Stryker927's Blog - 2old2play

Football

Why do I love this game so much? Baseball wore thin on me after the strike in '94. I never totally got back to being a fan and have since giving up except for the occasional Reds game on the radio (grew up in Cincy). The NBA or NO TALENT league with it's player issues and selfish play has burnt me out. I followed the Red Wings when I lived in Detroit for about 8 years but now living in Indy, there is no team, no news, and nothing on tv NHL related. But the one thing that I have that is ALWAYS there and dependable has been football. NFL or college. I don't care! I LOVE EM BOTH!

Don't get me wrong, neither are perfect leagues. NCAA needs a playoff and the NFL has had some player issues too. But you gotta like what Roger Godell is doing for the league and it's image. They just get it! The salary cap, parity, great stadiums, weekly build up to big games, great rivalries, and more! It's a complete package of emotion, raw energy, talent, athleticism, strategy, and execution!

I lived in Cincy from 7 to 19 watching the Bengals go from Super Bowl contenders to 3-13 draft lottery whores. I then moved to Detroit and got to see Barry Sanders finish his career and then dump the Lions like yesterday's news. They have spent the many seasons since in futility. I have been lucky to be here in Indy for the last 5 years and watch as Manning and Dungy have transformed not just a team but a city. When I came here it was BASKETBALL, BASKETBALL, BASKETBALL! But the Colts broke through that barrier and now we have a beautiful stadium starting next year, a great team, a super bowl win, and an amazing coach. But all along the way in Cincy, Detroit, and even when Indy was building this historic team - regardless of the talent and quality of wins, I was still having fun just watching football. I would watch Cleveland vs Arizona every week if I had to. I just love it! Have I mentioned that yet?

Growing up in Cincy there wasn't a real local powerhouse of football. Great basketball from Kentucky, Louisville, Xavier, and Cincy but not much football. Louisville was in a bit of a football drought and Kentucky just couldn't compete recruiting with Florida, LSU, Alabama, Georgia, and the rest of the SEC. So I ended up following Ohio State and occasionally Notre Dame since they were on tv every week. Obviously Ohio State has been good to me and it was a ton of fun living in Detroit and having some fun smack to talk with my Michigan friends. But lately has been a real nirvana with Kentucky being ranked in the top 10 (tough loss last night) and Louisville starting to consistently compete with the NCAA elite again. And of course Ohio State is right there at the top as always.

These past few years have been football nirvana with many of my favorite teams experiencing a rebirth and others being crowned champions. I guess this could contribute to my blind passion for everything football but then again I was still spending noon to midnight on Sundays watching when the teams were 3-13. So maybe I have deeper issues.

[5 Comments]

Some new sigs...

Hadn't posted any sigs in a while. I send most people to my blog if they want a sig so they can get an idea of what they like. So here's a few of the latest ones...

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Vacation! Vacation! Vacation!

It had been over two years since we had been on a vacation of significant distance or duration. Mostly just long weekends here and there. We were long overdue. And with our 10 year anniversary looming, some time away to celebrate was definitely on the agenda. So we started planning this past spring for our trip in mid-September. No kids, tons of sunshine, and a week of fun in Florida! We coordinated with the grandparents and found a week that worked for everyone. Now for the details!

We decided to share the trip with another couple that were good friends of ours and found an awesome condo to rent in Orlando and with mid-september prices resulted in an awesome deal for each of us. 1400 sq. ft of living space, only three years old, three bedroom, two and a half baths, gated commuity and the resort was only 20% capacity. We had the pool, hot tub, club house, and tiki bar to ourselves 90% of the time. This was a great start to the trip.

We flew out on Saturday morning and arrived at the Tampa airport around noon. We flew into Tampa because flights were about $30 cheaper and the rent-a-car was also about $5 a day cheaper so the one hour drive was nothing for the almost $200 we saved. We got to the rental car place and started loading our luggage that was supposed to fit enough for four people in the little compact we rented. Of course it didn't but after about 15 mins of restacking it we made it fit. And my shirt was soaked. It was sunny, 95 degrees and about 90% humidity. Ahhh, fun in the sun! We stopped for lunch along the way and made a trip to the local grocery to pick up breakfast supplies and as much diet coke as we could fit in the car. I'm addicted.

We got to the condo around 4 pm and everything was in great shape! It was nice to unpack our stuff into a real bedroom and bathroom and then put the suit cases away with minimal effort and made the stay less messy and chaotic. Well that and my wife did laundry almost every day which meant we didn't wear half of what we packed. LOL She's awesome, what can I say. We rested for a bit then headed to Downtown Disney to meet some of the other couple's family for dinner at Planet Hollywood. Place was packed and we waited about 40 mins to be seated. Atmosphere was a bit more chaotic than I prefer but we had fun anyway. It was official, VACATION was under way! Seeing the 30 foot picture of Gwen Stefani on the side of the Virgin Records store also helped to make the evening special. I've had a serious crush on Gwen dating back to the early 90's when she first hit the scene. My wife TOTALLY understands and even took a pic of it for me. Then she laughed at me and said I was pitiful. <blush>

We had purchased week long passes to the Universal Parks (Islands of Adventure & Universal Studios) as well as Wet-n-Wild water park before we left home so Sunday morning we got up and headed for Universal Studios. We were excited to be able to go to these parks without kids and ride the rides we liked without having to waste a lot of time on the "kiddy areas". Don't get me wrong, I love taking my kids (8, 6, 4) to amusement parks, but this was a well deserved break. What I wasn't prepared for was just how dead the parks were, I had never gone during a time when kids were in school before always in June or July. We rode EVERYTHING as much as we wanted and was through the park by lunch time! We were totally shocked. But we had a blast. So we headed next door to Islands of Adventure to ride some coasters and Spider-Man. We hopped through the park catching our favorites and catching some lunch before the park closed at 6. We left around 5:30 though and headed back to the condo where we cleaned up and had some Outback for dinner. Yeah, on vacation I like to eat places that I can't normally go to at home, but eating at Outback without kids is like a totally different experience. LOL Mmm...Steak!

