Random Flagstaff Adventures:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2169972&id=27712437&l=3c940de2c3

Grand Canyon:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2170188&id=27712437&l=cfdf067e62

the reasons for such a drought in postings, is two-fold.  The first, of course is the fact that I am a second semester senior, enrolled in 4-400 level classes as well as a part time job (more on that later).  not the easiest workload in the world…
the second, is the combination of work and school, has made my life, a little less interesting than the life it was in FL.

But, nevertheless, i’m sure there are some who are wondering about my little ol’ life.
as i mentioned, i’m a second semester senior, so a lot of my time at this point is being devoted to career hunting, resume prepping, and keeping up with classes.  which is no small task mind you…

on top of that, i decided to add a job.   as has been the case with most of my jobs, i submitted several applications before finally hearing from one.  i think the final tally was 8 before i finally said i’ll do more soon.  well the second day of applications needn’t happen.  about 5 days after the applications were submitted i got a call from a number i didn’t know.  i’d have answered it, if i had noticed it going off.  but i didn’t.  luckily for me, they left a message.  they wanted me to come in for an “interview” so i called them back.  at this point i should explain that them, is the Howard Johnson Inn in Flagstaff AZ.  which is owned and operated by a lovely Indian couple.  so i spent the day before my interview preparing, brainstorming, and planning what types of things i should do.  I go in, aaaaaaaand the interview goes a bit differently than i had imagined.  essentially it was less of an interview and more of a job offer.  of course, i took it.  i love it.  working front desk is awesome.  especially now that i actually know what i’m doing with the job.

while i love it, i have to keep exploring other options in terms of career type jobs.  this week has been career fair week, which is exciting and stressful.  it was a little sad to see how few businesses were recruiting.  but i went and did my best to be presentable (in the words of Barney Stinson, i SUITED UP!) and make my resume even more appealing.  (i feel like it’s a pretty well rounded work experience now) and it all added up to…………..

one interview.
which i had this morning.  i think it went pretty well.  it’d be a “Management Trainee” with enterprise rental cars.  which would give me valuable management experience, as well as sales experience.  like i said it went pretty well, and the recruiter said she was going to pass on my resume and interview paperwork to the Head of recruiting for the albuquerque area, which would be cool.  most of the other companies just said “well you can apply online.”  which i plan on doing.

we’ll see.   but for now, i should get back to doing hw, or something fun.  whichever it is i decide to do to bide my time.

i’d talk more about the classes i have, but we really haven’t had them that much.  Monday of last week was a holiday.  after tuesday as a normal day, and Wednesday with a two hour delay, which got me nowhere at all, seeing as my classes don’t really start til 1240.

oh, snap.  did i forget to tell you? flagstaff, was hit by 3 successive snow storms last week.  the first rolled in monday night, dropping around 3-5 inches.  not enough to do anything.  by tuesday night the stronger of the storms started coming.  that one dropped about 8 inches.  not enough to close it on wednesday, but enough to make us be delayed two hours.  (which again, as i mentioned, got me nowhere.)  Wednesday night, it was pretty clear school thursday wasn’t going to happen.  we all did our hw, just in case, but woke up to the email saying school was cancelled.  well, actually I woke up to the email that said “we’re delayed again” which made me sad because that STILL got me nowhere.  an hour later, my friend texted me saying “SNOW DAYYYY!!!!!” which meant i got to just stay in bed.  it literally snowed all day thursday (minus the one random hour of rain) and we knew by 8pm, both officially and unofficially, that school wasn’t going to happen on friday.  which was awesome.  4 day weekend! of course 2 of the days there was enough snow that doing anything wasn’t a wise decision.  especially if it was something that required driving anywhere.  the roads have been (and in some cases still are) an absolute mess.   the city of flagstaff even shut down thursday and friday.  it finally stopped snowing late friday afternoon, and then the digging began.  personally, i had no need of digging out until at least today (when my grocery supply ran out, basically.  i had soup and cornflakes.) and oh what fun that was.  it wouldn’t have been so bad if when the car next to mine dug out, it hadn’t pushed a big ole wall of snow behind my car.  luckily while i was digging out, someone with a bobcat came by and helped clear out for me.  otherwise, i’d probably still be shoveling.  ugh.

