I didn't get any photos, but Kathy did, so you can check hers out.
Like usual, we had to share K & J with his family, but they planned ahead and it worked out much better than last time. It is still hard to do for them. There are so many people they want to see while they are here.
They insisted on a Yankees game, which was fun, except for the ride down, which was stressful and I apologize again to K & J. The game was not the most exciting, as our only run was walked in, so the Yankees weren't hitting, but it was fun to be there.
She wanted to hike Mohonk, which didn't get done, but reminded me of Bret's hope to do the same.
We also fit in the temple, which was good to do, although we went to a later session, and that made it hard for them to walk around the city as much as we would have liked. We did take a brief walk through Central Park. We had a complicated plan on how to get us home and them to Long Island without driving 2 cars to the city. In hindsight, we chose the wrong plan, but it all worked out kind of miraculously. Dad & I didn't even have a ride home from the train station, as we forgot to leave a car there for us. (yes, that is true.) But low and behold, Linda Ketcheson was on our train, so Roger picked us all up and illegally squeezed us into his old Chevy truck.
Kathy really wanted dinner at the River Station, but that got bumped to NY pizza, twice. It was delicious!
Their last day was hard to plan, with so many ideas.. It ended up with one of the above pizzas for lunch, a game of Probe and Settlers, shopping with Kathy as Jimmy went to his family's, (Gallaria had to do instead of Pallisades), and a last minute ditch to throw everything in her suitcase and head down to his mom's for a big going away dinner. I ate way too much! She cooks amazingly, and the way she does it is tricky. She brings out a few little things at a time, so I take a few, not knowing that she is still brining out raviolis, manicotti, then they grilled kabobs, then ribs, then they ask everyone "who wants a cheeseburger? " Then, they bring out a dessert that she knew I liked and she bought it just for me. It was fun and dad and John hit it off amazingly with their hunting and fishing stories.
Dad went low on the way home, and I almost had to stop and call 911. Thankfully we had 2 juice boxes in the car, but he was out of it, scary like, for the whole time, telling me to pull over, stop the car, where are we, etc. Luckily he had let me drive.
I got to see Dash. He looks like a fox. He is cute.
I loved all the other stuff we managed to fit in, and just being with them.
It went by far too quickly, as did Bret & Tevia's trip for me.
For the record, Jimmy would have won Settlers if we stopped at 2 like we said we would. We went on with the game neck and neck and I pulled it off with the last minute purchase of a point card. hee hee
Friday, August 20, 2010
Friday, August 13, 2010
Peculiar People
Usually when I travel on business I am by myself. This is fine because I am adventurous and have learned to adapt to being alone. In fact, I'm to a point that I enjoy it (while traveling on business). This trip, along with my last trip to Hong Kong) was made with others from the company. And as fun as they are to hang out with, the reality is that everyone else in the world likes to do two things after work and on the weekends: Drink and Eat. And by drink, I mean drink alcohol. This is something I am used to, but when traveling with other people you feel obliged to spend time with them. But after several nights of just wanting to go out and drink, it starts to get tiring.
I've realized that people really must think that those of us that don't drink alcohol are really weird. Most of these people know I don't drink, but they still always ask, "Really, you don't drink at all?" It is like it is an impossible thing. And then they can't believe that I can actually be having fun without drinking. It gets to a point where they say things like, "I wouldn't even be out here tonight if I wasn't drinking." This always makes me feel even better.
So when the average guy (and I can almost say this of most women now, too) sees someone like me who doesn't drink, doesn't go to strip clubs, and is faithful to my wife (and WAITED for my wife) they can't believe it is true. It just doesn't compute. They really do think I am peculiar. And though to this point this hasn't affected me on a professional level, at some point I think it might. When the company here in London wants to celebrate the implementation of our new system they go down to the bar and pay for all drinks. NOT ONE PERSON MISSES THIS. It is the true celebration. Free beer! You'd think they were giving out money. And from a certain point of view they are; because beer costs a lot and they'd be buying it anyhow, so now they get it for free! As I sit there sipping my lemonade as people get further and further from sobriety the night gets more and more boring. But I often think management looks at me and thinks that this is a weakness in me. I don't know that - it just seems like it from time to time. I am somehow detracting from morale by not drinking.
So when it is time for the weekend, some time alone seems like a good idea. It seems refreshing and calming. Tonight after work I walked a few miles down the road, over the river Thames and found a great Indian place to eat. I then grabbed a bus and came back to the hotel. Had I gone out with my coworkers we'd still be in the pub. I'm not saying I don't enjoy being with these people. I can still have fun. It just starts to get old for me.
I can say that I am SO tired of traveling. I look forward to Paris only because Tevia will be there for most of the trip. And I like being with her - especially in Paris.
I've realized that people really must think that those of us that don't drink alcohol are really weird. Most of these people know I don't drink, but they still always ask, "Really, you don't drink at all?" It is like it is an impossible thing. And then they can't believe that I can actually be having fun without drinking. It gets to a point where they say things like, "I wouldn't even be out here tonight if I wasn't drinking." This always makes me feel even better.
So when the average guy (and I can almost say this of most women now, too) sees someone like me who doesn't drink, doesn't go to strip clubs, and is faithful to my wife (and WAITED for my wife) they can't believe it is true. It just doesn't compute. They really do think I am peculiar. And though to this point this hasn't affected me on a professional level, at some point I think it might. When the company here in London wants to celebrate the implementation of our new system they go down to the bar and pay for all drinks. NOT ONE PERSON MISSES THIS. It is the true celebration. Free beer! You'd think they were giving out money. And from a certain point of view they are; because beer costs a lot and they'd be buying it anyhow, so now they get it for free! As I sit there sipping my lemonade as people get further and further from sobriety the night gets more and more boring. But I often think management looks at me and thinks that this is a weakness in me. I don't know that - it just seems like it from time to time. I am somehow detracting from morale by not drinking.
So when it is time for the weekend, some time alone seems like a good idea. It seems refreshing and calming. Tonight after work I walked a few miles down the road, over the river Thames and found a great Indian place to eat. I then grabbed a bus and came back to the hotel. Had I gone out with my coworkers we'd still be in the pub. I'm not saying I don't enjoy being with these people. I can still have fun. It just starts to get old for me.
I can say that I am SO tired of traveling. I look forward to Paris only because Tevia will be there for most of the trip. And I like being with her - especially in Paris.
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
vocab
I know most of you love to learn new vocab words. I remember dad & I doing the Readers Digest word challenge, and making lists for our kids to learn.
I am reading a very interesting book called Bury me Standing. I feel like I am taking a class. It uses great vocab words, so I found myself taking on this new challenge and I read it with dictionary and notebook in hand. It is a slow read, but I am enjoying it. I had no idea how much I didn't know about Gypsies!
