P.O.T.C. On Stranger Rides! The Missing Chapter,,Final Thoughts,, Preview Thoughts.

[orangecats2]

You missed my post! I posted on my birfday - the 6th.

Thank you to ponzi for the birthday wish!

 

[Thumper_Man]

Hope fully, we can all stay at the same resort at the same time.

That would be fun. We may have to try and set that up one of these days.

I can tell you guys are used to staying in studios and suites typw places, so you propaly won't be happy at a value resort, but please, spend a bit extra and book a DVC through the Dis,,,, you can still stay at Boardwalk or Jambo House for half the Disney rack rate.

Not necessarily. We would be happy at a value. Considering we don't spend that much time in the room anyways. Only reason we stay in a resort when we go is because we own a timeshare. At this point in time, it's easier for us to stay there. Beats having to come up with money for lodging as well. We travel by aluminum tube of death and rent a car. So by the time we pay for those, tickets and oop dining, makes it a little difficult to afford to stay onsite as well. Plus our timeshare has a kitchen. So we often save money on meals by buying stuff for breakfast and lunch.

Some bills are almost paid off, so in the future, we'll be able to stay onsite. Next trip we'll be staying at our resort again and onsite over at Universal. So we're slowly inching there. Maybe our first time onsite can be if we can all coordinate going at the same time and staying at the same place. Then you can show us the ropes.

I've thought about renting points. We'll see in a couple of years what I can manage. Lady H leaves it up to me as far as planning. I do all the work and she gets to have all the fun. How does that happen? And yes, I have fun to.

 

[jakeybake]

I'm baaaaaaaaack!!!!

5 fun filled days at POP with no one but myself!

I'm in the process of trying to catch up and have already laughed out loud at one of the first things I saw. Pkond's comment on the picture of Smidgy on the lobby bridge at AKL.

"Ok, you can let go now....."

That was good.

Anyone have any questions about POP or WDW as a hole just fire away. Also, Steve, it was 80-85 degrees each day. The complete opposite of what it was last year. Just perfect weather.

Looking forward to catching back up with all of you!

Jay

 

[nebo]

You missed my post! I posted on my birfday - the 6th.

Thank you to ponzi for the birthday wish!

You are right, sorry O kitty, I did see it but then forgot to click on it I guess, anyway, a belated happy bday to you too, and I'll believe the 39 bit.

I've thought about renting points. We'll see in a couple of years what I can manage. Lady H leaves it up to me as far as planning. I do all the work and she gets to have all the fun. How does that happen? And yes, I have fun to.

Oh, I don't know, to me that's fun work, I think the one thing I hate doing though is calling up for dining reservations.

I'm baaaaaaaaack!!!!

5 fun filled days at POP with no one but myself!

I'm in the process of trying to catch up and have already laughed out loud at one of the first things I saw. Pkond's comment on the picture of Smidgy on the lobby bridge at AKL.

"Ok, you can let go now....."

That was good.

Anyone have any questions about POP or WDW as a hole just fire away. Also, Steve, it was 80-85 degrees each day. The complete opposite of what it was last year. Just perfect weather.

Looking forward to catching back up with all of you!

Jay

Hey Jay, welcome back to reality. I want to know if you were able to sneak over there to check out the new resort?

 

[GrandBob]

I had no doubt that somebody was going to jump on the "seeing Disney through the eye s of a child line. Crap, that's the first think I thought of too.

Hey Bob, just in case it snows Tuesday, you busy? I gets to be the lucky dude and go for another distemper shot.
Funny thing is, this injection does not do a single positive thing for mey temper, except make it worse!

Sure! Drop on by anytime! I'll guarantee that you can avoid the snow by dropping by our house >>*<< Asterisk

Dis temper, dat temper -- what's with all the temper? Just pour yourself a fuzzy cup and chill! And if you've got to get a shot, I'll bet that cup will get even fuzzier. Seriously, though, good luck. I hope you avoid that fate that I still can't speak about

-Bob

>>*<< Oops, now I've gone and jinxed myself. We'll be in your neck of the woods again for Christmas; I think I've just jinxed us into a snowstorm again. Oops.

 

[nebo]

-Bob

>>*<< Oops, now I've gone and jinxed myself. We'll be in your neck of the woods again for Christmas; I think I've just jinxed us into a snowstorm again. Oops.

Ok, how close you going to be? And when? Up in Rockford?

 

[GrandBob]

Ok, how close you going to be? And when? Up in Rockford?

