Now that we are back in the room after dinner at Whispering Canyon, it's warm and toasty and I feel a lot better.
But then there's tomorrow.
We have reservations at Teppenedo, 12:10, and yes, we are going to try this again, maybe that chef left for a BeniHana or something.
We'll get to that.
But how to work tomorrow?
It's an EMH day, which means we'll also be there late, and temp wise they say pretty much like today was, maybe a degree or two warmer, that's if you can tell the difference between 55 and 57 degrees.
And Epcot has changed for us, there's no real reason to have to get there at rope drop anymore, we don't do that much in Future World, so Diane said it's up to me;
If I want to go for rope drop, fine, wake her up.
And if not, fine, let her sleep.
Aargh! I really hate controlling women.
Which will now bring us to ;
Friday, Dec. 3
Woke up around 6:30, and after laying there a few moments I remembered it was going to be my call this morning on whether or not we do rope drop at Epcot.
Since I wanted a smoke anyway, I got partially dressed to go and have one and also see what it's like outside.
(ooooh, smoke,,, lovely, lovely smoke)
Again, the sun was just about to rise, didn't seem to be a cloud in the sky, and nary a pool worker so far. Just me and the wonder of God's creation, the dawn and all the lands it touches, and Disney's creation, that I am standing right in the middle of.
It truly was a beautiful morning, standing there and sucking it all in.
I say sucking because that's what would happen if you took too big a breath in the frigid air, it would suck the air out of you like when you were a kid and insisted on ice skating when it was ten below.
No, I didn't go to the DSA, just barely around the corner to the Rubik's Cube to get out of the blistering wind.
And I stood there and thought;
Thought hard about the pros and cons of rope drop versus getting there later, I weighed them all mentally, adding and subtracting points in that computer like mind I have.
But all the statistics in the world sometimes can't make a decision for you, it just has to come from the heart, more like the gut.
I stubbed out my half smoked cigarette, (oh, smoke) and walked back to the room.
In front of the door I stood there and thought, "I'm sick of having the weather control my vacation, from now on, I'm my own man!" "A man's got to do what a mans' got to do". "We shall NOT go quietly into that good night" "This will from now on be known as ALL of our's Independance Day...."
My mind was made up, hope she likes my decision.
Then a blast of wind hit me in the face and I went back to bed.
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But I never really got back to sleep, 'fore long I got dressed and grabbed the mugs and made the walk to the Gulag, I also wanted a newspaper for later on, The Gulag Gazette.
Dang it was cold.
On the way to the food court I had noticed that all the chairs around the pool were all still alligned, you could tell there was almost nobody near the pool yesterday,,,,but,,,,,,,
On the way back from the court, the HD Boys are going to town again with the power washers. I never saw them yesterday since we left so early but my guess is they have now power washed the pool deck every single day since we have been here.
I don't remember them doing it this much in the past.
But it was totally unnecessary. The only ones that might actually use the pool is a random duck or two.
I think I have one in this picture, pretty sure it was taken on the way back to the room this morning. All we have to do is take out our Johnny Cypher decoder rings to translate the dates on the print. heh
Today is the 3rd of December, but I didn't change the batteries till last Monday, and the camera date reset itself at 1-1-10. SO,,,,in Kodak camera speak, December 3, should now translate onto the prints as 1-5-10, got that boys and girls?
And remember to "Saaaaaaave those Box Tops" in case Nebo accidentally changes the language in all the settings to Swahilli, then you can send for the matching companion "Language" Decoder Ring!
Another fine K-Tel product.
Anyway, look at the picture, dang it looks hot out doesn't it? But on the right side that is not a real duck in the water, it's a decoy put in the pool by the two Wisconsin hunters up in the duck blind on the right side of the pool.
Hey, this is duck huntin weather to them.
Now, also if you will, look at the foreground in the picture.
Even though I refused to give them their due in a photo, I did capture the evidence since I knew right then and there I was going to be complaining about it here.
Yes, you are seeing first hand the umbilical cord that connects the Harley Boy to the main Mother Unit.
I am in the DSA for this shot right now, HB is just off to the side, revving it up, trying to get an old guy in an
ECV to shiver in fear.
I had to look around for the other one, at this pool they always travel in pairs.
Oh yes, there, on the other side of the pool, this guy is not power washing the deck, he's washing the chairs again.
Don't get it, nothing's been touched for a few days now, are they gonna start power washing the guests as the exit the Magical Express Bus?
"Ok, please turn around and face the bus, arms out to the side."
After another half a smoke I brought the stuff back inside and gave Smidgy her tea. (oh, smoke)
Got to Epcot a bit after ten, then went over to the Land for Soarin' (apostrophe trademarked) fastpasses, and rode Livin with the Land.
There was a reason I took this picture, but only the Nebo that lives in the alternative universe knows the answer to why I did. I remember taking it, not sure what I wanted to show though.
Same goes with this picture in the greenhouse, why do I think this is a compelling picture?
You know what I think it is? Why I took them?
Because I could!
