I'm very excited about Spring coming....here's why.
I'm ready for MLB! Although I've given thought to try to be a Nationals fan I'm still holding onto my roots as an Atlanta Braves fan. Bobby Cox has been involved in Braves baseball as long as I can remember and plan to watch him finish off his last year in the dugout. Bobby is one of the best managers of all time. Some may say that with 1 World Series Championship he may not be, but I think he'll be a first ballot Hall of Famer. I'm looking forward to seeing the new up & coming Braves at least a couple of times this year against the Nats. Go Braves & Go Nats when they aren't playing the Braves.
Staying on the baseball theme I'm gearing up to coach the Spring 2010 Fairfax Little League Single "A" Bulls...John's team. John will be playing in his second season of machine pitch Single A and this should be a fantastic season.
Lastly, you may or may not know I've lost a fairly significant amount of weight over the last 43 weeks...82 to be exact. Part of my excitement of going into Spring is a real goal of growing some of our own food. We're looking at Zucchini, Squash, Green Beans, Tomatoes, Cucumbers, maybe carrots and a few stalks of corn. The goal is to pick 5 or 6 of the things we like to eat most and grow enough to eat all summer...I'm getting the kids involved so it should be some work and a lot of fun...
Anyway, happy Spring to you all!
quig
3.11.2010
3.05.2010
How To Simulate Being A Sailor
Thanks to my buddy Nate Thomas formerly of Owatonna and now of Minneapolis, Minnesota, you can all have the glory of simulating serving your country as we did in the US Navy. The real humor here is the direct parallel with Navy reality.
Thanks Nate!
"How To Simulate Being A Sailor"
1. Buy a steel dumpster, paint it gray inside and out, and live in it for six months.
2. Run all the pipes and wires in your house exposed on the walls.
3. Repaint your entire house every month.
4. Renovate your bathroom. Build a wall across the middle of the bathtub and move the shower head to chest level. When you take showers, make sure you turn off the water while you soap down.
5. Put lube oil in your humidifier and set it on high.
6. Once a week, blow compressed air (or use a leaf blower) up your chimney, making sure the wind carries the soot onto your neighbor's house. Ignore his complaints.
7. Once a month, take all major appliances apart and then reassemble them.
8. Raise the thresholds and lower the headers of your front and back doors so that you either trip or bang your head every time you pass through them.
9. Disassemble and inspect your lawnmower every week.
10. On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, turn your water heater temperature up to 200 degrees. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, turn the water heater off. On Saturdays and Sundays tell your family they use too much water during the week, so no bathing will be allowed.
11. Raise your bed to within 6 inches of the ceiling, so you can't turn over without getting out and then getting back in.
12. Sleep on the shelf in your closet. Replace the closet door with a curtain. Have your spouse whip open the curtain about 3 hours after you go to sleep, shine a flashlight in your eyes, and say "Sorry, wrong rack."
13. Make your family qualify to operate each appliance in your house - dishwasher operator, blender technician, etc. Re-qualify every 6 months.
14. Have your neighbor come over each day at 0500, blow a whistle so loud Helen Keller could hear it, and shout "Reveille, reveille, all hands heave out and trice up."
15. Have your mother-in-law write down everything she's going to do the following day, then have her make you stand in your back yard at 0600 while she reads it to you.
16. Submit a request chit to your father-in-law requesting permission to leave your house before 1500.
17. Empty all the garbage bins in your house and sweep the driveway three times a day, whether it needs it or not. Have someone repeat loudly, "Now sweepers, sweepers, man your brooms, give the ship a clean sweep down fore and aft, empty all shitcans and butt-kits over the fantail!"
18. Have your neighbor collect all your mail for a month, read your magazines, and randomly lose every 5th item before delivering it to you.
19. Watch no TV except for movies played in the middle of the night. Have your family vote on which movie to watch, then show a different one. Repeat the same movie several nights in a row.
20. When your children are in bed, run into their room with a megaphone shouting that your home is under attack and ordering them to their battle stations, shouting, "Now general quarters, general quarters, all hands man your battle stations!"
21. Make your family menu a week ahead of time without consulting the pantry or refrigerator.
22. Post a menu on the kitchen door informing your family that they are having steak for dinner. Then make them wait in line for an hour. When you finally get to the kitchen, tell them you are out of steak, but they can have dried ham or hot dogs. Repeat daily until they ignore the menu and just ask for hot dogs.
23. Bake a cake. Prop up one side of the pan so the cake bakes unevenly. Spread icing real thick to level it off.
24. Get up every night around midnight and have a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on stale bread. (Call this "Midrats".)
2 5. Set your alarm clock to go off at random during the night. At the alarm, jump up and dress as fast as you can, making sure to button your top shirt button and tuck your pants into your socks. Run out into the backyard and uncoil the garden hose.
26. Every week or so, throw your cat or dog in the pool and shout "Man overboard port side!" Rate your family members on how quickly they respond.
27. Put the headphones from your stereo on your head, but don't plug them in. Hang a paper cup around your neck on a string. Stand in front of the stove, and speak into the paper cup "Stove manned and ready." After an hour or so, speak into the cup again "Stove secured." Roll up the headphones and paper cup and stow them in a shoebox.
This list is by no means © Copyrighted by the blogger in any way. You are free to republish as you see fit in any manner you wish.
Thanks Nate!
"How To Simulate Being A Sailor"
1. Buy a steel dumpster, paint it gray inside and out, and live in it for six months.
2. Run all the pipes and wires in your house exposed on the walls.
3. Repaint your entire house every month.
4. Renovate your bathroom. Build a wall across the middle of the bathtub and move the shower head to chest level. When you take showers, make sure you turn off the water while you soap down.
