So I’m going to embark on writing what I belive will be the last post on this blog… at least for the foreseeable future. Once this post has been online for a short while, I’m going to be shutting this blog down. I may come back online another time with another blog somewhere on the internet… but… well, there it is.

As I sit here working* in a borrowed office in the belly of DCE (the live entertainment production arm of Walt Disney Imagineering), I’m left to think about my absolute Disney geekdom.

I normally keep it pretty understated. I work with/near/around many executive level types, so it’s important that my discretion is never in question. Sometimes Disney geeks who end up working for the company are the first to blab any inside information they come across. This is maddening to me for several reasons… but mostly because it totally kills the magic and suspense of the final reveal of whatever the new project is. But I digress…

I’m sitting here just across the street from the very building the Walt commissioned for his private playground of geniuses. Since those days the area has grown up a lot. A person can’t swing an arm near Flower Street in Glendale without hitting a Disney owned facility. Imagineering, ABC 7 Studio, DCE, Feature Animation… it’s just cool. Some serious stuff is developed here, and the payoff, the magic, gets realized out in the world.

I’m just in my hog heaven here, doing what I’m doing. And I’ll surely stop by Mickey’s of Glendale before heading home!

* I am actually working… just taking a little break to blog while I wait for a meeting

Took my car in for some regular service today. Was looking for an oil change, front brake pads, and to check out a noise I thought might be the CV joints. After some checking, and some conversation with my mechanic I ended up tacking on two new CV joints, transmission fluid flush, and new rotors. So I got rid of plenty of that pesky money that was clogging up my checking account.

It’s sort of a pain… but as my dad says “it’s just all part of owning a car”. No sense in getting cranky about it. It’s just one of those costs that come with driving.

On Twitter…

I’m completely addicted to Twitter. Observant readers will have already noticed that I’ve added a “Right Now…” section to the front page of my blog. This is a feed directly from twitter for up-to-the-minute updates on what I’m doing. I do really mean up-to-the-minute. That little bit of info never goes more than a few hours of awake time without being updated.

I can’t really explain what makes this so appealing to me… its just sort of fun. It’s like that mental release that a blog gives you, but in small regular doses. You don’t have to think out what your going to say. Since your limited to about 200 characters, you just have to say, as the site asks, what you doing right now.

Register and add me as a friend. You’ll even get my updates on your phone. 🙂

So I know I’m behind. you may just have to deal with it… as time marches on I just can’t get myself to sit down and write about all the things that have been going on.

Here is a quick rundown of the last month or so in pretty much chronological order:

• Janey and I are good again…
• We went on a cruise with my family… My first one
• Left for Miami the same day I returned from the cruise
• Spent about 10 days in FL working on the production of the Superbowl XLI Pregame and Halftime shows
• Superbowl day was wet… very wet.
• Came home and dove right back into the work I’m doing for Disney
• My job with Disney continues to grow more interesting every day. I’m learning a ton and having fun.
• MOST IMPORTANTLY: Jackie is recovering fatastically! That damn cancer is in remission!!! As far as the stroke recovery, she’s walking, talking and has the great ‘jackieness’ we all love. It’s still a hard road… but things look SO good.

So it doesn’t give you a lot of detail but you get the major points. It’s off my shoulders now and we can move on. Thank you, dear readers, for being so patient with me. (by patient I mean prodding me with emails and other various communications to get my blog updated)

What a show…

Right now I am sitting at a small table next to a starbucks kiosk just inside the door of the New York New York hotel in Las Vegas. I’m typing this on the wonderfully unusabe keyboard of my Blackberry mobile device. I tell you these things so you will appreciate my dedication to this blog… And to you, dear readers.

Yeah, that last bit might have been a bunch of crap. But I really am in vegas. Typing from my mobile because 1) I am bored, and 2) I checked out of my hotel at 8:00 this morning. So even if I did get my laptop back from the bellman, I wouldn’t have any comfy place to use it. And so here I am.

