a look back at 2010

This was probably the greatest year (so far) of my life. Going back through some memories the past few days this past year has been nothing short of an adventure. It has also reminded me that I have so many great things to be thankful for.

2010 started with a hobby that I have just picked up this year: ice skating. At the Depot in Minneapolis is where I brought in the new year. That night also included the science museum which is one of my favorite places as well. It's funny that I had barely been ice skating before this year, now that I'm away from the snow covered state of Wisconsin, I've probably been skating more times in 2010 than the rest of my life put together.

NFA. No photographic evidence of HFO.

2010 was my senior year in college, and also the last opportunity I had to do forensics competitively. I couldn't have asked for a better turnout. There were lots of incredible moments in forensics in 2010, but I think my fondest memory was HFO in January. It's a tournament I had never done well at in the past, and always seemed like the pro bowl for forensics. Individuals who have big names and talent always seem to do well there, and to see so many of my teammates do well at that tournament and scoring a fifth place trophy was incredible. Something just clicked that weekend, I broke 4 of my 5 events to finals (including impromptu, as much as Karen Morris will deny it) and was able to share the stage with Dylan Jambrek getting 1st and 2nd in Persuasion. 2010 had other forensic accomplishments, I finally realized my long term goal of a national final, and IOC was incredible as well, but there was something about HFO that I'll never forget. It was walking between finals, UT-Austin's campus was quiet, it was 70 degrees in January and the sun was going down over the capital building. Whenever I think of that memory I always smile. It's a good one.

I'm slowly realizing that writing a blog about how awesome the past year was makes me sound pretty conceited, but I'm not writing this to brag, I'm writing it to remember and celebrate how fortunate I've been in 2010.

Mean Streak, the coaster I worked on.

I graduated college in four years. That was pretty cool too. The ceremony was hot and long and all I can remember is live tweeting to pass the time and giving a dumb grin to the camera company that was trying to pinch me for more money (as if I hadn't given the University enough money in 4 years!) After the ceremony and incredible grad party I packed the car and drove to Sandusky, Ohio for one last adventure before joining the real world. I was there for 3 weeks, but looking back it was a pretty positive learning experience, and I wouldn't trade it for anything. I rode so many roller coasters in those three weeks, and that was pretty damn cool. I also finally got to see what an amusement park employee does and how everything works behind the scenes. I also learned how not to treat employees (and how to as well) and what makes a good respectable manager. Most importantly, I made a few friends that I wouldn't trade for anything. Not many of you know some of the people I met in my short time in Sandusky, but I really wouldn't trade that time for anything. I went back to Ohio for a couple days at the end of summer to meet up with those friends. The worst part of Cedar Point was the way they treated their employees. If I was 17, I don't think I would have had any problems with how things worked, but being 22 I think I have the right to have friends overnight where I live, or be able to have a bottle of wine. The rules given to employees and their personal lives was ridiculous, which is why when I went back to visit I had to climb under a fence (destroying a woot shirt and giving me bear attack like scars on my back in the process) just to stay the night in a friend's room.

I went home to work at West Allis Memorial Hospital in the OR. I met two of the greatest people in the process. Both Tony and Jamie were in their 40s and had families, and they taught me more about life than I ever could have ever expected. I learned about politics in the work place, how to deal with drama, and that if my dreams ever wear out becoming a medical equipment salesman is a very lucrative position to have. I also got to reconnect with Sam Simonson, a great friend from high school and college. I went out with him and his friends quite a few times over the summer, and explored his apartment complexes pool a few more times than I expected to.

Perhaps the most important thing to happen in 2010 was the call I got in early August. I remember being at work ordering medical equipment when I saw my phone buzz with an unfamiliar number. Right before I was able to answer, the phone went black and I missed the call. 5 Seconds later I realized the call was from England, and it was the call I had been waiting for over 6 months to receive. About 30 minutes later the same number called back, and after a 5 minute conversation I was employed with a real job. Tony was in the room when I took the call, and he knew right away. He had been encouraging me the entire summer with this job opportunity, and he instantly chest bumped me when I hung up the phone.

