It may be easier to quit being a Qwest customer than to be one! Ever since we started getting our phone, internet, and Direct TV from Qwest, I've wanted to triumphantly call them up and end my services. There had been hardly a time when I called them and had a good experience: starting with getting our service a week late to trying to switch my credit card number in their files so they could actually continue charging me after I closed my old credit card (do you want my money or not?), I hate dealing with Qwest.
So, I braced myself for a fight when I called to cancel my service this Friday. Nothing! I got a person online who gave me the right phone number to call over instant message, then a cheerful young man who set-up my closeout date quickly. AMAZING! Maybe I've been far too quick to judge. There is one transaction that Qwest does well. Go ahead, try it; close out your Qwest account, it's fantastic!
The only thing they don't do is close out Direct TV for you, but they did correctly connect me with DTV's personnel. Here's where the goodness ends. The DTV guy that answered the phone sounded like a 60-year-old drunken techie who transferred me to a woman who couldn't understand why I wanted my TV to continue until the day I leave and the boxes to return the remote control to arrive before that date, so I could actually pack up the equipment before I leave. This is not possible with Direct TV! They absolutely cannot sway from their automated system, whose return boxes do not arrive until 3-5 days after your official TV end date.
That's fine, they're losing a week's worth of revenue from me now that I'm quitting early to get my boxes. Although I requested the service be shut off this morning, it's still turned on. Perfect, since I'm excited to watch my last live episode of The Amazing Race tonight. From here on out, it'll be hulu and day-old internet-based episodes of The Office for me. A small price to pay for my emancipation from Qwest.
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Monster Mash
The 2nd Annual Banff Mansion Murder Mystery Dinner took place on October 17th this year. Nathan (a.k.a. Buster Ghost) and I (Di Wrecked, the producer of a haunted house TV series), appeared at the event dressed as our characters.
I had to sit between a narcissistic ghost hunter who had seen over two ghosts (Nathan) and a somewhat violent turkey-choking ex-con played by our friend Danny. For anyone that's never been to a murder mystery dinner before, it starts out with a murder, then, more and more clues pointing to the murderer are disclosed throughout the night and dinner courses are sprinkled in between.
The food was great, most people had WAY too much Witch's Brew, and, fittingly, Danny (a.k.a. Si Coe) was the murderer. Above he is posing with his prize for best actor of the night with a gun, which coincidentally was not the murder weapon. He had, of course, used his turkey-choking skills to strangle one of our TV hosts with a belt...in the dungeon.
Buster Ghost including Ectoplasmic Detector (flash light, shoe box, stick, and duct tape) & Ghost Bag
I had to sit between a narcissistic ghost hunter who had seen over two ghosts (Nathan) and a somewhat violent turkey-choking ex-con played by our friend Danny. For anyone that's never been to a murder mystery dinner before, it starts out with a murder, then, more and more clues pointing to the murderer are disclosed throughout the night and dinner courses are sprinkled in between.
The food was great, most people had WAY too much Witch's Brew, and, fittingly, Danny (a.k.a. Si Coe) was the murderer. Above he is posing with his prize for best actor of the night with a gun, which coincidentally was not the murder weapon. He had, of course, used his turkey-choking skills to strangle one of our TV hosts with a belt...in the dungeon.
Witch's Brew + a pinata held up by Danny - this should be good!
Also pictured: Katie (pregnant nun), Migs (host), Lisa (host & maid), & Jossie
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Fancy a Bite to Eat?
Since Nathan and I will quickly find ourselves 25 minutes from ANY restaurants this winter and next spring in a city where Subway, Wendy's, McDonald's, and Sonic are 2/3 of the entire restaurant selection, we're throwing dietary caution to the wind and trying to get our fill of our favorite restaurants in Rochester while we still can.
Last night, we checked off Famous Dave's, which is Nathan's favorite. Dave's is still a slim possibility in the future, since there are franchises located within the state borders of North Dakota and Kansas, but apparently BBQ is big in Kansas, so we're hoping for great things in Great Bend, which is 30 minutes from where we'll live.
Last weekend, we found a coupon to Jenpachi, one of those "Japanese" steakhouses where they cook the food right in front of you. It's not something we'll be able to get any time soon and the food is good, plus you get dinner and a show for the price of dinner.
On the list remaining are The Redwood Room (my favorite restaurant in the entire world), City Cafe, Beetle's and Noodles.
In case you were wondering, it's official, we are pulling up stakes here in Rochester. We met with our real estate agent Friday and plan to put the house up for sale next year. Oh, I'll be back to work occasionally and more importantly to visit people here, but keeping up three residences with a house in the one place we almost never are sounds pretty annoying to me.
Last night, we checked off Famous Dave's, which is Nathan's favorite. Dave's is still a slim possibility in the future, since there are franchises located within the state borders of North Dakota and Kansas, but apparently BBQ is big in Kansas, so we're hoping for great things in Great Bend, which is 30 minutes from where we'll live.