Fly in on Dec 23, out on Dec 30. Nope, not Rockford. It's not little brother's turn to host Christmas, it's little sister's. Staying in the Western 'burbs (Clarendon Hills) with my 90 year old mother (and going strong!), but will be spending time also with sis in Wood Dale. I don't think we'll hit Rockford -- it sounds like little brother and his darling and outspoken wife may join us in hitting downtown Chicago for a day or two that week.

-Bob

 

[orangecats2]

OK, I think we've waited long enough. Where and when is the next chapter?

 

[Echo queen]

Ok, how close you going to be? And when? Up in Rockford?

We are going to Rockford for Christmas we leave driving next weekend. My whole families there that's the only reason. Could y'all hold off on snow storm We Plan to visit navy pier and downtown.

 

[jakeybake]

Hey Jay, welcome back to reality. I want to know if you were able to sneak over there to check out the new resort?[/COLOR]

Hey there!

I was able to sneak over and my first thought was that this thing is never going to be finished by the time folks start showing up for their stays. They have some cute scenes done on some of the buildings but there was scaffolding everywhere and to my untrained eye, the buildings looked very far away from completion.

I purposely walked as far as I could to check out what I could but I was extremely underwhelmed to say the least. If I had ressies for that place in the late spring I would be pretty worried right now.

My other thought was how chaotic that area will now become. Though POP is pretty large, it always felt kind of, I don't know, quaint and manageable to me. I liked how it wasn't located directly next to other resorts and how it had the whole area to itself. Now it is going to be over run with the guests, buses and traffic of a brand new, large resort. I fear it will effect the overall feeling of POP that I liked.

To put it another way, I think it is going to feel much more "All Star Like" if that makes any sense.

I have to say, that we are a bunch of chapters in and you have yet to fall down the Indiana Jones show stairwell, flown over a bush or prevoked a Brazilian. I have to admit that I'm quite shocked and am expecting a bang up, doozy of an ending!!

Jay

 

[Jonesloonybin]

Hi, I have been quietly reading along on your last couple of trip reports. My DH and I love them.

Just wanted to say that we are going to be in WDW at the same time as you. I would be very happy if you could post your plans. I am going to keep my video camera on me and I figure if I follow you around long enough, I am sure to get some great shots! I could win a fortune!! I would totally split any winnings with you..you know..70/30 or maybe 80/20.

Ok I am just kidding (sort of)


Terri
Oh, and it would be an Intellivision all the way!!

 

[nebo]

But mainly it's... he never gets the GREAT shots of Smidgy... after he does something that is making us all ... and Smidgy is the brunt of it. I'd to see just ONE quick snap of the face she gives you after you try to dump cold water on her with a noodle.

Enough of me... where's the next chapter?

That's the problem, I can't cause trouble and take pictures at the same time,,, but I'm not sure you would really like those shots of Smidgy.

Fly in on Dec 23, out on Dec 30. Nope, not Rockford. It's not little brother's turn to host Christmas, it's little sister's. Staying in the Western 'burbs (Clarendon Hills) with my 90 year old mother (and going strong!), but will be spending time also with sis in Wood Dale. I don't think we'll hit Rockford -- it sounds like little brother and his darling and outspoken wife may join us in hitting downtown Chicago for a day or two that week.

-Bob

Yeah, Sw subs at that. Hope the weather stays clear for you, and yes, downtown Chicago is just lovely this time of year next to Lake Michigan, you know better than to go down there in Decemb er if you don't have to.

OK, I think we've waited long enough. Where and when is the next chapter?

You are right, gonna get bvack to work on it in a couple minutes.

We are going to Rockford for Christmas we leave driving next weekend. My whole families there that's the only reason. Could y'all hold off on snow storm We Plan to visit navy pier and downtown.

What in the Sam Hill is wrong with everybody,,,, we go by YOU in the winter, not the other way around!

Hey there!

I was able to sneak over and my first thought was that this thing is never going to be finished by the time folks start showing up for their stays. They have some cute scenes done on some of the buildings but there was scaffolding everywhere and to my untrained eye, the buildings looked very far away from completion.

I purposely walked as far as I could to check out what I could but I was extremely underwhelmed to say the least. If I had ressies for that place in the late spring I would be pretty worried right now.

My other thought was how chaotic that area will now become. Though POP is pretty large, it always felt kind of, I don't know, quaint and manageable to me. I liked how it wasn't located directly next to other resorts and how it had the whole area to itself. Now it is going to be over run with the guests, buses and traffic of a brand new, large resort. I fear it will effect the overall feeling of POP that I liked.

To put it another way, I think it is going to feel much more "All Star Like" if that makes any sense.