I thought maybe we could come up with a family 'word of the week' somehow. We could take turns finding a word, blog it, use it in a sentence, and then each person, including Jarek, has to use that word sometime that week in an email, google talk, blog, or in a conversation. It would be fun, and increase all of our vocab, like when we learned the word torpor and feccund.
:)
Any takers?
I am reading a very interesting book called Bury me Standing. I feel like I am taking a class. It uses great vocab words, so I found myself taking on this new challenge and I read it with dictionary and notebook in hand. It is a slow read, but I am enjoying it. I had no idea how much I didn't know about Gypsies!
I thought maybe we could come up with a family 'word of the week' somehow. We could take turns finding a word, blog it, use it in a sentence, and then each person, including Jarek, has to use that word sometime that week in an email, google talk, blog, or in a conversation. It would be fun, and increase all of our vocab, like when we learned the word torpor and feccund.
:)
Any takers?
Monday, August 09, 2010
Disneyworld: Part 3
Day 5, Thursday
Thursday we slept in and then headed over to Epcot - we took the boat over though when we left later, we realized how silly that was. It took a quarter of the time to walk back to the hotel. Who knew. We hit a random bunch of rides, but Hazel liked the Nemo ones the most.
There was one show, Turtle Talk with Crush, that was really fun. Hazel also really liked the various aquariums they had around. We even did the Spaceship Earth ride (that’s what’s in the giant shiny golf ball thing). Overall, I was a little sick of the greenie/tree hugging I felt was getting shoved in my face the entire time I was there, but maybe it was just me. We went back to the hotel to relax (and learned that it took much less time to just walk) and clean up for the TaxHawk get-together that night.
We met up with the rest of the company and their families for ice cream and then to watch the fireworks show they have at Epcot. It was also completely amazing. It was fun to see everyone, especially since I hadn’t gotten to see most of my co-workers since we moved in April. Big thanks again to TaxHawk for footing the bill for this whole vacation. :-)
Day 6, Friday
Animal Kingdom was the only one of the parks we had hit
yet (no, we’re not counting the waterparks) so that’s what we did on Friday. We headed out relatively early and went straight for the Safari since everyone said that was “the” thing to do at Animal Kingdom. Overall, I think we were not that impressed. It was cool, but I’ve seen zoos that are better. Also, they were having some kind of crowding problem, so when we were moving, the driver would never stop for us to take pictures, so as a result, most of my safari pictures are blurry. They were just animals, but still - it was a bummer. 
One of the cool things about Animal Kingdom was actually all the zoo parts. They have a bunch of walking trails, some for bird areas, some for big mammals, etc. We walked the one side (Africa) and then decided to go somewhere for lunch. I picked because I was feeling decisive and unfortunately, it was not my best decision of the vacation. We expected a sit-down restaurant in Disneyworld to be pricey, but the Yak and Yeti was even more than expected. I got a good drink, but everyone else’s was apparently pretty bad. The food was ok, but not worth the money honestly. On the upside, they seemed to be aware of some of their shortcomings and had us fill out a survey, so maybe they’ll improve in the future. After lunch, we walked through the other side of the walking trails (India) and got to see a bunch of tigers close up. Hazel really liked that and alternated between calling them tigers and tiggers. :-) Part way through that, it started to rain. Then it started to POUR. Maybe it’s just living in Arizona that’s got me to unused to rain but it seemed like a pretty heavy downpour to me. We started waiting it out under the trees, but that didn’t last for long. At least Hazel had fun splashing in the puddles.
The next thing we hit was the bird show. That was really fun to see. It really is amazing what you can train a bird to do. The coolest part by far was the bald eagle. That bird is just breathtaking. Hazel really liked the owl at the end. I’m guessing it’s because of Owl in Winnie the Pooh. :-)
After that, we decided to clear out before the afternoon parade and head up to the petting zoo area. Honestly, it was a pretty pathetic excuse for a petting zoo. They had goats, a llama, a pig and a small cow. We could get better petting zoo experiences down the street from our old condo in Utah. Oh well. We spent some time out of the rain and heat at the big building they had up there, so that was nice.
That night, we swam and then walked back over to Epcot to see that fireworks show again. The spot we got wasn’t as good as the spot we got with everyone from TaxHawk, but it was still pretty good.
Day 7, Saturday
Saturday was the Seveys last day, so we all just slept in and then the Walls relaxed while the Seveys got packed and checked out. They left Noah with us while they headed back over to Epcot to do Soarin’, which is a ride Alex likes from the California Adventure part of Disneyland. Then we just ate and hung out until it was time for them to leave. It was so good to have that week to be with them and Austin just isn’t close enough, in my opinion. We really miss you guys.
We (the Walls) just relaxed in our room the rest of Saturday afternoon and watched the very lame TV channels our hotel had to offer (6 Disney channels and not one was playing cartoons). We decided that for our last night in Florida that we wanted to go back and see the Magic Kingdom fireworks again. We went back a little earlier this time so we could get back to Fantasyland before the parade started and we were hoping that the lines would let up a little bit during the parade so we could do more rides. We’re not really sure if the lines did let up that much because it was a Saturday night, so it was probably going to be busy no matter what.
But Hazel and I rode the teacups and Dumbo and the carousel again. And then we all went on Winnie the Pooh again and the Snow White ride. We had wanted to go back to the front of the castle for the fireworks, but they ended up roping off the way we were planning to walk back because it was where all of the fireworks fell during the show. That and the overall crowd made us decide to watch the show from the back of the castle. It ended up being a very interesting decision.
The fireworks show is obviously orchestrated to be viewed from exactly where we were on Wednesday night. But from our location Saturday night, we got fireworks in surround. Most of them were actually set off from behind the park but a bunch are set off from the castle itself, so we were between the two sets. It was SO loud but really, really cool. Hazel loved the fireworks and I think she liked being able to see so many. After the fireworks show, we headed straight back to the hotel. We decided to wait for the second bus so that we could have our pick of seats and a place to put the stroller, but it still wasn’t a terrible wait.
Day 8, Sunday
Everything went pretty smoothly the next morning in getting packed up and checked out. We didn’t have to check out until 11, so we had most of the morning to take it easy. The Beach Club did have us fill out a survey before we left, so I felt somewhat vindicated being able to tell them exactly what was wrong with them. From the tenor of the questions, they are already aware of some of the more common complaints. Here’s hoping they actually make some improvements. Because the Magic Express (Disney’s airport shuttle service) gets you to the airport 3 hours before your flight time, we decided to go to a sit-down restaurant in the airport - it was so yummy!! And about half the price of any meal we ate at Disneyworld. :-) The flight back was pretty uneventful, though neither of the kids slept as much as they did on the flight out. Our pilot seemed drawn to turbulence though - I had a bigger stomach drop on the flight than I had for any ride I rode the entire week in Florida.
