The ABC's of Trip Planning, Pt 1- K is for Keeping Things Kooky- Drinks V-Z; pg. 197 + New Link

[englishrose47]

Here again, 2 nights in a row .At work and let's say it has been challenging. One of the individuals , lets say monopolizes the phone, she will call people over and over and over and over ( get the pix ) Anyway her target tonight was her aunt , who she wanted to go see !! Calling every 2 mins or less finally got he cousin on the phone a young man, who apparently knows soo much more than me about how to handle this population than me !!!He asked me "what is planned for tonight " I said "no set plans" Well he says that is the problem you need to have something to keep her excited , like a craft or an outing , you need to keep her busy at all times and he goes on and on. I am almost biting my tongue off , the aragant idiot !!! Does he think we don't try to keep her occupied and OFF the phone , and while we are standing on our heads to entertain her who does he think is seeing to the entertainment of the others . . Later his mother gets on the phone and screams at me . Next time she asks me to drive the individual to her house I am gonna tell her I am busy entertaining one of the others

 

[Steppesister]

Coconut cream pie, Nanaimo bars, many cakes and squares...

nope.

Sad day for you. But hey, you can send all of that my way. And no, I won't trade my bacon for it.

I can't! The kid's way, WAY too stubborn!
She is going to make a wicked lawyer some day... if she has the will and desire to do it.

We need more lawyers with sense. Common sense. And wisdom, ethics and a conscience. As well as a hefty dose of humility.

Still up. Doing laundry. And thanks for the well wishes!

By now you're on Day 2. I'll pop over to your thread to see if I can find any live updates.

 

[englishrose47]

Well today was the Twins 20th birthday and we had a great day together !! I can't believe my babies are 20 !!!!

 

[Steppesister]

No sadly no free snacks at the Halloween party unless you count the candy. They do free cookies and hot chocolate at the Christmas parties and that may be why they close some of the CS locations. I really don't remember seeing any of the places closed. Pinocchios haus was but they were handing out green apple Werthers candy... Mmmm



Honestly getting to the Dwarves so early and commiting to be almost first and wait before the party actually started I think made our night smooth. We watched almost the whole Villian show. My mom and ann watched the castle show. I didn't on purpose to get Jacks autograph. But had I wanted to wait in his line I could have done both. We left the party early because our feet were hurting in out ballet flat type shoes. We didn't want that on day one of Disney.



That sounds like an adorable idea!

Good to know about the food. We'll make sure to eat both at EPCOT and then as soon-ish as we get to the party, so we'll have room for yummies. (Like Dole Whips)

Thanks for all your help and suggestions! It really will help me out in how to plan and what to expect.

 

[Steppesister]

Here again, 2 nights in a row .At work and let's say it has been challenging. One of the individuals , lets say monopolizes the phone, she will call people over and over and over and over ( get the pix ) Anyway her target tonight was her aunt , who she wanted to go see !! Calling every 2 mins or less finally got he cousin on the phone a young man, who apparently knows soo much more than me about how to handle this population than me !!!He asked me "what is planned for tonight " I said "no set plans" Well he says that is the problem you need to have something to keep her excited , like a craft or an outing , you need to keep her busy at all times and he goes on and on. I am almost biting my tongue off , the aragant idiot !!! Does he think we don't try to keep her occupied and OFF the phone , and while we are standing on our heads to entertain her who does he think is seeing to the entertainment of the others . . Later his mother gets on the phone and screams at me . Next time she asks me to drive the individual to her house I am gonna tell her I am busy entertaining one of the others

I know... the family dynamics are often the most difficult to work with/around. Sometimes they just don't understand what goes on behind the scenes. Hope things smooth out; nothing is more stressful than trying to please those who don't "get it".

Well today was the Twins 20th birthday and we had a great day together !! I can't believe my babies are 20 !!!!

AWESOME!! So glad you could celebrate another milestone.

 

[englishrose47]

I know... the family dynamics are often the most difficult to work with/around. Sometimes they just don't understand what goes on behind the scenes. Hope things smooth out; nothing is more stressful than trying to please those who don't "get it".



AWESOME!! So glad you could celebrate another milestone.

