Just the flyer I said I would put up yesterday, a day late…

Click to see flyer for musical

I was watching a movie, but I fell asleep sometime while it played. I can’t say when that was, since it was a movie I’ve seen before and I can ‘remember’ most of it. Anyway, I’m awake now and not quite ready for bed. (grumble, grumble).

On to the thoughts that are currently on my mind….

I’ve been thinking about privacy in the age of the internet. Back many, many moons ago when I was still young and reckless, the internet did not really exist. Oh there were a few things happening, but not the great connectivity of today. As with most young and reckless people, I did one or two foolish things (or more) that I really hoped would stay in the group I was with. Most did, I think the others were afraid of there foolish failings would get out there too. 😉

But now, it seems the foolish and reckless failings of people find there way onto the wonderful World Wide Web. Notice those first two words, World Wide. Doesn’t that mean most of the world can see your foolish acts on You Tube? We can read about them in your blog. And then there is always FaceBook…

I make a water slide off my roof and miss the landing pool — You Tube…

Want to share something off color with my friends, post it to face book and all 600 of my closest friends see it. Oh, I forgot about my privacy settings, everyone can see it.

I don’t like what someone did, I post that on facebook. Oops that someone sees it…

I blog about all sorts of things. Oh that is ok, I never use names, but others do.

Hard to hide in this wonderful webby world, but then again do you really want to? I’m not here to keep things hidden away, I am here to share them. I hope I don’t do anything to embarrass myself, but it may happen. It happens outside of the web, it can happen here.

Through the web, I’ve connected with new and old friends. I’ve shared thoughts and ideas with people who have shared similar experiences. I’ve learned from people who share my hobbies. As long as I remember that the internet isn’t my whole life, things are good. Just one more way for me to know others and them to know me. That is the human experience.

I came across a really fun article awhile ago called:  Confessions Of A Disney Cast Member.  The article was written by a guy who spent 5 summers working at the Walt Disney World resort as a Disney cast member.  If you’re like me and a frequent visitor to  the Magic Kingdom, then you will appreciate the following not-so-tall-tales.  Even if you’ve never been to WDW, the following stories are fun to read.  Among the entertaining stories he has to share:

Excuse me man, are you pregnant?
What’s more terrifying than the 38-foot drop on Disney’s Big Thunder Mountain Railroad? Having to ask women in line if they’re pregnant. It’s for their own safety, but forget a woman scorned—hell hath no fury like a woman who’s been mistaken for being pregnant. Once, when I was in training, I watched a coworker approach a larger female park visitor and ask, “Excuse me, ma’am, but are you pregnant?” “Pregnant!?!” the woman screamed, her voice turning heads at the happiest place on earth. “No! What are you saying? Do I look fat to you?!” She turned to her friend and screamed some more: “They think I look fat. Let’s get out of here!”  I was so traumatized by that incident I crafted a plan to avoid offending anyone. Whenever I spotted a “suspect,” I asked everybody in the vicinity—including teenage boys and women in their 70s—if they were with child. If the woman I suspected was actually pregnant, she left the ride quickly. If she wasn’t, she just thought I was working a gag.

I sure am Randy today.
Disney made the “first name” name tag famous, but the tag doesn’t always match the person wearing it. One day, as I was steering the raft to Tom Sawyer Island, my name tag dropped into the river, forcing me to get a new one. There wasn’t a single “Robert” left, so until a replacement could be made, I pretended to be “Randy,” a name that amused visitors from the U.K. to no end. Elderly English ladies lined up to have their picture taken with me. One screamed when she saw me, grabbed her friend, and yelled, “Is that really your name?” Being a good Disney cast member, I lied and said yes. The friend said, “You know, we love a good randy man back home.” But lady, even I’m not that good a cast member.