Picture taking involves taking your hands out of your pockets in order to manipulate the camera, while I was holding the camera a lot the last few days, it was mostly being held in my pocket. But in here it's warm so I don't mind playing with the camera.
Then we decided to get over to World Showcase for the opening, on the way we passed the upside down waterfall:
Had a smoke before we left the Land area, got to Canada right after 11, I figured we could catch the 11:30 "Oh, Canada" show and still make it close enough for our ADR in Japan.
First, a pretty garden out in front:
After that, we went around the back and stuck our heads inside to see if they were getting the movie ready, are people waiting. Well, couldn't really tell, there was some folks waiting for it to start, but no cast member is out there yet so I know it's going to be a bit yet.
We returned outside in the back by the waterfall to then take crappy pictures of each other while we waited.
Finally, we gave up on each other and just took one of the scenery.
Back in side the pavillion something didn't seem right, still no cast member on duty. I'm pretty sure they show the movie on the half hours here like most movie showings in the World, and right before 11:30 a girl came out and said they are having technical problems, the movie will be delayed, we don't know "how long."
Well, we were under the gun anyway with the timing so a "how long", even if a short, "any long" was going to be, "too long", and we left.
We just kind of sauntered along until Japan, passed what used to be one of our favorite DSA's in France which is now gone, to find out it's because it's a "meet and greet " area.
Or "greet the meat", something like that.
Had a smoke in Morocco's DSA, (oh, smoke) then went and checked into Teppanedo.
We were met by a little tiny thing who checked our names, then handed us a buzzer and told us, "You, please, follow otha woman to inside next room, please."
"Otha" room was all of 12 feet away from the hostess station, and as we looked around for a place to sit the buzzer went off. It was all I could do to keep from laughing out loud, she could have just as easily leaned over from the hostess pulpit and said, "Psssst! you guys, you're table is ready, please leave".
Which now pretty much brings us full circle to the beginning of the chapter.
As some of you well know, we have eaten here before, with very bizarre and contrary results.
Once when it was still Teppanyaki it was our final day on the dining plan, and we found out too late that we were out of credits due to some waitress at Captain Jack's double swiping our card the night before.
Big mess, big argument with manager at Teppanyaki, he ended up winning, charging our visa card for the dinners instead of sorting it out and leaving it up to us to fix at the resort. ( see "guess who's coming to free dinner")
Apparently, I harbored a grudge self consciously, even after they changed the name to Teppanedo.
Problem was, self conscious never tell the conscious when it is having a problem, and in this case the old self conscious thingy seemed like it was hell-bent on getting me hurt.
It's one thing argueing with the manager with the Sharpies, it's another thing arguing with the chefs with the sharpys.
Last time we were here we got a huge strapping chef, and except for a little around the eyes he didn't look much more Japanese than I did.
So I ended up insulting his heritage!
And I made the mistake of saying to him that "Don't all cast members from each pavilion have to be from that country?
He avoided answering that question but I wouldn't give up, and kept asking him where he was born.
Finally, he admitted someplace exotic like Houston or maybe Dallas, but by now he's glaring at me.
I thought we were done, but I should have known better, now he's got me in his sights.
As our chef was going through the "shtick", the chef at the next table was just a bit behind our guy, but he was much more flamboyant, and I kept looking over to the next table watching the other chef.
Big no no I guess with Japanese chefs.
I even nudged Smidgy and pointed at the other guy when suddenly I got a big, "WHACK" right in front of me with a big knife.
I had felt I need to explain myself and self conscious was still running the show a bit and didn't really much care what I said,
and I said a bad thing.
With our chef glaring at me I told him "But look how much bigger's his volcano compared to yours, and look how much smoke he's getting out of it!"
Yes, I did, I know it's not right, but too late to take it back,
Never tell a chef someone has a bigger volcano then he does.
Let me tell you boy, I never took my eyes off those knives the rest of the meal you can bet your sweet .....
So.....
This time, i'm gonna be good, better than good, I'm gonna make our chef maybe, just maybe, like me.
This is third time now in this restaurant, everyb ody sits around the table, right?
3 times and I have sat in the same seat every single time, on the end, closest to the chef on his right.
After everybody was seated, a waitress took our orders, fillet for me, Sirloin and shrimp combo for Smidgy.
Then our chef showed up, no, not the big guy with the little volcano but an older man, I breathed a sigh of relief.
First thing he does is hand out these 3 square empty compartments to everybody. Something looked familiar to me and I picked mine up and put it next to Diane's and it hit me;
"Hey, if we take all our 3 squares and put them together we will have a Sudoku puzzle, wonder if that's how they came up with it?"
Yes, I was babbling like an idiot, that's what I do when i want someone to like me.
The chef looked at me and I slunk down in my seat.
Then he proceeded to go around the table and fill one compartment before he's start on the next one, 3 rounds later we are now all filled up with sauces.
Sauces? Sauces for what?
I asked him. Thought he'd appreciate "Grasshopper" asking the "Master" plenty meaningful question but no, he acted like it was an intrusion on his routine, but he kind of answered anyway.