I’m in town for the Consumer Electronics Show for work. Just checking out new things and hopefully finding some inspiration in how all this stuff is presented.

I’m flying out tonight and will be happy to get home.

I gues that’s all for now. Maybe I’ll write a little more later.

As happens all to often, I have procrastinated updating this space for far too long. My justification this time is the amount of time this holiday season spent in a hospital. And with an intro like that, why beat around the bush…

One morning a few days before Christmas I got a call from my sister Jen telling me that her twin Jaclyn was in the hospital for an unknown reason. It was an emergency… she couldn’t speak, couldn’t move, couldn’t really react… couldn’t do much of anything. The night before she had gone to her husband and not being able to speak tried to motion that something was wrong. When she couldn’t do more than a blank stare, he rushed her to the hospital.

Skip forward after examinations, scans, and all manner of medical testing it’s determined that my sister had what was described to me as a massive stroke. She had movement in her legs and left arm, but no speech or real use of any of her limbs. Considering this news I decided to leave CA a day early to help out where I could.

Skip forward again to 7 days after the stroke. My wonderfully determined sister is making what can only be described as a miraculous recovery. She’s walking, has movement in both arms (while no articulation in her right arm), and can actually speak full sentences. It should not be taken lightly how difficult all these things were to achieve, and I’m sure it will be an uphill battle for the rest of her life.

I don’t want to go into great detail. I would simply like to say how wonderful it was for me to spend several nights in the hospital doing what I could to make my sister comfortable while she goes through this. She’s doing so well, and while this stroke terrible in every way, I count her determination and speedy start to a recovery as a real blessing for her and the family.

As another note, I’m so amazed by the outpouring of community and family support when events like this occur. People really step up and do what they can. It gives a person great faith in humanity to see it all come together to help someone you love.

I’ve said it before… stay strong Jac. I love you, and I have no doubt this will just be another of your incredible stories to tell you children and grandchildren.

I’m just getting in to work and for some reason this was the first place I stopped. I think probably the biggest reason for me posting here is to get that last entry off the big, bold, front-and-center spot on my site. I just think it looks a little too much like I’m posting for pity… I’m not. And before anyone commented on that entry I wanted to make sure to say that.

This blog is really just a nice way for me to release. Strange to some I guess. If you don’t have a blog, I highly recommend starting one. Most folks say “but I wouldn’t have anything to say”, and to that I say BAH! Everyone has something to say some time. It doesn’t have to be all the time.

It’s neat though, it’s my own little soap box out here on the intarwebs. People can read it… or not. Either way suits me just fine. I’m still going to write it.

Anyway, things seem to be leveling out at bit. At least in my own mind. Conversations are hard, and I fight with how I’m supposed to be feeling. But I think I’m on my way.

I was just bedding down for the night when my building shook. It was too forceful to be my stupid upstairs neighbors bouncing around… so I checked it out online

It was a 2.5 on the richter scale… listed as the “Greater Los Angeles Area”.

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsus/Quakes/ci14262680.php

freaky…

OH… so much stuff I’d like to talk about. I’m going to start typing, and see what falls out.

… Friday while I was walking from my car to my desk something funny happened. I was doing that quick meaningful walk. You know that one you do when your just a little behind schedule, and you’re trying to make up time. The thought is that if you do the quick meaningful walk nobody will stop you and make you further behind schedule.

So I got through security and was walking across the TDA hard-scape (this is like the big concrete courtyard area in front of the yellow Frank Ghery designed office I work in) with a smattering of other folks walking in to work. I’m about 10 yards from the door of the office building and I see Mickey Mouse in his traditional black and red tux come around the corner on the opposite side of the courtyard area. Now keep in mind this is backstage… no guests will see mickey here.

