disney makes it hard to leave

As always, we're heading home from a trip to Disney and we don't want to leave. Discussions about "the next time" occur or that we needed to stay longer. We even talked about joining the Disney Vacation Club. We totally drank the Kool Aid. Every. Damn. Time.

Anyway, we were unexpectedly upgraded to a "concierge" room, which means a special building, free breakfast and munchies, concierge staff devoted to the building, etc. Nice. We wore buttons at the parks with "Happy Anniversary" and got free stuff (mmm...milkshake..) and a lot of congrats. They even had a tiny bottle of champagne and rose in our room on Sunday night! I love attention.

We did Epcot and Disney's Hollywood Studios. We did not make it too the magic kingdom. This made me sad, but I'm happy with our choices. We were going to try to go there Sunday night because they had extended hours to 2a.m., but as we got on the monorail at 9p.m. we were like, "no way, can't walk anymore. So tired." It was a good choice cause we were asleep very soon after getting back to the hotel.

A magic time was had and I think we may need to do this for every anniversary. :-) Oh, and a shout out to the moron's at Orlando airport who don't understand what "experienced traveler" means. It means you know the drill when it comes to taking off shoes, taking out laptops, etc. in order to go through security. It means a FASTER line for those of us who do know. Not having your crap out and then arguing with the TSA about your camera cause you are worried about it going through x-ray automatically means you aren't supposed to be in the "experienced traveler" line. Yeesh. On the other hand, a great big shout out to Orlando airport for having three types of lines for people to go through: family line, no family (forgot what it was called) and experienced traveler. That's a _sweet_ way to do things. It makes those of us behind families who have to get their kids prepared happy and I'm sure it makes those parents happy that they don't have to worry about holding up the line. Win-win.

Posted by jennj at 08:22 AM | Comments (0)

anniversary!

On Monday it'll be our seventh wedding anniversary. My how time flies. Also this month is our ten years together anniversary. As such, we're heading off to DisneyWorld for a three day weekend. Whee!

Posted by jennj at 09:52 AM | Comments (7)

i'm not even sure i know what to say

My Beautiful Mommy.

"Tapping into what may be a growing market, a plastic surgeon has written and published a book for the children of women who have cosmetic surgery procedures like breast implants, tummy tucks and nose jobs."

and

"...aims to reassure kids that Mommy's bruises and bandages are just temporary, and that the new, improved mommy won't be different, just 'prettier'"."

*blink*

Posted by jennj at 07:15 PM | Comments (2)

that's a lot of crap in LEO and GEO

Check out the great pictures that tell a story. It's a mess up there.

"Today, it is estimated that only 800 satellites are operational - roughly 45 percent of these are both in LEO and GEO. Space debris comprise the ever-increasing amount of inactive space hardware in orbit around the Earth as well as fragments of spacecraft that have broken up, exploded or otherwise become abandoned."

Posted by jennj at 10:46 AM | Comments (2)

future society based on a blog.....

The movie plot is centered on a shy collegian who discovers that life in 1,000 years will be based on his blog. Bill & Ted's Most Excellent Blog?

Posted by jennj at 10:23 AM | Comments (0)

why isn't it ok to be bitter?

Obama said something publicly that people are saying privately. How many of you know someone whose job has been outsourced, who has felt the pain of being on the wrong side of a corporate merger, who has seen "Roger & Me" and hasn't expressed bitterness at what has happened to them? I know plenty. Including myself. Obama, yet again, spoke the truth and people are uncomfortable. And that's really what's going on here with the backlash. And the hypocrisy. They're uncomfortable cause he's publicly stating what's on people's minds.

And finally, I think one can be bitter and hopeful at the same time. Don't we struggle with emotional conflict all the time? Why is this any different? Why is it bad to feel bitterness? (Note: I'm not talking about all-consuming bitterness - which would be bad - I'm just talking about one of many emotions we experience in our lifetime)

Posted by jennj at 11:06 AM | Comments (2)

architecture question

Nbh and I are finally going to do some serious work on the house. Some of this may involve needing an architect (we've broken out what we want to do in three tiers, the first tier won't involve needing an architect). One of the things I'd like to make sure we do if there's any exterior architectural changes is to make sure it reflects the nature of when it was built, 1880. Besides wandering around the neighborhood, making notes and such, what other places, books, resources would you recommend we look into for architecture? I'm also thinking of going to the local historical society.

Posted by jennj at 10:27 AM | Comments (9)

analysis of red-shirt deaths in star trek

I saw this on Poz's bloghome and had to share.

analysis of red-shirt deaths.

Q: What causes a red-shirted crewman to die?

On-board incident - 42.5%
Beaming down to the planet - 57.5%

Go. Read. Now.

Posted by jennj at 08:00 PM | Comments (1)

bad day but random kindness

Instead of working on a presentation for VIP's today (I had even blocked out my calendar so nobody would schedule anything and I could focus), I had to deal with irritations. Troublesome co-worker (I hate people). Troublesome vendor (I hate vendors). And because of all the stupid shit I had to do in order to deal with the people and vendors, I didn't get _any_ time to work on the presentation. So I blocked out time tomorrow.

But all is not lost. I was waiting at Panera Bread for our order to come up and I got offered a free, right-out-of-the-oven baguette.

Baker: "Excuse me, I just learned how to make this bread and this is my first loaf and I would be honored (yes, he said honored) if you would take it."
Me: "Absolutely! What's your name?"
Baker: "Andy."
Me: "I'm Jenn. Thanks! And congratulations!"

oh, and I got promoted Tuesday.

