DIS Dads DDC XIX - Squirrel!

[baseballmickey]

Happy Memorial Day Weekend everyone!

Just checking in before things get really hectic. Working tomorrow 3pm-midnight, then coming home for a little sleep before heading back in for work at 8am-4pm on Monday. should be fun.

DW and I just went over our dining plans for the upcoming trip. We were trying to decide whether or not to do the dining plan, or to get the tables in wonderland card. We actually pulled up menus and priced out what we thought we would eat each day, and got an estimate, and then compared that to the dining plan. It doesn't appear worth it for dining plan this trip, on either leg. For both legs of the trip, we were estimating food costs coming in just below the cost of the regular dining plan, but eating more QS meals than we were allotted in both cases. (On the second leg, we actually ended up short a TS for each of us.)

TIW would cost us $100 to purchase, and would save us around $125, netting us a discount of about $25. (plus there is one night we'll dine with family and TIW can extend up to 9 people, so we could help some of them with the discount) If we were AP holders, TIW would only cost $75... so we then looked at the price of APs vs. the MYW tickets... APs at current prices would cost us about $1300 for the 3 of us. 6 day MYW tickets (no extras) would cost about $800. If we used undercover tourist, then we could get 6 day MYW with an extra day on each for $763.

having just shelled out more money than we discussed tonight on the cruise portion, we are leaning toward the MYW tickets, and NOT getting APs. We always say, "oh, we should have got APs" when we end up going back within a year, but we don't have a plan in place for going next year. It's highly probable we will go next year... but we haven't determined when. Getting the APs would foce us into going sometime between next march (when we get our points for 2013) and the end of july. What if next year is the year we decide to try going in the fall??



that conversation managed to drain much of the excitement that had been building up for this trip. Hopefully in a few days we'll feel better about it.

 

[BigTikiDaddy]

DISDad's good Deed of the Day

I was out at Wal Mart this afternoon, and as I was leaving the parking lot, I say a Black Canvas bag on the road exiting the parking lot. Clearly out of place. I thought... do I run it over and see how many points it's worth, or do I pick it up.

Well, I pulled over, picked up the bag, and opened it.

It was a Camera, with extra batteries, charger, memory sticks, etc...

I looked through the pockets of the bag, and found the receipt. They paid almost $750 for this equipment.
I also found a few business cards. The card's matched the name on the reciept.

I e-mailed the owner right away... and got an out of office reply.

So I sold the camera on Ebay!

J/K... I think I'll wait a few days, to hear back. There is also a office phone number on the card so I will give them a call in a few days if I don't hear back.

I used this as a lesson for my kids... in doing the right thing.

Darn Kids... jipped me of a camera.

Last year at Disney, DW and Amelia went onto Mission Space, I headed to the children's play area with Audrey to wait it out in blissfull air conditioning. I sat down in the area with the crawl tubes etc and kept an eye in Audrey, and noticed not far from me a large and expensive camera sitting on the floor in the shadows. While she played, I watched all the parents etc seeing who's it was. After a while it cleared, all the original parents there came and gone etc, the camera stayed there, so obviously it got left behind and forgotten. I took it to a CM I found (not many around there, surprisingly, and honestly she seemed annoyed I bothered her) and turned it in, hoping whomever lost it will be able to get it back.

 

[MiJo]

HI MIKE!!! how did you ever make out with your drain? im working next saturday morning if you want to bring back that kit.
this september will be two years for tammy. her swelling has gone down alot. we have to go back to philly in late august, hopefully she will be done with that doctor. tell inez to hang in there, we will be praying for her. we will always have to go to philly every 6 months now for her eye doctor but atleast she wont have to go into the mri machine every year. keep in touch!!

Hi Dave and Welcome Back!
The drain is still the same. It's a long story but my SIL recommended a plumber friend of hers who is retired but still does some jobs. He cancelled out when we got the small snow storm last Fall. Then, he showed up out of the blue one day about a month ago. He said the stuff I bought would be a real headache installing so he headed out to get some other parts and said he'd be back in a week. That was about 3 weeks ago! He called once to say he had the parts but he was sick and couldn't make it. Anyway, I returned the stuff I got from you a few weeks back; I guess you weren't there that morning.
Inez had a followup MRI last week and we meet with the neurosurgeon on Wednesday. I doubt he'll give us any info other than news about the size of the tumor. So far, they haven't had any reason for the growing "numbness", which has now taken over her entire body from the neck down. We're just hoping it's still residual from the radiation and she'll heal up in time (maybe 1 to 2 years). She's very frustrated and depressed about it. Not to mention scared. Some things have improved a little but not the numbness. Fortunately, she can still walk, etc., but she can't get comfortable sitting and she doesn't sleep well. On top of it, she has had stomach issues for a while, which still aren't ironed out. She's still working with homeopathic solutions and some meds for both things.
It looks like I'll be seeing David again in a few weeks when the Blues come to Baltimore. I should be bringing him home for a couple weeks leave.
I guess that's about it. Give our best to Tammy!

