The BF and I had a snow day together earlier in the week. We weren't about to shovel and clean off our car because we had nowhere to be. But we were hungry and nothing in the kitchen sounded good. We're lucky enough to have a grocery store we can walk to and took full advantage of that and trudged through the snow for some nom noms.
After going through the self checkout, the BF commented how awesome it is you don't have to have a single human contact while running errands.
And you know what? He is completely right!
Gone are the days of being greeted by eager (or apathetic, depending on where you go) employees as soon as you enter a store. And gone are the days of obligingly having to chat up with the check out person.
It's now the age of being able to get the shit you need and go, without a single human interaction.
God, I love self checkouts.
*And on a sidenote, I love self checkouts as long as I have a couple of items. I cannot stand it when someone is scanning a cart full of crap and is holding the line up. In an instance like that, I feel a live cashier is the best way to go.
Showing posts with label life. Show all posts
Showing posts with label life. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 5, 2014
Monday, October 14, 2013
Mini Beach Vacay
A bit ago, the BF and I took a trip out to Ocean City, MD. October starts the time of year when dogs are allowed on the beach, so we took Gypsy along. And since I'm a federal employee and was essentially temporarily unemployed during the beginning of the government shutdown, the trip was a great way to get my mind off things.
Recap/things I've learned from the trip:
-Gypsy does not like the ocean. The waves freak her out. She was ready to go home within minutes at the beach.
-The first week of October is a great time to go to the ocean (if there's not a hurricane in the forecast). It was 80 degrees and the water was still relatively warm. The only people in town were retirees, parents with small kids, a couple of other younger kidless couples and locals. The BF and I are quiet folks. We fit right in with the old people.
-Off season means special prices at restaurants. The businesses still open want to keep people coming in so discounts and other specials are offered. Heck yea! I'm a fan of half off Mexican food!
-Gypsy will let you bury her in sand. She was so chill on the beach (once she realized we weren't going to force her in the water anymore), she laid down and let us make her into a sand crab and sand mermaid.
-How well we fit in with retirees and those with AARP memberships....hmmm...
Recap/things I've learned from the trip:
-Gypsy does not like the ocean. The waves freak her out. She was ready to go home within minutes at the beach.
-The first week of October is a great time to go to the ocean (if there's not a hurricane in the forecast). It was 80 degrees and the water was still relatively warm. The only people in town were retirees, parents with small kids, a couple of other younger kidless couples and locals. The BF and I are quiet folks. We fit right in with the old people.
-Off season means special prices at restaurants. The businesses still open want to keep people coming in so discounts and other specials are offered. Heck yea! I'm a fan of half off Mexican food!
-Gypsy will let you bury her in sand. She was so chill on the beach (once she realized we weren't going to force her in the water anymore), she laid down and let us make her into a sand crab and sand mermaid.
-How well we fit in with retirees and those with AARP memberships....hmmm...
Wednesday, June 19, 2013
My Baby Revelation
So last week, I had the joy of meeting my 5 month old niece for the first time.
She is the cutest little thing and I had some good auntie bonding time.
And after meeting her, I've come to a realization. Babies TERRIFY me.
Now, I haven't come around that many babies in my life. I was going on 11 years when my baby brother was born. There was a novel interest to see and play with him, but honestly, at the time, I didn't care. All I knew was, there was this little creature taking away my limelight and I didn't have time for that!
Once Will, my brother, became a toddler, I warmed up to the idea. Toddlers are just fun. They can talk, walk, and are all around entertaining mini humans. During a year in college, I had a job providing daycare at a martial arts studio. It was easy money and I got to play with kids for a couple of hours. So, don't get me wrong, I love kids. I'm such a kid at heart, I feel like I can relate to them.
Babies, on the other hand, are a different story. I can't relate to a baby. I don't know how to interact with them. As cute as my little niece was, there were moments, I had no idea what to do with her. But I will say, there was an odd sense of calm within me when Lola fell asleep in my arms. Which just proves that there's a sensitive person somewhere in me.
