DIS Dads DDC XXXII: A Dole Whip in Paradise

[Goofy + 3]

Hope every one is enjoying Independence Day festivities. As it's approaching dusk on the East coast, please be careful with the fireworks!

Safety first. Anyone remember jumping jacks? Not the exercise, Norm. They were these firecracker size things, you light the fuse and they would spin, glow and sometimes spin so fast they would take flight for a couple seconds. My friend and I thought it would be cool to light them in our hands, then throw them in the air right before the fuse burned down to try to get them to fly. Apparently not all fuses are created equally. One of them lit up in my hand and MELTED MY FIRST TWO FINGERS TOGETHER. Scared to death of the beating that would ensue if I told mom what I did, I hid it. Even ate one-handed for a while. We went on vacation and I was still able to hide it. Then after a few days I figured I couldn't hide this much longer so I just ripped the fingers apart. That smarts. The moral of the story: don't let your idiot middle-school age sons anywhere near fireworks. Also, don't do jumping jacks.

 

[Cinderella's Fella]

Safety first. Anyone remember jumping jacks? Not the exercise, Norm. They were these firecracker size things, you light the fuse and they would spin, glow and sometimes spin so fast they would take flight for a couple seconds. My friend and I thought it would be cool to light them in our hands, then throw them in the air right before the fuse burned down to try to get them to fly. Apparently not all fuses are created equally. One of them lit up in my hand and MELTED MY FIRST TWO FINGERS TOGETHER. Scared to death of the beating that would ensue if I told mom what I did, I hid it. Even ate one-handed for a while. We went on vacation and I was still able to hide it. Then after a few days I figured I couldn't hide this much longer so I just ripped the fingers apart. That smarts. The moral of the story: don't let your idiot middle-school age sons anywhere near fireworks. Also, don't do jumping jacks.

The DISDads have Great Stories: This Is One Of Them!

 

[theduck619]

I posted on FB. I would vote to skip the water park, save $, and enjoy the WDW resort pool and water slide.



.

A very good point. We would stay at AKL Kidani (preference) by renting points. The play area was kind of small. I need to see if the pool and play area at Jambo are bigger and better.

My two cents: Both parks are great and a lot of fun (but get to whichever one you chose early).
To me the apparent differences are that Typhon is a little more laid back. Everything seems to run at a slightly slower pace. Blizzard conversely has just a bit more adrenalin injected into it. Teens and action oriented folks tend to like “The Beach” a bit better and groups with a wide range of ages will often see “The Lagoon” as a more accommodating option.

Thank you sir

That's OK. We just assumed you were hitting the Polish beer stash again.

There are two things the Poles need help with: coffee and beer

We are partial to Typhoon Lagoon as we like the more tropical theming. Both have young kid areas which we also thought were better at TL than BB.
Enjoy the time with DD and nice job on the lobster.

Thank you for the water park feedback

A few pictures from the weekend's Independence Day Holiday...
(Canadians - just use your imagination to replace the Stars & Stripes with a Maple leaf so you can enjoy along with with rest of us)

My hometown did something new this year - a paper lantern launch before the fireworks on the shores of Lake Michigan. Lanterns could be purchased from local businesses for $10. Half of the proceeds went to the FourthFest Organizing committee, and half went to the Honor Flight Network (charities that focus on getting veterans to the war memorials in DC). Lanterns were launched in honor of a veteran - so we launched one each for my dad and both of Bambi's grandfathers.

We live less than a mile from Lake Michigan, so so we are able to walk to the beach and avoid the gigantic traffic mess. We went down early to enjoy the nice weather (but cooooold water!) with some bubbles and football.

As the instructions said, a single firework would be launched at 8:55 to indicate that the lanterns were to be launched. Well, about about 8:47, a firework was shot off. No one really knew what was going on, but we soon saw lanterns in the sky, so we started ours as well.

Everything comes assembled in one kit - you just gently shake open the lantern like you would a trash bag to fill it with air. A few layers of gel-soaked paperboard is suspended below the open bottom. You light that, and it fills the lantern with warm air and light. Within a few minutes, it begins to rise up, so you just let go and off it floats.

There were hundreds, if not thousands of them rising from all along Racine's 3+ miles of beaches and lake front. We were on the north end of town and there was a gentle southern wind, so most of them flew up and over us.

It would have been cooler we had waited 10 or 15 minutes to let it get a bit darker out, but it was still a really cool experience seeing all those lanterns gently floating away. These pictures really don't do it justice.

