I love words.
I complete at least four crossword puzzles every day (which makes me a cruciverbalist). I play with words in my head, usually creating Spoonerisms. For the unenlightened, a Spoonerism is when you switch letters or sounds around in adjacent words. Supposedly there was a minister in England whose last name was Spooner who frequently misspoke like this. The famous example is when he introduced the "queer dean" instead of the "dear queen."
My brain creates Spoonerisms almost constantly. I often have to thop and stink so I don't way my sords wrong. But I also find that I Spoonerize syllables, so instead of "spoonerism" I sometimes think "oonerspism."
I suspect I'll be retoping to this turnic at pome soint, or at pany moints in blis thog. It's the thay I wink, so it's easy for te mo standunder bry mown ain.
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Friday, March 9, 2012
Our Trip to Traverse City: Part Two
We spent Sunday doing a little shopping and sight-seeing, then headed for the Grand Traverse Resort about 4. The place was packed with families. A lot of people without power had moved in, complete with luggage carts filled with video games, computers, and other things you usually don't see in hotel lobbies (of course, I go to game conventions, I regularly see luggage carts stacked with boardgames rolling through hotel lobbies, so I really shouldn't talk).
The halls were crowded with kids running to and from the pool, or just running around being teenagers. It was not what we expected. We were told that the resort is owned by an Indian tribe, and apparently tribe members get a greatly reduced rate to stay. So when the blizzard knocked out power everywhere, families drove from all around to the hotel.
We were hoping to use the pool, but it was so crowded every time we checked it out that we decided against it. Plus the water looked pretty cloudy. On Monday the pool was closed, probably because at least one of the hundreds of kids using it created a biological hazard.
We spent some time relaxing and playing games. I taught Theresa how to play Saint Petersburg, and we played that five times. She really enjoyed it.
We ended up spending quite a bit of time away from the hotel, because it was so crowded. Unpleasantly crowded. So we explored Traverse City. We found six or seven thrift stores, we ate at some really neat restaurants, we found a kitchen store with some neat gadgets, Theresa found an awesome pair of shoes on sale, and we shopped at an eclectic mixture of artsy shops built into the basement of the former state psychiatric hospital, one of a cluster of massive brick buildings from the late 1880s.
We had a fantastic dinner at Aerie on Monday night, on the sixteenth floor of the hotel tower. We watched the sun set over Grand Traverse Bay from our table, while enjoying spectacular service and outstanding food.
We had a lot of fun, despite spinning off the road, the trouble with the power supply, and the crowded and noisy hotel.
Our trip ended up being a Great Adventure. Vacation Brain was right.
The halls were crowded with kids running to and from the pool, or just running around being teenagers. It was not what we expected. We were told that the resort is owned by an Indian tribe, and apparently tribe members get a greatly reduced rate to stay. So when the blizzard knocked out power everywhere, families drove from all around to the hotel.
We were hoping to use the pool, but it was so crowded every time we checked it out that we decided against it. Plus the water looked pretty cloudy. On Monday the pool was closed, probably because at least one of the hundreds of kids using it created a biological hazard.
We spent some time relaxing and playing games. I taught Theresa how to play Saint Petersburg, and we played that five times. She really enjoyed it.
We ended up spending quite a bit of time away from the hotel, because it was so crowded. Unpleasantly crowded. So we explored Traverse City. We found six or seven thrift stores, we ate at some really neat restaurants, we found a kitchen store with some neat gadgets, Theresa found an awesome pair of shoes on sale, and we shopped at an eclectic mixture of artsy shops built into the basement of the former state psychiatric hospital, one of a cluster of massive brick buildings from the late 1880s.
We had a fantastic dinner at Aerie on Monday night, on the sixteenth floor of the hotel tower. We watched the sun set over Grand Traverse Bay from our table, while enjoying spectacular service and outstanding food.
We had a lot of fun, despite spinning off the road, the trouble with the power supply, and the crowded and noisy hotel.
Our trip ended up being a Great Adventure. Vacation Brain was right.
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
Our Trip to Traverse City: Part One
1. The trip up
Remember how Vacation Brain won and we left Saturday? This turned out to be a Bad Idea, because parts of the northern lower peninsula of Michigan received up to 21 inches of snow Friday through Saturday. These parts included much of the area around Traverse City.
