Wed Oct 20: We got up early and had breakfast and headed down to the Hershey Zoo/Chocolate factory.
WOW! Fresh chocolate smell everywhere! We did the Hershey Chocolate Factory tour. It was cool-they had me transfer into a manual wheelchair and pushed me into a little gondola-ride-thingy modified to take chairs. Suz sat directly behind me. It was neat-shows how you the chocolate is refined and shaped, etc.
Then we were asked if we wanted to "be on the line packing some Kisses". Sure-why not. It was real hokey. Some really-overenthusiastic guy with a hokey hard-hat/microphone combo had you push a button on a mock conveyor belt where a batch of Kisses came down and you had to box them. Then they have to be "inspected" and "sent off with a Kiss"....hokey...but kids would probably love it.
Then we went into their store-gads and gads of fresh-from-factory chocolate! Dark Truffle Peppermint Patties, White Chocolate Mint Kit-Kats! (happy sigh). We bought presents for everyone and ourselves. Then we went and had the most-chocolatey cups of Starbucks' Hot Chocolate we've ever had.
Hershey Zoo was next....didn't overly impress us but it was ok. Definitely not bigger than our hometown Seneca Park Zoo. Saw a trio of Bison which stank to high hell. Not a bad lil zoo. Frustrating part was every school in the county had kids there so we were constantly dodging throngs of screaming children.
We went back to the hotel and cleaned up before meeting the Fran Clan for dinner at the Applebee's next door. Always enjoy a chance to chill with my homeys.
Returned to the hotel and swam and dozed to CSI.
Thurs Oct 21: MALL DAY WITH FRAN! Not-my-President-Bush was having a campaign rally right up the road at the Hershey Giant Stadium so we wanted out of Dodge. We left Hershey about 9am and got to Lancaster at 9:45. Picked up Fran and we went to a restaurant called Carmine's where we had our first Authentic Philly Cheesesteak and loved it!
Then we went to the King of Prussia Mall which is a city amongst itself--4 separate quadrants. It makes our Eastview Mall look damn small.
Then we went swimming with the family we met and had dinner with them.
Friday Oct 22: We got up about 9-had dinner with the family we'd met and said our goodbyes. Little Sammy still called me "Shark Boy"...eh, whatdya gonna do?
We headed out by 10am and made it home by 5pm exactly with no incidents.
Here we go...this will evolve over the next few days...multiple posts.
Mon 10/18 (Our actual anniversary): We left at 9am. Stopped for a snack/pee break about 11am in Bath/Hammondsport NY (off of I-86 S). Went to get back on and there's a Oversized Tractor Trailer not only in his lane on the left but partially in mine too. We were forced to slide right and hit the guard rail.
Damage is cosmetic-$1200+...oh well-noone got hurt and that's what matters.
We made it down to Hershey by 4:30pm or so.
Hershey PA is not well signed or lit at all. Finding our hotel, the Comfort Inn, was a challenge.
Went to look for a nice restaurant for our Anniversary. Found the Hershey Hotel-called for a reservation. They require a Dinner Jacket-we brought nice clothes but I rarely wear Jackets and would have to take it off to eat anyways. They offered to "loan" me one--with my size requirements, not a chance.
We went to Pavone's which is a really nice Italian restaurant-great food. We both had Lasagna with Crab & Cheese bread for an Appetizer. Met some really cool older folks from Toronto and we talked about the Fast Ferry debacle amongst other topics. Good time.
When we got back to the hotel they had a little "Happy Anniversary" printout and a candy bar for us. Very cool.
Tues 10/19: We got up early-had breakfast and went to Gettysburg. With all the driving we'd done we didn't want to drive around the battlefields on our own. Fortunately the Park Service had just gotten a new van with a lift.
We took the 2-hour Guided Bus Tour. Lots of great monuments and amazing statuary work.
We had an outstanding Tour Guide named Jim. The battlefield was very misty which he said was very authentic to what it was like on the actual day due to the smoke caused by the canons and such.
One of our NY's own- Paddy O'Rorke -a Union soldier who was an integral part of the Battle of Little Roundtop that prevented the Confederate soldiers (headed by General Robert E. Lee) from succeeding and eventually drove them back to Virginia.
What is funny is that on his monument is a brass sculpture of his head and his nose is all shiny while the rest is tarnished. Apparently it is tradition to rub his nose for luck.
That night we came home and had Chinese take-out. We went swimming and met another family at the hotel-Grandma, Mom and 3 kids. I love swimming with kids as I chase them around and get a better workout. Well I became known as "Shark Man" to them for the rest of the trip. GREAT kids!
Then we went to the hotel and passed out. We were toast.
More tomorrow.
Well Isabella got spayed today. Suz said at 8:00 (nightly dinner break phone call) that she's pretty doped up on puppy drugs.
We have the cowl on her but she couldn't fit in her crate with it. So I get to sleep with her which means Daddy gets no sleep for a couple days. Glad I'm not working Tues & Wednesday.
