child has done is drain me…of sleep, of energy, of time.” I was in the middle of a textbook case of the baby blues. However, now, four weeks later, I see a different picture; I have been inspired by my baby girl the way only a baby can inspire.
I sat this morning as she napped in my arms and held my hand with her two little ones and thought of all the inspiration she brings. A new baby represents hope, and I have so much hope for our future when I look into her blue eyes. As I watch my parents effortlessly turn into grandparents, I see that she has inspired them to laughter, youthfulness and fun. As I place my infant into my dying grandfather’s arms and see his whole demeanor change, I see how she inspires healing and smiles. Even as I interrupt the writing of this essay to answer her cries, I realize that she is daily inspiring me: to prioritize, to be a better mother, to be a better daughter, a better friend and a better woman, and hopefully, to one day inspire her right back.
--Teresa Shirlen Freed, January 8, 2004
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