Recently in Disney Category

I had a great time visiting the Florida Project - not that I had any doubts, but I was actually surprised how much I enjoyed it compared to the rest of the Resorts I have visited over the last 5 years. I guess I had become a bit jaded about how much better the other resorts around the world were compared to Walt Disney World. Perhaps it is my age or my new perspective in how theme parks really operate - the difference between being an just a kid, an AP, a relatively new Cast Member, and now a seasoned Cast Member at the resort. I have to say my favorite trip was the 2000 trip - even though I lost my glasses, it had the Millennium Celebration and I was just an AP - no biases about how things run or what have you, but just goober eagerness at it all.

But interestingly enough, I think I appreciated Walt Disney World more on this trip and how they operate there business and how many challenges they have. Are they the best resort? No, of course not! I always will prefer the Disneyland Resort to all the others around the world. Call it pride or what have you, but it is the one that I grew up with and the one I currently work at trying to bring special memories to all who visit. Of course it's not easy, but we do what we can. I think I am beyond "ranking" the resorts for which is the best and which is the worst. Tokyo, Paris, and Hong Kong all have special places in my heart. I have had the privilege to visit them all and go "backstage" and realize that they are all great in their own ways and do the best they can with whatever challenges they are faced with year in and year out.

It had been 5 years since I visited Florida, and I must say that I really enjoyed all the plussed up items. The Magic Kingdom's Stitch Encounter was certainly better than people made it out to be and honestly, I enjoyed it better than Alien Encounter. The Monster's Inc Laugh Factory surprised me - perhaps I didn't really know what to expect. Interesting that they chose basically a super-sized Turtle Talk concept, but they pull it off well. I have never been a fan of play areas in a Disney Park, but at least the new Winnie the Pooh play area is well themed. The new Haunted Mansion sounds better than ever! One of my complaints about WDW the last time I went is that you could not hear anything on the attractions. Certain ones are still plagued by it, but at least the Mansion is loud and clear.

Over at EPCOT, they have done a ton of work. The new Spaceship Earth is very nice, though I will always miss Walter Cronkite's narration. The Seas with Nemo and friends is cute and it is nice to see the differences between that and our Subs. Granted, ahem, our FNSV is quite simply better in almost every way, but I love omnimovers so I give them props for that. Also, the Nemo fish swimming with real fish is a cool effect and I am glad they have something that no one else has. Soarin' was an interesting addition to the Land Pavilion and I like how they themed it to an airport. I really hope they have multiple movies playing and that one day someone invents a digital IMAX projector!

I love the new Three Caballeros version of the Grand Fiesta Tour (it's the boat ride in the Mexico Pavilion). I love the fact they incorporated some of the old footage, especially the cliff diver scene, though I do miss the hot tub/bar scene which granted was probably hard to include Donald. The renewed American Adventure finale and the O' Canada refresh were well done and in the spirit of their originals. I think that is my favorite update - something that keeps it fresh while not completely ignoring the originals.

At Disney's Hollywood Studios it was neat to see how they created Pixar Place and their version of Toy Story Midway Mania. I do like how you load on the opposite side of the station in Florida better than the DCA version, but overall, I like the themeing of actually being on the Midway in DCA better than the toy box of Florida, but then again both are executed well. I did not go see Lights, Moters, Action since I just saw the same show in Paris. It was fun to see them claim "Direct from Walt Disney Studios Paris".

Finally, I love the new Expedition Everest section at Animal Kingdom. It seamlessly fits with the the park and would never know that whole section was an addition to the original park - quite probably one of the best new expansion additions to any park I have seen. The attraction itself was lots of fun and I really enjoyed it.

One last note about Walt Disney World. I am not sure if it is due to hurricanes, drought, or my ever-keen skills of observation, but I certainly noticed that the trees on property were pretty thinned out. I could see backstage areas like never before at all the parks and I could see into parks backstage from roads. Part of it is the ever expanding growth of the resort and the areas around it as a whole, but I do miss the Walt Disney World of 1992 where everything seemed in its own isolated world surrounded by massive amounts of trees. I hope that it never becomes so overdeveloped that it seems like a Disney Metropolis instead of a Disney World.

Pictures soon! (although I took a ton - most were just bits here and there and just playing around with the camera and of course my side trip to Kennedy Space Center.)

I have to admit to being in a bit of a late summer funk. Granted, Summer ends tomorrow, but for the last month I have just not been motivated to do much. Work has been challenging the last few weeks with some curve balls here and there. I like to plan ahead and get focused on something, and sometimes things get thrown at you and you just have to hunker down and get to the task at hand. I wish I was much better and running with something that is handed to me at the last minute, but after a few days, the cylinders are starting to fire and I hope that people will take notice.

Pluses are also abounding - I now have a primarily days working schedule with Fridays and Saturdays off for most weeks. I am not sure how long this goodness will last, but I have to be sure to soak it up before I get back to closing weekends.

On travel news, the high price of airfares have really taken a hold of my plans and although I would love to follow Mom and Gary to their Mediterranean cruise, it looks like I will be heading to the Florida Project sometime in November. I haven't been back there since 2003 (amazing considering I have visited all of the other Disney theme parks in the world since then!), and I think once every 5 years is a good cycle for me to go there. 8 years (between 1992 and 2000) was too long and 3 years was too short (2000-2003), so I think now the time is right to go again.

One of the things I am going to do is only go for a week, and then spend another week just working around the apartment and perhaps something more - a distinct contrast to my vacation last year.

Hopefully by Christmas, things will solidify at work, and I will be able to do big things in 2009!

Tomorrow night, I will be a guest at Charo's house in Beverly Hills. What a long strange trip it has been from my Cuchi-Cuchi Hawaiian Style party in 1996 to this point. I am excited and I don't know what to expect, but Tiffany will be accompanying me and I will have my camera so look for some photos in the next few days.

Work has been going well - I am really happy with what I am doing, and I look forward to an exciting summer! It is hard to believe that it has been almost a year since we opened the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage at the park. The other night, I found a one-year anniversary pin which will go well with all the other collectibles that I have gathered from the attraction. I really need to get organized and start hanging stuff up around my apartment. It seems whenever I want to do that it is near the time of year that my lease is up, and I think, this is going to be the year I am going to move, and I never do it. Five years later, I still do not have much up on the walls. All I know is that when I actually do move, one of my first objectives will be to decorate the halls.

Another exciting thing is that I have a second website to work on, so its nice to get back into some web work. I am a bit rusty when it comes to web site work, bit it is good to shake the rust off and get some work done. It is a bit challenging to balance my time since I am working long hours, but thank goodness I took the FOCUS class a few months ago!

I did see Prince Caspian last week (I know two movies in a week!). I was a bit let down - not that I thought it was a bad movie, but I think the LWATW was just a better story. It will be interesting to see how the movies will evolve since some of the major characters don't show up in all the movies. It's very different than most movie sequels and I feel it will have an impact on how well they do.