5. Put lube oil in your humidifier and set it on high.
6. Once a week, blow compressed air (or use a leaf blower) up your chimney, making sure the wind carries the soot onto your neighbor's house. Ignore his complaints.
7. Once a month, take all major appliances apart and then reassemble them.
8. Raise the thresholds and lower the headers of your front and back doors so that you either trip or bang your head every time you pass through them.
9. Disassemble and inspect your lawnmower every week.
10. On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, turn your water heater temperature up to 200 degrees. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, turn the water heater off. On Saturdays and Sundays tell your family they use too much water during the week, so no bathing will be allowed.
11. Raise your bed to within 6 inches of the ceiling, so you can't turn over without getting out and then getting back in.
12. Sleep on the shelf in your closet. Replace the closet door with a curtain. Have your spouse whip open the curtain about 3 hours after you go to sleep, shine a flashlight in your eyes, and say "Sorry, wrong rack."
13. Make your family qualify to operate each appliance in your house - dishwasher operator, blender technician, etc. Re-qualify every 6 months.
14. Have your neighbor come over each day at 0500, blow a whistle so loud Helen Keller could hear it, and shout "Reveille, reveille, all hands heave out and trice up."
15. Have your mother-in-law write down everything she's going to do the following day, then have her make you stand in your back yard at 0600 while she reads it to you.
16. Submit a request chit to your father-in-law requesting permission to leave your house before 1500.
17. Empty all the garbage bins in your house and sweep the driveway three times a day, whether it needs it or not. Have someone repeat loudly, "Now sweepers, sweepers, man your brooms, give the ship a clean sweep down fore and aft, empty all shitcans and butt-kits over the fantail!"
18. Have your neighbor collect all your mail for a month, read your magazines, and randomly lose every 5th item before delivering it to you.
19. Watch no TV except for movies played in the middle of the night. Have your family vote on which movie to watch, then show a different one. Repeat the same movie several nights in a row.
20. When your children are in bed, run into their room with a megaphone shouting that your home is under attack and ordering them to their battle stations, shouting, "Now general quarters, general quarters, all hands man your battle stations!"
21. Make your family menu a week ahead of time without consulting the pantry or refrigerator.
22. Post a menu on the kitchen door informing your family that they are having steak for dinner. Then make them wait in line for an hour. When you finally get to the kitchen, tell them you are out of steak, but they can have dried ham or hot dogs. Repeat daily until they ignore the menu and just ask for hot dogs.
23. Bake a cake. Prop up one side of the pan so the cake bakes unevenly. Spread icing real thick to level it off.
24. Get up every night around midnight and have a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on stale bread. (Call this "Midrats".)
2 5. Set your alarm clock to go off at random during the night. At the alarm, jump up and dress as fast as you can, making sure to button your top shirt button and tuck your pants into your socks. Run out into the backyard and uncoil the garden hose.
26. Every week or so, throw your cat or dog in the pool and shout "Man overboard port side!" Rate your family members on how quickly they respond.
27. Put the headphones from your stereo on your head, but don't plug them in. Hang a paper cup around your neck on a string. Stand in front of the stove, and speak into the paper cup "Stove manned and ready." After an hour or so, speak into the cup again "Stove secured." Roll up the headphones and paper cup and stow them in a shoebox.
This list is by no means © Copyrighted by the blogger in any way. You are free to republish as you see fit in any manner you wish.
2.03.2010
Argh...I hate it when I kill it and gain weight
Today I weighed in at 191.6 for a gain this week of 1.2 lbs...(-72.8 overall)
I'm writing because I'm frustrated. Mostly with myself of course, which is why I was fat in the first place. I worked out pretty hard this week...harder than most weeks to be sure. The problem however, is always ... ALWAYS - the intake. How much did I track this week? NONE.
You may ask, what is the #1 key to being successful on weight watchers? C'mon, you know it and and I know....KNOW that tracking AND not just tracking, but honest tracking is the #1 key to good numbers on the scale. Yes, I've had success over the last 39 weeks, but if you don't track what you eat and aren't accountable for every bite you take numbers will creep. And they have crept over the last 3 weeks. For instance...not eating 12 handfuls of trailmix and calling it 1/2 a cup (yep...I did that this week).
My goal 3 weeks ago was to lose 3 lbs. I failed. Although, I'm not going to worry about it too long.
I'm pissed at myself...what's new, but I'm going to turn that pissed'ness inside out and acknowledge a couple of the good things I did this week...
- Took my family on a fun albeit quicky vacation to the Great Wolf Lodge (AWESOME!)
- I did 4 P90X workouts. Yep....Shoulders & Arms, Legs & Back (WOW), Chest & Tri's & Shoulders and lastly Back & Bi. I don't think I've had so many areas of my body this tight at the same time.
What, you may ask am I going to do about all this? Because, I am a guy after all and every problem deserves a good solution. ;)
My goals for this week are as follows:
- TRACK my food intake - EVERY meal EVERY day online @ weightwatchers.com
- Run at least 3 miles twice
- Do at least 2 P90x workouts
- Smile and know I'm not perfect
I'm writing here because all of this was grinding through my head during the meeting today so much so that I didn't hear a word our meeting leader said, other than something about cumquats. I mean, have ANY of you eaten a cumquat? Ever?
Anyway, thanks for listening and have a great day.
Quig
p.s. Remember to love those around you.
11.05.2009
Not only eating healthy, moving, too
During the whole process of trying to change my habits toward a healthier life, I've started running more. I've turned a 13 minute mile into a sub 10 minute mile. I'll tell you what, I never expected that. I even fluked out an 8:15 mile the other night. It is really amazing what one can accomplish. I've known for years that accomplishments could be achieved, but honestly I didn't know they could be reached by me. We'll have to see what the next 6 months brings.