Burning the flag???? What are you some kind of hippie

Seriously, really cool pics

 

[Goofy + 3]

A few pictures from the weekend's Independence Day Holiday...
(Canadians - just use your imagination to replace the Stars & Stripes with a Maple leaf so you can enjoy along with with rest of us)

My hometown did something new this year - a paper lantern launch before the fireworks on the shores of Lake Michigan. Lanterns could be purchased from local businesses for $10. Half of the proceeds went to the FourthFest Organizing committee, and half went to the Honor Flight Network (charities that focus on getting veterans to the war memorials in DC). Lanterns were launched in honor of a veteran - so we launched one each for my dad and both of Bambi's grandfathers.

We live less than a mile from Lake Michigan, so so we are able to walk to the beach and avoid the gigantic traffic mess. We went down early to enjoy the nice weather (but cooooold water!) with some bubbles and football.

As the instructions said, a single firework would be launched at 8:55 to indicate that the lanterns were to be launched. Well, about about 8:47, a firework was shot off. No one really knew what was going on, but we soon saw lanterns in the sky, so we started ours as well.

Everything comes assembled in one kit - you just gently shake open the lantern like you would a trash bag to fill it with air. A few layers of gel-soaked paperboard is suspended below the open bottom. You light that, and it fills the lantern with warm air and light. Within a few minutes, it begins to rise up, so you just let go and off it floats.

There were hundreds, if not thousands of them rising from all along Racine's 3+ miles of beaches and lake front. We were on the north end of town and there was a gentle southern wind, so most of them flew up and over us.

It would have been cooler we had waited 10 or 15 minutes to let it get a bit darker out, but it was still a really cool experience seeing all those lanterns gently floating away. These pictures really don't do it justice.

There's a Rapunzel joke in here somewhere but I can't quite put my finger on it. Barry- you wanna take a crack at it?

The DISDads have Great Stories: This Is One Of Them!

That's not even my best firework mishap story.

 

[AirGoofy]

Safety first. Anyone remember jumping jacks? Not the exercise, Norm. They were these firecracker size things, you light the fuse and they would spin, glow and sometimes spin so fast they would take flight for a couple seconds. ... The moral of the story: don't let your idiot middle-school age sons anywhere near fireworks. Also, don't do jumping jacks.

I remember both, and I liked the fireworks. While I never melted one in my hand, I enjoyed lighting the whole packet and once. I tried throwing them in the air, but they just spun straight down.

I hope everyone has a great week… except for Barry. I hope there was a mistake in the court system and he gets called in for Jury Duty.

For jury duty or as a defendant?

Sounds like a great 4th! Hope the 4 wheeling was before too many adult beverages.

I am smart enough not to drive a car drunk, but not smart enough to not drive a 4 wheeler drunk. I am smart enough not to try any jumps or stunts on a 4 wheeler drunk. End of the day - no people or property hurt.

My hometown did something new this year - a paper lantern launch before the fireworks on the shores of Lake Michigan. Lanterns could be purchased from local businesses for $10.

It would have been cooler we had waited 10 or 15 minutes to let it get a bit darker out, but it was still a really cool experience seeing all those lanterns gently floating away. These pictures really don't do it justice.

Saw them on FB as well. I think it was fine at dusk as you could still see the lanterns. Cool idea.

A very good point. We would stay at AKL Kidani (preference) by renting points. The play area was kind of small. I need to see if the pool and play area at Jambo are bigger and better.

The pool at Jambo is way bigger than Kadani, although there isn't much of a water slide. Still, I was thinking about suggesting that resort as Kidani has a decent water slide, best splash area, and then the large, calm pool at Jambo. And, if you can request the Kidani side closest to Jambo, then it is a short walk between the resorts and you don't have to wait for the bus. I forget the name of the section.

 

[cj9200]

Seems like everyone had an enjoyable and incident free 4th. We enjoyed it and even took the time to order our MNSSHP tickets. Going 10/13. Chris, I did something similar when I was a kid although not quite as bad. It involved bottle rockets.

There were some news of note here. One kid blew off a couple of fingers holding onto a firecracker. There was also a three boat collision near one of the marinas. Four people dead, multiples sent to the hospital. Seems speeding and drinking were involved. Who would have guessed. Next month is lobster season and you can bet there will be a couple of diving deaths because people are stupid.

Morning guys. Kids watched YouTube videos of the Disney water parks yesterday. We have never been to either one. Do any of you have preferences to which one you would go to?