once before i posted a link to some of my pics.  i don’t remember if that worked, but hopefully it did, because i’m gonna do it again.  these (assuming it works) were some of my pics, taken friday evening.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2162709&id=27712437&l=25f659aad3

that week at home, between finishing with the mouse, and heading back to the land of the lumberjacks, flew by.  i spent a lot of time outside of the home, seeing long missed friends, and a lot of time at home, seeing long missed family.   but, it’s said, all good things must come to an end.  and, after a very short week, the car was loaded up, and i was set to go back on to flagstaff.

the first few days back in flagstaff were kind of like the very first few days in flagstaff.  nearly 4 years ago.  things had changed in the 7 months since i’d been away, and it seemed like most of the friends and classmates i had remembered, were gone and replaced by people that i’d never seen before.  there are people, in some of my senior level classes that i have never seen before in my life.  i swear.  but, after a few days back, re-acquainting myself with the town, the school, and the few people that i still know, and it’s nice.

i love my living arrangement.  it’s so nice to be located off campus.  it’s a nice walk to and from campus each day, and really nice to not have to deal with any parking permit.  at least, not an expensive, NAU one.  (our complex has parking permits, but they’re covered in the cost of rent)  I’m up in the loft, but it’s actually bigger than the one at the house in NM, and i don’t share it with anyone like Florida.   plus, i really like my roommates.   at some point soon, i’ll probably take pictures of the apartment.  at least my loft.

so one week in of 3-400 level classes, and i like them all.  even the ONE class that keeps my fridays from being free.   My week starts out with my workout class, which i am taking with one of my roommates (which is nice, because he actually knows what he’s doing when it comes to conditioning and fittening up(also, i’m pretty sure fittening isn’t exactly a word)) then i go home, clean up, and go back to campus for Sales.  Sales, so far has been pretty interesting.  it’s clear my prof, knows what he’s talking about, and makes the class interesting.  those are my MWF’s.  TuTh, i start the day with Beers: which is actually a legit class.  it’s leveled at 499, and from what i’ve heard is a lot of work.  i’m really excited to find out more about beer and actually know a thing or two about it once i leave.  then, i go to International Hospitality Management, which could be fairly interesting, as it’s all about what we can do in the industry to deal with globalization and pressing world issues, such as sustainability and that sort of thing.  Then, it’s on to my Capstone course.  capstone is basically just a class to help us bridge the gap between graduation and that…real world…thing.  it’s a pretty fun schedule and i think i’m going to like it a lot.

One of my professors is helping me get an internship (hopefully) with the Flagstaff Convention and Visitors Bureau.  it’d be unpaid, but it would get me some more valuable work experience, which would help me in a few months, and it’s designed to fit on top of my school schedule and be fairly flexible to my needs.   if i don’t hear anything about that in the next couple weeks or so, i’ll start the job hunt in my spare time, but i’m REALLLLLLLY hoping that pans out.

i went to see one of my former professors (and one of the few professors in the program who i am sure beyond a doubt remembers me, because she’s amazing and remembers everyone)  and she was very excited to see me.  she remarked “wow, you look great, there’s something different about you?” to which i said, “well, i’ve lost around 80 pounds” and she said “WOAH.  i thought it was like your hair!” and then i said “well i mean my hair is a bit different than it was when i left too.”  I’m meeting her to catch up this week as she truly is one of the greatest people i’ve ever met and she’s very excited to hear me talk about my experiences since i left her class room almost a year ago.

it’s good to be back, and i’m already in the swing of things.

oh, and if you’re wondering, i’m still working out.  even with it being extremely difficult some days to convince myself to get up and go run in the freezing cold.  but i’m doing it.  3 days running, 3 days weight training.

well, i’ve got nothing else to say, except i’ll try and post here as often as schedule permits.  but who knows how often that could be…