The biggest reason why babies terrify me is best explained in the following scenario. My brother, his wife and the baby arrived at my parents' house pretty late. The baby was asleep in the car seat and ended up waking up in the commotion of unloading everything. The poor thing slowly looks at me, my little brother, mom and stepdad, who are essentially strangers to her and are crowding around her carseat trying to get a look. Then searches for her own mom and dad, and when she realizes they're not around, she starts crying. And not just soft crying, but loud crying, which progresses into top of the lungs crying. At least that's how I percieved everything to have gone down. And to her credit, anyone in their right mind would've started crying if waking up to strangers right in their face. It was during her crying fit that I had my revelation. The Holy Spirit left my body and I was terrified.
I think this scared me so much because when a baby cries, you don't completely know the reason for the crying. I mean, you have an idea, but you're not 100% sure. It stresses me out to have something happening and not knowing why. That and the noise of the crying itself would be stressful enough.
I also feel I have no maternal instinct. And I'm too rough. And I'm too clumsy. I AM the reason we can't have nice things. I can't even count how many things I've dropped because of my butter fingers. I've dropped the cat and dog plenty of times. What's stopping me from dropping my own baby?
I've voiced this concern to other people and they all say, "It's different with your own baby." Well, I sure hope so. You know those videos of those dads that ends up throwing a ball, and smacks their kid right in the face. Yep. Pretty sure that will be me...
She is the cutest little thing and I had some good auntie bonding time.
And after meeting her, I've come to a realization. Babies TERRIFY me.
Now, I haven't come around that many babies in my life. I was going on 11 years when my baby brother was born. There was a novel interest to see and play with him, but honestly, at the time, I didn't care. All I knew was, there was this little creature taking away my limelight and I didn't have time for that!
Once Will, my brother, became a toddler, I warmed up to the idea. Toddlers are just fun. They can talk, walk, and are all around entertaining mini humans. During a year in college, I had a job providing daycare at a martial arts studio. It was easy money and I got to play with kids for a couple of hours. So, don't get me wrong, I love kids. I'm such a kid at heart, I feel like I can relate to them.
Babies, on the other hand, are a different story. I can't relate to a baby. I don't know how to interact with them. As cute as my little niece was, there were moments, I had no idea what to do with her. But I will say, there was an odd sense of calm within me when Lola fell asleep in my arms. Which just proves that there's a sensitive person somewhere in me.
The biggest reason why babies terrify me is best explained in the following scenario. My brother, his wife and the baby arrived at my parents' house pretty late. The baby was asleep in the car seat and ended up waking up in the commotion of unloading everything. The poor thing slowly looks at me, my little brother, mom and stepdad, who are essentially strangers to her and are crowding around her carseat trying to get a look. Then searches for her own mom and dad, and when she realizes they're not around, she starts crying. And not just soft crying, but loud crying, which progresses into top of the lungs crying. At least that's how I percieved everything to have gone down. And to her credit, anyone in their right mind would've started crying if waking up to strangers right in their face. It was during her crying fit that I had my revelation. The Holy Spirit left my body and I was terrified.
I think this scared me so much because when a baby cries, you don't completely know the reason for the crying. I mean, you have an idea, but you're not 100% sure. It stresses me out to have something happening and not knowing why. That and the noise of the crying itself would be stressful enough.
I also feel I have no maternal instinct. And I'm too rough. And I'm too clumsy. I AM the reason we can't have nice things. I can't even count how many things I've dropped because of my butter fingers. I've dropped the cat and dog plenty of times. What's stopping me from dropping my own baby?
I've voiced this concern to other people and they all say, "It's different with your own baby." Well, I sure hope so. You know those videos of those dads that ends up throwing a ball, and smacks their kid right in the face. Yep. Pretty sure that will be me...
Thursday, April 4, 2013
My Live Studio Audience Experience
Ok, so this is a week and a half late. But in my defense and as I stated in my last post, it was Watchathon week, and I was very occupied. Then once that was over, I had to catch up on some sleep due to the previous tv show watching marathon.
But, back to the point of this post.
If you ever have the chance to be part of a live studio audience, do it. I'm sure they're not all the same, but the rush you get during and after I'm assuming is similar. The BF and I had the chance to be part of Stephen Colbert's audience during his taping of "The Colbert Report" on Comedy Central. I follow the show on Facebook, so every now and again, they'll post when tickets are available. The tickets are completely free, you just have to pick a date of what's available and go from there. The both of us are fans of Stephen and are only a couple of hours from NYC where it's filmed. So when I saw that tickets were available, I snatched them up.