I'm proud to say that my daughter Maddie is in a program called Girls on the Run. She's learning a lot of self-esteem techniques while learning to run. Maddie & I will be running a 5k in December. I can't wait. Not only that I am running a race, but that my daughter is running the race with me. I'm so proud of her and hope we have a great time running together. I don't see us breaking any records, but crossing the line together will be a tremendous thrill.
Enjoying the rain...
quig
I'm proud to say that my daughter Maddie is in a program called Girls on the Run. She's learning a lot of self-esteem techniques while learning to run. Maddie & I will be running a 5k in December. I can't wait. Not only that I am running a race, but that my daughter is running the race with me. I'm so proud of her and hope we have a great time running together. I don't see us breaking any records, but crossing the line together will be a tremendous thrill.
Enjoying the rain...
quig
Back on the blog, Weight Watchers update
Ok, I'm probably the worse blogger ever. I keep saying I will write and never keep up...
Well, I'm trying again. This time I have a goal to write at least one blog post per week. That's it, any subject, any length one per week...we'll see how it goes.
In May, my wife Amy & I started weight watchers. Ya, I'm one of two or three men in a room full of women. That's ok...that's really the story of my life. I'm usually the only guy....my wife, her sister, the kids & I....my wife, her aunt, her sister, the kids & I. Just turns out that way. Anyway, I thought it would bother me, but really it doesn't. We are all there to do the same thing. We are all there to get healthy in mind & body. Our goals are simple, lose 1 or 2 lbs every week until we're where we need to be. We do that by eating certain amounts of the right foods every day and exercising as much as we can.
By following the weight watchers points system over the last 26 weeks, I've lost 62 lbs. Yep, that's right, in my May blog post, I weighed 264.4 and today I weigh 202.4. My next goal is to be under 200 by Thanksgiving. I know I can do that on this plan, because it works. I'm eating better foods, reading & understanding labels and ingredients and eating the right amount of those foods. Not something I'm accustomed to, but now all that information processing is becoming quick and easy.
Here's a before & during shot...more to go...
I firmly believe that learning to eat right in this country is very difficult. How man commercials have you seen for baby spinach or carrots? How about for green peppers or apples? Right...everything we see in print and on TV is for the worst possible foods you can eat. That puts a real damper on our kids' abilities to make the choices that are beneficial to their good health.
With Amy & I still working through weight watchers and our kids watching us eat healthier choices at every meal, I'm hopeful that we can help them make the right choices as they grow up.
Thanks!
quig
Well, I'm trying again. This time I have a goal to write at least one blog post per week. That's it, any subject, any length one per week...we'll see how it goes.
In May, my wife Amy & I started weight watchers. Ya, I'm one of two or three men in a room full of women. That's ok...that's really the story of my life. I'm usually the only guy....my wife, her sister, the kids & I....my wife, her aunt, her sister, the kids & I. Just turns out that way. Anyway, I thought it would bother me, but really it doesn't. We are all there to do the same thing. We are all there to get healthy in mind & body. Our goals are simple, lose 1 or 2 lbs every week until we're where we need to be. We do that by eating certain amounts of the right foods every day and exercising as much as we can.
By following the weight watchers points system over the last 26 weeks, I've lost 62 lbs. Yep, that's right, in my May blog post, I weighed 264.4 and today I weigh 202.4. My next goal is to be under 200 by Thanksgiving. I know I can do that on this plan, because it works. I'm eating better foods, reading & understanding labels and ingredients and eating the right amount of those foods. Not something I'm accustomed to, but now all that information processing is becoming quick and easy.
Here's a before & during shot...more to go...
I firmly believe that learning to eat right in this country is very difficult. How man commercials have you seen for baby spinach or carrots? How about for green peppers or apples? Right...everything we see in print and on TV is for the worst possible foods you can eat. That puts a real damper on our kids' abilities to make the choices that are beneficial to their good health.
With Amy & I still working through weight watchers and our kids watching us eat healthier choices at every meal, I'm hopeful that we can help them make the right choices as they grow up.
Thanks!
quig
7.13.2009
CTDLC (where I work) the featured WCET member, read on
The Connecticut Distance Learning Consortium (CTDLC) is featured in an article on the WCET website this month.
http://tinyurl.com/wcet-ctdlc
We always talk about the 1 sentence description of our organization and we all usually have a hard time coming up with it. We're in distance education, technical support, Hosting, Development, you name it...we're in Connecticut (a state of CT organization) and we're across the United States.
We run platforms built by us (www.eportfolio.org, www.etutoring.org) and platforms built by others (Blackboard, Moodle, Jenzabar).
Have a read and learn a bit about what we do.
Thanks!
Quig
http://tinyurl.com/wcet-ctdlc
We always talk about the 1 sentence description of our organization and we all usually have a hard time coming up with it. We're in distance education, technical support, Hosting, Development, you name it...we're in Connecticut (a state of CT organization) and we're across the United States.
We run platforms built by us (www.eportfolio.org, www.etutoring.org) and platforms built by others (Blackboard, Moodle, Jenzabar).
Have a read and learn a bit about what we do.
Thanks!
Quig
5.15.2009
Ok, trying out weight watcher's with Amy
Amy & I went to weight watcher's this morning to sign up and do our first weigh-in. Man, I'm huge...well, I like to say I'm not huge enough for "The biggest Loser," but I am f'ing obese...
Weight: 264.4
Wow, ok, I said it...I think that's pretty close to the most I've ever weighed. I'll update each week win or lose.
Take care!
Quig
Weight: 264.4
Wow, ok, I said it...I think that's pretty close to the most I've ever weighed. I'll update each week win or lose.
