Well today was pretty interesting.

Let me start with a phone call I recieved a few days ago. While I was actually going in to work to beg for a few more hours from other departments my cell phone rang. On the other end was one of my department managers asking about my interest in a possible temporary postition in another department. To be honest, I didn’t listen very well. All I heard her say was “full time” and “at least one month” and I was sold. I told her I was very interested and I would be happy to meet with or talk to whoever needed to get rockin’ and rollin.

Cut to yesterday when I got another call from the same manager letting me know that I was on a short list of interviewees for this postition. We scheduled a time to meet with the folks I would be working for. I was supposed to meet them at 3:00 today.

Now flash to this morning at 9:00. Thinking I didn’t need to be anywhere till at least 3:00 I was totally asleep when my phone rang. I stumbled out of bed toward the desk that held my phone bashing my knee on the frame of my couch (that last detail really has no significance at all… it just made me mad). The caller ID was flashing DISNEYLAND and for a second I thought about sending them to voicemail. At the last second I decided to answer and I heard somebody (didn’t listen to their name) talking about “can you come in at 10:00?”. Taking a moment to wake up I finally processed that this was the assistant of the woman I was interviewing with and immediately said “Yes… of course” in a suddenly cheery and alert voice.

Speeding in time again to about 10:00 and I’m standing in the TDA building next to the room I needed to be. It was empty. Her assistant found me just outside the door and let me know that she was in another meeting with the VP of Entertainment and it’s running long. Not knowing when she would finally get out we waited without bothering them. about 15 min. later she came swinging out of the conference room and shook my hand as we went into her office.

We were honestly only in her office for no more then 10 min. and she said “I think this will work out great… can you come in monday morning?”

And so I guess the rest is history. I’m starting monday morning in Talent Casting and Booking. for now it’s a 30 day gig, but she seemed fairly certain that the person I’m filling in for (who’s taking a leave of absence) is going to resign when she gets back. That would make this position turn into a permanent one.

And so thats my story… I’m sure there is more to come about it.

but until next time,

R.

While I know everyone has their own opinions on how music affects productivity… I just can’t get anything done without a tune playing. for now I’m stuck on some bluegrass and country stuff. nickle creek and Dixie Chicks… with a little Ryan Schupe and the Rubber Band for a little flavor.

An interesting day to be sure… I had a class today at the resort. It was a CPR/AED class. My department is having all the leads and stage managers get certified to use CPR and all of our mobile defibrillators on property.

There was only 8 people in my class. and 5 of us were from my department. That alone was a little strange since I think the folks sitting on both sides of me were in some kind of a fight… but thats another story for another time.

The class itself was about an hour of intensly boring videos, followed by all kinds of fun with CPR dummies. We all got a chance to show our wares on the dummies with rescue breathing and chest compressions and all that good stuff. I have to say though, even now if I encounter a guest with a health problem I’m waiting for the medics. I’m guessing in the heat of the moment I could be convinced to do more then that… but for now I’m pretty sure thats all I want to do. Having somebody’s life in my hands is a little more then I bargained for when I moved down to work at the Happiest Place On Earth!

I have had several occasions to need a nurse or other medical attention while I’ve been working. Their response times are always so good that I have no worry about just calling them when something happens.

SO… after the class (that only lasted about 1 1/2 hours rather then the scheduled 4) I went down the stairs just as the parade performers were getting dressed for the second parade. And what do you know but my wonderful girlfriend was there getting ready. So I hopped on my little backstage bicycle and rode over to say hello. There were several character department friends there to chat with for a bit, and I decided to stay and watch the parade. So I peddled off just as the blue fairy hit the step-off point. I actually had time to put away my bike behind ToonTown, walk out on stage and find a great spot in front of Small World well before the parade hit my end of the route. I was actually standing around for a good 5 min. before I even got an announcement.

So in my waiting I called my parents just to shoot the breeze. All seemed well on the home front and the parade was starting so I said goodbye to them as the music started.

I have to say that POTS has seen better days. I was noticing on all the floats there was signs of wear and a few of the performers just looked a little bored. I don’t think they were things that a normal guest would notice… but I sure did.