To get onstage, dress the part.
A few attractions choose audience volunteers to be part of the show, but the selection process is far from random. Typically, you need to be a certain gender, size, and age for each of the different roles. You might even need to be wearing a specific item of clothing. On my off days from work, I used to go over to Universal Studios, and I would get picked all the time to play “Mother” in the old Alfred Hitchcock show. They needed a guy my height and weight who happened to be wearing the same type of plain white tennis shoes I always wore. Also helpful for getting picked: cuteness and enthusiasm. Curious kids who ask nicely and look excited often get extra attention, along with thrilling perks like riding up front and introducing shows.

Stroller relocation program
Disney’s a family place, but the people who work there come to loathe strollers. It’s part of a cast member’s job to keep strollers in nice, orderly lines and to make sure they’re only left in designated areas. But park visitors keep their strollers in an appalling condition, loaded up with dirty diapers, rotting bottles of milk, and half-eaten PB&J sandwiches. Others see no problem with parking their strollers right in front of an attraction’s exit or entrance. Sometimes thoughtless individuals like this incur the wrath of the stroller police, and their precious Bugaboos and Maclarens are intentionally relocated to a place “far, far away”—at the very back of the area cordoned off for strollers.

Yo, ho, ho and a bottle of (confiscated) rum
On special Grad Nites, when Disney hosts loads of freshly graduated high school kids, the park puts extra staffers inside Pirates of the Caribbean and other rides as lookouts to monitor less-than-legal activities. Our focus was mostly on what the kids were consuming. Booze, cigarettes—you name it, and a Disney cast member has confiscated it from a 17-year-old at one time or another. One clever kid, forced to hand over his bottle, noted the irony of getting busted in the middle of a ride that celebrates a drunken pirate orgy. “Hey, don’t the pirates have enough?” he asked. “They need mine, too?”

Please keep your happiness to yourself.
This attraction has been camera monitored for your safety. That’s the spiel Disney broadcasts over its loudspeakers for many rides. But the cameras are also meant to protect you from yourself. One night, while most parkgoers were watching the fireworks display, a couple strolled over to Pirates of the Caribbean, where I was working. They not only had a boat to themselves, but empty boats all around them. The real fireworks display, it turned out, was visible on the security cameras to all of us working that night. Let’s just say the show the couple put on wasn’t exactly G-rated.

If you enjoyed the above stories, you might want to read the article in its entirety here, along with other theme park insider info.

You know sometimes in my off-and-on 20 years in retail, I have at times questioned the hiring of certain individuals.  I don’t think I have ever questioned it more than a current co-worker who has had three months total retail experience after driving truck for how many years he did that.  Two TOTALLY different worlds and it certainly shows.

Within the first week of his employment, he was $30.00 short on his till.  For some reason, unbeknownst to me, the store feels that it is not necessary to have each cashier have his/her own till.  Nothing to do with the employee.  Our main office worker has worked at the store longer than I have been in retail and she doesn’t find that a bit odd?  I would like to have my own drawer as well so I do not get blamed for other’s tills coming up $30.00 short.

Tonight,  I was really close to losing it.  Said employee asked if he could start to sweep and mop the floor.  So, I went to the office and got a fresh drawer.  He had the audacity to ask me why I would do that.  All right, I was confused.  Apparently, he wanted to sweep and mop the floor plus watch the register?

Moments later, a customer (my sister-in-law no less) comes to the register.  I call the cashier to the register to wait on her.  Then, he has the nerve to question why I ask him to wait on her.  Apparently, he is now of the mind that if you are working the same shift it is ok to run his register?  I didn’t understand that at all and he TOLD me I did not.  He’s right, I did not.  I don’t understand why you would want the person who is “responsible for your till being $30.00 short” to run it at all.

Later little did I expect, I was running the register with the 3 month old retail employee standing behind my shoulder making sure that I wasn’t making any mistakes.  That almost did it.  But I kept my cool and waited on the line of customers.  I was not about to come down to his level when we were the only 2 in the store.  Small store but at times more help is needed.  A person needing to go outside for a quick break being one of them.  Thank goodness, it was time for him to leave.  I might have taken the opportunity to have him leave a few minutes early.