Take care!
Quig
3.13.2009
Thomas Venantius Quigley
We are happy to announce the arrival of Thomas Venantius Quigley. Tommy was born on 3/11/2009 at 8 :15 AM (right on time!). His weight was 7lb 14oz and he is 20" long. Tommy's brother & sisters were very excited to meet him!
Amy is doing great after the c-section. Nice job Amy.
All is well.
Quig
3.01.2009
Great Story, Kids say the funniest things.
I had the day before Valentine's day off this year and spent the day at both the big kids' (John & Maddie) parties at school. We were driving the 2 miles home after school discussing some of the fun the kids had at school celebrating. As it usually does, the talk started with what Candy they got from their friends and this is what John said....
John: "I just got one piece of Sponge Bob candy..."
Dad: "Oh ya, what is it."
John: "A hand-booger."
Dad: "er...a...what??"
John: "You know, a hand-booger"
Dad: "uh, no, I'm not sure what you mean."
John: "You know, it's when you take 2 buns [I'm dying laughing] and put all that gross stuff in it." [he doesn't eat them. If he knew the word vile, he would use it for hamburgers.]
Well, you can guess where the conversation went after that. I have to say that it was one of the MOST hilarious things I've heard out of one of my kids' mouths.
Thanks John, made my week.
Quig
John: "I just got one piece of Sponge Bob candy..."
Dad: "Oh ya, what is it."
John: "A hand-booger."
Dad: "er...a...what??"
John: "You know, a hand-booger"
Dad: "uh, no, I'm not sure what you mean."
John: "You know, it's when you take 2 buns [I'm dying laughing] and put all that gross stuff in it." [he doesn't eat them. If he knew the word vile, he would use it for hamburgers.]
Well, you can guess where the conversation went after that. I have to say that it was one of the MOST hilarious things I've heard out of one of my kids' mouths.
Thanks John, made my week.
Quig
2.28.2009
Mini Book Review: The Associate by John Grisham
As a kid I did not have the love for reading that my kids seem to these days. But, as adulthood has taken over my joy of reading has grown tremendously. One of the first books I remember reading as an adult was The Firm, by John Grisham (1991, Random House). When I read The Firm, as is now the case for most Grisham novels, I experienced what others often told me about, the inability to put the book down. In my mind's eye I can still visualize the scenes in The Firm.
Over the years, the breadth of subjects I have the pleasure to have read run the gamut, but I never fail to pick up the latest Grisham novel. Mr. Grisham's current work, The Associate (2009, Doubleday), is no different. Special thanks to my wife's uncle, Charlie Turner (The Happy Economist), who left the hardback copy on an end table after his latest visit.
The Associate is another in the long line of Grisham novels that kept my interest down to the final pages, however the book is not without gaps in the plot where one might be left with the idea that Grisham got a little lazy on this one.
Kyle McAvoy is taken from Yale Law Review editor to high paid attorney in the largest firm in the world. Interest is raised by a corporate espionage plot surrounding Kyle and an incident from his days as an undergraduate. Bugs, wiretaps, FBI, super secure computers are all a part of the story and help to keep interest from fizzling out.
All-in-All, I enjoyed reading the book from the beginning and finished in a few short nights. Grisham's writing style, as usual, was easy for me to stay with and kept me from wanting to turn off the booklight. I don't know if I'd feel the same if I paid full price, but I've read worse books left on the end table in our living room.
Over the years, the breadth of subjects I have the pleasure to have read run the gamut, but I never fail to pick up the latest Grisham novel. Mr. Grisham's current work, The Associate (2009, Doubleday), is no different. Special thanks to my wife's uncle, Charlie Turner (The Happy Economist), who left the hardback copy on an end table after his latest visit.
The Associate is another in the long line of Grisham novels that kept my interest down to the final pages, however the book is not without gaps in the plot where one might be left with the idea that Grisham got a little lazy on this one.
Kyle McAvoy is taken from Yale Law Review editor to high paid attorney in the largest firm in the world. Interest is raised by a corporate espionage plot surrounding Kyle and an incident from his days as an undergraduate. Bugs, wiretaps, FBI, super secure computers are all a part of the story and help to keep interest from fizzling out.
All-in-All, I enjoyed reading the book from the beginning and finished in a few short nights. Grisham's writing style, as usual, was easy for me to stay with and kept me from wanting to turn off the booklight. I don't know if I'd feel the same if I paid full price, but I've read worse books left on the end table in our living room.
2.26.2009
Why, why don't you recycle?
Just a quick note to ask you why you don't recycle. You know who you are. Maybe you recycle a can when people are watching or a bottle at the big game.
You ask, is recycling free? No, recycling is not free. Most good things do cost money. But, recycling all you can IS the right thing to do.
I'm not going to put a list on here of what you can and cannot recycle. Just put everything you can imagine being recycled in the bin....
Paper: How much junk mail do you get? A ton, I know, I get it too....recycle it.
Cardboard: Cereal boxes, girl scout cookies boxes, woot boxes....recycle them.
Plastic: fruit containers from the grocery...ALL plastic bottles...recycle them.
Honestly, I'm no environmental left winger, but when I see someone dropping a can in the trash can it burns me. There's no reason for it.
Quig
You ask, is recycling free? No, recycling is not free. Most good things do cost money. But, recycling all you can IS the right thing to do.
I'm not going to put a list on here of what you can and cannot recycle. Just put everything you can imagine being recycled in the bin....
Paper: How much junk mail do you get? A ton, I know, I get it too....recycle it.
Cardboard: Cereal boxes, girl scout cookies boxes, woot boxes....recycle them.