Personally I like Typhoon over Blizzard. Crush and Gusher, the wave pool and the lagoon snorkeling are favorites. For thrills, BB is hands down the winner but doubt the kids will be on the more intense rides. I did Summit Plummet once and only once. Not a fan of heights so I went from the plunge directly to the bar. The Tween/Early teen area is better at BB. Can't go wrong with either one though and Norm's idea to skip them and enjoy the pool has merit.

Yup. And I was dumb enough to offer to start work at 6am this week due the kids being a different summer camps this week. That wake-up call was an extra kick in the head.

I am usually up at 4 if you need a wake up call. Have to warn you, it won't be Mickey telling you there are big doings today.

I had prepared an eloquent speech for this space, letting you know that in my old age, I may "forget" that you hadn't told your kids about their Disney trip when we're up there in August, but there were ways you could keep my memory fresh (ex: large piles of cash and/or bacon). I then I realized my own kids don't know the full story about our October trip yet either. So it's probably best to agree to mutually keep our traps shut.

I'll take cash up front from both of you to keep quiet.

Actually at the Ohana dinner during DDC 2 I didn't know it was a secret and almost let the cat out of the bag. Thought Bambi was going to kill me.

A few pictures from the weekend's Independence Day Holiday...
(Canadians - just use your imagination to replace the Stars & Stripes with a Maple leaf so you can enjoy along with with rest of us)

My hometown did something new this year - a paper lantern launch before the fireworks on the shores of Lake Michigan. Lanterns could be purchased from local businesses for $10. Half of the proceeds went to the FourthFest Organizing committee, and half went to the Honor Flight Network (charities that focus on getting veterans to the war memorials in DC). Lanterns were launched in honor of a veteran - so we launched one each for my dad and both of Bambi's grandfathers...

Nice sentiment. Did you get any pictures of the massive fire they caused downwind?

The pool at Jambo is way bigger than Kadani, although there isn't much of a water slide. Still, I was thinking about suggesting that resort as Kidani has a decent water slide, best splash area, and then the large, calm pool at Jambo. And, if you can request the Kidani side closest to Jambo, then it is a short walk between the resorts and you don't have to wait for the bus. I forget the name of the section.

What Norm said. Plus you see exotic animals at both. And no I am not talking about Europeans in speedos.

 

[afwdwfan]

As the instructions said, a single firework would be launched at 8:55 to indicate that the lanterns were to be launched. Well, about about 8:47, a firework was shot off. No one really knew what was going on, but we soon saw lanterns in the sky, so we started ours as well.

Just the neighbor's idiot kid lighting one off to mess with everybody.

It would have been cooler we had waited 10 or 15 minutes to let it get a bit darker out, but it was still a really cool experience seeing all those lanterns gently floating away. These pictures really don't do it justice.

Either way, I think it looks like a really cool thing to do. I hope this becomes somewhat of an annual tradition around there that you can experience.

There's a Rapunzel joke in here somewhere

 

[mm1971]

Back from our Long Island baseball trip. Missed a bunch more days and will go back and try to catch up later. Team went 1-2 and did not qualify for the finals. rained all day Saturday and ended up playing only 3 games instead of 4. The bright spot was Evan pitched all 5 inning of the game we won. A slaughter rule victory 11-1 after the 5 innings.

I met Darcy and his friends on their Boston stop over before the cruise. Here are a couple pics. We are eating at Dicks Last Resort in Fanueil Hall. Not sure how they knew Darcy was from Canada, but his hat said "I love Justin Beiber".



Another outside as we were saying goodbye's:



And I got a gift from the Great North (Thanks again Darcy!):



Had pancakes this morning. MMMMMmmmmmmm! DD is looking up recipes to make while home this summer. Should be a tasty few weeks.

Prayers to those in need, Congratulations where deserved and hope everyone had a great 4th of July holiday. I'm off to get some work done and try to catch up by September.

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

I hope everyone has a great week… except for Barry. I hope there was a mistake in the court system and he gets called in for Jury Duty.

I have to call in for Jury Duty this week. Are your curses transferable or something?

No such luck, Tim. When I called in on Wednesday night I was thanked for my service and dismissed.

I hope this is transferable too.

