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First Park: Knott's Berry Farm First Coaster: Monte First New Credit: Monte First Food: Buffet @ WCB

I learned why I can't "join" certain groups on here. It's because I'm already in them.

Yes. Have you ridden a roller coaster named Roller Coaster?

Today, I learned how to spell "Schwarzkopf". It's funny how I can read things over and over again and still read them incorrectly each time!

Glory Days -- Bruce Springsteen

Samsung SGH-A707 Cingular

I found the Easter egg!

The weatherman says we are in "meteorological spring". (Try saying that out loud. I can't.) Thank goodness! Winter is my least favorite month in terms of weather. Edit: LOL! Season, not month.

I love ham. It's my favorite lunchmeat. But today, I had a slice of rosemary-coated ham in my sandwich. It was not good. It was slightly "interesting", but I did not really like it, and I could barely even taste the ham flavor.

Today, I learned how to spell "kookaburra". I don't remember ever seeing the word in print before. When searching, I spelled it "kukuburra". When I was younger, I thought kookaburras and cuckoos were related, which was confusing.

01. Enchanted Forest 02. Seaworld San Diego 03. Disneyland 04. Disney's California Adventure 05. Six Flags Discovery Kingdom 06. Oaks Amusement Park 07. Silverwood Theme Park 08. Gilroy Gardens Family Theme Park 09. Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk 10. California's Great America 11. Wild Waves Theme Park 12. Remlinger Farms 13. Fun Forest Amusement Park 14. Clark County Fair 15. Pixieland Amusement Park 16. Oakland Zoo 17. Fun Town 18. Funderland Amusement Park 19. California State Fair 20. Traintown 21. Puyallup Fair 22. Knott's Berry Farm 23. Adventure City 24. Scandia Amusement Park 25. Six Flags Magic Mountain 26. Tigard Balloon Festival

I must confess...I have done it. After I saw it, I just had to.

Recently I got the idea that Pinfari came up with the "Zyklon" model name as a play on the word "Cyclone". Then today I learned that Zyklon actually means cyclone. So I was even more right than I knew! lol It's nice to know they had a good reasoning behind a name that could potentially seem insensitive. This addresses that issue.

14/20. I'm not a know-it-all after all!

I'm just wondering which of my posts tipped the Donkey Fairy off that I'm a know-it-all! Edit: Just kidding.

Fears, & things that 'disturb' or horrify me Pool drains & some other drains Cold water & drowning Dangerous fires & dying in a fire Graphic and/or disturbing photos, especially of humans Death & Hell The otter exhibit at the zoo (drains), the penguin exhibit at the zoo (water & possibility of drains) Severe pain, severe illness, severe injury, debilitation My future Dead insects; insects, especially large ones; touching pictures of insects Sewer rats; animals in unwanted/inappropriate places (i.e. infestations) Steep drop-offs; narrow balconies/lookouts Negative feelings, extreme stress Metal pipes; turbines & large propellers; medium & large fans Small, run-down or old-fashioned motel showers (i.e. Motel 6) Anything unpredictable in a motel bathroom (water temperature or pressure, fan sounds, reliability of shower components) Nightmares Swiss cheese; groups of asymmetrical/non-alike holes, i.e. in cupcakes or in mud on the ground Some burned objects, especially toys, and images thereof; some otherwise ruined objects (i.e. in a shipwreck) Creepy museum exhibits (worn-out, disturbing, involves water or air in an upredictable way) Entrapment in a confined space Objects moving on their own (i.e. rocking chairs) Eerie images; hauntings & images, stories or experiences thereof Watching injections, incisions or surgical procedures

Jet black.

