Fun and Games Dept

Somewhere., originally uploaded by iMachias.

I was enjoying the Zen experience of my evening commute when my iPhone vibrated next to my stick shift. Amongst the eye rolls of the critics and against the letter of the law, I picked the phone up, hit the fake “Answer” button and said “hello”. It was my sister.

We exchanged some idle chit chat as well as some geek speak. During our conversation she asked me a question I have heard a lot lately, “How is the new job going?”

I answered her truthfully.

“I still can’t believe that I have this job.” She sounded worried when I said that so I reassured her with the more of the truth, “It has been my dream job since I was 20 years old, I feel like I’m solidly back on my career path for the first time in a long time and I’m making more money than I thought I would at this age. And I really love my commute.”

That last statement is in reference to what I consider the icing of this new gig. I have an hour drive in each direction on my commute. Being somewhat more of a morning person than I have in a long while, I still opt to take the fastest way possible to work in the morning: I head down the Thruway, get off at one of the many rural exits and go up the hill six miles or so to the office, which is nestled in between two small cities. The drive takes me just an hour. I have mastered navigating the small traffic jam of buses, Wal*Mart Distribution Center trucks and other commuters near the Thruway interchange. Other than that, it’s a piece of cake.

I come home at a more leisurely pace as I opt for the back roads that take me through Amish country. The ride is shorter by distance but because I can’t drive as fast, it takes a few minutes more than the morning commute. The ride is well worth it though. After some experimentation during the first week of the new job, I have come up with a route that is very rural and involves many back roads, so I see very little traffic. I do, however, see the bridge that I snapped a photo of as pictured above. This bridge is a hundred feet or so from the Montgomery-Herkimer County line. It crosses the Barge Canal (which is the modern version of the Erie Canal) and it carried the predecessor to the road I travel everyday (aptly called ‘River Road’). In the foreground is the Erie Canalway Bike Trail that crosses New York State.

While it looks like that bridge now leads to nowhere, I kind of think of it as showing me that I’m somewhere. I feel like I’m somewhere again and it’s a really good feeling.

Here’s another interesting note about my commute. As I have mentioned before, I keep a dream journal; a place where I jot down my more memorable dreams in as much detail as possible. I don’t extrapolate, I record what I dreamed of and that’s it. I was flipping through it the other night when I came across an interesting entry:

“September 19, 2003: It’s windy. Feels like mid summer. The sky is dark. I’m driving home from my job in Johnstown(?) in a black car. I’m between Canajoharie and Fort Plain. I can see the Fort Plain sign and behind it in the distance, a tornado. I pull the small car over and head for ditch as I see the tornado getting closer. The sky goes green as I jump into the ditch. The tornado passes but the car is untouched and I am safe. Then the sun came out.”

This is a little interesting, because in 2003 I never dreamed of working in Johnstown (one of the two cities that my office building is in between), nor did I drive a black car at the time (the Acura is black and was purchased in 2005) and my commute brings me between Canajoharie and Fort Plain.

Summer storm season might be interesting on my commute.

Happy., originally uploaded by iMachias.

We are back from our final day at a theme park. Today we spent the day at Epcot, concentrating mainly on the World Showcase. This is one of my favorite parts of Walt Disney World.

We decided to go clockwise around World Showcase instead of the usual counter-clockwise way, so we ended up eating lunch in China. It was quite good. Table service had no reservations left but fast food was quite acceptable and just as enjoyable so we made the best of it.

One of my favorite countries in World Showcase is that of our northern neighbor Canada. I always get chills during the circle-o-vision 360 presentation of “O Canada!” and since they updated it in 2006 it has been even more enjoyable. (Prior to 2006 the attraction played the movie dating back to the opening of the attraction back in 1982). If you have seen this attraction before, you’ll notice one scene from the first film in the second. I’ll let you figure out which one it is. The update also includes the beautiful “Canada (You’re A Lifetime Journey)”, this time sung by 2006 Canadian Idol winner Eva Avila. You can hear the track here.

We wrapped up the day by taking a spin on the GM Test Track. After the attraction you get to walk through a little showroom of the latest GM vehicles. I noted that there wasn’t any mention of the Chevy Volt; I expressed an interest to one of the attendants and she is going to e-mail me some information. Earl and I first sat in a Chevy Impala at this attraction 10 years ago and we ended up buying one shortly after our visit. Who knows, we might buy a Volt next.

