fladogfan aka Gretchen

I started my new job yesterday and put in for WWW off today.  I hate to be that kind of employee, but a girl has to do what a girl has to do!

"We're gonna give you this nifty 20% discount, but we're also going to limit your access during the roll out of new rides, attractions and whenever we feel like doing it... That is unless you have purchased the Super Platinum Gold Plated Black Card Annual Pass, which will get you the access to the secret Cinnamon Roll Room at the MK and the front seat beside the lever puller on the Monorail of your choice... "

I'm sorry to hear that bhall., that Harbor Freight event was downright scary.
I'm not much of  a drinker so the alcohol allergy wouldn't bother me, but the cherry one sure would.  Years ago I realized that the smell of eucalyptus when walking into Pier One or a similar store got to me quickly.  As a child my parents had me tested and that came up with allergies to cats, dogs, horses and dust.  I've lived with cats most of my life and seem to build an immunity to the ones I live with.  Also have two dogs in the house now.  And guess what!  Last 24 years of my working life I was a kennel person and then a mobile groomer.  When I was bitten by one of those pets, I needed to immediately wash the bite or it would swell up fast.  My own pets not so much, not that they bit me but sometimes I would get a scratch while playing with them.   

Next time Florida is in a drought we should take a collection and have Gwen visit the fort.

That storm was a doozy!  Seemed like all of a sudden it was pouring buckets of water and so loud too. 
Maybe we can enjoy a brief cooler temp change, you know like in the high 80s 

Love the way the sun is shining on them.
 

Even with the Navigation built into my truck and Google maps on my phone, I still carry a paper road atlas

I still have an old road atlas behind the seat of my truck

The part of this that jumps out at me is that this was one break in one pipeline. What happens when there is, God Forbid, a real problem?
If the energy supply for an entire region is so fragile that it is disrupted by one failure in one subsystem then what would be the result if there were two or three failures either natural or man made?
I know you can't plan for every contingency but if your entire area is dependent on a single supply source for fuel it's time to start building more pipelines.
 

That is a neat looking tent.  And the background is beautiful!
 I hope you have a wonderful time at the fort.

Yes! That is key. She did the college program at Disneyland a couple of years ago and she noticed that the cast member she was talking with was a college program member too. It is important to remember that the cast members are there because they want to be part of making your experience at WDW a magical one; they usually are as much a fan of all things Disney as you are! 

Well, this was supposed to be a quick trip report about Star Wars weekend 9/10 and 11 at LEGOLAND in FL.
I was all hyped up about going, we haven't used our APs that much, and what could be better than Star Wars and Legos?
But, as fate would have it, my plans were derailed by surgery on 9/7 to repair/reattach the torn tendon in my left arm.  Turns out, that's what I damaged a couple of days before our 4th of July Fort trip.
I still had plans on going after the surgery, but my wife and doctor didn't take too kindly to that idea.
So, instead of having a ball seeing all things Star Wars, and getting a pass holder mini fig, i got to sit around and catch up on TV and movies.
Sunday night, I wrote to LEGOLAND customer service and explained what had happened and asked if they were going to be releasing the mini figs at later date.
Monday afternoon, I got a call from a very nice woman at the park.  She said she read my email and was sorry that I couldn't make it for the festivities.    she said they were fantastic, but then stopped herself saying she didn't want to make me feel any worse hearing about what I missed.
She asked for my address, and said she wanted to send me 4 of the pass holder figures!
Now that is good customer service and great PR.
They arrived today via FedX.
 
 

LOL
 

OH NO Gwen!  I clicked the wrong square  I'm so sorry.  That was suppose to be an up arrow. 

One of my favorite pets was Carlou Dana Excelsia, my Great Dane.  She died in the early '80s from cancer..  I still remember how I put her in puppy obedience training and she pulled me across an entire football field.  Pets have such a way of touching our hearts for all eternity.    

Good plan.

