The Look

I've become a big fan of all things Disney. A BIG fan. Almost an addict.

It all started when I planned our first trip to Disney World a few years ago. I was looking for planning tips in order to make best use of our vacation time and I discovered an enormous community of fan sites and podcasts devoted to nothing more than helping people like me have better vacations. It was unbelievable! At that time I didn't quite understand why people would donate so much time and energy to talk about a theme park. It didn't take long to figure out that Disney World is much more than a theme park

At the same time, I was introducing my daughter to all the classic Disney movies and characters... Cinderella, Dumbo, Pinocchio, Mickey and the gang. I hadn't watched these movies since I was a kid myself, and had forgotten all but the broadest storylines. When Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid, The Lion King and Nemo were released, I was in high school or college and didn't pay much attention. I couldn't believe how much I enjoyed these movies when I finally made time to watch them with my daughter.

My love for Disney was firmly cemented when we finally visited the parks. The stories are so complete and alive there. Every little detail is attended to. Sure there are attractions based on the movies, but there are also stories built around the non-movie attractions. I experienced a mixture of excitement and embarrassment last week when I realized I knew the name of the mythical town where the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad is - Tumbleweed. I knew that. Yep, I got it bad...

What could possibly possess me to remember that little fact? In part it's all of the things above, but more so it's the look on my daughter's face (and sometimes my wife's and I'm sure mine) when a character in a parade waves directly to you (or blows you a kiss). You. Like you're the only one there.

There are hundreds of places in the parks which can produce this look.... when you turn on Main St and see The Castle, when you take off on Soarin', or when you play Toy Story Mania. All elicit that look. Every time.

I even saw the look on my parents faces when they joined us for a trip this fall. And they're old. They've seen it all a hundred times. I know, because they told me all about it when I was growing up. They had the look too!

That look - a mixture of awe, wonder, excitement, and pure joy. Everyone gets it at Disney. And it's the feeling I get when I see that look that's got me hooked.

Superior Remodeling (West Seneca, NY) - Review

For the most part I feel John Ianello and Superior Remodeling did a good job on our addition, but the stress involved in working with John (if your a hands on type of person) is not worth it. There are some things in the way John conducts his business that really shook my confidence in him (and therefore his work).

If he doesn't want to answer a question, he won't. He'll double talk you, tell you that you have nothing to worry about, ignore your request, or tell you that this is not the right time to think about it. The thing is, it's never the right time for John. He'll dictate to you what is done and when.

• Before we signed a contract, I wanted to hear his approach for how he'll tie the new gutters into the existing ones. Granted, it was a relatively small detail, but I wanted to work though it. John brushed me off. This should've been a red flag that I'll have a hard time talking to him to get details on information he's not ready (or unwilling) to give... which turned out to be true.

• John showed up at our house to start work a month before his anticipated start date. We didn't have our financing in place yet and asked him to delay starting. He didn't, and we scrambled to get something in place to pay for the rest of the job. We settled for a higher interest loan to fund things until we could put better financing in place. This added a lot of stress to what should've been an exciting time at the beginning of the project.

• After they started digging the foundation, they ran into a septic pipe that ran next to the planned foundation. They hand dug around the pipe, but the next day I came home to find the entire hole filled with cement. My concern was that they encased the pipe in the cement. When I called John and asked him how they dealt with the pipe, again I got the runaround and he didn't answer my questions directly. He did call back later and explained in detail what they did, but I always felt uncomfortable that he needed to call me back before giving me the full story - like he needed to concoct something. I still don't know for sure what happened.
  
  I would've liked him to call my wife or I outside before filling the trench to say "Look, this is how we're going to deal with this situation". And then either explain "this is a good idea because x, y, z" or ask "what do you think".
  
  Yet more stress at the beginning of the project.

• We had a vacation planned and made John aware of the dates well before he started. We made it clear that we didn't want any work being done while we were gone. Of course he starts 2 weeks before we are to leave - again dictating that either the house will be open and exposed to the weather while we're gone or he's going to continue work.
  
  The day before we leave, there are big questions with the electrical plans. The electric planner who came out said that some limbs need to be removed to make way for the new service run. John also told us that we need to upgrade to 200 amp service (which turned out not to be true). He said that "he knows a guy" to do the tree and the electric work and gives us some ballpark estimates... and then asks us what to do? We tell him that we need actual estimates and we spend the day before our vacation scrambling to line up people to come out and price the work. It turns out John's "ballpark numbers" were off by 50% in both instances. Of course, John got his way (again) and continues work while we're gone.
  
  This is a stressful way to start and spend a vacation.

