Florida 2

Travel 6 Replies

If you look up the definition of “self deprecating” you’re going to see a picture of Gatorland, located south of Orlando. All the signage, all the guest interactions, all the guests themselves seethe with an internal nod to the hayseed that grows wild in Gatorland.

This isn’t meant as an insult. The place seems stupid on the outside but it does have a subversive smart level just below the surface.

The weird part of today wasnt the Gator Wrestling or the deep fried gator bites (not farmed locally), No, it was being mauled by parakeets.

Florida

Travel 4 Replies

Our first day here.

We arrived at the hotel at 12:30am to an utterly ghosty hotel, a sleepy front desk clerk and a beautiful, balmy night.

I think we only slept 5 hous, we were too excited to sleep and were on the road at 8am. Off to Kennedy Space Center!

On the way there we saw our first wild gator. Sucker was biiiig!

I think the combo of lack of sleep and over tired excitement made us leave the e-tickets on the bed back at the hotel. Surprisingly we didnt have a meltdown fight in the parking lot because we had hope in the form of a PDF of the receipt I had put on my iPad. Yay technology! I was going to find great irony if the ticket kiosk could not accept an electronic version of our ticket purchase at the home of America’s greatest technical achievement. But they accepted it and we avoided having to drive back to the hotel, fuming.

I have to say that being there really overstimulated my nerd gland. I frikkin’ loved every minute of it!

And SharkBoy managed to fall asleep within 30 seconds of the start of Star Trek Live… A new record!

Here are some pics… The last is just curious, and has nothing to do with science.

Yeah, I’m That Guy

You Stupid Dick Leave a reply

Me: (Speaking into my iPhone mic on the ear buds as I walk along, said with gravity) Hello.

SharkBoy: You almost home? Should I come down stairs and meet you outside?

Me: Yes.

SharkBoy: Okay See ya!

Me: Byeeee!

 

————–

What was taking place around me during that short exchange:

Me: (Speaking into my iPhone mic on the ear buds as I walk along, said with gravity) Hello.

Guy walking towards me, not 4 ft from me, looks up. “Uh… h–”

Me: Yes.

Guy Walking Towards Me: I… hi?

Me: Byeeee!

 

 

Lucky Be A Wizard

Distractions, Travel 2 Replies

Working for a Travel Agency, but not as an Agent, does have some perks. I paid $30 for my IATA card which basically says I work in the industry and if I flash it enough, like some policeman’s badge, I may get some discounts, depending on how nice the customer service rep is.

The first thing I did when I got my card? Sign up for Universal Florida’s Agent site. They offer a free ticket to Universal Stuidos, if you have the gumption to jump through all their hoops.

Which I did. I spent a good 45 minutes taking their agent quiz (43 out of 50) which got me free entrance! Yay! I now know all there is about the Hard Rock Hotel and what night kids can go there to rock out with their aging parents. Thinking about it, would you not want your kids exposed to “hard rock”? Or is there some aphorism that I’m missing here? I digress…

I quickly boasted our luck to our travelling companions that the price going into Universal would be one $112US ticket less. All were happy.

Then I read the fine print. Complimentary tickets take close to 21 days for delivery. I took the test 20 days before. Eep. Every day since then I’ve been scrutinizing the mail like Channing Tatum in Dear John (Which by the way wasn’t super awful, if not overly melodramatic). I digress.

Today, after shutting down my work computer and skipping home from work, SharkBoy meets me for lunch and we return to the apartment for the last time before the limo arrives. Fumbling for my keys, I ask if there had been any mail.

“No,” SharkBoy says. His face is a study in velvet sad clown black light oil painting.

I open the door and on the floor is The Envelope. It arrived!!

So far, this trip is going well!

Fallen

General Leave a reply

I haven’t fallen off the face of the earth, and I know apologizing for a lack of posting is the lamest thing in the world.

But in my case it’s true.

Work has hacked away one of my support staff and the workload has become 100%. I’m unable to find time to steal time. Which, I guess is good for all of us, really. The economy being shitty as it is.

I’ve also been busy in the last preps for Disney. It took us close to 4 hours to pack. That in itself is weird since 80% of our trip is just t-shirts and shorts, but we hit snags in the 4 nights of fine dining aboard the ship. We don’t need to bring suits but getting to look just right took a bit longer that expected. Then I needed to fold it, which, to me, is like folding space and time.

I’m no Guild Spacer, Second Class.

Enough of the geek references.

I did go out today and snag some very expensive roaming packages, so there will be updates to this blog while in parks, eating food and barfing beside Expedition Everest. I hope you can join us!