AllenA07

A lot of people (myself included) have become very distressed with the way the Republican party is evolving. I'll state right now that I'm a Republican, however with that said I don't go to church every Sunday (I did go as a favor to my grandparents once about 2 years ago), I don't think Creationism should be taught in our schools, don't support the 10 commandments in every classroom, don't think gay marriage is evil incarnate, I'm not strictly pro-life, and finally I believe that Global Warming is a problem. I know that many of my above statements are not where the party says I should stand, however I also know that I'm not alone in my feelings. Why am I Republican? I believe the the Constitution was put in place to limit the scope of the Federal Government and protect the rights of the states. My interpretation of the Constitution leads me to firmly believe that the founding fathers intended for the states to remain largely in control of their own dealings whereas the Federal Government would be a far less powerful body to unite the States in certain aspects. Basically I can't get myself to accept the Federal Government making decision that I firmly believe belong to the States and the States alone. For the past several years I've been a member of the Federalist Society, that group most closely resembles my views. I will be voting for McCain, however he is far from perfect in my eyes. I think that he has done very little to state any kind of a plan, any kind of direction. Furthermore McCain does seem to be somewhat out of touch with the everyday American. Obama however says things that I believe are in violation of the meaning of the Constitution and I cannot in good conscious vote for that. That is not to say that I believe McCain wont skirt the edges of what is Constitutionally permissable, I just think he'll do less damage. Every president, with the possible exception of Jefferson, has acted in manners that seem (and generally are) inconsistent with the principals behind the constitution, however in my opinion Obama is going to violate those line more then McCain, hence my vote for McCain.

If the biggest problem that SFMM has is that their temperature gauge is wrong, the park is doing just fine. Really I think this is a bit nitpicky (is that a even word?) even for TPR! Moving on towards other things, has there been any mention of Fright Fest activities for this year yet?

In terms of employees with cell phones, while I was working at the park there were some problems getting me a radio, so I very seldom got to carry one. So I was told by the department to use my cell phone, given the correct phone numbers, and that was that. I only had to use it a couple times to call for help, but just pointing out that I was given a valid reason to carry a cell phone.

Fall: Business Entities Evidence First Amendment Law Criminal Procedure. Spring: Commercial Law Texas Criminal Procedure Commercial Law Tax Law I sadly start classes again on Monday.

Ok well to go back on my guess of a few minutes ago, the whole "You Decide" thing could also fit in as a popular term used around elections. Arnold Schwarzenegger is an elected official and is related to the proposed theme. Can't see where it would fit at SFMM, and am likely reading way to much into it, but this is fun none-the-less.

I'm going to throw my guess out there that this coaster is going to WOF. Just don't see it fitting in anywhere at SFMM. It was being talked about a few pages ago, when Ghostrider opened it was a great coaster! In fact Ghostrider of 2000 is still my #1 wooden coaster.

Shea stadium, unlike several others, needs to be torn down. That place has been a dump for a long time. I've never seen a game there, yet have never heard a good word about it. A small bit of trivia, Shea was originally intended to go to the Dodgers. However things fell apart and the Dodgers went to LA, while the New York area was awarded an expansion team in the form of the Mets.

All that really confirms for me is the ride is going to be built out of wood, which most people here already had agreed with. I must say that I'm still a little surprised the park would go with wood, but I think it'll be good for the park.

It is sad seeing another one of the classic ballparks come down. I never went to Tiger Stadium, however I do recall watching games there and don't recall it looking that great in it's final years. I really just wonder if these new stadiums will stand the test of time as good as some of the old ones being taken down did. The good news is at least Fenway and Wrigley look safe for now!

Not sure if you would really know this, but I'm curious how long the entire process takes. I'm talking from the first time a park decides it wants to add a coaster, to opening day? Is there a general bidding process that the park will go through when picking a company, or do they begin with the company already in mind?

As far as location goes we should start to see the first few markers showing up soon. When the park installed X I recall that I had taken pictures of some markers over a year before work started. When I took the pictures I had no idea that it was going to be for a coaster, I just took pictures because there was something going on there. I can't recall how long before markers for Scream! appeared, but I also remember shooting pictures of spray paint in the parking lot. I dismissed it as the park planning to do some work on the pavement. Point being that we should start to see at least the very beginnings of work soon. I wouldn't be shocked to hear that there were markings already there that nobody has really noticed, however I then remember what site this is and accept that if a rock moves more then about 2 feet, somebody on here will notice and take pictures.

The length of the coaster isn't that big of a deal, as long as the ride packs a decent punch. As far as a few thoughts that I've got about SFMM 09 coaster: I'm still not totally sold on wood coming to the park in 2009. While I'm really hoping that the rumors are true, it would surprise me that the park would add another wooden coaster so soon after removing Psyclone. However regardless of if it happens this year or a few years down the road SFMM is going to add a wooden coaster in the somewhat near future so what do I expect to see: I'm not anticipating a clone. The park might go that way but I am actually expecting a smaller coaster that would utilize the terrain of the park. As far as stats (again these are what I think the park should do, these are in no way to be considered as rumors) I think a terrain based coaster with a 100-120 foot drop (again height can vary if terrain is used, I'm talking about total drop height), speeds in the high 50's low 60's, and a length somewhere around 3000 feet would be a great fit in the park. Put the ride on the Ninja side of the hill, and put the entrance somewhere over in the Psyclone Bay area. I think it would be good to get people moving to the back of the park again (other then Deja Vu, that area of the park is abandon). If the ride is terrain based and winding through the trees I think people have a good chance of seeing the ride and not thinking it is the same one they went on during their visit to the park 5 years before. I would be shocked (with a capital S) if we see another wooden coaster placed on the old Psyclone land. It would be a bad move because even though it is unbelievable here, for most people an unpainted wooden coaster looks the same as every other unpainted wooden coaster. While I would love an El Toro clone, it's just not going to happen. SFMM needs to add a coaster and not burden themselves with records or how extreme it is. My favorite ride in the park for many years has been Ninja. It's by no means because it is the most thrilling ride in the world, it is because it is a fun ride! It is ride that the entire family can enjoy. If SFMM would add a wooden coaster with stats in the basic range of what I said above, I think they would have a ride that, while not being the most extreme thrill machine, would please both enthusiasts and families alike.