it’s really hard for me to think that in 4 days, it’ll be time to leave.  it seems like just yesterday i was packing up my stuff and flying out here.  but it wasn’t.  that, was about six months ago.  there has been so much that has happened here, and this blog has really just scraped the tip of the iceberg.  so many things here couldn’t be put in to words.  or pictures.  they just had to be experienced.  and for those, experiences i’m truly grateful.  my dad asked me before i left if this was going to be a money making experience or if i was going to break even in the end.  i realized that if i were to have done none of the things i did, had zero remarkable experiences, i could have made some money.  but that, doesn’t sound like a journey i wanted to go through.  because i have 3 major experiences that could have been skipped, but i’d have kicked myself for it.  everyday.  1) the trip to tampa.  to have the sox playing that close, with just about my favorite player pitching for them was an opportunity i couldn’t pass up.  2) food and wine festival at epcot.  again, it would have been easy to just pass through, check out a few of the things, but honestly, i had such a good time and some seriously amazing food while i was there, and i’d spend every penny again.  3rd and finally) every over priced-disney dinner, gift, or experience/ the third call-in day.   i realized that yes, the disney restaurants are very expensive but you get an amazing meal, and a tremendous experience, the gifts, well i had to have something tangible to remember this whole crazy experience by.  the third call in day was the day my co-workers and i took a day trip to saint augustine.  really cool, and a trip that meant a lot to me, and experiences i won’t soon forget.

we were talking on the bus home from work last night about how, this part right now, the last few days for just about all of us, feels like the end of high school.  everyone’s taking pictures and hugging and signing our posters, and knowing, that for a lot of us, this is goodbye.  for good.  we all split up, and go our separate ways in the next couple weeks, all of us wishing the best for all of us.  people keep asking me if i’m sad to be leaving, or if i’m gonna miss it.  the answer is not all of it.  i’m not going to miss the work, but i am going to miss getting to talk to other cast members, and have connections.  I’m not going to miss the bus rides, but i am going to miss the conversations that happened on those bus rides.  i’m not going to miss the 15-30-15 breaks in our day, but i am going to miss the company of those breaks.  I’m going to miss the people.  facebook, will undoubtedly help, but in the end, writing someone a message on facebook is different than hanging out with them at work or outside of work.   i’ll persevere, and know though, that when missed these people are a few clicks away.  thanks cyberspace.

my drivers license has me generously lightly listed at 295 pounds.  realistically, i was more around 300-10.  if i were leaving today, i’d have lost nearly 60 pounds from my drivers license, and in reality around 75-80.  i weighed in at 236 this morning.  it’s amazing what florida summer, 8hours of walking, and daily workouts can do for you, i guess.  i want to take a picture in the same shirt i wore for my drivers license and compare the two.  i feel great, and plan on continuing my workout schedule (although it’ll undoubtedly be scaled down to 4-5 days a week instead of 6) and also, am looking for a 5K race to run with one of my best friends, it’s no marathon like my sister, but hey, 5K isn’t exactly anything to shake a stick at either!

i’m ready to go.  i’ve got a few more goodbyes to be said, a few more shifts to be worked, and a hell of a lot of packing left to do before saturday, but i’m ready to do it all.  i’m ready to go.  it’s been a blast, but now, now it’s time to go.

“it’s the experience of a life time.   but there’s no way in hell i’d go back.”

it’s absolute madness here.  honestly.  i’ve never seen a place so crazy.  i think the thought process goes a little something like this “i have an idea, let’s go to disney for christmas.  I bet NO ONE else has ever had that idea. we’ll be the only ones there!!!!!!”

reality is this.  EVERYONE has had that idea.  and if by the only ones there, you mean some of 40K+ then yes, you will be the only ones there.  and that’s just at Hollywood Studios.  from what i’ve heard, magic kingdom has been hitting around 80-90K, epcot was packed, and animal kingdom was just as bad.  it’s crazy.  absolute bedlam.

not thinking about that, and needing to do something grand for my last two days off, i decided to attempt to hit all 4 of the disney parks in one day.  my record is 3, and that record stands.  i started my day at animal kingdom and then went to the transportation and ticket center to catch a monorail to the magic kingdom.  seeing a 2 hour wait for the MONORAIL to mk, and virtually no wait for a monorail to epcot, i opted for the monorail to epcot.  i went to epcot and walked around the world showcase, including a stop to watch Off Kilter, my dad’s favorite Celtic/Canadian Rock Band.   i will say this, they were pretty good.  and pretty entertaining too.  

after a stop in Morocco to try something i’d never eaten, i walked the path back to studios.  i decided to do something i’d never done there, the Animation academy.  while i was waiting what seemed like an eternity for it, my friend casey called me, and said she had gotten off early and so we hung out at the studios until she had to leave.  while we were hanging out, we did the great movie ride, muppetvision 3d and watched OUR resident rockband, Mulch Sweat and Shears (they’re supposed to be landscapers trying to make it big)
then it was BACK to epcot for illuminations, nachos, and a dos equis in the mexico pavilion.  (my favorite way/spot to watch illuminations.)   tthen home.  good day.