Since we had gotten through most of the Universal parks on Sunday, Monday we headed to Wet-n-Wild water park. I had heard that this place was really breaking down and some called it "ghetto" compared to Disney's newer bettter themed water parks. But the price was unbelievable so we took the risk. Yes it wasn't as nice as I once remembered it but it was so dead that we didn't mind. We got to ride everything over and over. It was clean due to low crowds and we didn' twait in line ever. After about 4 hours and some lunch we left for the Festival Bay Mall up the street to score some goodies from their Steve & Barry's store (great prices and selection for college teams and such). We did really well, found me some Ohio State gear which is always a plus. We left and had dinner at Friday's. I hadn't been there in forever and there was a brand new one nearby and I wanted to try their $12.99 choose three meal deal. Food was better than I remembered and we considered going back but the selection was just too large to do repeats.

Tuesday morning we decided to drive to Cocoa Beach, it was storming but the news said it would get worse as the week progressed so we decided to chance it. It was only 45-50 mins from the condo so not a total loss and I wanted to go to the HUGE Ron Jon shop there. I always get at least one novelty t-shirt on a trip and this year I wanted one from Ron Jon. It rained the whole drive over but cleared up as soon as we parked, we were very relieved. We ran in and got our shirts and then headed across the street to the beach. Waves were REALLY pounding the beach and pretty descent heights too. We had brough the boogie board from the condo and through us couple of midwestern newbs would give it a try. Well for one the waves were the most violent I had ever experienced which was kinda fun but totally kicked your butt in the process. I was slammed into the sand a few times and have a few scars still healing to prove it. We walked down to the pier nearby and were treated to our own PBS special on sea life. We came across a dolphin head (NO BODY!) laying on the beach. See picture for yourself. Quite creepy. Along with some really cool and super fast little crabs that were running across the beach. They run sideways which was just hilarious. Shortly after it started downpouring so we headed for the local mall rather than back to Orlando as we wanted to wait it out so we could eat at this awesome restaraunt a coworker had told me about called Grills Tiki Bar. I am so glad we did. It was awesome! Try it out, it's on the north side of Cocoa Beach on the waterway separating it from Cape Canaveral. I was also stoked as I found an awesome Ohio State hoody at the Cocoa Beach mall so that was worth hanging aound in of itself. And my wife and I also found some awesome 75% deals at Aeropostale, which is my wife's favorite store. And I had lost 25 lbs since April, so I was in need of new clothes anyway. Back to the condo after dinner. This was showing it's value now three days in, having such an awesome place to unwind and relax. We'll be doing this again soon.

Wednesday we decided to start the cycle over and went to Island of Avdventure for the full treatment of rides, shows, and eating lunch at the legendary on-site restaraunt Mythos. Winners of best theme park restaraunt in the world three or more years running for those that were unfamiliar. We had a blast, no lines, great food. We rode the Hulk coaster twice, both of the Dueling Dragons, Spider-Man twice, Rip-Saw falls, Jurrassic Park River Adventure, Popeye's barge (white water rapid ride), saw the pirate show, and bought some t-shirts for the kids. It was looking like rain so we headed over to another mall AGAIN! What is it with malls on this trip! LOL We found a few deals and I got a personalized "Stryker" hat. I usually make fun of people for this but it turned out pretty cool. Later we had dinner at Sizzler which used to be a favorite of mine on vacation but they have totally just jumped the shark. Food was bad, services was poor, building was ran down. This ones off the list for next year. Finished out the day at the pool and hot tub. SOOOOOOO relaxing!

Thursday we went back to Wet-n-Wild and spent about half a day there and relaxed by the wave pool in the sun. Crowds were even lighter than Monday. Lunch didn't set right with me so we went back to the condo that afternoon and relaxed before hitting a few souvenier ($1.99) stores and then some Chicago Style pizza at Giordono's! That place rocks. Just as good in FL as it is in Chicago! More hot tub and pool that night. NIRVANA!

Friday was our last day so we headed back to Universal. We had lunch at Florida franchise called Firehouse Subs, guess there is 15 or so of them in FL. My brother-n-law who lives in Pensacola is friends with the owner and recommended them. They were REALLY, REALLY good. I hope they eventually make it to the midwest. We went back to the Universal Studios this time and road a couple of favorites, taking our time. Mummy coaster is great indoor ride. Although a little short. T2 show needs an update, show it's age. Men in Black shoot em up was great! I love scoring kills on aliens in real life too! LOL I scored about 135,000, wife had 105,000, my buddy had 85,000, and his wife 55,000. They scored our team as average. Where's CMA, netw3rk, and KG when you need them? lol We were headed back to the gate when we were approached by a guy with a clip board. "Oh no not another survey!" Nope, it wasn't thankfully. "How would you guys each like to each make $20 cash right now?" <blank look on our faces> "What's the catch?" Universal/NBC was looking for people to screen a new tv series and if we would watch the 1 hour pilot and tell them what we thought, we could get $20 cash. DEAL! So we watched some MySpace generation drama ala Friends about fresh out of college struggling kids that are in love with people they can't have and trying to make it in the world. I thought it sucked, my wife liked it. No aliens, no super powers, no comedy, no football, NO WATCHY! We wrapped up with dinner at Hard Rock and did the meal deal where you get dinner and a movie ticket for $20. Went and saw Good Luck Chuck, cute movie, but way to over the top for us. But a great relaxing day overall.

Saturday morning we packed up and headed to the Tampa airport. The end of an awesome week in Florida. We were ready to get home and felt refreshed. Got to do some our favorite things - amusement parks (me) and shop (my wife). It won't be another 10 years before we do this again. In the meantime we are already planning a trip there next year with the kids at the same time and at the same condo. Should be a blast! I'm already looking forward to it!