He was all alone… this was not normal. Mickey almost always has a ‘handler’ just like our executives. He just rarely goes anywhere apart from his normal places without a host. Anyway, so he was alone. As he passed me I gave him a simple wave and he gave me a friendly nod. A few more steps later a woman in tech blacks said “hi Mickey”. Mickey waved at her, and kept on his way. I’m not sure if it’s coming across in the text here, but it was just so neat to see Mickey Mouse just walking along with everyone else heading in to work. Just like another guy… heading to wherever he needed to get something done. Something I’ll always love. It reminded me of one day when I first started with Disney. I was backstage in Town Square and Snow White and Aurora came walking over just chatting with their purses hanging off their arms. They were just casually on their way in to make some magic. A scene that was strange to get used to… and again, something I will always love.

… Last night I was up late trying to teach myself a new programming language and framework (Ruby and Rails for those who care). I was trying to get into that late night zone where I just got into it and it would click for me. I was in need of some caffeine so I made the decision to head down to the corner store for a Diet Coke refill.

My apartment complex has those outdoor staircases on the ends of each building. You go through a door out of the carpeted hallway and into the tiled staircase. I make note of the different floor covering, as it plays a major roll in the story.

As I went out the door a large set of events all happened in what seemed like an instant. It all started before I arrived when some wonderful passer-by spilled some sort of creamy drink on the tile floor on the landing at the top of the stairs. As I passed through the door my feet left the solid carpet for a much more uncertain stance on wet tile.

One leg kicked out in front, while another stepped back to get under me. That foot slipped in the opposite direction, and I was on my way down. I took a moment to utter a few expletives while contemplating the distance to the floor. I put my left hand out to brace for impact while the cup in my right hand sailed into the air. My left hand hit the floor just about the same time as my left hip. and just a moment later I was laying in the wonderful pool of creamy drink on the tile floor above the stairs. As if to add insult to injury, the door came swinging back to close on my legs.

It was a good 100 feet until the anger melted away and I started to laugh out loud. It was a really good fall, and my hand did slap the ground (something that always makes me chuckle when I see it happen to others)

… I found out today that my sister, through the course of her chemo therapy, has begun to lose her hair. I’m sure that is something that can put your spirits in the toilet while so many other things are going on. I also found out that she and her family are coming down here to CA for a short trip. They will be here in the morning.

I wanted to show her that ‘it’s all good’. And that while we can’t know exactly what she’s going through, we can show her that we’re willing to be with her and support her. So… I shaved my head today. All the way, totally bald.

Jac… I’m with you, It’s all good, and we’re both going to be growing our hair back soon enough.

love you.

Great story about my Grandpa was in the Utah paper this morning. check it out…

Weathered warriors — WWII vets meet every week for eggs, table talk
By Stephen Speckman
Deseret Morning News

LAKEPOINT, Tooele County — Inside a truck stop on a cold fall morning, they look like just another bunch of old guys.
Image
Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret Morning News
Lamar “Bish” Davis shows his friends a photo of himself when he was a Marine in WWII. Davis is an Iwo Jima survivor.
They park in handicap stalls and wear hearing aids — or admit they should.
Mickey Bailey, a radio operator in the Navy during World War II, is blind and needs someone to cut his food. Fellow seaman Jim Hales uses a wooden cane when he walks.
Nine men from the “Greatest Generation” who once joined this dwindling group for breakfast every week have died.
For about 15 years as many as 20 World War II veterans have been meeting on Wednesday mornings at eateries around Tooele County. It’s nothing formal, just some eggs, hashbrowns, pancakes, coffee and usually light conversation.
If you ask why they started getting together or who first organized the gatherings, you don’t get a straight answer. Near to the truth is that most or all at one time worked for Kennecott and most saw combat during World War II.
Brothers Andy Nielsen (Army) and Eldon Nielsen (Army and Air Force) were both in the war.
But when they meet, everyone already understands what the others went through during the war. It’s the reason they give for not talking much about how one of the men still has shrapnel in his hand and hip or how another dug holes in the sands of Iwo Jima to escape being shot.
These days, they come from the Salt Lake and Tooele areas to gather at tables pushed together near a buffet at the TA truck stop just off of I-80, north of Tooele. They don’t, however, need many tables anymore.
World War II veterans are dying at a rate of about 1,000 per day — the U.S. Census Bureau reported that in 2004 there were 3.9 million left.
Those from this breakfast club who have died, like Navy seamen Sheldon Bliss and Keith Reid, have taken whatever war stories that went untold with them to the grave.