My quick “Lord, Give Me Strength” really helped!  Prayer is a powerful thing, isn’t it?

I’ve had really long hair ever since I was a little girl.  I wasn’t particularly attached to it, but I’m just a busy person, so I always liked the idea of hopping out of bed and simply running a brush through my hair if I needed to be quick and put off the shower until  later in the day.  About a month ago, I took my kids to the South Bend zoo to meet my mom so she could take the girls for their week with Grandma, but it was one of those 100º+ days, and I could not get my long hair off of my neck.  Since I had a fun trip planned days later to another zoo and an amusement park (2 long days outside!), I decided to chop off my hair.

The hairdresser made a big deal of it, asking me if my husband was going to be shocked, but I told her not really since he knew I planned to get it cut and isn’t really concerned with what I do with my hair.  I told her I wanted my hair cut all one length since I’m not a big fan of the reverse mullet look that seems so popular these days.  But when I looked in the mirror after she was finished, she had kind of left the sides longer than the back, giving me an involuntary reverse mullet.  Sure, the hairstyle looks great on most people, but I just don’t see it for me.  Besides, I don’t want to be just another I’m-in-my-30’s-I-have-4-kids-and-a-reverse-mullet-type housewife.  So I told her to  please even the sides out, and she (begrudgingly? did so.  Is it this woman’s mission to spread the reverse mullet around the world  like a virus?)

But that brings me to an interesting conundrum – if you have someone really bad doing your hair, would you tell them?  Probably you would – it’s your hair and you are stuck with your new hairstyle every day, 24/7!  What about when the hairdresser asks you, ‘How does it look?’  You would say, ‘not so  good’.  So she would even it out.  ‘How about now?’, she would ask.  ‘Still not really very even’, you say – and still she would attempt to even out your hair, finally sticking you with that reverse mullet look that’s oh-so-popular these days, even though it’s a reverse mullet against your will – a reluctant reverse mullet.  Worse, an untalented hairdresser could keep attempting to even out your hair until you have nothing left!  Maybe you could keep quiet during the incident if you were getting a bad haircut.  You could return days later for a refund and try to endure another stylist’s attempt on your hair.  You could also try to fix it yourself at home.  Well anyway, by the time she was through with me, my hair was just a little shorter than I had intended, but in that heat, I really didn’t care.  Besides, I was given a super long ponytail that I could donate to Locks of Love, a charity group that collects hair to make hairpieces for kids who lose their hair because of cancer and other medical conditions.

Better yet, when my oldest daughter returned home from her trip to Grandma’s, she wanted to cut off her long hair too.  Luckily for our family, my husband has gotten quite good at cutting the kids’ hair, which saves us tons of money.  I’m not brave enough to let him tackle my hair yet (though he might have been better in this case, but if he didn’t do well, it’s much better to be mad at a stranger hairstylist than my husband), but he cut off our daughter’s long ponytail, giving us another donation for Locks of Love.

My daughter and I walked over to the post office one day to send our donation, and I decided to send our picture in to the local newspaper since I’ve seen them print pictures of Locks of Love donations before.  Yesterday they printed our picture!  I can’t link to the actual newspaper since you have to be a subscriber to see it anyway, but here is the picture I sent:

That reminds of a question I had regarding hair donations – what would happen if someone left hair DNA evidence at a crime scene, and you became a suspect because the DNA evidence hair was somehow taken or dropped from a Locks of Love hairpiece made from your hair donation?  If written well, it could be a stage play or movie…  or maybe just a far-fetched CSI episode.

