Car, Tarpon, Olaf, and Meetups

Car's First Shop Visit

On Saturday, I took my car in for its first shop visit since I purchased it last September. It was well overdue for a checkup as I've already put on about 9 or 10k miles on it. 2 of those thousand were for my trip back to Indiana back in December...hehehe I probably should have taken it in before that trip. I think I had already put on 5k by then. I drive a lot more than I thought I would now that I have a reliable car...hehehe

Having a car is a necessary evil where I live. Nothing of importance is anywhere near me. I originally moved to my current location because my sister and her husband lived nearby. After they divorced, he moved away and excommunicated me and my sister moved about 45 minutes south of me. Nothing else I enjoy is anywhere near. I even have a 20-25 minute drive just to get to church. And the grocery is about 10 minutes. I've thought about moving closer to the church. But that is still at least another year away.

The initial assessment was that the car is still in fantastic condition. They only recommended the usual stuff based on the mileage of the car. I went ahead and agreed to all of it so those things would be good for another 30k miles. It was a bit more expensive that I would have liked. But then again, it was all maintenance that will prevent other issues that would cost a lot more. I have experience in lettings cars go without necessary maintenance and that has cost me far more than I'd care to admit...hehehe

Back to this being a necessary evil, I often wonder what it would be like to live in an apartment that is within walking distance of everything important. I've even looked into places in the few cities I wouldn't mind living in that are close to the grocery and some social places I think I'd enjoy. Unfortunately, Florida isn't train friendly. The few places where a train can take me to places like Disney aren't the sort of cities I would want to live in. There is talk about a train line coming between Tampa and Orlando. But that isn't set in stone yet.

That said, I'm not really a city boy. My heart belongs to the countryside. I even owned a home out in the middle of nowhere once. I miss that lifestyle. If I stay in Florida, it would be nice to purchase some acreage and put a simple house where I can grow some of my own food and have a garden would be great. But it probably won't happen. So I need to find the least objectionable living space...LOL I just don't think it will ever be a space where I won't need a car...HAHAHA I may explore living in other parts of the country. I can do apartment living in other places to see where I fit in and where I feel at home. I don't currently feel at home in my current area.

One of the benefits of that trip to the shop was that I was able to work about 3 hours on my book. When the service manager asked me what I was up to, I mentioned I was working on a book. Although his initial interest in what I was doing was likely just surface level, he seemed a bit surprised at my response. So, he inquired more about the project. It was a pleasant conversation which led to talking about how he has been working on overcoming some issues from his own past. WOW! He hasn't even read my book and we got to talk about overcoming the bad. That's pretty awesome!

Tarpon Springs

After that time at the shop, and a quick bathroom break at home, I decided to make what I thought would be a quick trip to Tarpon Springs. I had thought about going Friday night. But I ended up just getting a frozen pizza and watched the Dodgers game...hehehe So take two on Saturday! There is a restaurant there I really love named Rusty Bellies. And there are a few shops I wanted to visit at the sponge docks.

I drove down to the sponge docks only to find a Disney level crowd...hehehe It turned out they were having one of their wine walks where one pays a small fee to get 25 one ounce pours of wine at the various shops there. It is a way to get people to visit all of the shops. I've participated in one of those wine walks before. It was great and I did end up becoming a patron of several of those shops. But not this night! It was way too crowded for me. I do love people. But those crowd levels trigger my anxiety.

I ended up driving down some roads I had never been on just to get away from the excitement going on at the sponge docks. In doing so, I ended up parking in a lot I hadn't been at before. I parked and got out to walk to another local restaurant I had been to before. I arrived there a little before they opened. However, they checked and they were booked for the evening. They didn't have room for little old me...hehehe

2 strikes! At this point, I actually almost cried. I do mean that literally. I was having a spike in my anxiety level and all I really wanted was to go somewhere familiar. I was hungry and didn't want to drive somewhere else to find a familiar spot. I started to walk away and head back to my car. I spoke a simple prayer to the effect of, "God, you brought me to this moment...where should I go?" As I was approaching the corner where I would have turned to go back to my car, there was this little restaurant named Currents. I had never been there and honestly hadn't noticed it was there before...LOL

I stepped in and immediately noticed it to be quite a fancy little place. Everyone there appeared to be well dressed and there I was in jeans. I had a nice shirt on. But I still felt under dressed. Normally I would have just turned around and walked away in shame. Yes, I sometimes feel that way. But this time, I was like, "God brought me here for a reason...I'm moving forward!" I walked up to the bar and sat. The tender greeted me and I began to feel a bit better. He asked if I was there to drink, eat, or both. I replied both.