Toy Story Midway Mania opens in two weeks at Disney's California Adventure. I had mixed feelings about it when I heard what it was going to be, but I will be the first to admit it is a really fun ride with a lot of repeatability - something that modern attractions need in order to be a break out hit. If you get a chance, head on down to the resort when it opens June 17 - you will have a blast! (Of course I am still partial to Buzz Lightyear - better game play and the free photos! Sorry, I am totally biased!)

Things are settling down nicely here at Club Josh. After a month or so of stress over a project I was working on at work, it is finally done and presented. The past few months, I was in the Emerging Leader program at Disneyland which is a way that the resort trains its new Managers. It is a very challenging and rewarding program and I am happy that I was not only selected, but completed it successfully. I know I owe a lot of people for their support and feedback over the years.

The next month or so will be exciting times. Daniel, Tiffany, Tyger, and I will be participating in Minnie's Moonlight Madness - a charity benefit scavenger hunt throughout the park this month. Also, Charo is having a mini-CD release party sometime near the 22nd - no details yet, but it might be my first adventure to Casa Charo!

I also find out what is next for me at work sometime that week as well, so it will be nice to know where I am going and what I am doing for the summer and beyond.

In car news, I am still loving the new CR-V. I like the sound it makes when accelerating and the new car smell overpowers any food items that I have to transport in it. Still haven't eaten in the car yet, we will see how long that it lasts!

Last Friday, some friends and I gathered to go on an annual ride of Winnie the Pooh. It is hard to believe that it has been 5 years since that fateful day in April 2003 when we all gathered for juice boxes and muffins and hugs from Cynthia Harriss and we threw open the gates to welcome guests. Daniel, Tara, Rachelle, Leslie, and I were all on the opening crew and we went to take a photo in a Pooh ride vehicle to retake the photo that Tara, Rachelle, Leslie and I took the last night of pre-opening training. When Tara gives me the new photo I will post a comparison here.

Upon reflection, Pooh testing and opening were a pivotal point in my life both professionally and personally. It was the first time that I was exposed to the whole "Imagineering" aspect of Disneyland and also what it takes to put together a new ride at a major theme park. Needless to say, I was hooked. I enjoyed the collaborative process it took to get something on this scale done. I enjoyed the networked relationships that I would build (and in some cases maintain to this day). It stings a little bit that Pooh is not the runaway successful and popular attraction we all wanted it to be back in those cool winter mornings cycling beehives and listening to the queue music. Surprisingly though, despite all the naysayers, it does maintain a huge popularity with children. I would go on to be fortunate to be involved with two more attraction openings all because of my experiences opening Pooh.

On the personal level, this is when everything changed. It was weird moving away from everything I knew in the valley to Orange County. I was thankful for the fact my commute shrunk considerably. I do think that I made the right decision back then, and I am happy how things have developed over the last 5 years. Sure there have been many bumps, peaks, and valleys, but nothing that was not insurmountable.

I always find it interesting that April/May/October tend to be pivotal months for me. This year I am working on a final presentation which will in a way determine my career path for the foreseeable future. I just hope that it will be full of more experiences like January-April 2003.

Happy Birthday the Many Adventures, and Thank You.

Things have been busy at work, but I did get a chance to get trained on a Segway! I am not completely signed off yet, but I did manage to have a couple hours to learn how to get on one as well as ride it around. I was unprepared for the "Segway Shuffle" that people do when they first get used to balancing on one. After getting used to it, I really enjoyed riding it around. I wish I lived closer to the Resort in order to ride one to work every day. Of course, there is also the issue of parking, since I wouldn't be able to park it near my office. Nevertheless, I recommend trying a Segway if you ever get the chance!

Josh and Walt
Originally uploaded by Club Josh.

Today the Gorn and I had the chance to visit the memorial garden where the plaque memorializing Walt Disney sits. It is located in a tucked away location at Forest Lawn Glendale (I always thought it was at the Hollywood Hills location near the Studios). It was a nice serene place, and I am glad I took my time to pay tribute to him. I am not sure if his ashes are somewhere in the garden or behind the wall. I do know Sharon was spread in paradise according to the plaque, so I assume that the rest are here.

Walt's parents are also on the grounds of Forest Lawn Glendale, but I did not find them. Also, I wanted to visit Roy over at the Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills (which is neat because he gets to look at the studio all day and night), but I could not find good directions. One of the things I want to visit is the Barn that is currently being used by the Los Angeles Live Steamers in Griffith Park. Like the original Hyperion Studio, the Carolwood house is long gone, so there are few things left in the area to visit.

Josh and Bob Gurr
Originally uploaded by Club Josh.

I had the chance to take a photo with Disney Legend and Imagineer Bob Gurr when he got his window dedicated on Center Street at Disneyland. Bob designed most vehicles in the early days of Disneyland including the Main Street Vehicles, Autopia, the Monorail, and the Subs to name a few. It was a honor to meet him!

I am in the process of learning some new areas at the Resort. This week I am spending some quality time out in the Parking Lot learning everything from how to park a car to tolls. All of it has been incredibly eye opening to all the work it takes to make the parking and getting to the park experience seamless. My favorite part has been learning how to ride on the back of the tram and deliver spiels to the guests while loading, riding, and unloading the trams.

For some reason, I get real nervous when I do something the first time, but after having my cheat sheet handy for the first trip, I had it down for the rest of the night. Hopefully as time passes, I will get to hop on a tram to stay in practice. Later this week I will actually tackle driving the tram, and since I am training with someone, there is a chance I will get to spiel.

I guess it taps into every little kids desire to spiel on an attraction at Disneyland, I just got to do it on attractions and Parking. There is a lot more training to come in the next month or so and I will be super busy and working various shifts. It all seems so surreal, and I am having the time of my life.

IMG_8007
Originally uploaded by Club Josh.

Like two kids in the candy store, we are having the time of our lives on a tour of Disneyland Paris

Today was another special treat this year at work. The Stanley Cup - the championship trophy for the National Hockey League (for those of you living under a rock) paid a visit to the resort today and the Submarine Voyage. It was a bit chaotic around the attraction this morning, but I was able to get a few snaps of the trophy on the ride as well as one with me. I am looking for my memory card reader for my computer so I can upload them.

Other than that it has been pretty mundane around here. I did manage to see the latest Disney-Pixar film Ratatouie. I personally thought it was one of their better movies and certainly would like to see it again.

I am still working 11 hours a day at work, but now only 5 days a week so I at least can charge my batteries. I took a few days off and made a long weekend next week. I am not sure if I am going to go out of town or just hang out. Tiffany also wants to go to a Star Trek convention in Las Vegas. If I went, it would be my first convention in YEARS. I wouldn't even know what to do with myself, but I am actually marginally excited by the prospect. Since there is no Trek on TV right now this reminds me of the glory days pre-TNG.

The culmination of over a year's worth of work is Monday with the grand opening of the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage at Disneyland. I am excited and exhausted all at once. I have a lot to do yet this weekend and hopefully my three-day weekend next weekend will give me some well earned rest and a chance to get back into the rest of my life.

