http://www.morinfamily.com:8888/blog/ Assorted geeky things, reality tv, and bragging about my kids http://www.morinfamily.com:8888/blog/2008/12/11/1229043897840.html I realize I haven't kept this blog up, that's mostly because FIOS blocks on port 80 which means I lose the primary "www.morinfamily.com" url. I keep saying I'll move this over to a real host and get it out of the basement but I never seem to have the attention span -- my mail still goes through this domain and when I do it I want to do it quickly so I don't lose mail. <p/> So I'm curious, is anybody actually subscribed and wondering what happened? Or do I just get the occasional search engine traffic? http://www.morinfamily.com:8888/blog/2008/10/06/1223293589102.html So Katherine understands things, and she explains to me on the way in to Disney: "Now Daddy, I know that this is mostly people dressed up in character suits. How will we know which one is the real Mickey Mouse?" <p/>I explain to her that, like Santa Claus, Mickey will likely be wandering around the park dressed just like the others, so we'll have to keep an eye out. <p/>Well, Friday night we go to one of the live shows, and it is a very impressive magic and special effects extravaganza that involves Mickey in his sorcerer's apprentice costume doing any number of very cool illusions, including appearing on the other side of a mountain. After the show I say to Katherine, "You know, I bet that was the real Mickey doing the show. You think?" <p/>With an exasperated sigh she tells me, "Daddy, of *course* that was the real Mickey Mouse. There's no way somebody dressed up in a costume could have done all those tricks!" <p/>She's right, of course. ;) http://www.morinfamily.com:8888/blog/2008/10/01/1222907221814.html <p>At Disney with the kids for their first visit. Having a great time. Whenever you come back to the hotel they always say "Welcome home", like you never left. I wonder if it dawned on anybody that that gives a very weird Hotel-California sort of vibe. <p/>Your meal plan comes as a fixed set of "quick service" points (think fast food) and a fixed set of "table service" points (sit down, be waited on). Today at lunch, at a quick service place, I saw a manager come over to a cashier with a customer and explain, "She can use her table service points if she wants to. Micky actually prefers that." Those were his exact words. Of course Micky prefers that, because the average cost of a table service point is probably about $25, and a quick service point is maybe $9, so if this lady wants to waste her table service points at a place where you take your own food back to your seat, they're not going to stop her. <p/>The level of indoctrination among the staff is amazing. They gave Kerry and I "Happy Anniversary" pins, and I swear, every cast member said "Happy Anniversary!" When one didn't, and another cast member came up behind her to say it, she got this "oh crap" look on her face and actually said, "I am such a bad cast member!" It really gave the impression of a Mickey Mouse with a whip somewhere in the back room watching them all on video so he can dole out the beatings later. <p/>Kids are loving every minute of it. Saw Magic Kingdom, had dinner with the princesses. Just got back from the Electric Parade, which is no longer called that. <p/>I'll try to post more as I'm able. Quite a few pictures taken. http://www.morinfamily.com:8888/blog/2008/08/17/1219017067336.html <p>So the other day while mowing the lawn, I knock over one of the lights that goes up my walkway. You know the kind, drive a stake into the ground every few feet. <p/>So I stand it back up, take my hand away, and the light goes off. Rats. I straighten it back up again, light goes on. Take my hand away, light goes off. <p/>Damnit, I've gone and broken the thing, something is loose. <p/>I touch it again, light goes on, then I very slowly move my hand away. No good, as soon as I pull my hand back, it goes out again. <p/>I went through this process maybe half a dozen times, getting frustrated that I've broken the thing. <p/>Until I remember that these lights are solar, light-activated lights, and that every time I grab it, I am covering the sensor and thus causing the light to turn on. When I pull my hand away I uncover the sensor, and since the sun is still up, the light goes back off. I look up and realize that the other 8 lights are off, and have been right along.