I then proceeded to ask him if it was okay if I were to get out by iPad and do some writing. I felt that my productivity from that morning could continue while I was there. And I always feel like I should get permission. I don't know why I'm that way...ugh! He gave me the most serious look and said that I would not be allowed to work on my book. My spirit sank for a moment. Then he quickly laughed and told me it was absolutely no problem. He was just being sarcastic...hehehe Just like the service manager earlier in the day, he inquired into more about my project. Which was nice! I've never really openly discussed my book outside of my closest friends prior to that day.

Dinner was nice and my experience at Currents was pleasant. I'll definitely be going back. I love to support the local small businesses. Aside from the pleasant atmosphere and fine dining, my time writing was not as productive as earlier. I did write a lot. But I think most of it will go into the digital trashcan...hehehe The essence of what I was trying to say just wasn't there. I might be able to tweak it later. For now, it is safe in my version control system...meaning there is a draft saved perpetually.

Olaf Trifecta

When I woke up Sunday, I wasn't planning to go to Disney. I went about my morning like I do every single day. When I prayed asking God "what are we going to do today?", an overwhelming desire to go to Disney ensued. And I mean far stronger than any other time I've wanted to go...hehehe I opened the app to find that Hollywood Studios as available along with a lunch time reservation to the Sci-Fi Dine-In theatre restaurant. The only problem was that it would mean I would need to skip church.

Something didn't feel right about that, so I tested it. I evaluated what it would mean to grab that reservation and skip church. The dining reservation came with an opportunity to see the Fantastmic show that night. That's when I noticed the show was going to be at 9:30pm. They often have an earlier show around 8pm. But for some reason they didn't have that show time that night. Only the 9:30pm showing. I really wanted to see the show but didn't want to leave as late as when I would if I stayed for that show. That was the answer I needed. I feel like I'm leaving some details out about how I connected this to my test, but it really was the answer...LOL

So what I ended up doing was make a dinner reservation for Sci-Fi around 8pm but one that didn't include the Fantasmic show. I proceeded to go to church and then I drove to Disney after. I'm glad I went to church. It was a fantastic service and I was able to see Kerry. I hadn't seen him in a few weeks as he was on vacation. The worship was amazing, the sermon was inspired, and it was one of those Sundays when we partook in communion. It really set the tone for the rest of my day. Plus I bought a new book by our lead pastor! Yay!!!

When I got to Hollywood Studios, I first grabbed a bite to eat. It wasn't much. It was a zucchini based wrap in the Star Wars land. It was pretty good. It just wasn't enough to fullfil my hunger needs. So I snagged a walk-up reservation at Mama Mel Rose's Italian Restaurant. I love that place! I went there about 3 times last year. This was my first time this year. Every time I go, I get something different. It is always great.

They sat me at the pizza bar since I was alone. It was like eating in the kitchen! It was great! I hadn't experienced that before. While there, I got out my iPad again and continued writing. This time, I worked on a different chapter than the one from the day before. In this one, I felt like I was very productive. The words just kept coming and it was all pretty good, if I do say so myself. I have to refine it a little. And there is still more to write. But I was very pleased with the progress I made with it.

After lunch, I sat at one of the park benches and just did some people watching for a bit. It was probably about an hour or so. I was taking in the sights, the sounds, the experience. I love it when I take those moments to just be in the moment. I need to do that more often. But I'm certainly glad I did it in that moment. It was fun watching everyone interacting with one other. Families enjoying their vacations. Couples enjoying time together. Grandparents having fun with their grand kids. Lovers holding hands as they were headed to their next adventure.

Next to where I was sitting was a new food booth, Hydraulics. It is a Coca-Cola inspired spot that appears to be something out of Los Angeles from yesteryear. As amazing as the place looked, the beverage I go there was less than stellar. I ended up tossing it out...hehehe This was on my way to go see my pal, Olaf!!!

I hadn't done the meet & greet with Olaf since Thanksgiving 2019. So just over 4 years and about 90 lbs ago...hehehe This time, I had my plush Olaf with me. So my Olaf and I got some photos with Olaf! Yay!!! I don't really like how they have it setup right now. It was one of those automatic cameras instead of a photographer. So the whole experience was about 20 seconds. I much prefer the character dining experiences. In those, you can actually talk with the characters. They don't respond with words. But they are very expressive with their movements. The exception would be the princesses. They actually do talk.