Plastic: fruit containers from the grocery...ALL plastic bottles...recycle them.
Honestly, I'm no environmental left winger, but when I see someone dropping a can in the trash can it burns me. There's no reason for it.
Quig
1.28.2009
Disney World: DisneyQuest
Still trying to keep up the posts, but not having great success at it.
Day 6: 12/31/2009 - Light day at DisneyQuest
So, as part of our ticket package, we bought in for the "Water Park, Fun & More" option. This option added $7/day for each ticket, because we bought 4 tickets for 7 days. The idea here is no different from anything else...the more you buy at once the cheaper the tickets are.
So, as part of the "Water Park, Fun & More" option you can go to any of the water parks (too cold for when we were there), play golf and go to DisneyQuest (there's more, but I can't remember).
On Day 6, we felt the kids needed something outside the resort, so we went to DisneyQuest (and we decided to save another day at the MagicKindom for Day 7).
Anyway, DisneyQuest was really cool. There are interactive attractions, virtual reality rides and a ton of arcade games. For our kids, I don't think the regular price of admission ($34) would have been worth it, but for the additional $7/ticket admission was cheap. They had a great time...Maddie learned how to draw Mickey Mouse in an electronic tutorial, John made one of Sid's (the "bad kid" from toy story) toys which is essentially putting parts from different toys together, and Catherine made her own design at an electronic easal. They were skeptical when we went into the Alladin magic carpet ride where they were required to wear a helmet like contraption what provided the video, but they enjoyed that.
All-in-all DisneyQuest provided a nice time for them. They had a decent lunch for reasonable prices (run by Cheesecake Factory) so we spent about 3 hours there. Catherine got bored after a while, but other than that, they had a great time.
Grumpy Travel Tip for the day: If you know you're going to go to Disney again in the future, buy a bunch of tickets that don't expire and make sure you get the option for the other "small" parks, too.
Next up, Magik Kingdom and the ride home.
Quig
Day 6: 12/31/2009 - Light day at DisneyQuest
So, as part of our ticket package, we bought in for the "Water Park, Fun & More" option. This option added $7/day for each ticket, because we bought 4 tickets for 7 days. The idea here is no different from anything else...the more you buy at once the cheaper the tickets are.
So, as part of the "Water Park, Fun & More" option you can go to any of the water parks (too cold for when we were there), play golf and go to DisneyQuest (there's more, but I can't remember).
On Day 6, we felt the kids needed something outside the resort, so we went to DisneyQuest (and we decided to save another day at the MagicKindom for Day 7).
Anyway, DisneyQuest was really cool. There are interactive attractions, virtual reality rides and a ton of arcade games. For our kids, I don't think the regular price of admission ($34) would have been worth it, but for the additional $7/ticket admission was cheap. They had a great time...Maddie learned how to draw Mickey Mouse in an electronic tutorial, John made one of Sid's (the "bad kid" from toy story) toys which is essentially putting parts from different toys together, and Catherine made her own design at an electronic easal. They were skeptical when we went into the Alladin magic carpet ride where they were required to wear a helmet like contraption what provided the video, but they enjoyed that.
All-in-all DisneyQuest provided a nice time for them. They had a decent lunch for reasonable prices (run by Cheesecake Factory) so we spent about 3 hours there. Catherine got bored after a while, but other than that, they had a great time.
Grumpy Travel Tip for the day: If you know you're going to go to Disney again in the future, buy a bunch of tickets that don't expire and make sure you get the option for the other "small" parks, too.
Next up, Magik Kingdom and the ride home.
Quig
1.14.2009
Disney World: Day of Rest
Ok, so I haven't figured out the whole "keep up with the blog" yet, but I'm working on it.
Day 5: 12/30/2009 Hanging out at the resort
We spent Tuesday resting up after the big day at Disney. We hung out at the pool and played. I think I was in the pool pretty much all day. The resort had 3 pools, 2 of which were heated and one of which was cold. For some reason, the kids liked the warm ones WAY more than the cold one....Dad had a similar opinion.
One of the pools had a gradual entry, which made us more comfortable with Catherine. She did get too far out at one point, but I was there when she did. Let's just say that she didn't go that far again. This pool also had some jets of water shooting from both sides so the kids had a great time playing in the sprayers.
Here I am with the kids in the pool.
Catherine has taken to playing with her "guys" as she calls them. Her guys are anything from princesses to barbies. She just hung out in the pool playing with her guys. By herself, with Maddie, with Aunt Kathy...didn't matter, she had a great time. Even when we were in a bigger pool with steps she had to use, she just hung out at the top of the steps playing with her guys.
Catherine with one of her "guys"
Honestly, I don't remember all of what we did the rest of the day, I think I took Catherine back to the room so she (and I) could nap. The day before was really exhausting.
We did have a nice lasagna dinner made by Aunt Kathy, which was a nice way to finish off a day of rest and relaxation.
Grumpy Travel Trip for the day: Make sure you plan some rest when you go to Orlando.
Next up will be DisneyQuest & another day at the Magic Kingdom.
Quig
Day 5: 12/30/2009 Hanging out at the resort
We spent Tuesday resting up after the big day at Disney. We hung out at the pool and played. I think I was in the pool pretty much all day. The resort had 3 pools, 2 of which were heated and one of which was cold. For some reason, the kids liked the warm ones WAY more than the cold one....Dad had a similar opinion.
One of the pools had a gradual entry, which made us more comfortable with Catherine. She did get too far out at one point, but I was there when she did. Let's just say that she didn't go that far again. This pool also had some jets of water shooting from both sides so the kids had a great time playing in the sprayers.
Here I am with the kids in the pool.