Fun fun
While my parents are out of town, my brother Marc had my dad's car to do some work on it. Well, a deer and the car met head-on the other night with my brother and his kids inside. Everyone's ok but the car is totalled.
Welcome home, Mom & Dad!
Courtesy of Missy
1. Can you pick out a particular time in your life when you felt absolutely and totally helpless? Explain. Did things work out?
After Marc Pacyga died, I was useless. He passed in November early 90's, I didn't know what to do. I was in college and had lost few people before that. I remember driving to and speaking at his service. The holidays that year were (and remain to this day) a blur.
2. How are things going for you right now? Good? Bad? Indifferent? Explain.
Life rocks...coming up on my 1-year Wedding Anniversary and work is good.
3. What's your attitude about the future? Are you looking forward to it, or dreading it? Or are you just one of those people who doesn't care? Why/why not?
My future is now-I have my family, my home and my job. Health is slowly getting better-may need knee surgery but we'll start that diagnosis process this Wednesday. I'm not too concerned as I've found a way to manage the pain.
Bonus Question for Comments: Does everything happen for a reason, or just randomly?
There is reason for everything and everything has a reason.
George Bush has a heart attack and dies. He goes to hell where the devil is waiting for him. "I don't know what to do here" says the devil. "You are on my list, but I have no room for you. You definitley have to stay here so I will tell you what I will do."
"I've got three folks here who weren't quite as bad as you. I'll let one of them go, but you have to take their place." "I'll even let you decide who leaves."
George thought that sounded pretty good, so he agreed.
The devil opened the first room. In it was Richard Nixon and a large pool of water. He kept diving in and surfacing empty-handed, over and over again. Such was his fate in hell.
"No!" George said, "I don't think so." "I'm not a good swimmer and I don't think I could do that all day long."
The devil led him to the next room. In it was Tony Blair with a sledge hammer and a room full of rocks. All he did was swing that hammer, time after time after time.
"No, I've got this problem with my shoulder, I would be in constant agony if all I could do was break rocks all day." Commented George.
The devil opened a third door. In it, George saw Bill Clinton, lying on the floor with his arms nailed over his head. His legs were staked in spread eagle pose and bent over him was Monica Lewinsky, doing what she does best.
George Bush looked at this in disbelief for a while, and then finally said "Yeah, I can handle this."
The devil smiled and said...............
"O.K Monica, you are free to go."
Courtesy of Aint It Cool News
A Little Respect For Rodney Dangerfield
Hi, everyone. "Moriarty" here with some Rumblings From The Lab...
I don’t like writing obits for Ain’t It Cool. To me, there’s nothing cool about having to break the news that someone whose work you enjoy has passed on. But it is cool to honor the people who have been influential on your life, your attitudes, or simply your enjoyment of the medium of cinema. When the news started coming in this afternoon about Rodney Dangerfield’s death, I told Harry that I’d step up and write this one. I’m a comedy junkie, and it’s been a particular passion of mine from about as soon as I could get into a record store unsupervised.
It seems surreal that Rodney was born in 1921. He seemed so hip and cutting edge when I first saw him in the late ‘70s, such a perfect fit in CADDYSHACK with guys like Bill Murray and Chevy Chase. The truth is that Rodney was a classic, timeless. He just plain understood how to tell a joke. His best films are, without question, CADDYSHACK and BACK TO SCHOOL, the latter of which is one of the best specifically tailored comedy vehicles of the ‘80s. That film was such a great showcase for his talents, and I remember working in a theater the summer it was out. No matter how long it had been playing, every time you went in, the crowd was still boisterous, loud and loving every moment of it.
His work in NATURAL BORN KILLERS was surreal and disturbing, a great use of his cartoonish features, and one of the last times I think I ever saw him onscreen. Rodney’s greatest legacy will always be the dozens and dozens of younger stand-up comedians that he mentored and gave a break to through his YOUNG COMEDIANS specials. He used his own fame to help new talent sneak into the spotlight, and as a result, he’s going to be deeply missed by some of the biggest names in comedy this week.
Jacob Cohen. Jack Roy. Rodney Dangerfield. Whatever his name was, he was the real deal, a class act all the way, and he will be missed. As Billy Joel once sang about him...
”Got a call from an old friend/We used to be real close/Said he couldn’t go on/The American Way.”
”Closed the shop/Sold his house/Bought a ticket to the West Coast/Now he gives them a stand-up routine in LA.”
I think it’s safe to say Rodney will be getting all the respect he could have ever wanted today.
Well...get out of bed-let Isabella out of her gated area and she proceeds to shit and pee in 3 different areas in the Family Room. She won't go out. This after 6 weeks of no accidents at all.
I panic and call the Vet. They pick her up and she spends the day with them. Suz picks her up at 5:30---$350! Holy Crap! (literally)
Ends up she's got a Bacterial Infection....joy.