A bad night of sadness and injustice.

My aunt's husband passed away.  He was a good man, a veteran, educated and smart who learned the facts about things to form his opinions instead of repeating someone's rhetoric.  A loving husband and father.  He's been sick with Huntingdon's Disease.  So many will say "It's for the best", but it doesn't change the fact that my aunt is a widow and his son will never hear his father's voice again.

Right before that bad news came the ongoing nightmare my nephew and my sister are going through with the mother of his child, using his son as a weapon, making up charges, ruining his life, making her older son say things.... and the law is on her side: the mother is favored in courts, no matter all the facts against her.  Now my sister is a stranger to her infant grandson.  He didn't recognize her. And my nephew has to go to court this week to face another round of trumped up charges.

Nothing but heartbreak.

Getting ready for Disneyland!

It's getting close!  2 weeks from this coming Tuesday, I will be on the plane! So I started figuring out what I need to pack and get done before I left.

I made my Cast Member Appreciation card for this trip, to thank the people who work there when they really do a great job:

That great Walt portrait actually won a contest; it's done by Alex Palomares on deviantart.com.  I got the magic from an email sent to me; I always save art pieces in case I could use them.  I really like this; I might use a variation for the Housekeeping (what fans call Mousekeeping) envelopes.

I made a couple dinner reservations for my sister Terry and I including Storyteller's Cafe and I'm going to make one for Blue Bayou with the Fantasmic viewing option!

We're staying at Paradise Pier with a view into the parks, and I'll set up a constant webcam so people can see see too!  I also have the webcam app for my droid phone, so I will broadcast from the parks as I go along!

Deb Wills and the members of the All Ears team are coming in for the weekend and the D23 expo!  Actors, Imagineers, Disney legends.... I haven't even gotten through the whole list yet.

I also hope to meet Oscar at the Carnation Cafe, the chef who has been there since 1956!  I have a menu from that time that I'm hoping to get autographed.

Plus, all the fun of the parks!  I haven't been there since I was a kid, so I get to do all my old favorites and see all the new things!  They've opened a number of new attractions just in the past couple months.

I'm starting to think one week isn't enough. :)

Reports QR codes for Disney's Photopass not true.

You will see a lot of reports on the web that Disney's Photopass added a paper sleeve to their cards that have a QR code on them.  This code could be scanned on smartphones to see your photos.  This started on the Orlando Sentinel's web site, but the author immediately pulled the report.

The reason is this: Disney's Photopass confirmed with me that it isn't true.  It could be something in the future (this is my thought only), but isn't happening now.  You CAN see your pictures by going to the mobile website (same address, it'll convert) on your smartphone. And of course, see them in a large view at any PhotoPass station.

Just a reminder: PhotoPass is broadcasting pictures each day on Cinderella's castle!

Memorable Interviews

Someone was asking what I do in interviews and it made me remember these.  I first saw this a while back, but I always remembered the hamburger!

Memorable Interviews

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Vice Presidents and personnel directors of the one hundred largest corporations were asked to describe their most unusual experience interviewing prospective employees:

• A job applicant challenged the interviewer to an arm wrestle.
  
• Interviewee wore a Walkman, explaining that she could listen to the interviewer and the music at the same time.
  
• Candidate fell and broke arm during interview.
  
• Candidate announced she hadn't had lunch and proceeded to eat a hamburger and french fries in the interviewer's office.
  
• Candidate explained that her long-term goal was to replace the interviewer.
  
• Candidate said he never finished high school because he was kidnapped and kept in a closet in Mexico.
  
• Balding Candidate excused himself and returned to the office a few minutes later wearing a hairpiece.
  
• Applicant said if he was hired he would demonstrate his loyalty by having the corporate logo tattooed on his forearm.
  
• Applicant interrupted interview to phone her therapist for advice on how to answer specific interview questions.
  
• Candidate brought large dog to interview.
  
• Applicant refused to sit down and insisted on being interviewed standing up.
  
• Candidate dozed off during interview.
  

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The employers were also asked to list the "most unusual" questions that have been asked by job candidates:

• "What is it that you people do at this company?"
  
• "What is the company motto?"
  
• "Why aren't you in a more interesting business?"
  
• "What are the zodiac signs of all the board members?"
  
• "Why do you want references?"
  
• "Do I have to dress for the next interview?"
  
• "I know this is off the subject, but will you marry me?"
  
• "Will the company move my rock collection from California to maryland?"
  
• "Will the company pay to relocate my horse?"
  
• "Does your health insurance cover pets?"
  
• "Would it be a problem if I'm angry most of the time?"
  
• "Does your company have a policy regarding concealed weapons?"
  
• "Do you think the company would be willing to lower my pay?"
  
• "Why am I here?"
  

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Also included are a number of unusual statement made by candidates during the interview process:

• "I have no difficulty in starting or holding my bowel movement."
  
• "At times I have the strong urge to do something harmful or shocking."
  
• "I feel uneasy indoors."
  
• "Sometimes I feel like smashing things."
  
• "Women should not be allowed to drink in cocktail bars."
  
• "I think that Lincoln was greater than Washington."
  
• "I get excited very easily."
  
• "Once a week, I usually feel hot all over."
  
• "I am fascinated by fire."
  
• "I like tall women."
  
• "Whenever a man is with a woman he is usually thinking about sex."
  
• "People are always watching me."
  
• "If I get too much change in a store, I always give it back."
  
• "Almost everyone is guilty of bad sexual conduct."
  
• "I must admit that I am a pretty fair talker."
  
• "I never get hungry."
  
• "I know who is responsible for most of my troubles."
  
• "If the pay was right, I'd travel with the carnival."
  
• "I would have been more successful if nobody would have snitched on me."
  
• "My legs are really hairy."
  

Speaking of missing our moms...

... I haven't deleted my Mom from my address book or my phone contacts. Every time I see her there, I think I should. I will never email email her or call that phone number again.

But I never do. At my core, I see that name and decide to leave her there. It'd be wrong not to have her there. Or wrong to hit Delete.