My hometown did something new this year - a paper lantern launch before the fireworks on the shores of Lake Michigan. Lanterns could be purchased from local businesses for $10. Half of the proceeds went to the FourthFest Organizing committee, and half went to the Honor Flight Network (charities that focus on getting veterans to the war memorials in DC). Lanterns were launched in honor of a veteran - so we launched one each for my dad and both of Bambi's grandfathers.

As I mentioned elsewhere, I love this idea. So cool.

Safety first. Anyone remember jumping jacks? Not the exercise, Norm. They were these firecracker size things, you light the fuse and they would spin, glow and sometimes spin so fast they would take flight for a couple seconds. My friend and I thought it would be cool to light them in our hands, then throw them in the air right before the fuse burned down to try to get them to fly. Apparently not all fuses are created equally. One of them lit up in my hand and MELTED MY FIRST TWO FINGERS TOGETHER. Scared to death of the beating that would ensue if I told mom what I did, I hid it. Even ate one-handed for a while. We went on vacation and I was still able to hide it. Then after a few days I figured I couldn't hide this much longer so I just ripped the fingers apart. That smarts. The moral of the story: don't let your idiot middle-school age sons anywhere near fireworks. Also, don't do jumping jacks.

I can't decide if that's one of the dumbest things or one of the most bada-- things I've ever heard.

Personally I like Typhoon over Blizzard. Crush and Gusher, the wave pool and the lagoon snorkeling are favorites. For thrills, BB is hands down the winner but doubt the kids will be on the more intense rides. I did Summit Plummet once and only once. Not a fan of heights so I went from the plunge directly to the bar. The Tween/Early teen area is better at BB. Can't go wrong with either one though and Norm's idea to skip them and enjoy the pool has merit.

Agreed. I'll take the Crush 'n Gusher.

I met Darcy and his friends on their Boston stop over before the cruise. Here are a couple pics. We are eating at Dicks Last Resort in Fanueil Hall. Not sure how they knew Darcy was from Canada, but his hat said "I love Justin Beiber".

Nice work on the meet!

 

[AirGoofy]

Can't go wrong with either one though and Norm's idea to skip them and enjoy the pool has merit.

If you only knew the power of the Norm side.

What Norm said. Plus you see exotic animals at both. And no I am not talking about Europeans in speedos.

You could see me is a Speedo, but there's no cure for hysterical blindness.

I met Darcy and his friends on their Boston stop over before the cruise. Here are a couple pics. We are eating at Dicks Last Resort in Fanueil Hall. Not sure how they knew Darcy was from Canada, but his hat said "I love Justin Beiber".
.

Congrats on the meet-up.

 

[mm1971]

Nice pics Barry! Sounds like a really cool idea. Did you think of Tangled as you were letting them go?

Morning guys. It has Beenhakker a beautiful weekend here. I have spenetrować some Goodman quality time with The kids.

The hobby situation is PB and Beverly. My boss didnt like me showing factual evidence to support his accusation against me. He is know forcing himself into my schedule. I have a mandatory weekly meetingiem with him and reporter due every Friday. He wants me out, but i dont quit easily. To be honest i cant afford to quit right now anyway.

Enjoy you're Sunday guys!

Sorry to hear about the job situation David. Can you go to someone higher up and explain the situation or to HR. I would make sure someone is aware of what is going on. Hope it gets better. Prayers sent.

Morning guys. Kids watched YouTube videos of the Disney water parks yesterday. We have never been to either one. Do any of you have preferences to which one you would go to?

The kids like TL better due to the wave pool. I think BB has better slides and such.

TL has a shark swim as well that is pretty cool. We usually go to TL first and if we end up going for a second day then we hit BB.

 

[GoofyIsAsGoofyDoes]

A few pictures from the weekend's Independence Day Holiday...

Very cool and I like how they decided to use the proceeds as well.

We didn’t have an event like that here, but they were selling pies with half of all the funds raised going to the Wounded Warrior Project.
The pie was tasty enough but not quite as cool and sending one of our national symbols aloft…
and potentially down in flames.

Safety first. Anyone remember jumping jacks? Not the exercise, Norm. They were these firecracker size things, you light the fuse and they would spin, glow and sometimes spin so fast they would take flight for a couple seconds. My friend and I thought it would be cool to light them in our hands, then throw them in the air right before the fuse burned down to try to get them to fly. Apparently not all fuses are created equally. One of them lit up in my hand and MELTED MY FIRST TWO FINGERS TOGETHER. Scared to death of the beating that would ensue if I told mom what I did, I hid it. Even ate one-handed for a while. We went on vacation and I was still able to hide it. Then after a few days I figured I couldn't hide this much longer so I just ripped the fingers apart. That smarts. The moral of the story: don't let your idiot middle-school age sons anywhere near fireworks. Also, don't do jumping jacks.