Catherine has taken to playing with her "guys" as she calls them. Her guys are anything from princesses to barbies. She just hung out in the pool playing with her guys. By herself, with Maddie, with Aunt Kathy...didn't matter, she had a great time. Even when we were in a bigger pool with steps she had to use, she just hung out at the top of the steps playing with her guys.
Catherine with one of her "guys"
Honestly, I don't remember all of what we did the rest of the day, I think I took Catherine back to the room so she (and I) could nap. The day before was really exhausting.
We did have a nice lasagna dinner made by Aunt Kathy, which was a nice way to finish off a day of rest and relaxation.
Grumpy Travel Trip for the day: Make sure you plan some rest when you go to Orlando.
Next up will be DisneyQuest & another day at the Magic Kingdom.
Quig
1.02.2009
Disney World - Magic Kingdom
Day 4: 12/29/2008 - Magic Kingdom
Day 4 was the big day for the kids. The anticipation of their first day at the Magic Kingdom was very exciting. I have to say that it was somewhat exciting for me, too since I have memories of going as a kid. I don't exactly remember how old I was when we went, but I think I was around 6 or 7.
To say the place was busy is an understatement. We knew going in that the week after Christmas would be the busiest week of the year. What we did not know was what BUSY really meant. I'll talk more about this stuff later.
I thought it might be a good idea to board the train that went around the park and get to the rides for the kids sooner rather than later. I'm not sure if that worked or not, but it seemed like a good idea. We met up with Amy's Aunt and her Grammie, who was in a wheel chair (she's 83 and has a bad, already replaced hip).
Anyway, we went to It's a Small World first, which I think the kids liked, but i'm not sure they got it. In today's world of TV, Wii's & DS's the wonderment around animotronic beings just isn't there. But, they definitely liked the ride and several times throughout the week, one or all of them have been caught singing the song.
Then, we decided to check out Ariel's Grotto. We had to spend some time in line (that's weird) to see Ariel. As we waited, Catherine got a bit anxious prompting a mother behind us in line to whip out the Twizzlers...that was very nice. We brought a bunch of stuff for standing in line, but didn't have it with us...it was with Amy who was somewhere else while we waited.
Anyway, we finally made it toward the front, Amy showed up and realized she left the autograph books with Grammie...ooops. Well, no matter, when I lifted Catherine up to see, I could feel her body go tense as she gasped when she saw the "princess." That was definitely worth the wait. Just watching all the kids as they sat next to her was awesome.
Of course, we spend the day going on rides, Dumbo, Tomorrowland Indy Speedway, Magic Carpet ride, Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin. The Buzz Lightyear ride was very cool. You ride around in the ride cars and have laser guns that shoot the evil Zurg and his henchmen. You can rack up points as you ride around in space.
The kids also loved the parades. The parades were all still based on Christmas, but were nice...even Santa was at the end of the parade. Even though Christmas had come and gone...weird, but the kids didn't care.
The last thing was the fireworks above the castle which was light up very spectacularly. The fireworks were great, but standing in the crowd got to be a bit tiring.
We left around 10, as the SpectroMagic parade began, but we were pooped and had to go...didn't get home until 11. Not too shabby for 7, 6, and a 2.5 year old. The kids were pretty well behaved and even when we told them we'd get a souvenir the next time we came (which turned out to be Jan. 1) they were ok with it...they were so tired.
All three fell asleep on the way back to the way back to the condo. Life was good.
Quig
Day 4 was the big day for the kids. The anticipation of their first day at the Magic Kingdom was very exciting. I have to say that it was somewhat exciting for me, too since I have memories of going as a kid. I don't exactly remember how old I was when we went, but I think I was around 6 or 7.
To say the place was busy is an understatement. We knew going in that the week after Christmas would be the busiest week of the year. What we did not know was what BUSY really meant. I'll talk more about this stuff later.
I thought it might be a good idea to board the train that went around the park and get to the rides for the kids sooner rather than later. I'm not sure if that worked or not, but it seemed like a good idea. We met up with Amy's Aunt and her Grammie, who was in a wheel chair (she's 83 and has a bad, already replaced hip).
Anyway, we went to It's a Small World first, which I think the kids liked, but i'm not sure they got it. In today's world of TV, Wii's & DS's the wonderment around animotronic beings just isn't there. But, they definitely liked the ride and several times throughout the week, one or all of them have been caught singing the song.
Then, we decided to check out Ariel's Grotto. We had to spend some time in line (that's weird) to see Ariel. As we waited, Catherine got a bit anxious prompting a mother behind us in line to whip out the Twizzlers...that was very nice. We brought a bunch of stuff for standing in line, but didn't have it with us...it was with Amy who was somewhere else while we waited.
Anyway, we finally made it toward the front, Amy showed up and realized she left the autograph books with Grammie...ooops. Well, no matter, when I lifted Catherine up to see, I could feel her body go tense as she gasped when she saw the "princess." That was definitely worth the wait. Just watching all the kids as they sat next to her was awesome.
Of course, we spend the day going on rides, Dumbo, Tomorrowland Indy Speedway, Magic Carpet ride, Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin. The Buzz Lightyear ride was very cool. You ride around in the ride cars and have laser guns that shoot the evil Zurg and his henchmen. You can rack up points as you ride around in space.
The kids also loved the parades. The parades were all still based on Christmas, but were nice...even Santa was at the end of the parade. Even though Christmas had come and gone...weird, but the kids didn't care.
The last thing was the fireworks above the castle which was light up very spectacularly. The fireworks were great, but standing in the crowd got to be a bit tiring.
We left around 10, as the SpectroMagic parade began, but we were pooped and had to go...didn't get home until 11. Not too shabby for 7, 6, and a 2.5 year old. The kids were pretty well behaved and even when we told them we'd get a souvenir the next time we came (which turned out to be Jan. 1) they were ok with it...they were so tired.
