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Bag of Randomness for Thursday, October 8, 2015

My alma mater still sends mail to my dead dog thinking he’s a prospective student.
Jack in the Box no longer provides blue straws, which I thought were cool, now they just give you the regular nondescript clear kind.
My taste buds have been a bit nostalgic lately, and I’ve realized how much my food preference had changed since high school and college. When I really wanted to eat badly, I’d get the Jack in the Box ultimate cheeseburger. They used to air commercials about how ultimate it was because it only had meat, cheese, and bread. I got one yesterday and now it has extra seasoning and mustard. And now I can notice the meat texture is just kinda grody, like McDonalds, and nothing like you’d get at Five Guys, Whataburger, or Braums.
Somewhat similar, I used to get the grilled chicken muchaco at Taco Bueno all the time. The last time I ordered it, it came with black beans inside of it and the chicken texture was like that of a yoga mat.
Mustard is one of my enemies, so are pickles, especially pickle juice that soaks into the bread of a burger or my Chick-fil-A sandwich.
In a little less than two weeks, this website will finally change status – IsTodayTheDayMartyMcflyArrivesWhenHeTravelsToTheFuture.com
GIF – This dog will fetch your toddler.
GIF – Since I work from home, I have no idea if this would ever happen, but I’m sure it’s something every father cherishes.
Comedy Central hid secret Daily Show clips in Google searches for Trevor Noah
Buzzfeed – A Toddler’s Head Was Reattached To His Spine After A Horrible Car Crash
Buzzfeed – This 14-Year-Old Found Out She Was The Next Disney Princess And Her Reaction Was Amazing
A New Trailer For The “Sherlock” Christmas Special – I love this series and think it’s great they are doing a “traditional” version in Victorian London.
Camp No-Be-Bo-Sco is private property of the Boy Scouts of America. It is also the filming location for the original Friday the 13th movie. This upcoming Friday, November 13th, the camp is having its third ever filming locations tour. Tickets go on sale this Monday, October 12th at 10:00 AM. The last time they offered tickets for a tour, it sold out in eight minutes. Here’s a YouTube video that offers more details.
Not too long ago I made a post about a glass bridge in China. Now it has cracks after someone dropped a metal mug on it. Officials state it’s still safe because only one of the three levels of glass is affected. I’ll just take their word for it.
LOONCUP – The world’s first SMART menstrual cup. – The cup is reusable and has a built-in sensor that connects to an app by Bluetooth. During the user’s menstrual cycle, the app receives information about flow-rate, fluid color, how full the cup is, and a countdown timer to inform the user when the cup will need to be emptied.
A company called Orian is offering to pay for airline baggage fees (up to six trips a year) if you buy one of their hard-shelled luggage bags that acts as an advertising billboard.
The Cost of Mobile Ads on 50 News Websites – The Boston Globe‘s website takes 30.8 seconds to load advertising content and 8.1 seconds to load editorial content.
James Franco Dallas selfie
I have a feeling this would be a hard sell since most of the earthquakes come from this area – Proposed plan would bring shops, hotels to old Texas Stadium site

Posted in Personal | 5 Comments

Bag of Randomness for Wednesday, October 7, 2015

It’s great to be back home. We got back home around 10:10 PM on Monday night. Amazingly the kids didn’t have any problem with getting ready for school the next morning.
This is my last major vacation post.
I forgot to mention that every morning the kids woke up to a new shirt to wear which was a gift from a Disney character. In really was their mother, but I won’t tell them, yet.
Breakfast with the characters:

I love how BoyGeeding tries to wiggle his nose and Micky’s costume allows his nose to actually wiggle.

Donald beat me at thumb-wrestling

I danced with Minnie and she gave me a kiss.