After that short time with Olaf, my Olaf and I went to see the Frozen sing-a-long show. Just before the show, the auditorium wasn't completely full, so they offered anyone who wanted to move up the opportunity to do so. So I ended up front and center! It was fantastic! The Cast even interacted with my Olaf!!! I didn't get any of that on video. But I'll always remember the attention they gave to me and my Olaf.

When the show was over and we proceeded to leave the auditorium, I was left with about 3 hours before my dining reservation. I gave some quick thought as to what I might do and realized I might have just enough time to get over to EPCOT and ride Frozen Ever After! If I was able to do that, I would hit the Olaf trifecta by seeing Olaf in the meet & greet, doing the sing-a-long, and riding the Frozen ride all within a few hours.

The Disney app told me that it would take me about 30 minutes to get over to the ride if I took the Skyliner. So I proceeded to do that. It actually took about 45 minutes. If I had walked, I could have gotten there in about 20...LOL The Skyliner kept stopping for some unknown reason. Unknown at least to me.

One funny highlight of riding the Skyliner is that they put me with a family of ladies with a little girl. The little girl was a little scared about the height we were above the ground. But she did fine overall. As we approached EPCOT, she looked at the warning signs on the door. One of them was the "don't smoke" symbol with a cigarette that had a trail of smoke coming off of it. The little girl saw that and told her mom, "Mom, we can't have tampons on the Skyliner!" HAHAHA I couldn't help but chuckle...LOL

I ended up making it over to the Frozen ride when there was a 60 minute wait. Before I got to EPCOT, it was listed as 90 minutes. So I was happy that the time went down despite how long the Skyliner took. And the actually wait time I personally experienced was only about 45 minutes. My Olaf and I had a great time on the ride and achieved the Olaf trifecta in plenty of time to get back to Hollywood Studios for our dining reservation.

By the way, I call everything Frozen related as Olaf's. I even say that Elsa and Anna are the sidekicks to Olaf...LOL The upcoming Frozen 3 is really just Olaf 3 to me...hehehe

Dinner was okay. The ambience was amazing as usual. But the food was mid. I did love how the Cast was interacting with my Olaf. I love how everyone seems to enjoy that I carry a plush Olaf around sometimes. I don't always get him out. But when I do, it is quite enjoyable. One thing I won't do is carry him around while I'm holding an adult beverage. I'll sometimes get him out at a bar if I'm sitting at one. But there aren't any kids around in that context. I really don't want kids to associate drinking with Olaf. The same goes when I'm doing a Disney bound as Olaf or any other animated character that kids associate with innocence. When I'm dressed as Olaf, I will not drink out in the parks or anywhere children are present.

Meetup

I'm feeling better about the meetup coming in a few days. My friend Mack is pretty excited to see me again. And I am excited to see him. I'm also excited to see some of the other friends I haven't seen in a year since the last Dudes Dish Disney meetup. Despite the name, it isn't just a bunch of dudes hanging out. We are from all walks of life and both dudes and dudettes.

I'll be staying for a few days starting Tuesday night. I think I may have mentioned that. If not, I'll be staying at Coronado Springs. I made a dinner reservation at a Mexican restaurant at the resort so I can have tacos on Taco Tuesday...hehehe On Wednesday, I'll start my day at EPCOT so I can see the opening day of the Flower & Garden Festival. I'll have some of the food items for the festival before the meetup.

The meetup will start at 3pm at the Polynesian resort on the monorail resort loop. We will be doing a bar crawl around the monorail resorts for a few hours and then end the evening at Coronado Springs and will probably do a quick bar crawl with all of the bars there. This really isn't my scene. But I like the people. And it is Disney. So the bar crawls aren't crazy. They are pretty laid back and no one is expecting me to drink a lot.

It will be nice to be ending the night at the resort I'm staying at. I can call it a night anytime I'm ready to do so. It will also be nice catching up with friends I've had since the pandemic. It was how we all met in the first place. It started on Twitter and we've been meeting up every year since.

This might be the last time I do this one. I'll still meet up with individuals I've gotten close to through the group. But I think I'm done with these large groups. I've had more enjoyment out of my recent solo time at the parks than I did in all of those meetups these past few years...hehehe It's time to stick with just what I love to do most. I don't need to work so hard to get people to like me. Those who truly like me will be the ones who want to hang out with me without all the drinking. I'm just not into that scene. Never was. I was a square peg trying to fit in a round hole.

Fingers crossed, it will all be fine...it will all be fine...it will all be fine...