Old news by now, but Katy Perry didn't go over well with parents in this Sesame St. video with Elmo...
Meh...
I'm actually trying really hard not to like Katy Perry's music... but some of it is quite catchy.
Monday, September 27, 2010
CIEC's BSA's 100th Birthday Party Event
This last weekend, Duncan and I went to our council's BSA's 100th Birthday Event with the scouts in our ward. We left in the late afternoon on Friday to go to Glen Helen park, where the event would take place.
Once we found our campsite, we set up our tent. Once nighttime was upon us, we popped popcorn, and did some planning before it was time to turn in. Poor Duncan fell asleep in his camping chair while waiting for me to finish talking to some other scout leaders. He must have slept fine once I got him in his sleeping bag, because he was excited and ready for the day!
After having breakfast burritos for breakfast, Duncan got his uniform on, and was ready to go!
Here is a picture of just a small number of the scouts and people that were there for this event. This was taken while we waited for the opening ceremony to start.
Once we found our campsite, we set up our tent. Once nighttime was upon us, we popped popcorn, and did some planning before it was time to turn in. Poor Duncan fell asleep in his camping chair while waiting for me to finish talking to some other scout leaders. He must have slept fine once I got him in his sleeping bag, because he was excited and ready for the day!
After having breakfast burritos for breakfast, Duncan got his uniform on, and was ready to go!
Here is a picture of just a small number of the scouts and people that were there for this event. This was taken while we waited for the opening ceremony to start.
The first thing we participated in was an attempt to break a world record for the world's largest marbles tournament. I think they had about 840 participants for this tournament. All who participated got a patch. The marble game they played was called Warstone. (They played a very simplified version.)
After the marble tournament, we made our way to the world record attempt at the longest pinewood derby track. It was advertised as being 250 feet long. But apparently, other groups were attempting to break the old record, too. So the people in charge of ours went to 510 feet! That is over 100 feet longer than the next closest attempt. We were excited to run our cars on that track. Here's a shot of our cars with many of the other ones waiting too.
Once we entered our cars, there was a looooong (that should have about 20 "o"s) wait. They ran council finals with the regulation track. There were 18 cars in 18 heats. Then they went on to the long track, to get it ready. The timing equipment would not cooperate, and they tried to get it going for WAY too long. We were probably there for about 3 hours before they started putting cars down the track. Then is took about an hour for them to get to our cars, which happen to be near the end.
After the marble tournament, we made our way to the world record attempt at the longest pinewood derby track. It was advertised as being 250 feet long. But apparently, other groups were attempting to break the old record, too. So the people in charge of ours went to 510 feet! That is over 100 feet longer than the next closest attempt. We were excited to run our cars on that track. Here's a shot of our cars with many of the other ones waiting too.
Once we entered our cars, there was a looooong (that should have about 20 "o"s) wait. They ran council finals with the regulation track. There were 18 cars in 18 heats. Then they went on to the long track, to get it ready. The timing equipment would not cooperate, and they tried to get it going for WAY too long. We were probably there for about 3 hours before they started putting cars down the track. Then is took about an hour for them to get to our cars, which happen to be near the end.
While we were waiting, there were some cub scouts that found some snails, and they were playing with them. Duncan showed an interest in the snails and they gave him one of them to play with. Here's Duncan sitting in the shade of the water cooler, with the snail.
Here's a shot from near the top of the track, down to the finish line. That's Duncan near the middle.
Finally, Duncan's and Anna's cars are up and ready to go... (I had to move the weights to the tops of the cars because there wasn't enough clearance underneath.)
... and they're off... Unfortunately, both cars did not make it to the finish line. The axles were a little loose on both cars. I tried securing them in the wood as best I could, but they loosened up while on the run, and the tires rubbed on the sides of the cars too much, and caused them to stop. Such a bummer to wait that long, only to have them go about half way. But they still ran on the world's longest track!
There's my car finally up and ready to go! It did make it all the way down, but only clocked an average time.
Duncan was pretty sad that his car didn't go the whole way down. But one thing that helped him get his smile back, was everyone, and I mean EVERYONE that saw his Wii car, REALLY liked it. All the scouts thought it was awesome. Duncan was pretty proud of that.
After spending way too much time at the pinewood track, we found some other fun things to do. Here's Duncan on an obstacle course. He raced against a boy in my troop named Paul.