[6 Comments]

Because...

This is for lbsutke.

HATOH 3 sux Donkey Marbles!!

Thank you that is all.

P.S. I am not a halo hater, but LB can not be convinced otherwise.

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Today's the Day!

Well it's finally here! Working until 11 and then heading home to meet Big0ne and Trinity to head north from Indy to Chicago. Probably be in town around 4 at the latest. Whoopee! Can't wait to see all you guys! Hope no one is scared of a little "brutha hug". LOL

P.S. The 311 concert ROCKED! Matasyahu (sp?) was great too. We got soaked after the first band and then it cleared up and it was awesome the rest of the night. Good stuff!

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dkhodz, Darby, and Stryker Survive Dueling Banjos!

I am about a week behind on this one, but I just got the pictures today. On the weekend of July 20th, Darby, dkhodz, and I along with about 20 other guys from our men's group went on a canoe trip at Turkey Run State Park on Sugar Creek. It's about 1.5 hours west of Indy in Marshall, IN. Beauitul place to hike, canoe, and camp if you are into that thing. We arrived Friday night and had a great time around the camp fire before some late night euchre. Darby and DK pulled out the win over me and my pal Curt. God game fellas. Stryker and C-Mac lose 10-9.

So we hit the bunks (we had cabins) around midnight and woke up around 7:30 for some early morning breakfast and to get our lunch and gear packed. We headed up to the rental office which is also a gas station, super market, and cafe and got some descent eggs, sausage patties, and biscuits-n-gravy then headed over to the canoe rental which was next door. We loaded up on buses that had canoes on racks behind it that dropped us off at our drop in point a couple of miles east. Hot ride, we were cramped in there like sardines, but nothing terrible.

We arrived to the water at around 10 am and got our canoe paddles and canoes in the water. We had around 8 canoes and 6 kayaks in total. Darby and DK hopped in their canoe while Curt (my losing Euchre partner and is also my fellow 311 fan attending the concert next week ) hopped into ours. We paddled out and waited for everyone to get in the water. There was another 30-50 people launching as well.

Once everyone was on the water we headed downstream. Absolutely gorgeous. Rock cliffs, beautiful pines, and great weather. Felt like a different state. Most of Indy is flat as can be. So it's nice to see some terrain and something that resembles more of a big hill or mountain than a raised flower bed. We weren't in the water too long before someone found a baseball floating down stream. of course it was brought into a canoe and it wasn't long before it was being tossed back and forth. Of course that wasn't good enough, pretty soon keep-away ensued and then it was time to create teams! LOL Imagine 25 grown men in canoes playing keep-away drifting down a river/creek not looking where they are going. Let's just say hilarity ensued! Many a flipped canoe and kayak while people made desperate attempts to catch over-thrown balls. It was hilarious. We spent a good hour on that stupid game all the while running into rocks, logs, and each other!

Finally we broke for lunch, took a swim, and did a little fossil hunting. Weren't as many fossils this year as last. You can thank low water for that. Indy has been pretty dry this year. We did an 11.5 mile float and it was about perfect. Enough to not wear you out but still enjoy yourself. We later had all the guys sign the baseball and dated it so we have something to remember the trip by. This is our second annual trip and I have thoroughly enjoyed myself each time. I am sure next year will be just as great.

Other things to note: DK needed a haircut BAD! ;) He has since taken care of it. Curt and I want a rematch! DK and Darby scared the crap out of me on the way down when I put the iPod on random and they both knew immediately when Paula Abdul and Janet Jackson songs came on (they are on their for my wife. well ok, maybe Janet is on there for me. ) Thanks for coming guys. It was great to share the weekend with some of my OMM brethern.

P.S. Forgot to mention Darby's dominance of the ping pong table and DK's treating us to Monical's for some excellent pizza! As well as the places home made delicious ice cream!

Getting some breakfast - C-Mac and Darby (Left), Stryker & Rich (Right)

Some of the other fellas getting some grub in the morning.

We're finally in the water.

Under the cliffs. (dk and Darby on the left, me in the white)

Darby and DK take a spill! They gave it all for the sake of winning! LOL

Fallen Tree - Group Pic. (dk and Darby on the left, me in the white)

Stopping for lunch.

[6 Comments]

Surprise, Surprise!

Well in my last blog I was talk about how excited I was for the CHI LAN and how I still had one big event, the 311 concert, beforehand. But lo and behold the weekend didn't pass without some new action! Free tickets to the Brickyard 400! I have never followed NASCAR other than watching an occasional race in HD now and then if I was bored and hearing the updates on the radio. But living in the racing capitol of the world, Indianapolis, you are just overwhelmed with racing news of all kinds. After a while I wanted to experience a race if only to know what its really about since it's such a big part of our city. So I was very excited about it.

Ends up that we not only got to go to the race on Sunday, but we got to go have dinner with driver Kasey Khane at his racing headquarters here in Indy. Even Better! It was a very neat experience, a really cool facility, and Kasey was a very gracious host. Very down to earth, looked you in the eye, and answered a lot of questions from the dinner guests. (See pics below)

Sunday we got down to the track early. Neither my buddy or I had been to the Indy Motor Speedway before so we weren't sure where our tickets were or how best to get there. After finding some $10 parking next to the High School, we walked about 3/4 mile to the track (it was $30 within a block so we were happy to have saved the money). The cooler I packed with drinks felt like a ton by the time we got there. Iniatially I was a little underwhelmed by the track. No real outer facade, just high fences and then you can see the backs of all the grand stands. With this being such a major venue, I figured it to be a little more elaborate. I found out later they are getting ready to invest almost 50 million into it and surrounding developments, so I guess I am not the only one thinking that.

