My 12-year work anniversary is coming up in a few weeks. I came across a website today that sells company anniversary cards, which I found hysterical. Who in the world wants an anniversary card from their company? The first line of text on the website reads: "An employee anniversary card is a wonderful way to thank the people who keep your business running year after year." No, it's not a wonderful way to thank your employees. Thank them with a bonus or a cake or something. A company anniversary card is pointless and lacks any real emotion. This is just a lame way of saying "Hey, we didn't forget we hired you today." Lame.
Sheeder Mill Farm
With summer winding down, my family celebrated with one last trip. My mom, my aunt, my uncle, my cousin, my cousin's boyfriend, my husband, my daughter, and I all took a trail ride on horseback. About half of our group took a 30-minute riding lesson before the trail ride began, which my daughter appreciated. The trail ride itself was awesome. A majority of the ride took place in the woods so we were never in direct sunlight. Even though parts of the trail were really muddy, the beauty of the woods shone through. We all had a really great time and hope do to it again in the near future.
I'd also like to note that Sheeder Mill Farm was the best stable I have been to in a very long time. They were super friendly and the horses were all well behaved. Our group ranged from riders that have never been on a horse before to intermediate riders. None of us had any problems with our horses. (Sometimes horses will fight their riders so they can get back to the stable faster. That didn't happen here.) I highly recommend them for both riding lessons and trail rides.
A bit of a rut
I'm in a bit of a rut with this blog. When I find something wonderfully geeky, I love sharing it with you guys. However, my life nowadays is mostly filled with work, Zumba, and my daughter's activities. There isn't a lot of time for geeking out. Maybe I need to go back to the basics when I wrote about every episode of a show instead of just a season review. It would definitely be more interesting than posts about gantry crane websites. Would that be better for you? Updates would be more frequent but they might be shorter. Opinions?
Schuylkill River Outdoors
I really thought I wrote about this already. Apparently I have lost my marbles.
On Saturday afternoon (after we were sure any impending storms had passed), I went tubing down the Schuylkill River with my family and one of my daughter's friends. For anyone that really knows me, I'm not a fan of water. I can swim - I would rather avoid it though. Luckily, tubing doesn't really require going into the water much.
Basically, tubing (on any river) is where a person sits on an inner tube or raft and lazily floats down the river. Until fairly recently, the only place to do this in my area was on the Delaware River in Point Pleasant. It was a little exciting to know that we didn't have to drive so far anymore. The Schuylkill River isn't usually as deep as the Delaware. However, it is still deep enough for the kids to splash and have fun.
It's also a fairly cheap activity. For a 4-6 hour trip on a one person tube, it only costs $20. If you pay attention to Groupon or Living Social, you can usually pick up a good deal around the beginning of summer. We managed to get a trip for 4 people for less than $30. An awesome deal, if you ask me.
So, if you need something to do on a sunny day and don't feel like getting mobbed at the pool, I'd definitely recommend going tubing. A fun time will be had by all.
The Olympics are over!
Need a new t-shirt?
My closet is woefully bare. I hate trying on clothes so, as a result, I rarely buy new pieces. The worst part of my closet is the "casual tee" section. The newest shirt in there is the cute sakura blossom shirt I bought in Washington DC two years ago. Besides that, the next newest shirt is at least 5 years old. So I started looking around online for some new tees. While the combat infantry badge shirt is kinda cool, a lot of the other shirts seem to promote hatred and violence. I don't feel comfortable buying a shirt from a site like that. Where do you buy your casual shirts?
Who is your Olympic body double?
I have been a little Olympics-crazy this year. Normally, the Games go by and I only notice when they interrupt my TV shows. This year is different. I'm not sure why - it just is. Since we've been talking about it a lot at work, one of my coworkers emailed this to me. Who is your Olympic body double? You put in your height and weight and it tells you what Olympic athlete is approximately the same size as you. I am the same size as Chile's Maria Fernanda Valdes - a weightlifter competing in the women's 75kg. Pretty neat!
Work is crazy
I am having a terrible day at work. The phone lines are filled with people being ridiculous. They don't even know what they want to purchase. How am I supposed to direct their call to the appropriate department when THEY don't even know what they want? It makes me want to drop a metal building on their heads. Also, please stop calling me because your printer doesn't work. It's not our job to fix your computer issues. At least it's almost time to go home. Maybe I'll fill tonight with chocolate chip ice cream. That might make all the stupid go away.
2012 Summer Olympics
Camelbeach
My family didn't get a chance to really go on vacation this year. Instead, we took the day off yesterday and went to Camelbeach, the water park at Camelback Resort. Since it is only a two-hour drive from our house to the park, it was absolutely perfect for a one-day summer getaway. Luckily, the weather cooperated with us. For the most part, anyway. The park itself isn't huge. There are around 10 slides, varying between mat slides, tube slides, and family tube slides. My daughter's favorite slide was Spin Cycle. One or two people ride tubes through a shoot before swirling around a bowl only to be spit out at the end. It was tons of fun. My favorite ride was Sandstorm. A family tube, that fits up to 4 people, splashes through two funnels that throw the occupants into complete darkness. The best part about the park is that we managed to go on a majority of the water slides (there were a few none of us wanted to hit) before a thunderstorm rolled in around 4:30PM.
Price-wise, the park is pretty reasonable. General admission (purchased online) is $33. However, you can buy a 4-pack of passes for only $100. The catch is that all 4 tickets must be used at the same time. I think the park was way more fun with four people anyway.
If you are in the Pocono Mountain area in the summertime, this is definitely a must-visit place. And I recommend reserving a cabana. Not only do you receive a complimentary fruit basket in the morning, you also receive a complimentary dessert basket in the afternoon AND there is a waitstaff that will bring you whatever else you need. Very worth the money.