I have to say, that we are a bunch of chapters in and you have yet to fall down the Indiana Jones show stairwell, flown over a bush or prevoked a Brazilian. I have to admit that I'm quite shocked and am expecting a bang up, doozy of an ending!!

Jay

Thanks for the update, Jay, I understand wht you mean, I gureess we'll just have to wait and see.

 

[nebo]

Almost forgot, my Clint Eastwood reference, "You wouldn't hit a lady, would you?," is from the reallly crappy movie, "The Guantlet", that he made with Sondra Locke.


There's something I've been meaning to bring up and now I can't remember if I did in the past or not.

Am I the only one that thought this was really stupid:

Harry Potter does all the right things with Buckbeak in the beginning of P of A, and as a reward, Buckbeak allows him to ride on his back and off they go into the wild, blue yonder!

Cue the music video sequence, fire up the CGI effects, this is just amazing, LOOK HE"S FLYING! Hundeds of feet up,,,,, OMG, how exhiliarating!

Ahem, this is so fantastically special, why?

He can grab his Firebolt or his Numbnutz 2000 and take a road trip anytime he wishes, although Buckbeak was probably a tad more comfy than a broomstick.

_____________________________________________


With cocktails made in our refillable mugs, we pause just long enough out in front to set my stopwatch to zero, want to time the "lobby to lobby" walk time from Jambo House to Kidani.

The shuttle bus wasn't out in front, so must be in transit,
and the one other bus that goes on to Kidani, DD I believe,
well, those bus stops are a ways around the corner from the main lobby entrance, no way to know if one's there, or even coming, or not. You can't see them from here.

Ok, that's why we made the drinks, we'll walk.

First off, this is not a nice walk.
You are mostly trudging through a parking lot environment, and the scenery doesn't change much at all.
About the only change in the scenery is by differnet colored bathing suits hanging over the railings on the balconies.

From what I've seen, I would not like to stay in Kidani,
it seems that 90% of the rooms are either savannah or parking lot views, and the parking lot views are about as parking lottish as you can get. As we were walking past all these patios and balconies facing the lot, I was happy that wonce again we made the right decision on choosing Jambo over Kidani.

At the very much smaller lobby down here, I punched the stopwatch;
11 minutes, 10 seconds,, at a leisurely pace.

It sure was a ghost town here though, we walked through the lobby out into the savannah.

Ok, I mean the savannah viewing area, no, wasn't going to go and hang around with some giraffes, hey, you never know when a thunderstorm might pop up and there I am, talking to a lightning rod.

I'm not sure if I'm matching up the right pictures with the right time we were there since we were there twice,,, won't know until i post them and see the dates, but today is still the 15th I believe. Then we went in search of the pool.

This area is absolutely gorgeous!
It is already extremely lush even though the plantings are only a couple years old, the pool itself is soooo inviting, and they also have an imaginitive children's play area, that would get me in trouble.

Let's start with general landscaping;

Then, a picture she took of me before she was mad...

Now,,,, a nice shot of a bridge over the pool....

This is more of your lagoon style of pool shape, it's not anywhere near as big as the other pool, but I was mislead because right now we have the entire pool just about to ourselves. What I should have realized I guess is that down here people take their dinner times seriously and vacate the pool and rec area.

Which brings us to the children's recreation area.

There are cool things to climb up, rock stairways that go to upper levels and sights un seen.
Ineractive fountains, squirting fountains that try to catch you by surprise,,,, and little water squirt guns that are not fired automatically and randomly, but by a fellow human being.

Like me!

Here, let me fill in for all of you:
"No, don't do it Nebo!" but we can't go back in time.

Ok, maybe the little water squirt guns were a little bit bigger than little. They were not so little, little water squirt guns.

I think this picture shows some of them, but the one I used I swear was bigger.

It's like this:
We had gotten separated somehow when I found these things, and as i was trying to figure out how they worked, there, off to the side stands Smidgy, looking around, enjoying the sights,,,, and just asking to be clobbered!

Not that I would ever even think of doing something like that, but boy, you talk about your sitting duck, the only thing missing was the bullseye on her forehead, or the little balloon that said 500 pts. over her head.

But no, not me, uh uh, I'd never....

Ok, one little shot maybe towards her feet, she's wearing sandals, no big deal, if it will even make it there that far, probably not, this is a long way.

I took aim around her knees and fired my weapon, curious to see exactly what would happen.

Ok, now, can you count the mistakes made in the above sentence?

One, yes, should have practiced fired my weapon before trying it out in combat first;;

Two, I never should have aimed as Smidgy's knees,,

and Three,,,,, nor her ankles nor her arms nor any part that makes up Smidgy.
(hmm, that almost sounds like the defintion for the ninth commandment, doesn't it?)