 

[MiJo]

Thanks for all the prayers, Guys! It really helps to know you guys care!
This hasn't been easy.

 

[dvczerfs]

Hi Dave and Welcome Back!
The drain is still the same. It's a long story but my SIL recommended a plumber friend of hers who is retired but still does some jobs. He cancelled out when we got the small snow storm last Fall. Then, he showed up out of the blue one day about a month ago. He said the stuff I bought would be a real headache installing so he headed out to get some other parts and said he'd be back in a week. That was about 3 weeks ago! He called once to say he had the parts but he was sick and couldn't make it. Anyway, I returned the stuff I got from you a few weeks back; I guess you weren't there that morning.
Inez had a followup MRI last week and we meet with the neurosurgeon on Wednesday. I doubt he'll give us any info other than news about the size of the tumor. So far, they haven't had any reason for the growing "numbness", which has now taken over her entire body from the neck down. We're just hoping it's still residual from the radiation and she'll heal up in time (maybe 1 to 2 years). She's very frustrated and depressed about it. Not to mention scared. Some things have improved a little but not the numbness. Fortunately, she can still walk, etc., but she can't get comfortable sitting and she doesn't sleep well. On top of it, she has had stomach issues for a while, which still aren't ironed out. She's still working with homeopathic solutions and some meds for both things.
It looks like I'll be seeing David again in a few weeks when the Blues come to Baltimore. I should be bringing him home for a couple weeks leave.
I guess that's about it. Give our best to Tammy!

the only thing worse than a plumber is a retired plumber.
wow, if you need anything, give me a call or email. hopefully inez will start feeling better soon, we will be peayer for her.

 

[theduck619]

Morning guys

Grand Prix of Monaco

Indy 500

Equals awesome day of speed!!!

 

[RodBelding]

Morning guys. Hope everyone's enjoying the weekend.

Spending it on the lake in Maine with the family, weather's great.

 

[declansdad]

We are set up about the same as you. Our rec league does not travel and can field teams, but at U14G, it drops to 4 teams. So, you only have three opponents. The competitive teams travel and are more expensive to join, more time, and that's before food or hotel. My opinion is that prior to 7&8 grade, children don't need to travel four hours every weekend for soccer. They lose the time to be children. Unfortunatly, the competitive league is trying to dissolve the rec league here, and they are doing it my promising parents of lesser talented children that they are Olympic material, get the parents to switch them to competitive league, and then build a weaker team for the #1 competitive team to beat the snot out of. The competitive league has even got the middle schools to stop offering teams to force the ones who want to play to go to rec or competitive. It is really sad. I think if my dd continues, she will be good enough to play on the competitive league when she is old enough, but I just wish the stupid parent competitions and high school pettiness would end.

I work in amateur sport and in Canada we have started making some headway with all our sports to follow the long term athlete development model that was developed to go along withour sport plan. It has taken some time but the message is starting to work its way through the system. Soccer has identified the 12-13 year old age group as the age that competitive soccer and more training is appropriate. The key is to make sure all the local coaches understand the strategy and its benefits. Unfortunately many sports haven't reached done far enough yet and we still see well-meaning volunteers coaching with the correct training or assistance. Hopefully it is getting there and we have the high performance system on side and some of our most successful athletes are helping in spreading the message.

 

[AirGoofy]

Morning guys

Grand Prix of Monaco

Indy 500

Equals awesome day of speed!!!

Do you all go to the race? Seen NASCAR live but not an Indy race.

Happy Memorial Day Weekend everyone!

Just checking in before things get really hectic. Working tomorrow 3pm-midnight, then coming home for a little sleep before heading back in for work at 8am-4pm on Monday. should be fun.

DW and I just went over our dining plans for the upcoming trip. We were trying to decide whether or not to do the dining plan, or to get the tables in wonderland card. We actually pulled up menus and priced out what we thought we would eat each day, and got an estimate, and then compared that to the dining plan. It doesn't appear worth it for dining plan this trip, on either leg. For both legs of the trip, we were estimating food costs coming in just below the cost of the regular dining plan, but eating more QS meals than we were allotted in both cases. (On the second leg, we actually ended up short a TS for each of us.)

