Definitions:
Yellow Jacket (n), a yellow and black striped insect from the wasp and hornet family that nests in the ground. Extremely annoying if it comes in close contact with a painful sting when angered. Active during early afternoon to late afternoon, often found near water.
Should be avoided at all costs,,, see Amway Salesman, Jehovah's Witness or Cubs fan.
I am willing to bet, that a trip report chapter has never, ever, been named that before in the history of the Dis!
I am also sure that the meaning is now clear to you all.
The closest I can get, is a Fear of Wasps.
And I'm not talking about the White Anglo Saxon Protestants ones, although those can be scary too.
We are going to start tonight's episode with a bit of making up, I still have some parts of previous chapters that got shorted, for one reason or another, just didn't finish some sections and need making them up,, and besides,, making up sects. is the best.
Ouch,,, that even hurt me!
I'm not sure what happened, but a couple pictures didn't come through in the Epcot chapter. I am having a bigger problem lately with Photobucket,,, and it also may be because i lost track of which e'mails of the new chapter I sent myself, so as far as I can tell right now,,, I have not posted a picture of either of us yet,,, right?
The disturbing part, is that nobody is even asking for photos, and we are 5 chapters in!
Must be because most readers are repeat readers, and seen all the pics from the other reports,, not many newbody's here, right?
Yeah, that must be it. I can talk myself into anything.
But you did get a bit of audio
Just me babbling and her coughing, I think.
So let's go back to Epcot for a moment.
After One Dog Night we stopped off for a bit to listen to Off Kilter,,, and i got Diane to take a picture of me.
But I'm the one that usually holds the camera,,, and I'm noticing lately,,, she's not that interested in taking my pictue either.
hmmm
But I DID talk her into it,,, you know,,, for the report.
"SIGH,),,,, Ok, give it to me."
I believe this is the Off Kilter band in the back ground : thankfully they left their Kilters, on.
We also now have a picture that was supposed to be posted when I doubled the post of the stupid desk:
this is right after checking in, with I think the decorative rugs on our bed covers;
And I didn't complain about taking it!
Which brings us to back to Epcot with both of us exposing ourselves to a complete stranger in front of the Epcot Fountain.
A couple walked by and I asked them If they'd take our picture.
"No thanks."
Huh?
What?
No thanks?
No explanation why not,,, just, "No thanks" and kept walking.
Who doesen't take somebody's picture when asked to?
You think I'm getting a little bit of an inferiority complex about having my picture taken by now?
Best believe it!!
The next couple to come by did agree to do it though.
Have yu ever noticed that when you give the camera to a passerby to take your picture,,, the first thing they do is,,,,
anybody?
yes,,, that's right,,even though you are standing right where you want to be, and hand them the camera right where you want THEM to be, They will immediately turn into photographer extraordinaire and immediately take about 5 steps back, to make sure they have now included everything they can possibley fit in the frame, the topiary, the fountain, Spaceship Earth, The Lincoln Memorial and Uranus.
(no, not mine, yours)
Reducing you and your wife/kids/ whatevers,,, to an inconsequential blurr somewhere in the center of the shot.
Or,,, ooh,,, oooh,,, my favorite,,, is when they take your picture,,, and leave,,, and two days later you then find out that the shot they took,,,, they made sure to turn the camera SIDEWAYS,,, just to screw everything up in your files and Photobucket and to give yourself another chore to work on for 3 days,,, since P-Bucket can't leave things the same for more than 2 weeks! Or when you learn how to do something.
AARRGH!
For you fashionistas out there,, yes,, I am back once again in my travel uniform,,,, after changeing back from the suit,,, I figured I'd get one more "fitting" out of the jeans and t shirt,, THEN they can officially be retired for the duration of the trip. That always makes things easier, when clothes are no longer in the maybe mode yet,,, and you don't know where to put them. Nope,,, these are done,,, goin in a pile in the corner of the room.
By the way,,, this pile of dirty, smelly laundry in the corner?
After ten days there,,, you get the second opportunity to see me standing in front of it,, arms spread to the ceiling, yelling,,,
"It's ALIVE!"
Back to the making up sections:
I thought I had taken a couple in front of the resort waiting for Panchito's to open, before I could go and make a fool of myself,,, but if I did, I can't find them. I probably would have taken shot after shot of this couple in the Designated Smoking Area smoking like there was no tomorrow,,, or maybe they were smoking that way because of this one guy GLARING at them the whole time.
Back to Monday, late morning at the Dig Site.
With the heat I kept switching back and forth from lounger to the chair under the umbrella, and before the painkillers wore off I had to go and try the slide, which is still one of the best in Disney Resorts.
Dinner tonight is at Planet Hollywood, so if we are to have any appetite for that, lunch should be sooner rather than later.
About 11:30, I gave my order to the waitress, and Smidgy went up to order our lunches and get pop for the mugs.
All I wanted was a hot dog and fries, it will come with a soda and I'll save that for a mix later on, for now the refillable mug will suffice.
Nope,,, this was way too simple to work.
