TheRapidsNerd

^^ Aww thanks man. I appreciate it. Lord only knows what I'm in for with the girlfriend. ^Hey thanks! Juliana? Oh man! Tell me she doesn't work there. If I did see RIP's woman, I'd have said hi. Amen brother! Carrabba's is awesome. My leftover lasagna got devoured about an hour ago. Carabba's. Always a good decision.

^ Hey Thanks! Wait, you did WHAT?!? Oh wow! Dole Whip Float > Key Lime Pie Happy Birthday to you as well! Yeah, there aren't many pictures, but if folks take the time to read the text (granted it's a lot) there are some humorous bits.

Originally, I wasn't going to put up a PTR or otherwise, but the events of the day seemed worthy of sharing. So sit back, relax, and have a laugh at one of my more memorable birthdays. Today is my birthday. I turned 33, and for the first time in my life, I feel something of an adult. I feel a bit more stable, established, and pretty comfortable in my own skin. It's odd, because inside, I still feel around my early 20's, but with more life experience. Too bad my jokes haven't improved with age as well. Anyway, the original plan for the day was sleep late and play tourist at the US Space and Rocket Center, then meet girlfriend and parents at Carrabba's for dinner, then gifts and cake at the parent's abode. Like I said, that WAS the plan. My girlfriend called last night saying she had strep throat, but was coming anyway. Bless her heart she didn't want to miss this day. I quickly talked her out of it, emphasizing rest was more important and that we'd celebrate later. She grudgingly agreed. *sigh* major bummer and no romance for this nerd on birthday night. Crap! I woke up this morning, still bummed about my girlfriend's illness and found it was very dreary and cold. Do I really want to get out in this? No. It's just not the day for the space center. So I slept late, worked on a coaster model, posted the vid on YouTube, and had a lazy day, but still in a bummed mood. Got dressed for dinner around 4 pm to meet the parents at Carrabba's at 5. Curiously, I wanted one glass of wine to go with the always spectacular lasagna. That's rare, because I'm not much of a drinker. Upon getting to the restaurant, I didn't see the folks, so I was seated and waited. Saw dad walking across the restaurant to the host stand, flagged him down, and found their table. We ordered dinner and a bottle of wine, a 2006 Gabbiano Chianti (yes I though of THAT movie and chuckled). When the wine came, I was offered the sample to test. Now I'd SEEN what do, but didn't know WHAT exactly it was I was doing or why. Here's the transcript of those moments in my head: "Ok, I gotta look at it, smell it, swirl it around, and taste it. Looking at it...yep looks like wine in a glass. What am I looking for in this? Alright I guess I'll smell it now that everyone's watching. Yeah, smells fruity and stuff, like wine. I really have no clue what I'm doing, but I guess I look like I do. Looked at it, smelled it, ok, I'll taste it. Hmmm...smooth taste, not harsh or bitter. I like this. Oh, they're waiting on me to say something here. Uh, ok, I'll just smile and nod approval. That should work." The rest of the meal was just small talk and poor dad getting attacked by food splatter on his new shirt. He just couldn't win. While feeling bad for him, my attention was drawn by the inpending birthday singing that follows a public birthday meal. I don't hate it enough to claw my eyes out, but if I can sidestep it, it's not a heartbreaker. Thankfully, Carrabba's did something really cool. Instead of a half hearted song sung by spaghetti splattered servers , the wait staff autographed the menu and put a special page in it with my name and a birthday wish. What a great thing! It really made me smile! Yes there is a pic in here of that. Awesome! On the way out, I thanked the host who seated me for a terrific birthday dinner. He says "It was your birthday? How old are you?" I told him 33. He says "That's really wierd because I seated you at table #33 when you arrived." We both laughed. Somewhere, Rod Serling was too. I snapped a few pics on the way out of the restaurant and headed back to the parent's house for Key Lime Pie and gifts. The pie was the second craving of late (the first was the lasagna) and it was just right. Not coma inducing sweet like a traditional cake, but just right and flavorful. We got back and opened gifts, including some trip cash, a medusa lamp, and THE SAME CHIANTI from Carrabba's! Dad found a bottle of it on the way home and it was cheaper at the grocery store! Yes! Told him I was happy he got a good deal on it and we both laughed again. Finally we come to the happy birthday song and my camcorder's doom. We took pictures, played that extremely annoying candle that screaches a tinny version of happy birthday worse than an 80's cell phone, and started to film the big blowout. Right at the end of the song, the camcorder slipped out of dad's hands and smacked the linoleum harder than a prize fighter after a good right hook. It wasn't quite dead, but the buttons and internal chip were scrambled. Could only turn on. No menu access, nothing. Poor camcorder. The video being shot at that time was corrupted and wouldn't open, though the evening's pictures did survive. What follows is the LAST ever from my camcorder. Humorously, I had been eyeing an HD version and been looking for a good excuse to upgrade. Well, the powers of the universe gave me a big 10/4 on that upgrade. Just bizarre. Anyway, to wrap up this epic, what started out as a crappy birthday really turned into something nice and entertaining. I enjoyed this one much and was glad to share it with my folks. Glad to share it with those of you who read this too. And now, the pictures... And I'll end with the smooth and creamy pie, one of my fav desserts. I love eating pie. Thank you for reading my ramblings. It's much appreciated. Me. Same bad jokes, but now with more hair, and a sport coat. Beware of low flying pigs and frozen hell... As I've gotten older, I've really come to appreciate the gesture behind a gift, more than what or how much received. Simply put, I'm grateful to be thought of. Words to live by. This was just a great idea. It still makes me smile. I did enjoy this wine so. I think you know this place by now and the Chianti is Lector approved.