Keeping it light
They have funny names for their group: ROMEO (for “retired old men eating out”) spelled out on hats they wear; and March of the Penguins (some of the men, most in their 80s, waddle or hobble as they walk).
On a recent Wednesday, someone brought an obituary of a woman the group knew, an old photo taken near Brigham Young’s house in Salt Lake City and a news clipping about the cremation of a 700-pound man.
The pieces of paper are talking points, lying next to Bob Davis’ bifocals on the table.
Davis and Calvin Coon often go at it. Davis poked fun when Coon couldn’t remember his own telephone number. Coon and Davis were Merchant Marines.
Coon had the upper hand a few moments later when Lamar “Bish” Davis (no relation to Bob) couldn’t remember the name of the man, Bob Pollock, who was sitting right next to him. Pollock saw action as a Navy seaman during the battle for Iwo Jima. Bish, the man with the shrapnel in his hand and hip, is an Iwo Jima survivor.
These World War vets cover all four branches of the military. Their ranks vary. A few had stints in the Merchant Marines and Naval Armed Guard during the war.
At one end of the table, Lewis Welcker (Marines) and Keith Dangerfield (Navy) sat across from each other, recalling how the communities of Garfield and Magna used to be, about starting out in life after the war working for Kennecott.
The Garfield homes in which many of the men sitting at the table lived after the war are now gone. Which leads to another joke about how all the places they lived, worked and went to school when they were younger have vanished.
Once in a while, a quick war vignette is slipped in the mix, such as how the ring Jack Bowers (Naval Armed Guard) wears on his right hand was made from metal off of a kamikaze plane. Or how Hales spent three years aboard a destroyer and how his ship survived the Japanese bombing of Okinawa.
Image
Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret Morning News
Ed Slater, left, and Eldon Nielsen share a laugh at a truck stop in Tooele. For about 15 years the veterans have been meeting every Wednesday.

A reason to meet
Not many of these men miss too many Wednesdays at the truck stop.
Nielsen’s brother, Eldon, and his friend Ed Slater (Navy) showed up for breakfast on another Wednesday. Slater, a hiker and mountain climber even in his 80s, is clearly the most fit among a table filled with frail or failing bodies.
Their voices are weathered by age.
Chatter drifts in and out of weather, politics, current events and that obituary sitting next to Bob Davis’ glasses.
Coon picks up the obit for Ruth Hickman Coon, a relative by marriage. “She was a jolly woman,” he says to himself, staring at her photo.
But loss isn’t something dwelled on here. A few words are spoken about Gale Westerman’s brother, Jack, a Marine who used to join this group before he died.
The same amount of table talk is allotted for Dangerfield’s brother, Harold, a World War II veteran who passed away at age 87. Somewhere, Dangerfield isn’t sure where, there is a written log of his brother’s wartime experience.
Suddenly, without warning, two men at the table shoot off a snippet about how ships Westerman crewed were torpedoed. Westerman (Naval Armed Guard) says it was two ships that went down — others at the table say it was three.
If there’s a far-away look in someone’s eyes, it’s gone in the next breath as a joke flies through the air, twice if someone didn’t hear it the first time. Westerman’s brother Gene, who drives them to the truck stop, has one about a “cereal” killer that gets a few chuckles.
A conversation about the Iraq war lasts less than a minute, with a few bursts about how the United States shouldn’t have attacked in the first place. Coincidentally, President Bush is on a television nearby, which prompts two men in the group to snap about how few people in Congress have a son who has served in Iraq.
Even as they leave, it’s an opportunity for one more joke about how they hope to see one another next week and not before then in the obituaries. Or, as Coon likes to say, “God willing and the creek don’t rise.”