There's he is "leaping" through the course, just a second behind Paul... They ended up finishing in a tie!
We looked around for more stuff. This was called "scouts hiking".
This was called "goofy golf". There were 6 holes. They hit the softballs with those clubs, till they got in the holes. It was open field miniature golf, and the scouts really liked it.
Duncan putting a puzzle together. His puzzle had a picture of merit badges.
We did a few other fun things, and even made time to have some snow cones. Here we are after a long day of activities and dinner (and pudding cups)! After this, we took that tent down, cleaned up our campsite, and went to the closing ceremony.
There were some cool things at the closing ceremony, but there were some others that took too long. There was a local band that played for about 45 minutes. Their music was pretty good, but I think they should have been at the end. Duncan tried to stay awake, but eventually fell asleep.
All in all, it was a really fun day. We were glad we did the things we did. Duncan had a great time. I hope this event is something he'll remember for a long time. I hope he remembers he celebrated the BSA's 100th anniversary. Scouting is fun stuff.
Here's a shot from near the top of the track, down to the finish line. That's Duncan near the middle.
Finally, Duncan's and Anna's cars are up and ready to go... (I had to move the weights to the tops of the cars because there wasn't enough clearance underneath.)
... and they're off... Unfortunately, both cars did not make it to the finish line. The axles were a little loose on both cars. I tried securing them in the wood as best I could, but they loosened up while on the run, and the tires rubbed on the sides of the cars too much, and caused them to stop. Such a bummer to wait that long, only to have them go about half way. But they still ran on the world's longest track!
There's my car finally up and ready to go! It did make it all the way down, but only clocked an average time.
Duncan was pretty sad that his car didn't go the whole way down. But one thing that helped him get his smile back, was everyone, and I mean EVERYONE that saw his Wii car, REALLY liked it. All the scouts thought it was awesome. Duncan was pretty proud of that.
After spending way too much time at the pinewood track, we found some other fun things to do. Here's Duncan on an obstacle course. He raced against a boy in my troop named Paul.
There's he is "leaping" through the course, just a second behind Paul... They ended up finishing in a tie!
We looked around for more stuff. This was called "scouts hiking".
This was called "goofy golf". There were 6 holes. They hit the softballs with those clubs, till they got in the holes. It was open field miniature golf, and the scouts really liked it.
Duncan putting a puzzle together. His puzzle had a picture of merit badges.
We did a few other fun things, and even made time to have some snow cones. Here we are after a long day of activities and dinner (and pudding cups)! After this, we took that tent down, cleaned up our campsite, and went to the closing ceremony.
There were some cool things at the closing ceremony, but there were some others that took too long. There was a local band that played for about 45 minutes. Their music was pretty good, but I think they should have been at the end. Duncan tried to stay awake, but eventually fell asleep.
All in all, it was a really fun day. We were glad we did the things we did. Duncan had a great time. I hope this event is something he'll remember for a long time. I hope he remembers he celebrated the BSA's 100th anniversary. Scouting is fun stuff.
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Paying Less
I have become a Priceline negotiator!
(back story)
A few years ago, Anna and I opened a couple of credit cards with Hawaiian Airlines. They were giving away a lot of mile points for signing up and using their card. We decided to accumulate as many points as we could in a year or two, and then see if we could get a couple of "free" round trips out of the deal. We just used the credit cards instead of the check book for our daily, weekly, and monthly expenses, and paid them off each month. It worked well enough. We chose to end our credit lines a while ago because of the $50 per card annual fee they wanted to charge us. Um, no thanks. But that meant we needed to use our points/miles within the next 18-24 months (or something like that).
The time was coming up, that we were needing to use our points. We scoured the calendar, looked for the cheapest flights to get the best deal, and our points ended up paying for about 2/3 of our flights. Not too shabby. Now I needed to find us a place to stay while we were in Hawaii (Oahu and Maui). That was probably going to be expensive. There aren't any Motel 6s or Super 8s there.
(present time)
A few weeks ago, while we were at the bowling alley with the kids and our good friends, the Bocanegras, Rich mentioned that his sis-in-law was coming down for a visit from Washington state, and that she had rented a car from Priceline for $20, using the "name your own price" feature, for when she's here. I think he mentioned she used Priceline other times as well... that got my wheels turning.
