Happy Halloween!

Simply put… Happy Halloween!

Hoping Yall have a Safe Halloween!

Age, Experience, and the Nature of Things.

Age, Experience, and the Nature of All Things. Now there’s an interesting topic that probably most of us pay little or no attention to. First the age groups…

1-4 years old – you are learning some things on your own, but mostly what you parents are teaching you. Everything works out great here, not too much is expected other than learning that universal word… “NO”. It’s the one syllable  word meaning to cease and desist all you are doing… immediately! You know this especially from the tone and demeanor of the person speaking to you. Grrrrr!

4-12 years old – you are learning more and getting more experience… and with that comes a ever increasing ability to start to master the nature of things. The word “No” becomes less and less impressive and emanate physical contact of the spanking kind becomes more of motivator for you to listen to your parents. This is usually followed by the developing attitude to be independent and defiant of one’s parents, although somewhat wasted at this point in your life… you were not going to win. By the way… if you are a fast learner, you will learn quickly that telling your parents that the spanking “Didn’t Hurt” is NOT an indication that their efforts are useless & ineffective… but an invitation for them to try harder for the spanking to make an better impression… thus increasing their level of deterrence. 

13-18 years old – experience and mastering and dealing with the Nature of things increases with each passing year. The more you know, the more you think you know, so you come to the ever increasing conclusion that you know almost everything up to and surpassing the experience & knowledge of your parents. The word “No” becomes merely a dare, the spanking thing has out grown it’s usefulness and is no longer a threat, and the new practice of limiting or temporally suspending benefits come into play. Going to your room to think about what you have done merely removes you from the current situation, and the thought processes involved are not to the end that your parents had hoped… well… you did think about what you did to upset them, to a great extent, but the thought process was not to avoid doing what you did, but how to do it and get away with it the next time and not get caught. You do have a good foundation to deal with the nature of things, so you have a new confidence in yourself. Yep you have pretty much mastered all the childhood things and are ready to tackle the world.

19-25 years old -  Having mastered all the childhood things, you think you are ready for anything the world had to throw at you. So you are off and running. The rules and grown up situations have changed drastically but that’s of little concern… you are ready to grab the world by the tail. Parents have nothing left to offer but advise & counseling… and knowing that this will fail to impress you, much less be taken seriously… hope, pray, and prepare to help them handle their mistakes after the fact. But you do learn more quickly and start to master the Nature of things. Trial and error, the good with the bad, and perhaps realizing despite your state of disbelief, that what your parents have told you could have been majorly beneficial of only you had listened. It’s all part of growing up.

25-45 years old – Life is sweet, you are invincible! You are your own boss and most things always seem to work out for the best and those that don’t become smaller and smaller and easier to handle. Your parents have a sigh of relief because they have done everything they could to ensure that you turned out okay… and you did! You have years of experience and mastered the Nature of things, and life is breeze! You have your own family, your own kids and for the life of you… you can’t understand why the logical approach doesn’t work on your kids… what’s wrong with them anyway? Just a small bump in the road that seems to get bigger as they get older.

45-55 years old – Things are changing quickly. You don’t feel as invincible as you do 20 years ago… but you have years of knowledge and experience at mastering the Nature of things to get you through. The kids are grown, out on their own, and seeming need you less and less… and while it is a bit of a relief, it’s also a bit of a unneeded feeling. There’s the joy of the grand kids mostly without the negative things that kids go through… after all… you can send them home when they fall below the 80% being Good line. You can handle everything life has to through at you both emotionally and physically. Looking forward to and easier life in retirement where you can slow down and enjoy a slower life and take in every little thing.

55+ years old- Yep… retirement is great. You have all the time to do everything you wanted to do and didn’t have the time to do or fully enjoy when your day to day life was fast and hectic. The biggest plus is that you get to spend 24/7 with your Sweetie, the Love of your Life, your best friend, your soul mate… and have every moment together for the rest of your lives… peaceful and enjoying every moment together. You are reminded from time to time that you are certainly not as immortal as you were at 25… physically… well… you ain’t as good as you once was. But that’s a small thing to deal with. No real health problems but daily meds help to keep things in check. Stamina is diminished a bit, but more occasional rest stops compensates nicely, and after all, your not in any hurry anymore, for anything. Naps seem to creep back into your life a bit more… but you have time for that too! And life is too short to stress out or be in a hurry. There’s a reason why this saying came to be… you are closer to the end than the beginning… and your remaining years need to be “quality” and moments appreciated and enjoyed more. Being older is also sometimes referred to as a second childhood. More carefree, less stress, not hectic, and you, as I have, can let the child in you resurface and have your days filled mostly with fun and relaxing… taking nothing too serious. All of life’s big problems have been solved or just don’t matter anymore… so not much annoys you or is of great concern anymore. Life is indeed Sweet!  