And as the last float was coming by I was waiving and jumping like an idiot… but thats okay because I reached my goal of gettin the attention of the characters on the last float. More specifically the attention of Chip. We blew kisses back and forth and all the guests around me thought I was a crazy man… but thats okay because I had a good time and didn’t bug anybody.

After that I wen’t backstage to head for my car and again happened to run into the parade performers getting un-dressed and ready to head to their next gig. I gave Janey a hug and headed for the car.

And that brings us to this moment. as soon as I got home I hopped online and posted here. not sure why it was the first thing I did… it’s just kinda fun to tell my stories.

I’m amazed that my life now consists of blowing kisses to a chipmunk on a float in Disneylands parade. That I know where each AED is on the resort property. And most of all that this is actually what I do for a living. I’m one of the guys who makes memories that people will have forever. I help make a story for people that they may tell their children someday. It’s very humbling to step back and realize just how cool my situation is.

Alright… enough sappy stuff.

until next time,
R.

So tonight I was the Stage Manager at Club Buzz. It’s a really fun gig. I show up around 4:00 in the afternoon and do some ‘paperwork’. After a while everything becomes so routine that the first part only takes about 10 minutes. Then around 4:55 I hop on a shuttle out to pick up my band. Tonight it was Person To Person. Not one of my favorite groups, but they are easy to work with. I pick them up out at BCML and head on property.

Our first set is at 7:00 so we’ve got plenty of time to set up and just kind of shoot the breeze for a while down in the green room. Once the load in is done… theres not much to worry me. Since everyone’s a professional we rarely have big hiccups in the routine. I’ve had a few nights where musicians are acting like babies, and I get cranky quick… or the strange guest behavior we’ve all grown accustomed to. but all in all, thats the gig. Not bad eh’?

So we had a great night of dancing tonight. The park wasn’t crowded at all so it was a good time.

And thats all I’ve got for tonight. I’m sure I will post more if something comes to me.

So until next time,

R.

Well… last night ended up quite good. I worked in the Mouse House last night. Kind of a random thing for me to be doing a Character Department shift, but since my own department is slower then snot I gotta do something to live. Anyway, it was a good day. Things are very different there these days. I don’t know if I just caught in on a bad night, but it seemed like things were very self centered there last night. nobody was focusing on the guests… you know… the ones that paid a boatload of money to be here and be entertained. On more then one occasion I had to be the crappy guy and tell CMs to stop leaning and talking about what they were going to do after work. I’m sure I was “that guy” to them but I could honestly care less. They weren’t doing the job they were hired to do and it was pissing me off.

When I was off I headed home to work on a few side projects. I was only home about an hour when it was time to go pick Janey up from work. She was in Critter. So I headed to the big Dland for the last time for the day.

She came over for a little while after work and we played online. Well.. she played for a while while I made brownies, and I played while she made some stove top stuffing. 🙂 Stove top makes a great dinner or lat night snack.

It started getting late and it was about time to go home… so I walked her home. And thats about it. I know it sound pretty boring, but it was quite a plesent day.

Thats todays little update. I may post some more later, but for now I need to get to the Dollar store and get some cheap stuff.

So until next time,

R.

Well now that the new design is up and running I’m just kind of in tweak mode. I’m moving things around a pixel at a time and messing with things. The header turned from puppies, to summer mountains, to winter mountains… and I’m sure it will change again before I am done.

You might be thinking “but Rustin, what about real content. Nobody visits a site for it’s design if there’s nothing to see once they arrive” and you’d be right. I’m just avoiding it. I’m sure I will get something really flashy up soon… but for now I just can’t get my brain in that mode.

So until my brain goes into that mode I’ve taken up the wonderful task of LAUNDRY! I know I know… it’s what you have always wanted to do, and look at this, I’m living your dream.

Ok… so if anyone actually reads this I will be shocked… but I’m writing anyway. I’ve got two loads in the washer, and two in the dryer… so I’m in waiting mode. And this is a wonderful way to wait.

alright. I’m goin to do something semi productive.

until next time,

R.