That’s right, not General Glossop, not Lord Glossop, and certainly not Mr. Glossop.  General Lord Glossop, thank you very much.  No, I am not on some sort of medication.  I am in a show, believe it or not.  What? I never mentioned auditioning for one?  Well, I didn’t.  I had actually noted this theater group’s auditions awhile back, but got caught up in work so I forgot about them.  Then less than a week ago I took another look at the green room and came back to that site only to see a cast list.  Nuts- I had wanted to try out for this show.  Then I noticed a blurb mentioning that they were looking for a few more men.  I couldn’t hit the contact us form fast enough.  A short time later I received not one, but two emails informing me that my interest was being passed on to the director.  Next morning, a call, and a request for my presence Sunday night.  Resume in hand I arrived at St. Joe’s (as they call it) nursing home where they do most of their rehearsals.  As I arrived, another theatre group, Tesseract,  was just leaving- a popular rehearsal place apparently.  The directors arrived shortly after, talked to me, then I sang a bit from the show for Ann Stewart (I thought I’d mention this name to see if C recognizes it- it’s a bit unbelievable that she is still doing this!) and read a line for the director, Kevin, who said I read it perfect the first time.  Yes!  I was in.  Two other new ones joined me that night, and we rehearsed the first dance number.  Of course my first rehearsal would have to be a dance rehearsal.  For those who know me, I could never be considered a triple threat- far from it.  Of course I’m not much of a single or double threat either, but that’s beside the point. 😉

What?  I didn’t name the show?  Do you really need to know?  Are you sure this is the moment to say?  By the way, you can wish for me to break a leg, but I do break a neck in the show, or rather it will be broken for me… 😮

A few weeks ago at a family birthday party, a friend posed an interesting trivia question which I thought I had a fair chance at since it involved a state where I once lived: the great state of Nebraska.  Do  you know what the 3 largest cities in Nebraska are?

Answer: Omaha, Lincoln (everyone knows those two) and…  Bellevue.  I’ve heard of Bellevue, but it wasn’t my guess for third place.  I  was thinking of the western city of Scottsbluff, which is actually on the western side of Nebraska near Cheyenne Wyoming.  I guessed Scottsbluff since it has a zoo that I always wanted to visit when we resided there, but we never made it there since Scottsbluff was almost as far away from our home in Lincoln as was our family 2 states over in Illinois!  But anyway, my point is that Scottsbluff didn’t even make the top 10 of Nebraska’s largest cities.  The city of Kearney (pronounced Carnie) crossed my mind since it was always advertised as a nearby tourist attraction when we lived in Lincoln, but it was #5 on the list.  And by the way, #5-10 of the largest cities in Nebraska only have between 20-30,000 people!!

I found this info while I was looking up the answer to my friend’s trivia question, and I found it interesting, so I decided to pass it on.  Then again, it was probably only interesting to me because I used to call Lincoln Nebraska home.  Well anyway, if you come across the ‘3 largest cities in Nebraska’ trivia question, you can now impress your friends by correctly saying Omaha, Lincoln, and Bellevue!

Sorry for the lateness of this followup.  Here is the short of it: GO SEE WHAT IF… Well, if it is playing in your area- it opens this Friday.  It truly is a heartwarming movie about breaking down one person to show him what his life should have been like had he not made one bad decision that ended up changing him for the worse.  But you watched the trailer I linked to last time.  As for my experience, I arrived there Monday night at about 5:40 and there were already a lot of people waiting.  By the time the doors to the worship center opened, the lines practically went out the door.  But I did manage to get a seat, even if I never did meet up with any of my small group (or my mother, who someone from my group- Matt-  brought since I didn’t have time to go home then back to Elgin) until afterward.  My mother got a seat too- she and Matt made it inside just as they were adding an extra row.  Everyone else had to go to an overflow area where I presume they had a feed from the worship center.  Around starting time, everyone got a laugh when John Ratzenberger came out with a camera in his hand recording us- his way of returning the favor. 😀