the day before, one of my friends, known as big tall scott (he’s around 6’8″ and we have another scott, so we needed some way to figure out who we were talking to)  went to studios.  i’ve always liked studios, and it was fun to see it as a guest, one (second to) last time.  we saw some of the shows and thanks to some connections i have over at the rock ‘n’roller coaster, we managed to ride it 3 times, with only an hour of wait.  (thanks friends!) (also the wait time thing is impressive when you figure the standby time was over 100 minutes all day long.)   then it was home to hang out with the roommates for probably the last time.   i don’t expect to see them much the next two weeks.

saturday, my coworkers decided to take a day trip up to St Augustine (one of the oldest cities in America)  now.  they had done one day trip before, which i missed because i needed to work that day, and i said to myself, i’m not letting that happen again.  i took a “personal day” to go with them, because honestly, i’m working christmas eve, day, and new years eve, i deserved a day to just have a good time.   and we did just that.  St augustine was very cool.  my friend Alex, who is from New Orleans, and he said it reminded him of a “more family friendly bourbon street”   it, reminded me a bit of a combination of Jerome & Flagstaff Arizona.  all in all, it was a very fun, very cool day, and i was glad that i did it.  one of my favorite parts of the day was our visit to the “pepper palace”  the most ridiculous hot sauce store in the world.  with over sixty feet of samples, including the aptly named, Hottest Sauce in the Universe.  I made the mistake of dipping a chip into it, and then spreading the sauce all over my mouth by chewing the chip.  oh how the members of the group that didn’t try it laughed.  me, not so much.  although, i’ll be honest, it was mostly hot sauces, and i’d have loved it more if they had more salsas, but it’s florida.

It’s just like summer again.  minus the 800000000 degree heat, it is however, insanely busy, and as such, if i don’t post much in the next 8 days, it’s because fighting with 40000 on a nightly basis, isn’t gonna be much fun for me.  but, after those 8 days, i’ll be home.  and that makes me a happy boy.

Also,
i’ll probably put a Merry Christmas out there tomorrow, but in case i don’t get around to it, Merry Christmas to ALL.  god bless, and happy new year (in case i forget)

NAU’s semester ended last week, and now it’s just working for the mouse.  I passed both (all 3 if you count my disney class) of my classes and am, in fact, on par to graduate in MAY.  wow.  that’s a leap i’m not sure i’m ready for, but then again, i’ve got a few months left before that.  but it’s good to know that the end of that is so close.

it’s been a pretty boring couple of weeks workwise.  i did have an operations manager tell me i did a great job at fantasmic (our night show) and was watched by the VP of our park while doing a water art showdown with a coordinator (the kids started playing with the water and brooms before we could decide the winner.  my current water art record is 1-1-1.  one of these days we’re deciding the champion.  one of these days.)  i also had one of my greatest compliments paid to me, it was monday, (my friday) and i was a restroom breaker, meaning i spend my day running around and then killing time mostly.  well apparently a guest saw me multiple times.  she saw me as i was going into my restrooms (once they finally became mine) and asked me “how long do you work today?” after making sure i understood (she had a bit of an accent and struggled with english a bit) her, i told her “by the time i’m done, it’ll be 8″and she said wow.  and then she proceeded to explain that she had seen me several times, in several locations, and each time and place she saw me i was smiling.  she then told me good job and congratulations.  i spent the rest of that day smiling and laughing at the congratulations i had just received.

next week, i have my last two days off as a disney cast member.  there is going to be a lot to squeeze into those two days.  A LOT.  including a trip to each of the four parks,  (in one day.  CRAAAAAAZY), some roommate time, some friend time, and hopefully some classic do nothing time.  i’ll have fun, and probably still do some stuff before work, since it’s so late most of the coming nights.   ughh, i did not miss you 4:15-12:45 shifts.  not one bit.  but you’re back.  like the friend that won’t go away.

speaking of… (haha! i kid.  mostly. haha)   my friend josh, who came out here during the summer, came out here to visit again.  such is the benefit of having family within driving distance of disney i guess.  but he came, and i spent my two days off hanging out with him, and our mutual friend vanessa and playing in the parks as a guest.  truly one of the best ways to do things at the park is to do them with people who haven’t done them before.