The Audience Department at the Colbert Report overbooks ticket confirmations to ensure a full audience. Because of that, you have to make sure you get in line early enough to get a number. That number is the order you'll get seated. We got in line about an hour and a half before the time we were told and we were in the first twenty. The waiting was outside and it was raining, but thankfully we were under an awning. In that time, security gave us their spiel (no weapons or drugs, no food/drinks, no cameras, no phones). We started getting led inside and had to go through metal detectors. We then had to wait some more in a holding room. I think we waited another hour. This is the chance to use the restroom, play on your phone and take pictures. There are tvs that play some of Colbert's best segments and kept us occupied. Right before being led into the studio, we were told that we are the laugh track and that there are microphones everywhere. They said, "Be exaggerated, be loud. When Stephen gets on stage, go crazy. He eats that shit up." "Volume over authenticity" was a favorite quote from that night.
When the seating began, those with the coveted VIP passes got sat first. But strangely they weren't sat in the front row like you'd think. Then, four sets of numbers were called out and those with that number and their party were led into the audience. They were the lucky ones that were sat right up front. Anyway, we were all finally led to our seats. What was so suprising was the size of the whole studio. The stage itself is alot smaller than what appears on camera. And there was maybe 50 seats in the audience. Which was great, because there's honestly no bad seat that way. Before the show, music is playing to keep everyone pumped up. And security is watching everyone to make sure cameras and phones aren't being used, so no pictures from inside the studio!
Before the main show, a warmup comedian comes out. He was pretty funny, a little raunchy, but still funny and interacted with the audience. His main job is to make sure the audience will be loud enough and to loosen us up. The stage manager then comes out and tells us how everything will work and what cues he'll give us when we have to stand up and cheer.
Then Stephen finally came out. He actually does a Q&A with the audience out of character. Random questions were asked. What kind of BBQ, wet or dry? Thoughts on the new Pope? Do you find yourself slipping into character often? Did you know today is National Tolkien Reading Day (which he is a huge Tolkien fan and started to speak in Elvish and was completely awesome). Seeing him out of character was so neat. He's still funny, but you could tell he was more serious in real life.
When taping finally started, the audience went crazy. Stephen sat down at the desk and told us to sit down and we didn't, which you can see on the show. Stephen ate it up and loved it. The show was coming back from a two week break, so the show's crew was refreshed and the energy was just excited, which was so cool to see.
Stephen made a couple of mistakes and had to do reshoots. Which, you can't even tell when watching the taped show that there was even an edit. During the "commercial breaks", the stage crew would come out and do their thing. Makeup retouches, stage retoughes, script retouches. And Stephen would loosen himself up by dancing, singing and making faces.
And then, the taping ended and we go home. While Stephen leaves, the rest of the crew hangs around to thank the audience as we leave.
Overall, we waited twice as long as the taping actually lasted. But it was worth it and an awesome experience. We even made it on camera a couple of times. I'm already looking forward to the next live taping I can get the opportunity to go to.
But, back to the point of this post.
If you ever have the chance to be part of a live studio audience, do it. I'm sure they're not all the same, but the rush you get during and after I'm assuming is similar. The BF and I had the chance to be part of Stephen Colbert's audience during his taping of "The Colbert Report" on Comedy Central. I follow the show on Facebook, so every now and again, they'll post when tickets are available. The tickets are completely free, you just have to pick a date of what's available and go from there. The both of us are fans of Stephen and are only a couple of hours from NYC where it's filmed. So when I saw that tickets were available, I snatched them up.