It is funny, I look back at the last month and a half and my life really has been dominated by work. It is all worthwhile as I see kids face's light up as they find Nemo. I of course was thrilled to get my face into the AP newsletter Backstage pass as well as on the cover of the Disneyland Line (the cast newsletter - I'm on this week's cover with a bunch of the opening crew cast). I was also featured in some B-Roll for Cast TV. Monday I will have a front row seat for the opening ceremony of the attraction, and I feel happy that my third attraction gets all the bells and whistles for an opening.

That's it for now. I will return next week to a more regularish schedule.

IMG_7062
Originally uploaded by Club Josh.

I have posted the photos from the Red Carpet and a few of the party in New Orleans Square and Frontierland. It was an awesome night and a great memory.

Here are the stars I saw that I remember:

Matt Ouimet
Cuba Gooding, Jr
Orlando Bloom
Geoffrey Rush
Yao Ming
Kobe Bryant
Muriel Hemmingway
Kyle Massey
Bill Nighy
Chow Yun Fat
Joey Fatone and Kym Johnson
Cheryl Burke
Wilmer Valderrama
Lee Arenberg
Johnny Depp
Hans Zimmer
Jonathan Pryce
Jack Davenport
Jay Rasulo
Ed Grier
Tony Baxter
John Lasseter


Thank you Ed Grier!

View from Seat
Originally uploaded by Club Josh.

After the movie, they let us turn our cellphones back on so I took this quick shot of our view of the movie. We sat near Muriel Hemingway and the guy who plays Cory on That's So Raven. More photos soon.

Invitation
Originally uploaded by Club Josh.

I needed to test if my new phone posts to flickr for tonight's big party.

Today I was told I had to attend a meeting with one of our Vice Presidents to go over details of an executive ride of the attraction tomorrow. I really thought nothing of it because I have been in so many meetings in the last few months that I rarely pay attention to who is going to the meetings, just the topic. I knew though that if the VP was there they really wanted to get a message across. When they walked in, the resort President Ed Grier was with the VP. I thought to myself, "Man they really want us to behave tomorrow!".

Ed started talking about how much he appreciated the hard work our crew has been doing over the last few months. He also mentioned that tomorrow was a big day at the resort for the World Premiere of Pirates of the Caribbean - At World's End. Ed then mentioned that he had a ticket to the Red Carpet and to the premiere that he would like to give to one person in particular for all their hard work. Turns out my friends, he was referring to ME!

That's right, instead of going to Laughlin to see my mom and grandma, I will be going to the movie premiere at Disneyland. I was very excited and completely floored. I was pretty speechless other than a few thank yous and firm handshakes. It is such an honor to be recognized by people in the resort and it really made me feel good about the work I have been doing over the last year on the Subs.

I am allowed to take photos on the red carpet so naturally the Gorn will be accompanying me. Hopefully I can get some good celebrity photos as well.

Full report by Sunday!

This week has been a rough one on the body. On Monday I was hit in the head, but thanks to my hard head I was just a bit stunned - no serious after effects. Today, I managed to run full speed into something and it caught my cheek and knocked my glasses off. I will need to get my eyes checked to see if I need a new prescription since the lenses are now scratched. In the old days, I could just get new glasses, but now I need to get an eye exam (see rant from lost glasses a few years ago).

I finally got the phone issue resolved - I now have a Motorola Q. Tim has had one for awhile now so I was able to hear about all the pros and cons. So far I am loving it - even though it has taken Daniel to figure out some of the features. I love the fact I can now sync my email with it - and it pulls from my POP3 accounts wirelessly. I wish I could link my work email to it, but alas I guess I will just have to wait until I get promoted to Blackberry level.

In other news I heard from Cooper for the first time in ages. It was great to catch up and I am glad he and the family are doing well. Talking to him made me realize just how far apart we have all become in the last 5-10 years. I think we need to organize a Davis reunion and get everyone together again - including all the offspring that have cropped up. It is scary to realize that my friends have a combined 9 kids with more on the way!!!

It is getting to that point where all bets are off and everyone is scrambling to get to the finish line. In the last week I think I have worked more hours than I can remember. For two days last week I was starting work at 3:30 am so that we can get work done before anyone else gets there. I have another shift like that this week, but it is not too bad. Next weekend, I have the entire weekend off for the first time in weeks. I will spend it sleeping and getting some well deserved R&R. I do want to do a mini-getaway (Picnic Day is this weekend) but I doubt I will be able to get too far away.

Despite it being the home stretch there is still so much left to do and I hope I can keep my health and sanity going because I would hate to fall apart at the last minute. Despite it all I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world.

I still have to do my taxes - when I used to get refunds, I would do them early on in February. Now that I am in the owe the government phase, I wait until the last minute. I really need to get them professionally done so I can see if I can get some money back. Oh well maybe next year.

Today the company threw the Class of 2001 a nice luncheon at the Disneyland Hotel Marina ballroom. Over the years, people reaching the 5 year milestone received everything from crystal to chocolate. This year is the last 5 year luncheon that the resort will hold so I did not go into it with any sort of expectations or demands. After all, it was a free lunch which is just fine with me.

We had one of the Disneyland Ambassadors as the emcee and they showed clips of everything that has happened at the resort in the last five years - from the opening of Disney's California Adventure Park to the 50th anniversary and Year of a Million Dreams Celebrations. A lot of stuff has happened in the time I have been at the resort, and I look forward to what is coming.

We also listened to someone from Walt's Hometown of Marceline, MO. Walt only lived there for four years but it had a tremendous impact on his life and the shape of Disneyland. It was a great presentation and it made me want to go visit Marceline and visit the Walt Disney Hometown Museum in the future for inspiration. I really have no idea how that related to our 5 year luncheon, but I just rolled with it. I was hoping that as part of the Backstage Magic portion of the YOMD that one of us would have won a trip for two to Marceline. Oh well it was not to be. There is always the 10th Anniversary celebration.

Seeing all the photos made me go back through my archives and look at some of the photos that have been taken of me or by me in the 5+ years of working at the resort. I am going to upload some to Flickr in the next week and post a link here so you can relive the magic with me.

Here is to another 5!

It has been a rough few weeks since my return from Mobile and Mark's wedding. First out of the gate, the week of Thanksgiving my eye problem from last year re-surfaced. Nothing major, just another stye on the same eyelid as last year and it started almost the same day. Luckily, I had some of the ointment from last time around and it was still good so it went away fairly quickly. Unfortunately, I caught a bit of a bug - probably from the airplane despite my Emergen-C and Echinacea regimen. So for the last two weeks I have been balancing work with sickness and just a general malaise.

Some good highlights:
- I finally replaced watch bands and batteries for my backwards Goofy and Mickey Mouse date watches after my Timex indiglo watch from Mom finally had the face plate fall off. I have no idea when it happened, but Paul at work told me that he had noticed it for a few days before I realized it and pointed it out to him. I went a few weeks watchless, but now I feel whole again.