I went to Priceline, and was about to "name my price", when I thought... I should see if there's any info on the web about pros and cons of using Priceline. There was, and I'm glad I looked. There are whole sites dedicated to helping people get the most out of "name your price" on Priceline, like biddingfortravel.com. I read all the stuff the site wanted me to read, and studied the stuff they wanted me to study, and I took the plunge... a lot more confident in my quest.
Long story short, after a few days of "bidding", I got a us a hotel on Oahu, in the Waikiki area, at the Sheraton Princess Kaiulani (3 stars) for $70 a night instead of $129 from their website, and cheaper than even the lowest priced 2 star hotels in the area! We'll also be staying on Maui a couple days, so I needed to get us a hotel there, too. After a couple of days of research and bidding, I got a nice 2 star hotel in the Wailea area of Maui, at the Aston Maui Lu, for $65 a night! That's a lot better than the $90+ any other way.
We are looking forward to that trip for sure. We'll be staying in nicer places than we've ever stayed, and for cheaper than we would have paid otherwise.
THEN, Anna also needed to use some credit toward a flight from Alaska Air, related to her trip to Portland last year. That credit/discount was due to expire this fall if not used. Anna decided she had to take me up to Portland to see it for myself, so she found the cheapest flights that fit our schedule. We now have a trip to Portland in Nov. to plan. I needed to find us a hotel. I spent some time researching the areas hotels, and went to bidding on Priceline once more. Eventually I won us a stay at the new Hyatt Place Portland Airport hotel (3 stars), for... $38 a night!!! The cheapest average rate for our dates was $113 on their website. I can't believe they picked up my bid at just $38?! All I can figure is that they want as much business as they can get, and hope that word of mouth advertising pays off over time. I believe the hotel is less than a year old (or right around a year old). So crazy.
I'm still trying to get the cheapest deals on rental cars for those locations. It seems that you need to wait till closer to the time you actually need the car, to get the best deal. So about a month before each trip, I'll be low balling for some rental cars. It's pretty fun.
I can't wait to see how it all plays out. There are reports that hotels will put Priceline guests in the least desirable rooms or areas of their hotel, or not give them the same courtesy and service as "full" paying guests (particularly in Hawaii). We'll see.
So yeah, I can share my new Priceline knowledge with you next time I see you if you're interested. It's way too much to type out. Or just check out biddingfortravel and start reading like I did.
(back story)
A few years ago, Anna and I opened a couple of credit cards with Hawaiian Airlines. They were giving away a lot of mile points for signing up and using their card. We decided to accumulate as many points as we could in a year or two, and then see if we could get a couple of "free" round trips out of the deal. We just used the credit cards instead of the check book for our daily, weekly, and monthly expenses, and paid them off each month. It worked well enough. We chose to end our credit lines a while ago because of the $50 per card annual fee they wanted to charge us. Um, no thanks. But that meant we needed to use our points/miles within the next 18-24 months (or something like that).
The time was coming up, that we were needing to use our points. We scoured the calendar, looked for the cheapest flights to get the best deal, and our points ended up paying for about 2/3 of our flights. Not too shabby. Now I needed to find us a place to stay while we were in Hawaii (Oahu and Maui). That was probably going to be expensive. There aren't any Motel 6s or Super 8s there.
(present time)
A few weeks ago, while we were at the bowling alley with the kids and our good friends, the Bocanegras, Rich mentioned that his sis-in-law was coming down for a visit from Washington state, and that she had rented a car from Priceline for $20, using the "name your own price" feature, for when she's here. I think he mentioned she used Priceline other times as well... that got my wheels turning.
I went to Priceline, and was about to "name my price", when I thought... I should see if there's any info on the web about pros and cons of using Priceline. There was, and I'm glad I looked. There are whole sites dedicated to helping people get the most out of "name your price" on Priceline, like biddingfortravel.com. I read all the stuff the site wanted me to read, and studied the stuff they wanted me to study, and I took the plunge... a lot more confident in my quest.
Long story short, after a few days of "bidding", I got a us a hotel on Oahu, in the Waikiki area, at the Sheraton Princess Kaiulani (3 stars) for $70 a night instead of $129 from their website, and cheaper than even the lowest priced 2 star hotels in the area! We'll also be staying on Maui a couple days, so I needed to get us a hotel there, too. After a couple of days of research and bidding, I got a nice 2 star hotel in the Wailea area of Maui, at the Aston Maui Lu, for $65 a night! That's a lot better than the $90+ any other way.