So, I fire at Smidgy's knees,,,,,,,, have you ever fired a high powered weapon before?
When you weren't prepared for it?

I once bought rifle slugs for my 12 guage and went to the fifty yard range. I couldn't believe the difference in power from shells to a solid hunk of lead coming out of the gun.
I missed the target entirely as the recoil jumped my shot up by 3 feet!

The same thing kinda just happened here, I was expecting this little pipsquirt to come out of the gun,,, but,,
it was more like the hook and ladder trying to shoot water up to the 86th floor in Towering Inferno.

Caught her mostly in the neck area, and oh boy, was she wet. And shocked.

I couldn't help it, from the look on her face of shock, I laughed.

Now, I had a chance to maybe slink away, I don't think she saw it was me that did this, I could have come from the other direction with a ,, "Oh, hey, what happened to you?"

But that all went out the window when I laughed

Once I explained it to her there was nothing left to except constantly say I was sorry.

With our exploring pretty much done down here we got lucky and cought a shuttle bus back to Jambo House.

My impression here though was quite good, very jungle like, remote feeling, and empty, too bad the walk was so far.
But I was really looking forward to coming down here early one morning and having the pool to myself.


In the room I returned the little bottles we never got to, made another drink from regular stock and asked her if she wanted to go and see what it might have been like if we had gotten the room first offered.


She joined me and we walked.

Earlier I had asked a maid where the ice was, and she told us 4th floor, in the elevator hallway so that's where I went.
After getting so lucky at CBR and the ice room, our next two chances weren't so good, but at least this time it was right around the corner and down a floor, where as in BLT it was right around a county and down a floor.

As we kept walking the Green Mile, we passed the area where our room was the first time we stayed here in '02, when we were getting back together and they gave us bunk beds, the differnece then was that we were two floors lower.

On we walked, and not too far from the very end,,, there sits a door with the word "Ice" on it.

I opened it.

"You're kidding, there really is an ice machine in here!"
I was incredulous!

Ninety nine percent of the people here won't be able to use this machine due to distance, time, and STAMINA constraints,,, but you people that got stuck way down at the end here,,,, HAVE AT IT!

We had seen our room number though I can't remember it now, and the zebra trail doesn't come to a dead end, but now has a short wing going off in either direction, left or right. Our room was going to be midway down on the right and that's the way we headed.

Now, since we can't break into our "Not our room" to see what the savannah view would be like, we did get the next best thing though:

At the end of the hallway is an emergency exit, this is where all the animals out on the savannah are supposed to run to in case of a fire or bad storm or ICBM's, whatever, to get off the savannah in an emergency.
( I know, I know, and it's not a nice place to visit, either)

So we opened the door and went outside.

I didn't have the camera with me, but didn't matter, there was nothing there to shoot.

Literally.

From our view standing on this landing, we can see what it would be like from one of the balconies on our left, and it wasn't anything pretty in slightest.

it almost seemed like a maintenance area, gravel roads, chain link fences and not much else. There wasn't an animal in sight but I wasn't sure they hadn't all been called infor the night.


Once again, we nodded to each other in agreement that we made the right decision, then we mentally high fived and went back in side.

Husbands and wives should always mentally high five rather than try it in person, believe me, it does not look, especially if you're white. I think I lost a contact once doing that in our early years.

Dinner that night was glop.
No, not sure which glop, glop is glop.
Might have been ravioli, might have been tuna sandwiches
, maybe Dinty Less beef stew, or maybe Chicken ala King, doesn't matter, it's all glop we nuke in the mike.

And so, we will say goodnight.

It did seem strange that night having to go to bed without the Electrical Water Pageant in the background.

_____________________________________________

Friday, September 16

MBWAHAHAHAHA,,,, you thought I was saying good night for tonight, when really I was saying goodnight for Sept. 15, which was a couple of months ago, but you didn't know what I meant, or if that was the end of the chapter, and ,,,
so,,,,um,,,

See?
This is what happens when I try to get a chapter out in a hurry.

Friday morning.
Wait, is that what I said up above?
Yes it is, good, i'm agreeing with myself.
Hey, somebody has to.

Today we are going to the newest Disney Park, Animal Kingdom, and let me tell you, I am not happy about the changes we have to make, to accomodate the changes Disney has made.

A day at the Animal Kingdom used to flow like the Mississippi River, all was simple, the gears meshed like a finely made Swiss watch, clouds travelling silently across a sunlit sky with nothing to impede them, poetry in motion, if you will.