Ferris Wheel at Chessington World of Adventure

Now I'm working for the second largest amusement company in the world next to Disney. Every six months I change locations and have been working in Times Square since September. Looking back a year from now I could have never seen any of this coming. 2010 was a year of extreme change for me, a year that will no doubt be remembered as one giant adventure. Leaving one part of my life and starting a brand new one. Accomplishing numerous goals while setting even more difficult ones in the future. Meeting loads of new people from different parts of the world and learning what it means to live in the real world by jumping straight into the largest city in the United States. Things haven't always been easy, and they shouldn't be. The world isn't the nicest place to live in sometimes, but it allows us to make mistakes a learn from them. It allows us to appreciate the things we do have and the things we do accomplish.

I will never forget 2010.

El Toro Rocks.

Oh, and probably the most important thing about this past year. I added 30 new roller coasters to my count, including my first international coasters. I've added loads of new coasters to my Top 10, including a brand new #1 wooden coaster, El Toro. There was a topic in a coaster dork forum I post in about 2010 coasters. Here was my response:

First Park of 2010: Valleyfair
First Coaster: High Roller
Last Park of 2010: Six Flags New England
Last Coaster: Bizzaro
Best new to me Coasters of 2010: El Toro and Bizarro
Worst Coaster: Mind Eraser (SFNE)



With that said. Bring on 2011.

Day 04

Day 04 – Your Music

Here comes a random post, because there is no rhyme or reason to anything I listen to. Infact, I'll probably offend all of you at one point or another here when you'll stop and say to yourself: "He listens to that?"

For starters, I don't have a favorite song. Queen is probably my favorite band. I go on different kicks of different music all the time. Over the summer I went on a serious Top 40 kick. I'm still enjoying it, but its starting to lay off a little. I'm always good for a hit from the 90's and early 2000s, those songs are usually just fun.

Generally speaking for driving I enjoy things I can sing along to and that are fast/heavy music. Slow music in the car puts me to sleep, which I've heard is a bad thing while you are driving. Yes I sing in the car. No one can hear it, unless you are sitting next to me. If you don't like it, sing louder, or sit in the back seat.

I really like 40s big band music and jazz. I think its great music to have in the background while you are focused on something else. It's the music I like to listen to while I'm writing (like right now) or even when I'm with people chatting and having a good time.

Christmas music. Its past Halloween, which means I won't say no to Christmas music, but I also won't force it upon others. After Thanksgiving that changes. The day after Thanksgiving is the day I decorate my room (or apartment in this case) with the Christmas Tree, lights, and stockings (maybe I'll get a wreath this year too so my apartment smells like pine) along with a ton of christmas music. I like the classics along with the newer stuff. Trans Siberian Orchestra is fantastic too. Favorite Christmas song is actually "The Christmas Song"

Also, the Grinch is great too.

You might be wondering what is playing right now. I'm currently listening to "Believe it or Not" by Joey Scarbury. It's an 80s classic, and it reminds me of my short stint at Cedar Point. This song played in the queue of my favorite coaster there, Magnum XL-200.

And you thought I couldn't fit coasters into a post about music. How wrong you were.

That reminds me, I miss Cedar Point a little. They treated employees a little better than they did dog poop, but it was still good.

I don't like country music. I never really have, and even after listening to it way too much in Eau Claire from various roommates, I still don't care for it. Sorry folks.

I don't enjoy rap all that much. Unless it was from when I was in 8th grade during my "Jordan Phase." I call it that because I bought Jordan shoes during that phase, which should answer why I liked rap back then.

I've always loved Classic rock, probably always will. I'll do musical theater on occasion, its good to sing along to. I just really like music. My apartment is never quiet when I'm home. There is always something playing. Always.

Grooveshark is my best friend. If you don't know about Grooveshark yet you should visit www.grooveshark.com and check it out. It's like Pandora except you pick your own playlists of whatever music you want. It's 100% legal and web based, and has every song you could imagine ready for you to stream for free. It's a great service, and I use it all the time.

I think this is where I leave you. Until next time.

Six Flags Great Adventure

The day was that of Sir Christopher Columbus. It was absolutely beautiful outside for October, and since Columbus Day seems to be on on the scale of a national holiday in New York, Six Flags Great Adventure was open for business. Armed with a trusty season pass and my Canon Rebel xTI, I was off to a park I've wanted to visit for years.

Why hello there. I think I've ridden you before.