There was a bit of excitement when we got back to Phoenix. Some miscommunication happened with our ride home and the young man Jacob had arranged to pick us up came in his Suburban instead of in our Suburban. This wouldn’t have been an issue except that I forgot to take Hazel’s car seat out of our Suburban way back last Sunday. So, our ride showed up, but we didn’t have a car seat for Hazel. So Jacob rode back to the house with him and got our Suburban and came back for us while I camped out at the airport with the kids. They were both wonderfully behaved, so it really wasn’t as bad as it could have been.
As expected, Daisy about had a heart attack when we got home. We were all happy to be home.
A few more notes:
Again, a big thanks to TaxHawk for taking us all out there. We never would have done it ourselves, that’s for sure. Disneyworld is certainly an experience. I’ve never done anything quite like that. It’s all so big that it is pretty intimidating. Taking a trip like that with a two-month-old is not impossible.
I wouldn’t recommend it, but it’s not impossible. If you’ll notice, Speed and Noah got mentioned very little in these posts, mostly because they just ate and slept and sat in the strollers. They were both very good boys, which we were all very grateful for.
One of the really good things that came out of this trip is that Jacob has said that there’s a very good chance we’ll do a day trip to Disneyland in a few years when Hazel is older. :-) From talking to Alex (who’s been to Disneyland way more than the rest of us), Disneyland has most of the stuff we all really liked about Disneyworld, but in one park instead of five. It was a fun, crazy, stressful, memory-filled week. I’m glad we did it.
Thursday we slept in and then headed over to Epcot - we took the boat over though when we left later, we realized how silly that was. It took a quarter of the time to walk back to the hotel. Who knew. We hit a random bunch of rides, but Hazel liked the Nemo ones the most.
There was one show, Turtle Talk with Crush, that was really fun. Hazel also really liked the various aquariums they had around. We even did the Spaceship Earth ride (that’s what’s in the giant shiny golf ball thing). Overall, I was a little sick of the greenie/tree hugging I felt was getting shoved in my face the entire time I was there, but maybe it was just me. We went back to the hotel to relax (and learned that it took much less time to just walk) and clean up for the TaxHawk get-together that night.We met up with the rest of the company and their families for ice cream and then to watch the fireworks show they have at Epcot. It was also completely amazing. It was fun to see everyone, especially since I hadn’t gotten to see most of my co-workers since we moved in April. Big thanks again to TaxHawk for footing the bill for this whole vacation. :-)
Day 6, Friday
Animal Kingdom was the only one of the parks we had hit
yet (no, we’re not counting the waterparks) so that’s what we did on Friday. We headed out relatively early and went straight for the Safari since everyone said that was “the” thing to do at Animal Kingdom. Overall, I think we were not that impressed. It was cool, but I’ve seen zoos that are better. Also, they were having some kind of crowding problem, so when we were moving, the driver would never stop for us to take pictures, so as a result, most of my safari pictures are blurry. They were just animals, but still - it was a bummer. 
One of the cool things about Animal Kingdom was actually all the zoo parts. They have a bunch of walking trails, some for bird areas, some for big mammals, etc. We walked the one side (Africa) and then decided to go somewhere for lunch. I picked because I was feeling decisive and unfortunately, it was not my best decision of the vacation. We expected a sit-down restaurant in Disneyworld to be pricey, but the Yak and Yeti was even more than expected. I got a good drink, but everyone else’s was apparently pretty bad. The food was ok, but not worth the money honestly. On the upside, they seemed to be aware of some of their shortcomings and had us fill out a survey, so maybe they’ll improve in the future. After lunch, we walked through the other side of the walking trails (India) and got to see a bunch of tigers close up. Hazel really liked that and alternated between calling them tigers and tiggers. :-) Part way through that, it started to rain. Then it started to POUR. Maybe it’s just living in Arizona that’s got me to unused to rain but it seemed like a pretty heavy downpour to me. We started waiting it out under the trees, but that didn’t last for long. At least Hazel had fun splashing in the puddles.
The next thing we hit was the bird show. That was really fun to see. It really is amazing what you can train a bird to do. The coolest part by far was the bald eagle. That bird is just breathtaking. Hazel really liked the owl at the end. I’m guessing it’s because of Owl in Winnie the Pooh. :-)
After that, we decided to clear out before the afternoon parade and head up to the petting zoo area. Honestly, it was a pretty pathetic excuse for a petting zoo. They had goats, a llama, a pig and a small cow. We could get better petting zoo experiences down the street from our old condo in Utah. Oh well. We spent some time out of the rain and heat at the big building they had up there, so that was nice.
That night, we swam and then walked back over to Epcot to see that fireworks show again. The spot we got wasn’t as good as the spot we got with everyone from TaxHawk, but it was still pretty good.
Day 7, Saturday
Saturday was the Seveys last day, so we all just slept in and then the Walls relaxed while the Seveys got packed and checked out. They left Noah with us while they headed back over to Epcot to do Soarin’, which is a ride Alex likes from the California Adventure part of Disneyland. Then we just ate and hung out until it was time for them to leave. It was so good to have that week to be with them and Austin just isn’t close enough, in my opinion. We really miss you guys.
We (the Walls) just relaxed in our room the rest of Saturday afternoon and watched the very lame TV channels our hotel had to offer (6 Disney channels and not one was playing cartoons). We decided that for our last night in Florida that we wanted to go back and see the Magic Kingdom fireworks again. We went back a little earlier this time so we could get back to Fantasyland before the parade started and we were hoping that the lines would let up a little bit during the parade so we could do more rides. We’re not really sure if the lines did let up that much because it was a Saturday night, so it was probably going to be busy no matter what.
But Hazel and I rode the teacups and Dumbo and the carousel again. And then we all went on Winnie the Pooh again and the Snow White ride. We had wanted to go back to the front of the castle for the fireworks, but they ended up roping off the way we were planning to walk back because it was where all of the fireworks fell during the show. That and the overall crowd made us decide to watch the show from the back of the castle. It ended up being a very interesting decision.
The fireworks show is obviously orchestrated to be viewed from exactly where we were on Wednesday night. But from our location Saturday night, we got fireworks in surround. Most of them were actually set off from behind the park but a bunch are set off from the castle itself, so we were between the two sets. It was SO loud but really, really cool. Hazel loved the fireworks and I think she liked being able to see so many. After the fireworks show, we headed straight back to the hotel. We decided to wait for the second bus so that we could have our pick of seats and a place to put the stroller, but it still wasn’t a terrible wait.