- I went and saw Casino Royale with Daniel. I thought it was pretty good, but hope that this "reboot" of the Bond franchise does not jettison all of the classic Bond elements (esp. the cool gadgets) that seemed to be missing from this story. It did feel a lot like Dr. No and From Russia With Love and I enjoyed the basic feel. Daniel Craig did a great job, but one movie is not enough to start the "Is he better than Sean or Roger" debate - we will see if he lasts a few movies.

- I am trying to enjoy the Shatnerrific "Show Me the Money" on ABC. I think that if there were a few trims here and there and the pace was speeded up a tad, it would be a blockbuster. Unfortunately, it is difficult to stay interested past 30 minutes so I do not think it will last a long time.

- This past week I had a chance to meet the new President of the Disneyland Resort Ed Grier twice. The first time was at the family holiday party on Monday and the second time was at a Cast Member Forum I was picked out to attend. He was much more personable than I expected and since I am working on the Nemo Project, I think I will probably see him again and hopefully he have a positive remembrance of me. Who knows where you can go if you network with the right people.

- As I posted earlier, I also met Bob Iger, CEO of the Walt Disney Company at the Family Christmas Party. Honestly, I was thrilled beyond all believe that I actually got to chat for a quick minute and get a photo. It was way better than being in the foreground of a photo with Michael Eisner and never actually talking to him. I like what Bob has done for the company and the direction we are going, and I hope his success continues. And yes, I forgive him for canceling "Twin Peaks" back in 1991.

- Finally, work has been going well. After months of waiting, Test and Adjust is just around the corner and I am getting busier and busier. Hopefully I got my sickness out of the way and I can go head on into working on the project. Every day I am amazed at the progress being made and I really think we are building something special. All the attractions I have worked on have been special (yes even Pooh), but this one has a little something extra. Maybe because of the complexity or maybe its the passion of the workers. Who knows but I can't wait for it to open and everyone gets to see it.

That's about it for now!

Bob and Josh
Originally uploaded by Club Josh.

One of the highlights of my 5 years with the Walt Disney Company was posing with Bob Iger at the Family Holiday Party. He was very genuine and personable.

Apologies for the lack of updates this month, but I am finally getting some time to sit down and write.

This past weekend, I celebrated my fifth anniversary at Disneyland. I remembered when I started that it was just a simple job to bring in some income while I looked for a better job or realized my dream of traveling for a living. As the months stretched on, I remember that I wanted to stay for the 50th Anniversary of the park. I don't know why, but I felt that it would be a truly memorable experience and I wanted to be a part of it. Sure enough it was something that I will look back at fondly, knowing I was in Town Square 50 years to the moment that Walt dedicated the park.

I also knew that if I made it to the 50th that I wanted to make it to my fifth anniversary so I could get my 5-Year pin. I am still waiting for that since it takes up to two months for them to come to my department. In terms of longevity with the company those were the only goals that I had and now that I am here I wonder where I will go next.

I have been privileged to do many things I never thought possible when I first hired into the company. I have helped open two attractions: The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh and Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters. I have also had the opportunity to be a trainer and a leader on other attractions in the resort.

As I begin my sixth year I am at a crossroads. I am putting Buzz behind me (not entirely since I am not moving areas) as I shift focus to the Lagoon and the new Nemo Subs attraction. Since May I have been working on the project and things are beginning to heat up as we prepare for the coming months ahead. What I like most about projects is that is something that is all encompassing and engrossing and above all else fun.

I have mentioned a few times about where the road goes from here so I won't bring it up again (Short Version: Lots of Choices, No Clue). What do I know for sure? Dive! Dive! Dive!

Two Mickeys and Charo
Originally uploaded by Club Josh.

My attempt at modern art

What is better than one?
Originally uploaded by Club Josh.

Two Mousecars! The left is the one that I won in 2005 for Trainer of the Year for Tomorrowland Attractions. The one on the right is the one presented to Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters for 2006 Disneyland East Side Attraction of the Year. This is the only time the two will be together as the Attraction of the Year goes to permanantly live at the ride.

For the first time since the 50th Anniversary Spectacular started in May 2005, we finally have an off-season at the park. I never thought I would make it since it seemed that the people just kept coming and coming. Actually, this past summer was nice - I think because it was a normal summer. I look back on the first few summers I spent in Fantasyland thinking how busy it was, I had no idea what busy really was.

For the first time in my Disney career I do not have to worry about hours in the slow months of September and October. Being a lead and also working on the project I am pretty much set for hours. I am eagerly awaiting going full time to the project. I think my replacements are ready to take over and sometimes I just feel like I am in the way and they should be given the reins. I am there to help and guide them, but I think its time for them to soar. Then again, maybe I am just impatient and want to dive into the next thing.

One thing I would like to do sometime at Disney is their new Adventures by Disney program. It seems to be the perfect fit for what I decided five years ago when I left Edmunds - be a tour guide. I have commitments for the next year and if things go well I could be on my way to bigger and better things. I just hope when the time is right for me they are still around.

In the meantime things are slow at home as well. I did some baby viewing over the weekend in San Diego with Isabella, Sarah, and Ray. Dad and Dianne took great delight in taking photos of me holding the baby. I didn't hold Kameron until he was 3 months old and it was a big difference holding a 2-week-old baby. It was also funny that Granny and Dianne were naturals with the child, having been through many themselves.

Hard to believe that one year ago I was in Hong Kong! David is there now and I hope he is enjoying the squid and the heat.

For a while I have been wanting to buy new business casual clothes for work since I am now working 2 days a week not in costume. I made it over to South Coast and found a couple of nice outfits and $200 later I walked out. Now, I have been trying to cut down on my spending to try and help pay down some debts and get my financials in order so spending like this is just something that I try not to do.

I felt pretty good about the clothes I bought and decided that I wanted to wear them the first chance I got. So I got all spiffy and went to work and actually got complemented a few times on my outfit. (After someone pointed out that I forgot to remove a sticker on the pants). It was not until I got home that I realized that I had leaned against some paint out at the construction site and basically ruined my new $50 pants. I was so mad. I immediately began looking on the Internet for ways to get this type of industrial paint out of my pants. I wish it was just small spots - then I wouldn't really worry about seeing it - but these were light khakis with a big bright blue spot.

After several remedies failed to remove the spot and other marks, I pretty much resigned myself to the fact that I had just blown $50. In a last ditch effort I took it to my laundry mat and they were going to see what they could do, but they didn't think there was anything. So if they are not successful, I will now have a nice expensive pair of pants to wear to my dad's work.

My apartment is back to normal and I have begun trying to clean things up for Mom's visit in a couple of weeks. I still need to vacuum as well as clean out the tub, and if I am duly inspired tonight, I will try and get some decoration **gasp** on the walls (It has only been 4 years). Then again, I don't want to put anything too nice on the walls since it would probably fall and break.

Quite the social weekend for me as my brother and most of his family were in town. I met up with them and my dad, step-mom, aunt, and grandma and headed down to San Diego to visit my sister and brother-in-law. She's very pregnant expecting a bundle of joy sometime in August. We decided to head down there via Amtrak - that's right sometimes in Southern California we do take the train!

