terrancew_hod

This is my baby. It's a 2005 BMW 325xi - all wheel drive, with the winter package (yeah yeah why did i buy that in Miami? I needed them driving over the mountains in New Mexico and the midwest in the winter!) These pictures were back in November 2004, when I lived for a few months on South Beach before I took an 8 month sabbatical across the country. I use it to "haul a$$" down the turnpike everyday to work. I did all kinds of "oohs" and "ahhs" when I lifted the hood. I didn't find out until recently that the car battery is actually in the trunk! The headlights get automatically cleaned when i clean the windshield. Here's the inside. It has a connector for my ipod, automatic/assisted gear shift, heated seats, and BMW Assist console which I used a few times for flat tires... won't people in florida secure their loads! This is what people see in their rear view mirror before I pass them. I added a roof rack to the car before I left town.

I have my eight glasses when I'm doing my intense weight training, maintaining and dieting would definitely require less. I was going to the bathroom constantly and I had stop drinking it around 3:30-4:00pm so I wouldn't be in trouble since I had a 20mile commute. But then I liked the results so I took the good with the bad. Terrance

Caffeine doesn't bother me as far as blood pressure goes. Even at one time I knew bodybuilders that drank coffee at the gym to enhance their workouts. The thing is water helps to flush out the toxins in your body, so if you drink your eight glasses it only helps your fitness routine. They do say if you drink soda or other carbonated drink you have to drink an extra glass of water to flush it out... I don't know about you but eight glasses is plenty enough! Terrance "I do drink a cup of coffee in the morning to deal with coworkers" Weaver

Class Dismissed. What I learned in class to day: K.I.S.S. Back on subject. I'll have to decide whether to ride it or not when the time comes. I rode it once and I considered the loop to be a much needed respite from the continuous assault on my back. That's all I remember about the loop. Either way I won't lose much sleep over it. I just wanna ride the Beast at night again! Terrance

OOOO! I wanna see that one! And I am glad I don't see anything like that in person. At one time I thought about joining a coaster club, but then I just go for the rides. I really can't be bothered though with how many times I've ridden any particular ride; that's too much like documenting and if anyone does programming for a living they know what I mean! Terrance

^Just a tip. Asking about the subject refers to you probably counts as a useless post. Now I know what Robb means. I would think it's probably be best not to clutter up the thread with "Is it me" or "I'll do better" posts. I'm thinking "reading it then achieving it" is the best course to follow. Terrance

^That's great to hear! Your tips sound like the same ones my friend uses. Terrance

Err, So what was your goal when you passed Wendy's and headed into Publix for your festive meal? I know a triple bacon cheese burger would have cost as much as the jar of tomato sauce. And if you ate that ground beef-tomato sauce-chili pepper- red pepper creation, the next shots would have been of the toilet paper roll! Terrance

^I talked to my friends and they thought it was a good idea. Since he lives by himself, we are also going to take turns staying with him while he's doing chemo. Zen, What exactly is "Disney GR" ? I want to check into it... hopefully it won't too depressing. Terrance

Just found out one of my good friends has Leukemia. It hasn't hit him yet, but I'm sure he won't be in good spirits this holiday season. He starts his chemo monday and won't find out his stage until then. He's mentioned to me before that he wanted to go on our yearly trip to Disneyworld for his birthday in February; so I'm going to plan on a trip there and invite all his friends (if he's up to the trip), if I gotta guilt trip them into going. I'm going to get everyone to chip in so that he has a wonderful time there. But it kinda makes any problems I had seem unimportant . Terrance

Not to be too far off topic, but I find it interesting when some straight people say that gays are recruiting... but I don't seem to remember GLAAD knocking on my door asking me to be a "child of Dorothy." I did however, on a Saturday morning while relaxing to some jazz and a cup of coffee, get a knock on the door. I opened it and there were two church ladies wanting to come in and tell me about what God has planned for me. Sounds kinda like recruiting huh? Being the devious person I am, I called to the back of the house and said "Honey, we got company!!! I'm sure my boyfriend would want to hear this." Of course it was just my roommate, listening in. The look on those ladies were priceless. Now for the kill. "Now put that thing away! We've got company!" I never saw two women run away from my doorstep so fast. My roommate said they were going to go get reinforcements and some holy water to throw on the house. They never came back. Imagine that. I could enjoy my Saturday mornings in peace. Terrance

My roommate bought a fake Christmas Tree with built in lights. He put it together and left it sitting in the corner with NO ORNAMENTS or garland. "What are you, Charlie Brown?", I said. That's a sad looking tree. Terrance

