January 2009 Archives

From our Mammoth Adventure!

Photos here

Yesterday was the inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States and for the first time in my life, I spent the whole day in front of the TV watching the festivities. Daniel had wanted to actually go to Washington, DC to watch it in person, but since all the hotels booked up fast, we had to settle for a spot on the couch. I was fascinated by the whole proceedings and certainly do not remember being excited about an inauguration since Bill Clinton's in 1992 - and that was because it was the first Presidential Election in which I was able to vote. I think the first election I remember well was the 1988 contest between Bush and Dukakis, and the only reason I remember that one was because of the famous SNL sketch of the debate between the two.

CNN was really pushing what they call "The Moment" which was when President Obama took the oath of office. Naturally, with all the hype, came a comedy of errors. Chief Justice Roberts flubbed the oath (probably made worse by Obama speeding through the first part of the oath) and then Obama smiled and prompted him to say it again, which he did, but still incorrect. Obama then repeats the first version Roberts said (still incorrect), but then they just motored through the rest of the oath and then it was over. It reminds me of all those wedding videos where the bride/groom or official messes up the vows. At least no one fainted. It's nice to know that even the top officials flub things up.

The other excitement was during the luncheon in the Capitol when Senator Kennedy had a seizure and had to be taken to the hospital as a precaution. Thankfully he is OK, but it was a scary moment, and naturally having been watching 24, I was suspecting some conspiracy, especially when the story first broke as two senators collapsing in the room.

Other than that, it was a great day and it was fun to watch. I do admit getting a bit burnt out towards the end of the parade, and I turned it off before we had continuous team coverage of the Inaugural Balls. Coming on the heels of the live team coverage of the US Airways plane crash last Friday, I am glad to be away from the TV. Thankfully, I had my quick overnight trip to Mammoth to break things up!

Greetings from the top of Mammoth!
Originally uploaded by Club Josh.

Mammoth Adventure
Originally uploaded by Club Josh.

Daniel, Leslie, and I took off for Mammoth at the last minute for a quick overnight getaway. We spent the night in Bishop and are now frolicking in the snow. Full photos soon!!

It's been 15 years since the Northridge Earthquake of 1994. I have blogged about it before, but Northridge has always been a fascination of mine. I love big quakes, and ones that occur in places I live or as the case with Northridge, where my family lived (and where I now live), really make me study them. I always remember Clarence Wayne Dean who rode that motorcycle off the freeway that collapsed rushing to perform his duty as a police officer. Thanks to that quake, we better understand ground motion and all of us in Southern California are safer.

On Thursday, a US Airways Airbus A320 crashed into the Hudson River in New York, and miraculously, everyone on board survived with only minor injuries. I, of course, was glued to CNN and the web looking for the latest news and photos etc. It really struck me how our society has changed in the last 15 years. In 1994, your only source was the networks and CNN. They had a few small independent video chasers that supplied everyone with similar footage but that was it.

Nowadays, 48 hours after a plane crash we have videos from surveillance cameras of the plane actually crashing into the water and thousands of photos from people's iPhones and other cell phones of the people standing on the wings waiting to be rescued and other shots of the plane floating down the river. To me it is amazing how much of everyday life is recorded - more so than any other time in history.

What an incredible source of data for NTSB investigators as well as historians who are looking to get details of a particular common event in our lives. Another example is on CNN.com - they are actively asking people who are attending Obama's inauguration to record it and photograph it and send it in - making it potentially the most recorded event in history.

The only down side is that I had planned on spending the whole weekend cleaning and working on my apartment, but now I am glued to the news waiting to see them hoist that plane out of the river.

Hats off to Sully and the rest of the crew for landing the plane spot on and getting everyone out safely!

A classic almost every New Year's, its my list of things I have done on NYE over the years..

1990-1995 Disneyland
1995-6 Universal CityWalk
1996/7 Disneyland
1997/8 Club Universe
1998/9 Dad's House
1999/2000 The crazy disco Hollywood sign affair
2000/1 Santa Barbara
2001/2 Working at Disneyland
2002/3 Working at Disneyland/Horrible Club in Hollywood
2003/4- Quality Time at Home
2004/5 - Sick at Home
2005/6 - Working at Buzz
2006/7 - Quality Time at Home
2007/8 - Quality Time at Home (I'm certain I was asleep well before midnight)
2008/2009 - Working at Disneyland/Long Beach Bar with Nathan and Daniel

Nathan mentioned that inevitably, New Year's is a let down because of all the meaning people put into it, and I cannot help but agree. It has been quite a few years since I did anything that was amazing and fun. Disneyland seems to be my favorite - either working or visiting just because it is fun no matter what you are doing. I also really enjoyed First Night in Santa Barbara - it sticks in my memory. Maybe that will be my next goal: New Year's in some other city. This might be difficult, just with how things are scheduled in the park, but you never know where I will be in a year!

You would never know it by visiting Club Josh, but I have been incredibly busy the last few weeks of December!

Starting on December 22, I went back to Phoenix to visit the relatives again. It is always a bit strange when I go there twice in a short time, but I always like staying at Casa Mammacita. Plus as a bonus, I got to see my aunt from California who was on her way out of town. Nothing like good bonus relative visiting. The rest of the visit was spent running errands and doing Christmas shopping. We also did an early gift exchange for the Phoenix relatives as well as a great Pre-Christmas Dinner.

Returning back to SoCal, I spent the next 8 days at work. I managed to do Christmas breakfast at IHOP with my father's side of the family and then another round of gift exchanges. I really liked the cold wet weather we had around Christmas, it really drove home the feeling of the holidays for me.

Between Christmas and New Year's, my life consisted of two things: Crowds and Cleaning. The park was crazy busy as per usual for the holidays. It was my first one in Guest Services, so it was fun to see how our department deals with the holidays. I have to say it was a lot of fun!! As for cleaning, I prepared my apartment for the arrival of Nathan from London which for some reason required more cleaning than usual. Thankfully, things were fairly clean (save for my over cluttered bedroom) when he arrived just in time for his birthday.

I had a great time with Nathan - we managed to celebrate his birthday, ring in the New Year with Daniel, hang out with my family (I am not sure Nathan will ever be the same), sample a bit of California Adventure and Disneyland, and then end it with a Hollywood excursion which of course featured several crazy adventures that we tend to get into when its just the two of us.

Life is slowly returning to normal here and next I will post some thoughts on 2008 as a whole. It ended on a high note, and hopefully this means 2009 will be great!