A fun weekend – but I’m old

My friend Kirsten came down Thursday evening.  She had to bring her dogs because she wasn’t able to get a reservation at her usual kennel where she lives.  Luckily my pets took it in stride for the most part.  Mollie was the most irritated – she had to bark and let it be known that strange animals were invading her space.  Felix hissed and his tail grew about three sizes.  Lucy just stayed out of the way and Max could care less. 

Friday evening we went to see Star Trek: Into Darkness.  Andrew has been anxiously awaiting my review as a non-Trekkie.  Well, I wouldn’t consider myself a Trekkie per se, however, I'm I’ve watched the 2nd, 3rd, 4th (my favorite), and 5th original movies and First Contact.  I’ve also watched The Next Generation and Voyager series from time to time.  Josh had to explain part of the plot since I had not seen the film released before this one, but I did get the mirrored plot to The Wrath of Khan.  I enjoyed the movie and I’m especially fond of Benedict Cumberbatch because I enjoy watching Sherlock.  My friend, Kirsten, however is the ultimate Trekkie and she also enjoyed the movie, but she didn’t agree with the villain’s ethnicity change from the original film.  (Hopefully that doesn’t give too much away to those who haven’t seen it.)  I thought some of the characterization compared to the original characters was nicely done such as with Bones and Scotty. 

Saturday was a very long but fun day of coaster riding.  Unfortunately we got off to a rough start because my friend Kirsten was going to leave her dogs at a local kennel for the day and they were very slow.  I barely made it in time to register.  Even then, I had to wait for Kirsten and we missed the first ride of the day on Iron Rattler.  I did get into the park a little early with my Gold season pass, but we had a to wait a while for the ride on Iron Rattler.  After that we walked on to a front row seat on Superman.  It was a great ride.  It got pretty hot during the day so we rested and cooled off by going to shows.  We also got to have a walkback on Iron Rattler which means we got take pictures from within and above the track.  I got a few good shots from that.  The hospitality at the park was just amazing.  For dinner they served us fajitas (chicken and beef), rice, beans, chips and queso, and fresh fruit for desert.  They also gave us tickets for two alcoholic beverages of choice (beer or margarita), plus they had a variety of soft drinks available.  When I registered, I also got an Iron Rattler shirt.  At the end of the evening we got exclusive ride time (ERT) on Iron Rattler, Sky Screamer, and Superman.  By the end of the day I got three rides each on all the major coasters and actually got five rides on Superman.  We got back very late and I was sore, exhausted, and thoroughly sweaty and yucky.  I took a shower and fell right into bed.  I spent most of Sunday recovering by doing a lot of nothing and napping. 

Today was productive at work – mostly scanning textbooks.  Matt helped by shelving library books for me today.  Tomorrow I’m getting help.  My secretary found someone that was willing and available to get some extra work.  She also made sure that we could push the approval through so the help could start tomorrow.  That way I might actually be able to get everything done that I need before my last day.  This is the last week with students, but I work another week beyond that. 

Matt grilled some brats tonight and now we’re watching the Pacers/Heat game to see who the Spurs will play in the finals.  I probably won’t watch the entire game.  I’m going to call it an early night and get some rest because I’m feeling old and tired.