Robb, To be honest, most of the posts here are a lot better than some of the other sites I belong to. Yesterday, on another forum, I had to tell someone to type their post in a word processor then check it for spelling AND grammar. He posted basically a paragraph long run-on sentence where he said he didn't appreciate people insulting his intelligents. I said "No one's perfect, but at least look like you paid attention in school." Oh and he was over 21. I think people here post fairly decent because of the great job you and others do with the moderation of the site. Thumbs up! Terrance

Well hopefully it will be ready in time for christmas, when I'll be in town. I won't lose too much sleep though, I had more fun at disneyland . My goal is to ride Space Mountain more that once in a day. Terrance

^The drivers in Miami are a mess. Reading papers and talking on the phone are just some of the things they do while driving. I passed a lady one time driving and eating.... yeah that's pretty common, right? But she had a PLATE on her lap and cutting something up with a knife and fork! And she was steering with her knees! Yeah that's real safe in an accident! And trucks are smashing through the concrete barriers on the highways now. A fuel truck went through a barrier, down the ramp and into the street below and caught fire... luckily the fire department was around the corner and put it out else the whole block would have went up into a fireball! That day I had to take the A1A (by the beach) all the way down to miami to get home and that took about 1 1/2 hours. I also want to know how do you flip your car in an accident on a residential street? Horrible. Terrance

I think the secret to anything is living your life FOR YOU. At 16-18, you're at home and you're living you life for your parents and peers, so of course you may be not be happy with your life, whether you are straight or gay. Of course when you get out on your own, pay your own bills, etc. That is your time to find out what you like and don't like and what you want to do with your life. It's also time to figure out who your friends really are; I see so many people that hang out with people that simply bring them down. My motto: I'll care what you think once you pay all my bills. Until then you can jump off a cliff. And that basically allows me to live my life on my terms and do things that will make ME happy, and if some doesn't like it or agree, you're not going to be around me. And you won't like what I say to you to get to that point. Now once you believe in yourself (that's the FIRST THING you gotta do), find that small group of true friends that will stay by you through thick and thin. And don't pick the ones that you just see when you're out drinking. Pick the ones that will help you pick out food at the grocery store, watch TV at your house on the weekend, or the ones that will go with you to a movie, or an amusement park in another city. Not the ones that will disappear on you when they find someone. And those friends have to be people that allow you to comfortable with who you are and you don't have to lie to. Now you've got an emotional base. That will allow you to then bring in someone special. Or least weed out the ones that only waste your time. So many people, no matter the orientation, try to get that "someone special" first without having the emotional base or believe in themselves, and then they wonder why they are so depressed and hate their lives. For the "under 18" set on this site, I would try to work on believing and loving yourself first; these are the years to do it. I mean how do you expect to have others love you if you don't love yourself? If you do that now, you won't be hating yourself later. Terrance

The now defunct "Jet Scream" as Six Flags over Mid-America (now Six Flags St Louis). I was nervous getting on it because someone got on the ride with a stuffed bear and as it in the middle of the loop the bear fell out and hit the ground. All I thought was "that could be me" But I had a blast on it. Terrance

The alternator went bad on my BMW this morning. I had to call a tow truck for a jump (luckily that was covered by insurance). But the other $700 made a whoosh sound going down the toilet. Had to take the money out of part of my LA xmas trip and car insurance funds... guess the belt will have to be even tighter to make this trip... But my friend did offer me the couch to crash while I'm up there so I may take him up on the offer for a few days and save a few hundred dollars. Terrance