Larned, KS from space (this makes it look like a decently-sized city! yeehaw!)
Last weekend, we found a coupon to Jenpachi, one of those "Japanese" steakhouses where they cook the food right in front of you. It's not something we'll be able to get any time soon and the food is good, plus you get dinner and a show for the price of dinner.
On the list remaining are The Redwood Room (my favorite restaurant in the entire world), City Cafe, Beetle's and Noodles.
In case you were wondering, it's official, we are pulling up stakes here in Rochester. We met with our real estate agent Friday and plan to put the house up for sale next year. Oh, I'll be back to work occasionally and more importantly to visit people here, but keeping up three residences with a house in the one place we almost never are sounds pretty annoying to me.
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Mammoth Cave
We ended our fabulous Tour d'East Coast on a high note at our lowest point: Mammoth Cave National Park. Mammoth Cave is the earth's longest cave at 367 miles (that we know of). The park offers a wide variety of cave tours that you need to book early. I couldn't decide between seeing why it's called Mammoth Cave and seeing splendid stalactites and stalagmites, so we did two tours: the Historic Tour and the Frozen Niagara Tour.
The Historic Tour was probably the most interesting. Through a dry cave and over two miles, you don't see anything that caves are really famous for (i.e. stalactites), but you are enveloped in the grand scale of the cave. It starts you in a large room called the Rotunda, since the ceiling is a giant circle and walks you down through parts of the cave that have been used by humans for over 4,000 years. Along the way you learn about how slaves mined for saltpeter deposits that may have helped us win the War of 1812 by providing us with gunpowder materials after the British cut us off from the gunpowder trade and other interesting tidbits like about the eyeless fish in the river still carving out sections of the cave hundreds of feet below where we walked. Note: It was proven long ago that the cave does not cure tuberculosis. Sorry, now you've got to think of another way to beat your consumption.
The Historic Tour also takes you through a place called "Fat Man's Misery", a very skinny, winding section you have to duck and squeeze through for several minutes. This was my favorite part and, as our guide pointed out, some of us polish the rock as we go by more than others.
The second tour was short and sweet: Frozen Niagara. This section of the cave is still being formed by water, so you get the fantastic formations. You also get cave crickets and spiders, where the other part of the cave could not support life (no water or food)! A very cool place, if you're ever in the area!
The Historic Tour was probably the most interesting. Through a dry cave and over two miles, you don't see anything that caves are really famous for (i.e. stalactites), but you are enveloped in the grand scale of the cave. It starts you in a large room called the Rotunda, since the ceiling is a giant circle and walks you down through parts of the cave that have been used by humans for over 4,000 years. Along the way you learn about how slaves mined for saltpeter deposits that may have helped us win the War of 1812 by providing us with gunpowder materials after the British cut us off from the gunpowder trade and other interesting tidbits like about the eyeless fish in the river still carving out sections of the cave hundreds of feet below where we walked. Note: It was proven long ago that the cave does not cure tuberculosis. Sorry, now you've got to think of another way to beat your consumption.
The Rotunda
The Historic Tour also takes you through a place called "Fat Man's Misery", a very skinny, winding section you have to duck and squeeze through for several minutes. This was my favorite part and, as our guide pointed out, some of us polish the rock as we go by more than others.
The second tour was short and sweet: Frozen Niagara. This section of the cave is still being formed by water, so you get the fantastic formations. You also get cave crickets and spiders, where the other part of the cave could not support life (no water or food)! A very cool place, if you're ever in the area!
Stalactites
The Frozen Niagara
Cavern Wonders
Friday, October 16, 2009
On Top of Old Smoky
'Old Smoky' from that song (whose lyrics have been replaced in my head by a song about a meatball) is actually Clingmans Dome, the highest point in Great Smoky Mountain National Park (6643 feet). This is the most-visited park in the country and also the cheapest: free thanks to a stipulation on a $5 million grant from the Rockefellers back when the park was being established.
As you can see, the views are amazing. The trees had already started changing colors so it looked like a beautiful patchwork mosaic from the road through the park. That is, until the "smoky" part of the Great Smoky Mountains set in.
I'm convinced that if there were a supernatural power controlling the weather, that they've got an evil sense of humor. There is someone that just doesn't want Nathan and I to see any cool mountain ranges. We've been in the Grand Tetons and yet haven't seen them and Kilimanjaro was always covered in clouds, except for a few mornings during the climb where we got fleeting glimpses of the summit. So it was with the Smokys. We saw nothing above a couple thousand feet due to the rain and clouds. Oh, the drive was still gorgeous because of the trees along the road, but we blew through the park pretty fast.