I think the pop didn't come in bottles,,, so I changed my order to a carton of milk instead. Yes,, I'm weird that way,, sometimes I like a cold milk with a meal. I don't know anymore,, is milk good for you or not? It was when I was a kid,,, but so was Wonder White Bread back then,,, remember? "Building young bodies 12 ways!"
For the record, again,,, I don't like skim,,, not crazy about 1 percent,,,, no,,, whole milk has been hammered into my head as bad for you,,,, so I drink 2% milk,,,,It's just right!
But back on bread?
Now, it's as if White bread is the worst thing in the world for you,,, heck,,, I remember when I was little,,, the brand my mom bought all the time was "Mothers", it was supposed to be that wholesome for you. Do they still make it?
Did they change the name to Morticians?
And,, for the record,,, I don't like wheat,,, my first choice of bread is still Wonder,,, plain old, everyday,, WHITE bread!
We are not what you would call close to Siestas, or Smidgy would have made another trip back,,, but now it was also getting busy there, so she made her own decisions for me.
You can't get a regular hot dog there now.
They now sell what they call,, "Hot Dog Sliders", and I am not making this up.
Are they aware what the connotation "slider" canotes?
Canotes?
Sounds like an indigineous nationality of people living near the Arctic Circle.
or Winnipeg
What these were , were shorty weiners,, but bigger than cocktail weenies,, on miniature buns. No, they weren't a regular hot dog cut in half,, they were made that way.
Why? Beats the snot out of me.
One more surprise still coming:
They still have the french fries,,, but they only come if you order them separately, in their own basket, they no longer come with a lunch/sandwhich platter.
Geesh,,, every time it's something else they cut back on;
Our first trip here we got a basket of the best fries I have ever, ever had I think in my life,,, and tha's saying something! And these fries came with dogs, burgers, chicken sandwhiches,,,,I'm also not saying they were so good because they were really greasy,,, no,, not at all,,, there was just a taste from the potatos themselves,,,I guess in how they cooked them,,,, but really good stuff.
Just a little greasy,,, also salty,,, but they were of the huge steak fry variety,, each one would require several bites and I just loved them. The next trip here and they could now only be gotten at Siesta's,, not in Pepper Market like the last time.
The trip after that and they were gone for good,, just your regular old fries,,, and now none of them come with a meal, you get a bag of chips instead. The counter service meal also always comes with a desert, which was cole slaw.
Or maybe it was a dessert.
Or maybe the side was cole slaw,, and the dessert was the bag of chips.
Or maybe the chips were the desert,,,,,
Anyway,,,, the milk was very good
Even the chips were crap,,, Disney's very own brand,, and a Kettle type chip instead of a real, oily type potato chip.
This bag actually scared me,, I was afraid I might cut open my cheeks and gums these babies were so hard and sharp, kind of like eating roofing shingles only with less flavor.
I was making decent progress in my book though.
Descent progress in my book.
Desent progres,,,, ok,, I'll stop now.
Spoiler alert!
The third book is the weakest one in the series.
Ok, you can come back now.
So,,, a year from now,, how many little baby girls do you think are going to be named Katniss?
I don't believe you'll see a big spike though in the names, Peeta or Haymitch.
About one o'clock, Diane makes another mug run for both of us.
This can be a real hassle, because unlike BLT, you can't fill it yourself, you have to hand it to the teller/clerk/waitress/waiter/castmember/cook/bartender and hair dresser.....
and they are not allowed to rinse them out for you,,,you have to go and do that somewhere first and have the mug all ready to go before you hand it over to her.
Smidgy did all that.
But Smidgy is a very complicated creature in her own rights, remember,, she's a tea drinker so right there you know nothing's going to go the simple route.
She hates it when you order a Coke or Pop of whatever species, and they fill it with ice first,,, then fill the pop in, whatever they can fit in the glass/mug/cup, where you really end up with very little pop and a lot of ice, so very often she will say, "Easy ice, please."
Almost everybody in the business knows that "easy ice" means you don't fill the glass completely with ice,,, maybe only half way,, ok?
And no, it doesn't mean the ice here are cheap, floozy type ice, ready to meet a new mug. Not at all.
Those ice cubes are found in the Casitas!
Again,, the key word here being,, "almost".
She handed her mug over and said, "Coke, easy ice please."
She was now greeted with a puzzled look on the cast member's face, so she defined herself:
"Coke,, but only fill the glass half way with ice."
CM nodded, but with a small, quizzical shrug of the shoulders and went to work.
She filled the mug halfway with ice,, then added the Coke to make it an even, right on the money half way full mug of pop, and handed it back to her.
As I said,,, this person on the food/refill mug side of Siestas is almost always really busy,,,why in the world would anybody stand in line waiting and waiting and only want it half filled?
Smidgy looked at it,,, 'Um no,,, I still want it filled with Coke,, I just want it only filled halfway with ice."
She's trying to figure out how in the world the person would think somebody would really only want a half a mug filled.