Most mornings the kids just ate oatmeal or cereal on the balcony.
To our surprise, the kids didn’t ask us to buy one single item, and it only occurred to us the night before we left. So we bought them both mouse ears, BoyGeeding a pair of sunglasses, and DaughterGeeding some earrings.
DaughterGeeding used to be a big Doc McStuffins fan, but she was still happy to meet her.
Tired and ready to go home.
On our American Airlines flight back home, a Southwest Airlines flight attendant, in full uniform, sat behind us.
When our American Airlines flight attendant asked me if I wanted a beverage, I asked for a Sprite. Since I saw he handed a Coca-Cola can to another passenger, I thought they would surely carry Sprite, which is part of the Coke family. He handed me a Sierra Mist, which is made by Pepsi. I told him that I asked for a Sprite, and he told me that’s what he handed me. Trying not to be rude, I told him the can in my hand is a Sierra Mist and not a Sprite, and then said, “They are the exact same thing.” Well, I beg to differ, and I could totally tell the difference. Hey, I don’t mind if you don’t have the product, but when I ask for a Sprite, just tell me you don’t have it and offer an alternative, don’t placate me. I know how annoying this is for devout Dr. Pepper drinkers when people say Mr. Pibb tastes the same and people can’t tell the difference.
While at Hollywood Studios, I wanted to get a picture taken in front of the Pixar sign and asked one of the Disney photographers to snap the pic since he was stationed in front of the sign. Oddly, when he took our picture, he didn’t include the sign.
At several of the parks, I noticed people put on a GoPro head strap the moment a ride would start.
I’m going to have to keep BoyGeeding away from his uncle (WifeGeeding’s brother). He’s a big fan of the movie A Christmas Story and thought it would be funny to tell him to lick metal poles when they are cold. BoyGeeding’s version of cold is anything in the shade, and he started to lick all the handrails around.
Just about every foot of each park is covered by free Wi-Fi.
I’m very happy with my hat purchase. As I mentioned, my father suffered from skin cancer on the forehead and ears, so I made sure to purchase one he would have worn that would cover both areas. Not only did it provide me shade, it soak up a bit of sweat, and when it rained (mainly sprinkles and light rain) it kept it out of my eyes.
I’m very happy I didn’t bring around a camera, which is going to surprise my friends because they know I like snapping pictures and playing amateur photographer. Actually, they would have just said it’s the Asian part of my heritage coming out. Toting one around would have been a pain, and since Disney has their photographers placed everywhere you can ask them to snap a pic, or in my case, just use my phone.
WifeGeeding’s father doesn’t carry around a cell phone. This caused some anxiety on his family as they often wondered where he would be or if he would show up at a certain place at a certain time. From what I recall, he was dependable about nine out of ten times. Crazy how life use to work like that, huh?
You can find gum to purchase at any Disney park or the Orlando airport, I was told this was to prevent finding used gum being found everywhere. The Orlando airport reminded me a bit of the old DFW terminals that had tile everywhere where you could hear luggage being wheeled across them.
We last ate at the Coral Reef Restaurant in Epcot thinking the kids would enjoy the view of seeing sharks, stingrays, and other aquatic life swim around a living coral reef. The senior aged lady that escorted us to our table was from Vietnam, and I struck up a nice conversation with her and found out she was from an area very close to my mother’s village. She took us to a table that didn’t provide a good view of the aquatic life, but since we had this great conversation and a bit of bonding, she was able to arrange for us to get a much better seat, all without my prodding or asking. We exchanged hugs before we left and she hoped that we’d come back, but said she won’t be here as she’ll be retired a year from now.

Posted in Personal | 6 Comments

More Bag of Random Disney Trip Stuff

While standing in line for an Animal Kingdom ride wearing this outfit, someone approached me and asked a question about the ride. I kindly told the lady I didn’t have an answer, and she looked at me puzzled and asked how I couldn’t know anything about it. After a long pause, she realized I wasn’t a Cast Member and laughingly apologized.
Yeah, the hat looks a bit goofy on me, but my father had skin cancer on his forehead and ears, and this hat helps cover both from the sun. And besides, I’m a dad at Disney World, I’m supposed to look uncool and out of place.
WifeGeeding forced us to go up the Swiss Family Robinson Tree. I guess if I had to do it as a child and find it was a beating, our kids should have to do it as well.
Lunch was at Be Our Guest, where I had an impromptu dance with WifeGeeding.
While at lunch, BoyGeeding was eating his dessert, stopped, and ask his sister if she would like to have some of his dessert. WifeGeeding and I were touched, and I told him I was proud of him for sharing, and then he said, “Well, I don’t like it, it tastes weird.”
After lunch, we all took a group picture.

Some of the folks in Baylor gear went back to the hotel to watch the game against Tech. I jokingly asked who were they playing, Midland or Odessa? They didn’t seem too amused and I think one of them didn’t believe me when I told them they had Incarnet Word on their schedule next year. As for me, I put my phone on airplane mode for almost the entire day just to avoid any online temptation and to see if I would miss it. Keeping it in airplane mode also allowed me to have the camera option at the ready for any pics. I’m not sure if I’ll keep offline tomorrow though.
While walking around the castle, I caught a construction worker applying duck tape to a castle wall while Mickey was putting on a performance along with Minnie, Sleeping Beauty, and Snow White.
Here’s a shot of some of the construction with Micky, Minnie, and Maleficent in the background.
Here’s a better shot of the performance with more characters on stage.
The Geeding family had Fast Passes to Animale Kingdom’s Kilimanjaro Safaris, but out of the blue, WifeGeeding’s father wanted to tag along, but he didn’t have a Fast Pass. When we got to the line, we told the Cast Member this wasn’t planned and a last minute sort of thing, and they allowed him to tag along. He’s a big outdoorsman so I knew he was going to enjoy it, and I think it’s the only ride he’s been on. At least it was his first with our kids. But even with his grandfather included, BoyGeeding still doesn’t like to be in pictures.
However, when BoyGeeding is tired, he’s the type that can sleep anywhere and almost impossible to wake up. And when he’s sleeping, we can get all the pics we want.
But he was more than happy to wake up to meet Micky and Minnie. We actually have better pictures of the event and other things with pictures taken by Disney photographers which is in our phone app with a bunch of watermarks.
The rest of the day was spent at EPCOT meeting up with family and grabbing some grub. I finally got to ride Mission Space, which was almost ready when WifeGeeding and I honeymooned here twelve years ago. While fun and entertaining, it wasn’t as intense as I thought it was going to be.
With the Disney wristband that serves as our roomkey, park tickets, and payment system, I left my wallet in the hotel safe. It feels so weird walking out the door and not checking to make sure I didn’t forget my wallet or keys.