Once inside we found our seats with ease. HOLY COW! We were in the main straight away about row 16 from the starting line. We could see all the cars as they were getting lined up, all the pits as they setup, and all of the straight away from turn 3 to 4 and then the main stretch. What a view!!! We were about 2 hours early despite sitting in traffic for an hour at the exit. So we took a lot of pictures of what was in front of us and then took off down the track aways to get some more pit shots and pics of some of the drivers' cars that my buddy liked or he had friends that wanted a pic. (see pics below)

The race was a good race, you may have watched it on tv. Lots of cauitions early but then they got in a real groove. Unfortunately one of those cautions was Kasey Khane, our gracious host from the night before. He was out of the race at lap 42. Other memorable moments were Jimmy Johnson's car bursting into flames, Ricky Rudd's Snickers car getting taped up like a mummy and pitting every other lap, and Jr's car just blowing a gasket and putting him out. But most memorable was how Tony Stewart was driving. Love him or hate him, that man can DRIVE! From the get go, you could tell his car was running well and he was taking full advantage. He was passing 1-2 cars every lap and would hold the lead until he had to pit or there was a caution. And then he would just reclaim it again. Very impressive.

All in all, it was a good time. I wasn't "converted" or anything but I can see why so many people enjoy it. 250,000 people packed in that place was quite impressive and once inside I had a new respect for it. It's just massive! Not worth the $140 ticket face value but I am thankful for the opportunity nonetheless. Here are some pics from the race. Enjoy!!

At Kasey's Place

I could get used to this!

Stryker likey!

My buddy Ron

Funny cars!

At the Race!

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Super Excited!

Yes about the Chicago LAN now less than two weeks away...but before I enjoy that weekend I have another cool event to get to. I will be catching 311 in concert on Monday August 6th. WOOT! 311 is one of my favorite bands and has been for over 10 years. Will be my first time to see them in concert. And my first concert in about 8 years. Yeah, don't get out much once the kids started showing up.

So expect to catch me in Chicago sporting my new 311 shirt, cuz I know I just won't be able to help myself.

[6 Comments]

Been a while...

Well it's been a while since I have done a sig update so I thought I would post up a batch of new ones I have done so far this summer. Enjoy and feel free to hit me up with a PM if you need a refresh!

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Trip Report: King's Island

This past Friday (6/15) I took the day off and drove the hour and fourty-five mins from Indy to Cincy with the family for a day at KI. I grew up in Cincy and have a lof of great memories. But since moving to Indy in 2002 from Detroit and being closer to KI, I have made some even better ones in taking my kids and enjoying it with them. Thanks to Big0ne and Trinity for tagging along. It was a blast!

This year my oldest son (almost broke the epic 48" line and made himself eligible for riding some of the big boy rides. He had done really well in the past with riding kiddy coasters and such so now it was time to see if he really had the coaster love. Another couple joined us on our trip so once we arrived we split up and the ladies took my two daughters (4 & 6) off to Nickelodeon land while me and Big0ne headed to the coasters with my son in tow. This was a big first step for him and I had to reassure him that we would make it back to the Nick area so he could ride some of his favorites too. Heck even I like to ride Avatar and Scooby Doo. And I knew my 6 year old was ready to start the kiddy coasters and dad would want to be there when she took her first hill.

I figured my son would get a kick out of the Italian Job and without a huge first hill it is less intimidating. So we headed straight back and got in line. Good news right away - only 10 people in front of us and the ride was running! WOO HOO! So we hopped on. His voice began to tremble a bit as they checked our belts and restraints but he showed great courage. The Italian Job has taken it's beating as well it should, it's short, some of the effects don't work anymore, and the que can be long, but for an 8 year old it was perfect and he had a blast. I even loved the dark part at the end in the tunnel. He did well and came off with a smile on his face. Thorughout the day he kept saying it was his favorite, but he eventually changed his mind. More on that later...

Second we decided to head to the Racers. One of the classics and older roller coasters in the United States. KI has done a great job of keeping this ride up as far as it being clean, well kept, painted, and such. So we head up the first hill and again the trembling voice returns. So I point to the people riding it backwards on the track next to us to which he laughed at and was a good distraction as we neared the top of the hill. I tried to laugh and scream as much as possible to show him how to hav a good time. He held his breath through the first two hills but on the third one he let it out and started to enjoy it. By the time we got back in the station he was all smiles again and was happy. Two coasters down, so far so good. Although Big took a shot to the back or ribs and was starting to experience a bit of discomfort. ManWhile we were on the Racers, I had seen the line for Firehawk and it was HUGE. We had walked onto EVERYTHING so far but now I knew why. Everyone in the park was in line there. So we passed on it and headed for Top Gun.

Now I love Top Gun. It's short yes. But's it's so smooth and I love the perspective it gives you. And without a large hill and no inverts, I figured it was the next logical step in my son's coaster experience. However I underestimated the effect of seeing it go sideways would have on him and the tangled metal track weaving through the woods. After some serious discussion while we waited all of 5 mins to get on, he decided to pass on it and waited in the child que while Big0ne and I rode. I was dissappointed because I knew he would love it. But I told him he could think about it and we would come back to it later if he wanted.

Next we headed to the Vortex, now he is tall enough but I wasn't even going to try and talk him into this one. And he laughed at me when I even joked about it. "Dad, you're crazy if you think I'm going on that!" LOL So we waited maybe 10 mins, hopped on while he waited in the child que and enjoyed the Vortex. Not as smooth as it once was but still a great coaster.

I felt bad that he had waited twice so we wanted to find something he could ride. So we headed to White Water Canyon. IT was really starting to warm up and we all didn't mind a little cool down. Fortunately they had just opened the ride and there were only two boat fulls of people in line in front of us. The walk back to the ride was longer than our wait. And I thought Dueling Dragons was a long que. GOSH! So we soaked ourselves and had fun. My son and I had ridden the Popeye ride at IOA like three times last time we were there so this brought back fond memories.