Day 8, Sunday
Everything went pretty smoothly the next morning in getting packed up and checked out. We didn’t have to check out until 11, so we had most of the morning to take it easy. The Beach Club did have us fill out a survey before we left, so I felt somewhat vindicated being able to tell them exactly what was wrong with them. From the tenor of the questions, they are already aware of some of the more common complaints. Here’s hoping they actually make some improvements. Because the Magic Express (Disney’s airport shuttle service) gets you to the airport 3 hours before your flight time, we decided to go to a sit-down restaurant in the airport - it was so yummy!! And about half the price of any meal we ate at Disneyworld. :-) The flight back was pretty uneventful, though neither of the kids slept as much as they did on the flight out. Our pilot seemed drawn to turbulence though - I had a bigger stomach drop on the flight than I had for any ride I rode the entire week in Florida.
There was a bit of excitement when we got back to Phoenix. Some miscommunication happened with our ride home and the young man Jacob had arranged to pick us up came in his Suburban instead of in our Suburban. This wouldn’t have been an issue except that I forgot to take Hazel’s car seat out of our Suburban way back last Sunday. So, our ride showed up, but we didn’t have a car seat for Hazel. So Jacob rode back to the house with him and got our Suburban and came back for us while I camped out at the airport with the kids. They were both wonderfully behaved, so it really wasn’t as bad as it could have been.
As expected, Daisy about had a heart attack when we got home. We were all happy to be home.
A few more notes:
Again, a big thanks to TaxHawk for taking us all out there. We never would have done it ourselves, that’s for sure. Disneyworld is certainly an experience. I’ve never done anything quite like that. It’s all so big that it is pretty intimidating. Taking a trip like that with a two-month-old is not impossible.
I wouldn’t recommend it, but it’s not impossible. If you’ll notice, Speed and Noah got mentioned very little in these posts, mostly because they just ate and slept and sat in the strollers. They were both very good boys, which we were all very grateful for.
One of the really good things that came out of this trip is that Jacob has said that there’s a very good chance we’ll do a day trip to Disneyland in a few years when Hazel is older. :-) From talking to Alex (who’s been to Disneyland way more than the rest of us), Disneyland has most of the stuff we all really liked about Disneyworld, but in one park instead of five. It was a fun, crazy, stressful, memory-filled week. I’m glad we did it.
Disneyworld: Part 2
Day 4, Wednesday
The concierge at the hotel gave Jacob the number of a shuttle service that we scheduled to get us from the hotel to Universal and back. You will get dirty looks when you leave Disney property when you’re staying at one of their hotels. Consider yourself warned. The shuttle service was much cheaper than we’d hoped for and dropped us off as close to the park as it could. It’s a 10 minute hike to get into the park past the security checks, outside shops and ticket area. At least they had moving walkways for part of it.
So first we waited in lines to have our bags checked to get into the area of Universal Studios. Then we waited in line to buy our tickets. Then we waited in line to get into the park. THEN we waited in line to get into (drumroll please) The Wizarding World of Harry Potter (hereafter: Harry Potter World or HPW)!!I think we waited in that last line almost 90 minutes. It was INSANE. The masses of humanity they were packing into that small area HAD to be against some code. But it was SO COMPLETELY COOL!!
The first thing we hit in HPW was Hogwarts, which was also home to Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, which was one of the coolest rides any of us have ever been on. The whole top floor is set up to be the line for the ride, but you walk through the Gryffindor common room, the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, and Dumbledore’s office. Since Nicole and I were hanging out with the kids at first, we found out they have a separate walkway for those who just want to tour the castle without waiting in line for the ride. Jacob and Alex also found out that (at least right after the park opens) they don’t police the junction points between that walkway and the actual ride line very well. Let’s just say those two rode the ride 3 times in a row in very, very little time. :-)
We ate lunch at The Three Broomsticks and had butterbeer. Holy cow - that’s good stuff. The food was pretty good - better than most anything we’d had in Florida at that point. The inside of the restaurant looked just like the movie - it was really fun. Even the bathroom was cool - it was regular modern bathroom, but occasionally Moaning Myrtle will start talking to you. I only heard her voice, though there was a rumor that she occasionally appeared in some of the mirrors. Once we figured out that the other HUGE lines outside were to get in the shops, we sucked it up and started waiting in those lines.
Nicole stayed with the kids while the rest of us went through Honeyduke’s and Zonko’s Joke Shop and then Jacob stayed with them while the rest of us went into Dervish and Bang’s. The first two were candy and joke stuff (I know - shocking) and then the last store was the souvenir store. I loaded up on Bertie Bott’s Beans and even got a Chocolate Frog. Alex bought a sweet looking wand, which I'm pretty jealous of.
We hung out around HPW for a while longer because we weren’t sure we’d be allowed in once we left. After we’d decided we’d waited in enough lines, we took a few more pictures by the Hogwarts Express and headed out. The only other part of Universal we had any real interest in visiting was Suess Land. Nicole and I are both big Suess fans and Hazel’s on her way to becoming one as well. Her favorite ride was the carousel (not a surprise) and the One Fish, Two Fish ride (which is basically a Dumbo-redo). She had a lot of fun on both I think. We looked around in some of the stores and then I finally went and asked but they don’t carry any Sneetches merchandise anymore. I was very sad. By the time we were done in Suess Land, we still had about an hour until our return shuttle, so we just walked around and looked at different parts of the park and shopped at some of the out of the park shops. Jacob and I both finally got new sunglasses.
After we got back to the hotel and spent some time recovering, I managed to somehow convince everyone that it would be a good idea to go to Magic Kingdom that night to see the parade and fireworks show. And I’m sure it would have been a fantastic idea except that everyone else seemed to have the exact same idea. If we hadn’t seen such outrageous crowds at HPW that morning, I’m sure I would have been shocked by the crowds the parade and fireworks show drew. I will admit that I had a very bad attitude once we got to the park that lasted until partway through the parade. It was hot and crowded and Hazel was really unhappy which was making it harder for me to be happy. The parade was fun and would have been more fun if I could have relaxed about everyone shoving me from every side.
We repositioned ourselves for the fireworks show so we were right in front of the castle. The picture to the right shows our view. I think the videos are too big and too long to post on here but WOW - that was amazing. Probably the best fireworks show I’ve ever seen. They actually shot some fireworks off from the castle itself to make it look like it was being blown up - very cool. We decided to wait out the crowd before trying to get on the bus back to the hotel, mostly because the babies needed to eat. It ended up being a good idea because our bus back was not that crowded. We even caught the first little bit of the second go of the parade on our way out. It was a very long day, but probably my favorite of the whole week.