The Audience Department at the Colbert Report overbooks ticket confirmations to ensure a full audience. Because of that, you have to make sure you get in line early enough to get a number. That number is the order you'll get seated. We got in line about an hour and a half before the time we were told and we were in the first twenty. The waiting was outside and it was raining, but thankfully we were under an awning. In that time, security gave us their spiel (no weapons or drugs, no food/drinks, no cameras, no phones). We started getting led inside and had to go through metal detectors. We then had to wait some more in a holding room. I think we waited another hour. This is the chance to use the restroom, play on your phone and take pictures. There are tvs that play some of Colbert's best segments and kept us occupied. Right before being led into the studio, we were told that we are the laugh track and that there are microphones everywhere. They said, "Be exaggerated, be loud. When Stephen gets on stage, go crazy. He eats that shit up." "Volume over authenticity" was a favorite quote from that night.
When the seating began, those with the coveted VIP passes got sat first. But strangely they weren't sat in the front row like you'd think. Then, four sets of numbers were called out and those with that number and their party were led into the audience. They were the lucky ones that were sat right up front. Anyway, we were all finally led to our seats. What was so suprising was the size of the whole studio. The stage itself is alot smaller than what appears on camera. And there was maybe 50 seats in the audience. Which was great, because there's honestly no bad seat that way. Before the show, music is playing to keep everyone pumped up. And security is watching everyone to make sure cameras and phones aren't being used, so no pictures from inside the studio!
Before the main show, a warmup comedian comes out. He was pretty funny, a little raunchy, but still funny and interacted with the audience. His main job is to make sure the audience will be loud enough and to loosen us up. The stage manager then comes out and tells us how everything will work and what cues he'll give us when we have to stand up and cheer.
Then Stephen finally came out. He actually does a Q&A with the audience out of character. Random questions were asked. What kind of BBQ, wet or dry? Thoughts on the new Pope? Do you find yourself slipping into character often? Did you know today is National Tolkien Reading Day (which he is a huge Tolkien fan and started to speak in Elvish and was completely awesome). Seeing him out of character was so neat. He's still funny, but you could tell he was more serious in real life.
When taping finally started, the audience went crazy. Stephen sat down at the desk and told us to sit down and we didn't, which you can see on the show. Stephen ate it up and loved it. The show was coming back from a two week break, so the show's crew was refreshed and the energy was just excited, which was so cool to see.
Stephen made a couple of mistakes and had to do reshoots. Which, you can't even tell when watching the taped show that there was even an edit. During the "commercial breaks", the stage crew would come out and do their thing. Makeup retouches, stage retoughes, script retouches. And Stephen would loosen himself up by dancing, singing and making faces.
And then, the taping ended and we go home. While Stephen leaves, the rest of the crew hangs around to thank the audience as we leave.
Overall, we waited twice as long as the taping actually lasted. But it was worth it and an awesome experience. We even made it on camera a couple of times. I'm already looking forward to the next live taping I can get the opportunity to go to.
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| We got our numbers! |
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| The holding room, with Colbert on in the background. |
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| My awesome friend, Amber was able to get a screenshot of us. |
Tuesday, January 1, 2013
Happy 2013!
As the year starts going, I want to share my highlights from the year (at least the ones I can remember right now).
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| Our NYC trip and making it onto the Today Show. |
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| Making a Skyrim cake for his birthday. |
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| Roadtrip to Kentucky to see my family, with all of the kids present. |
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| Fourth of July in the nation's capital...in 100 degree weather. |
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| My spy mission birthday....and getting an IPad! |
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| Completing a zombie 5K. |
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| Watching my brother run the Marine Corps Marathon. |
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| Becoming an aunt to this little girl. |
Now, here's hoping I can remember to write "2013" on everything.
Thursday, December 6, 2012
Confessions of a Non Housewife
Let me share with you on how a much a weirdo I am.
I don't like doing housework. I'm being completely honest. If I was rich, I'd totally hire the people to do it all for me...while I sit on the couch, watching my shows and eating ice cream.
But every now again, I'll have moments when I spend the whole day cleaning. Usually, it's when I'm having people over or when I realize I'm living in filth...not really, but seriously...
Something that I reaaaalllllyyyy don't like doing though, is unloading the dishwasher. Not DOING the dishes but, UNLOADING the DISHWASHER. I can't stand it. And I don't understand why my crazy self hates it. Instead of unloading clean dishes to make room for dirty plates and bowls that all I'd have to do is rinse, I'd rather handwash a full sink of dirty dishes. It makes no sense!
Also, I can't stand vacuuming. I think it's the noise.