The freeway was pretty snowy, but didn't seem very icy. Theresa was driving, keeping a fairly steady speed around 50-55. As we passed the Big Rapids exit on 131 things got worse. We were no more than a half-mile past the on ramp the van began fishtailing. Theresa did everything right, but there was no recovery when traveling 50 miles per hour on glare ice. We ended up doing a 360 degree spin before leaving the pavement, and another 360 as we rocketed down the drifted embankment, coming to rest facing north (sort of) about 75 feet off the freeway.
After we said a prayer of thanks, I got out and saw that we had ended up between two incredibly unpleasant spots. About 75 feet behind us was a pond. About 75 feet ahead of us was a ridge with a stand of trees. The spot we went off the road was between the mile marker poles. We had spun twice while going 50 on ice, and had no suffered no damage while landing between two potentially deadly spots.
Theresa's new iPhone told us the nearest wrecker was 34 miles away. We called, and she told us we were out of their range. She tried to find a closer wrecker, but when I called the number she gave me, it was disconnected.
We tried to get the phone to help us, but Siri interpreted "I need a wrecker" as a request to find the nearest record store. I didn't realize Siri was old enough to even know what a record store was.
While we were being frustrated by technology (and trying not to call 911) someone stopped to see if we were Ok, then gave us the phone number to a local wrecker service. From memory. I was impressed. I no longer have the capacity to remember phone numbers, that's why I have contact lists on my phone.
30 minutes later the wrecker arrived. We were out after a 15 minute dance between our van and his winch, in which he used geometry to correctly pull us sideways up the hill in stages, moving his truck each time. It was fun to watch, and I don't think I was ever more happy to spend $85.
2. Saturday night in Traverse City
We finally got to Traverse City about 11:30. The trip up took us five hours, counting the hour in the ditch. In the summer this is a three hour trip. But there's no comparison. The fresh, deep winter show is incredibly gorgeous. We stopped once just to take a picture in the dark. All the pictures are on Theresa's new phone. I'll try to get them so I can post them.
As we drove down the main highway in town I commented that half the motels didn't have their lights on. I sarcastically asked what was wrong with these people, the town shouldn't shut down after 11. When we got to our hotel we figured out the trouble. Most of the town didn't have full power. The hotels were operating on generator power, they were sending power to the rooms to keep guests warm, not to the signs to get more guests inside.
Our room had a heater that worked, but the heater lacked both a fan and a thermostat. So we were cold when we got in the room, and added two extra blankets. Four hours later after the heater was on constantly I woke up feeling well done. Ridiculous that I would turn the heat off when it was under 20 degrees outside, but that's what I did. I was able to sleep another two hours before waking up for the day on Sunday.
More later...
Remember how Vacation Brain won and we left Saturday? This turned out to be a Bad Idea, because parts of the northern lower peninsula of Michigan received up to 21 inches of snow Friday through Saturday. These parts included much of the area around Traverse City.
The freeway was pretty snowy, but didn't seem very icy. Theresa was driving, keeping a fairly steady speed around 50-55. As we passed the Big Rapids exit on 131 things got worse. We were no more than a half-mile past the on ramp the van began fishtailing. Theresa did everything right, but there was no recovery when traveling 50 miles per hour on glare ice. We ended up doing a 360 degree spin before leaving the pavement, and another 360 as we rocketed down the drifted embankment, coming to rest facing north (sort of) about 75 feet off the freeway.
After we said a prayer of thanks, I got out and saw that we had ended up between two incredibly unpleasant spots. About 75 feet behind us was a pond. About 75 feet ahead of us was a ridge with a stand of trees. The spot we went off the road was between the mile marker poles. We had spun twice while going 50 on ice, and had no suffered no damage while landing between two potentially deadly spots.
Theresa's new iPhone told us the nearest wrecker was 34 miles away. We called, and she told us we were out of their range. She tried to find a closer wrecker, but when I called the number she gave me, it was disconnected.
We tried to get the phone to help us, but Siri interpreted "I need a wrecker" as a request to find the nearest record store. I didn't realize Siri was old enough to even know what a record store was.
While we were being frustrated by technology (and trying not to call 911) someone stopped to see if we were Ok, then gave us the phone number to a local wrecker service. From memory. I was impressed. I no longer have the capacity to remember phone numbers, that's why I have contact lists on my phone.