Luckily, one of our friends from Theodore Roosevelt National Park recommended the Ramsey Cascades hike, an 8-mile up-and-back on the Tennessee side of the park. Despite the rain, we pulled on our hiking boots and set off for what proved to be one of my top five hikes of all time.
This time of year, the trail was lined withe colorful leaves. You hike up a total of over 2000 feet, but you're constantly walking through streams, over roots and rocks, and through unbelievably gorgeous forest. Honestly, amazing - here are some pictures:
The falls are well-worth the trek and the sore legs you'll have the next day.
On the way back, I found 5 salamanders. It turns out the Great Smoky region is the most diverse area in North America in terms of biodiversity, especially when it comes to amphibians. There are so many salamanders in the park that, combined, they eat more meat in the parks than the 1600 black bears! They are also incredibly cute.
We stayed the night in our first Bed & Breakfast, the Buckhorn Inn. I'd gone crazy and splurged a little since this was one of our last nights, so we ended up in a secluded cottage with a living room, jacuzzi, screened porch, and fireplace. This may in fact be the best place we've ever stayed. So serene, they had a nature trail, pond with swans (whose names were Penn & Teller), hot chocolate and cookies at all hours, movies, games and a lot more we could have done if we'd only known it would be so great. Check it out - I highly recommend it over the dirty, loud, cramped, god-awful tourist deserts that are Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge.
As you can see, the views are amazing. The trees had already started changing colors so it looked like a beautiful patchwork mosaic from the road through the park. That is, until the "smoky" part of the Great Smoky Mountains set in.
View of Tennessee from the TN/NC Border
I'm convinced that if there were a supernatural power controlling the weather, that they've got an evil sense of humor. There is someone that just doesn't want Nathan and I to see any cool mountain ranges. We've been in the Grand Tetons and yet haven't seen them and Kilimanjaro was always covered in clouds, except for a few mornings during the climb where we got fleeting glimpses of the summit. So it was with the Smokys. We saw nothing above a couple thousand feet due to the rain and clouds. Oh, the drive was still gorgeous because of the trees along the road, but we blew through the park pretty fast.
Creek in Greenbrier
Luckily, one of our friends from Theodore Roosevelt National Park recommended the Ramsey Cascades hike, an 8-mile up-and-back on the Tennessee side of the park. Despite the rain, we pulled on our hiking boots and set off for what proved to be one of my top five hikes of all time.
This time of year, the trail was lined withe colorful leaves. You hike up a total of over 2000 feet, but you're constantly walking through streams, over roots and rocks, and through unbelievably gorgeous forest. Honestly, amazing - here are some pictures:
First of Two Precarious Bridges
A creek followed us almost the entire way up the trail
The falls are well-worth the trek and the sore legs you'll have the next day.
Ramsey Cascades
On the way back, I found 5 salamanders. It turns out the Great Smoky region is the most diverse area in North America in terms of biodiversity, especially when it comes to amphibians. There are so many salamanders in the park that, combined, they eat more meat in the parks than the 1600 black bears! They are also incredibly cute.
Can you find two salamanders in this photo?
We stayed the night in our first Bed & Breakfast, the Buckhorn Inn. I'd gone crazy and splurged a little since this was one of our last nights, so we ended up in a secluded cottage with a living room, jacuzzi, screened porch, and fireplace. This may in fact be the best place we've ever stayed. So serene, they had a nature trail, pond with swans (whose names were Penn & Teller), hot chocolate and cookies at all hours, movies, games and a lot more we could have done if we'd only known it would be so great. Check it out - I highly recommend it over the dirty, loud, cramped, god-awful tourist deserts that are Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge.
Cottage 2 Living Room
Cabins at the Buckhorn Inn
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Sami's Married!
My little sister got married this weekend in Wilmington, NC. She had a gorgeous ceremony & reception!
First things first - I and her friend, Meredith, were in the wedding party, so we threw her a bachelorette bash Thursday night. I can't give you the details to protect the innocent, but we started with dinner and ended at 2am at a Cowboy Bar called City Limits. Sam had a great time as you can see form this photo (all others have been destroyed. :)
First things first - I and her friend, Meredith, were in the wedding party, so we threw her a bachelorette bash Thursday night. I can't give you the details to protect the innocent, but we started with dinner and ended at 2am at a Cowboy Bar called City Limits. Sam had a great time as you can see form this photo (all others have been destroyed. :)
Samantha holds her own on the mechanical bull!
I also got stopped near the UNCW campus by a mandatory drunk driving checkpoint. This was pretty fun, since I was probably the only sober person on campus that night. The cops, however, apparently didn't believe that I hadn't been drinking (I don't think anyone in that town believes that the MN driver's license is real), so I got to take a breathalizer test on the spot!! Double zeroes, baby.