According to Diane,, you could all see the light bulb go off over the girl's head, and it was with a great sigh of relief that comes with knowledge and understanding, that she did what she did next.
She dumped the entire mug out and started from scratch again!
All she had to do was fill the rest of it with Coke and be done with it, but no,,, she needed to start from scratch to get it right.
This was then the part I wished I had been there for, even Smidgy had a hard time trying to convey the right looks and feelings afterwards;
The girl put the mug back in front of Diane, but Diane was looking more at where the girl just dumped the whole thing out before she started over again from.
Smidgy might have held that incredulous look a bit too long, because I guess the girl looked back over her shoulder where she was looking,,, and once, yet again,,, that lightbulb went off, nickel dropped in, circuit was completed and she turned a bright red.
Diane came back and relayed this story to me, she said the last she heard the girl mumble was something like, "I think I now know how that idiot in the gift shop this morning I heard about must have felt, " but she had no idea what she was talking about.
I just shrugged my shoulders.
Have to go back and help Peeta and Katniss now.
Not long after,, something ocurred to me,, and just as I was opening my mouth to say,, "Hey,,, No Yellow Jackets today,",,,,
I heard the buzzing!
I looked up in the tree,,, and there was Rue pointing down at a small Tracker Jacker,,,, I mean there was a small Yellow Jacket coming closer.
She was a little one,, but don't ever let size fool you, sometimes the little ones make up for size with incredible noise and energy!
At this point I still wasn't too worried,,, after all, this a big pool,, what are the chances that she'll take up nest building right by us?
I'd say the chances are excellent!
In the past, I have often used the phrase, "Hey, what can I say, I'm a chick magnet", just to get under Smidgy's skin once in a while, but usuallly at Disney, the truth is I'm more a kid magnet.
Well, today,, I was D: All of the above!
Chicks,, kids, Yellow jackets, Love bugs,,,
I was so magnetized I kept turning to the North!
The photos you are about to see have not been doctored in the slightest, and if the camera had been a little bit more easily accessible, they would have been even more unbelievable!
It's tough enough being a chick magnet,, but when the chick is a yellow jacket?
Remember back in Oil's Well that Ends Well, the water balloon toss Smidgy and I took part in?
Still one of the more shining moments in my Disney "let's get silly" trips. I've never had something work out that well before.
Well, this Yellow Jacket is setting up the same thing, forming two teams, handing out big wet balloons.
But she's doing it right over me,,and I mean "Over me". Leaning across my lawn chair and my legs to hand someone a water balloon. I was beyond being a chick magnet,, I was more of the "Invisible Man!"
For a short second,,, it dawned on me,,, "Oh,, Smidgy has set her up to do this,,, her way of getting back at me for the last water balloon toss,,, " but ,,, no,,, that wasn't the case at all.
I was honestly, just sitting there reading my book,,, trying to ignore her yelling and buzzing in my ear,, when she actually stumbled on the foot end of my lounger.
I really thought she was going to end up in my lap and it would really have stung!
At that range I would never have gotten that stinger out!
But man,,, what a picture it would have made if Diane had caught it,,,, she couldn't believe how this woman could not get close enough to me.
It was then I suggested to Diane to get the camera,,, no,, the best shot was missed, but you'll still get the picture.
so to speak
Everybody needs there own pet Yellow Jacket.
But then she kept getting closer again, I don't know if she was trying to get us to play too,,, or maybe just get the heck out of the way,,, but there really was more room just over a bit to the right.
No, she was attracted to me allright, just like the rest of them. I must have loooked so sexy lying there clutching my hardcover Mockingbird book to my chest in my pale Illinois white skin that she couldn't help herself!
HEY,, where's everybody going?
This went on for awhile,, it was mostly little kids so when it comes to water balloons,,, no,,, that's not near as much fun as watching older kids or adults play.
Eventually,,, the YJ moved on,,, and not long afterm si dud we.
After filling up our mugs again with pop for mixers,,,,
NO ICE NO ICE NO ICE
no,, no point in watering down the mixers ahead of time,,, we cleaned up our area and went on back to the room.
About now,,, I'm really looking forward to getting the big bacon cheeseburger at Planet Hollywood that I forego last time, because they had rasied the price ridiculously.
But I had just checked two days ago,,,, and the menu had just been updated with new prices as of last week or so,,, Bacon Cheeseburger,,,, or Mushroom Swill burger,,, which will also work,,,,,,, 11.95.
Ok,,, that's more like it,,, I'm salivating now, thinking about it,,,,YEAH BABY,,,,, WE ARE COMING!
Key kids,,, a fun chapter to do, really,,, I kept going back to try and stretch it out,,, but invariably, what I'd end up doing is adding more "padding" and bubble wrap to the middle of it. Hope you got some laughs out of it though, and "she who must not be disturbed" made a huge contribution.
And even I"M looking forward to seeing the YJ just about right in my lap again,,,, that little picture in P-Bucket just barely let's me know what the picture is,,, man,, I wish I had already had the camera ready.
later,,, neeb
<<waves of "fragrance" from the laundry pile.