A few notes on HPW: It was so, so cool, especially for someone who likes to nerd-rage about Harry Potter. Like me, for example. I do have a couple of complaints though. (1) Probably the least baby-friendly place we visited. And Disneyworld is not the most baby-friendly theme/amusement park I've been too. (2) It should have been MUCH, MUCH bigger. In my opinion, it should have been it's own theme park, instead of one section of Universal. (3) I wish they would have had more. What was there was completely awesome. But it would have been nice to see more of Hogwarts castle or more of Hogsmeade. I think they could've made a fortune if Hogwarts had been a hotel and you could've actually stayed a night in Hogwarts.
The differences between how things at HPW were handled and how things at Disneyworld were handled is rather striking. Disneyworld has line traffic control down to a science, as well they should. Things were a bit messier at HPW, as shown by the "shortcut" the boys found when going on Forbidden Journey.
OH! Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey was SO cool! I'm not the biggest rollercoaster fan. And when Jacob starts off with "I won't tell you anything about it but you HAVE to go on this ride" - I get very nervous. It was really, really awesome. You very much feel a part of the movies. However, the ride did break while I was on it, so that kinda slowed down the experience a bit for me. But it was still really cool. It was actually the car Jacob was on that broke the ride that time, so he ended up going on it 5 times I think. Lucky.
The concierge at the hotel gave Jacob the number of a shuttle service that we scheduled to get us from the hotel to Universal and back. You will get dirty looks when you leave Disney property when you’re staying at one of their hotels. Consider yourself warned. The shuttle service was much cheaper than we’d hoped for and dropped us off as close to the park as it could. It’s a 10 minute hike to get into the park past the security checks, outside shops and ticket area. At least they had moving walkways for part of it.
So first we waited in lines to have our bags checked to get into the area of Universal Studios. Then we waited in line to buy our tickets. Then we waited in line to get into the park. THEN we waited in line to get into (drumroll please) The Wizarding World of Harry Potter (hereafter: Harry Potter World or HPW)!!I think we waited in that last line almost 90 minutes. It was INSANE. The masses of humanity they were packing into that small area HAD to be against some code. But it was SO COMPLETELY COOL!!
The first thing we hit in HPW was Hogwarts, which was also home to Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, which was one of the coolest rides any of us have ever been on. The whole top floor is set up to be the line for the ride, but you walk through the Gryffindor common room, the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, and Dumbledore’s office. Since Nicole and I were hanging out with the kids at first, we found out they have a separate walkway for those who just want to tour the castle without waiting in line for the ride. Jacob and Alex also found out that (at least right after the park opens) they don’t police the junction points between that walkway and the actual ride line very well. Let’s just say those two rode the ride 3 times in a row in very, very little time. :-)
We ate lunch at The Three Broomsticks and had butterbeer. Holy cow - that’s good stuff. The food was pretty good - better than most anything we’d had in Florida at that point. The inside of the restaurant looked just like the movie - it was really fun. Even the bathroom was cool - it was regular modern bathroom, but occasionally Moaning Myrtle will start talking to you. I only heard her voice, though there was a rumor that she occasionally appeared in some of the mirrors. Once we figured out that the other HUGE lines outside were to get in the shops, we sucked it up and started waiting in those lines.
Nicole stayed with the kids while the rest of us went through Honeyduke’s and Zonko’s Joke Shop and then Jacob stayed with them while the rest of us went into Dervish and Bang’s. The first two were candy and joke stuff (I know - shocking) and then the last store was the souvenir store. I loaded up on Bertie Bott’s Beans and even got a Chocolate Frog. Alex bought a sweet looking wand, which I'm pretty jealous of. We hung out around HPW for a while longer because we weren’t sure we’d be allowed in once we left. After we’d decided we’d waited in enough lines, we took a few more pictures by the Hogwarts Express and headed out. The only other part of Universal we had any real interest in visiting was Suess Land. Nicole and I are both big Suess fans and Hazel’s on her way to becoming one as well. Her favorite ride was the carousel (not a surprise) and the One Fish, Two Fish ride (which is basically a Dumbo-redo). She had a lot of fun on both I think. We looked around in some of the stores and then I finally went and asked but they don’t carry any Sneetches merchandise anymore. I was very sad. By the time we were done in Suess Land, we still had about an hour until our return shuttle, so we just walked around and looked at different parts of the park and shopped at some of the out of the park shops. Jacob and I both finally got new sunglasses.
After we got back to the hotel and spent some time recovering, I managed to somehow convince everyone that it would be a good idea to go to Magic Kingdom that night to see the parade and fireworks show. And I’m sure it would have been a fantastic idea except that everyone else seemed to have the exact same idea. If we hadn’t seen such outrageous crowds at HPW that morning, I’m sure I would have been shocked by the crowds the parade and fireworks show drew. I will admit that I had a very bad attitude once we got to the park that lasted until partway through the parade. It was hot and crowded and Hazel was really unhappy which was making it harder for me to be happy. The parade was fun and would have been more fun if I could have relaxed about everyone shoving me from every side.
We repositioned ourselves for the fireworks show so we were right in front of the castle. The picture to the right shows our view. I think the videos are too big and too long to post on here but WOW - that was amazing. Probably the best fireworks show I’ve ever seen. They actually shot some fireworks off from the castle itself to make it look like it was being blown up - very cool. We decided to wait out the crowd before trying to get on the bus back to the hotel, mostly because the babies needed to eat. It ended up being a good idea because our bus back was not that crowded. We even caught the first little bit of the second go of the parade on our way out. It was a very long day, but probably my favorite of the whole week.
A few notes on HPW: It was so, so cool, especially for someone who likes to nerd-rage about Harry Potter. Like me, for example. I do have a couple of complaints though. (1) Probably the least baby-friendly place we visited. And Disneyworld is not the most baby-friendly theme/amusement park I've been too. (2) It should have been MUCH, MUCH bigger. In my opinion, it should have been it's own theme park, instead of one section of Universal. (3) I wish they would have had more. What was there was completely awesome. But it would have been nice to see more of Hogwarts castle or more of Hogsmeade. I think they could've made a fortune if Hogwarts had been a hotel and you could've actually stayed a night in Hogwarts.
The differences between how things at HPW were handled and how things at Disneyworld were handled is rather striking. Disneyworld has line traffic control down to a science, as well they should. Things were a bit messier at HPW, as shown by the "shortcut" the boys found when going on Forbidden Journey.
OH! Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey was SO cool! I'm not the biggest rollercoaster fan. And when Jacob starts off with "I won't tell you anything about it but you HAVE to go on this ride" - I get very nervous. It was really, really awesome. You very much feel a part of the movies. However, the ride did break while I was on it, so that kinda slowed down the experience a bit for me. But it was still really cool. It was actually the car Jacob was on that broke the ride that time, so he ended up going on it 5 times I think. Lucky.