Once the guests were seated, my pastor came out and introduced everyone and talked particularly about the director, Dallas Jenkins, since he is now on staff at the church.  Introductions aside, the movie started.  As I said already- go see it- if you are a follower of Jesus you won’t regret it, and even if you aren’t it is still a very enjoyable drama.  Anyway, once the movie was over, the campus pastor, Jeff called up the three actors present and Dallas to the comfy chairs set up on stage and there was a discussion with them about the movies.  The three actors present were Ratzenberger, Kevin Sorbo, and Debby Ryan.  If you or your child watches Suite Life On Deck on the Disney Channel, she plays Bailey.  Sorbo is best known for his role as Hercules and Ratzenberger from Cheers or more recently as a voice on many Disney/Pixar movies.  I took some pictures with my iphone, but they were pretty bad.  I’ll just say I was in the 5th (I think) row, toward the side of the center.  I was able to see three of the four without a problem, but for the last, and for Jeff, I could only see them on the screen.  Afterward, I went to my car to get my work camera (why I didn’t think of this ahead of time I don’t know).  By the time I met up with my mother and got my camera, we were at the end of the line.  How long was the line?  Well check it out:

AVI of looooong line

Sorry, I don’t have any sort of youtube or other account so you will have to bear with a link to the avi on my webspace.  Anyway, here are some photos of the guests signing What If posters.  Needless to say, I did not get up there before I left, but one of my 5th graders recognized me and offered me one since his family had a few already- God bless him.  So since I didn’t meet the actors myself, I just took these photos from the balcony above which was not blocked off by security.  As always, click on a picture for a larger version:

I had a longer weekend then most since I took Friday off. The day was filled with some time of quiet reflection for me. I was in need of some time and space to think. That evening and well into Saturday morning was filled with friends and companionship.

Since I was up so late, Saturday was one to recuperate until the evening. Then on to my oldest daughter’s house for our regular Saturday gathering. It started late, and went long. The end of the day was filled with a strong sense of family. We were there to support each other when it was needed.

There was laughter and fun this weekend. We shared food and good times. We shared in common interests. We shared fun in the life of others. In that, life continues.

One year ago on the 13th of August, future laughter was never heard. Sadness filled many hearts. Other loss was averted, but the anxiety was left behind.

It has been one year, but the loss is still there. The loss remains and will remain.

It has been one year, but the love is still there. That love seems to grow daily.

It has been one year, you are gone, but not forgotten. Memories remain, however short they were.

It has been one year, and that is not a magic number. Time heals, but scars remain. Pain fades, but the hurt is still real.

Friends, family and love continue. In those things there can be strength. It is not weakness to shed tears, it is strength and love.

We miss all of those we lose, but on some days a special one is remembered.

After a shortened night’s sleep (I’m sure some of my friends got less sleep than I so can’t complain) following a SUPER Friday night,  I had to work the dreaded 12-8 shift on a Saturday… it’s money.  Following the grind, the family (including our visiting cousin from Arkansas… one last get together before she boards the Greyhound tomorrow evening) met at my brothers for a bonfire that turned into an indoor affair (80+ degrees seems a bit warm for weinee roasting, marshmallow toasting, s’more creating).  So, hot dogs were put in the broiler and s’mores were made over the gas stove.  And we were treated to some of Season 3 of Lois and Clark courtesy of Jeff’s PS3 streaming of Netflix.

Season 3 finds the intrepid reporters of a great metropolitan newspaper at the beginning of their budding romance.  However, as was pointed out, long before the sound of wedding bells were rung.  DC Comics made it known that the union would not be made on screen before it was in the pages of the comic books.  A virtual reality adventure, a Lane/Kent family Christmas celebration, and voodoo hocus pocus (not one of my favorite episodes) filled the two+ hours.

While watching the adventures on the big screen, my other brother arrived after some car trouble.  It seems that he had a his starter replaced for naught.  Instead, it was determined that Chad had gotten some bad gas (pun intended).  “There was a quarter tank left” according to the fuel gauge.  Plenty of fuel to travel 10 miles. Sounds oddly familiar to me, somehow.

So… never a dull moment.  I’ll have to revisit my DVD collection of the four seasons of one of my favorite incarnations of the Man of Steel.