We then headed to the Nick area to meet up with the girls and grab some lunch. But before we left the area, we jumped on Scooby's Haunted Castle and shot some ghost. I scored 2130 points which means I worked them over pretty good. ;) And now IT'S SKYLINE TIME! Now I know that for most people Cincinnati style chili is a love it of hate it thing and in my case it's a LOVE IT! I grew up on Skyline and Gold Star so it's a KI tradition for me. Big0ne and Trinity passed and picked up pizza instead. Looked quite yummy when they brought it back.

After lunch, we headed to the Water Park. I love that KI includes this in the price and is a great value. There is a ton of new stuff in the last few years that make it great. The layout is a little strange and you walk alot but we always enjoy ourselves. The lazy river kicked off the experience allowing our food to settle. The water was quite brisk when we got in, but it didn't take long to get used to it. Of course I had to take the oppurtunity to push Big0ne into one of the waterfall features. Then my wife took the kids to one of the three kid's areas. All very nice and well done. While Big, Trin, and I headed to ride the FUNNEL style ride. I love this thing. It has different names at each park but basically you ride a 4 person raft down an enclosed dark tube and are dumped into a giant funnel on it's side where you rock back and forth all the way down. Great stuff. We did some other slides and then I took the kids to the wave pool while my wife took the youngest back to the Nick area to see the Dora show. My two oldest loved the wave pool. And I had fun getting tossed around in there with them. And the provided laife jackets were perfect for my 6 year old. That appears to be something new that Cedar Fair has provided as I don't remember them there last year when we went and it was still Paramount. Very nice touch.

A little while later we headed back to the Nick area and met up with my wife. It was time for my 6 year's old first coaster ride. So we got in line for the Scooby Doo/Beastie/Fairly Odd Coaster (so many names thorughout the years) and were greeted with a short wait. Only one train to go and we are on. My daughter showed no fear and my son treated it like old hat. After all he had already rode two "big" coasters. My daughter enjoyed and begged to ride it again. Looks like I might have two coaster kids! SWEET! It was really neat having kids old enough to ride with me on rides and enjoy it. New experience. And you have to love their enthusiasm.

Next my wife took my son on the Rugrats Reptar coaster while I took the girls to another ride. My wife hates coasters so this was pretty big of her to do that. Then my son and I rode the Avatar ride. I think this ride is the most original concept for using classic elements of rides. It's a blast and a ton of fun. Last year we rode it three times! Great for young and old!

My wife was ready to get out of the kids area by now so we all headed thorugh Rivertown and into the Coney Mall where they did a few of the fair type rides. I can't do these, makes me terribly dizzy. I can ride the biggest, tallest, fastest coasters, but please no spinning. As we left the Coney Mall area and headed into the Action Zone it was time for the big question. "Son, Top Gun is right here, you ready to give it a try?" "Yep, I'm gonna do it dad, let's go!" WOO HOO! Worked out well since my Trinity wanted to ride it as well.

While waiting in line (again, maybe 5 mins) there was some doubt but again he was determined and showed great courage. As we headed up the hill his eyes were closed, his hands clinched, and voice trembling..."Dad are we gonna go sideways?" GULP! Truth or lie? HAHAH! "Yep son, we sure are, but you're strapped in and dad is right here!" And then we are at the top, making the slow turn to the drop. "Son, it's about to go REALLY fast!" 2 minutes later in the station que..."Dad..." "Yeah son?" "CAN WE RIDE THAT AGAIN?!?!" YES! Of courese we can! So we ran through and took the short cut, got back in line and this time eyes were opened and and laughed and screamed the whole way! So in total he had ridden 4 coasters and 2 of the kids. He was living the coaster kid's dream!

All in all it was a great day. Beautiful weather. Park was spotless. Service was friendly. Waits weren't long (minus Firehawk). And they have the best Blueberry Ice Cream ever! Cedar Fair has at least kept with Kings Island's level of service and quality if not improved it. I am excited to see where they go with it. And they win the Best Kid's Area for theme parks every year for a reason. It's truly amazing. We headed out around 8, stopped at Big Boy for dinner (mmmm), then drove the 2 hours back to Indy. Wife and kids passed out and just my iPod and the hum of the highway to keep me company. Lots to reflect on. Another year of memories and enjoyment. And as always we'll be back next year!

P.S. Wife and I are going to Orlando in September for our 10 year anniversary with friends and no kids. Headed to IOA, USO, and WnW. This trip really got me excited to ride the Mummy, Hulk, Spiderman, and Dueling Dragons again. I love those rides!

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Spring Stryker LAN - Summary & Pics

LAN SUMMARY & PICS

Attendees: Stryker927 (& Mrs.), Big0ne, x Trinity 71 x (aka Mrs. Big0ne), Castlemoster (& Mrs.), Grim Reaper BTB, dkhodz, Webmonkee (aka trupundit), MTK005, |x| CMA |x|, JRock3x8 (& Mrs.), Darbyfrag, and Sum1Btr

Well the spring STRYKER LAN has come and gone. But not without leaving us with some wonderful memories and experiences. A weekend of video games is never a bad thing. Throw in some good friends and some good food and you might find nirvana!

Thursday
Things started on Thursday night with several arriving early to fully take advantage of a long weekend. Mrs. Stryker made lasagna for everyone Thursday night. But I got home late so it took FOREVER to cook. In the meantime, we decided to run to the store to find some things to finish out the LAN IDs. So Big0ne, Trinity, dkhodz, and I hopped in the car and headed to Meijer up the road.

