Friday, August 07, 2009

Disney Day 1

Tuesday Aug 4

8:05 - arrive Animal Kingdom
8:55 - get FP to Everest (2 feet back from rope at drop)
9:01 - ride everest (1 min)
9:15 - ride dinosaur (walk on)
9:35 - get FP to Kali River
9:48 - use FP to watch Lion King (we were given the FP at the gate in the morning - walk in)
10:30 - get FP to Safari
10:48 - use FP for Everest
11:10 - eat at Flametree BBQ
11:42 - use FP for Safari (6 min)
12:20 - use FP for Kali (8 min)
1:15 - back at hotel for nap
2:45 - go to Hollywood Studios
3:00 - get FP for Star Tours
3:30 - eat at Mama Melrose (great meal for both of us!)
4:40 - watch Muppet Vision (walk on)
5:00 - thunderstorm and heavy rain
5:45 - watch Indiana Jones short version (due to rain)
6:04 - use FP for Star Tours
6:14 - Great Movie Ride (15 min)
6:45 - wait for rain to stop
7:00 - wander park and stop for iced tea
8:00 - get seated for Fantasmic
9:00 - Fantasmic (after a 1 hour wait in the stadium - yuck)

Disney arrival

We've had a very busy first 4 days in Disney.

Monday Aug 3

We waited 25 minutes for the Magical Express and then an addition 25 minutes ON the bus for a whopping 50 minutes before we left the airport. We arrived at 6pm for a total of 95 minutes from the time we were in the Magical Express line-up. Not so magical.

Our first night we went to Epcot to eat at the Marakesh in the Morrocan pavilion. This time Leah got the great meal and I got the average meal (instead of the reverse last time). After dinner we walked the park a bit and rode Spaceship Earth (walk on) and then headed to the Magic Kingdom. We got caught behind the parade and struggled through the crowds to Monsters Inc Laugh Floor and then went to the Haunted Mansion (both walk-ons). After that we went home to our, once again, fantastic hotel at Port Orleans Riverside.

Monday, August 03, 2009

This sucks

It's 4am and we're waiting for the cab to take us to the airport for a freakishly early flight and I can't help but think of Mark Black.

I have nothing against Mark, and in fact I think he's a great speaker, but when I saw him last fall, I was struck by something he said.

Mark was talking about his successful life, and how he's overcome adversity (and he certainly has). One of the things he said was a "secret" to his success was that he gets up early every day and gets things done before everyone else is even awake and he felt this gave him a head start on the day. I've always thought this was absurd and fallacious, but this morning it feels even more so.

I'm not a morning person. I never have been, and I doubt I ever will be one. When it comes to work, the "secret" to my success has been to be well-prepared. Every teacher knows this. For me, this meant not going to sleep until everything was done for the next day. It just bugged me too much for me to sleep, so I did it before I hit the sheets. What's ironic, and points out the fallacy in Mark's argument, is that by staying up late, we night owls get things done before those early-morning-loving freaks even get up! Talk about a head start on the day.

No, Mark, the secret to your success was not getting up early - it was being prepared, working hard, having amazing self-determination and a strong will to succeed.

Just like everyone else who's ever been successful.

Saturday, August 01, 2009

On to Disney

We leave for Walt Disney World on Monday, and G'Kar will be spending his first bit of time without us... or maybe I should say we're spending our first bit of time away from him. I'm sure he'll be less concerned than I will be. Fortunately, he's going to be well taken care of, with daily walks, lots of visits, time in the run with Dune, and even visits to other homes! The only thing I'm concerned about is that he'll be sleeping without us all night long.

I'm going to miss him a lot!

He had a great time last weekend in Calgary with a house 'o dogs - 6 dogs running around the Burt's house. G'Kar loved the attention and did really well, though Dune and Riesling had more than one dispute. For some reason they have a hard time getting along with each other. Fortunately, by the time we left, they were playing nicely.

On the way home, we stopped outside of Brock on a country road to let them out of the car and run while we ate our lunch. After a break I took them for a short stroll down the gravel road and suddenly G'Kar put his nose up in the air and sniffed, then bolted away from me, under a barbed wire fence, and into a pasture. About 3 seconds later he was rolling in a very foul pile of green, soupy, mostly-decayed grass clippings. The stuff reeked, which only made it that much better for him. He came back to me a few moments later covered in green goop and stinking like a compost heap, happy and proud of his new-found treasure. He was, literally, dripping. We spent 20 minutes and all the paper napkins we had in the car (why had we forgotten paper towel???) trying to wash him down so that we could stand him for the next 3 hours of our trip. Thank goodness it wasn't manure.

When we got home, G'Kar got a bath - his first bath. He wasn't sure at first, but soon accepted it and didn't seem to mind all that much. And the energetic after-bath running was nothing but pure fun for him. Why do dogs do that? The running, not the rolling in pea soup.

I've enroled G'Kar in obedience classes that start in the fall. They're offering beginner agility training after each weekly class, so I might stay for that too.

Hopefully my next post will be from Florida!