but, for now, i’m sleepy and have to get up early for an adventure with some co-workers tomorrow, so i’m off of the internet.  If i don’t post in the next two weeks, it’s probably just because i’m so busy working and packing and getting ready to leave here.  nothing too serious haha.

yesterday was the Disney College Program winter formal.  when the week started, i was off yesterday.  by yesterday, i was not off yesterday.  let me explain.  my two days off recently have been tuesdays and wednesdays.  i picked up a shift for tuesday and then had planned on having wednesday off, and probably going to the winter formal (free food and probably people to talk to, hard to beat that.)  backtracking a little bit, my buddy jake, did not have wednesday off.  he was hoping to definitely go to winter formal.  so he posted the shift for anyone to take on the board we have at work as soon as he saw he had it.  no one really wanted to take it because it was from 16:15-0045 (4-1 basically.) and a ton of people wanted to go to the formal.  finally about two days before, jake looked about as defeated as a person could look and i said, hey i’ve got wednesday off i’ll take your shift and we can change our days off.  jake’s problem, solved.  my trouble about to start…

the thing i DIDN’T realize when i took it was that i’d be working a convention.  once i realized this i thought to myself “ok, no sweat, i’ve done plenty of conventions.  why should this one be any different.

this is where it gets bad.  i go in to work, and we’re told that our convention, is 15000 (not a typo.  literally fifteen thousand.) pop warner football kids and cheerleaders were invading our park.   we’re then told that they are going to be given free food, ice cream, popcorn, and soda from just about anywhere in the park.
wait.
we’re gonna do WHAT?
you CANNOT BE SERIOUS!!!!

but alas.  they were serious.  and so was the trauma.  readers, i’ve seen some things, i have cleaned somethings, i have experienced some work nights that i could never tell you all about, for fear of what it would do to the un-desensitized mind.  but i tell you this.  none of those nights compared to the horrors of 15000 middle schoolers with free reign of a theme park, free foodsodapopcornandicecream, and limited parental control.  I spent from 8:45 till 12:30 doing continuous trash.  four FULL trash runs in one of my (former) favorite zones to work in in the park, and about 4300 calls from my manager to make sure i was doing alright.   Never have i been more exhausted after a shift of work.  (well, maybe the 21hr monster i did at LSG that one time.)  well i can say it this way: never have i been more exhausted after an 8 hour shift of work.   seriously.  it was insane.  all over the park too.  not just in my little area.  i’m pretty sure the collective studios staff sighed a collective sigh as the clock struck midnight and the 15ooo monsters were ushered out of our park.  i know i did.

i’ve also realized that teachers should teach children, along with their abc’s and 123′s the concept of shaking your hands off into the sink, rather than on the mirror, or floor.  (just a little bit of opinion)

but, i’m off to bed.  lot to do tomorrow (i guess technically it’s already today.  oof.)  in my one day off.  and i’d like to spend at least some time resting.  maybe?

i don’t remember exactly the last time i posted, but here’s a recap of the past few days.   so on december 1st, to show my excitement for FINALLY being able to go to the lights, i got up, got on the E bus (same bus i take to work) and went to watch our night show, the lights, and epcot’s fireworks.  i ended up doing one and a 3rd of those things.  I realized that i’ve seen our night show so many times (from working it) that i can recite it word for word, and that i really only like the beginning and the end of it.  so i played around with the bubble gun i bought, watched the opening, and then went down to the lights, which, really are quite a sight to see.  so after i got my fill of the lights (which did not take too long about long enough to finish my cookie actually) i head over to epcot.  while i’m at the studios one of my fellow showkeepers texts me and says “come to epcot!” so i explain that that was my plan from the start.  then i get to epcot, call to find out where they are and they say “oh we’re at the yacht and beach club resort” so i hop on the boat that runs from epcot to the resorts.  i finally find them and we end up going to beaches and cream (the ice cream shoppe there,) and splitting a kitchen sink (8 scoops of ice cream, every topping they have and AN ENTIRE CAN of Whipped cream, all served in a cool little kitchen sink) and a good time was had by all.  the next day some of the same people and I went over to the animal kingdom and then to the most difficult miniature golf course i’ve ever been to.  in my life.  Disney’s Fantasia Fairways.  wow.  absolute wow.  technically, i won, because i was the only member of our group who actually finished the course.  the other two lost their golf balls along the way.  if they hadn’t i’d have been in last place.  by like a mile. but as it was, i pretty much won haha.

