Today’s Throwback Thursday photo is from May of 2006 when Cindy, her mom, dad and I were in the Reykjavík airport for a layover on our way to Scotland. It was a great trip!
Cindy’s dad, mom and Cindy as we wait for our connecting flight to Glasgow, Scotland in May of 2006.
Busy at work and busy in my personal life. Let’s get to all the things on my mind today.
My heart was touched when I read this story and saw this photo about a little 5 year old boy who passed away due to cancer and his parents decision to dress as his favorite superheroes at his funeral. As a lifelong comic book fan, I think it was just great that his parents honored his memory and his love of superheroes (from the two major comic book companies) by doing this. Go read the rest of the story and look at the other photos.
Google+ started a new feature today called “Stories” where they take the photos and videos you’ve uploaded (either manually or by using the auto-backup feature on your smartphone or tablet) and arrange them into a type of living album or presentation. Here’s a couple of mine that I edited and shared this evening. First one is some photos from Maggie Valley, Waynesville and Sylva in April of this year and the second one is photos from Maggie Valley and Cataloochee Ski Resort last October. Look for others as I add them.
In my personal writing, I started a new story today. I’m interested in seeing where this story will go. I mean, I know how it ends, but it will be fun to see where the trip goes on the way to the end. I’ve already had some fun in it and was already able to play with some situations that allowed me to make fun of some things that have been bothering me. It’s my first time trying to write what I hope will be a recurring character, and I’ve even had fun with the character’s name. But I’ve only just started, so we’ll have to see if it can become what I’d like for it to become.
Monday through Wednesday night each week, the hotel offers a free dinner to guests. Sometimes the free fare is fit for a king and sometimes the grub is gross. Tonight the hotel was offering hot dogs and potato salad.
I never willingly eat hot dogs, though I have choked them down when trying to be polite. But I find them to be about as unappetizing a food item as wrapping a bun around a turd.
I can occasionally choke down potato salad, though again I have only done so as a courtesy, not because I desire to place the mess in my mouth.
So, I try to have healthy alternatives for nights like this. Tonight I enjoyed a fresh romaine salad with tomatoes, shredded cheese, and grilled chicken strips with Ranch dressing. It was delicious!
What did you have for dinner?
I was living in Miami, the hometown and headquarters of the Burger King Corporation, more than 40 years ago when they coined the “Have It your Way” slogan for their flagship burger, The Whopper. Over the intervening years, they’ve expanded the use of that well-known meme for their entire menu.
But no more.
Today BK, as it’s now known, announced that they would be dropping the “Have It Your Way” burger buzz phrase for the more “personal” ad slogan of “Be Your Way.”
I will, thank you. I would have been anyway.
The new campaign is set to begin with ads airing across the country tonight. If you see one, let me know what you think of the new catch phrase.
Today we had to endure our first “Goodbye” in External Affairs for this disaster as Crystal, our Resource Manager, is leaving to return home to her husband and two babies. This was my first time working with Crystal, and it was a complete pleasure which I hope to repeat on some other deployment. When you find good people who do the job with professionalism and personality, you enjoy getting the opportunity to work with them.
Crystal cutting the chocolate pie into pieces for all of us.
A Resource Manager, for us, is like a den mother (or father) seeing to all of our professional needs. As an example, the other day I wanted to be sure I was correctly remembering how to send a calendar appointment in Outlook, since I only use the program on my work computer. Crystal came over, looked at what I was doing and pronounced it correct. Or when I need a conference room and call-in PIN number reserved, our Resource Manager handles all those arrangements.
It’s pretty early in the recovery stage for any of our staff to be leaving (though right-sizing is already happening in some areas), but Crystal had made it understood when she accepted the deployment that she could only stay 2 weeks due to family commitments.
A few of our other EA staff waiting for pie and/or cake.
Crystal’s replacement is Pam, a wonderful RM I have had the pleasure of working with many times, so that mitigates Crystal’s departure a bit. But only a bit.
I scanned this about 3 weeks ago when I was still at Wolf’s Haven, going through a box of photos I’ve been trying to get scanned for a couple of years. It’s a photo Ann snapped of Mikey and I when (I think by looking at Mikey) he was 6 months old and was one of the many times I had stopped by their home to visit my first grandchild. Ann may remember the occasion and his age much better than I do, but it is always a good memory for me.
He’s always been my little Superman.
After spending the past 11 nights at the only hotel brand available when I arrived in Little Rock, I was able today to move to a hotel brand that I am always more comfortable staying in. We almost always stay wherever room is available when we first arrive, but as time progresses we all try to move to our preferred kind of hotel, if possible. I was glad to be able to make my move today on my day off.
My view isn’t great, but it is nice to now be in a room with a full kitchen, unstained carpet, comfortable bed, high-speed internet and be close to our office. The welcome from the front desk was much warmer and friendlier than the one I received at the previous hotel and they have a nice workout room, pool and hot tub.
View from my window across this hotel’s roof looking to the hotel next door.
Oh, and a Cracker Barrel restaurant is right next door (even though they’re one of the few CB’s that don’t serve onion rings, darn it).
Despite spending the past hour ironing my shirts for the remainder of the week, I just feel much better and much more comfortable being here.
Before the car crash last Sunday, I was doing what I do in Vilonia, AR where an EF4 tornado the previous Sunday had destroyed much of the downtown area and was responsible for the deaths of 16 people in the region.
An aerial view of the devastation in Vilonia, AR. The white arrow indicates where the FEMA MRIC was parked and where the press conference took place.
DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson, Arkansas Governor Mike Bebee, Senator Mark Pryor, Rep. Tim Griffin and former President Bill Clinton joined local officials in a tour of the damaged area and a press conference near the FEMA Mobile Registration Intake Center (MRIC) on the main street of Vilonia.
Here are some other photos:
Some of the crowd gathered for the press conference.
Former President Clinton speaking to reporters. Afterward he would graciously pose for photos with townspeople who were affected by the tornado.
