Today Leeann and I took Katie and Leeann's best friend Lisa to Dollywood. We had a blast but man was it HOT up there today. I should really say, down there as Sevierville is south of us. We have been to Dollywood before, but then, anyone who lives in this area has been to Dollywood at least once. We have season passes and the way we figured it, if we go twice in the year we have paid for the passes. This is the third time we have gone to either Dollywood or to Splash Country, so we have more than got our monies worth.
But, we did have a lot of fun. We went to a part of the park I have not been to before, the part with all the good roller coasters. Now let me set the record straight before I tell you what happened. I love roller coasters. I love going to parks and riding roller coasters. Wooden, steel, loops, no loops, doesn't matter, I love roller coasters!!!! Today, not so much. We got there and went to Thunderhead Railroad. This is a wooden roller coaster. I love wooden roller coasters and I have loved them as far back as I can remember. My first wooden coaster was The Beast at Kings Island Ohio. I used to love to go to that park and spend all day riding that coaster. Today, we jumped on Thunderhead Railroad and for the first time in my roller coaster riding life, I was SCARED. This ride crosses over it self 32 times. Up, down, all around. I was actually pushed out of my seat for most of the ride. I was SCARED. Katie on the other hand, loved it. I don't get her sometimes, she loves to go fast, but I was SCARED.
Oh, it gets better. My lovely wife, her best friend and my sweet innocent daughter talked me into going on Mystery Mine. A steel coaster that will give me nightmares for weeks to come. I have never been on a coaster that went STRAIGHT up. I did not misspell, STRAIGHT up. Not once, but TWICE. The second time was STRAIGHT up in a DARK room. Fire, rocks, and a corkscrew and an inverted straight track that leaves you upside down for about 20 feet. My knees were so weak I had a hard time walking down the stairs.
But wait; there is more fear in store for me. We stopped for a drink, and then they (the women in this trip) talked me into riding Timber Tower. Let me see if I draw you a picture, you sit on a seat with others around this big pole painted to look like a log. Your seat, along with everyone else, goes up the pole and starts to spin around. Not that bad, but then the pole starts to swing back and forth while you spin on top of a pole. Now when I say swing, I mean it leans WAY far over. It was so far over that you could look straight down. This is the same ride that several month ago, the ride broke down with 50 people stuck on TOP of the ride for over 6 hours. So you could just picture my joy in getting on this thing in the first place knowing that I could get stuck on top of this thing, but then to see it lean and pitch back and forth so. I just couldn't wait.
We get off this oversized toothpick and I am thinking, maybe we can take it easy for the rest of the day. NOOOOO, it's back to Thunderhead Railroad for one last game of scare the pants off DON.
We did finally leave the park just as it started to rain and we drove to a mountain top area where I am video taping a wedding this weekend, But it was a fun day, a day that we all really needed. I will post some photos later when I get them scanned in. You won't have a hard time finding me in the photo; I am the one screaming my head off.
I WAS SCARED........
Monday, July 30, 2007
Monday, July 23, 2007
Not what I wanted, but.......
I have been waiting for a while to find out about a job I really wanted. It was a job that was overnight, not the best hours, but it would have opened some doors for me to get into some editing among other things. I found out today that I did not get it. I am a bit sad, but you know, after talking to Leeann over the past the couple of days, I am not that sad. We talked about the fact that if I did not get the job that there had to be a reason why I wouldn't get it. She is right. There are other things out there for me. I have been looking at a program to certify me as a Court Videographer, I have been working to get ready for a bridal show in a couple of weeks, I have a wedding to do in two weeks, and we are looking at adding a online store for me on eBay to do some freelance editing. So, there are things for me out there.
BUT, I did have a door open up today. At the same time I was finding out about not getting the job I wanted, the person was also offering me a different job. It is part time for right now, it could allow me to do other things and could lead to a full time position. The part time position would allow me to finish up the court videographer course, keep up with the wedding videos and get the eBay business going. But, on the flip side, it is part time, the pay is not great, and there would be no benefits. So, what would you do?
