Legos are Awesome.

The scariest thing about writing this blog entry is the backlash I may receive from all the Disney followers. Even though I know all 3 of you are more into football and drinking... so I should be safe.

Orlando, Florida. The place where all your dreams come true; the only dream I had in this over commercialized town was a nightmare. After 3 wonderful nights of rest, I was awakened on the last night from a dream where I went to explore a cave. Once I paid and entered, I found that the cave was recently flooded. They had yet to clear the disaster of dead decaying bodies shoved throughout the caves cracks. When I asked for a refund, they looked at me like an idiot. The stupid ticket was so damn expensive that I contemplated completing the tour just to get my money’s worth.  The rest of the night I just rolled around. I debated getting up to cover up all the neon numbers and lights illuminating throughout the room. Instead, I just rolled around in my own misery.

 I must admit that my area of "Disney judgment" only spans over the Disney property lay out and Downtown Disney, an area of Disney stores, and overpriced restaurants. I never made it to any of the parks, but not sure if I ever really want to go. By the end of the trip, I wanted to shake all the foreign individuals( is that politically correct?), and scream that there are better places in America to visit. To avoid scaring anyone, I just told myself that this was only one small stop on their American adventure.

 I tried to have a positive outlook, but it didn’t help that I was there alone. A 25 year old lady walking through a mess of Disney stores, screaming children, wearing a Mickey Mouse shirt ( I had to bring it), while singing along to  Disney songs, and asking the workers if I could get free stickers too, isn’t the best picture for on-lookers. I walked through all of Downtown Disney to find that, surprisingly, nothing was worth buying. I found a bar at the end of the walk, and almost hyperventilated when I saw that it was happy hour. I had my beer then made the venture back to the hotel. I stepped outside. It started to rain. My mickey shirt got soaked.

 My second adventure to Downtown Disney was even worse. I made it all the way there, and all the way to other side of the “park” to go to the House of Blues. I sat down for dinner only to find that I left my wallet in the hotel. In case you didn't know... everything in Disney is seperated by acres of nothingness. Each attraction is at least a few miles from the other. I was lucky to have a short ¾ mile walk, but in pure humidity it seems like miles.

All the food is crappy, and like I said, there is nothing around, so you are forced to eat whatever the hotel/immediate area offers… I spent 20 dollars at lunch one day. We finally decided that it would be best to go to the closest “restaurant” around… McDonalds. Nicest McDonalds ever.

 On the last day we drove out of the area  to an Outback. I almost cried tears of joy as I ate my Aussie Chicken which I destroyed by covering it with the best ranch dressing in the world. Becky, my food friend for the week, and I cheers-ed ( <--- ?)  with pieces of the wonderful bread that they give you FOR FREE. :)

There were some other things I liked...

Lego WORLD!

Totally cute treats...

AND this broom.

I also really liked the bathroom tiles in the resort where we worked all weekend.

 

This tradeshoe was really fun...Royal Pet Show. I got a lot of treats for Myles. He will probably be allergic to over half of the items though. Margaret, my co-worker, knew how to get everything we wanted. It was awesome. Every time she went on the show floor, she came back with bags of goodies. I also had an exhibitor come up to our desk who was an over-intense 80s music fan. He kept testing my music knowledge by playing an array of songs. He would give me 10 seconds to guess the song. I felt like I was on the radio. It made me nervous; although, by the end of it I was doing the Time Warp dance.  We also laughed for hours because some old lady at the hotel walked backwards everywhere she went.


Fast forward to now...


 I am at the airport 3 and 1/2 hours early. I am trying to find a Golden Snitch for my car antenna. Can't find one. I had one on my 1st car and loved it.

 

I sit down to contemplate my next move only to find a Chinese women doing aerobics in the corner of the terminal. Just when I thought I couldn’t take it anymore, she pulls out a jump rope, and kicks off her light up high heels.  I am trying to discreetly take a photo, but can’t bring myself to do it.  

These are her shoes...