Posted in Personal | 3 Comments

Bag of Magic Kingdom Randomness

Hey, I get it, I’m on vacation and shouldn’t be blogging. But I’m doing it while the rest of the family is asleep and this is a great way for me to replay all the great moments I had for the day and allows me take it all in and appreciate what’s actually happening.
The day started off by getting some notifications from friends that Junior Miller of The TICKET talked about the hug I gave him at DFW Airport. I was able to listen to it on The Unticket’s website, and he got part of the story wrong. He said I referred to him as Junes, but I actually called him “Mr. Miller” as a way of showing him respect, though I admit it’s can be seen as odd. He also said that I said thanks for getting me out of bed and off to work, but the truth is that I told him I know what he does for a living is just a job, but how he does it gives me sanity in this crazy world and makes me smile and laugh, and for that, I wanted to say thanks.
I’m a dad at Disney World and now that I’m forty, I’m old, so I thought I’d dress the part wearing long black socks with shorts and sneakers, but WifeGeeding wouldn’t let me leave the room in that wardrobe.
We took the ferry from the hotel to the Magic Kingdom. It was the first time either kiddo have been on a boat. During the ride, DaughterGeeding was staring at a park map intensely. I quickly took it away and told her she can stare at that piece of paper anytime, but for now you need to check out all of our surroundings and take it in.
After I scanned my wristband to get in the park, I was also required to have my index finger scanned, and will have to use the same finger to scan again from time to time for park entry. But another great perk about the wristband is that if a Disney photographer snaps your picture (and there are many) or if a ride snaps your picture, you can see it on the Disney park app (watermarked) and choose to purchase it.
I didn’t record it but forever etched in my mind is the look on DaughterGeeding’s face as she turned the corner to get on Main Street USA and saw the castle in full straight ahead. It dawned on me that kids might be having a hard time to see things and take it all in because of their limited perspective with adults blocking their view, so I made sure they rode my shoulders a lot.
I thought my brother-in-law was going to go all Clark Griswold when he found out the castle was closed for construction/repairs/upgrades and he couldn’t take his daughter through it. But you could take a look on the inside from the rear entry. I did witness two castle related engagements, one just outside and another inside of it during a lunch with the princesses.
I noticed a lot of the male Cast Members (regular park employees) were wearing makeup.
One of our Fast Passes were used to spend just a few minutes with two princesses, one of which was Cinderella. BoyGeeding is a big Paw Patrol fan and the leader of the group is a boy named Ryder. That’s the name he gave Cinderella and she asked him his name.
I got to watch a Down syndrome girl, about five years old, meet Cinderella. The girl was wearing a Cinderella dress and was nervous and shy walking up to the character. Cinderella was exceptionally kind with her, even taking the time to straighten up her outfit before posing for a picture with her. At first I thought the girl wasn’t enjoying the moment, but as soon as Cinderella told her good-bye, she looked at her parents, started to jump up and down with pure joy and a huge smile and laugh, and ran into her teary-eyed mother’s arms.
I challenged a few princesses to a thumb war, just because. Ariel was the funniest, prettiest, and hardest to beat. If I didn’t take BoyGeeding to the restroom, I could have challenged at least four more.
Speaking of BoyGeeding and Ariel, he did not want to get his picture taken with his sister and cousin with her. But he did so begrudgingly with his new toy sword. Just look at his face as he refused to move it away. I think these sort of things are better than “the perfect” picture because it makes for a better memory, and in my mind, a better picture.
I rode Space Mountain three times, and the longest I had to wait without a Fast Pass was no longer than twenty minutes. But due to bad weather, two of those wait times was less than three. You have to be 44-inches to ride it, and DaughterGeeding was just tall enough. She wasn’t scared at all and loved it.
I used to not like holding hands with anyone, but I have this great sense of pride when holding my daughter’s while walking around the park. But I noticed she rides the slow rides with a bit of sass. Most five-year-olds don’t sit like that, do they?
Parade time.
One of the best pieces of advice I got was to break up the visit to the Magic Kingdom into two parts, that way no one is grumpy and worn out as the day lingers. So after the parade we were going back to the hotel, and I decided the fastest way out was to follow the back of the parade, which kinda turned into me with BoyGeeding on my shoulders being in the parade waving at the crowd. That lead to one of the Cast Members taking DaughterGeeding’s hand and escorting her with the parade as they waved to the crowd. All of that was a bit too magical for WifeGeeding who actually teared up with joy. It means a lot to have her whole family here, and as a Disney lover, seeing all of us get to be part of the parade.
After a little rest, it was playtime at the beach.
In the evening we attended the Not So Scarry Halloween Party and did some trick-or-treating and then swapped kids with WifeGeeding’s sister, who wanted to ride little kid friendly rides and we and her child wanted to ride more exciting rides. WifeGeeding’s sister got the raw end of the deal as ours became so tired from such an eventful day, they simply fell asleep at the park.