In other words, we always had a simple plan for AK. Went like this:

Rope drop, see a show, walk a trail, ride a ride, do a little dance, make a little love, get down,,,,,whoops, sorry ,
then we'd take a mid day break for pool time and go back for EMH.

That was how we always got to see the second major show, usually, Festival of the Lion King, and yes, for all you Seinfeld fans, we did call it "Festivus" for short.

Und zo, since we have an actual working plan for AK,
Disney had to go an change it all,,,,,,,,there is no more
EMH at Animal Kingdom!

I can't remember if the park closes at six or seven tonight, either way it doesn't matter, it's still too early.

Before I say why, do any of you know why this is a problem? And no, it's not because there's less time for beers at the Dawa bar at night.

Ok, times up;
It's still light out when it closes!

It used to work so well, see a show in the morning, usually Nemo, do stuff, maybe catch Flame Tree right when they open at 11, then save Festivus and EE and Dawa bar for when all the useless day guests have been kicked out.

Oh, and one other thing:

Dinosaur!
And to a much lesser extent, The Screamin' Kids Show. (tough to be a bug)

The lighting in Dinosaur is so dim, the only way I can see anything is to wait until right before closing to go see it, when my eyes have now somewhat adjusted to darkness.

But that cant happen today.

So it was very strange that morning going to the bus stop with bulging pockets of little bottles for much later on, since there is no way we can do a split stay here and still see what we want to see.

Boy, would this look just great, to be busted for sneaking in alcohol at 9 o'clock in the morning!

Goodnight for real now,,, and what do you know, another chapter and NO BLOOD!

 

[nebo]

Hi, I have been quietly reading along on your last couple of trip reports. My DH and I love them.

Just wanted to say that we are going to be in WDW at the same time as you. I would be very happy if you could post your plans. I am going to keep my video camera on me and I figure if I follow you around long enough, I am sure to get some great shots! I could win a fortune!! I would totally split any winnings with you..you know..70/30 or maybe 80/20.

Ok I am just kidding (sort of)


Terri
Oh, and it would be an Intellivision all the way!!

Hi there Jones, glad you came our of hiding and we will be gald to share our itinerary with you,,,, soon as we have one. Oh yeah, gotta see if the may hours ar out yet. This is really driving me nuts not knowing what's going to be the "final answer" at Pepper Market. So, what are your dates, and where are you staying?

 

[fsmith2845]

Almost forgot, my Clint Eastwood reference, "You wouldn't hit a lady, would you?," is from the reallly crappy movie, "The Guantlet", that he made with Sondra Locke.

And after reading all the way through the chapter, I know why you led the chapter off with that!!!

Let's start with general landscaping;

Then, a picture she took of me before she was mad...

Why oh why would Smidgy possibly be mad at you??? Oh i do so wonder!!!!

Which brings us to the children's recreation area.

There are cool things to climb up, rock stairways that go to upper levels and sights un seen.
Ineractive fountains, squirting fountains that try to catch you by surprise,,,, and little water squirt guns that are not fired automatically and randomly, but by a fellow human being.

Like me!

Here, let me fill in for all of you:
"No, don't do it Nebo!" but we can't go back in time.

No you would dare.. would you???

Ok, maybe the little water squirt guns were a little bit bigger than little. They were not so little, little water squirt guns.

I think this picture shows some of them, but the one I used I swear was bigger.

It's like this:
We had gotten separated somehow when I found these things, and as i was trying to figure out how they worked, there, off to the side stands Smidgy, looking around, enjoying the sights,,,, and just asking to be clobbered!

Not that I would ever even think of doing something like that, but boy, you talk about your sitting duck, the only thing missing was the bullseye on her forehead, or the little balloon that said 500 pts. over her head.

But no, not me, uh uh, I'd never....

Ok, one little shot maybe towards her feet, she's wearing sandals, no big deal, if it will even make it there that far, probably not, this is a long way.

I took aim around her knees and fired my weapon, curious to see exactly what would happen.

Ok, now, can you count the mistakes made in the above sentence?

One, yes, should have practiced fired my weapon before trying it out in combat first;;

Two, I never should have aimed as Smidgy's knees,,

and Three,,,,, nor her ankles nor her arms nor any part that makes up Smidgy.
(hmm, that almost sounds like the defintion for the ninth commandment, doesn't it?)

So, I fire at Smidgy's knees,,,,,,,, have you ever fired a high powered weapon before?
When you weren't prepared for it?

I once bought rifle slugs for my 12 guage and went to the fifty yard range. I couldn't believe the difference in power from shells to a solid hunk of lead coming out of the gun.
I missed the target entirely as the recoil jumped my shot up by 3 feet!