Here’s a few of the big changes that happen by this time in your life:

• Not much is worth getting stressed over or upset about… save yourself… don’t even try! THIS A GOOD THING! or should I borrow a well know saying…. “PRICELESS!”
• Politics … If you are smart, you will realize that they are all crooks and they will eat the steak that you paid for, and throw you the bones… you should be happy (sarcastically) … don’t stress over politics, they all have their own agenda, you are their least concern, and there’s absolutely nothing you can do about it, so why worry about it. Vote them out, vote them in, government is too filled with corruption to ever change.
• Yes, government, big business, and our leaders all have a hidden agenda… yes, it’s all a conspiracy, one way or another, and you are going to loose! The news media is their tool to exploit, manipulate, further their agenda so that while you are always concentrating or concerned on one of their diversions, so they can do anything they want to do, largely unnoticed by the American Public. For the most part, you are only going to have what they allow you to have so that you remain a productive part of the “working” society… supporting the wealthy and the welfare state.
• The working guy in society is merely a necessary element used by government and business to support the government and all it’s elements along with businesses, so that the wealthy have a good social environment in which to enjoy life to a higher level of standards as we also support the lower 20% that career live on welfare.
• On a less serious note, little things become harder to do. Things that you have mastered all your life somehow always seem to go a rye. Like repairing things. The reading glasses don’t help much either.
• Memory seems to be working against you too… at least sometimes… forget where you put things… or what you came into the room for. Good days… bad days… really can’t remember… go figure. On a positive note… all the things that use to keep you awake worrying before you went to sleep… well, you forgot them, so enjoy a good nights sleep.
• You take delight in the fact that all those people that still don’t get it and try to make everyone’s life miserable… well… they have to live with themselves all the time… they created their own hell… and they deserve it. I generally try to avoid them and take pleasure in this thought that they have to live in their own misery.
• You have the time to reflect on all the good in life and relationships with family and friends. Look for the good and enjoy the feeling. It’s just that generally, most are still too busy with their hectic lives to enjoy it with you.
• You come to realize something that your grandfather felt and meant ( when you were just a kid) when he went to buy a loaf of bread, saw the price, and said, “13¢ a loaf… you gotta be shitting me!” ( pardon my language… only way to express it… and it is a “quote” ). Now that you have seen a bottle of Coke go from 5¢ to $1.00 ($2.50 at Disney / $3.00 at Universal)… and you find yourself saying the same thing… now you know what he meant. Penny candy is long gone - 5¢ candy bars are $1 - $3,000 car is now $30,000 – 29¢/gallon gasoline is now $3.00 - 69¢ gallon of milk is $3.29 - and the list could go on and on. He was right… the perfect phase… “You Gotta be Shitting Me”! ( gain my pardon ).
• Generally everything changes… and generally not for the better. When it changes for the worst, you are going to pay more for it… and if it’s for the better, you are going to pay a a whole lot more for it.
• Creature comforts are absolutely better and you will have more time to enjoy them in retirement. But it does make you reflect on some of the changes over the years… but that’s another story for another time.        

So, that’s my take on Age, Experience, and the Nature of “Things”. Could no doubt add much more to the list, but have other things to enjoy today… like a nap… or getting others things done, if only I could remember what they were. Yep… Life is Sweet. So Glad I have Shelly to share it with me.   

 

 

 

     

You lookin’ at me?

So… You Lookin at Me?

Well… Right back at cha

(Sometimes a little thing just hits the Funnybone)

Halloween and the Grand Girls

Rving… the good and the bad. Traveling is good… being with family for extended stays is great… being someplace you want to be like Florida for the winter is great… but it also means that you are away from the people that mean the most to you… family (and there’s the bad). Sure miss Brandi and the girls. Miss everyone else too including the one grand daughter that I never seen in person, Anna (Misti & Chad in Italy). But I can enjoy seeing photos of them for all the times we miss. Here’s a couple recent shots…

Getting ready for Halloween

Making  Ghostly Treats…

Ready to get some candy…

But than again…

they no doubt enjoy dressing up even more…

Hey… where’s your costume?

…no time to play!

Tricks or Treats…

both work for me!

Although I am a bit inclined to lean just a little more

to the “Trick” side of Halloween.

Have a Happy Halloween…

just watch out for that house on the hill!