Chiming in late, But you can hit most of the major items in Disney in a day. I've done it several times. You just have to make use of fast pass, stay at the cheapest disney hotel that day and use the "extra magic hours" to your advantage... oh and do some speed walking. It's best to break you trip down to at least 2 days so you can slow down and enjoy some of the food and other activities scattered around, but you can rush through the park if you must. I found Friday in the offseason is a good day to do disney in one day. Usually the Magic Kingdom is the park that stays open the latest, but you can shift your day (using the extra magic hours) so that Epcot will be your last park. I usually do it in this order: In morning-- AK: Fast pass: Everest Wait in line for Kali Rapids Bathroom Go back to everest: Fast pass: Countdown to Extinction Hit the spinning coaster the Dino area Bathroom. Ride Countdown. Leave park. MGM Studios: Fast pass: Rock-N-Roller Coaster Get in line: for Tower of terror Bathroom You should be ready to ride Rock-n-Roller Coaster Get beer and something to eat... chill for a second Walk to backlot tour. You should time for that. Go to Magic Kingdom. Now this park is usually the most crowded of the parks so you may not ride too much. However, I would fast pass Splash Mountain because that line is always horrible and has the longest wait time. Go to Space Mountain and wait in that line. At least you aren't outside (in case it rains) and you can lean against the wall. Buzz Light year--if you feel like shooting things. Bathroom Tomorrowland Transit.. If you want to sit down for a second. You should be ready to head back towards Splash Mountain. If you still have time, then get on Thunder Mountain. Splash Mountain. You can do pirates or haunted mansion as well. Bathroom. Now head over the Epcot. By this time you'll have to fight your way out of the park because everyone is sitting down and generally blocking your path to wait for the parade. I am usually out of there before the floats come out. Now I don't feel too much at Epcot except for Mission Space, food and drinks. If you stay at a Disney Hotel and it's friday you get extra hours at Epcot (at least when I was there). I got something to eat and then waited at Soaring around 9pm (with my wristband since I was staying at a disney hotel) then it was only a 1/2 hour wait. Mission Space (you can do that one multiple times). Then do Test Track... save yourself a headache and just do the single rider line on that one. You should be able to hit other attractions at Epcot and be done by 12am to get some rest for the next day. I was able to hit most of the rides I wanted to go on including Nemo, and get something to eat as well. Then you can definitely hit IOA the next day... and you can buy a "fast pass" to bust out that day, although you may not need it in the offseason. Also keep in mind Saturday has the extra magic hours for MGM; so you can almost keep that park off your list for one day, then check out of your hotel and hit that park early in the morning and be on the road around 10am to hit IOA. Just have a foot massager handy. Terrance "I did the rush tour and have the blisters on my feet to prove it" Weaver

My friend Jody is my coaster buddy. I met her two years ago at Knotts Berry Farm, when I was driving cross country on a sabbatical. She lived in West Palm beach and we thought it was funny to meet someone from Florida all the way across the country, especially since we both were in IT and had similar interests. The next day we went to Six Flags and had a blast, although we should have rethought getting on water rides after 4pm (brrrr). Anyway, we've met up at a few other parks around the country and I gave her the whirlwind one day tour of disneyworld including a stop at the bierhaus. We're planning to go to Cedar Point next summer, hopefully she'll find another job by then . She wanted to go with me to L.A. in a few weeks but her cash flow wouldn't allow it. Terrance

^uh uh. Carrie Fisher singing at the end of the show to lyrics added to the star wars theme song. You know she was drunk and they were proping her up. I guess I didn't blame her, you had to be to endure it. I have the downloaded video somewhere; thank goodness I can fast forward it. EDIT: I remember the "underroos"... thank god my parents had the good sense not to give me any! Just like the "garanimals"! But hey those were the good old days when at least people had the imagination to come up with that junk. And where's the disco version of the Star Wars theme... you know you fans got a copy hidden somewhere! Terrance P.S. I had the "Jackson Family Honors" too, with the news clip of Elizabeth Taylor telling the rowdy audience to "shut up! shut up! shut up!!!"

Unfortunately most of the books that I read now are technical books microsoft's .NET and I will soon have to do reading on upgrading my certifications. Since I'm now managing the IT department, I gotta stay on top of that, especially since I've been working my butt off to keep current projects on track. If I do have time to read a non-technical book I like to read a humorous book on some of my plane trips to unwind. The best one was from Lady Chablis... a female impersonator that starred in "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil"... she wrote an autobiography called "Hiding my candy" and I have to say that (breep) is nuts. I was laughing on the plane reading it. Terrance

The cat figured out how to open the bathroom door. Unfortunately I was buck naked taking a shower when she did it. I dashed out and shut it right as my roommate was coming upstairs... so he got one old show.

If you think that's a problem, then you need to speak up. People call others names and think that's ok because people don't say anything. I don't use those words either, but then like Beemerboy said, I don't think there's an equivalent word for the "N" word. It also has the history of violence against blacks that goes with word--lynchings, burning crosses, draggings, rapes, etc. All that is bundled in that word. Beemerboy: I said earlier that those people in the audience should have been quiet. If I was in the audience you would have heard me yelling at the hecklers to be quiet, then demanding my money from them for ruining my night. I guess some people think it's fun to heckle the comedians to see if they can get humiliated. But I think they were also in their talking amongst themselves as well, disrupting the performance. If anyone should be suing... it should be the audience members suing the hecklers.

You gotta draw the line at racial attacks and that wasn't humiliation. That was some powerful stuff he said and he's lucky the only thing happened is that people walked out on him. There's no security between the audience and the comedian. Pay to be humiliated, maybe. Racially attacked--I want a refund.