The same thing kinda just happened here, I was expecting this little pipsquirt to come out of the gun,,, but,,
it was more like the hook and ladder trying to shoot water up to the 86th floor in Towering Inferno.

Caught her mostly in the neck area, and oh boy, was she wet. And shocked.

And yesss he did!!! And you violated all the rules of combat by not test firing.. always supposed to squeeze off a few rounds at the range first!!!

I couldn't help it, from the look on her face of shock, I laughed.

AND THEN YOU GAVE AWAY YOU POSITION!! Rookie mistake!!
But you're not supposed to be a Rookie anymore..

Now, I had a chance to maybe slink away, I don't think she saw it was me that did this, I could have come from the other direction with a ,, "Oh, hey, what happened to you?"

But that all went out the window when I laughed

Yep Position compromised.. Forgive me Smidgy, but I'm afraid I would have laughed too.. if i had done that to the Mrs.. i would have laughed my head off.. giving her ample time to scoot over to the guns and fire a return salvo with extreme prejudice!!

Once I explained it to her there was nothing left to except constantly say I was sorry.

And I'm sure she was buying the whole water pressure taking you by surprise and causing you to aim way too high... And yep you did the only thing you could do, lower your head and beg for forgiveness.. for the next year or so until she gets you back with spades.. At least it was warm and not freezing.. you most certainly would be in the dog house then.

 

[jcc0621]

Not that I would ever even think of doing something like that, but boy, you talk about your sitting duck, the only thing missing was the bullseye on her forehead, or the little balloon that said 500 pts. over her head.

Don't do it!

] Ok, one little shot maybe towards her feet, she's wearing sandals, no big deal, if it will even make it there that far, probably not, this is a long way.

This is not going to be good

Caught her mostly in the neck area, and oh boy, was she wet. And shocked.

Uh oh.

I couldn't help it, from the look on her face of shock, I laughed.

WORST Mistake E.V.E.R

Once I explained it to her there was nothing left to except constantly say I was sorry.

And now that you have told the whole world, you need to be saying sorry again

 

[Jonesloonybin]

Hi there Jones, glad you came our of hiding and we will be gald to share our itinerary with you,,,, soon as we have one. Oh yeah, gotta see if the may hours ar out yet. This is really driving me nuts not knowing what's going to be the "final answer" at Pepper Market. So, what are your dates, and where are you staying?

Our dates are 4/29-5/10. We are staying at Pop. I was pushing for POFQ, but my teen thought it looked boring and my youngest took one look at the masks and said NO WAY!

We told the kids that we could stay at a mod/deluxe or we could stay longer...they both went with longer. That's my girls!

I have to comment on the ambush of poor Smidgy...you do realize that you put yourself at her mercy every time you walk into a dark building, right?? Haven't you ever seen "If You Can See What I Hear?" I can see it now, you will be walking along when you smack into something, then Smidgy's voice will come out of the darkness..."opps, bench."

This could be another good one. You walk in and Smidgy tells you to take a big step over some melted ice cream on the floor,....no, bigger, bigger, ok. Wait, duck down or you will hit the decorations hanging from the ceiling, further, down just a little more, ok, WAIT!!! Step to the side or you are going to run into that little kid, good. Now here we are, tell the nice lady in front of you what you would like. (of course she will have lead you to a statue or display or something.)

And the whole time this is going on, everyone in the building would have been staring at you trying to figure out what you are doing. Since there was not a thing in your way.

Terri

 

[Rozz]

I have to comment on the ambush of poor Smidgy...you do realize that you put yourself at her mercy every time you walk into a dark building, right?? Haven't you ever seen "If You Can See What I Hear?" I can see it now, you will be walking along when you smack into something, then Smidgy's voice will come out of the darkness..."opps, bench."

This could be another good one. You walk in and Smidgy tells you to take a big step over some melted ice cream on the floor,....no, bigger, bigger, ok. Wait, duck down or you will hit the decorations hanging from the ceiling, further, down just a little more, ok, WAIT!!! Step to the side or you are going to run into that little kid, good. Now here we are, tell the nice lady in front of you what you would like. (of course she will have lead you to a statue or display or something.)

And the whole time this is going on, everyone in the building would have been staring at you trying to figure out what you are doing. Since there was not a thing in your way.

This is so good! Oh the anxiety of wondering when...

 

[pkondz]

Almost forgot, my Clint Eastwood reference, "You wouldn't hit a lady, would you?," is from the reallly crappy movie, "The Guantlet", that he made with Sondra Locke.