 

Disney & Friends… Friends and Disney…

We are back in Orlando for 3½ month… friends from Sunset King Resort will be visiting and going into Disney. While they are here we all will be going into the Magic Kingdom Halloween Party.

 

Good friends and good times, it’s what life’s all about. We always have a good time going into Disney… especially since it’s free being seasonal cast members… but it’s always special if you go in with friends.

Full-time Rving has a lot of perks, traveling to new places and meeting new friends, but it also means that you are generally apart from most of them, most of the time… so when you get back together it’s all the more special. It’s funny that you get back together after months of not having seen each other… and everything picks up right where you left off as if it was only a few days rather than months.

It’s also nice when you get older too… all your friends are older, more mellowed by life, and easy going and everything just flows along on it’s merry way. And that’s just the way I like things to go… flowing along on their merry way. It’s also great to have the kids along too and see the joy and happiness on their faces as that experience all their favorite things at Disney… just wonderful… or should I say… Magical!

  

Neat Little Trick…

Now here’s a neat little computer trick just for the older folks like me… the younger generation already knows this stuff. Ever been to a web page and just wish you could capture and or print what you are seeing on the screen, like instructions, and than proceed to take notes… well here’s a neat little trick for all of those “not in the know”. This works great especially for photo’s and art work too. > Lots of photo’s etc can not be simply captured via the “right click” and “save as” procedure, although this would be your first choice… so when that doesn’t work…

So here’s what you do…

• when the screen is just where you want it… positioned properly using slide bar on the right.
• hit the prt scrn button once
• drop down (minimize)  the current screen ( – ) to see desktop
• open paint (it helps if you have the shortcut on your desktop)
• go to EDIT
• (drop down menu) and click on paste
• the captured photo or information will appear on the paint workspace.
• go to FILE (drop down menu) and click on SAVE AS
• a box opens up > name the file > and save as a Jpeg

you can also indicate where you want it to be saved… I just let mine go to “Pictures” (my normal download folder) where I can crop it or move it to another file of my choosing.

This works great on instructions or art work and photos that otherwise can not be captured.

And since you saved it as a jpeg (photo format), you can easily alter it (crop out unwanted info) with and photo program and / or print it out just like any other picture.

So give it a try…

I’m still on Windows Xp… but this should still work on Windows 7 and Vista (lol). (maybe slightly different terminology)

Will have to up grade to new operating system someday… currently have too many programs I like that work great on Xp and not on Windows 7 … such is life!

Disney Pin Collecting and Trading.

Disney Pin Collecting and Trading is a great way to have mementos of your favorite things at Disney.

But there are dangers out there… sharks are out again… but than again… they’re always out. They lay in wait in two places… Epcot by the Pin Station on the umbrella tables… and Downtown Disney beside the Pin Station. but lets start at the beginning.

THE UPSIDE: Trading and collecting Pins at Disney is a huge… more than huge. There are books showing the 20,000 plus pins that Disney has made over the past ten years. It all started with a little set of commemorative  pins that were given out for the celebration of the new millennium in 2000. Everyone enjoyed the pins and traded with others to get their favorite ones… and from those humble beginnings we now have a limitless supply of pins to buy, trade and collect little bits of memories that reflect our interests in our favorite rides, attractions, characters, or places in the World of Disney. Disney makes sure that there is always new pins in every shape and form. There’s your basic pins numbering in the thousands that you can buy at any one of the perhaps 100 plus locations across Disney World. There are special pin collections sold in sets, special sets sold on special lanyards, special limited edition pins, special commemorative pins, Mystery pins, special lanyards to hold your pins, lanyard medallions ( giant pins at hang at the bottom of your lanyard), special showcase pins, and I’m sure several more special sets that even I can not recall. What ever your favorite character, attraction, or place… there’s a collectible pin for it… and it’s usually not alone. Each character has numerous pins… for instance… Tinkerbell probably has no less than 100 different pins currently being sold that show your favorite character in any possible theme you can imagine, and than some. Disney further perpetuates the pin collection and trading frenzy by having mostly all cast members carry pins to trade with guests. The more you see, the more you want, the more you want, the more you buy to get pins you want by trading. Disney cast members will trade you pins… one for one… your choice… whatever you want to give for whatever one you want to get. Works out perfect! Simple and easy… and all in the favor of the guest. Disney insures that the trading continues hot and heavy by giving cast members very special pins call “cast lanyard pins” that can not be bought anywhere, but only traded via a cast member. Cast lanyards are usually always made in sets of 4-8 per set… so you have the extra incentive to trade for all the pins in the set. All in all, a very nice way to have a ever expanding collection of little collectibles… each providing it’s own unique memory of a Disney experience… all for the simple basic price of a mere $6.95 each. Some are lower priced if bought in sets, and some higher for more elaborate or special pins… $8.95 - $12.95. As you can imagine collecting can get out of hand if you don’t control the impulse to collect more and more of your favorites. But it can be a lot of fun… especially the trading… finding little treasures through trading is a lot of fun! It’s like going on a treasure hunt and you are sure to find lots that you like. So Happy Collecting! I won’t say how many pins we have… I don’t really want to think about it.