OMG when trying to find a picture of her shoes, I stumbled across these hot things....sick.

After hearing all the craze, I try a Pumpkin Spice Latte… awesome by the way, find my terminal, write this blog.

P.S. Why did I get a mile long receipt for one drink?

P.S.S. I am super smart and totally proud of my desk idea.

Long Beach, California- I had mixed views going into this trip. I heard that it can be ghetto, but awesome at the same time. My opinion- pretty awesome; Pretty awesome meaning I wouldn’t live there, but I would go again, and then decide again if I would live there. I know, that makes total sense.

The connecting flight from Phoenix to Long Beach was pure torcher. All I wanted to do was walk out of the airport, stay in Arizona, and figure out the rest later. The airport itself is dated. Think of old 80’s carpet. Now picture it covering 60% of all surfaces. The other 40% of space is occupied by windows that taunt you with the beauty of the Arizona desert. NOT FAIR-  pink, red, and brown structures just begging you to come out and play.

I finally made it to Long Beach after a conversation with a computer programmer who, from the looks of his computer screen, was straight out of the Matrix. Many of you were right- first impression of LB- ghetto. I checked into the hotel before heading to work, to find that the Holiday Inn in Long Beach, California has the best staff ever. Want to feel like you are the only person that matters? Go there. Well minus the fact that every time I tried to get into my room, I had to get my key reactivated. Stupid hotel room doors. Why do you have to use a stupid plastic card with some shitty advertisement on it? What’s so wrong with legitimate keys?

I check in and we make our way to the 4 Your Health Show at The Long Beach Convention Center. It is in the “cool” area of town that actually has stuff happening around it. The booths consisted of many work out scams, legit doctors, companies, NBC, and even a rock climbing wall. I climbed it and feel off after my legs decided to shake me off.

To give you a visual:

The idea for this one- stand, press start and let it shake every muscle in your body by standing on a vibrating pad. Are you kidding me? It seems it would be really difficult to talk seriously about the product while you are testing it out by convulsing on the machine.

Saw some celebs….Biggest Loser contestants, and an Olympic medalist… of course the shaking machine is what sticks out to me the most.

That night we all went out for dinner and then out to shoot pool at a bar where the TV series, True Blood, was filmed. I went to the bar in my work clothes, and decided to complain in route to the bar about how I desired to be wearing something other than a work shirt. Once we arrived we were greeted by a group of girls out celebrating a 21^st birthday. Due to my continuous complaining, my co-worker, Jose, decided to ask if they had any spare shirts. Yup- they did. Love this shirt, and it looks awesome with red lipstick-which I got made fun of for… AGAIN. (Betsy knows what I am talking about)

Awesome new shirt.

After work the following night I went to Jose’s house to enjoy a cook out with his family and other co-workers. His backyard backed up to a field, which was busy with soccer players, score… I enjoyed the afternoon watching soccer… the only downfall was I got a spur stuck in my flip-flop, but I had a bloody mary, so they canceled each other out. Later I beat a 5^th grader in a footrace, but he beat me in pool.

Just when I thought I couldn’t enjoy myself more I had more time off and was able to run along the shoreline and through the old fashion pier. I topped it off with sushi on the shore while making fun of some hipster/skater kids posing pictures on the pier like this…

Things I loved about Long Beach- artwork through out a city can never get old. It is the type of town where you can run to mellow music and completely enjoy a work out. Girls roll around with a closet full of clothes, and their markets marinate some awesome chicken.

To top it all off, our flight attendant to Atlanta, curtsied to welcome each person onto the plane. She looked like a blonde version of the girl from Pulp Fiction.  

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Delta Flight Attendant

Why?

It was my first flight, and a conversation in the office that made me start this blog. I am not an avid writer, so don’t be surprised if this fizzles out after a post or two. My new job will bring me to many new places. Some awesome, some lame, some ok, but I figure if I am to make such a career jump, I might as well track my findings. Careers- a weird thing mankind has created.