Day 2 - Church ‘ N Fire | Rollin’ To Rolla

Day 2, which starts out with some yummy coffee and a good walk of the dogs.  We then headed out to the Adamsons church, which was having a special event at one of the member’s house.  It was huge and beautiful.  The service was held in their storage or secondary warehouse.  Not sure exactly.  After the service, as Kenan Thompson portraying David Ortiz would say, “ They had a biiig lunch!” And a big lunch it was.  Pretty much, too much to choose from and not many of us went back for seconds.  

While we adults were stuffing our faces, the kids went off on a hayride around the property.   When they returned, they said that they had a great time and later dashed off to some games.  Some of us adults, including myself, then went on the hayride and it was fun and uneasy.   We returned and prepared to depart.   

We arrived home as later was greater by daddy Adamson.  He then proceeded to the backyard and prepared for the mighty bonfire that night.   We enjoyed a very yummy dinner and then head outside for the s’more making.   

The bonfire was very big and lasted very long.  The heat radius seemed like it was almost 30 feet wide.  The marshmallow roasting went ok and a few of us were left with sticky fingers.   Check out photos on my Facebook page @becauseimwil and videos on My YouTube Channel called CocoaVision: http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvIM0NVVVLjKhSGSSfUNpFg

Day 1 - Rolling Out | Rollin’ To Rolla

So the time has come to make out exciting trip to visit the Adamsons at their new home in Rolla, Missouri.  If you are not familiar with this small city, that is fine.  It is pretty much in the middle of the state just 1.5 hours east of Springfield and is in the northern portion of The Ozarks.  

Our day started with a very busy first half of the day as I attended my last class of the week and my wife was at the last day of her conference.  We met back around 2:30 pm, got packed up, gathered Da Crittaz and rolled out. The traffic out of DFW was great as we left at an ideal time on a Saturday.  Didn't run into much construction either as we headed through Sherman and approached Oklahoma.   

In Oklahoma, I will admit that I was somewhat on guard for reason some folks would find ridiculous, but I kept focused on the road, hanging around the speed limit.  My philosophy on driving now is why rush it, I will still make it there, God willing.  In almost every smaller city though, there was at least one car stopped in the opposite flow of traffic.  Kind made me a bit more nervous, but I made through the state with no problem.  We made one restroom/gas/food stop and proceeded out of the state.   

Kansas was pretty ok.  No police presence in the sense of any pullovers and I felt more comfortable driving.  My only issue is with the Will Rogers (I-44) turnpike as we entered from US HWY 69.  We received a ticket as was instructed to turn it in at the next plaza and pay $2.  We arrived at the next plaza and was about to hand the attendant our ticket where she all of a suddenly blurted out, “$4!”.  Then she saw the ticket in my hand and said, “Oh psych! $2”.  We paid and left wondering one thing, if that small strip was just $2 and she said $4 does that mean the whole turnpike through Kansas cost just $4?  If so, then I deem that as crap, but it has been a long time since I drove the whole turnpike. Will have to look that up. 

We finally arrived in Missouri and right after we left the rest stop, I started to ware down.   So my wife took over and we made it to Rolla around 2:30 am.  We fell out almost an hour later.  

Ready to enjoy our time with the Adamsons.  

Cruise Radio on Stitcher Radio Network

Me and my wife loves to travel and our latest form of travel was cruises.  We seriously enjoyed them.  There are some details of each of the three cruises we did in earlier entries in this blog.  After our second cruise I had discovered CruiseRadio.net on the Stitcher Radio Network.

This channel was great as I would listen most of time as they would give updates on the cruise industry including changes in protocol, fleet changes (renovations, new ships) and port changes.  They also featured cruiser's testimonials.  Very, very detailed.  My wife wonders why I listen to this show especially since we have not been on a cruise for 3 years now, but I just enjoy the show and hope that one day we can return to cruising.

Anyways, check out an episode of this show by clicking the box below and see what you think.  I will try to update when a show is new by having a link on the right column so check in from time to time or you can just simply go to CruiseRadio on Stitcher and check out their latest episode.  Alright, enjoy the posted episode and like I said, if you like it, keep checking for new episodes here and there.  Happy Cruising!

I Passed

So, I did it.  I am now certified as a Deployment Functionality Technician.  Pretty cool!  I am more confident in my job skills as a DFT and is ready to dive in the role on the team.  I feel things will go very well in this position, but I am not interested in ther overnights even though I have to do them. 

There are two other DFTs who need to be certified and I'm sure they will do great and pass with flying colors.  Now time to head home and get back to work.

Booooooooooooooo!