• The original job was also supposed to include installing 4 vinyl replacement windows in the rest of the house. In the original estimate John insisted in keeping these out - estimating the addition only. He assured us that he would complete these as part of the overall work. My wife had the windows measured and priced by John's window distributor and had yet more "ballpark estimates" for installation from John. We thought everyone was on the same page, but when the addition windows were delivered there were no vinyl replacements. Once we realized this oversight, John told us the lead time to order the windows was an additional 2 weeks (well after they were to complete the original job). John also wanted to re-quote the price. It was little surprise that new estimates were close to $100 more per window than John's original "ballpark" price.

• As the job came to a close, we asked that they not hang our new ceiling fans until we had a chance to paint the ceiling. As they would be working on a job we referred them to at our neighbors, they readily agreed.... until they realized this would push back their completion date a few days and they would need to wait for final payment.
  
  There were 4 items that needed to be completed before they were done - install the fans, final electric inspection, the electric wires outside needed to be raised (tightened) back to their original level (John lowered them to move the service), and the dumpster for the job needed to be removed. John wanted us to make full final payment before any of these things were complete. When we refused to pay until all work was completed (we did offer to make a partial payment early), he insisted on installing the fans to get the electrical inspection done. He said that the dumpster would be removed Friday, but still insisted on payment Thursday.
  
  He said that the electrical service was not his responsibility - the electric company was in charge of that sort of thing. My reasoning is that he lowered the wires on his own and that the job was not complete until all these services were back to where they're supposed to be. We disagree on this point.
  
  Yet again, we should be excited to be in our new space but are frustrated by John's insistence on being paid before the job is complete. More stress.

Again, we're happy with the new space but I don't feel that the added stress that comes in dealing with John offsets the cost of dealing with a more professional contractor. It definitely wasn't as bad as some of the contractor horror stories you hear, but it wasn't a great experience either.

The other thing I fail to understand is why John was so insistent on being paid before the job was complete. He knows our future plans call for a complete kitchen remodel (and installing the above mentioned windows). My father also asked John to look at some work at his house. His stubbornness and ignorance cost him at least 2 future jobs. Why would he risk that by insisting to be paid a few days early for a job he hasn't completed yet?

Lost Returns!!! (finally)

I'm really excited about the Lost premiere tonight. It's been a long time coming. I'm excited to learn the series of events that leads Jack to such despair and why he now desperately wants to get back to the island.

I'm a little bummed because ABC has been marketing it as a 2-hour event. Looking at the TV listings, it looks like a 'clip-show' followed by 1-hour of new content. I was greedily hoping for 2-hours of new content.

I watched ABCs rebroadcast of last season's finale. There was some text added to the bottom revealing some back story and easter eggs in the episode. I didn't care for it. Many times I was so drawn in my the story that I was ignoring the text and needed to "DVR back" to read the text. I didn't feel like it added that much... "Oxycodine is a powerful and addictive drug"?? Thanks. I sort of figured that out but why do I care?

One thing I had forgotten about in the finale was the reaction (or non-reaction) of the hospital staff when Jack told the new Chief Surgeon to go upstairs and see how drunk his father was. It seemed like everyone in the hallway dismissed that remark even though Christian Shepard had been dead for some time. I don't know, I guess I would've expected a different response. Why did Jack even say that anyway? It just seems weird.

I've also been following along in the new Lost alternate reality game, find815.com. It's no where near as engaging as the previous Lost ARG, but it's at least something. I'm wondering if the freighter where the game takes place will tie back to the freighter coming to rescue the survivors?

Smoked

I hosted a BBQ for the family last week. I was inspired by all the BBQ University shows that aired on PBS and I overdid it (a little). Everything was amazing!

Here's the menu:

• Maple Smoked Turkey Breast - juicy and delicious
• Shrimp Boil - this was the family's favorite. I added smoked Brats to the party. It was amazing!
• Smoked Top Round - I prepared this the same as before. It was still good.
  
• BBQ Portobello mushrooms - I've made these a number of times and are always a big hit
• Grilled Tuna Steaks - this was my personal favorite. I served these on tortillas. While the salsa in the recipe was good, I preferred a pineapple/jalapeno salsa as the topping.
  

The leftovers made a great lunch the next day.

I just got Steven Raichlen's BBQ USA book. I'm really enjoying learning the history of BBQ in America. I highly recommend this...

Lost Podcast - 8/2

Last Friday I finally discovered the latest Lost podcast sitting in my iTunes folder. It must've been there for a few weeks. It was like finding $20 in my pocket!

I really enjoyed getting back into Lost and thinking about it again. There were some great questions and discussions. The big news was that Michael will be back, and Richard Alpert won't be (at least not full time).

