Another Day

Funny story. Well not funny, funny. Just funny.

Swell is sick.

Now before a select few of you go crazy and start to get real worried she is sick but she's not sick sick. Well she's sick, sick but not sick sick.

We got home yesterday she said "I'm sick. I think I should go in for treatment."

She phones treatment dude. He never phones back. We drive over there in the hope that he will get back to us while we were on the way. We get there he never phones back. She phones multiple times. She texts. She hopes. She cries.

He never gets back to her.

Just after midnight I hear her phone buzzing. I check. It is a text indicating that the treatment dude is in the midst of moving and had put his phone down while he was moving and never heard it/saw it/etc.

He felt terrible but Swell had to stick her HAE out like they do in deep, dark Africa.

She's on the mend but we find it funny that the only time she's decided to go for treatment without much encouragement it isn't available.

See its funny, but not funny, funny.

Where were we?

Yes, that’s right we were at the entrance to Universal Studios Orlando.

Me “Ma, you don’t need to show your ID for everyone’s tickets that doesn’t make any sense at all.”
Ma “Well when I printed the tickets at home it said that I, the purchaser, would be asked for my ID when we first used the tickets.”
Me “Why would they care about your ID for my ticket? So silly. You won’t need to show your ID.”
Guy at gate “Is this the first use of your 7 day ticket?”
Me “Yes.”
Guy at gate “I’ll need to see the ID of the person who purchased the tickets.”
Ma looking smug. “Here you go.”

Now I don’t care that they required my Ma to produce ID. What I do care is that they had to ask me for the ID when the rest of my family was using a different turnstile and not being asked for my Ma’s ID. Why do I care?

‘Cause my Ma was able to look smug at my expense.

Tears were shed.

Cheese standing on his tiptoes at the measuring sign. Note the blue change purse thingie gift from Loews hotel.


For some reason we lost our minds upon entering Universal Studios. Rather than avoid the crowd we just followed them. Our front of the line passes in hand we couldn’t be stopped.

We first joined the very short line for Shrek 4-D which everyone very much enjoyed. It’s always fun to go with someone who hasn’t seen it before. Their reactions are usually worth the price of admission. A very funny and fun show.

The only problem (and probably not something others think about) is that I have great difficulty fusing 3D movies. If the image is stable I can see depth quite well but once I start moving or the image moves it either becomes flat or double. It’s because I have a touch of convergence excess and really have to r-e-l-a-x to make the images jump out. I know I should relax. I know that deep breathing will help make the show more 3D but I just can’t do it while the show is going on. This causes headaches and a slight decrease in the enjoyment of the show. Still fun though.

After Shrek we crossed the street to go to Jimmy Neutron. We really enjoyed this ride last year and were looking forward to it this year. We so enjoyed it that:

Me to motion sick prone Ma “It’s not that bad Ma. I think you won’t have any problems on it. It is a lot of fun!”
Ma “Are you sure?”
Me “Sure. You’ll like it! Come on!”

Ride starts. Ma sitting next to me.

Me “Sorry.”
Ma Groan. Moan.

We enjoyed it more last year. It seemed that the chicken dance lasted longer last year but it was still fun and the boys enjoyed themselves.

We just kept making our way around the park and stopped at Twister. Now Cami was excessively nervous about this attraction. I’m not really sure why as he wasn’t alive during Edmonton’s “Black Friday” Tornado. His uncle, Jill, however, was and I will always have the image of him running around our basement screaming in fear. Funny now. Then? Not so much.

Cami was talked into going in and at the conclusion said: “That was ok. But I’m not doing it again!” Good enough.

Revenge of the Mummy was next. Cheese wasn’t tall enough to do this one. He knew he wasn’t tall enough. He was told he wasn’t tall enough many times long before the trip started. He was fine with not being tall enough until he was reminded he had to stay with Grandma while we went on the ride. He didn’t like that at all. This was the first time he couldn’t go on a ride with all of us (aside from Rock ‘n’ Roller coaster but his Ma sat out with him that time.) He cried. A little.

We left joined the express line and when I say line I really mean we joined the empty space as we walked past all the other poor saps in the stand by line. Right on to the ride with nary a break in stride. Great ride and everyone really enjoyed it.

As soon as we got out we couldn’t find G-Ma and Cheese. Where did they go? We all fanned out and searched. Eventually finding them in the arcade next to Revenge of the Mummy. Cheese was, apparently fine with not riding as soon as we left and they enjoyed their very few minutes waiting for us.

Just as we all regrouped the Blues Brothers were beginning their show. Not wanting to see said show most of us returned to the Mummy but Mustard, JDL and Cheese stayed behind to watch the show.

Next stop was to be Men in Black. We first stopped in at Finnegans as it is a tradition to have lunch there when visiting Universal Studios. We stopped to find out if they take reservations – they don’t – and check their hours. We decided to do Men in Black first and then head back for lunch.

On the way to MIB I think we stopped at Fear Factor Live as it was just starting. It is always an enjoyable show and with three young boys it is extra enjoyable.

We arrived at MIB walked the length of the express line only to stop and wait. And wait. And wait.

After 10 minutes or so the announcement that they were experiencing technical difficulties began. Not a big deal as we had FOTL. We left the line as there was no point waiting it out when we could just come back later and get to the front of the line quickly. That is one of the good things about FOTL. When you’re in a regular standby line you invest a lot of time into any given line. If the ride goes down you have a big decision to make. Do you risk investing more time or do you cut your losses – which can be quite large losses – and leave the line to head elsewhere. With FOTL the choice is simple. Leave. Come back later.

We did.

I think Earthquake was next. Cami was dead set against riding this one as he had enough of the natural disasters. He eventually decided to ride as his brothers were going to and I’m sure he didn’t want to be the only one too scared to ride.

We went through the enjoyable pre-show and ride and when it was all said and done Cami said: “That was fun. Way better than Twister.”

Lunch was next.

We stopped for a quick break so Jill could cheat on his girlfriend.


Sorry for the short update. I’m writing a couple of papers and have been hit with some deadlines. More soon.