Greetings!
Ah, the Magic Kingdom. I think my kids began enjoying the magic first thing in the morning, once they made it to the first attraction. I think my magic started up at about the time we sat down for dinner at the end of the day, with an ice cold beverage.
We walked, and we walked, then we walked some more - over 7 miles per day during our 3 days between Disneyland and California Adventure - chasing after Fastpasses, running to make a parade, hurrying to get a good spot for the parade - you get the idea. Did we have a good time? You betcha. Did we get any rest? Heck no. But maybe that's the point, because why wouldn't you go on Pirates of the Caribbean just one more time, even if the park is only open for 5 more minutes? And when you have the chance to watch Fantasmic on the water near Orleans Square, you better hustle and get a good seat, because you are surely not the only tired parent in the park with the same idea.
Here's the numbers, in a nutshell - no offense to Chip, or Dale
* 21 miles of walk, walk, hustle, hustle
* 87 times having to say "No, we can't buy that" during the 3 days. Not bad, considering that I'm sure I had to say it over 300 times at DisneyWorld a few years ago. My kids are growing up! ;-)
* 14 Gallons - the amount of water that drenched my wife, Renee, from Splash Mountain. How do I know this? Because she told me...over, and over and over.
* 1244 kernels of over-priced popcorn. Of which, at least 324 pieces were dropped on the ground by my son.
* 3 Times in a row that the kids and Renee went on California Screamin'
* 27 times that Ethan yelled "That was AWESOME" after getting off a ride.
* 27 times that our 11-year old, Skylar, was patient with her little brother when he yelled "That was AWESOME" in her ear. Thanks, Sky!
* 124 people that I saw eating Churro's that really shouldn't have been.
* 1 Jedi Training Course that included a battle between my son and Darth Maul. Life changing, (for him) that's all I can say.
* 18 times that we walked up and back through Downtown Disney...Never again.
* 1 small humanoid robot named ASIMO that impressed us all with his performance at the Inoventions exhibit in Tomorrowland.
* $706 for 2 adults and 2 children's tickets for 3 days - I thought we were in a recession?
* 47 minutes - total time spent in the Lego store at Downtown Disney, spread over 3 visits.
* $525 - amount my son would liked to have spent at the Lego store. "Dad, can we get the Death Star?!" See the second line above for my response.
* $49 - total dollar amount actually spent at the Lego store.
* 447 laughs, giggles and smiles that made the trip memorable for Skylar, Ethan and their cousins, Colton and Chloe
* 3 times I caught myself looking at my children, wondering how they had grown up so quickly. OK, maybe it was 34, but close enough.
So there you have it, 3 days of fun in the sun, rides, friends, family, food, drink, laughs, water, sore feet, along with Mickey Mouse and other assorted characters. What a great trip it was, indeed.
I'm going to let Brian Northway take it from here. I'm headed off to the Eastern Sierra's for a pack trip up to some high altitude lakes, in search of some last minute Golden Trout fishing before the weather turns on us for winter. Enjoy the rest of the ride this week and thanks for joining us!
DIY Game Repair Parts
Announcing our new DIY Reapir Parts for the Sony PSP! Every day these hand-held gaming systems get more features and less expensive. We've done a lot of great repairs on these units and, from the beginning, you've asked if we sold individual parts for them. Until now, we've only had a handfull of PSP parts available for sale outside of a full-service repair but, as the times change, so does TechRestore.
From now on, you can buy any PSP part we have in stock (and soon Nintendo DS/DSi parts) without having to get a full service repair! Than means you save on shipping it in to us, having us do the install and shipping it back to you. We even provide documentation that shows how to take the PSP apart, step by step. Of course this also means that we will no longer be offering game system repairs but, we will empower you to fix it your self, and you can do it! All it takes to fix most of this stuff is a small screwdriver and 20-30 minutes. Believe me, it's far less complicated than navigating a treacherous 3D world with 10 buttons and an analog stick, and defeating a two-story tall monster, with a combination of special moves and hi-tech weaponry.
All of our PDF take-apart guides are available for free, before you even purchase a part, so that you can see how easy (or complicated) they may be. Naturally, the deeper you go, the more you'll have to keep track of but a litte hacker spirit goes a long way - and, frankly, the hardest PSP repair is easier than the simplest auto repair. The best part is, you don't even get your hands dirty! (c;
Click here to locate game system repair parts available for your repair.
Future Shock
If you haven't seen it already, our latest video is a tear-down and rebuild of the new, fifth generation, iPod nano. As you might expect, it's done in our usual stop-motion style, but this one begins with a demo of some built-in video effects, shot on the nano 5G. Here's the script:
Imagine that you're a Terminator cyborg or an alien Predator, showing up outside the TechRestore repair center to infiltrate our animation room. With the aid of a heads-up display and thermal imaging, you slip past the receptionist, hidden by your electronic cloaking device. Just to be sure that you weren't seen, you hack the securty camera. Once inside, you see the latest in human nano-technology, sitting on the dissection table. Taking it apart telekinetically, you record all of the inner workings, labeling them for future reference. Suddenly one of our our techs, Ivan, discovers your intrusion, but your mind control beam forces him to reassemble the nano - at warp speed. Mission accomplished, you verify the unit's functionality and beam back to the mother ship, along with the iPod, of course!
iPod video (.m4v) & HD video (.mov) Downloads
Here's a desktop image showing an infinite field of 5G nanos, within nanos, within nanos...made from a frame of the video above, and a splash of color, that I added to liven it up. I know, our last two wallpaper images were of nanos but, with such an exciting new product out, who can think of anything else? Until last week, I actually thought the Flip Mino was a pretty cool device, but now it seems about as interesting as a giant, cold-war era, cassette walk-man, since the new nano does video recording. Way to go Apple! I cant wait to see what the new iPod touch can do - HD video recording perhaps?
This week's screen saver is an updated promo for the Macintosh Computer Expo. This one features NCMUGs fantastic event flier, floating above a Google Earth rendering of the expo location, in Petaluma, California, amid a shower of virtual fireworks. The event is just as free as the screen saver and, if you've never been, I can tell you that Petaluma is a charming little town with lots of restaurants and cafes on the river - great options for a lunch break, or dinner after the event.
Preview & Download
Weekly Specials
Check out this week's specials. Use the links to schedule a service or place your order online. Naturally, you can also call 1-888-572-7372 to speak to a human being that is standing by to help you Monday-Friday 8AM-5PM Pacific Time. Specials are good until midnight, on Friday, September 25th, but don't wait until the last minute to place your order. (c;
Labels: desktop image, disneyland, iPod nano, screen saver, video
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