Thanks for the Birthday wishes. As for the young man !! grrrrrrr !!! I have a real problem when families or even other staff such as nurses etc don't get that we have more than 1 individual to support !! We cannot neglect the others to placate just 1 and unfortunately to many families and supervisors etc don't get that . I do and my staff appreciate it , I get myself in HOT water for standing my ground on this

 

[Steppesister]

Of Corvettes and Cave-ins: Kentucky Mini TR Day 2; pt. 2​

After frolicking with the Kookaburras and Kangaroos, my sister dropped us off to have a more fast-paced experience. The day before, we hopped online to see if there were any spots available for a tour of the Bowling Green Assembly Plant- the only place in the world Corvettes are put together. And they are dang proud. For only $7 we got a couple of tickets for the 2:00 tour (Active military is free.). For a 2-hour tour, ...a 2-hour tour, we thought it was a fantastic price. Especially if we made it back. However, being stranded on a tropical island doesn't sound too bad right about now.

The first 4 parking rows, in their entirety, are reserved for Corvettes or "American-Made Cars Only". In that order. Everyone else can hike, and they don't apologize. As you walk under the ped tunnel into the Visitor's Entrance Doors, you are reminded by way of ginormous signs that cameras of ANY kind are NOT allowed, close-toed shoes are required, and no backpacks or even purses are allowed. AT all. At 1:30, we waltzed through the doors and were given a ticket for Group 1- the first of two tours that were given the 2:00 time. The was the only part that was a bit odd... you were given a 2:00 tour time, but that didn't necessarily mean you'd start your tour right at 2:00. The 2nd group started actually about 30 minutes later.

Anyway, while we waited they showed a nice propaganda film aggrandizing Corvettes which was completely unnecessary. I'm pretty sure anyone who was on the tour in the first place was a pretty big fan of Corvettes, and it was rather preaching to the choir, so to speak. But hey, what's a little more advertising to a captive audience, right? The film gave some pretty cool stats on how Corvettes stack up in the international racing scene, and if you aren't familiar, they do exceedingly well. Even against other big names like Porsche, Lambourghini, and Astin Martin. Yes, I actually would love a Corvette someday. But then I wouldn't get to go to WDW very often, and that would suck. Well, that and I'd have constant anxiety over parking lot door dings. So, I guess I won't be getting one anytime soon.

After they duly warned us one more time about cell phones being put away at ALL times (yes, they would kick you out of the tour if they saw you pull it out) we were off. Let me just say that it was amazing in every way. If you've never seen an assembly plant/factory, you really should at some point. The inner workings of how an operation works that is THAT big is dumbfounding. Automated carts transporting parts on magnetic tracks zipped by us, men and women were using robotic machines to assemble everything for doors to installing hoods and trunks, robots gently slid engines onto chassis, and all around us was a cacophany of noise. But it was not chaos. Far from it! Every station worked together, yet independently, like a well-oiled machine. Each station had a reader board above it telling the workers how they were trending- that is how far ahead or behind schedule they were with how many they've assembled during the shift. On this particular day, they were about 8 cars behind where they needed to be at 2:30ish. Every car is made to order, so the number they make each day, week, or month fluctuates widely with the economy and other factors, but the average for the month of July, 2015 was about 170 cars/day.

We stopped at about 7 stations where the specific part of the process right there was explained. One was door assembly, another was actually attaching the body to the chassis, yet another was the fluid fill station. My favorite however, was the brand new room where one could come to the plant and build their very own engine for their very own Corvette. They have a new program where you can come in as often as you like and build your own car from start to finish putting in every nut and bolt, then have your own name stamped on the car saying you were the assembler. From there you drive the car right out of the factory. Yes, it would be fun; no, I'll never have that kind of money. Move along folks, nothing to see here.

The last steps of the assembly plant are the vehicle testing stations. OH. MY. GOODNESS!!! :allcapscuzit'ssocool: IT IS FREAKING JUST LIKE THE TEST TRACK!! Friends, they test every stinking Corvette just like in the ride. Right there inside the plant, they drive it over a rough surface for a few feet and check for squeaks, they put it through a heat test, a water test, and a tester sits inside to test every button and doohickey for defects. I was blown away. And yes, I thought of all of you as I was ending my tour, wishing you could all be with me seeing the real thing. Honestly, Test Track will be SOOOO much more enjoyable now that I've seen a REAL GM plant; and I can attest that it is very much in so many ways quite authentic in how a REAL assembly plant/ testing plant sounds, feels, looks, and operates. It was definitely a geeky, cool couple of hours and I would highly recommend it to you, especially families with kids. It was very educational to see a piece of the "backbone of America"- Henry Ford was onto something.

