GREETINGS AND SALUTATIONS, race fans.
It is I. Who else would it be. Sorry for the long-time-no-see-G-thing, but as the photos attest, I have been a little bit active.
These photos are all out of order. See if you can match them up to the list of events.
I took my oldest son (Mini-G) to a Panthers-Seahawks game. (GO HAWKS!) We lost. (we lost recently to Green Bay, too, but it's okay. You know when you are a fan of the greatest team in the world without regard to wins and losses.) I then left the game and jumped on a plane for Beantown. I always enjoy Boston because I lived there in the summer of 1985. It still feels kind of like home even though a lot has changed.
For you non-architect types, architects are required to do continuing education -like many professions. I was in Boston visiting architects and doing a lunch and learn with our esteemed representatives. The "lunch and learn" was the education gig. On the walk over to the architect's office I snapped a couple of nice snaps. I will give you this one -see the second row of photos above. During the lunch and learn I looked out the architect's upper story window and noticed the snow starting to fall. Suffice to say it took us over four hours to drive twenty miles after the lunch and learn due to a rather quick and heavy snow fall. The reps office in nearby Sudbury seemed like it was world's away. The reps were tense. As we neared the end of the ordeal, or should I say, as they neared the end of their ordeal -I still had to drive five miles to my hotel, they suddenly lightened up and started cracking jokes. The jokes, of course, were aimed at yours truly and my beloved home state of North Dakota. These jokes went on for a while until we passed an actual road sign for an Otter crossing.
"Let me get this straight. You are going to slam a state you have never set foot into, and yet your home turf has a warning sign for an otter crossing?"
That dampered them for a moment or two.
At any rate, there was a quick trip to NYC for a seminar on Memory Retention or something like that -I forget. I found the famous church crouching under the Citigroup/Citibank/Official Usury Card Company and snapped some shots that absolutely did not come out. I also roamed past Lever House and the statue in the center courtyard and all the crazy Christmas types around Macys, et al. My favorite piece of architecture or public art, though was this cool little side park with a waterfall. Sorry, name is completely gone. If you know the name of the park, let me know.
From NYC it was back to the sun drenched RDU airport in Raleigh and then off to Florida for Christmas with the in-laws. Let us imagine for a moment that I am in charge of hell and I have a new torture device. What is it? I place all occupants on a boat and play that Small World Afterall tune from the Disney exhibit of the same name... over and over and over. MAN!
Now let us imagine that I am in charge of Purgatory. Okay, here are your free tickets to the Magic Kingdom at Christmas. What a zoo! The lines made the lines in communist countries look like a walk in the park. And the people. Geez! Is it a rule that if you go to Florida at Christmas you have to look at blue veins popping out of white legs on every street corner? It wasn't all bad, though.
The kids had a great time and, let's be honest, that is what it is all about. My wife had the opportunity to see her family which was very cool, too. We stayed at a nice resort and had a wonderful room with a wonderful hot tub and pool very close by. That was all cool. And, at times, fun and even funny. One of the more, can we say, semi-humorous parts was when my four year old (pictured above) had a little accident and head-butted one of the Disney characters right in the old south-of-his-personal-disney-main-street-anatomy. I actually heard the guy moan softly under the plastic face he was sporting. I felt bad for the guy, but then wondered how often that happened before a new hire sought protection. Maybe Disney can market their own line of Disney character protective cups for the actual Disney Characters. They market everything else. Tinkerbell purse, Buzz Lightyear ball, Mickey flashlight, etc. The Donald Duck Jock Stap and Protective Cup should be an easy sell.
Well, until next time, kids...
take good, good care.
-Gulliver
Disclaimer: The posting party of this particular blog sincerely regrets any bodily harm that his offspring may have inflicted upon guys dressed in heavy costumes in 80 degree heat.