All three fell asleep on the way back to the way back to the condo. Life was good.
Quig
Disney World - Downtown Disney
Day 3: 12/28/2008 - Downtown Disney
After some coercion by Amy's Aunt Libby & Uncle Charlie, we decided to go to Downtown Disney on Sunday, the day after arriving. We got up, had a nice breakfast in the condo and then headed out. We got there pretty early as the crowds were still pretty thin. We didn't know where to park, so we parked at the second light on the West End of Downtown Disney. The West End has Cirque Du Soleil, DisneyQuest, a huge AMC Theatre and a very large Virgin Record store. There are restaurants and shops, too.
At about the midpoint, we noticed a Customer Relations booth and decided to stop and ask about the tickets that Santa left for us. Sure enough, after a couple of minutes we had tickets in hand. After getting the tickets we found a huge maze of a disney store and looked around in there. When we walked out, it was plain to see the crowds were thicker and growing....
After lunch at the Rainforest Cafe and dessert at Ghirardelli's shop, we headed back to our condo and spent the rest of the afternoon/evening relaxing by the pool.
Tomorrow, Magic Kingdom.
Quig
After some coercion by Amy's Aunt Libby & Uncle Charlie, we decided to go to Downtown Disney on Sunday, the day after arriving. We got up, had a nice breakfast in the condo and then headed out. We got there pretty early as the crowds were still pretty thin. We didn't know where to park, so we parked at the second light on the West End of Downtown Disney. The West End has Cirque Du Soleil, DisneyQuest, a huge AMC Theatre and a very large Virgin Record store. There are restaurants and shops, too.
At about the midpoint, we noticed a Customer Relations booth and decided to stop and ask about the tickets that Santa left for us. Sure enough, after a couple of minutes we had tickets in hand. After getting the tickets we found a huge maze of a disney store and looked around in there. When we walked out, it was plain to see the crowds were thicker and growing....
After lunch at the Rainforest Cafe and dessert at Ghirardelli's shop, we headed back to our condo and spent the rest of the afternoon/evening relaxing by the pool.
Tomorrow, Magic Kingdom.
Quig
12.30.2008
Heading to Disney, 2 Days of Driving
Day 1: 12/26/2008 - Departure time 8:45 AM (7 people, Honda Odyssey)
We left Northern VA heading for Florence, SC where we had reservations at Hampton Inns & Suites. Very good day of traveling, although, when you drive outside the major thoroughfares of the DC-NY Corridor you realize how annoying it can be to drive on highways with only 2 lanes going your way. Everyone seems to think they are going fast so they spend most of their time in the left lane.
Grumpy Travel Tip #1: When you are in the left lane with no cars in the right lane and other cars are passing your car on the right, YOU SHOULD GET IN THE RIGHT LANE, you are the SLOW TRAFFIC that should keep right.
We did go through a bit of traffic in NC. At one slow point, after a couple of minutes, we heard the sirens. The fire truck came through without incident. Then, I noticed black smoke rising up ahead, which is usually nothing good, like oil or gasoline burning. Sure enough, when we got close enough, we could see a car completely engulfed in flames. The car appeared to have missed the curve in the road as the driver maneuvered the vehicle into the rest area. The care nailed a tree and was just about completely burned out. As we passed the firemen were dousing the flames. There were a lot of people standing not too far away with some luggage and other stuff, so it looks like they all got out ok.
Grumpy Travel Tip #2: When exiting the road way, make sure you aren't going too fast for the curve ahead.
The second slowdown we encountered this day looked to be a roll over SUV. The truck was about 30 feet off the right hand shoulder sitting on it's wheels. You could see that there was damage top to bottom, though. Emergency people were on the scene helping out, but again, it looked like everyone was alright.
We arrived at the Hampton Inns & Suites North Florence around 4:15 PM. There were signs of construction all around the building. We met the manager who let us know that the hotel just opened about a week before. Unfortunately, the indoor pool the kids were looking forward to using was not open for business. Pretty LAME as we were looking forward to a little fun. Not that big of a deal, but letting the kids loosen up at the pool would have gone a long way.
Grumpy Travel Trip #3: Check to make sure the hotel pool is open when booking.
We ate a nice dinner at a place called Fatz Cafe. I had shrimp grits & gravy...not bad, but not something I'll order there again. Better to get that IN Low Country, SC not NEAR Low Country, SC. Anyway, as I said, the meal was nice.
Day 2: 12/27/2008 Departure Time 8:40 AM (7 people, Honda Odyssey)
On Saturday we left Florence, SC for Silver Lakes Resort in Kissimmee, FL. Day 2 wasn't as filled with interesting slow downs as Day 1 was, but we did have a lot of time in heavy volume. We were happy to see 2 lanes go to 3 in Georgia, but going from 3 to 2 then from 2 to 3 and back and forth caused a bunch of bottlenecks along the way. This is the busiest time of year down year, so we expected some traffic.
We made it to our resort around 6 PM. Definitely a long day, but the kids (and grown-ups) were great...no major fights to speak about.
I'll write about days 3 & 4 tomorrow, including Downtown Disney & the Magic Kingdom...let's just say that today was a rest day.
Quig
We left Northern VA heading for Florence, SC where we had reservations at Hampton Inns & Suites. Very good day of traveling, although, when you drive outside the major thoroughfares of the DC-NY Corridor you realize how annoying it can be to drive on highways with only 2 lanes going your way. Everyone seems to think they are going fast so they spend most of their time in the left lane.