At the end of the panel a new Dharma video was released. It started with Doctor Edgar Halowax (previously known as both Marvin Candle and Mark Wickmund) . In the video he introduces the Orchid station and a white rabbit painted 15. Without giving too much away, something goes horribly wrong. It was great!

****

I still believe in my Lost - Dark Tower connection. In short, it goes like this. In the Dark Tower, Roland and his mates live in a world with numerous doors (or hatches) to other worlds. Some of these worlds are very similar to ours and others are a lot different. The similar ones can be looked at as alternate realities.

It's my theory that the Lost Island is a similar place, where Dharma (and the Others) have learned to control this power and enter other realities at will. It's, for example, how Ben was able to give Juliet a glimpse of her sister and niece. The look "via satellite" was actually "via a portal". Maybe it couldn't last too long because a version of Juliet also exists in that world.

This theory is kind of out there, but it's the one I'm going with.

Of course it has some holes like...

• Why did the Others take the Losties kids?? Couldn't they just use a portal and get kids that way? Why do they need the kids anyway?
• What was the "real" purpose of the Swan (and the numbers)?

Like I said before the real fun of Lost is coming up with these crackpot theories and ideas - then being shown how foolish they are.

Campfire Lost Theories

I was camping this weekend with some friends and we started discussing some Lost theories. I thought I'd post some of them...

• My wife's cousin offered that the "smoke monster" was also the horse Kate saw, Jack's Dad, and possibly Hugo's imaginary friend Dave. After seeing the monster take the form of Eko's brother, this theory makes some sense. I hadn't thought of this before, and it blew my mind. It doesn't make any sense though that Locke's father was the smoke monster... so there's still some questions.
  
• My buddy thinks that other Losties will be able to glimpse the future (like Desmond did) and decide to stay on the island after "seeing" what the future holds. Jack's flash forward was the first of these insights. I don't know about this... I still like my Lost -> Dark Tower theory more. BTW, what will Desmond "see" now that Charlie is gone?
• There was a lot of talk about Jacob, Ben, and Locke. Could Ben ever hear Jacob? If not, how did he convince the Others he could? Can he still hear him? If not, what did he do to lose that ability? Did he hear what Jacob said to Locke? If not, why not? Crazy.
• Was there an orientation video in either the station Locke blew up (Flame) or the underwater station (Looking Glass)? I'd like to see those.
• At the end of the Season 2 finale we saw all the notebooks (presumably from the underground station) piled up. What was the purpose of that? Was it some sort of Dharma experiment on their own people.
• How has Richard Alpert not aged, but Ben has? Is Richard a smoke monster, a clone, was he part of some anti aging experiment (not likely since he wasn't Dharma - or was he former Dharma), or granted a "wish" from Jacob?
  

Anyway, we all agree that it stinks there won't be any answers to these questions until February.

Smokin' Father's Day

I enjoyed my Father's Day by smoking and grilling for the family. Here's how the day went:

• 8 AM - Woke up to my daughter singing "Ba Ba Black Sheep" and "Twinkle Twinkle". .. nice way to wake up.
• 8:30 AM - Ham and eggs expertly prepared by my wife and daughter. (No extra charge for the bits of shells that make their way in when a 2-year-old cracks eggs)
• 9:30 AM - Gifts.... new grilling tools and a coloring book.
• 9:33 AM - Coloring
• 11:30 AM - Start the smoker.
• 2 PM My parents come over. Here's how that went....
• Mojitos
• Grilled lobster tails served with pasta mixed with zucchini and carrots and a garlic butter sauce. Chardonnay.
  
• Smoked Top Round with grilled veggies and chilled fruit. Zinfandel.
  
• The roast I had had a thin layer of fat on one side. I cut slits in the roast and filled the slits with garlic as well as fresh rosemary and thyme. I seasoned the roast with some Montreal steak seasoning and let it marinate over night in some red wine (Zinfandel). I had the smoker at 250 and placed the roast on fat side up. I added some soaked cherry chunks every one in a while (about 45 minutes). It was done after about 3 hours. The roast was very tender, juicy, and full of flavor. I'm looking forward to doing this again. The wine was obviously a great match to drink with this.
• 4 PM - Catch some of the US Open
• 5:30 PM - Over to the in-laws:
• More Mojitos
• Grilled Mojito Chicken (from Dinosaur Bar-B-Que: An American Roadhouse) cooked with apple wood
  
• Apple Maple Pork Loin (also from Dinosaur Bar-B-Que: An American Roadhouse). I modified the recipe a little and wrapped the loin in bacon. Also cooked with apple wood. The sauce that goes with this is awesome!
• Beer
• 7 PM - Caught the end of the open. Went home and read some bedtime stories.

We had lots of laughs and all the food was incredible! The perfect day...