Disneyworld: Part 1
I just want to start this by saying I’m going to pretend Jacob Webb won’t be reading this so I don’t have to apologize every time I say something negative about Disneyworld. :-)
Day 1, Sunday
We (the Walls) flew out of Phoenix on Sunday morning. We’d only been at the airport about 10 minutes when I realized that I’d forgotten to take Hazel’s car seat out of Pink 5 before Bret drove off with it. Not the best way to start out a trip, but it wasn’t a huge deal. The flight to Florida was very uneventful, which is always good when you’re traveling with children. The Seveys were waiting in the hotel lobby when we got there and we were really excited to have more time to spend with them. On the downside, our room wasn’t ready, so that took a few extra minutes and we ended up with a smaller bed than had been booked for us. Strike one for the Beach Club. We (Seveys and Walls) had dinner that night at a buffet in the hotel that was very yummy but also very expensive. But at least we got to eat our fill of crab legs. :-) We stayed up “late” talking (still got to bed before midnight Phoenix time). Hazel slept in the closet that night - her choice, not our’s. She dragged her pillow and blankets in there and just feel asleep. Such a cute but weird little girl.
Day 2, Monday
The Walls slept in Monday morning, which was unintentional but obviously needed. We wanted to hit one of the closer parks this day and since the Seveys had already done most of Epcot on Sunday (they arrived a day earlier), we all decided to head over to Hollywood Studios. The first thing we all wanted to do was the Indiana Jones show, but we just missed it, so we decided to hit up the Star Wars ride while we waited for the next one. I remember going on the same ride the one time I went to Disneyland as a child and it was just as fun as I remembered. It’s a ride I’d love to go on with some of my nephews and nieces. :-) We did child swap since this one had a height requirement and when Nicole and I came out from our turn on the ride, Jacob pulled me over to the painting section of the Star Wars gift shop and asked me to pick a painting. I’ll be honest, I thought he was kidding at first but it didn’t take long before I realized he was completely serious. In the end, we actually bought one. I was tempted to ask the employees how often someone actually buys a painting there, but I think I got distracted by Hazel doing something. Seriously though, it’s completely awesome. You can all feel free to be jealous of its awesomeness.
Next was the Indiana Jones Stunt Show (not the official name because I don’t remember what the official name is). So cool!!! They showed us how they did a bunch of stunts in Raiders of the Lost Ark and I’m not completely sure but I think the guy that was doing the stunts may have actually been one of Harrison Ford’s stunt doubles. The show was one of Jacob’s favorite parts of the trip and one of mine as well. Hazel applauded along with everyone else, so I think it’s safe to say she also enjoyed it. They showed us the rolling bolder scene (somewhat scaled down, of course), the fight at the German airstrip and the fight in the Cairo marketplace where Marion gets kidnapped. There was a good dose of comedy in it as well - overall, a really fun time.
After that, it was time for the first of many visits to a Disneyworld Baby Center because the babies needed to eat. Then it was our turn for lunch and we had the first of many burgers. Seriously, I swear most of the places at Disneyworld serve either burgers or pizza. Anyway, we spent the rest of our time at Hollywood Studios checking out the great movie ride, which broke part way through and we had to walk off (so technically we started the ride but didn’t finish it), and then we hung out at the Honey, I Shrunk the Kids playground, which Hazel really liked. Somewhere in there, we fed the babies again and the dads took off to do the Tower of Terror.
After we headed back to the resort, we went to check out the pool, which ended up being one of the cooler things in the resort. It was huge and had lots of areas of different depths, though we spent most of our time in the 1 - 2 foot depth area for two reasons. (1) Hazel could stand up there and (2) the bottom was covered in sand there. It was really cool to have the sand bottom like you do in the ocean but without the waves to get sand in places you don’t want sand. The boys tried to go get us food at the closest food place that wasn’t just hamburgers, but they didn’t allow food to-go, only ice cream. So we had hamburgers again. Jacob and Alex also went to the concierge that night to ask if we could be moved into rooms next to each other, but nothing materialized out of that, which was a bummer. Strike two for the Beach Club.
Day 3, Tuesday
Tuesday we got up early to try to hit the Magic Kingdom “Magic Hours” - basically where you get in an hour early because you’re staying on Disney property. We got a room service breakfast, which was ok, not fantastic, but ok, and we still managed to get to the park before it opened. Let me tell you - being at the opening of a Disneyworld park, especially Magic Kingdom, is pretty nuts. It was fun to have Mickey come out and have the whole crowd count down but it was still crazy. We headed straight for Fantasyland where all of the kid rides are. We hit Dumbo, the carousel, Winnie the Pooh, the Tiki Room (which they changed according to Alex), Small World, Pirates of the Caribbean (which has also been changed apparently or is at least really different from Disneyland), and the Peter Pan ride. However, somewhere between walking from Pirates to Peter Pan, Hazel fell asleep in the stroller. Since she didn’t even wake up when we took her out of the stroller, we all headed back to the hotel after that one. I think Winnie the Pooh was Hazel's favorite and she certainly entertained us and everyone else when she'd point and shout out the characters' names. We spent the afternoon relaxing and swimming some more and getting everything set up for our big excursion on Wednesday: Universal Studios.
Day 1, Sunday
We (the Walls) flew out of Phoenix on Sunday morning. We’d only been at the airport about 10 minutes when I realized that I’d forgotten to take Hazel’s car seat out of Pink 5 before Bret drove off with it. Not the best way to start out a trip, but it wasn’t a huge deal. The flight to Florida was very uneventful, which is always good when you’re traveling with children. The Seveys were waiting in the hotel lobby when we got there and we were really excited to have more time to spend with them. On the downside, our room wasn’t ready, so that took a few extra minutes and we ended up with a smaller bed than had been booked for us. Strike one for the Beach Club. We (Seveys and Walls) had dinner that night at a buffet in the hotel that was very yummy but also very expensive. But at least we got to eat our fill of crab legs. :-) We stayed up “late” talking (still got to bed before midnight Phoenix time). Hazel slept in the closet that night - her choice, not our’s. She dragged her pillow and blankets in there and just feel asleep. Such a cute but weird little girl.
Day 2, Monday
The Walls slept in Monday morning, which was unintentional but obviously needed. We wanted to hit one of the closer parks this day and since the Seveys had already done most of Epcot on Sunday (they arrived a day earlier), we all decided to head over to Hollywood Studios. The first thing we all wanted to do was the Indiana Jones show, but we just missed it, so we decided to hit up the Star Wars ride while we waited for the next one. I remember going on the same ride the one time I went to Disneyland as a child and it was just as fun as I remembered. It’s a ride I’d love to go on with some of my nephews and nieces. :-) We did child swap since this one had a height requirement and when Nicole and I came out from our turn on the ride, Jacob pulled me over to the painting section of the Star Wars gift shop and asked me to pick a painting. I’ll be honest, I thought he was kidding at first but it didn’t take long before I realized he was completely serious. In the end, we actually bought one. I was tempted to ask the employees how often someone actually buys a painting there, but I think I got distracted by Hazel doing something. Seriously though, it’s completely awesome. You can all feel free to be jealous of its awesomeness.