Sam recently moved to Massachusetts, so this may be the last time we visit Wilmington and we needed to live it up while we had the chance. Nathan and I stayed at the Blockade Runner hotel on Wrightsville Beach. Although it was too cloudy each day to see the green flash, we did enjoy the very beachworthy weather (80's in October!) and took full advantage of the beach (we saw dolphins almost every day)! I also met up with a woman who was on the Corporate Service Corp Tanzania 3 team, Gloria. We'd worked together via the phone, but had never met in person. She showed me around the South side of Wilmington and took me to Carolina Beach State Park. I bet you thought Venus Flytraps lived in abundance in the deep forests of the Amazon, right? Me too. Apparently, they only live within 75 miles of Wilmington, NC and that's it! They are also incredibly tiny! I got to see two patches in the wild, which was, well, wild.
Wild Venus Flytraps
Ok, back to the wedding. Sam had been planning to have the wedding outside in Greenfield Park, but all week it was threatening to rain. It was touch-and-go there for a while, but we all arrived at the park at 3:30pm to sunshine. The place is gorgeous - a lake, beautiful trees, and Sam walked over to the ceremony on a bridge. Colors were ivory and wine. Look at Sam all grown up!
The ceremony was short and this turned out to be key. Five minutes after it ended, we heard thunder. We scrambled to simultaneously take pictures and get chairs and music equipment into the cars. Just as we'd finished taking the basic set of shots (the last few were quite dark), it started to rain. We'll have a good picture of the wedding party running to their cars. About a minute after we got into the cars, it started to pour.
The reception site was the Best Western Coastline Convention Center in downtown Wilmington, a cute little brick building on the river. Dinner was awesome, then we danced the night away (wait - did I say we? I meant Adam's family - they are much more outgoing and comfortable with their moves than we are!). Actually, I felt a little overpowered by Adam's family; our side being so far away, we barely rounded out one 8-person table. The rest of the 63 guests were Adam's.
Anyway, Sam had fun. She and Adam left in style at 9pm, riding in a limo all the way to Raleigh to catch an early flight to St. Lucia for their honeymoon.
It was a VERY successful day. The only thing that "went wrong" is that the black chairs Sam ordered turned out to be white. This is by far an improvement over Nathan and my wedding, in which the officiant forgot to have our witnesses sign the marriage certificate (the one thing that needed to happen to make it official)!
Congrats Sami & Adam!! Here are some pictures for you to enjoy!
Getting Ready
Meredith, Sami, & Me
Sam & Adam (Picture Courtesy of Nathan King Photography, Inc)
Table Decorations
Cake Cutting
First Dance
Amber & Nathan
Mom & Dad
Ring
Dancing - Sam & Adam's Dad
Get-Away Outfits
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Appomattox
I'm learning a lot about the Civil War and no longer find it excruciatingly boring. We've been to Gettysburg and Fredericksburg, and now the place were it all ended, Appomattox Court House. I felt a greater connection to this event and site, which brought the country back to peace. To me it was all the more impressive after being at the other battlefields and knowing that hundreds of thousands of people died to get us to the surrender at Appomattox.
Appomattox Court House is where General Lee surrendered on April 9, 1865. He didn't actually do it at the town courthouse, he surrendered instead at the adjacent McLean residence. (Appomattox Court House was the name of the town - I won a bet with Nathan about this so I must gloat.) The park has the reconstructed courthouse, McLean house, jail, and several other key pieces of the town, kept as closely as they could be to how they were the day of the surrender. You can see all of the places Generals Lee & Grant met over the course of several days and the road where Confederates stacked up their weapons. You can also learn all about how the Union basically forced an end to the war by cutting the South off from their supplies. The surrounding countryside is kept undeveloped and the cute little town is frozen in 1865. Well worth a stop - you may find yourself involuntarily imagining yourself watching the printer print Confederate parole notices and wondering if a hardtack (which looks a lot like the ever-delicious Dr. Kracker) really tastes as bad as they say.
McLean's Parlor
Reconstructed to look like it did when General Lee surrendered
Appomattox Court House is where General Lee surrendered on April 9, 1865. He didn't actually do it at the town courthouse, he surrendered instead at the adjacent McLean residence. (Appomattox Court House was the name of the town - I won a bet with Nathan about this so I must gloat.) The park has the reconstructed courthouse, McLean house, jail, and several other key pieces of the town, kept as closely as they could be to how they were the day of the surrender. You can see all of the places Generals Lee & Grant met over the course of several days and the road where Confederates stacked up their weapons. You can also learn all about how the Union basically forced an end to the war by cutting the South off from their supplies. The surrounding countryside is kept undeveloped and the cute little town is frozen in 1865. Well worth a stop - you may find yourself involuntarily imagining yourself watching the printer print Confederate parole notices and wondering if a hardtack (which looks a lot like the ever-delicious Dr. Kracker) really tastes as bad as they say.
Are those bite marks?
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