January 2006 Archives

In this day and age of faster home computers, people are churning out more and more movie quality spoofs. Two that I really like are the remixed trailers for Sleepless in Seattle and the Shining.

Oh then there is the amateurish ones like the music video for William Shatner's Lucy In the Sky With Diamonds

Links from kottke.org. Makes me wish I had a new compuer and get in on the fun!

So the moment I have dreaded since last September finally arrived today. It was off to Jury Duty at the Orange County Superior Court in Santa Ana. Thankfully, I brought my laptop to amuse me and it wasn't that bad. At first there was a big group that had to head over to Westminster for a long 10 day trial. I was supposed to go up and register for it, but by the time I got in line they had enough people. Whew! I then sat there watching the Price is Right, reading a book, and playing on my computer until they announced that certain groups were going to get released for a two hour lunch. My group was again not called. I was afraid this meant we were going to be immediately assigned, but in fact it was the opposite. My group was released from duty for another year - woo hoo!

Last week really flew by! Greg, Jim, and Bryan came down from NoCal for a trip to the park and I met up with them for lunch at Downtown Disney. It was cool seeing them again. I hadn't seen Greg and Bryan in at least 8 years and Jim about 3 years. It was nice to catch up and see what they are all up to. For those not in the know, I roomed with Greg and Jim back at UC Davis.

And it's official! The next Club Josh vacation is to a land down under. Two weeks in Australia seeing all the big sights. It will be my longest vacation ever, outlasting Europe 1998, 2002, and the Japan Trips. I am very excited since this is the number 1 destination in the world that I want to visit (A spot formerly occupied by Bora Bora). I have had to sacrifice a lot to do this trip, but it will be well worth it. I wont have my usual fall trip (unless its a quick weekend away). It will also likely be my last trip until late 2007 since I will be up to my eyeballs in lagoon water at the new attraction. So I think I can justify the expense and the length of time gone.

Gosh I can't believe it is already the end of January - and still no Soda!

Two-time Academy Award winner and member of the 100 Stars who influenced Josh List has died due to heart failure. There is no truth to the rumor that she suffered a heart attack after swimming through a corridor and saving the life of a preacher and helping people she barely knew. But we will always remember her sacrifice, as one of the reasons the original Poseidon Adventure is still the best. Thanks for everything you have brought to the world. We will miss you.

So the whole giving up soda thing is turning out to be harder than I had imagined - but not for the reasons I thought. You see I had a bout of food poisoning this past week, which rendered me cranky and liquid for most of the week. The one thing I really wanted was some 7up or Sprite to calm my stomach down. One of my managers recommended seltzer water as an alternative, but I was determined to do it without soda of any type. I made it (it wasn't easy by a long shot), but when I went to the store last night I noticed something very disturbing.

It seems that carbonated soda alternatives like Hawaiian Punch and Lemonade have just as much sugar as soda, if not more! If you get diet HP, then the sugar level is way low. I then had a crisis in faith. Why exactly was I giving up my beloved Root Beer and the occasional Coke to get me through the day? I had reasoned to myself that I wanted to drink more water and in the process loose some ancillary pounds in preparation for my vacation in March. But now I was not sure if not having soda was actually doing anything to help me. Then I got on a scale. I have lost 5 pounds in two weeks. I haven't really done anything special (though the loss of appetite for a few days from the food poisoning might be the real cause of the weight loss). Whatever the cause, it was enough for me to keep going for now.

As for the rest of the New Year it has been pretty uneventful. It is the season of no guests at work so I am enjoying every moment of it I can before the crowds roar back to the resort. I am convinced it will happen any day now.

Still trying to hammer out the details of my March vacation, and when it is all settled, I will post details here.

Al Pacino was on the ride the other day. The best I got out of him was a "Thank You". I had to laugh when greeter called and asked if Al could come up the exit. I pretended to thumb through a list and said to them "Yes, Mr. Pacino is on the A-List send him up." We have a long-standing joke at the ride as to who gets to come up the exit and who gets to go through Fastpass. In reality, most VIPs use the exit if they ask and if they don’t most are willing to go through Fastpass.