Yeah, when I posted earlier about Googling it 'cause I hadn't seen it, that's what I thought you were talking about.

Wow! What a convoluted sentence! Maybe I need to write "be succinct" 100 times too.

Am I the only one that thought this was really stupid:

Harry Potter does all the right things with Buckbeak in the beginning of P of A, and as a reward, Buckbeak allows him to ride on his back and off they go into the wild, blue yonder!

Cue the music video sequence, fire up the CGI effects, this is just amazing, LOOK HE"S FLYING! Hundeds of feet up,,,,, OMG, how exhiliarating!

Ahem, this is so fantastically special, why?

He can grab his Firebolt or his Numbnutz 2000 and take a road trip anytime he wishes, although Buckbeak was probably a tad more comfy than a broomstick.

Okay, I'll tell you why it's special. People flying around on brooms... now that's totally unrealistic. Nobody could possibly do that. But flying a hippogriff? Oh, sure. Totally could happen.

Reminds me of two stories I once read... or should that be twice read?

Anyway. In one story, a man kept seeing hippogriffs or griffins (can't remember), slinking around on ledges, under his bed, etc. When they went to have him committed, he flew off on one.

The other story is from a collection by Larry Niven 'The Flight of the Horse'. In it our protagonist travels back in time from the far future to collect a now extinct horse. To get around he uses a flight stick, which is a compact flying device with a brush discharge at the back.

From what I've seen, I would not like to stay in Kidani,
it seems that 90% of the rooms are either savannah or parking lot views, and the parking lot views are about as parking lottish as you can get. As we were walking past all these patios and balconies facing the lot, I was happy that wonce again we made the right decision on choosing Jambo over Kidani.

"wonce again". I like that typo. Wonce again made me wince again. Okay, it didn't but I like to think that it could.

At the very much smaller lobby down here, I punched the stopwatch;

The watch punched back and suddenly a brawl broke out. The watches hit with well timed jabs while the calculators figured out their next moves. The wildebeest went wild as the giraffes and cranes craned their necks to see over the hubub. The flamingoes buried their heads in the sand as the lemmings launched themselves off the catwalk bridge above the lobby...

Okay, never happened. If I said it was the truth I'd be lion.

It sure was a ghost town here though, we walked through the lobby out into the savannah.

Where you were promptly eaten by lions.

Actually, wouldn't that be cool? If there were lions right outside below the balconies? Would bring a whole new level of excitement to falling off, wouldn't it?

Ok, I mean the savannah viewing area, no, wasn't going to go and hang around with some giraffes, hey, you never know when a thunderstorm might pop up and there I am, talking to a lightning rod.

But isn't standing beside a lightning rod the safest place to be? Whoops! Fried giraffe. But I'm safe... at least until the next bolt, anyway. Golf anyone? Fore! three... two... one... Zap!

This area is absolutely gorgeous!
It is already extremely lush even though the plantings are only a couple years old, the pool itself is soooo inviting, and they also have an imaginitive children's play area, that would get me in trouble.

1. If it's nice now, I wonder how it'll be in a few years after everything's had a chance to take root and develop.

2. Why would the play area get you in trouble? Is there a court order we should know about?

Ineractive fountains, squirting fountains that try to catch you by surprise,,,, and little water squirt guns that are not fired automatically and randomly, but by a fellow human being.

Like me!

At this point, I said to myself, "Uh, oh."

Here, let me fill in for all of you:
"No, don't do it Nebo!" but we can't go back in time.

But if we did, we could ride our flightsticks! I still wouldn't stop what's coming, though. Too funny. (Sorry Smidgy... but it is.)

Look at Smidgy everyone.
So relaxed...
So innocent...
So dry.

there, off to the side stands Smidgy, looking around, enjoying the sights,,,, and just asking to be clobbered!

Okay, she does look like that in the above photo, which is pretty much how I envision her just before the Nebo-tsunami.

Not that I would ever even think of doing something like that, but boy, you talk about your sitting duck, the only thing missing was the bullseye on her forehead, or the little balloon that said 500 pts. over her head.

But no, not me, uh uh, I'd never....

Oh, absolutely. Of course not! Wouldn't dream of it... She's not buying it is she.

I took aim around her knees and fired my weapon, curious to see exactly what would happen.

Quiz time! How is Nebo like a cat when it comes to curiosity? Anyone?

Ok, now, can you count the mistakes made in the above sentence?

One, yes, should have practiced fired my weapon before trying it out in combat first;;

Nope. Next time... just walk away. Trust me. It's for your own good.