 

THE DOWNSIDE: So, back to the sharks. I call them “Pin Sharks”. They are not Disney employees… they are outside people that Disney allows on property to enhance the guests experience and promote additional trading and the ultimate sale of pins needed to have pins to trade. Sounds good in theory. IT DOESN’T WORK THAT WAY! Unlike the normal trading practices that you get from cast members (guests are in control), the “Pin Sharks” are in complete control and have a hidden agenda… they are there to take advantage of the guests… they are there to make money. They only trade pins with you if it is to their advantage… you are going to always come out on the short end of the stick… that’s assuming they are willing to make a trade at all. Usually you will not have anything they want for what you are interested in trading for… so they won’t make a trade. They will however give you a list of 2-3 pins that you can go and buy for them in order for them to make the trade for the one pin you want. Pin trading is suppose to be fun… one for one… being taken advantage of takes all the fun out of it. So for your own benefit… it is a wise decision to stay away from the Pin Sharks. I’m not really even sure why Disney even lets them operate on Disney property since their main practice is to take advantage of guests.

So… enjoy pin trading with Disney Cast Members… just stay away from the Pin Sharks.

More info : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disney_pin_trading

           

Air Force Week at Disney

Just in case you missed it… Disney Celebrates Air Force Week at Magic Kingdom to Honor all those that have served. On Tuesday October 26th, the Thunderbirds did a fly over and flew over Cinderella’s Castle and right over Main street USA. Here’s a few pics.

 

 

http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2010/10/air-force-thunderbirds-fly-over-walt-disney-world/

It’s a Party…

Yep, it’s party time… 5 more days until Halloween… but tonight’s Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party at Magic Kingdom. Lots of costumes, candy, parades, shows, rides, Character Greetings, Fireworks, and a Scary Good Time with visiting friends. Can’t think of any better place to be for Halloween. ( unless it was with the grand girls ).

Spooktacular Time!

Great Parade… right down Main Street USA

Mickey’s ready…

Minnie’s ready…

Let the Party Begin…

Spooky Castle

and plenty of Goofy Candy Stops!

all over the park.

Anytime is a good time to go into Disney…

going with friends only make it that much better…

Do want to miss a single thing…

So Happy Halloween to Everyone…

Hope yall are doing something special!

and watch out for those Villains! 

More to follow.

Halloween Choices…

Halloween Choices…

What shall I be?

What shall I wear?

What will I do?

To get you in my snare?

What Treats shall I use…

perhaps bobbles so rare…

to come to the Party…

and have a good scare!

The Pumpkins Kings Ears of Choice…

Nightmare Ears …

or Happy Mickey Pumpkin Face

or the Shocking FrankenMickey!

or perhaps the Witch’s Ears…

or just a Candy Corn Head…

and treats… oh the treats…

pure Disney Halloween bliss…

but watch out of Tricks…

they may do you in…

so warns Jack… The Pumpkin King.

cause… This is Halloween…

 

Friends at Disney

Seven years later, we connected with coworkers via Facebook. Joe & Kelly from my old home town ( Belair, Maryland ) and the place I retired from ( can’t remember the name now ) contacted me a couple of months ago. Joe is in law enforcement with Maryland’s Finest. They had planned a trip to Disney and we were able to hook up and meet in Magic Kingdom for their visit. It was good to see both of them again as well as the new addition to their family… a cute little lad named Jacob.

It was good to get together after several years and catch up on old times and fill in the blanks left by the past several years. It’s was good to see them healthy & happy seven years later. When you get older you have a tendency to find a bit of satisfaction seeing young people doing well and being happy. We met up at the Magic Kingdom in the afternoon to share a some time together.

The park was decorated for Halloween so the festive colors of the bewitching holiday made the park seem all the more special. Especially since Halloween is one of my favorite times of the year.

Not sure if it has more to do with the candy or the “Tricks”. Okay… mostly the Tricks! … but the candy is good too! It was a great afternoon… and what could be a better place to meet than at Disney.

  Won’t be long now… just 10 more days until Halloween!