An E-Ticket Ride

In the days before the all-access, all day pass, Disneyland used to charge admission and you got ticket books. Your ticket book had tickets from A to E, E being the best. So rides like Pirates of the Caribbean, Haunted Mansion, and the Matterhorn Bobsleds, etc. were E-Tickets. You could always buy more tickets at the little ticket booths, and the E-Tickets were always the ones that we ran out of first.

Back in the day, when someone had a fast car, or did something super cool/scary like jump off a bunch of rocks, nearly missing another bunch of rocks to land in the water (don't ask), etc., the experience was described as an E-Ticket Ride. It applied to crazy stuff that happens in life too. This past week or two has felt like an E-Ticket ride. So much going on, some of it fun, and some of it not so fun. For example, one of the fun things: we bought a Sleep Number bed with our tax return this year and we have been playing around with the settings and customizing our respective sides. They call it right and left, but I call it driver side and passenger side. Left and right is subjective, but no matter what direction your bed is set or where you're standing, driver's side and passenger's side is clear. Anyhoo...all of that hectic activity of being there for the delivery and set up, etc., and then not-so-fun happens: Bobby's computer has problems following an update so, I end up only getting 5 hours of sleep in my new bed after spending hours working on his computer and then scrubbing it all and starting fresh (a less-than-technical term for reformatting and reinstalling the OS and backed up files). Needless to say, my Sleep IQ score sucked. Work has been crazy busy, I'm helping Hubby with his final (Praise God!!) math class, every day stuff, and then throw in the odd getting pulled over by one of Hubby's fellow officers for some crazy never-before-heard-of tag status. So, the tag office has made a mistake on our registration by entering the wrong tag number, which does not match the license plate on our truck and now we get to get that fixed. Nothing quite like getting pulled over on the main drag through town on my way to work and being gawked at. Nothing to see, but they don't know that - I might be DUI or something better like a smuggler. ('Cause you know, that's what smugglers do - they come to some podunk town in Kansas to set up shop, right? 'Cause that's where all the big money is...) It was another glass-half-full moment because now we know there is a problem. What if we had been somewhere out of state when it got run? Of course, the first question out of everyone's mouths was "What did you do?" Hubby wanted to know why the officer was running my tag in the first place. Wow! I'm really feeling the love...okay, so I although the question is valid, I have NEVER gotten a legitimate ticket. Back home the parking guys would ticket me all the time for overtime parking at the day spa where I worked. Why? Because they wore those cataract-surgery shades and couldn't see my parking permit through the back tinted glass, that's why. Every last one of them written off! Yep ;)

Thinking about all of the fun I had at Disneyland, Pirate's of the Caribbean was always my favorite. I guess that's why the movies are some of my favorite's too. It's so much fun to catch all of the little throw-backs to the ride in them. Of course I haven't been back for years, so I really miss it. It was always my mom's favorite part of the park, too and we would spend a lot of time there in the "French Quarter" where Pirate's was and the Haunted Mansion were located. and of course the Blue Bayou Restaurant - so many great memories! I always wanted to work there. When people asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up I always said I wanted to work at Disneyland and be the riverboat captain for the Mark Twain....What? It could still happen!...

Word of the Day

The word for today is:

defenestrate

[dee-fen-uh-streyt]  

verb

To throw (a person or thing) out of a window.

Isn't it funny that there is a specific term for throwing one out of a window?  The word is Latin in its origins and was first recorded in 1618 or so in Prague where a couple of imperial governors and their secretary were thrown out of the window of the castle. All true, I swear - look it up. If you go to Wikipedia it states that generally, the window is not open when this occurs. Interesting, yes?

The first time I heard of the word was in a book by David Eddings. Two knights of different orders are having a discussion about a certain personage of questionable character and he explains to Sparhawk that the man in question was defenestrated. A humorous conversation about the word defenestrate ensues. Naturally I had to look it up to see if that was true.

The word is on my mind because I am about to go to battle and it always makes me think of Sparhawk, my favorite warrior character. I find myself asking what would Sparhawk do? Well, he would make a stab at diplomacy, and if it didn't work, he would lop off the offenders head and then have Sir Bevier pray for the idiot's soul. Okay, so I can't do that, but sometimes, it's satisfying to think about. Be honest - if money was not part of the equation, wouldn't it be satisfying to just chuck your computer out the window when you have "network connectivity" issues (the bane of my existence)? Or take a broad sword to the defective recliner the furniture store refuses to make good on (another story for another day)? What can I say? I read a lot of Louis L'Amour (westerns), David Eddings, Robert Jordan and similar authors as a young adult and they influenced my critical thinking and problem-solving skills.

I recently got over the flu and am still recovering, so I have zero tolerance for school teacher shenanigans right now. You know, there's always one. They say and do things then lie about it because they figure that with every child there's always a wee bit of doubt that floats through a responsible parent's mind and those type of people/teachers exploit it. I know my kids aren't perfect, but I also know when they are spinning a yarn. They seem to inherently know that the secret to a good lie is simplicity, so when they tell a lie it is pretty simple with not a lot of detail; details upon request. When my child relates a conversation including specific adult-style vocabulary, it's an indication that he's telling the truth. My kids all have a gift for words and have a wide vocabulary, they just don't typically use them in conversation unless they are trying to confuse or insult the unsuspecting. I don't know where they get this stuff...Anyhoo, all year long I've been hearing tales from my youngest regarding his math teacher. She has sent him to ISS (in school suspension) numerous times and has threatened it many more. She has told him he is getting an F in math several times as well, but all evidence points to the contrary, as he has been holding a solid A-B average. Recently he got sent to ISS for getting help on a math worksheet from another student, and was told he needs to "shut his mouth because he's annoying" and "Ms. C has noticed it too" meaning his home room teacher. Then he told me that made him sad because he thought Ms. C liked him. Now he may have misunderstood some parts of this, but he definitely didn't make it up. So, after hearing this kind of crap all school year, Hubby and I came unglued. Now, we usually tag-team these things. I'm more diplomatic, so I make the initial contact. Depending on the outcome, we send Hubby in next because he is especially intimidating, then proceed to an all-parties come-to-Jesus meeting where we can pool our talents for maximum effect. So I made the call today to the principal of Sully's school and about 20 minutes after we talked, the teacher in question called me. Long story short, I know Sully was telling the truth because even though she tried to put a more positive spin on things, she inadvertently revealed more than she knew and wound up validating Sully. The situation is under control for the time being, and she is aware that I am keeping an eye on things. We won't have to send in the big guns for this one after all. But I'm keeping him on standby just in case :) I will however be throwing Math Teacher under the bus tonight at parent-teacher conferences by letting Ms. C in on the whole "Ms. C-thinks-you-are-annoying-too" thing. Petty? Ummm...yeah, petty. But at least I am able to recognize my shortcomings for what they are.

I leave you with a photo of Percy looking out the window while I was home sick, recovering from type A influenza - yet again. Yes I got the flu shot, but they issued a warning that it would be less effective this year because they misread which viruses would be trending. Isn't that special? anyway, he was lovely company :)