To begin, the park is absolutely massive. I don't think its quite as big as Cedar Point, but the layout really didn't seem to make much sense to me. More on that later. I started off by doing what I always do when I get to a new park, grab a map and put it in my back pocket, look at the skyline for the tallest coaster, and walk towards it. The tallest coaster was Kindga Ka, but what I found on the way to Kindga Ka was something far greater: El Toro.

 El Toro very large for a wooden coaster, and it has received rave reviews, so I was really excited to ride the coaster. I had no idea what I was in for though. Standing at over 180 feet the coaster will obviously pack a punch, but the airtime and forces delivered on this ride were un-freaking-believable. The most surprising thing? The coaster is smooth as glass. The bigger you get with wooden coasters, the more painful they become generally, El Toro is the exception to that rule. The ride really blew me away, and is easily my favorite coaster in the park, and favorite wooden coaster that I've ridden so far.

I wanted to get to Kindga Ka before the line got too long, but it was actually fairly difficult to find. Each big ride seemed to be down its own very narrow path, and many of these paths weren't connected together. Case in point: Kindga Ka is still the tallest coaster on the planet, but it was about a 5 minute wait all day while other rides were 15-20 because it is situated in the middle of nowhere and takes forever to find. Just my opinion, but this was one of the parks downfalls. As for the ride itself, after riding Top Thrill Dragster at Cedar Point loads of times this summer, Kindga Ka seems to be just a slightly faster version. It's thrilling, but I really only needed one ride on it to satisfy myself.

Big picture just to give you a glimpse of how ridiculously huge this coaster is.

After riding Kindga Ka I mainly just walked through the park riding each of their coasters. Again, this park was pretty massive, and took awhile just to get to each ride. I really only managed to ride most of the coasters once, although I did manage to get on El Toro 9 times before the day ended. I sorta liked it. Here are some other highlights of the park:

The park had a coaster named "Medusa" for quite awhile now, and two years ago the coaster was rethemed to "Bizarro" which is a Superman villain theme. There is onboard audio (which I didn't think made any sense to the Bizarro theme, but was nice nonetheless) cool props to ride through, and even flames shooting at the train. The coaster itself was solid, and the effects made it all the cooler. Good addition to the park.

Enjoying their ride on Bizarro I'm sure.

The other coaster that really stuck out for me was the park's Hypercoaster, "Nitro." Standing at 230 feet Nitro may not be the tallest ride in the park, but it delivers a better ride experience than Kingda Ka could ever dream of. Tons of drops, lots of airtime, and smooth as glass. Nitro is one of those coasters that people will love for a very long time. One of the headliners for the next 10 or 15 years for sure. I only got two rides because of the ride's line, but I loved both of them!

As the afternoon wore on I had finished all the coasters in the park and wanted to grab my camera to take some shots of the coasters. Six Flags has this ridiculous policy that doesn't allow any loose articles to even come into the station of any roller coaster, so I had left my camera bag in the car rather than getting a locker in the park. I spent around two hours taking pictures before dropping the bag back in the Jeep and heading back into the park to ride El Toro more. All the pictures are up on my Picasa website. The more I experiment with the camera, the better the shots become. I love photography.

As for notes of the park in general: It was a Six Flags park in New Jersey, so not only was it Six Flags hospitality in the first place, but you had to throw some Jersey attitudes in there as well to form a place that didn't really care whether or not you were having a good time. I've come to expect that from Six Flags at this point. We can't all be Dollywood. (For any of you who don't know, Dollywood is a theme park owned by Dolly Parton that employs some of the nicest people I've ever met in the theme park biz. Everyone is there to make your day better. One of the best parks out there.)

I was very happy that I was able to get the whole park done in one day, and had a pretty solid day. El Toro is now my favorite wooden coasters and number 3 on my overall top ten. Here's an updated top ten after the trips this summer/fall:

1. X2- Six Flags Magic Mountain
2. Magnum XL-200 - Cedar Point
3. El Toro- Six Flags Great Adventure
4. Bizarro - Six Flags New England
5. Maverick - Cedar Point
6. Thunderhead - Dollywood
7. Alpengeist - Busch Gardens Williamburg
8. Evel Knievel - Six Flags St. Louis
9. Millennium Force - Cedar Point
10. Beast - Kings Island

When you add four new coasters to your top 10 in one summer, you know its been a good time. Still one final trip report to come, and you've already seen a preview of the best coaster at the park. Six Flags New England. Till then.