Posted by jennj at 07:49 PM | Comments (4)

oh, jon stewart...i still heart you

"With this administration, if a passenger blows up a plane, it's a failure in the war on terror. But if the plane just blows up on its own — eh, it's the market self-regulating."

Video here.

I worked for the FAA for six and a half years, back in the early nineties, and if anything, that was the one federal agency I felt had their sh*t together. I'm not sure if it's because of this administration or if this kind of stuff happened back then, either way it's disappointing.

Posted by jennj at 08:29 PM | Comments (0)

new zealand photos and trip report...finally

Photos:

Abridged (30 or so)

All (warning: 250 or so)

Trip report in the extended entry.......

Trip Report

Food
* When I go to a foreign country I always stroll through the grocery store. It's fun to see what kind of wacky things people eat in other countries. For the most part a NZ store looks like an American one. Except for the meat flavored potato chips. Yes, you heard me. Some examples: chorizo sausauge and tomato, chicken, roasted chicken with lemon and thyme, steak and onions, lamb and mint. Of course, we had to try some. I didn't like it, but nbh found it "acceptable".

* They love maple syrup. I do too, so this was a match made in heaven as far as breakfast was concerned. They don't kid around, none of that aunt jemima stuff, the real deal. Booyah. And it's especially good on the french toast topped with bacon and bananas breakfasts I had far too much of.....

* While driving north from Lake Taupo to Auckland to go home (*sniff*) we were feeling a bit peckish so we stopped off at a nursery/cafe that looked inviting. nbh got a carrot cake muffin. It was so good we bought two for the plane ride. Anyway, we were praising it's glory to each other and saw a sign that said, "4th best muffins in New Zealand". I love finding random places like that, makes the trip special.

* NZ is all about seafood (salmon, trout, mussels were plentiful) and lamb. If you like any of that, you'll like your eating choices in NZ. As near as I could tell, there didn't seem to be a "signature dish" for the country. If there is, let me know, and I guess we'll have to try it next time.......

Must visit
* Kaikoura. Spend at least two days there. It is the "Hawaii" of New Zealand. If we'd stayed two days, we would have tried surfing. Whale watching, swimming with dolphins, a seal colony where some of the seals come right up to the parking lot and _show off_ to the cameras (we didn't have our camera with us cause we decided on the spur of the moment to head there after dinner. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Always have your camera.). A seal was two feet away from me. They're cute, but don't let that fool you. They're not known for their sunny disposition.
* Lake Tekapo Mt. John Observatory. You will you get a guided tour of the night skies by an astronomer and they will identify the part of the night sky you'll never see in the Northern Hemisphere. And you get to look through the big telescope. Btw, you still see many of the stars we see in the Northern Hemisphere, except they're backwards. Orion didn't look quite right with his sword in a "raised and ready to fight" position, not hanging from his belt.
* Queenstown. Beautiful. And definitely there's a reason why it's the adventure capital of the world. Do you rock climb? snowboard? parasail? bungee jump? jet boat? And do you want a backdrop of a beautiful lake and snow covered mountains? Yeah. You do. Go.
* Wellington. Reminded me of Vancouver, B.C. If I had to pick a place to live in NZ, this would be it. Walking city, museums, good food.
* Lake Taupo. Convenient home base for things like Rotorua (thermal pools), Waitomo caves, etc. It's got a great selection of restaurants, good walking town.

Lord of the Rings
You were all waiting for me to talk about this. I know it. No hobbit or elf sightings, btw.

* You can't swing a dead cat without hitting a sign telling you what part of the LOTR movies were filmed in that location. We didn't expect this. NZ has done a great job taking advantage of the interest in the movies and their tourism industry. We had one official LOTR thing planned: A tour to Edoras. We figured the hike up and the beautiful scenery would be good and then we could also say we did something LOTRish. It was awesome.
* However, we did swing a dead cat and ended up driving past the mountain that was used for some of the filming of Mt. Doom and on the drive up to Auckland on our last day, we made a side trip to visit Hobbiton. It's the only "set" still remaining and it was actually pretty charming.

International Incident
* As you know, I'm known as J "International Incident" J*r. In my defense, I've never gotten into an accident and nobody has gotten hurt and I swear there were no signs in Munich that the road had turned into a sidewalk. Anyway, I guess nbh decided to take my place on this trip. We were hanging out at a thermal pool. There was a lifeguard. Nbh likes to do the "dead man's float" when he's in a pool. He finds it relaxing. Sucks in his breath and then floats on his stomach. The lifeguard and I noticed he was doing his thing so we're hanging out ourselves, enjoying the sun. You can see where this is going, can't you? Well, someone in the reception area happened to look over and see nbh floating and decides to run out, screaming at me and the lifeguard to do something. Meanwhile a guy walking outside the fence by the pool jumps over it when he hears her and sees nbh floating. At the same time, nbh decides to come up for air. He's looking confused as the lifeguard and I are telling everyone it's okay, he's fine, he's doing this on purpose. I was talking to the lifeguard later and apparently a lot of people like to float like that. I wonder if nbh will think twice before he does it again.......

Anyway, there's more to share, but this'll do for now......

Posted by jennj at 08:51 AM | Comments (3)

books should be hidden, not read?

I'm sitting here watching a show called "What is my house worth?" and I'm curious.....where are the books? Don't these people READ? Three houses and nary a book appeared on the screen. Maybe they hid them in the attic for the show?

Posted by jennj at 07:56 PM | Comments (13)