^I know that pain very well! I've got many rookie cards of both Bonds and Clemens, it's been a very sad year watching the value of those cards go away.

I have not collected them in years but would love to get back into it. I have in the range of 30,000 baseball cards, and another 30,000 or so hockey cards. With baseball I never really played the prospect game, I did however with the NHL. I've got minor league cards from Lemieux, Gretzky, and Lindros. All of which I know are worth some money (not sure about Lindros anymore). I also know I've got a prospect card of a 14 year old kid named Crosby. I'm crossing my fingers that he keeps his pace up, since that could end up being a great card.

Best of luck, I remember seeing the lines for the Idol tryouts at the Rose Bowl in the past, amazing how many people attempt to get on. I think it would be fun to try to get on a show like that. Sadly I'm talentless in that arena (and precluded from trying out for other reasons) so I don't think I'll me making an appearance very soon. For the record I was close to making it onto Jeopardy.

I think putting a wooden coaster where Psyclone was is a terrible idea. If the park does actually get a new wooden coaster I would put it somewhere in the park where people have a decent chance of not confusing it for the ride that they rode 5 years before and didn't really care for.

When I decided it was time to propose I actually came up with three different plans that could easily be implemented if things went other then I had planned. My plan B was going to be to head up Stratosphere and propose up there. Things worked out well however and I ended up popping the question in the Eiffel tower at the Paris Hotel... I later discovered that was a very common place for people to propose, considering that in the 20 minutes I was up there another two proposals went down. I still wonder how the Stratosphere idea would have worked out if I ended up going with that instead.

When I was working there in 2003 there was a petition going around trying to get entertainment to join a union. I never was sure how serious the attempt was, but just remember the petition going around... With that said my both my parents have memories of working at SFMM as teenagers and the rumors of unionization going around, so it's not like those are new rumors by any means. Six Flags has a long history of employee abuse, and I know personally that they have been subject to class action suits over the years regarding the treatment of employees.

Just want to point out the fact that if this kid's parents do decide to sue Six Flags, it's not the lawyer, it is a jury (unless they chose a trial by judge) that will have to decide that Six Flags was negligent. If I was Six Flags I might just let this one go to trial if there was a suit. As somebody else said, as far as I understand it if you've followed (or exceeded) state regulations it is going to be difficult to prove that there was negligence. My guess is that if a suit is filed it is going to be dismissed for failing to state a claim on which relief can be granted. I would not at all be surprised if Six Flags just offers the family a token settlement of say $25,000-$30,000. It would be enough to shut the family up and would put an end to bad publicity, and wouldn't really have any big effect on Six Flags in terms of money. The elephant in the room that I'm sure Six Flags is worried about is the SFKK incident. From what I've seen in that case Six Flags was negligent, and could very well end up having to pay a large sum of money. The chain isn't going to want anymore bad press, and that really all this Batman incident can bring them. Basically I think if there is any kind of legal action against Six Flags, the chain will offer a settlement in the $25,000 range just to make this go away. If the parties decline that, and demand more, I would not be all that shocked to see Six Flags agree to move on with trial. If the parties decide that they want to attempt to get to trial I personally do not think this case would survive long enough to ever see a jury, unless there are facts that are missing that are really damning for Six Flags. Finally just because it has come up, in regards to the McDonalds coffee case, I'm not sure if it was pointed out but the judge reduced the amount to somewhere in the range of half a million, so she didn't get that huge settlement she won. Also as others have said, there was a lot more to that case then a women simply spilling hot coffee, McDonalds knew they served the coffee too hot and there had been many other reported burns from it.

Heading to fireworks at a local park hopefully. I have not really looked into where they have shows out here. As lame as it is I will take 15 minutes out of my day to read the Declaration of Independence. I've done it over the past several years, and it really is one of my favorite documents from that period to read.

The hard part to believe with that is that is you'd think if you were going to walk around a coaster you'd watch the train and at least make a real honest attempt at not getting hit.

I would agree with what you said, Six Flags is going to want to avoid having to deal with a trial, and it is one of those situations where just paying out a few thousand will be a lot less of a blow then a public trial. Six Flags isn't going to want more bad press, especially after what happened at SFKK. B&M has nothing to worry about, it is the church group however that I agree is going to get slammed in this situation. I personally do feel bad for the families and the riders on the train who had to witness that. I am very interested to hear what would motivate somebody to do something so incredibly stupid!

I see a trip report to Joyland and feel bad for the fact that I live 15 minutes away (if I'm in traffic) and work within site of the park, and yet still have not ventured over and seen it in person.

I have the Nuvi 350 which I love. I wouldn't do a road trip without one.

Awkward... Maybe you should see a counselor or something?