"First sauce for meat,"
" Middle sauce for rice or chicken"
" Last sauce for vegetables."
Ok, here's what I want you all to do:
You figure out some way on GOD'S GREEN EARTH that you can pick up rice with chopsticks and dip them in a sauce, then make it to your mouth with enough nourishment to avoid starvation by the third dipping.
Then he went around the table and briefly verified what everybody had ordered from the girl first, and how they's like it cooked. Sitting where I was I was last, and showing my newfound go along attitude, I told him:
"Oh, I don't care. Whatever you want to make for me is fine, hamburger helper, beefaroni, doesn't matter to me, I'm easy, surprise me."
He just looked at me and I knew I was overdoing it.
Diane quickly told him I want the Fillet, cooked medium and he couldn't turn away quickly enough.
Then the girl brought us out all our rice bowls, a little perfectly round scoop in a small bowl with absolutely nothing on it, I guess that's where the sauce tray comes in.
I would have just dumped the middle rice sauce over the cup that held the rice if the sauce had been seperate, but all three are joined at the hip.
Then I got incredibly sneaky.
He's still cooking my main meal so I don't want to tick him off too much yet, but I really wanted something on the dry lump of rice in the little bowl the waitress/server brought out to us .
After one feeble attempt at grabbing some rice and bringing them into the dipping station with the chopsticks I gave up.
And no, even with a fork the layout of the tray didn't exactly make dipping a forkfull an easy endeavor.
But, I had ordered a Coke for my drink, and the brought it to me with one of those "bendy" straws, what we used to when we were younger call "hospital straws."
Carefully, very carefully, I slid the little rice bowl over onto the other side of the plate, and right next to the mini Sudoku sauce tray.
Since the method I had in mind would not really work well because the trays are so shallow, this is where the bendy straw came in;
Putting my finger over the long end of the straw, I could then come up below the table and stick the bendy short part in the sauce.
Releasing the end would create and imbalance in pressure and force some into the straw, recovering the end would then hold it inside.
I swung the straw over to the rice and released the end again, and it ran out into the rice bowl.
After about 5 times of doing this I was starting to get a decent "gravy" on the top of the rice, and then the chef caught me!
I was in mid-transfer when suddenly he swung his head back at me like the snake in Honey I Shrunk the Audience!
I dropped the straw between my legs on the floor and gave him my best look, "What?"
He did wind up getting last laugh though, he knew someting I didn't know.
First he fried up on the table a bunch of bamboo shoots, seaweed, his volacano of onions of which I had stood up and cheered for, water chestnuts, genuine Kentucky Blue Grass, rutabagas and algae and glopped them all on all of our plates.
Then he made the main courses and my fillet was made to perfection, it seemed a bit small to me being pre- cut up, but it was very good. Smidgy's sirloin was good too, almost hard to tell the difference. She really like her shrimp too.
Finally it was all taken away and the desserts were brought out, again, I was the last one to get mine due to the order.
Smidgy got hers, the last one before me.
She, for some reason that only she would know why, ordered the "green tea pudding", when the waitress put it in front of her we both looked at it and said at the same time,,,,,,,,,,"IT'S SOYLENT GREEN!"
She asked for the camera and took a picture of it:
She said it was very custardy, tasted much better then it looked, best eaten with your eyes closed.
Then they finally brought out mine, just a small bowl of vanilla ice cream, that's all I asked for. Hey, the dessert choices here are as bland as you can get.
They rank right up there with Pepper Market at Coronado Springs. If you're on the dining plan there and ask what your dessert choices are they hand you a cookie!
But my little bowl of ice cream had a candle in it, lit.
Then they stuck one of those dumb chef hats on my head, I had forgotten she had put in the reservations that it was my birthday when they asked what we are celebrating.
I really hate this.
Glancing over at the chef he has a look on his face like "Ok, Smart Guy, who looks like a moron now?"
As you can tell by the joyous look on my face, he won.
We settled up, the last to leave and we started looking around for Oregonmommy who was supposed to be here ritht after us. Her family is also staying at Pop, but we havent' run into them yet.
It was not until we got up and looked around, that I then saw the chef that I had offended the last time we were here, he was right behind us at an adjacent table, can't believe I missed him.
On the way out Smidgy kept sticking her head in all the other rooms we passed and calling out, "Oregonmommy?", but no one replied. Even I would have been uncomfortable doing that, geesh, you could maybe end up looking silly and I don't do that.
With that we went back to the resort to run DNA samples on the Soylent Green sample we had brought back to see if it was anyone we know.
later.........
!!
Wish I had been at the hibachi table with you and Smidgy. Bet that was hysterical!!!
those old wooden roller coasters. The new steel ones with loop-de-loops make me sick, but the old wooden ones are great! That video reminded me of The Bobs at Riverview. Anybody here old enough to remember that park? Western at Belmont, Chicago.
You're gonna wake up "She who must not be disturbed"??? 