We are looking forward to that trip for sure. We'll be staying in nicer places than we've ever stayed, and for cheaper than we would have paid otherwise.
THEN, Anna also needed to use some credit toward a flight from Alaska Air, related to her trip to Portland last year. That credit/discount was due to expire this fall if not used. Anna decided she had to take me up to Portland to see it for myself, so she found the cheapest flights that fit our schedule. We now have a trip to Portland in Nov. to plan. I needed to find us a hotel. I spent some time researching the areas hotels, and went to bidding on Priceline once more. Eventually I won us a stay at the new Hyatt Place Portland Airport hotel (3 stars), for... $38 a night!!! The cheapest average rate for our dates was $113 on their website. I can't believe they picked up my bid at just $38?! All I can figure is that they want as much business as they can get, and hope that word of mouth advertising pays off over time. I believe the hotel is less than a year old (or right around a year old). So crazy.
I'm still trying to get the cheapest deals on rental cars for those locations. It seems that you need to wait till closer to the time you actually need the car, to get the best deal. So about a month before each trip, I'll be low balling for some rental cars. It's pretty fun.
I can't wait to see how it all plays out. There are reports that hotels will put Priceline guests in the least desirable rooms or areas of their hotel, or not give them the same courtesy and service as "full" paying guests (particularly in Hawaii). We'll see.
So yeah, I can share my new Priceline knowledge with you next time I see you if you're interested. It's way too much to type out. Or just check out biddingfortravel and start reading like I did.
Blasted!
We went to Disneyland for the first time since being blocked out for the summer, last Thursday. We had a great time. It wasn't very crowded at all. It probably helped that a lot of people were waiting for and watching the parade.
Anyway, one of the last things we did that night was go on the Astro Blaster ride. Anna was kicking my butt with an early lead by hitting the sweet spot on Zurg a couple more times than I did. I had a lot of catching up to do. Anna was pretty confident that her lead would last. Right as we were about to exit the shooting area with the last large Zurg, the ride stopped. Guns were still firing away like crazy. I locked onto a high scoring shape and repeatedly fired on it. Anna was shooting as often as I was... I could only hope that I was doing it faster. As the ride began again, and we are now finished on the ride, I looked at my score... It was the highest score I've ever gotten... 933,800! NICE! I asked Anna what her score was, and it was in the 700,000 somewhere (she doesn't remember exactly). She saw my score and was amazed... I was certainly going to be emailing myself the ride photo from this ride, so I could have a record of this huge score, and I did so. I even had Anna's picture sent to my email.
The next morning I opened the Astro Blaster emails and saved them to a picture file... but something wasn't right... I looked at them a little longer... then I realised... NO SCORES!?!?
Anyway, one of the last things we did that night was go on the Astro Blaster ride. Anna was kicking my butt with an early lead by hitting the sweet spot on Zurg a couple more times than I did. I had a lot of catching up to do. Anna was pretty confident that her lead would last. Right as we were about to exit the shooting area with the last large Zurg, the ride stopped. Guns were still firing away like crazy. I locked onto a high scoring shape and repeatedly fired on it. Anna was shooting as often as I was... I could only hope that I was doing it faster. As the ride began again, and we are now finished on the ride, I looked at my score... It was the highest score I've ever gotten... 933,800! NICE! I asked Anna what her score was, and it was in the 700,000 somewhere (she doesn't remember exactly). She saw my score and was amazed... I was certainly going to be emailing myself the ride photo from this ride, so I could have a record of this huge score, and I did so. I even had Anna's picture sent to my email.
The next morning I opened the Astro Blaster emails and saved them to a picture file... but something wasn't right... I looked at them a little longer... then I realised... NO SCORES!?!?
What the.... ! How?... Why?... Buuuuummer! So Lame!
So yeah, no pictorial record of my super high score. But, Anna saw it, so I do have an eye witness. I'll have to try it again next time we go.
We had a very fun time at Disneyland. One thing we did differently was, I took the 3 oldest on Big Thunder Mountain with me (Tegan's not tall enough). They were a little nervous, but went anyway. We practically walked right on the ride. When we were done, they all wanted to do it again, so Anna took them all again, and I stayed and played with Tegan.
Good times.
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