TIW would cost us $100 to purchase, and would save us around $125, netting us a discount of about $25. (plus there is one night we'll dine with family and TIW can extend up to 9 people, so we could help some of them with the discount) If we were AP holders, TIW would only cost $75... so we then looked at the price of APs vs. the MYW tickets... APs at current prices would cost us about $1300 for the 3 of us. 6 day MYW tickets (no extras) would cost about $800. If we used undercover tourist, then we could get 6 day MYW with an extra day on each for $763.

having just shelled out more money than we discussed tonight on the cruise portion, we are leaning toward the MYW tickets, and NOT getting APs. We always say, "oh, we should have got APs" when we end up going back within a year, but we don't have a plan in place for going next year. It's highly probable we will go next year... but we haven't determined when. Getting the APs would foce us into going sometime between next march (when we get our points for 2013) and the end of july. What if next year is the year we decide to try going in the fall??



that conversation managed to drain much of the excitement that had been building up for this trip. Hopefully in a few days we'll feel better about it.

Once it gets too complicated, is it really worth it? Just for fun, after two trips of non-dining plan, I added up how much we spent on meals. I forget th exact numbers, but we spent the same amount minus some snack credits. So, I guess if you consider $2.50 a water bottle, then we could have saved $50 on the DP. But, our meals also included where and what we wanted - share appetizer, main course, sharre dessert (or dessert in park later), and a beer or wine at dinner. And, I didn't have to keep up with DP restaurants or credits or anything like that.

As for th AP, we have considered it, but we really enjoy having a day at the parks and a day at the resort. Plus, we just buy the MNSSHP ticket in October without a theme park ticket that day.

 

[AirGoofy]

I work in amateur sport and in Canada we have started making some headway with all our sports to follow the long term athlete development model that was developed to go along withour sport plan. It has taken some time but the message is starting to work its way through the system. Soccer has identified the 12-13 year old age group as the age that competitive soccer and more training is appropriate. The key is to make sure all the local coaches understand the strategy and its benefits. Unfortunately many sports haven't reached done far enough yet and we still see well-meaning volunteers coaching with the correct training or assistance. Hopefully it is getting there and we have the high performance system on side and some of our most successful athletes are helping in spreading the message.

I am one of the few rec coaches that has a coach's license. Plus, from playing experience and ref certification, I have the technique and strategy as well. And, those ages are around the 7&8 th grade and am ok with improving their training at that age; however, not to dissolve the rec league. One of the popularities of basketball in this country is the ease of a basketball goal at someone's house. But, it also is because people can come together for pick up games easily, regardless of skil level. When the red league is disbanded, the players are told they are not good enough and not welcome to play. I think that is a bad strategy.

 

[Cinderella's Fella]

Hey Brian! (middlepat)

 

[afwdwfan]

Morning guys

Grand Prix of Monaco

Indy 500

Equals awesome day of speed!!!

This is the first 500 I have not attended since 1989. I'm kind of sad about it, but glad I won't be in that heat. I just have to avoid seeing what happened during the race until they air the race locally tonight.

Hey Brian! (middlepat)
Is

Happy Birthday Brian!

 

[afwdwfan]

Looks like another DisDad meet is in the books...Good Job David and Norm!! I want some strawberries now!!

I lost a camera today at Wal Mart....I had paid 750 dollars for it!!! Man I can't figure out where I might have left it!!! If anyone sees it let me know!!!

Had to go car shopping today and had every intention of trading Shari's Odyssey in for a newer one..We went to the local dealership that I had sent an e-mail to a day or so ago to inquire about what they had in stock. We got to the dealership and got out and started looking at the cars and a salesman of course comes out. Nice guy and set us up for a test drive...it road great...when we got back I cold tell things were different. The guy did not come out to greet us and when we went inside to give the key back he glanced at us and said he could not talk to us anymore. I didnt know what to think. Well I guess the guy who answered the e-mail had "first call" on us. He scolded us for not asking for him and I felt like I was in school and had done something wrong. I didnt ask for anyone we were just looking around and were approached. He was a piece of work and the first impression turned me of totally on Honda...So, I walked across the parking lot where he could see me and bought an Acadia! Great vehicle and glad the guy ticked me off!!! He lost a sale but we got a vehicle we really like! Everything works out the way it is supposed to in the end. Also, this is my FIRST EVER american company car! I have been a Honda and Toyota guy up until today!! Now I am Toyota and GM ...Honda lost out!