The trip down was fairly pleasant with the highlight being some hijinks that granny caused in the bathroom. Without going into details, let's just say we pretty much laughed the whole way down. We arrived at the terminal in San Diego where Ray met us with his Church Van. This thing holds 11 people + comfortably. We were chauffeured down to Little Italy where we attempted to eat at a highly recommended eatery, only to bail after it was discovered they were closing in 15 minutes and the only place to eat was out back on the patio in the sun with no breeze. Ray managed to score some extra cash by giving some people a lift who were a bit too drunk to make it back to where they needed to go and then returned to pick us up. We decided to head closer to their house and finally settled on another Italian restaurant in San Marcos. The verdict was that the pizza was very good, but the pasta and salads left something to be desired. We then headed over to Sarah and Ray's to chill out for an hour or so before we headed back to catch the train in Oceanside for our trip home.

When we returned to the Fullerton station, Dad and associates headed back home while my brother and family expressed a desire to walk around work, so off we went. We arrived right as the fireworks started and managed to quickly make it over to ride the re-vamped Pirates ride. It was OK, but I didn't think it was all that special. I also took them on Mansion to check out the attic update and then it was over to Space and Buzz for the usual Tomorrowland fix. By then I had to leave (it was 11:45 anyways) because I had to work early in the morning.

The next day, my brother and family came down again to check out the Company discount store where they picked up some souvenirs and gifts at great prices. I snagged a new lanyard (just what I need) of Mickey in his Hardhat since I thought it would go well with the work I am doing nowadays on the project.

Today the whole gang (Dad, Dianne, Ryan, Kevin and fam) headed out to the Home Depot Center to watch the LA Galaxy face the NY Red Bulls. I thought the Red Bulls was a fake team like the Washington Generals were to the Harlem Globetrotters, but alas they are a real team which the Galaxy beat. Ryan is a soccer nut and an accomplished player and told me that the players were not very good and put up with me asking dumb questions about the action. I think the World Cup is way more interesting to watch than MLS. The crowd was pretty sparse, but managed to get pretty loud when the Galaxy scored towards the end of the game. After, we were treated to a fireworks show (definitely not a Fireworks Spectacular that I am used too). Overall, it was a fun night out and I am glad that my schedule at work finally allows me to hang out with the family more.

Now it’s off to Glendale tomorrow for a big meeting. I am excited I get to tour the friendly confines of WDI!

So my roomie (the one on the couch) has smashed his car. It has been a minor inconvenience but nothing more to carpool until his dad comes out this week to assess the situation and then get him back up and running. He hopes his dad will co-sign for a new car for him, but his dad is leaning towards just fixing the old one. To top things off, he has to go up to the High Desert to resolve a problem with his bank account since someone tried to use his account from Norway. I tell you he has a swath of destruction following him around. I am convinced he mad a pact with the devil and now he is collecting the dues.

I finally decided to throw the towel in and just move the Trip Diaries section over as-is minus some of the photos just for the sake of getting the move done and to get back on track writing entries. I hope to get this accomplished this week. The anniversary is coming up and I want to be able to proclaim a re-launch by then.

Tomorrow is my first for real project shift and I am excited to say the least. I can’t wait until I’m there 100% of the time.

It has been an interesting month to say the least. I have been reluctant to post to the site since it actually still exists in two different locations, but I can't hold it in any longer.

In the home front, I have someone residing on my couch for the first time since Susie crashed back in the mid-90's. So far things are going well, and it is a temporary thing for the summer and then we can decide to get a place together or if he decides to move on. So far things have been going smoothly since we have different schedules and also we get along well. Check in again later this summer and see if things are still going well.

Last week I went to my first concert in several years. I had wanted to go see the Madonna tour when tickets went on sale, but I just couldn't get over the hump. The week before the concert I really started to hear good things about it and decided to go. The only problem was that I didn't want to go by myself, so I actively recruited people to go with me. I finally ended up convincing Daniel and Tyger to go and we all had a blast. The show was great – only two songs that I didn't care for and the rest were all amazing.

I was particularly impressed with was the quality of the video screens used in the show. I can't believe how hi-res the images were. We've come a long way since the first Jumbotron. I also love the fact that Madonna sings her heart out and that it isn't always perfect. The Forum was a smaller arena than Staples Center and it added more intimacy to the setting (if one can have an intimate setting with 16,000 screaming fans). All in all a great show!

Also many people have been asking, but yes I will be commanding a fleet sometime next year and I am very excitedly looking forward to the challenges that lie ahead in the next 12 months. Not that I don't want to live in the moment, but my brain is already thinking about my future beyond the next year and I am trying to figure out what I want to do and where I want to go. I just keep reminding myself to stay focused on the task at hand and then everything will work itself out.

That's about it for me. I did see some movies recently so I will post a few reviews.

Before I left for Australia, I had done my taxes on the free Turbo Tax site. This is the first time in 7 years that I can fill out the 1040EZ since I did no business with SeaGranite last year. I had a number in my head for how much I owed on the taxes and when I logged in today to finish them up, I realized it was only half of what I owe. Gadzooks! I need to figure out a way to change my W2s so that this doesn't happen every year.

So now I have the debt of the trip plus the debt of taxes hanging over my head. Oh, and let's not forget the fact my car lease is up next month. Personally, I can't believe I have been driving the CR-V for four years, but I guess time flies when you have a mostly trouble-free car. The worst part is that I don't know what I am going to do. I had planned to trade it in and get something else, but there really is nothing out there that excites me other than cars I can't afford. I'd love to get a hybrid (and no not so I can be smug) but at the same time, I love driving the CR-V. So I might just end up refinancing the balance of the payments and then waiting until something that catches my eye comes out. (Editor's note: As I was in the process of writing this, the American Honda folks called and wanted to know what I wanted to do with my car, they offered to extend my lease up to 24 months! It is on a month-to-month basis so it gives me plenty of time to find something else and wait for all the new cool things that are coming out in the fall! Gloom factor reduced!)

If that is not enough, I am still in limbo over my future plans at work. Next week is a big week, but my senses are telling me it might be another week before all is said and done and I know what the heck I will be doing in the near future. I hate the uncertainty of all of it. Of course, I should know better since I just returned from vacation. I must say, the longer the vacation, the more dramatic a shift in my life happens. The past month has been HUGE. It does feel like 2003 all over again (eww!) but I think I am stronger person inside and I just have to stay focused.

All is not doom and gloom in the world of Club Josh. There are three people that have really been guiding lights and have made the last month bearable. Chris, Coder, and Sean have all provided support when I needed it. Sean has been a busy bee, but has offered what little time he's had to chat and provide advice. Coder, well, we just call him the Columbus of Curacao now and he really doesn't like Mr. Romanaov at all. Finally, there has been Chris. My beacon from Brisbane who makes me laugh and gets me out of the deepest funk. It is rare that I actually make new friends and to have three this year is just amazing.