All in all this has been a great trip. I feel very relaxed and centered. Tomorrow we hit the road to head back north.

Mickey!, originally uploaded by iMachias.

Look who we got to see today!

FastPass., originally uploaded by iMachias.

The Cubster has been showing me some tricks to try out when taking photos. Here’s a demonstration of what he’s been showing me. This is my photographic depiction of Disney’s FastPass. One side of the line moves along at a rapid pace, the standby side of the line waits and waits.

Here we are waiting for “Soarin'” at Epcot.

Ominous., originally uploaded by iMachias.

So yesterday we spent the day at the Magic Kingdom. We have it in our head that if you’re going to spend some time at Walt Disney World then you have to spend the first day at the Magic Kingdom and we stayed true to form to our beliefs. Let’s start at the very beginning, a very good place to start.

Even though we stayed true to form by going to the Magic Kingdom first, we mixed it up and went clockwise around the park instead of counterclockwise. This change was nice because it gave a fresh perspective on what we were seeing and experiencing.

The park was fairly crowded. We have made some noteworthy observations based on our time here thus far. First of all, there isn’t nearly as many Disney cast members waiting around to take your photo. Where there would be a dozen or so wanting to take your picture as soon as you entered Main Street; this year we didn’t see any, in fact, we saw maybe only one cast member taking photos of families with Cinderella’s Castle in the background. I found this a little surprising.

Secondly, folks that don’t speak English as their second language are surprisingly chatty in the auditorium based exhibits, i.e. “Carousel of Progress” or “The Hall of Presidents”. While the narration is playing, some folks are opting to discuss various subjects in their mother tongue at full voice. At first I thought there might be some translating going on, which I would be perfectly fine with, but three ladies to our right decided to light up their map of the Magic Kingdom with their cell phones during a surprisingly stirring presentation at “The Hall of Presidents”. I found this to be kind of rude.

All in all the day gave me a giddy feeling and I had a smile on my face the whole time. There isn’t a huge number of new things at Disney this year but many things have been refreshed and exhibits that were closed last year are open this year. We are having a grand time.

Life is good. Especially with ears on.

TTC., originally uploaded by iMachias.

Today has been a very good day. In fact, it has been a magical day.

I’ll write more tomorrow.

Celebrate Today., originally uploaded by iMachias.

We arrived at the House of the Mouse yesterday afternoon slightly ahead of schedule (thanks to traffic moving at around 80 MPH on I-95 and I-4). As per custom we were greeted warmly and enthusiastically here at the Saratoga Springs Resort and Spa. I might try out the “spa” part of the resort this week with a visit to a masseuse. We’ll have to see.

We are approaching this week with a relaxed, less frenetic pace. Our schedule isn’t filled with activities; we are being casual about the whole thing and I think the change of pace is just what we need.

I noticed the banners all say “Celebrate Today”. I’m finding it much easier to do that these days but it’s a beautiful reminder to see.

Relaxed., originally uploaded by iMachias.

We are spending the night at one of the hotels at Savannah / Hilton Head Int’l Airport. Today has been all about driving. We were on the road in Pennsylvania by 8:30; it was cold, windy and rainy all the way to Roanoke, Va. (hi Thom, did you see me waving?) where the sun came out and the temperature reached nearly 60.

The rest of the drive was quite pleasant yet uneventful. I had the opportunity to be a passenger for a little bit and it was quite nice to watch the countryside without having to concentrate on the road. I’m a bit of a control freak so I couldn’t completely relax but I simmered down as the ride went on. I finished up the driving after a pit stop in Charlotte, N.C.

We stopped at a Ruby Tuesday’s along Interstate 26 for supper. The folks down here are much nicer than many in Upstate New York. There are certain elements of southern hospitality that I enjoy.

Selkirk Shores State Park is beautiful all year ’round. Here is a picture of the hiking trail we called “treach”. We used to zoom down this trail on our bikes, with Lake Ontario several feet below us as the trail went along the bluff. We found the trail to be treacherous on bike, hence we called it “treach” for short.

That’s Lake Ontario frozen in the background. The waves could be heard way off in the distance, about 100 feet from the shore.

I received my first package in my new cubicle yesterday. It was a bit of a surprise as it was a beautiful plant from Earl, Tom and Jamie.