Next was the Indiana Jones Stunt Show (not the official name because I don’t remember what the official name is). So cool!!! They showed us how they did a bunch of stunts in Raiders of the Lost Ark and I’m not completely sure but I think the guy that was doing the stunts may have actually been one of Harrison Ford’s stunt doubles. The show was one of Jacob’s favorite parts of the trip and one of mine as well. Hazel applauded along with everyone else, so I think it’s safe to say she also enjoyed it. They showed us the rolling bolder scene (somewhat scaled down, of course), the fight at the German airstrip and the fight in the Cairo marketplace where Marion gets kidnapped. There was a good dose of comedy in it as well - overall, a really fun time.
After that, it was time for the first of many visits to a Disneyworld Baby Center because the babies needed to eat. Then it was our turn for lunch and we had the first of many burgers. Seriously, I swear most of the places at Disneyworld serve either burgers or pizza. Anyway, we spent the rest of our time at Hollywood Studios checking out the great movie ride, which broke part way through and we had to walk off (so technically we started the ride but didn’t finish it), and then we hung out at the Honey, I Shrunk the Kids playground, which Hazel really liked. Somewhere in there, we fed the babies again and the dads took off to do the Tower of Terror.
After we headed back to the resort, we went to check out the pool, which ended up being one of the cooler things in the resort. It was huge and had lots of areas of different depths, though we spent most of our time in the 1 - 2 foot depth area for two reasons. (1) Hazel could stand up there and (2) the bottom was covered in sand there. It was really cool to have the sand bottom like you do in the ocean but without the waves to get sand in places you don’t want sand. The boys tried to go get us food at the closest food place that wasn’t just hamburgers, but they didn’t allow food to-go, only ice cream. So we had hamburgers again. Jacob and Alex also went to the concierge that night to ask if we could be moved into rooms next to each other, but nothing materialized out of that, which was a bummer. Strike two for the Beach Club.
Day 3, Tuesday
Tuesday we got up early to try to hit the Magic Kingdom “Magic Hours” - basically where you get in an hour early because you’re staying on Disney property. We got a room service breakfast, which was ok, not fantastic, but ok, and we still managed to get to the park before it opened. Let me tell you - being at the opening of a Disneyworld park, especially Magic Kingdom, is pretty nuts. It was fun to have Mickey come out and have the whole crowd count down but it was still crazy. We headed straight for Fantasyland where all of the kid rides are. We hit Dumbo, the carousel, Winnie the Pooh, the Tiki Room (which they changed according to Alex), Small World, Pirates of the Caribbean (which has also been changed apparently or is at least really different from Disneyland), and the Peter Pan ride. However, somewhere between walking from Pirates to Peter Pan, Hazel fell asleep in the stroller. Since she didn’t even wake up when we took her out of the stroller, we all headed back to the hotel after that one. I think Winnie the Pooh was Hazel's favorite and she certainly entertained us and everyone else when she'd point and shout out the characters' names. We spent the afternoon relaxing and swimming some more and getting everything set up for our big excursion on Wednesday: Universal Studios.
Monday, August 02, 2010
Inspiration
Years ago I took time on my blog to do more than string a few sentences together and mention what happened. I added some pizzazz and comedy and maybe even a picture or two. What led to the “I’m doing this just to chronicle an event” attitude I’ve taken the past few years? I’d attribute it to many things: I have 3 kids, my job takes more time, I get sick of working on the computer, etc. So let’s try and get a few more of my posts back like the old days. I was recently inspired as I was reading some of Bill Simmons’ articles on ESPN. I love that guy. He has the dream job. He writes about sports – all sports. Not just baseball or basketball, but sports in general. His article on why the World Cup was fantastic was spot on. And he’s funny. And clever. I want his job. I want to write fun, clever prose about things l love, which includes sports. But other topics, too, like when my son runs full speed from the bathroom with his underwear around his ankles screaming “scarey!”. These are events that bring life into focus. They are the moments that make us laugh and cry and get mad. So that is what I am going to try and do. Be more creative in my posts – but at the same time chronicle events. Maybe it will be practice for that elusive job out there which basically consists of watching and attending many different sports events, playing basketball, traveling the globe, and making people laugh. So here is my first post on a subject from this summer.
World Cup 2010
I have posted about the World Cup already. Every time there is a World Cup there is so much discussion on “will soccer take off in the US?” and “why aren’t Americans as obsessed with this sport as the rest of the globe (most of it)?” I think the basic answer to those questions is that it is difficult to compete with the other big sports in America. We already have hours of sports to watch and adding another in there just won’t fit. But Americans do like soccer. I think this World Cup proved that. And the reason they love soccer and the World Cup is that this thing only happens every 4 years and it is one of the only sports that we, as Americans, are underdogs. People love to root for underdogs. So even people who don’t know the rules of soccer are watching some of the games. No other moment in sports in 2010 will be more remembered (so far) more than Landon Donovan’s goal to take the USA to the second round. It was cheered by all, soccer fans or not. It was showed a million times on ESPN. You couldn’t be American and not get chills watching it on Youtube. And when they lost the next round to a team they should have beaten, there was legitimate disappointment – or even rage. I know I was ticked off. I instantly became the coach of the team and knew exactly why we lost. Blame it on Altidore and a coach that can’t get his team excited the first half – because I know how to win World Cup games. It is like the NCAA March Madness: it is a great tournament where anything can happen. People are drawn to that (can you hear me BCS? This is why college football is so aggravating!). And for a couple of weeks every four years it brings fun, joy and pain. After the loss of the USA and Brazil I was seriously depressed. I boycotted watching the next round (I may have broken that commitment). So even though soccer isn’t huge in the USA, the USA is catching on to the beauty of the World Cup. The USA bought more tickets to this world cup than any other country besides South Africa (host nation). I am already making plans to attend the next World Cup in Brazil – with two other people already committing to the trip (not including my wife, who I hope does accompany me).