Speaking of friends, I really miss my out of town friends. I yearn for the good old days when we all lived close and could drive over to each other’s house and have a lazy day or a party to remember. At least we are all in the same country now. We have to figure out a way to all get together again. Mark is getting married in November and I think that might be the best opportunity yet.

So something that I have wanted to do and be a part of for over a year has finally begun. There will be a ton of gray hear spouting, hand wringing and general ulcer producing over the next several weeks as I go through interviews and challenges from every angle.

I told myself that when this day came, I wouldn't lose focus and keep plowing ahead with my usual work and not make any mistakes. One of my friends just recently fell just right as he was getting to the finishing line (a la Zola Budd from the 84 Olympics) and I am determined to cross all my t's and dot all my i's.

Questions from the soul that need to be answered:
Why do I want to do this?
Where will this take me in my career?
What do I do as a contingency plan if I don't get what I truly want?

Let the sleepless nights and cold sweats begin!

Well it has been a week since I have been back from Australia. It hardly seems like only a week, it feels like a month! Returning home to an empty house is never fun after spending 24-7 with travel companions. I jet lagged the first few days and was glad to get back to work - just so I could have something to do. I will admit to it being strange to be back at work as if nothing happened at all. I guess I always hope that something will have fundamentally changed since I have been gone, but in reality nothing does.

There are some changes while I was gone and not all of them good. Some of the problems I can't go into details on such a public forum, but rest assured they don't have to do with me. However, they are a bit of a downer to me, since I had gotten my hopes up that certain things would fall into place for people and they haven't. Also at work, things are up in the air since they have not settled our union contract and we are working on a day-to-day basis with the old one. I guess no one in the union cares about us since there is no communications or updates that are easily accessible to the rank and file. Just a random flyer that says a federal mediator is involved. I don't think we will go as far as a strike, and in reality it is just a bit of a pain for everyone involved.

One thing that has happened in Australia since I left is that Cyclone Larry hit 50km south of Cairns and basically leveled the place. I don't think damage was extensive in Cairns, but I think of people like Hans-Jorg as well as the lady who sold us the Quicksilver tickets and all the rest of the residents we came in contact with and I hope they are all OK and managed to weather the storm just fine.

On the home front, I was glad to come home to a clean-for-me house, which I promptly messed up. I have had a lot of free time these days. Seems most of my friends have been busy or otherwise working opposite schedules so I have been being a bad boy staying up to all hours of the night. One of the bonuses of staying up is that I get to chat with Chris from Brisbane. He is usually coming home from work at the same time I come home when I close at Disneyland late. We usually chat online, and he's actually called me as well with his phone card. I need to get a phone card to return the favor because lord knows how much it would cost if I called him direct. It sucks that we live so far apart - I think we would have a lot of fun if we got to hang out.

I think the important thing I need to do with my free time is to not waste it by just vegging out or sleeping in to all hours of the day (Ok, I am still working on the sleeping in thing haha). It is difficult because of the hours that I work. This time of the year I open early on the weekends and then close late on Monday thru Wednesday, which doesn't leave much time to get projects done. It is almost like I should take an extra day off sometime and work around the house - assuming I don't just sleep in and be lazy.

On the Club Josh front, I have found a new hosting service Text Drive. They have a package called Mixed Grill where you can get 2GB of hosting space plus a 9GB storage area, and a hosted application suite called Joynet. All for the low price of $499 lifetime! That means in two years or so it will have paid for itself - and it will allow me to move stuff like Charo and Doingworld to their own domains.

Thanks to my new pro account on Flickr, I have posted the long awaited Hong Kong 2005 and Japan October 2004 Non-Disney photos. I am still not 100% happy with Flickr since I had to try and use the Uploader program several times for it to take my photos. I also don't like sending people to other sites, but I think I can work around that and have the slideshow pop open a new window when people select it.

Still to come: Europe 2002, Japan March 2004, and Boston 2005. Of course, just on the horizon is the Australia trip so there are those photos to look forward to as well. I do not have any plans to migrate Charo or Gorn photos to the site. The Disney photos are also staying put since I like the way they are organized here (well mostly).

Speaking of Charo - This fan of Charo's named David has been in touch with me on and off for the last year or so, and he finally got to meet Charo yesterday. He then left me a message saying that I should expect a call from her. When I got home today, there was a voicemail from her husband Kjell! I was floored. I am hoping to get in touch with them soon. David has hopefully opened the door to getting an up to date and accurate list of appearances for all of her fans. Stay tuned!!

One other little nugget: I went up to the Walt Disney Studios to the Welcome Home Celebration for Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. It was mostly a bust but I did get to score an Oswald button and then go over to Imagineering and pick up a cool jacket I had been lusting after. I was with Daniel and we decided to go to lunch at Bob's Big Boy on Riverside Drive in Burbank (right near Warner's and NBC Studios). I mentioned to Daniel that David Lynch likes to eat there (see older entries for more). So the lady who was seating us asked us if we wanted to wait for a booth or if we wanted to sit at the counter with Drew Carey. I thought it was a joke, but lo and behold, there was Drew Carey reading the paper enjoying a nice meal. Daniel sat 3 seats down and I was four down. It was a fun time!

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.

I was bowled over by the number of calls, letters, emails, and shout outs sent my way for number 33. It was much appreciated and for those of you who sent in your regards I thank you very much and it meant it a lot to me.

The actual day was fairly low key - a very typical Thursday just lounging around with Daniel and some shopping. The rest of the weekend was pretty action packed.

First up on Friday a few people from work along with Tiffany and Tyger came over to the Lost Bar to toast Alisa and my birthdays (hers was Saturday). The Blue Dolphin was the drink o' da night and I would have stayed to get more liquored up, but I had to open the Little Buzz Ride Saturday morning.

After work I took a disco nap and then headed up to Sherman Oaks to visit Cory. He was throwing his annual Halloween party and I hadn't seen him really since around A-V Day in 2003. I met some cool people at the party and of course it was great to see Cory and Peter again.

Again, I didn't get to sleep in since Sunday I got to train my first set of new hires in over 2 years. I was excited because my trainees are great fun people and I look forward to finishing the training next weekend (don't ask for some reason Day 2 is 6 days later!).

In the meantime, the last two days I have had the privilege to help train a group of people from the Disneyland Paris resort at Buzz. Anthony is the other trainer, but we basically are tag-teaming the group. There are some cultural wackiness that occurs when two Americans hang out with three French and one Scot. Tom who is one of the Attraction developers from DLP was only there for one day and then went off to the Studios for meetings. Fred, Sylvain, and Aurélien are with us for the duration and are a great source of fun and reminds me why I love to train.

The best part is that all I need to do is make contacts with someone at Walt Disney World, and I will know people from all of the Disney Resorts Worldwide!

It's like an Oscar, but for Disneylanders. Here are pics of me holding trophy and the trophy itself:

Well I survived the big anniversary. Today was the 50th Anniversary of one of my favorite places on earth - work! It was awesome being in the park today and seeing a sea of people wearing the golden Mickey ears that were handed out at the main entrance. Us cast members received a bag of goodies including a souvenir map, collectable pin, a book from the head of Parks and Resorts telling us in pictures how important we are (and featured several of my friends!), and our own set of Mickey Ears.