I wanted to start our trip off right so I put in my Gwen Stefani CD forcing everyone to endure several tracks on the way. I think Trinity almost jumped out at one point but we talked her down. LOL It had rained all day but fortunately we walked into Meijer dry. We proceeded to the office supply/scrap booking area thinking we would find what we needed but after a thorough search they didn't have the rings we needed to attach the lanyards to the IDs. But we were able to purchase a pack of pink tennis balls, pink shoe laces, and Trin picked up a cool 4 pack of Star Wars mini fig Stormtroopers to put at her desk around monitor. You go girl! More on the pink tennis balls and shoe laces later. ;)

We started walking back to the car and got just out the door when it started raining CATS and DOGS! We got to the car just in time. However when we ran to Staples and Office Depot to find the lan id pieces, we got soaked! Oh well, we laughed and had fun anyway! Finally at Staples we found something that would work and headed home to eat some delicious Lasagna.

Grim arrived from New Jersey around 8:30. Took him about 12 hours to get there due to some weather and traffic. We watched the Peyton Manning SNL skit over again cuz a few people hadn't seen it. At 9:30 Mr. and Mrs. Castle arrived from Arkansas after about a 9-10 hour drive. We had a nice time of just talking and getting to know one another. CMA was due to arrive at 11 or 11:30 but hit some weather and traffic. He called and let us know it would probably be 12:30. So DK headed home, and Big took the Castle's to get settled in at his place. Grim and I setup and started running some R6 while we waited for CMA. He arrived around 12:30 and we got him setup as well. We played until about 2 am and Grim and I finally retired for the evening. CMA stayed up until 4 am playing! No wonder he was clamoring for Starbucks on Friday.

Friday
Friday morning we all met for breakfast at Orginal Pancake House. Big ordered an enormous pancake/cake looking thing smothered in apples and cinnamon. Most of us just ordered the special, two eggs, three pancakes, and two meats. Good stuff. Then it was off to Big0ne's to load up TVs and grab the remaining equipment. Thankfully he had brought some over on Thursday so this was a pretty light load. Thankfully we had plenty of help in loading the tvs.

We then got back to my place and hooked everything up. Ran all the cables, got the switch connected to my network, and ran some Halo 2 and COD2 to test it out. Everything worked! Then it was lunch time. Hmmmm....Friday lunchtime at Stryker's....where should we go? Well duh! Buffalo Wild Wings of course!

Right before we left, I got a text from MTK, he had just landed and hooked up with Mr. & Mrs. JRO. I gave them directions to B-Dubs and they were on their way. Of course lunch was great as usual. DK won the trivia game we all played and Mrs. JRO (playing under my tag) took the final hand of Hold Em.

Well we decided to go walk off our lunch and pay a visit to Fry's Electronics Superstore. If you have never been to one, it's worth the trip. It's like the Home Depot of Electronics. Add in a Staples, Circuit City, an appliance store, and a restaraunt and you are starting to understand it's sheer size and offering. Monkee got into town about that time and met up with us there. It was about 4 or 5 and we figured it was time to head home and start to get ready for the LAN. but we first needed to stop and pick up some more food and supplies.

So Monkee, CMA, Castle, and I headed to Kroger. CMA got his favorite 2-liter and snacks. Castle picked up some Blue Moon, ice, and BBQ sauce. And Monkee got his supply of Diet Pepsi, fruit tray, and a veggie tray. (monkee took our level of class up two notches in the food deptartment)

By 6 pm we were all settled in and getting our game on. Darby and Sum1Btr arrived shortly and got setup as well. By 6:30 we were ready to get the LAN started "Officially". before getting started a few things had to be discussed. JRO had a Thank You card for myself and Big0ne that was very nice. And had a gift card to B-Dubs for myself and a MS Points card for Big. (THanks guys, you didn't have to do that). We then decided it was time to explain the "LAN CAJONES!" The LAN CAJONES are two pink tennis balls hung on each end of a pink shoelace and are signed by everyone in attendance. They are then passed from person to person after each game, to the one that finished with the most points/scores/kills. They were a subject of much amusement. See the pictures for such examples. More on who wore them the most in a bit.

Friday night was a wonderful mixture of pizza, gaming, excellent cookies (thanks to Trin and MTK), and fun. We played H2, R6, and Gears until about 1:30 in the morning. We had a great time. There was also some MLB 2k7 and Mini Golf thrown in for good measure. Finally we all retired for the night.....but not for too long.

Saturday
By 9 am, we had breakfast started at my place. Grim woke up to the smell of bacon. And CMA found his way down shortly there after. About 9:30 the rest of the crew showed up. We had everyone return on Saturday except Darby and Sum1Btr who had things to attend to. Bacon, Sausage, omelets, biscuits & gravy, pancakes, and scrambled eggs. YUM, YUM!

Weather here in Indy was great once we got past a little rain on Thursday and a light sprinkle on Friday. Saturday was gorgeous. Sunny and in the 70's. So we decided on a little field trip was in order. We loaded up and headed for downtwon to the canal walk. But not before we stopped at Starbucks and let everyone get their caffiene/wake up fix. After getting their "MOCHA FRAPPuciNO!" or what have you, we were on our way. We took the scenic route on the way down, to see all the really neat old houses on the north side of downtown. 50-100 years old mega homes. Many different styles, fountains, and gated entries.

We parked downtown at a hotel that is on the canal (which is free as long as the hotel doesn't have an attendant watching their lot. We then visited the hotel so everyone could visit the bathroom before we headed out. The "MOCHA FRAPPUCINOS!" work fast. We also got some awesome pictures off the hotel balcony of the canal behind it. We noticed right away that all the fountains and waterfalls on the canal were down for spring maintenance, kind of a bummer but there is plenty to see otherwise. There are some great pics of this down below as well.