30 minutes later the wrecker arrived. We were out after a 15 minute dance between our van and his winch, in which he used geometry to correctly pull us sideways up the hill in stages, moving his truck each time. It was fun to watch, and I don't think I was ever more happy to spend $85.
2. Saturday night in Traverse City
We finally got to Traverse City about 11:30. The trip up took us five hours, counting the hour in the ditch. In the summer this is a three hour trip. But there's no comparison. The fresh, deep winter show is incredibly gorgeous. We stopped once just to take a picture in the dark. All the pictures are on Theresa's new phone. I'll try to get them so I can post them.
As we drove down the main highway in town I commented that half the motels didn't have their lights on. I sarcastically asked what was wrong with these people, the town shouldn't shut down after 11. When we got to our hotel we figured out the trouble. Most of the town didn't have full power. The hotels were operating on generator power, they were sending power to the rooms to keep guests warm, not to the signs to get more guests inside.
Our room had a heater that worked, but the heater lacked both a fan and a thermostat. So we were cold when we got in the room, and added two extra blankets. Four hours later after the heater was on constantly I woke up feeling well done. Ridiculous that I would turn the heat off when it was under 20 degrees outside, but that's what I did. I was able to sleep another two hours before waking up for the day on Sunday.
More later...
Saturday, March 3, 2012
Vacation Brain
Last year Theresa and I celebrated our 30th wedding anniversary. We also had two kids get married, plus a number of other rather costly things that happened. We didn't do much for our anniversary other than take our family out for dinner somewhere. I think. See, it was so forgettable that I couldn't tell you now, six months later, whether we went out or not, and if we did, where we might have gone.
So I saved up some of my spending money by brown bagging it for lunch and skipping some of the shopping I do for myself, and surprised Theresa at Christmas with the promise that I'd treat her to a two night stay at Grand Traverse Resort and Spa in March.
This is a really nice hotel, but before you think I must usually blow through my spending money, I have a deal through work that gives me half price on the room. Given the fact that the relatively inexpensive winter rate lasts through the end of March, it wasn't too hard to come up with the cash. I had time to plan and budget for this, and it's our anniversary, for crying out loud.
We made the reservation for Sunday and Monday nights this weekend.
I had a terrible time trying to concentrate on anything at work yesterday, because I couldn't wait to get home to get the weekend started. I had Vacation Brain. Today was just as bad. Even though we have no plans for what we're going to do in Traverse City, we really can't wait to get there. This afternoon after lunch Theresa asked if we could just go today instead of tomorrow. Why not stay at a cheap motel just so we're out of town. On vacation.
My practical brain said no. Too many logistical issues with pets and kids. Besides, the money could go toward a nice meal or something this week.
Vacation Brain screamed yes. So of course I checked. I found a motel with a book today internet deal: a queen room for just $35 for tonight. Jeanette and Dave are staying at our house for the weekend already, so Nick and Allison will have supervision if we leave a day early. The dogs and cats will have plenty of people to watch them.
Vacation Brain wins. We're leaving for Traverse City in an hour or so.
So I saved up some of my spending money by brown bagging it for lunch and skipping some of the shopping I do for myself, and surprised Theresa at Christmas with the promise that I'd treat her to a two night stay at Grand Traverse Resort and Spa in March.
This is a really nice hotel, but before you think I must usually blow through my spending money, I have a deal through work that gives me half price on the room. Given the fact that the relatively inexpensive winter rate lasts through the end of March, it wasn't too hard to come up with the cash. I had time to plan and budget for this, and it's our anniversary, for crying out loud.
We made the reservation for Sunday and Monday nights this weekend.
I had a terrible time trying to concentrate on anything at work yesterday, because I couldn't wait to get home to get the weekend started. I had Vacation Brain. Today was just as bad. Even though we have no plans for what we're going to do in Traverse City, we really can't wait to get there. This afternoon after lunch Theresa asked if we could just go today instead of tomorrow. Why not stay at a cheap motel just so we're out of town. On vacation.
My practical brain said no. Too many logistical issues with pets and kids. Besides, the money could go toward a nice meal or something this week.
Vacation Brain screamed yes. So of course I checked. I found a motel with a book today internet deal: a queen room for just $35 for tonight. Jeanette and Dave are staying at our house for the weekend already, so Nick and Allison will have supervision if we leave a day early. The dogs and cats will have plenty of people to watch them.
Vacation Brain wins. We're leaving for Traverse City in an hour or so.
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