Not sure whether this deserves a: or a

So you get both.

The DISDads have Great Stories: This Is One Of Them!

Yes… yes it is.

Nice avatar by the way. You’ve been rolling through those lately.

That's not even my best firework mishap story.

Oh now that, that right there is a dare if ever I’ve heard one.

Do tell, do tell…

The pool at Jambo is way bigger than Kadani, although there isn't much of a water slide. Still, I was thinking about suggesting that resort as Kidani has a decent water slide, best splash area, and then the large, calm pool at Jambo. And, if you can request the Kidani side closest to Jambo, then it is a short walk between the resorts and you don't have to wait for the bus. I forget the name of the section.

A fine solution that I may have to keep in mind.
I just need to find a way to add on time at the Kingdom Lodge to test it out.

What Norm said. Plus you see exotic animals at both. And no I am not talking about Europeans in speedos.

Not something I’d call exotic. There needs to be a way to un-see a thing.
Now bikinis, that’s a totally different thing of course (depending on the figure so encased), but Speedo’s really need to be done away with.

Back from our Long Island baseball trip. Missed a bunch more days and will go back and try to catch up later. Team went 1-2 and did not qualify for the finals. rained all day Saturday and ended up playing only 3 games instead of 4. The bright spot was Evan pitched all 5 inning of the game we won. A slaughter rule victory 11-1 after the 5 innings.

Congrats to the young’en for doing more than his part in the effort.
Looks like a good trip in all accounts.

I have to call in for Jury Duty this week. Are your curses transferable or something?

There’s a lot of folks in this one group suffering from Jury duty all of a sudden.
I agree that there’s some kind of curse going on here (and we need to figure out how to stop it before it gets down this way).

 

[theduck619]

If you only knew the power of the Norm side.



You could see me is a Speedo, but there's no cure for hysterical blindness.

See page 1!!!! There are rules regarding this!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[brettcw23]

Safety first. Anyone remember jumping jacks? Not the exercise, Norm. They were these firecracker size things, you light the fuse and they would spin, glow and sometimes spin so fast they would take flight for a couple seconds. My friend and I thought it would be cool to light them in our hands, then throw them in the air right before the fuse burned down to try to get them to fly. Apparently not all fuses are created equally. One of them lit up in my hand and MELTED MY FIRST TWO FINGERS TOGETHER. Scared to death of the beating that would ensue if I told mom what I did, I hid it. Even ate one-handed for a while. We went on vacation and I was still able to hide it. Then after a few days I figured I couldn't hide this much longer so I just ripped the fingers apart. That smarts. The moral of the story: don't let your idiot middle-school age sons anywhere near fireworks. Also, don't do jumping jacks.

Okay, that's priceless.

 

[brettcw23]

Well you know there Normie, Disney is working on a top secret teleportation station for AKL. That is why they put it so far away from everything else, in case they create a black hole that swallows the resort. The first try was at Epcot, anyone else notice the bottomless hole in the middle of the park? They told you it was the lake but those of us in the know understand what really happened.




A kind Monday? I do not think you understand what this word means. I have 3 meetings before 8am and I got 5 work request over the weekend that have to be done Monday morning.

I know, dude. Monday is Monday unless it's at WDW!
And cool points if you were referencing The Princess Bride with your response!

 

[rwalker1304]

Been scarce for the past few days. Happy Independence Day to all. My DDs and DW are all US Citizens, so we celebrated by going to the Calgary Stampede. With the requisite Stampede pancake breakfast at home beforehand of course.

Parade day (this year on the 4th) is a paid holiday for most downtown Calgary businesses as the parade, which goes through most of downtown, makes getting into work a nightmare.

It was a good but tiring day. DD5 loved the rides, DD22mo. loved all the horsies in the barns. I enjoyed the food and spending time with the kids.

Stampede breakfast on Saturday with the local members of my chosen federal political party with the family in tow at the Calgary zoo (bonus admission to the zoo for the rest of the day).

Then Sunday cowboy church and Stampede breakfast. Man its a good thing I like pancakes!

Lots more Stampede happenings up here over the next week. Somehow the work will get done too!

There’s a lot of folks in this one group suffering from Jury duty all of a sudden.
I agree that there’s some kind of curse going on here (and we need to figure out how to stop it before it gets down this way).