The canal was built before the rail road really took off and was meant to connect the white river to fall creek and eventually the lakes of Michigan as a means to bring in and take out goods. However it was not totally finished due to the rail road taking off. In the 90's, the city finished it and built walk ways, lighting, fountains, waterfalls, condos, hotels, and such all up and down it. Making an awesome place to visit. Families, couples, joggers, and bikers. You can also rent paddle boats and gondolas for some fun in the water. My kids love it. And Saturday was no exception for how awesome it was walking down the canal wondering through downtown, museums, and such.

After our walk we headed to the heart of downtown and settled in at Champps sports bar/grill for a light lunch (still full from breakfast) and to catch a portion of the NFL draft. Also some great pics below of our lunch. We then went into the mall and picked up some cookies and shakes and ate them in the Arts Garden overhanging the intersection. This is also seen in the pics below. After that, we walked back to the cars and headed back to my place. The girls went to the mall from there and the boys got some more gaming in. Some Halo2 and R6.

About 6:30 we fired up the grill and got started grilling some wings. Castlemonster did not let us down and made some of the best wings I have ever had. Thanks for the wonderful wings and the "butt rub" Castle. ;) Added in was my Stryker Bakes Beans (yum) and my wife's fried sweet corn! Afterwards we enjoyed trinity's wonderful cheesecake ball. And more of her and MTK's cookies.

We then settled in for more gaming, this time more diverse with Pocket bike, mini golf, billiards, and UNO. Trinity kicked everyone's tale at UNO and won her first CAJONE of the weekend! LOL We then returned to more H2 and R6.

About 8 or so, CMA headed back to Ohio since he had to be up early on Sunday. The rest of us gamed until about 1 am and then we started breaking down. The gaming was finally over for the weekend. We tore down all the tables and packed up cables. Castle loaded up his tvs and equipment. And Big grabbed half of his since he could come back on Sunday and get the rest. Grim and I stayed up chattin until about 2 am and then finally crashed ourselves.

Sunday
Sunday morning, Grim left around 8:30 and Castle left Big's around 10. After church, I picked up MTK and we met Big at Moe's Southwest grill for some lunch. Afterwards we headed back to my place to grab the last few things of Big's. Which also happened to be the heaviest TVs. But MTK was very helpful and we got them stowed back to Big's in no time. We then proceeded to take MTK to the airport at 2:30 for his 4:15 flight back to DC. I went home and then crashed. And was in bed asleep by 9:30. All in all a great weekend and one of the most fun LANs we have had to date.

Special Thanks
- To my wife for always being so gracious in allowing me to take over the house for a weekend with all my buddies. She said she had fun this weekend and enjoyed hanging out with everyone.
- To Big0ne as usual for the equipment, setup, tvs, and willingness to help. Doing these lans would be so difficult without his help.
- To Trinity for the awesome munchies and desserts. For giving me Big0ne to use and abuse all weekend. And for being such a saint/angel. See the pic of Big on their wedding day. Also, sorry for overwhelming you with Gwen on Thursday. heheheh
- To everyone that drove or flew so far to be a part. (MTK - DC, Grim - NJ, Castle - AR, JRock - Chicago, Monkee - Cleveland, CMA - Toledo) I am humbled that people would come so far to be apart of something like this. I enjoyed you all so much. And would ask ALL of you back in the future. And you are all welcome in my house anytime you are ever in town.
- Castle for bringing his tvs and making us the most amazing wings!
- JRO for picking up MTK for us.
- DK and SRTBrad for allowing us to borrow your disks.
- CMA for making 6 straight LANs and as our first and most consistent out-of-towner.
- Angela (Castle's wife) and Julie (JRO's wife) for doing an awesome job of helping me with the cleanup of breakfast and dinner.

Memorable Moments:
- Random things blurted out/repeated at the LAN:
* "MOCHA FRAPPUCINOS!"
* "Birch Trees! YES! Very nice!"
* "Because I'm better than you!"
- Person with the most Cajones: CMA (of course, Stryker was 2nd, and Big and Grim had third)
- Memorable mental pictures:
* CMA with the cajones hanging from his belt, tea bagging the ground. I think we might see an avatar coming from MOnkee on that one. (see pics)
* Me chainsawing Castle in person (see pics)
- Other Worthy mentions:
* MTK's nickname ("bleeding" liberal)
* Grim nickname (redneck republican)
* Stryker nickname (Geico lizard)
* Grim declaring via JRO's XBL account that he is "coming out of the closet"
* The MTK sign that the JRO's made for the airport.

Pictures: There are over 120 pictures posted to my Photobucket. I am going to try and post as many as I can. This post is already probably one of the longest yet - let alone pics.

Friday Morning - Loading up TVs at Big's

CMA helping loading TVs at Big's

Castle pulling a hamstring (or worse) at Big's

DK securing a TV in his jeep at Big's

Big's computer Monitor

Big's TV we left in the basement

Lisa's TV we left in the living room

Big's Pool table

Proof that Lisa is an angel

Setting up back at Stryker's - My TV

Big running wires

More setting up

CMA helping with the setup

The office filled with tvs!

Gerbils in the office in on the fun!

CMA - helping test out the connections

Big forgot how to smile

It's Grim!

dkhodz

Mr. Castle

Your gracious host.

JRO picking up MTK at the airport

He found MTK!

Lunch at B-Dubs

Mr. and Mrs. JRO are here!v

MTK at B-Dubs

A little tour of Frye's

Castle doing some Guitar Hero while MTK and JRO rock out!

Monkee has arrived!

Mrs. Castle getting ready to head out with the girls Friday night.

Castle waiting for the fun to start

Gerbils are wondering "What the heck is going on?"

JROCk getting setup

JRO gives Big and Stryker a Thank You card

Grim waiting for the bullets to start flying

Big0ne tests the cookies and all appears safe

CMA takes the CAJONES for a test drive

They appear to be in working order

LAN is on and Big and Grim are all ready to go!