after two days off it was back to it.  and oh did it go right back to it.  thursday, which was my monday, i had Center and Monument Restrooms.  widely known as the worst restroom combination at the studios, it lives up to that reputation.  they’re both super busy and no matter how long you spend in them, or how quickly you come back to them after leaving them, they’re a mess.  and they’re always ALWAYS super busy.  and always super super frustrating.  so i wasn’t in the best of moods to say the least.  but, after work a bunch of us headed over to Rix, a sort of club in the Disney’s Coronado Springs.  it’s a very as the kids say “chill” spot to sort of just hang out, relax maybe have a couple drinks and unwind.  good grief did i need that part after the day at work.  followed that up with a random, very entertaining trip to walmart, then it was on to friday.

friday, i was assigned to work the spectacle of dancing lights.  friday, it poured rain all day long.  and it was cold rain too.   so, needless to say the lights, were pretty much rained out.  which brings us to saturday.

saturday, the Trans-Siberian Orchestra was visiting our fair city of Orlando.  i managed to talk a few of my co-workers into going and we had a blast.  although it was a little bittersweet hearing them play their songs about coming home on christmas day, which kind of reminded all of us that we wouldn’t.  but it was an amazing show nonetheless.  (i love that nonetheless is all one word.  or at least that Google Chrome’s Spell Check recognizes it as one word.)  i think it would have been a little better if their new album hadn’t just come out.  the second half of the show was a lot of stuff off their new album.  which granted is pretty cool (it’s more along the lines of the beethoven album than the 3 christmas albums) but still.  after that, we decided since magickingdom was open til 1AM, we should go, til one am.  we got to MK around 9, and left around 1:15.  we had a really good time even though it was the coldest i’ve ever been in this state.  splash mountain, was very cold.  very very very cold.  not our best idea.  but it was fun.

yesterday was work, and i went from having tuesday and wednesday off to having just friday off.  (all by my choice mind you) and i fought a never ending battle with the popcorn and now we’re all caught up.  the next few days i work, so if anything interesting happens, it’ll probably find it’s way up here. but for now, i’m gonna go shower so i can use the printers at the learning center before work.  and also after work.  muhahahaha.

now some stories i CAN tell you:

the other day while sweeping Commissary  Lane (a part of our park.  i don’t really expect anyone to know exactly where it is) i noticed some trash next to a woman’s foot.  they always tell us to be careful when sweeping near people because there are often cultural differences and some people may be offended. so i’m going to get the trash near her foot and as i sweep it she jumps and says “aye, no.  i won’t get married if you sweep my foot” I apologize and go about my merry way.

I successfully avoided early christmas, and now that it’s december am excited to go check out our lights.  i do still have a slight problem with the corporate sponsorship of a holiday celebration, buuuuuut one battle at a time.

let’s see.  i don’t know if i talked about our thanksgiving.  i got to have 3 thanksgiving dinners.  the first put on by housing which was truly mediocre at best.  (seriously, what kind of thanksgiving dinner doesn’t have mashed potatoes?? or gravy!??) although it was a very nice and appreciated gesture and hey, if nothing else. . . free food!  the second was a similar meal provided by the cafeteria at work.  still no mashed potatoes (apparently a disney thanksgiving dinner does NOT have potatoes)  again, not great, but beats having to make or pay for a lunch.  and the third was the best.  that night when i got home, my roommates and i had ourselves a feast.  ok. feast might be a little much, we ate a thanksgiving dinner.  mostly cooked by me, but i will give them credit, the roommates cooked the “turkey” and the rolls.  and a good time was had by all.  so if you were worried i did get my thanksgiving dinner.  it may not have been the best, but it was what it was and what it was, was pretty good.  (if you are like me and catch things like that, the word “was” appears in that sentence 4 times which might be a personal record for times using a word in a sentence.)

that concludes this posting in my disney adventure blog.  and if you’re ever wondering about some of those stories i don’t tell you, contact me.  if you’ve got the stomach for it, i’ll tell you some of them.