Okay, first of all, not everyone is in a "perfect" mood all the time. Sometimes people act just nicely and politely enough to get by, without being "exemplary" or going out of their way. Second, not everybody can do something in the "perfect" way. Maybe they need more practice, or maybe they mistakenly think another way is better. Maybe they're forced to make decisions that aren't ideal because they're trying to be quick. So I think it would make sense that automatically expecting everything to be exactly like you want it to be is not really reasonable. It could happen most of the time, but a rare and relatively minor exception should seem understandable. Now, let's think of some positive ways to handle situations where something isn't done "perfectly". --Just accept and forget it. Seriously, you'll be surprised at how little you care after you're out of the heat of the moment. Now aren't you glad you didn't voice your complaints out loud? After all, it wasn't worth it. --Be polite to the person who caused the problem, so you can make fun of them later without feeling guilty. I've done this SO many times myself. It really works. Sure, you may have been inconvenienced slightly, but instead of getting mad about that, why not just joke about how dumb the person had to be in order to cause that? You're basically trading one emotion (anger) for another, more positive and benign one (amusement). --Pretend the person is stupid/oblivious, in a nice way. "I'm sure you didn't think of this, but it would help if..." Maybe they really didn't think of it, or maybe they didn't think you would see it as a problem. If you tell them, you'll give them a chance to apologize and maybe even start to help solve the problem personally. --State the problem in a polite, friendly manner. Doing this can provoke the person to start apologizing and helping to solve the problem, which in turn will make you feel better because you've affirmed your conflict resolution skills. In conclusion, it is not helpful to have an "attitude". It is helpful to be polite no matter what happens. It makes you look better and it may motivate the other person to be more polite in response than they would've been if you were rude.

Three duckies!

Everything outside has been wearing a beautiful blanket since yesterday afternoon.

I always love going over the rankings. No matter where a coaster is ranked, there's always something to make me feel good about seeing it there. If it's ranked highly, I'm glad because I look forward to riding it or because I love it. If it's ranked low, I'm glad because I appreciate the consensus that there are many better coasters out there for me to discover. And if I've ridden it and I don't think it's that bad, that makes the low ranking even more reassuring in that regard. If it's ranked differently than where I'd put it, it makes me wonder about what other "surprise" coasters might be out there. It just shows how many different opinions go into this. I mean, even if two people have the same general mindset, they're still going to apply it differently. On next year's poll I might actually put Tremors above Timber Terror, as my opinions on them have shifted recently. Maybe another visit will help set that straight.

--What are your initial thoughts? I can't wait until this is implemented! --Can you think of anything else we could be offering? Maybe you could somehow implement the 'meet-up' thread and/or calendar that's been suggested in the past. I'm not saying you'd have to be a Premium member in order to meet up, mind you. But maybe it could be 'tested' in the exclusive forum to work out any initial concerns or problems. --Is this something that interests you? Yes, I would definitely join! --Why would you NOT be interested in this? We all need to be careful to stay friendly and welcoming to those who don't become Premium members. I definitely trust TPR members to do this, but I needed to point it out anyway, because I've been burned in the past by exclusivity. So, it's nothing personal that I'm bringing it up. --Any additional feedback you can give us based on the information you see here. I just want to put in a vote for a Northwest event, as unlikely as that may be!

$140 $85 in iTunes giftcards Camel Snuggie with reading light Butterfly pin Ugly red sweater (wrong size) Carnival of Carnage by ICP (CD) Ringmaster by ICP (CD) Riddle Box by ICP (CD) The Great Milenko by ICP (CD) Behind the Paint (autobiography of Violent J) Roller Coaster (video that looks/sounds really stupid) Salvation is a Deep Dark Well by The Builders & The Butchers (CD) Candy (Dutch licorice, Sky Bar, cappuccino chocolate sticks, ladybug milk chocolate, Scandinavian chocolate bars, Moose Munch) I gave: Beastie Boys CD Andrea Boccelli CD Shirt Slippers Squeaky stuffed squirrel Hershey Kisses A fat check

Straight mustard. It's so cool, and it's nice to eat a big dollop at once instead of worrying about that line between getting enough flavor and totally overpowering your sandwich. btw, I'm no connoisseur. I only really like "yellow", as in the plain bright yellow kind.

Yes. Does anyone in your household own a Snuggie?