Here’s me in my new ride. What do you think? I think I look damn good
If you’re not familiar with the car, it’s a Mazda MX5. Got an awesome deal on it, so I couldn’t refuse OK. OK. So, it’s not really MY car. Actually, it’s the parents. They just let me borrow it for a bit to cruise around town in–Well, that’s not exactly true either, but I did get to drive it.
I was surprised that the ride in it’s pretty smooth; I guess it’s the larger tires, because the suspension is, of course, set up for performance–which means, you would normally feel everything. My Cobalt is a bit like that.
Also, I’ve never ridden, much less drove, a convertable of any type, let alone one as cool as this. It definitely gives one the sense of what it might have been like in one of those old English roadsters back in the day, cruising around the countryside.
It’s never fun going to the doctor, is it? But, do you know what I hate those most? The wait. I hate waiting rooms, and especially ones at general care offices. They’re so vast–it’s like a sea of chairs–and you always got people everywhere–of all different ages, sexes, and illnesses. You never know what you might catch, or who you might have to look at. Of course, there is a plus side. Babes. There’s always babes in those places. Patients. Nurses. They’re there. That’s not so bad.
But, when you’re waiting and waiting. You’re trying to remain relaxed and focused, but it’s difficult when you’ve got Attention Deficient. Waiting–hell, sitting still–for that long is nearly torture. It was sort of ironic, too, that the promo machine that some pharmaceutical company has installed came on with a report about ADHD. LOL And I was sitting right there next to it. Damn thing.
Anyway, my whole reason of going to the doctor started at the beginning of this year. I wanted to find out why I felt so tired all the time. Particularly after eating. So, naturally, they had wanted to draw blood, check for all the typical things: gallbladder, thyroid, liver, hernia, etc. Everything turned out to be good except for my cholesterol, which was a little high. My blood pressure was fine, though this time it was a little high on the lower end.
Of course, also, this time they wanted to draw blood again in order to check my cholesterol. Ugh! I hate having that done, particularly when the person doing it isn’t all that good at taking blood. This woman nearly butchered my damn arm! Though, I was very nice about it. Speaking of that, there weren’t the typical cute nurses. No. Instead I had this sort of bitchy woman. LOL I couldn’t even joke with her; she just wasn’t having it.
Oh well. She wasn’t really anything to look at, anyway. It was sort of funny, though, when I walked into the lab area. They only had two technicians working in there, and there were, not joking, probably about twenty-five people waiting out in the room. Needless to say, I had to wait…again. My appointment was for 9:30; I got there at about 9:25, because I discovered, when getting in my car this morning, I needed gas, or else I probably wouldn’t have made it to the doctors; at somewhere around 10:20 I was seen; I didn’t leave the place until about 11:30. But, it’s all right, I suppose.
Now, I guess in about a week and a half I’ll learn whether my cholesterol has gone up or stabilized or whatever might have done in the past six months. LOL Who knows. I guess I should get out there and do some exercise and eat better–ugh, I hate hearing the phrase “eat better”. What the hell, I guess that means no more KFC or frozen dinners
Not that it makes much of a difference, but I’ve dropped the use of the tagline “tasty webmonster morsels!”, because it doesn’t really reflect me anymore. Over the past few years, the online handle I’ve in the past…well, I haven’t used as much as I used to. My alternate gaming identity isn’t that important to me anymore, since I don’t really play that many games now.
Also, I want to site to feel a bit more professional, as I’m planning on using it for my writing more and more. While I thought about doing a separate blog, my idea now is to use the Wordpress installation as my so-called journal. The front page of the site is going to change a little here shortly to include more than just a blog.
A lot of awesome roller coasters have been installed this year at various parks around the world. So, it was logical for Travel Channel to do an updated show on the subject, revealing what they thought was the best of the best. Extreme: Terror Rides aired on Thursday, and I caught about the last 40 minutes of it.
Most of what they showed was new–or, at least, put up within the last year or so–and was what they, of course, termed extreme, though I’m not sure I would have necessarily used that word. Perhaps, for the opener, I might have said insane. Why?