Well, in the grand scheme of things it hasn’t been so long. But a lot has happened since I my last entery here.

I guess the biggest was the trip Janey and I took to Utah. We went up to Bear Lake with my family. It was a good time. I forgot how much fun it was to swim in a body of fresh water. After spending time at the ocean it’s very refreshing to come off the beach not feeling all crusty and nasty.

While in Bear Lake we saw the Rasberry days parade… very rinky dink and hokey, but all kinds of fun. The thing that sticks out most in my mind is when the royalty float came trundling by, one girl was at the top with a Magic Music Days t-shirt on. Janey and I were cracking up. All the other girls were in formals, and she was proud as puch about her tshirt.

My parent rented wave runners and they were all kinds of fun. I dumped Janey and I off one of them twice and another time she actually dumped me off the back while staying on. It was really fun, but I got more water up my nose then ever in my life. As soon as I fell of the back, she hit the throttle so I got a blast of water in the face. It was really fun.

So we did all kinds of fun stuff at the lake, probably too many to mention here. It was fun, and I’m sure we will get a chance to do it again sometime.

So…. now I’m at work in the Satalite office at DCA. Nothing really going on. So I’m online just finding things to do.

I guess I will leave it at that for now.

Till next time,

R.

I guess the last time I posted was the tail end of Cody’s trip to CA. The night ended great. After a fun day at Disneyland (and bits at DCA) we finished up the night with Fantismic! and Fireworks from the Tower B seating in front of the river. Thats one of the perks of my job that I will always love. You don’t have to wait four hours but get the best seat in the house for one of the most innovative shows ever staged. (you can tell I’m a huge F! fan.

Well after that I dropped Cody and crew off at their hotel, said our g’byes and Janey and I headed home for bed. Now after those 3ish days of full on theme park excitement I was totally beat. I got home at about 1:00 and hit my bed. I don’t even remember the path from my door to my pillow. I think I was asleep even before I laid down.

Today when it was time for Janey to go to work (at noon) she tried to call me. I was still asleep so it took her a few calls to get me awake. When I finally realized there was a real world waiting outside the dream one I got a little grumpy. Just kind of a morning thing lately for me 🙂 My bed seems to wrap around me at that point and won’t let me go. Anyway, I finally got the phone. It was Janey wanting to get some lunch before work.

So we went to China China for lunch… It’s really called grand china something or other but I just gave it that name and it stuck. There is a crazy chinese lady that works there who is affected by one of two conditions 1) she was part of a botox beta test gone totally awry or 2) it’s really a man who found a stash of old chinese lady masks and is running from the law. Either way this person has no facial emotion whatsoever and speaks terrible english. She has apparently been promoted to Manager (as noted on her name-tag) and it’s a complete mystery what kind of approval process that went through. But thats another conversation for another day.

So since I slept quite late today I’m just not feeling the sleep bug right now. It’s a little past 3:00 am and I’m just not tired. So I put my Eddie Izzard DVD on and I’m blogging till I get tired.

Problem is I don’t have much to say. so for now this will have to do.

Till next time,

R.

I just never knew I had so much to say. since putting this blog up I’ve thought of tons of things I want to talk about. The trick is actually taking time out to put it on paper. I wish there was some way to just think it and it would show up on the screen. Since I’m only a big geek and not a Super Geek like I used to be, my typing skills have roughened up a bit. I don’t go so fast… and I have lots of errors.

Alright… on to what I really have to say.

I posted some stuff earlier today about my visit to DCA. When I wrote that, we were in a little mid-day nap break. So I will start from there.

I picked Cody and crew up at about 7:30 and headed over to Downtown Disney for a bite of dinner. We decided on Rainforest Cafe. Always a favorite of mine. Janey and I love to eat there.

I really wish there was much more to the story. But after dinner Janey and I headed home since she has to get up at 6:30 for work. And Cody and crew just called me when they needed a ride home from disneyland. I guess they got onto at least 3 attractions in that last hour or so. Splash Mtn, haunted mansion, and pirates… so .. I think a good time was had by all.

Until Next Time…

R.