New Car Ownage!

Congrats on the new Acadia! I'd take a crossover over a minivan anytime! I actually had one for a rental on a3 week work trip a few years ago and loved it. We almost went with an Acadia when we bought our Tahoe, but we went with the Tahoe just because we needed the higher clearance when it snows where we live. Our road gets some good drifts and the county usually doesn't get to our road during the first3 days or so.

 

[declansdad]

I am one of the few rec coaches that has a coach's license. Plus, from playing experience and ref certification, I have the technique and strategy as well. And, those ages are around the 7&8 th grade and am ok with improving their training at that age; however, not to dissolve the rec league. One of the popularities of basketball in this country is the ease of a basketball goal at someone's house. But, it also is because people can come together for pick up games easily, regardless of skil level. When the red league is disbanded, the players are told they are not good enough and not welcome to play. I think that is a bad strategy.

Totally agree. Part of our LTAD model includes rec play in all sports throughout your lifetime. Getting rid of these leagues and school teams at any level is a stupid move that would only be made by: someone who doesn't understand development or someone with ulterior motives.

 

[AirGoofy]

Totally agree. Part of our LTAD model includes rec play in all sports throughout your lifetime. Getting rid of these leagues and school teams at any level is a stupid move that would only be made by: someone who doesn't understand development or someone with ulterior motives.

It's other motives. Since we are a small county, we can only field one select team at each age group. They brought in the select competitive team to beat up on the rec teams, but after 2 seasons, I was able to convince the board to not permit that. So, their new strategy is to build the 1 select, travel competitive team, and trick other parents into signing their kids to to play against them. Same at middle school. The teams were dissolved to force parents to sign up for competitive teams. Middle school teams had no cut, minimum playing time guarantees. Select does not. A few of the individuals running the program have their own children in it, which of course, what this is all about.

 

[BigTikiDaddy]

Morning errr..Afternoon all...


Happy Birthday Brian!

 

[theduck619]

Do you all go to the race? Seen NASCAR live but not an Indy race.



Once it gets too complicated, is it really worth it? Just for fun, after two trips of non-dining plan, I added up how much we spent on meals. I forget th exact numbers, but we spent the same amount minus some snack credits. So, I guess if you consider $2.50 a water bottle, then we could have saved $50 on the DP. But, our meals also included where and what we wanted - share appetizer, main course, sharre dessert (or dessert in park later), and a beer or wine at dinner. And, I didn't have to keep up with DP restaurants or credits or anything like that.

As for th AP, we have considered it, but we really enjoy having a day at the parks and a day at the resort. Plus, we just buy the MNSSHP ticket in October without a theme park ticket that day.

We do not go. I have been lots of times. Today I will listen to the radio broadcast.

Hey Brian! (middlepat)

Happy Birthday Brian

 

[cj9200]

It's other motives. Since we are a small county, we can only field one select team at each age group. They brought in the select competitive team to beat up on the rec teams, but after 2 seasons, I was able to convince the board to not permit that. So, their new strategy is to build the 1 select, travel competitive team, and trick other parents into signing their kids to to play against them. Same at middle school. The teams were dissolved to force parents to sign up for competitive teams. Middle school teams had no cut, minimum playing time guarantees. Select does not. A few of the individuals running the program have their own children in it, which of course, what this is all about.

Same down here. Big fight over Girl's Lacrosse. The Club teams wanted to keep it out of the High Schools. Finally lost that fight this year and three new teams formed (my DD's HS was one) to add to the private schools that already had teams. Problem was that the other teams had girls that were part of club teams while DD's school did not. They got creamed every game because at the start of the season, none of them knew what a lacrosse stick was, let alone played. They learned a lot this year and stuck together as a team. Her coach told me that DD was the main reason they kept it together despite losing. They will be better next year but unfortunately she will be in college. Wish they had a team her Freshman year.

Today is BBQ day. Ribs are getting ready to be placed on the grill, will soon be putting the potatoes and eggs on for potato salad and the corn will be soaking is sugar water before they are grilled. Good timing because the chicken I made on Friday is gone.

 

[cj9200]

Happy B-Day Brian.

Heard from him on FB that he has a wild time planned. Emission test to do, his daughter's softball game and then dinner. A true party animal.

 

[GoHerd1028]

Morning guys

Grand Prix of Monaco

Indy 500

Equals awesome day of speed!!!

You forgot the most important one!! The Coca Cola 600!