For the obvious reason, there were no picutes-

After we left the air-conditioned plant, we stepped back out into Purgatory and realized we had ummmm.... NO WAY to get over to the Corvette Museum. No one told us that it was a freaking mile from the Plant to Museum. My own opinion is that it is a bit of bad form on GM's part to not have a shuttle available at least. I mean wouldn't it be obvious that most folks who take the time to see the plant would also want to see the historic cars?? So, plucking up my courage, I asked a fellow tour-er if they could give us a lift over to the other building. Actually, that's a lie. I simply got in some guys face and said, "Hey, my sister dumped us here, and we need to get over to the Museum. Can we bum a ride?". In a nice way. Which probably didn't sound nice since I was half panicked. The other part of that scenario was that the entire southeast section of America who had AT&T (America's Terrible Telephone) was without service. At about 2:00PM AT&T went dark and to this day, I, and a LOT of other people are convinced it was actually a terrorist attack. They did announce it was a cut cable, but were oddly silent on who or how. I'll leave you to your own research and conclusions, but some are saying that there are groups doing "soft" attacks to "practice" for "bigger and better" things. So, our only other source of transportation was out of reach, both for getting to the Museum AND for the pickup when we were done. Luckily, they were also without service and just showed up when the Museum closed at 5:00. But that's getting WAY ahead of myself....

Yes, I threatened that nice guy with a knuckle sandwich if he didn't take we 2 sweet and innocent looking ladies the mile over to the Museum; he cheerfully complied and we found ourselves stepping into "The Nursery" as it's affectionately called. You see, if you buy a Corvette direct from the Factory, you have the cute little option of having your car delivered directly to the Museum for personal pickup. You'd be surprised how many people actually do this. Right there, as you walk into the Museum entrance, about a dozen cars are lined up to be picked up with a sign stating the PickUp Date and names of the new owners. And as luck would have it, just as we walked in, a couple was just getting into their brand new Corvette for the very first time. About 2 dozen Corvette employees were lined up on both sides, an upper management type handed him the keys, and he turned over the engine and revved it up a couple of times. The excitement was electric and he slid it into first gear, then gently pulled his car out of the showroom to a rousing round of applause. Someone's dream had just come true, and it was rather a special moment for everyone in the room to get to share.

From there we stepped up to the cashier to buy our tickets and $20 later, we started to tour the Corvette Museum. To make a long story longer, there were dozens of really cool old and many one of a kind cars. There were prototypes, racing cars, ragtops, hardtops, you name it. But the highlight of the Museum was the sinkhole area. It, of course, has been filled in, but the whole story was told in a special area dedicated to just that. Footage of the 8 cars being pulled from the hole, newscasts, histories on each of the one of kinds that dropped into the 40-50 feet abyss and news articles were all included. On top of the new floor, the 8 cars are back on display. Only 3 of them have been or will be (ever) restored. The remaining 5 were too badly damaged to even attempt. Sadness abounds.

Because I knew I couldn't take my camera to the plant which we did first, I didn't bother with my DSLR. But even more of a bummer was that my cellphone's battery was seriously dying. Had a I known that we'd not get cell service until around 8:00 that night, I'd have taken photos with my phone until it died, but I was being conservative so I could keep tyring to use it to call my folks for a ride home. So, I only took a handful of pictures. I will end with those, except to say, if you are ever in or around Nashville or southern Kentucky, the Corvette Plant and Museum are truly worth the hour's drive for. You won't be sorry!

 

[Elevationist]

I'm here, I'm here! Don't hurt me for not reading and catching up, but 77 pages, whaaaaaaaaaat!!! I'll just start from here, and hang out with you for the next 14 months or so!

 

[Steppesister]

And yes.... further PTR Plans are coming up. Hopefully, later tonight.

 

[Steppesister]

I'm here, I'm here! Don't hurt me for not reading and catching up, but 77 pages, whaaaaaaaaaat!!! I'll just start from here, and hang out with you for the next 14 months or so!

Totally don't blame you! It's mostly Nursting School blather, ranting, pleading for your good thoughts with every freaking exam I have to endure, etc... and a whole lot of nonsense mixed in. I'm only officially on DAY 2 of Disney planning, and for the obvious reasons, taking things nice and slow. 14 months a helluva long time to drag this out.

 

[jedijill]

I have a friend with a 50th Anniversary model. He picked his up from the factory. It was so sad that those special cars ended up in the sinkhole. Lost pieces of automotive history.

Jill in CO

 

[Steppesister]

I have a friend with a 50th Anniversary model. He picked his up from the factory. It was so sad that those special cars ended up in the sinkhole. Lost pieces of automotive history.