We also scored free cupcakes, snacks and drinks as well as a chance to get a special edition of our work newsletter, The Disneyland Line, which featured all of our names in it! Last, but not least, I also got to pose with a copy of the new Window on Main Street - dedicated to us the cast. It was nice to feel appreciated, and all the managers looked sharp in their formal business wear - adding to the meaning of the day.

I watched the ceremony with Art Linkletter, Gov. Arnold, Bob Iger, and Michael Eisner which was nice. Art really stole the show and proved he still is capable of hosting things even at 93. Diane Disney Miller was there as well putting the final exclamation point on the happiest homecoming on earth - after all it was her and her sister Sharon who led to Walt dreaming up Disneyland.

At 4:45pm, as I was leaving, they re-broadcast Walt's dedication speech at the exact time he delivered it 50 years ago. It is something to remember that I was in Town Square, 50 years to the minute later.

All in all, a very cool day at work! Who knows, maybe I'll be there for the 100th Anniversary when I am 82.

I somehow managed to survive the Fourth of July at the park. The last few years, it hasn't really been an issue with me. People always say that the Fourth is one of the busiest days at the park. Also, people were telling me due to the three day weekend, the Third would actually be the busiest day. Man were they wrong.

It certainly was the roughest night I ever had dealing with guests. Now mind you, I have been working at the park for almost four years now and have had more than a few guests get into my face about one thing or another. This year, with the new fireworks and the special patriotic finale, the guests were adamant about watching the fireworks wherever they want. It really is a tough thing to deal with - think about it. Guests pay to get in the park (and on this day especially) to see the fireworks and feel they should see them wherever they can find a good spot. On the other hand, we need to keep certain areas clear for through traffic so that people don't get log jammed and then start to panic. Needless to say, guest control is one of my least favorite parts of the job.

Other than that, work has been going well. I didn't ever hear back on some positions I applied for, but then again there might be more opportunities down the road.

Also, Vance and I have bought our tickets to Hong Kong! We also scored tickets to the park the day after opening (the first full day of operation), but we still have an outside chance of scoring tickets to one of the preview days that will be happening while we are there.

California has had 4 moderate to large earthquakes in the last five days, and I have felt a grad total of zero. I feel so left out! Two of which I can understand - Tuesday's 7.0 and Today's 6.4 quakes off of Eureka coastline were a bit out of the "Did you feel it?" range for So Cal. However Sunday's 5.2 and today's 4.9 centered out near Palm Springs was certainly felt by many in the LA area, just not me.

Sunday, I was at work walking around the outside getting ready for the onslaught of guests. One of my CM's told me that our Photo Edit position was rolling back and forth, but sadly I didn't feel a thing. Today, Daniel and I were at IKEA picking up a few odds and ends for his new place when the temblor hit. Mom even gave me a ring to see if I was OK and if I felt it, but alas, I felt nothing in the sea of Billy bookcases and odd plastic stackable furniture. I also wonder if the fact I had to pee really bad at the time had anything to do with my lack of focus on outside events.

Today, I also did a bit of Father's day shopping in the park and rode the newly-enhanced Jungle Cruise. I certainly think of all the minor touch-ups to the rides in preparation for the park's 50th anniversary, this one is the most successful.

After a year of preparation and lots of paint, the Disneyland 50th anniversary celebration is underway. It certainly is a step up from the 45th anniversary, though I still think they should have ahead a dream machine giving out prizes like they did for the 30th anniversary. However there is still so much to see and do, and if you haven't been to the park in awhile I think you will be very pleased.

The fireworks are simply amazing. Just be sure to get your spot in the hub early, since I would imagine it to be packed to the gills. Of course there is the little Buzz ride which has been popular with the guests and the cast. The Parade of Dreams is good too. I am not a big parade fan, but the floats are all dazzling, and despite the fact it re-uses a Brother Bear song, the music is good too (though not nearly as catchy as 'Style'.

The past week I have seen numerous celebrities come and go on the ride including Jodie Foster, Sean Astin, Jenna Elfman, Kelsey Grammar, Tim Allen, Michael Eisner, Jim Belushi, and Christina Aguilera. All of them were having a great time and were in good moods. Part of me wishes I could have the Gorn somewhere so I could have them pose for photos, but alas, to us celebrities are just like everyone else - guests who are there to have fun - and not to be harassed.

On Tuesday, I bought the limited edition CD box set of Disneyland music and am currently converting it to my iPod so I can listen to it on the go. It is truly an amazing collection!

I've finished my first two Netflix movies, and will post reviews soon!

Today was the grand opening of the new Buzz ride that I have been working on for 4 months. It is such a nice feeling to be able to be part of something special like this. I went into the park for the opening ceremony and saw most of the people I worked with on the project and then saw the suitably cheesy opening ceremony. The had a parade of "Little Green Men" consisting of a bunch of elementary school kids from Green elementary in Lynwood, CA. They followed Buzz from the castle down Main Street and then to the front of the ride where they promptly blew up the front door. Good fun!

Personally, since the ride has open to the public for the soft openings, it has been quite the adjustment. I think I tend to forget the reason why I like working at Disneyland and it is to meet and talk to people from around the world. From the dorky Annual passholder who is happy he just topped out at 1.2 million points or the couple with a wheelchair who I helped out at the exit to email their photos at the end of the night.

I also am getting into the groove with my lead skills. I have managed to rub a few people the wrong way (its not personal I promise!) and others I have found to be people of the caliber I sorely have been missing from my life for the past few years. So it’s a mixed bag. I can only do better as I learn the ins and outs of the crew and hopefully there are great things to come.

In travel news, I just got my plane tickets to see Nathan in Boston come April. I'm excited on many levels. First, A real chance to hang out with Nathan for more than a few hours at a time (actually probably the longest contiguous time hanging out together will we survive?), and second, a chance to visit a new city and a new state! Think of all those cool Gorn shots in Salem, Plymouth and Boston!

Well my four month so vacat..er..test and adjust assignment is over, and I am now focusing on the opening of our new attraction here at the park. It is always exciting to be in on the ground floor of something, and when it is very popular and has a huge impact on guests, well it is what I live for at the park.

We have had a few bumps along the way, but I think all new attractions do at some point. You can't expect everything to go 100% smoothly on the first day. OK you can hope, but just don't expect it.

I am happy now I am going to be working some more evening shifts. It will be nice to stay up late and sleep in till 11. Ahh, the good life. I will also be getting to go back to Dad's work on Fridays - so some semblance of normalcy will prevail again.

I am also looking forward to working on the ol' Club Josh again. It has been months since I have done anything. I noticed Yahoo celebrated their 10th Anniversary last week. Sheesh, Club Josh turns 10 in June. I coulda been a multi-billion dollar corporation (actually at one point I did interview with them) - then again, it wouldn't be so much fun either I suspect.