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DFT Training - Day 1 and 2

So I am in the Twin Cities, Minnesota going through my part 2 of training for Deployment Functionality Technician. The trip up here was pretty rough. 2 delays, but no cancellations. Once finally in the air half the flight was smooth and the rest was the choppiest i have ever experienced. Finally arrived at 10pm (started at airport at 3:30pm).

My driver arrived shortly before my bags arrived, which was awesome and we were on out way to the hotel. Dropped out stuff of at the hotel and went out for a late dinner.

After that we stopped at a gas station where things got interesting. Some guy in the car with his girl decided to try to start stuff with one of the guys in our car. They followed us to the hotel and circle the place before finally leaving. What a trip.

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On A Boat-Day 5: Nassau Hex

We have arrived in Nassau, Bahamas and was joined by 2 other cruise ships: The Sky fron Norwegan Cruise Lines and The Monarch from Royal Caribbean. Not a whole lot was planned for the day so we will make it a beach day. First stop was Hard Rock (of course) and picked up my shot glass.

Aftewards we took a 20 minute trek to find a beach to chill at. The water was cold upon entry, but was nice once you're completely in. The weather was great and the sun was blasting. Hours later we did a little shopping and headed back to the ship.

After a short nap, we headed to dinner then a movie on the main deck. The film was Jonah Hex, starring Josh Brolin and Megan Fox. Some of you may not have heard of it because when it released in July '10 it only stayed in theaters for just under a month. In my opinion it was pretty good for a comic book movie (DC Comics). I do recommend checking it out whenever.

Well off to bed. Tomorrow we dock at Freeport, Bahamas.

Towel Animal: Bear

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On A Boat-Day 4: Ruthless Play

Day 2 of the cruise. Just about the same activity as yesterday except things turned for the good. Starting with Jen doing much better. Still fatigued, but better.

I participated in Day 2 of the Super Duper Trivia, where I was still team captain. I don't how it happend, but we killed on this game. We answered question after question so well. We even picked up points when they missed questions. The physical challenge was to blow a long balloon and tie it shut. I was tricked in doing this challenged because the host asked for strong players. She meant players with strong lungs. I could not blow my balloon at all so my opponent won, but he didn't blow it up completely so instead of 50 pts, she only awarded 30. My friend called me a ruthless player because I was strategic with the card play: Double points 3x, made the other team miss a turn and after they got their last question right and tripling their points, I played a steal points card. I called it being strategic, but she says I was ruthless.

Later that day I returned to Name That Tune and Bean Bag Competition. I finished in 3rd in name that tune (41 out of 60 points). Then there was Bean Bag competition. My usual partner did not show so I teamed up with one of the folks from my trivia team. We finished 2nd.

The rest of the day was pretty much chill. Taking care of my baby and watched 300 & Dragonball + in spanish (that's right in spanish) until I went to sleep.

Next day, Port to call at Nassau, Bahamas.

Towel Animal: Elephant

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On A Boat-Day 3: Quarter Drop

First full day on the ship at sea. No ports so it's a fun day at sea. Jen chilled for most of the day and i was in and out of the cabin checking on her, doing events and eating.

One of the events I was in was called Super Duper Trivia. This is a multiple day event and the first day started off strong. Along with the questions you answer, there are physical challenges. Today's challenge was to take a quarter, put it between your butt cheeks, walk across the floor and drop it in a small cup. Oh my lord that is one big challenge (see video). I also participated in a name that tune and bean bag competition.

It was elegant night for dinner, which as you know means that we dress up. After that we checked out 2 comedians, Carl Fauleneberry and Dean Gaines. Carl, we saw on our first cruise as well. He's very hilarious then and now. He reused some of the same material, but was still very funny. Dean was new to us. He is a regular in Las Vegas. He was pretty funny, but was a bit over the top. He has a huge fascination with male genitalia, makes me wonder.

It was a pretty eventful day and we have another fun day at sea before arriving at Nassau, Bahamas.

Towel Animal: Swan

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On A Boat-Day 2: Embarkmentation

So we headed off to Galveston to board the Carnival Conquest for our Eastern Carribean Cruise. Thelines for security and check in went great. Through and through in 30 minutes.

We didn't do much, but we checked out the Welcome aboard show in the main theatre. It was a very good show Cheezy as usual, but very good. One of the new features ofthe ship is that they now have a stand-up comedy series called Punchliner. They are bringing more and more stand-up acts which I love.

It was a good first night and we are looking forward to more.

Towel Animal: Puppy

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On A Boat-Day 1: Cruise #2

So we are on our way to jump on our 2nd cruise in 2 years. Our first one was November '09. Very excited about this and we definately deserve to go after the year we had (in terms of work).

We will stay overnight in Houston, then head out to the ship. This cruise we will be going to the Eastern Carribean. Ports to Call are Nassau, Bahamas, Freeport, Bahamas and Key West, Florida.

Very Excited!

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