Jill in CO

OH! I forgot to add.... a bit of conspiracy theory floating around Kentucky...

Remember the guy who trained that sheepdog from Kentucky Down Under? Well, he prattled on and on about there being some train tracks found in the bottom of that sinkhole and that there was/is some sort of train system in the caves down there. A very interesting little spin on things, no??

So a 2003 model. That I think was still the Stingray type. Very nice!!!

 

[Steppesister]

Day 3- Wednesday, Oct. 12- Gorillas, Gazelles and Going Slow​

We last left off with an intrepid trio milking a not-too-incredibly-scary-party for all its worth. We'll have gotten our groove on with a few really cool Villians who are really just misunderstood individuals with good hearts underneath all the talk and with a Boo to you and a fair adieu we'll have made out way back to the yet-unnamed-and-probably-will-be-for-a-while resort.

I'd like to say we'll be at Rope Drop at Animal Kingdom for the early EMH, but you know what they say about the best laid plans.... We'll do our best, but having been out and in party mode until pretty late the night before, it'll be a tough go. Luckily for me, AK is a pretty laid back park and there isn't a ton of MUST-DOs other than EE right off the bat, a jalepeno cream cheese pretzel for breakfast, a Safari ride (a very maybe), and the Nemo Show. The rest of the morning I can easily see us just slowing WAY down to walk the trails, many of which none of my kids have ever seen. Can I just say I'm beyond excited to show them this park??

I know they will LOVE the Rafiki's Area where I hope we can catch some action in the Procedures Room, and they will equally adore the Trails with the gorillas and tigers. I have already mentioned that I am one of those who can spend an entire day in the parks and sit and listen to the music street performers for hours, and I fully intend to do this here as in my opinion AK offers the best lineup. So then, how about a mid-morning Dawa Bloody Mary while a group plays there?? Of course, that may lower my chances of spotting DeVine, but by then I won't even really care.

The plan is to leave at 1:00 to catch a 1:30 ADR at Sanaa. I gave the kids a choice of staying in the park for a meal at either Y&Y or Flame Tree, but because of the animals at the windows at Sanaa, they chose that. I agree, given the food offerings and the view, it was an easy winner. I ate there on my last trip with Mary and LeeAnn, and it was quite good. I remember getting the naan service and a couple of curries with rice that was pretty darn great. And I also got that phenomenal photo of the bird with a bad hair day. Which still makes me laugh every time I see it.

HOWEVER, given that @glennbo123 has brought the Market Place to my attention, who knows, we may want to stay at the park for lunch before our hop to.....

Next up: The 2nd half of Day 3

 

[englishrose47]

Loved the Corvette Factory Tour and the museum !!!

 

[englishrose47]

I loved Sanaa !! I plan to go back one day !!!

 

[Steppesister]

Loved the Corvette Factory Tour and the museum !!!

Wasn't it fantastic??! I was very impressed with the tour, and I do love Corvettes- especially the '62-'66-ish era.

I loved Sanaa !! I plan to go back one day !!!

Yummmmmy!!!!! I loved everything about it!

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

The first 4 parking rows, in their entirety, are reserved for Corvettes or "American-Made Cars Only". In that order. Everyone else can hike, and they don't apologize.

I kinda like that, actually. But these days, how can you tell where it's made anymore?

Yes, I actually would love a Corvette someday. But then I wouldn't get to go to WDW very often, and that would suck. Well, that and I'd have constant anxiety over parking lot door dings. So, I guess I won't be getting one anytime soon.

Because experience > stuff. Who needs maintenance costs?

My favorite however, was the brand new room where one could come to the plant and build their very own engine for their very own Corvette. They have a new program where you can come in as often as you like and build your own car from start to finish putting in every nut and bolt, then have your own name stamped on the car saying you were the assembler.

That would be awesome! If I knew anything about building car engines.

The last steps of the assembly plant are the vehicle testing stations. OH. MY. GOODNESS!!! :allcapscuzit'ssocool: IT IS FREAKING JUST LIKE THE TEST TRACK!! Friends, they test every stinking Corvette just like in the ride.

Very cool! This makes me sadder that they got rid of the old vehicle-testing storyline for the ride, though.

After we left the air-conditioned plant, we stepped back out into Purgatory and realized we had ummmm.... NO WAY to get over to the Corvette Museum. No one told us that it was a freaking mile from the Plant to Museum.

Yes, I threatened that nice guy with a knuckle sandwich if he didn't take we 2 sweet and innocent looking ladies the mile over to the Museum

Remind me not to wait for any Disney buses with you.