On to more pressing things. We had a long trip home yesterday from Leeann's mom's house. Katie woke up Sunday a bit cranky, but that is not unusual. As the morning wore on, she kept saying that her stomach hurt. We should have known that she was not feeling good when she did not eat any of her favorite breakfast, PANCAKES. We pushed on anyway and boy was that the wrong thing. We pulled into mom's drive way and was getting ready to get out of the truck when Katie just.... let's say "Let it fly". We got her and the truck cleaned up and headed home. The day before the truck started making a strange noise from the front left wheel. So, we hit the road, with a truck making funny noises and an 8-year-old getting sick every couple of hours or so. We were able to get her home and to Children’s Hospital. Found out she was the 38th child there with a stomach bug. They gave her some meds to make her feel better. We were there for a couple of hours, which was not bad.
We then took the truck to CarMax so they could have it first thing this morning. They got it in and found out the front wheel bearings were going bad. What is so funny is that about half way home yesterday Leeann looked at me and said she thought it could be the wheel bearings. I had a car a long time ago that had bad wheel bearing and I remember the noise they made, so I didn't think it could be the wheel bearings. BOY WAS I WROING. I have to give it to her, she can hear a sound in a car and can pretty much hit the nail on the hear as to what is wrong with the car. She is good.
More the come later.
BUT, I did have a door open up today. At the same time I was finding out about not getting the job I wanted, the person was also offering me a different job. It is part time for right now, it could allow me to do other things and could lead to a full time position. The part time position would allow me to finish up the court videographer course, keep up with the wedding videos and get the eBay business going. But, on the flip side, it is part time, the pay is not great, and there would be no benefits. So, what would you do?
On to more pressing things. We had a long trip home yesterday from Leeann's mom's house. Katie woke up Sunday a bit cranky, but that is not unusual. As the morning wore on, she kept saying that her stomach hurt. We should have known that she was not feeling good when she did not eat any of her favorite breakfast, PANCAKES. We pushed on anyway and boy was that the wrong thing. We pulled into mom's drive way and was getting ready to get out of the truck when Katie just.... let's say "Let it fly". We got her and the truck cleaned up and headed home. The day before the truck started making a strange noise from the front left wheel. So, we hit the road, with a truck making funny noises and an 8-year-old getting sick every couple of hours or so. We were able to get her home and to Children’s Hospital. Found out she was the 38th child there with a stomach bug. They gave her some meds to make her feel better. We were there for a couple of hours, which was not bad.
We then took the truck to CarMax so they could have it first thing this morning. They got it in and found out the front wheel bearings were going bad. What is so funny is that about half way home yesterday Leeann looked at me and said she thought it could be the wheel bearings. I had a car a long time ago that had bad wheel bearing and I remember the noise they made, so I didn't think it could be the wheel bearings. BOY WAS I WROING. I have to give it to her, she can hear a sound in a car and can pretty much hit the nail on the hear as to what is wrong with the car. She is good.
More the come later.
Friday, July 20, 2007
LET IT FLY!!!!!!
It has been over a month since my last post, but even that post was not really me. I wrote it, but there was so much I wanted to say, but was not able to. Now, I am able to open up and as they say, LET IT FLY!!!!!
If you did not know, I work for Scripps Networks (HGTV, DIY, Food Network, GAC) and was so unhappy that it was not even funny. I worked (HINT) in Network Operations. That ment I was responsible for putting the shows you watch on the air. There were some really good and fun days. I meet some very nice people, but the bad days far out weighed the good. The standards for the department were set so high that things were either 100% right or 100% wrong. Black or White, no gray area to work in. I always felt like I was walking on eggshells. I always did my best and gave my all. I have always done that, pay me some good money and I will work for you as hard as I can. But, I never felt that I was very welcomed in to the place. Most of the people I worked with were either young (mid 20's) or had been working in television for 10 or more years. I have only been working in TV for the past 4 years. Maybe people didn't like me, or maybe they didn't like the fact that I had the same job they had and they had worked longer to get to the same point. I don't know, but I will say this. They need some help there.