On the weirder note, I don't mind cleaning the shower and toilet. Hmmm.....
But all of this works out because the BF doesn't mind unloading the dishwasher and vacuuming...and he does alot of the rest of the cleaning. So in reality, it kinda works out for me. Not complaining!
I don't like doing housework. I'm being completely honest. If I was rich, I'd totally hire the people to do it all for me...while I sit on the couch, watching my shows and eating ice cream.
But every now again, I'll have moments when I spend the whole day cleaning. Usually, it's when I'm having people over or when I realize I'm living in filth...not really, but seriously...
Something that I reaaaalllllyyyy don't like doing though, is unloading the dishwasher. Not DOING the dishes but, UNLOADING the DISHWASHER. I can't stand it. And I don't understand why my crazy self hates it. Instead of unloading clean dishes to make room for dirty plates and bowls that all I'd have to do is rinse, I'd rather handwash a full sink of dirty dishes. It makes no sense!
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| Clean? They can stay in there... |
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| It just means I'm free to take a plate from here than the cabinet. |
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| OK. I'll do. |
Also, I can't stand vacuuming. I think it's the noise.
On the weirder note, I don't mind cleaning the shower and toilet. Hmmm.....
But all of this works out because the BF doesn't mind unloading the dishwasher and vacuuming...and he does alot of the rest of the cleaning. So in reality, it kinda works out for me. Not complaining!
Monday, November 19, 2012
No to Centipedes
I have a fear of centipedes. I'm not sure it's to the point where I'd call it a phobia, because I have no problem destroying the babies when I find them. But once I see a full grown one...it's over for me.
Here's a little background info. We live on the ground floor of our building. Half of our place is underground, so essentially, we're living in the basement of our building. Basement = haven for insects.
I came home the other day to this monster on my kitchen ceiling.
Just so you can compare the size, those are liquor bottles and the track to our lighting. That thing was huge. It had stripes. It was like a tiger centipede or something.
Being the scared pansy I am, I just about had a panic attack. My heart was thumping, my adrenaline was going and I was almost on the verge of tears. All because I was trying to pump myself up to kill this thing. Long story short: I didn't have the cahones to kill it. So instead, I watch the tiger striped demon from a safe distance and hoped that the BF (aka official centipede killer) would get home soon. Well, he came home an hour later. In that time, I made a run for the bathroom and came out to see it crawl down our kitchen cabinet, fall off the cabinet (because it was so big and heavy mind you), crawl onto the floor and proceed under the fridge. I was so overcome with fear and panic, all I could do was watch the whole thing. I'm such a pansy, I couldn't even kill it when it was crawling on the floor and I had the advantage. I fail.
And now we have a tiger centipede living comfortably in some corner, getting bigger and fatter by the day, only to do the whole thing all over again. Fingers are crossed that the centipede killer will be around...
Here's a little background info. We live on the ground floor of our building. Half of our place is underground, so essentially, we're living in the basement of our building. Basement = haven for insects.
I came home the other day to this monster on my kitchen ceiling.
Just so you can compare the size, those are liquor bottles and the track to our lighting. That thing was huge. It had stripes. It was like a tiger centipede or something.
Being the scared pansy I am, I just about had a panic attack. My heart was thumping, my adrenaline was going and I was almost on the verge of tears. All because I was trying to pump myself up to kill this thing. Long story short: I didn't have the cahones to kill it. So instead, I watch the tiger striped demon from a safe distance and hoped that the BF (aka official centipede killer) would get home soon. Well, he came home an hour later. In that time, I made a run for the bathroom and came out to see it crawl down our kitchen cabinet, fall off the cabinet (because it was so big and heavy mind you), crawl onto the floor and proceed under the fridge. I was so overcome with fear and panic, all I could do was watch the whole thing. I'm such a pansy, I couldn't even kill it when it was crawling on the floor and I had the advantage. I fail.
And now we have a tiger centipede living comfortably in some corner, getting bigger and fatter by the day, only to do the whole thing all over again. Fingers are crossed that the centipede killer will be around...
Monday, October 1, 2012
Welcome Fall
I love the start of Fall. The temperature is perfect, the colors are changing and it just makes being outside so much more enjoyable for me.