More Big and Grim

MTK and Castle are engaged

Monkee rocking on Stryker's big screen

Stryker has the CAJONES now!

Stryker catches Castle unaware and slices and dices him!

Saturday - headed downtown

Quentin TarranJRO

We are parked and on our way!

We are at the canal

Mr & Mrs JRO

Sniper Spawn (Gears)

Stryker getting his R6 on! LOL

Historical Society

State Museum

NCAA Headquartersv

Da boys

Stryker finds true love

Headed to the mall

Lunch at Champs

Brotherly Love

JRO Promises Mac-n-Cheese

MTK

Castle

Looking for dessert

Dessert at Nestle/Hagen Daz

Heading Home - Mr & Mrs Stryker

And Castle

More Saturday Evening Gaming - Castle wearing the Cajones

With STYLE!

Saturday Night Dessert - Trin's Awesome Carmel Apple Cheesecake ball

Look for more pics too from Webmonkee and Big0ne!

[4 Comments]

Spring is finally here!

What an awesome weekend. The weather was great and we enjoyed it a ton with everything we had going on.

Started on Friday - had dinner with Bigone and Trinity at Ruby Tuesday's. Big behaved himself other than once asking my wife if she could take him to the bathroom (but only after she had already made two trips with our kids. ) We then made the rounds of Sam's and Walmart - picking up some groceries and some yard stuff.

Saturday morning was slow and relaxing. Wife had some jewelry party or something at 1 so I went and saw Hot Fuzz. Very funny movie, I will elaborate in the movie thread. Saturday night we had a men's group get together from our church. My dad made his famous (well to us it is ) Shrimp/Chicken/Sausage Gumbo. A little rice, corn bread, and hot sauce x 3 bowls = heaven.

Sunday we decided to go hardcore with some yard work. So we took off for Lowe's and bought some mulch, a tree to replace an evergreen that didn't survive last year, some landscaping brick/edging pieces, and some seed. I am behind a bit compared to the neighbors. We had a real nice warm spell for about two weeks a month ago. They all started working on theirs but I didn't see the point since I knew we would get one more cold spell. And we did. Unfortunately I have the worst grass on the block. So I am starting the Scott's program on it. And going to over seed hoping to get it back in shape. There are literally "dirt" spots everywhere. The lady that owned the house before us never did anything with it and I have spent the last two years nursing it. This year it's getting the full treatment.

We also took the kids for ice cream, BBQ'd some chicken, and took the kids fishing at one of the little ponds in our sub. The thing is fully stocked and the kids always catch something so they get a kick out of it. Just little blue gills and sunfish but fun nonetheless. I love Spring/Summer and all the fun it brings, such a wonderful break from the mundane that is winter (at least here in the midwest).

So all in all - a wonderful weekend. Next week is the spring Stryker LAN - so should make for an awesome back to back weekends. Can't wait! More on that to come.

[3 Comments]

I love Photoshop!

I've done some more sigs here lately. I am also working on an official Stryker logo to use as my own personal identity on the web as well as for all my LANs that I host. And it's easily reconfigured to add in words like Blog, Sig, LAN, etc so it's very flexible. Should have that ready in the next week or so. Also working on a logo for our churches men's group - Band of Brothers that is turning out nice. I LOVE PHOTOSHOP!

[4 Comments]

New Addition(s) to the Family

My kids and wife have been after me forever to get some sort of pet. I have strong allergies to most dogs and cats as well as a strong distaste for sharing my house with them. So we have had a lot of fish in the past few years. But no matter what, my wife is always successful in somehow killing them. LOL It's quite funny and a running joke in our house about my wife and fish. It's unintentional of course and she tries really hard. So after many a fish being sent to a better place - we decided to take a break.

Well report cards came out a week or so ago and our two older kids (Boy 7, girl 5, girl 3) did really well so I promised them we would go out and celebrate. So this past Friday night we went to Skyline for family night. Kids eat free, they have games, and coloring contest. And best of all, kids eat free. For those that don't know, Skyline is from Cincinnati. Cincy style chili, coney dogs, etc. So the kids have fun and the "question" comes up. "Daddy, can we get a pet?" Ok, let's go see what we can find.

So we head across the street to PetSmart and start looking around. More fish? Nope. That would be cruel. Snakes? Wife about rung my neck on the spot. :evilgrin: Rats? Oh no, my wife was about climbing the cart trying to get away from them and they were in cages. LOL So we finally get to the gerbils and I am checking them out. And there is this little gray one that is just going nuts. Running around, jumping, climbing, running in the wheel, and just having a blast. It was actually entertaining. So I bring the kids and wife over and they are checking them out. Everyone is interested. A very nice and helpful young lady answers all our questions and then asks if we want to see one. So my wife spends 5 minutes trying to pick one up and hold it, but gives up. These things are FAST! So I grab one and am holding it, it is doing ok then jets for my sleave! It got about half way up my arm and I caught it's long tail and slowy dragged it out (only after it pee'd on me). Kids thought it was hilarious running up my sleave. And I actually found it entertaining. So we decided it was so much fun we need two!

So we ended up going home with Smoky (gray one) and Oreo (black one) and spent the entire weekend laughing and being entertained. These guys (or gals) are big partiers and love the wheel. Good thing we bought the silent one. Also the ball you can put them in and run around the house in was hilarious! Kids thought it was great.

So kids got their pet, all is well in the Stryker house, and dad is a hero.....for now.

P.S. As a consolation prize, I ran next door and bought Gwen Stefani's CD. I love Gwen, but that's a blog for another day.

[6 Comments]

360 Repair Update

The dead 360 was sent on it's way last Thursday. Should arrive any day now to the "360 garage" for repairs. It should have been there sooner, but it took almost a week to get the "coffin" from MS. We called and they finally acknowledged that even though I called it on Thur, they didn't process the order for the "coffin" until Saturday. Nice.

[0 Comments]