Another reason I love soccer and the World Cup? It is fast. A game will finish in less than 2 hours. What other sport can claim that? And if I’m watching on TV I don’t even have to watch commercials! I don’t have time to watch other sports. It is a 3 to 4 hour commitment to watch any other sport – more if you actually go the game at the stadium and deal with parking. And to watch other sports on TV I am bombarded by sleazy, sometimes funny, rarely brilliant ads every five minutes. But once every four years I can slip out for an extended lunch from work and get most of a soccer match. I can enjoy seeing heartbreak and honor and joy. As I made my nearly daily pilgrimage to Fox Sports Grill each day I admit that the guys that went with me were not American-born. Most days I was with a Colombian, a Turk, a Spaniard, and a Parisian. But the bar was full. When Mexico played the place was full of Mexicans (don’t tell Sheriff Joe) cheering their mother country. But when the US played I was invited to parties, lunches, etc. I would get the FIFA flu and stay home in the morning watching the game on the Spanish channel (thank you Spanish channels! Dang you greedy American cable companies for not allowing most of the games to be broadcast on broadcast TV! Who watches the Today Show anyway?) with my brother who coincidentally suffered the same ailment. And millions of Americans did the same thing.
One might say it is like the Olympics. I agree. The time between each cup leads to a buildup of suspense and it is country against country. And Americans are catching on to the idea – because many of us are immigrants – that it is okay to cheer for other countries. I remember living in Brazil when the World Cup was about to start. I was asked who my favorite teams were. I said the USA, of course. “But who else?” the insisted. They proceeded to list various countries: Spain, Germany, Mexico, England, etc. They loved their team (Brazil) but also cheered for other countries. It was okay to do. Once again it reminded me of March Madness where I could fall in love with a small college I’d never heard of. Or learn to love a school that knocked out the Utes (don’t get me started on the PAC10 thing – that’s a whole post in itself). The Olympics, of course, do something similar. We love to see small countries win – and love to hate bully countries who cheat by using 12 year-old girls to win gold medals. I know the World Cup isn’t as big as the Olympics in the USA yet, but I think it is getting there. I know it is when I get a text from my boss who has never watched a game in his life with one word: GOOOOOOAAAAAAALLLLL.
In the end, though my two favorite teams did not meet expectations, I enjoyed the World Cup 2010. I enjoyed the vuvuzelas. I am glad Spain won (if one of my teams couldn’t). I enjoyed an event that bonded me to many people at my work and at home with something to talk about, complain about, argue about and an excuse to spend time together.
World Cup 2010
I have posted about the World Cup already. Every time there is a World Cup there is so much discussion on “will soccer take off in the US?” and “why aren’t Americans as obsessed with this sport as the rest of the globe (most of it)?” I think the basic answer to those questions is that it is difficult to compete with the other big sports in America. We already have hours of sports to watch and adding another in there just won’t fit. But Americans do like soccer. I think this World Cup proved that. And the reason they love soccer and the World Cup is that this thing only happens every 4 years and it is one of the only sports that we, as Americans, are underdogs. People love to root for underdogs. So even people who don’t know the rules of soccer are watching some of the games. No other moment in sports in 2010 will be more remembered (so far) more than Landon Donovan’s goal to take the USA to the second round. It was cheered by all, soccer fans or not. It was showed a million times on ESPN. You couldn’t be American and not get chills watching it on Youtube. And when they lost the next round to a team they should have beaten, there was legitimate disappointment – or even rage. I know I was ticked off. I instantly became the coach of the team and knew exactly why we lost. Blame it on Altidore and a coach that can’t get his team excited the first half – because I know how to win World Cup games. It is like the NCAA March Madness: it is a great tournament where anything can happen. People are drawn to that (can you hear me BCS? This is why college football is so aggravating!). And for a couple of weeks every four years it brings fun, joy and pain. After the loss of the USA and Brazil I was seriously depressed. I boycotted watching the next round (I may have broken that commitment). So even though soccer isn’t huge in the USA, the USA is catching on to the beauty of the World Cup. The USA bought more tickets to this world cup than any other country besides South Africa (host nation). I am already making plans to attend the next World Cup in Brazil – with two other people already committing to the trip (not including my wife, who I hope does accompany me).
Another reason I love soccer and the World Cup? It is fast. A game will finish in less than 2 hours. What other sport can claim that? And if I’m watching on TV I don’t even have to watch commercials! I don’t have time to watch other sports. It is a 3 to 4 hour commitment to watch any other sport – more if you actually go the game at the stadium and deal with parking. And to watch other sports on TV I am bombarded by sleazy, sometimes funny, rarely brilliant ads every five minutes. But once every four years I can slip out for an extended lunch from work and get most of a soccer match. I can enjoy seeing heartbreak and honor and joy. As I made my nearly daily pilgrimage to Fox Sports Grill each day I admit that the guys that went with me were not American-born. Most days I was with a Colombian, a Turk, a Spaniard, and a Parisian. But the bar was full. When Mexico played the place was full of Mexicans (don’t tell Sheriff Joe) cheering their mother country. But when the US played I was invited to parties, lunches, etc. I would get the FIFA flu and stay home in the morning watching the game on the Spanish channel (thank you Spanish channels! Dang you greedy American cable companies for not allowing most of the games to be broadcast on broadcast TV! Who watches the Today Show anyway?) with my brother who coincidentally suffered the same ailment. And millions of Americans did the same thing.
One might say it is like the Olympics. I agree. The time between each cup leads to a buildup of suspense and it is country against country. And Americans are catching on to the idea – because many of us are immigrants – that it is okay to cheer for other countries. I remember living in Brazil when the World Cup was about to start. I was asked who my favorite teams were. I said the USA, of course. “But who else?” the insisted. They proceeded to list various countries: Spain, Germany, Mexico, England, etc. They loved their team (Brazil) but also cheered for other countries. It was okay to do. Once again it reminded me of March Madness where I could fall in love with a small college I’d never heard of. Or learn to love a school that knocked out the Utes (don’t get me started on the PAC10 thing – that’s a whole post in itself). The Olympics, of course, do something similar. We love to see small countries win – and love to hate bully countries who cheat by using 12 year-old girls to win gold medals. I know the World Cup isn’t as big as the Olympics in the USA yet, but I think it is getting there. I know it is when I get a text from my boss who has never watched a game in his life with one word: GOOOOOOAAAAAAALLLLL.
In the end, though my two favorite teams did not meet expectations, I enjoyed the World Cup 2010. I enjoyed the vuvuzelas. I am glad Spain won (if one of my teams couldn’t). I enjoyed an event that bonded me to many people at my work and at home with something to talk about, complain about, argue about and an excuse to spend time together.
Mom, The Plumbers Helper
You guys would have loved seeing mom on Saturday. I had her on the end of a 4 foot cheater bar pulling one way to remove a defective 1 1/2" black nipple from a 90 deg elbow. I was backing up this applied shear stress with a 24" pipe wrench so that her efforts would not knock our poor furnace off its foundation. So working totally opposite to each other, but in perfect balance, we were able to remove a stubborn pipe successfully with out breaking anything. The furnace is fixed and the job is done and mom is proudly wearing a new hat. Plumbers helper. She is a keeper. I have been saying that for years.
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