The BF and I decided to spend the first weekend of the fall season exploring a state park and a waterfall nearby. We've been living here for about 4 years and have never been out to these places. What was wrong with us?? The waterfall was just so peaceful, I could sit there all day under the trees and listen to the water. The trail around the rock formation, called the King and Queen Seats, had enough elevation that it was a pretty good workout. Ok, so it's not a mountain or anything, but considering the rest of the county is relatively flat, this provided a decent sense that you're hiking.
I have learned some things as a result of this latest adventure though.
Number 1: I'm still terrified of heights. Although I wanted to see, I couldn't muster enough bravery to go to the rock edge. I had to be content with watching these fearless 8 year olds go out there. Oh, if only to be a kid again...
Number 2: This kind of ties along to the first one. I will never go rock climbing on an actual rock formation. Nope. Maybe one day, I can do the ones that are at Bass Pro Shops, but that'll probably be it...
Number 3: Water temperature will be pretty cold when the outside temperature is in the 60's. Going under water will literally take your breath away (as told by the BF).
The BF and I decided to spend the first weekend of the fall season exploring a state park and a waterfall nearby. We've been living here for about 4 years and have never been out to these places. What was wrong with us?? The waterfall was just so peaceful, I could sit there all day under the trees and listen to the water. The trail around the rock formation, called the King and Queen Seats, had enough elevation that it was a pretty good workout. Ok, so it's not a mountain or anything, but considering the rest of the county is relatively flat, this provided a decent sense that you're hiking.
I have learned some things as a result of this latest adventure though.
Number 1: I'm still terrified of heights. Although I wanted to see, I couldn't muster enough bravery to go to the rock edge. I had to be content with watching these fearless 8 year olds go out there. Oh, if only to be a kid again...
Number 2: This kind of ties along to the first one. I will never go rock climbing on an actual rock formation. Nope. Maybe one day, I can do the ones that are at Bass Pro Shops, but that'll probably be it...
Number 3: Water temperature will be pretty cold when the outside temperature is in the 60's. Going under water will literally take your breath away (as told by the BF).
Saturday, September 15, 2012
R.I.P: Cedar Point's Space Spiral
I was a little heartbroken earlier this week. An icon from the summers of my early twenties came crashing (literally) down.
When I was in college, I spent my summers working at Cedar Point (America's Rockin Roller Coast!). The actual work was sometimes grueling, and embarrassing, and some dignity may have been lost, but those were some of the best summers I had. When I explain about my summers there, the person I'm talking to usually looks back at me with a face that says, "Really? Working at what sounds like a labor camp doesn't sound appealing at all. Why would anyone work there?" And that person would have a valid point. Yes, I'd work 60+ hours a week outside, in the hottest temperatures of the year, but those 60+ hours a week were spent with your best friends. That's what made the whole job worthwhile. Working there helped me make friends with people I never would've met otherwise. We were all stuck in the same place, doing pretty much manual labor, why not make the most of it and have fun? Once the work day was over, everyone would party, live it up, go to sleep, work 12-14 hours, then, party again.
One of the summers, I worked with my best friend from home, at a ferris wheel. It was the "Giant Wheel Triangle" because there were two additional rides: Troika, a spinning ride, and the Space Spiral, an observation tower of sorts. Our jobs were to pretty much run the rides. They weren't the most thrilling of rides, but hey, we still got our share of fun. But seeing Space Spiral go down brought up all those fond memories of not only that summer, but of all my Cedar Point summers.
I have so many stories from those days. I'm sure I have enough content for a full book, which I was seriously considering doing. It would've been called, "Secrets of a Carny," or something along those lines. I could write a full chapter just about the different types of vomit I've seen or about the park guests that get upset because a ride is closed due to weather or that the line is too long. And I'm sure at some point, I'll share those stories, whether it be a little at a time or all at once.
But for now, I'll end it with this video of Space Spiral imploding to make room for a new roller coaster, which does look really awesome by the way. It's shown on the video after Space Spiral falls. And I guess if you have to go, then this is the way to do it.