(laughing) Yeah, overdeveloped and redundant source siting. Captain Obvious strikes again. Hey, I get a ribbing from Elissa AND Wes. Looks like it's gonna be a good day after all. Thanks you two. Just realized this was post #800. Another milestone, another good thread. Nice!

While true, I'm gonna miss the warmth and charm of Camp Snoopy, especially the Kite Eating Tree, and Mighty Axe. Those were just cool creative themes. Anybody headed to MOA soon? I'd like to gently request pics if time, etc, allows. Also curious to see the new train bodies for Ripsaw/Orange Streak.

A Rob Roskopp Tech Deck mini skate board and some ramp thing with grind rails. $14 to relive my skater days in the 80's well spent.

Anybody know if one of those UFO slide towers with the rotating raft dock has been built? It was called SplashTacular at IAAPA. Sure it's gimmicky, but it looks like fun. The pic is from RCPro btw.

On a roller coaster? Get outta here! Aircraft skylift. Cherry pickers lower. Too wordy. "The operator heard an unusual noise and stopped the ride, per their training." Also too wordy. "We'll throughly investigate and talk with the authorities." Yes, I'm feeling picky today. Gripes aside, glad that everyone was ok on the e-stop.

Reaching for dice.... Well, I do live in Alabama after all.

^ Wood it be fair to say a boat-load of trouble? Or am I just barking up the wrong tree?

He could walk and run very well when he was alive. Wore out a couple wheels in fact. That's just standard fair on male hamsters. Such a sweet little guy too. They all were. I miss them. R&E, you two got me thinking about cruising and cruise ship waterslides with those great pics. That really does look like some fun. And the Carrabba's in that grocery store was just plain wierd. Thanks for putting those up.

Seats are on the drop tower along with...uh....why does the top of the tower look like one of those holiday gift bags with the tissue paper? Kinda like what they did with Mystery Mine for Sponge Bob, and the fountain for Avatar/Splat O Sphere. Rip out something old and put in something new. Yes, a grand RCT tradition. Hmm, they might be in a quandry though. No tin lizzies or shoot the chutes to take out,like the other parks. They do have a log flume, but it's well established that that isn't going anywhere and the other park's log flumes haven't been on the chopping block of late. And the fresh mulching really is quite lovely.

Looking it up and will post link. One sec...Aha! here it is... http://carnival.com/CMS/Static_Templates/Promos/evolutionsoffun/water_splash.aspx I dig WaterWorks.

Know what you meant, but that's just funny!

Nope. He's just...gifted...

I used the drop tower seats as a guess at the proportion. Stacks pretty tall. The place needs a rapids though...

Enjoyed this TR and got a little curious about Carnival and Disney cruises. Aww, the pet pics make me miss my RatTums and HamTums. Piglet - Hairless Hamster Oreo - Teddy Bear Hamster Marshal - Hairless Rat...Tums

I had a few good laughs out of the picture captions. Thanks for another great TR. Glad you're feeling a bit better.

That's pretty cool man! I was looking today at some of the cruise ship slides (Carnival and Disney) and for what they are, they're pretty good. Carnival's Water Works area is a neat idea and I dig the higher, twistier slide that previous incarnations. It's not AMAZING, but it is pretty cool. New Carnival Water works Slides (1 twisty and 2 racing). Old Carnival Slide.

You know what would taste great right now? A tall cool refreshing Vault Icee. Yeah, that would be great... Vault is a hybrid soda/energy drink (kinda like a Mellow Yellow, or Mountain Dew, but smoother) that tastes pretty good IMHO. For some inexplicable cosmic reason, Vault Icee is even better. They just magically appeared at Target stores a few months back and then recently dissappeard. Several of us (Robb included) discovered Vault Icee about the same time. Been a bit of a running gag ever since. Hope that helps some, Ed.

^You know, I've never tried that, but it sure makes me want a McDonald's hot fudge sundae right now. Heh, you learn all kinds of things around TPR.

Not dumb at all. There's nothing wrong with being compassionate. A lot of people were affected very deeply by this. This was a big shock. Plus, we all deal with death in our own way and at our own pace. We do heal and move on eventually, just our hearts tell us when. Hang in there man.

Hopefully it won't be a huge let-down... A 2. I do not blow up. Any word when they'll start painting Orange Streak and Fairly Odd Coaster? Looks like they're almost if not completely done with Jimmy Neutron. I'm also a bit curious as to the crystal that will go on Tak Attack.

No, no. You're absolutely right. Just everybody doesn't seem to like him as much in the DU days as they do in his later days from what I've seen.

Looks like a great couple days. Thanks for the pics. That gave me a good laugh.