Grumpy Travel Tip #1: When you are in the left lane with no cars in the right lane and other cars are passing your car on the right, YOU SHOULD GET IN THE RIGHT LANE, you are the SLOW TRAFFIC that should keep right.
We did go through a bit of traffic in NC. At one slow point, after a couple of minutes, we heard the sirens. The fire truck came through without incident. Then, I noticed black smoke rising up ahead, which is usually nothing good, like oil or gasoline burning. Sure enough, when we got close enough, we could see a car completely engulfed in flames. The car appeared to have missed the curve in the road as the driver maneuvered the vehicle into the rest area. The care nailed a tree and was just about completely burned out. As we passed the firemen were dousing the flames. There were a lot of people standing not too far away with some luggage and other stuff, so it looks like they all got out ok.
Grumpy Travel Tip #2: When exiting the road way, make sure you aren't going too fast for the curve ahead.
The second slowdown we encountered this day looked to be a roll over SUV. The truck was about 30 feet off the right hand shoulder sitting on it's wheels. You could see that there was damage top to bottom, though. Emergency people were on the scene helping out, but again, it looked like everyone was alright.
We arrived at the Hampton Inns & Suites North Florence around 4:15 PM. There were signs of construction all around the building. We met the manager who let us know that the hotel just opened about a week before. Unfortunately, the indoor pool the kids were looking forward to using was not open for business. Pretty LAME as we were looking forward to a little fun. Not that big of a deal, but letting the kids loosen up at the pool would have gone a long way.
Grumpy Travel Trip #3: Check to make sure the hotel pool is open when booking.
We ate a nice dinner at a place called Fatz Cafe. I had shrimp grits & gravy...not bad, but not something I'll order there again. Better to get that IN Low Country, SC not NEAR Low Country, SC. Anyway, as I said, the meal was nice.
Day 2: 12/27/2008 Departure Time 8:40 AM (7 people, Honda Odyssey)
On Saturday we left Florence, SC for Silver Lakes Resort in Kissimmee, FL. Day 2 wasn't as filled with interesting slow downs as Day 1 was, but we did have a lot of time in heavy volume. We were happy to see 2 lanes go to 3 in Georgia, but going from 3 to 2 then from 2 to 3 and back and forth caused a bunch of bottlenecks along the way. This is the busiest time of year down year, so we expected some traffic.
We made it to our resort around 6 PM. Definitely a long day, but the kids (and grown-ups) were great...no major fights to speak about.
I'll write about days 3 & 4 tomorrow, including Downtown Disney & the Magic Kingdom...let's just say that today was a rest day.
Quig
12.24.2008
ColdFusion: using CFIMAGE to resize takes a while
Recently, while working on one of our applications at the CTDLC (www.ctdlc.org) we ran into an anomaly with [cfimage action="resize"]. The code was on our online portfolio system, www.ePortfolio.org. ePortfolio.org allows users to create as many portfolios as they want. The portfolio is then made a part of the public (via email connection) guest view as we call it. When creating a guest view, you can specify a header graphic for the guest view.
When a visitor to a guest view comes to the page, we do some processing on the header image to ensure the graphic fits into the guest view template chosen by the user. At that point, we were using cfimage 3 times in order to display the image. Here's some of the code altered a bit...
1. To get the information about the image including height & width
[cfimage action="info" source="[image]" structname="info" name="myImage"]
2. To resize the image to be within our width constraints
[cfimage action="resize" height="" source = "#myImage#" width="#outWidth#" name="myNewImage"]
3. to write the image out to the browser.
[cfimage action="writeToBrowser" source="#resizeImage#"]
During testing of this page, we noticed that if a specified header image was large, say 1.5 MB, then we had a serious problem on our hands. The call would take anywhere from 700-900 ms longer to run than the rest of the page.
To keep this post short...what we did to alleviate the problem is to go old school. We now run the [cfimage action="info"] call, but instead of 2 more cfimage calls, we do a little calculation to check if the image is in a portrait or landscape layout. Once that is determined, we use the good old [img src="" /] with the appropriate height & width.
That may seem a little archaic, but without doing some kind of processing of the image on the front end when they upload we arre kind of stuck.
Hope this helps someone down the road...
Merry Christmas to all!
Quig
When a visitor to a guest view comes to the page, we do some processing on the header image to ensure the graphic fits into the guest view template chosen by the user. At that point, we were using cfimage 3 times in order to display the image. Here's some of the code altered a bit...
1. To get the information about the image including height & width
[cfimage action="info" source="[image]" structname="info" name="myImage"]
2. To resize the image to be within our width constraints
[cfimage action="resize" height="" source = "#myImage#" width="#outWidth#" name="myNewImage"]
3. to write the image out to the browser.
[cfimage action="writeToBrowser" source="#resizeImage#"]
During testing of this page, we noticed that if a specified header image was large, say 1.5 MB, then we had a serious problem on our hands. The
To keep this post short...what we did to alleviate the problem is to go old school. We now run the [cfimage action="info"] call, but instead of 2 more cfimage calls, we do a little calculation to check if the image is in a portrait or landscape layout. Once that is determined, we use the good old [img src="" /] with the appropriate height & width.
That may seem a little archaic, but without doing some kind of processing of the image on the front end when they upload we arre kind of stuck.
Hope this helps someone down the road...
Merry Christmas to all!
Quig
12.23.2008
Welcome
Hello and welcome to The Traveling Grump...where I'll talk about just about anything, but I'm really here to complain about things that happen around me when traveling. Whether I'm driving to the corner to pick up some milk or flying to some excellent vacation resort, something or someone is bound to annoy me.
So, check back often or subscribe, because if I'm out of the house I'm probably grumpy.
Quig
So, check back often or subscribe, because if I'm out of the house I'm probably grumpy.
Quig
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