When I was in college, I spent my summers working at Cedar Point (America's Rockin Roller Coast!). The actual work was sometimes grueling, and embarrassing, and some dignity may have been lost, but those were some of the best summers I had. When I explain about my summers there, the person I'm talking to usually looks back at me with a face that says, "Really? Working at what sounds like a labor camp doesn't sound appealing at all. Why would anyone work there?" And that person would have a valid point. Yes, I'd work 60+ hours a week outside, in the hottest temperatures of the year, but those 60+ hours a week were spent with your best friends. That's what made the whole job worthwhile. Working there helped me make friends with people I never would've met otherwise. We were all stuck in the same place, doing pretty much manual labor, why not make the most of it and have fun? Once the work day was over, everyone would party, live it up, go to sleep, work 12-14 hours, then, party again.
One of the summers, I worked with my best friend from home, at a ferris wheel. It was the "Giant Wheel Triangle" because there were two additional rides: Troika, a spinning ride, and the Space Spiral, an observation tower of sorts. Our jobs were to pretty much run the rides. They weren't the most thrilling of rides, but hey, we still got our share of fun. But seeing Space Spiral go down brought up all those fond memories of not only that summer, but of all my Cedar Point summers.
I have so many stories from those days. I'm sure I have enough content for a full book, which I was seriously considering doing. It would've been called, "Secrets of a Carny," or something along those lines. I could write a full chapter just about the different types of vomit I've seen or about the park guests that get upset because a ride is closed due to weather or that the line is too long. And I'm sure at some point, I'll share those stories, whether it be a little at a time or all at once.
But for now, I'll end it with this video of Space Spiral imploding to make room for a new roller coaster, which does look really awesome by the way. It's shown on the video after Space Spiral falls. And I guess if you have to go, then this is the way to do it.
Saturday, September 8, 2012
Comics, Burritos and the Amish: Part II
Continued from Part I.
After finding 2 new places we were feeling adventurous. Near Baja Fresh there was an REI. I've heard alot about that place, so I had to go in. Although a great store, I still prefer Bass Pro Shop, just out of the utter size. There's more things to look out. But since it's a place that will take money from a shopaholic, I gladly contributed to their corporate profits and added to my wardrobe :)
After finding 2 new places we were feeling adventurous. Near Baja Fresh there was an REI. I've heard alot about that place, so I had to go in. Although a great store, I still prefer Bass Pro Shop, just out of the utter size. There's more things to look out. But since it's a place that will take money from a shopaholic, I gladly contributed to their corporate profits and added to my wardrobe :)
To continue on our adventure bug, the BF and I went back home a different way. And if we never would've went this way we wouldn't have discovered these two places: 1) ANOTHER Baja Fresh, which I think is a little unfair that there were 2 locations near one another, when there isn't even one close to us anymore... and 2) a Pennsylvania Dutch Market, which is a smorgasbord of little shops operated by mainly the Pennsylvania Dutch inside this big building.
Despite having just eaten a large lunch, the smells in the Dutch Market made me want to eat everything. As soon you walk in, there's a stand for roasted nuts. O.M.G. Then there's a shop for donuts...right across another shop for baked goods. They had shops for amish made furniture and jewelry and crafts. The meats looked really fresh and the produce were down right obscene with how good they looked. There were tables, so you could grab some lunch from one of the shops and eat it there. But I think my favorite out of the whole place was their collection of sprinkles. OMFG. Now back in July, I had an exhausting experience with finding red, white and blue sprinkles. Well, if I had known about this little mecca (is that okay to say since this is an Amish market?) my efforts wouldn't have been wasted. Every single color, every type of sprinkle, and every holiday/season/occasion. And there were bulk packages of the common baking ingredients (sugar, flour, corn syrup, chocolate, etc). Who would've thought that the Amish is serious about their desserts.
Despite being full to my wits with burrito, we had to go home with something. Chocolate chip cookies, donuts and whoopie pies.
The donuts and cookies were so different than what we were used to. I'm sure the Amish ones are less processed and with simpler ingredients. And the whoopie pies were amazing. They reminded me of homemade versions of Oreo cakesters. Nom, nom.
Thursday, September 6, 2012
Comics, Burritos, and the Amish: Part I
It's not very often the BF and I get the same days off, maybe once or twice a month. So because of that, we like to do mini adventures. And this particular mini adventure is actually a two parter! But that's only because I have alot to say and I don't want to have a really long post...