Finally a day off. It was rather nice I'll say. I woke up early-ish because thats what my body has been doing over the last week. After talking on the phone with some friends, I promptly fell asleep at 1pm and didn't get up until 8. Man did it ever feel so good.

Tomorrow is catch up on things around the house day. Some cleaning here and there, some grocery shopping, a run to Office Depot for some more supplies for my notebook at work.

One more week to go before life begins to return to normal. Part of me is looking forward to the break, but as with all rewarding projects, I am sure it is just a matter of time before I get chomping at the bit to do something like it again.

I was glad things went smoothly this weekend (ok save for one item), it is a nice feeling when three months of work survives relatively intact after the first big test.

I finally bit the bullet and ordered a laptop. I decided that if I really wanted a laptop that I shouldn't just get what I could afford at the local Big Box outlet and be happy with that. I decided to take that price range and scour online to see if I could get something better. Sure enough I did - although it is refurbished. It is through the Dell Outlet. Some of my friends have had good luck through them so here is hoping! Once it arrives, I will go into great detail about specs et. al.

This morning I got fed up. I think it was from trying to remember some password to some online site somewhere. So this morning, I have been going through them all and deleting profiles and usernames. Some of the sites, I don't even go to anymore, and others I waste way too much time on. I think this will force me to work on my own site. Or then again, I might just regress and create all new accounts. So at least for the time being it is buh-bye to all the non-Club Josh web sites.

More technology news: GoDaddy has some really good rates for a Virtual Dedicated Server. Me thinks that I will be going that route once a) I backup Club Josh locally, and b) Get everything re-done, organized and ready-to-go. I have said it many times before, but I am really not looking forward to re-doing all the photo galleries.

Work has been really good lately. Hard to believe we are on the home stretch. For me the big test is this coming weekend. I have great confidence in my abilities, but I just hate it when someone points out something obvious within five minutes. I always feel like a dork, oh well I guess its ok to feel like what you are.

I almost had one back last Thanksgiving, but now it has come to a head. I really need it over the next couple of weeks as we get closer and closer to our opening. I am still stuck in the sub-$1000 category, but the good news is that those computers are even better than the ones that were available in November.

I haven't had a chance to do much socially. I missed Mandel's birthday bash and I am (gasp) going to have to miss Anti-Valentine's Day next weekend. Too much to do on the ride as we race towards to completion. At least tomorrow I get a nice day off to go shopping for a laptop, and to recharge the batteries for the weekend's 72 hours of fun.

I will admit that some things in the last few days have really wrinkled my nose in the project, but when you are so focused on a goal, and you have complete confidence and faith in the people around you, there are a few moments of simmering, and then you move on - otherwise the whole effort of the last two months will get undermined.

I suspect that this month will be lite on the updates (since it is already the 9th and this is the first one of the month). I will try and shoot a flare up when I can.

For the first time in 5 years, I have a new pair of glasses. Hard to believe, but my prescription only changed slightly and it was for the better. I think the doctor wanted my left eye to do some more work, At first, I it took some getting used to the glasses, but now I am fine. I have 30 days at Lenscrafters to take them back if I don't like them. The best part is now I have an up to date prescription, I can go shopping for a cool pair of Disney approved sunglasses. Me thinks that statement might contradict itself, but we shall see. I haven't had sunglasses since mine were scratched back at Lake Mead a few years ago. Gosh since I the summer before I started working at the park.

Other stuff going well. I had a nice relaxing weekend for the first and last time for a while. It is crunch time at the attraction as we gear up for all the final this and that and training begins in the future. I am feeling a lot of pressure, mainly because my rear is on the line since I have been working on most of the training outlines and such. On the other hand, it is a great feeling to have been able to contribute so much. I can't wait to see the fruits of my labor bear out.

One of the things that amazes me is the people who posted construction photos of the attraction. I hope legal gets down on them hard and finds out who did it. I admit before I worked at the park, I enjoyed any peak that I could get. Now that I work there, I see the other side of the coin. We are all trying so hard to give the best show for the guest when we open. When those pictures get posted, it is almost like getting caught with your pants down in the dressing room.

On a programming note, I watched the Discovery Channel show: Pompeii: Last Day. The main problem I have with most of these Discovery Events is that the show is really 75 minutes when you take out commercials and recapping and reusing footage over and over. There also wasn't anything really new revealed. I think the whole thing would have worked better as a movie rather than a narrated mess. Then for the last 40 minutes, it feels like you are watching something else as all of a sudden you are watching some lady interview Italian Volcano experts on the dangers of Vesuvius. All in all a mixed bag. To think I have been drawn in by the buildup since December - that’s what I get for believing hype.

Just yesterday, I had read an article about Johnny Carson writing jokes for Letterman. I was happy, hoping that maybe, just maybe he might make another Cameo on the show soon. Then today, the other shoe dropped as it was announced that he had passed away. I always liked The Tonight Show when he hosted it. Despite who was on the show, I always tried to catch the monologue and was always po'ed when it was another repeat cuz he was on vacation (then again that was better than suffering through a guest host). No one has ever come close to recreating the same sense of atmosphere on their show. Letterman never tried, and kudos to him for sticking to his style. The others who emulated never got it because they lacked the same charisma and charm that he had.

The Mini Mac went on sale yesterday, and for the first time since being in Cartography class at UCD, I want a Mac. I know Andy made the switch awhile ago. I still think I would rather have a new Windows based laptop, but the software titles that Apple has produced are really awesome. Now if I can get a copy of Dreamweaver for the Mac, the decision becomes even more difficult.

I watched A View to a Kill the other night. I figured since I had picked it up last weekend and I hadn't seen it in forever, it was a good way to kill some time. I was surprised how much I liked it, despite Roger Moore's advanced age. Next up Ring 0: Birthday - no where as creepy as the first two. Call me crazy, but I think Ring 2 permanently scarred me, and this one was enjoyable, but still a bit of a let down. Finally, I picked up the 40th anniversary edition of Mary Poppins. The film has never looked better. In my other DVD, there was a glaring difference between the "effects shots" and the regular ones. In this DVD, they are closely matched, and unless you are looking for it, you can't really tell.

For some reason, I love Mary Poppins more and more as the years progress. I think it is because it was Walt's crowning achievement, and (as they explain on the DVD) was the result of Walt's ability to get the best from all those around him. I think it also inspires me to give my best when I am at work. Just to make him proud.

The Michael Palin DVDs have arrived. It takes about 2 hours per disc to convert to NTSC Region 1 backups. Trying to fit a double layered DVD onto a single layer DVD is a bit of a pain. For the most part the picture quality is fine, but when you have to compress near 50%, any high-speed motion (or rain as it turns out) gets real messy. As for the program, it really is quite good. I think it is better than the Sahara series (probably due to more interest on my part in the Himalaya than the Sahara. I also think the music in this series is better than the last few. I only wish that Nepal and the neighboring region wasn't having so much difficulty with the Maoists, I certainly would like to travel there.

In web news: I think I finally nearing the last corner with the last web