Two, I never should have aimed as Smidgy's knees,,

and Three,,,,, nor her ankles nor her arms nor any part that makes up Smidgy.
(hmm, that almost sounds like the defintion for the ninth commandment, doesn't it?)

Hmmm... I confess. I had to look up the 10 commandments. I think you are referring to #10

"You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor's."

You know, I don't think I'd ever covet somebody's donkey. Donkey? Are you calling Smidgy an ....

Smidgy, you have my permission to beat him up. What's that? You don't need permission? Well, no. I guess you don't.

The same thing kinda just happened here, I was expecting this little pipsquirt to come out of the gun,,, but,,
it was more like the hook and ladder trying to shoot water up to the 86th floor in Towering Inferno.

Caught her mostly in the neck area, and oh boy, was she wet. And shocked.

I couldn't help it, from the look on her face of shock, I laughed.

The. Absolute. Worst. Thing you could do... and I so would have done the same thing! And paid for it dearly, too!

Now, I had a chance to maybe slink away, I don't think she saw it was me that did this, I could have come from the other direction

"Run away!"

with a ,, "Oh, hey, what happened to you?"

But that all went out the window when I laughed

Still worth it. Sorry again Smidgy.

At the end of the hallway is an emergency exit, this is where all the animals out on the savannah are supposed to run to in case of a fire or bad storm or ICBM's,

Okay. You asked for it.

Before the days of pollution controls, people would throw everything away without regard for where it would land. Airplane lavatories merely dumped the contents into the sky. Of course as technology got better, the planes would fly higher and the effluent would freeze to the fuselage. When it attained sufficient mass it would break from the aircraft and plummet to the ground. A farmer, tending his field, was struck by one of these meteors and instantly killed.

He was the very first victim of an ICBM.

So we opened the door and went outside.

I didn't have the camera with me, but didn't matter, there was nothing there to shoot.

Literally.

Literally? Just a grey nothingness from the Twilight Zone?

it almost seemed like a maintenance area, gravel roads, chain link fences and not much else.

Ah. Figuratively.

Once again, we nodded to each other in agreement that we made the right decision, then we mentally high fived and went back in side.

Sorta like coneheads smacking together?

MBWAHAHAHAHA,,,, you thought I was saying good night for tonight, when really I was saying goodnight for Sept. 15, which was a couple of months ago, but you didn't know what I meant, or if that was the end of the chapter, and ,,,
so,,,,um,,,

See?
This is what happens when I try to get a chapter out in a hurry.

Nah, I thought you were saying goodnight for last night 'cause I'm reading this tomorrow to your today. Totally. Ta dah.

Friday morning.
Wait, is that what I said up above?
Yes it is, good, i'm agreeing with myself.
Hey, somebody has to.

Yes. Somebody does. And it might as well be you.

Today we are going to the newest Disney Park, Animal Kingdom, and let me tell you, I am not happy about the changes we have to make, to accomodate the changes Disney has made.

How dare those people at Disney give us more rides! How thoughtless!

That was how we always got to see the second major show, usually, Festival of the Lion King, and yes, for all you Seinfeld fans, we did call it "Festivus" for short.

A Disney show "for the rest of us".

Und zo,

German alert! Deutschland, Deutschland über alles...

...well you started it.

It used to work so well, see a show in the morning, usually Nemo, do stuff, maybe catch Flame Tree right when they open at 11, then save Festivus and EE and Dawa bar for when all the useless day guests have been kicked out.

Don't know why, but this made me think of Frank Burns' "Yellow horde".

Oh, and one other thing:

Dinosaur!

Pterodactyl!

Oh, sorry, I thought we were doing word association and I panicked.

So it was very strange that morning going to the bus stop with bulging

careful

pockets of little bottles

Phew!

Boy, would this look just great, to be busted for sneaking in alcohol at 9 o'clock in the morning!

‘Cause getting busted with alcohol later in the day is so much better.

Goodnight for real now,,, and what do you know, another chapter and NO BLOOD!

My disappointment knows no bounds. Thanks for the update!

 

[Sandy Mouse]

My Bears scored a whopping total of 3 points against the Cheifs!

And you lost Matt Forte (who is from right here in what my daughters fondly call "The Dell").

Almost forgot, my Clint Eastwood reference, "You wouldn't hit a lady, would you?," is from the reallly crappy movie, "The Guantlet", that he made with Sondra Locke.

Evidently you would! And after she thought your dingo joke was funny and went to get your drink in Mara!

,,, and what do you know, another chapter and NO BLOOD!

You're lucky Smidgy didn't draw blood! Run, Forrest, run!