You see, if you buy a Corvette direct from the Factory, you have the cute little option of having your car delivered directly to the Museum for personal pickup. You'd be surprised how many people actually do this. Right there, as you walk into the Museum entrance, about a dozen cars are lined up to be picked up with a sign stating the PickUp Date and names of the new owners. And as luck would have it, just as we walked in, a couple was just getting into their brand new Corvette for the very first time. About 2 dozen Corvette employees were lined up on both sides, an upper management type handed him the keys, and he turned over the engine and revved it up a couple of times. The excitement was electric and he slid it into first gear, then gently pulled his car out of the showroom to a rousing round of applause. Someone's dream had just come true, and it was rather a special moment for everyone in the room to get to share.

That's awesome. They didn't do anything like that for my Hyundai P.O.S.

Footage of the 8 cars being pulled from the hole, newscasts, histories on each of the one of kinds that dropped into the 40-50 feet abyss and news articles were all included. On top of the new floor, the 8 cars are back on display. Only 3 of them have been or will be (ever) restored. The remaining 5 were too badly damaged to even attempt. Sadness abounds.

I remember hearing about that. Such a shame.

I'd like to say we'll be at Rope Drop at Animal Kingdom for the early EMH, but you know what they say about the best laid plans....

Ah, burning the candle at both ends. The only way to do Disney.

The rest of the morning I can easily see us just slowing WAY down to walk the trails, many of which none of my kids have ever seen. Can I just say I'm beyond excited to show them this park??

It took a while for the trails to grow on me, but they really did!

And I also got that phenomenal photo of the bird with a bad hair day. Which still makes me laugh every time I see it.

I remember that one!

 

[KatMark]

Just checking in. I'm continuing to pray for your husband and all the others fighting those fires.

 

[Steppesister]

I kinda like that, actually. But these days, how can you tell where it's made anymore?

Very true, except in this case, they make a rather big deal about it... and well, there's visual proof. I watched them roll off the assembly line.

Because experience > stuff. Who needs maintenance costs?

There is a company that advertised a lot of the radio that is a Time Share Exiting company whose claims they can get you out of your timeshare legally etc... I'm with you, I just am not very sure about the hidden costs and surprises along the way, that equal out to paying a few nights in a resort anyway. I dunno... I'm skeptical.

Very cool! This makes me sadder that they got rid of the old vehicle-testing storyline for the ride, though.

Yes, me too!!

Remind me not to wait for any Disney buses with you.

I can be very nice when I want to be!

That's awesome. They didn't do anything like that for my Hyundai P.O.S.

Maybe because the average Joe can only make a P.O.S.

I remember hearing about that. Such a shame.

It was quite impressive... and had it been only a few hours later, there would have been people standing right there and flat as Corvette-cakes.

Ah, burning the candle at both ends. The only way to do Disney.

It CAN be done for 8 days. Of course, we all probably wish we could have a week in Cancun afterwards. (Thus, the 3 days in the Keys Post-Disney.)

It took a while for the trails to grow on me, but they really did!

There's more than meets the eye in there. Sticks are sticking out over the trails everywhere.

I remember that one!

Just checking in. I'm continuing to pray for your husband and all the others fighting those fires.

Thanks, Kathy. I'm REALLY hoping he comes home tonght!

 

[Steppesister]

Hello, Readers! Are you still out there!!??

"Weary" is setting in. I have 2 full time weeks left of training, then I'll shift into on-call and picking up shifts as I can. But just from the 6 weeks of training, I will make almost exactly what I needed for tuition. Anything over that by picking up those oncall shifts will go straight to the Vacation Fund, as well as anything I make on eBay. Bonus!! Got (finally) our State tax refund of a little over $200 bucks today, which I probably should earmark for 2 days of food.

Waiting to hear on the snake for sale and a few miscellaneous other items I have listed on eBay... fingers crossed.

I am all completely registered for classes and paid 1st Term's tuition in full this week, drug test is passed, background checks for Clinicals at the State Psychiatric Hospital are done, etc... It is really beginning to feel REAL; 2nd Year of Nursing School will be starting soon!!!

Hoping that my FireBound Hubby comes home tonight. Haven't had any news from him in a couple of days, so I really just don't know. Meantime, I work, come home, DIS for a bit, make futile attempts to keep the house clean, am mostly unsuccessful, then fall into bed by 8:30. I, in some ways, wish my summer had been more restful, but the money is good and I'm getting all kinds of great experience.