Up here in Canada, you can get permanently lifted off the Jury Duty list...all you have to do is enroll in law school. All lawyers and even law students are exempt from Jury Duty.

RW

 

[twokids0204]

A few pictures from the weekend's Independence Day Holiday...
(Canadians - just use your imagination to replace the Stars & Stripes with a Maple leaf so you can enjoy along with with rest of us)

My hometown did something new this year - a paper lantern launch before the fireworks on the shores of Lake Michigan. Lanterns could be purchased from local businesses for $10. Half of the proceeds went to the FourthFest Organizing committee, and half went to the Honor Flight Network (charities that focus on getting veterans to the war memorials in DC). Lanterns were launched in honor of a veteran - so we launched one each for my dad and both of Bambi's grandfathers.

We live less than a mile from Lake Michigan, so so we are able to walk to the beach and avoid the gigantic traffic mess. We went down early to enjoy the nice weather (but cooooold water!) with some bubbles and football.

As the instructions said, a single firework would be launched at 8:55 to indicate that the lanterns were to be launched. Well, about about 8:47, a firework was shot off. No one really knew what was going on, but we soon saw lanterns in the sky, so we started ours as well.

Everything comes assembled in one kit - you just gently shake open the lantern like you would a trash bag to fill it with air. A few layers of gel-soaked paperboard is suspended below the open bottom. You light that, and it fills the lantern with warm air and light. Within a few minutes, it begins to rise up, so you just let go and off it floats.

There were hundreds, if not thousands of them rising from all along Racine's 3+ miles of beaches and lake front. We were on the north end of town and there was a gentle southern wind, so most of them flew up and over us.

It would have been cooler we had waited 10 or 15 minutes to let it get a bit darker out, but it was still a really cool experience seeing all those lanterns gently floating away. These pictures really don't do it justice.

Very cool Barry... Was reading about it on FB as well.

Any video???

 

[disdadIL]

Dear DisDads,
I am taking on another challenge for charity. You all have always been kind and supportive of my causes. Grace and I are running a Star Wars race in January to raise money for muscular dystrophy. We are running for a kid named Parker who has a rare form of muscular dystrophy. I need to raise only a minimal amount, but I am looking to you to be generous because you all have good hearts. The donation link is below.

http://www.active.com/donate/tmm4ucmdstarwars2015/McCumberTeam



Please contact your friends to get them involved with this very worthy cause!!

Thanks to each of you & all my best,

Sean

 

[moose615]

Dear DisDads, I am taking on another challenge for charity. You all have always been kind and supportive of my causes. Grace and I are running a Star Wars race in January to raise money for muscular dystrophy. We are running for a kid named Parker who has a rare form of muscular dystrophy. I need to raise only a minimal amount, but I am looking to you to be generous because you all have good hearts. The donation link is below. http://www.active.com/donate/tmm4ucmdstarwars2015/McCumberTeam Please contact your friends to get them involved with this very worthy cause!! Thanks to each of you & all my best, Sean

Great to see you got the donation page up! I gotta start my ToT training lol

 

[Goofy + 3]

Not sure whether this deserves a: or a

So you get both.


Oh now that, that right there is a dare if ever I’ve heard one.

Do tell, do tell…

Ok- here goes. Get comfy, this is a long story that I will probably have to tell over a few posts.

It all started back in beach week after high school graduation. My friends and I were "good kids" who really didn't get in to any trouble. No drinking, no drugs, etc.. One afternoon, I was riding through North Carolina's Outer Banks in the back of someone's Jeep Grand Cherokee when one of the other passengers (Seth) had the brilliant idea to launch a bottle rocket out of a moving car. It seemed harmless enough. Nobody got hurt, nobody got caught, nobody even really talked about it. But just because nobody talked about it didn't mean I wasn't still thinking about it. Deep down I couldn't wait to try the same thing. [This is really what scares me. I see the same bad ideas running through my son's head all the time. The kid is a bad idea factory and I'm afraid I know where he gets it.]

Well later that day we all decide to go go-kart racing. So we all pile in to 4 or 5 cars and I climbed in to my friend Scummy's (don't ask) Pontiac Grand Am with one other guy, James. We were cruising down the road at about 50 miles an hour when my bad idea came back. I was positioned in the back seat on the passenger's side and on my left, behind the driver was a bag full of bottle rockets.

And now, I have a conference call. Be back soon.