The BF had heard about and researched this comic book store not too far away from us. Although I'm not a big comic book reader, I was game to check this place out. And I'm so happy we did. After coming to this place, I want to start collecting graphic novels and comics (the books, not the thin papers). I think just about every single comic ever made is carried in the store. There were vintage toys that I haven't seen in years. There were vintage comic tshirts that I would seriously wear. It's a nerd's mecca! And for the really nerdy, there's even rooms dedicated to Dungeons and Dragons and Magic the Gathering Tournaments (neither of those I don't understand and don't think I'll ever get into...it's just too weird...)
Our meter was running so we didn't have too much time to explore the place before we had to move the car, but we'll be back...
The BF had heard about and researched this comic book store not too far away from us. Although I'm not a big comic book reader, I was game to check this place out. And I'm so happy we did. After coming to this place, I want to start collecting graphic novels and comics (the books, not the thin papers). I think just about every single comic ever made is carried in the store. There were vintage toys that I haven't seen in years. There were vintage comic tshirts that I would seriously wear. It's a nerd's mecca! And for the really nerdy, there's even rooms dedicated to Dungeons and Dragons and Magic the Gathering Tournaments (neither of those I don't understand and don't think I'll ever get into...it's just too weird...)
Our meter was running so we didn't have too much time to explore the place before we had to move the car, but we'll be back...
On the same day, we also went on a hunt for the elusive Baja Fresh. You see, this used to be our go-to place for mexican in our neighborhood. We felt it was classier than Taco Bell, but still cheap. Whenever I didn't want to cook and we were stumped on what to eat, we'd end up at Baja. It was amazing. Well, back in February, we show up and EVERYTHING is gone. The only thing standing was the sign at the top of the building and a sign on the door that read, "Closed." We honestly thought it was a sick joke and I got on my phone to scour the internet for answers. Well, it turned out the reason for their closure was due to high rent or something along those lines. Damn inflation!! And to top it off, our favorite sushi place closed down, and then our 3rd go-to changed their menu and prices for the worst. What are we to do!!?? And that's where we went on the hunt. Baja Fresh wasn't actually that far from where were at the comic store. You'd think we just saw a lake in a desert if you'd have seen our faces.
It's complete torture for me to look at the picture of the (I think it's crack coated because its so damn good and I can't stop eating it until it's gone!) food.
Stay tuned for Part Dos in the near future! It involves the Amish!!
Friday, August 3, 2012
A New Computer! Woo Hoo!
For the past week, I haven't been able to do much on my laptop. It's about 6 years old and God bless it's little computer brain, but the BF and I had to replace it. We opted for a desktop this time, because A) my body started to get sore after slouching in front of the laptop for a bit and it burned my lap when I tried to sit on the couch with it; B) we had this awesome monitor with no computer; C) we wanted to feel classy with an "office."
Since summer began, I've been researching computer deals since back to school time tends to have the best prices. We found our HP for a decent price at Office Depot. It feels so nice to have a fast computer at an actual desk (instead of our kitchen table).
Earlier in the week, I came home to this. I knew it wasn't the dog because she just doesn't fit in the corner. The number of times we've come home to this is in the double digits. This time around, the cat managed to knock down the speaker as well. He's overweight, so we put him on a diet, well, I think he's trying to tell us something...
Since summer began, I've been researching computer deals since back to school time tends to have the best prices. We found our HP for a decent price at Office Depot. It feels so nice to have a fast computer at an actual desk (instead of our kitchen table).
Earlier in the week, I came home to this. I knew it wasn't the dog because she just doesn't fit in the corner. The number of times we've come home to this is in the double digits. This time around, the cat managed to knock down the speaker as well. He's overweight, so we put him on a diet, well, I think he's trying to tell us something...
And nothing makes my day any better than getting free food. Qdoba's website was giving away BOGO coupons (which are good til tomorrow!) When we get to the register to pay, come to find out we also had a free meal via our Qdoba card! Sweet! Free food! This made me feel a little better knowing I was about to spend a couple of hundreds on the computer.
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