The first portion of the show, which I saw later when it was repeated, talking about the new rides atop the Stratosphere tower in Las Vegas. Keep in mind that the Tower is 800 and some feet high, and the rides are on the VERY top. They used to have a roller coaster up there that circled the Tower’s dome. Well, now they have a flat ride that extends out over the edge of the roof and spins passengers it mid-air. That’s 1,149 feet, to be exact, off the ground! Talk about vertigo. Heights scare the crap out of me–and, even though the ride isn’t all that intense, the height is enough for me to say, “I’ll pass.” What if the thing got stuck, and they couldn’t reel you back in?
Several other rides were showcased as well. Fahrenheit at Hershey Park, Firehawk at King’s Island, Kingda Ka at Six Flags Great Adventure were there to see, but it was one ride I didn’t expect to see that really caught my eye. Now, I’ve heard of this coaster, and I’ve seen photos and I’ve seen a few videos on You Tube of it, but it was so much more spectacular seeing it on TV.
Galaxyland’s Mindbender is, definitely, fricking awesome! There were some interesting facts about it, too, that I didn’t really know. It’s 145 from it’s highest point to its lowest. That’s pretty high for an indoor roller coaster. However, you’re all the way up in the rafters when you crest the top of the lift hill. In fact, it looks like you could probably reach out and touch the steel beams overhead if you thought to do so before falling to your doom. Hmm..maybe I shouldn’t use that word. “Doom” might not be too appropriate.
Now, I’m not sure if this is true or not, but I remember reading somewhere that shortly after the Mindbender opened at the West Edmonton Mall’s Galaxyland there was incident. From what I remember reading, the last two cars on the train derailed and struck two support columns, killing, I believe, three people. Yikes! I know that since then the trains were redesigned and the ride has had an impeccable safety record. But, gees, not sure I could ride it knowing that happened. Still the ride is fricking awesome.
The angled helices and that last loop, all the way at the bottom, look to be some of the best parts. From what I saw on the Travel Channel, those sections seem extremely intense, and I don’t doubt that they are with Mindbender being a Schwarzkopf creation. Hmm…I just might have to make it up to Edmonton, Alberta Canada someday Of course, there’s a lot of places for me to visit in the United States, too, and not all that far from me, either.
Here’s a video of Mindbender in action. The viewpoint is from the position of the exit, and does not contain an on-ride POV, but it gives you an idea of how fast this sucker is. I looked around for a POV video, but I couldn’t really find anything watchable. Probably because this thing is like a rocket!
Do you believe in ghosts or the paranormal? Well, these days, it has become all the rage, it seems. I myself, while not a full believer (I’m still a semi-skeptic), I enjoy watching shows like Ghost Hunters, seeing what TAPS, if anything, might catch. Who knows if spirits are real or not, but it’s believable that there might be something after death, right? Let’s hope so. Perhaps, like a lot of us like to say when somebody passes away, “a better place” exists. The paranormal is something that’s not easily explained away–unless it’s hoaxed. Houdini, back in the early 20th century, proved that most spiritualists–people who believe in the paranormal and claim to be able to reach over to the other side–are mostly fakes.
However, even with all the hoaxes out there, I’m sure there’s something real happening. The latest paranormal happening I saw captured on film was on a school surveillance camera, and it’s pretty damn convincing. I doubt it’s a digital artifact or equipment malfunction, either. But, you’ll have to judge for yourself.
The local ABC affiliate (WLOS) did a story on it. Apparently, the “apparition” was caught on a security camera that looks down the hallway of Asheville High School, which is in Asheville, North Carolina–that’s just up the road from me! Actually, it’s about an hour and half drive up there from where I live in South Carolina.
It’s hard to tell from the picture anything more than a semi-transparent blob in the center, but watch the footage on the website, and you’ll be impressed. Trust me.
OK. OK. So, it’s not really MY car. Actually, it’s the parents. They just let me borrow it for a bit to cruise around town in–Well, that’s not exactly true either, but I did get to drive it.