They have 4 supervisors that monitor each shift. 3 of them are great guys, really know what they are doing and are not afraid to jump in and help when help is needed. But, the one female supervisor they have has to be one of the worst people I have ever worked with. There is only one reason that this person is a supervisor, EEOC. She is a black female, looks good for your EEOC if you have a minorty in a position of supervison. One of the 3 guys who are supervisors is black and he does a great job and I really liked working for him. It was just her as a person that I did not like. She could have been white and been the same person and I still would not have liked her because I am not prejudice. No one there likes her, no one trust her, no one belives she knows what she is doing. She doesn't know what she is doing. I could go on for the better part of an hour just on her, but that will come later.
About 5 months ago, I started getting chest pains, stomach problems, an overall sense of panic. Leeann talked me into going to see our doctor and she put me on medical leave and suggested that i see a mental health specialist. I have been seeing a great clinical social worker, Susan. She has shown me that I have the power to make things better, that I could make it better if I wanted. Then this past Wed, I got a call from our so called Human Resources wanting me to come in for a meeting. To make a long story short, they fired me because i had run out of FMLA coverage and I had did not have a hard date for a return to work. I am not sad or upset. Not in the least. I am so Happy. I just wanted to end it on my terms and my way. I wanted to leave a letter with them telling them why I didn't want to come back to work. But I feel like a 3,000 pound weight is off my back. I am so happy. I have a couple of things lined up and I am waiting on a offer for a job that I think would be fun and could open some doors for me that I want to follow. I will just have to wait.
This weekend we are in NC to see Leeann's mother and grandmother. But, most of all we are here to see her cousin who is home from Kuwait for a couple of months. It is nice to see them again, but I will go into more later, It just feels good to be able open up again. So LET IT FLY!!!!!
If you did not know, I work for Scripps Networks (HGTV, DIY, Food Network, GAC) and was so unhappy that it was not even funny. I worked (HINT) in Network Operations. That ment I was responsible for putting the shows you watch on the air. There were some really good and fun days. I meet some very nice people, but the bad days far out weighed the good. The standards for the department were set so high that things were either 100% right or 100% wrong. Black or White, no gray area to work in. I always felt like I was walking on eggshells. I always did my best and gave my all. I have always done that, pay me some good money and I will work for you as hard as I can. But, I never felt that I was very welcomed in to the place. Most of the people I worked with were either young (mid 20's) or had been working in television for 10 or more years. I have only been working in TV for the past 4 years. Maybe people didn't like me, or maybe they didn't like the fact that I had the same job they had and they had worked longer to get to the same point. I don't know, but I will say this. They need some help there.
They have 4 supervisors that monitor each shift. 3 of them are great guys, really know what they are doing and are not afraid to jump in and help when help is needed. But, the one female supervisor they have has to be one of the worst people I have ever worked with. There is only one reason that this person is a supervisor, EEOC. She is a black female, looks good for your EEOC if you have a minorty in a position of supervison. One of the 3 guys who are supervisors is black and he does a great job and I really liked working for him. It was just her as a person that I did not like. She could have been white and been the same person and I still would not have liked her because I am not prejudice. No one there likes her, no one trust her, no one belives she knows what she is doing. She doesn't know what she is doing. I could go on for the better part of an hour just on her, but that will come later.
About 5 months ago, I started getting chest pains, stomach problems, an overall sense of panic. Leeann talked me into going to see our doctor and she put me on medical leave and suggested that i see a mental health specialist. I have been seeing a great clinical social worker, Susan. She has shown me that I have the power to make things better, that I could make it better if I wanted. Then this past Wed, I got a call from our so called Human Resources wanting me to come in for a meeting. To make a long story short, they fired me because i had run out of FMLA coverage and I had did not have a hard date for a return to work. I am not sad or upset. Not in the least. I am so Happy. I just wanted to end it on my terms and my way. I wanted to leave a letter with them telling them why I didn't want to come back to work. But I feel like a 3,000 pound weight is off my back. I am so happy. I have a couple of things lined up and I am waiting on a offer for a job that I think would be fun and could open some doors for me that I want to follow. I will just have to wait.
This weekend we are in NC to see Leeann's mother and grandmother. But, most of all we are here to see her cousin who is home from Kuwait for a couple of months. It is nice to see them again, but I will go into more later, It just feels good to be able open up again. So LET IT FLY!!!!!
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