They're not supposed to have access.  You can get through to the parking lot with your ID, much like anybody can with a driver's license.  However, if it is crowded, you will get turned away as we have at times when showing the cast ID.  A few months ago, my daughter and her husband met us for lunch at Animal Kingdom Lodge.  The two of them drove from work in separate cars, and we all went to Disney Springs afterwards.  When she drove her husband back to get his car, she showed her cast ID and the guard asked if she was staying there.  When my daughter said no, that they had lunch there, the guard read her the riot act and took down her information.  Fortunately, nothing came of it.  Cast members are also not supposed to use the resort amenities unless they are staying there.  Little Lake Bryan is for the cast, and is a decent facility. The lack of enforcement is annoying even to cast members that try to follow the rules.  I hope the fence being put up around the Meadow pool will lead to some enforcement.  
I am surprised some got in especially on July 4th weekend.  We've stayed at the Fort twice in May and once in June and July.  We haven't seen the same level of abuse as in the past, but that may have just been timing.  We were at Coronado Springs in March, and they questioned us about why we were there until we showed our Magic Bands.  We'll be back at the Fort in August, September, October and December for New Years, so it may seem like people like us are freeloaders, but we're not, and we're not always getting a discount.  

Just checked with the DH if he had any plans for these dates.  Answer "No" so I called dibs!  I'm in!

Just checked with the DH if he had any plans for these dates.  Answer "No" so I called dibs!  I'm in!

When I bought my van used 6 years ago, it had a leak along the top of the windshield.  I found out about it the first time it rained after bringing it home....water ran in and dripped down on the steering wheel, shorting the horn and causing it to begin blaring non-stop.  After hurriedly popping the hood and disconnecting the horn to get it to stop...I began looking into ways to get the leak to stop.  The dealer that sold it to me paid for one of those leak fix places to come out and fix it.  Worked for about 2 weeks, but then after another storm the inside was wet again.  I had some black Eternabond laying around, so I ran a strip of it along the top of the windshield, completely covering the gasket, adhering to the steel roof on top and the glass at the top of the windshield.  Leak was fixed.  Six years later it's still fixed.  Eternabond is good stuff.   

So sad to hear about so many pets crossing over the bridge. You all have my sympathy and I hope the hurting hearts heal.
 Our two poms took to camping so easily in their old age, thought I would lose Lacey this past weekend, but she rallied and is still with us.  Not going gang busters but has her smile back.  Lacey was 13 last April and Lucky was 15 July 4.

I understand that you are unhappy.  I also understand that you have been on every major internet outlet you can find to vent your frustrations and wow, that must have taken up quite a bit of your time.  However, over here, we value the sense of camaraderie that people have here first BEFORE deciding to vent.  I just hope that you remember all of these words you have in print all over the internet and I hope there is 100% truth to them.  Going after a business in public can be a very dangerous thing if you don't tell the truth and nothing but the truth.  I have no monkeys in this circus, trust me.  I am just cautioning the unwise. 

Got the word several months ago that some dear friends were going to Disney from the 14th to the 24th of October.  Soon 2 friends from California decided to join them, then 2 friends local to Orlando, then I agreed to join them...well it turned out to be 10 adults and 4 children! I knew I would have fun, but I also knew the frustration of doing what the group wanted to do would make me nuts.  Solution: take a solo trip from Sep 17th till Oct 5th and get my full Disney dosage before the big gathering.  So on the line to Jason.
Oct Trip was a total no go for the fort.  Had to settle for Pop Century.  Sep trip he got me the dates I needed in a full hook up, but not in the preferred loops I like to stay in.  No worries, I was sure I would still have a blast.  
This morning I get word from Jason that he snagged a Preferred site for my Oct trip!  He handled all the details of swapping out the Pop Century for the Fort.  10 minutes later I get an email from him with my new reservation for the Sep trip as well: he got me a Preferred site for both dates!
No way I could have pulled this off by myself - it was Jason's total commitment to checking availability continuously that snagged me the preferred sites for both trips.  Jason, thank you so much!!!

Thanks Mo.  Our first trip was to Jetty Park and no problems so far.  But weather hot and no rain  
Got to see a rocket take off about 1am one night.  Very cool and with a full moon too.  At least it looked full to me
This was second time we camped at JP and unexpectedly got to watch a rocket take off.  I love night take offs.
Oh rats!  Bill would have loved that, until he paid for the first gas tank fill.

It's already been said, but it's not about blocking the beach. It's about blocking the bottom feeder ambulance chasers access to an easy payout.