Atlanta: Been there, done that

Well I'm back from Atlanta. I got home yesterday actually, but I have been somewhat busy since then with thank you cards (which I am currently taking a break from) and cleaning up before we leave for the Netherlands. I am actually farming the underworld with Steven on Guild Wars right now, but thanks to my new computer (which I tested earlier by having Guild Wars AND World In Conflict running at the same time and still getting 60 fps on both) I am able to post on my blog during our farming runs since I don't do anything pretty much. After Atlanta, I think I am starting to feel back to my old self (more entertaining) so I think this post should reflect that because it contains many good stories. And before you complain about how long this post is, remember I am going to be in the Netherlands from July 4th-July 20th, so from that time, I will not be making new posts. Also, I am posting pictures later today and tomorrow from Atlanta. Just take it easy as you read the blog and don't try to read it all at once since I will be doing a post right before I leave, then not for a while. Without further ado, I think it is time to get into the week.

Monday:
Orion picked me up and then we picked up Paul (Lucy was already in the van) and we went to the airport. Mr. Noyes and Funda showed up about 10 minutes after us. We got on the flight ok after hearing some stories of schoolyard gossip and then we arrived in Atlanta on time around 11:00 East Coast time. On the way from the Marta (subway system) to the hotel, we got turned around, but this random guy who seemed vaguely like a city concierge (city guide) but somehow not legitimate looking showed us the way. Another homeless guy came up and as the three guys left Lucy and Funda to walk in the back, I decided to walk behind them so the homeless guy would not bother them. It was by doing this that I gained a new friend in "Tom the crazy guy" who took every opportunity he could to inform me of how "Jersey knows his way around this city" or to high five me or to give me a rapper's hug (arm around other person and pat back). Mr. Noyes didn't think I could handle him or something, so he came back to try to get Tom away from me, but in reality, I was fine with him because he was like my grandpa in a way so I knew how to handle him and he wasn't bothering me much. Besides, he gave me a good anecdote.

Anyway, after all of that, we got to the hotel fine and checked into our rooms and met our roomate, Drew. He actually turned out to be a pretty cool guy. He plays tennis, listens to music that Orion and Paul like and knows a satisfactory amount about the music I listen to and in general was cool. His only flaw was that he was pretty messy in inconvenient areas, such as his clothing obstructing the closet doors. Other than that, he was a good roomate to get.

Tuesday:
This was the emptiest day of the week, so we decided to go to Six Flags. Before that, we went to this restaurant in a nearby neighborhood near the place where Little Women was written. It was called the Flying Biscuit. Orion became very obsessed with it. I became sick whenever we ate there, which was odd because I thought the food was good. It was either because I didn't eat enough food the previous days, because I drank too much milk, or because everything was organic; but something just made me sick every time, but the food was so good and I expect many a biscuit from Orion in the future.

At Six Flags, there was many a line, so we did not get much done, but what we did get done was very good. It was extremely hot there, so when it came meal time, I was more excited to get a free drink than the massive slice of pizza that came with it. Throughout the park, there are "Starburst" enjoyment poses printed on signs, so I took the opportunity to pose in front of every one I saw. There was a log ride that made a big splash and it was a fun ride because....well, you'll see when you see the picture. After we left Six Flags, we took the Marta back to the hotel. Orion met some girls from Oregon and the one he was trying to pick up did not catch on and he got stuck with the least attractive one. Oh the irony. In this one ride similar to grizzly river run at disneyland, one of the attendants on the ride was checking our seatbelts when his friend pranked him by starting the ride, so he rode the ride with us. It was rather funny.

On the way back, we encountered quite a character on the Marta who walked around our car talking about how he had a pound of weed in his bag and offering it to everyone he passed. Someone called him a retard, so he asked me what you call someone abnormal (stoned people must think I am a dictionary). He was a rather odd character, singing us many a song of which he had changed the lyrics to be more about his pound of weed or the fact that he smokes bigger weed rolls (weed cigarettes whatever they are called I have no idea). After that, Drew introduced us to three of the girls at his school and the three of us (Paul, Orion, and I) hung out with them and played some billiards.

Wednesday:
We started the day with another trip to the Flying Biscuit during which I got very sick. I only had one bite of my biscuit (luckily we saved it for later). I think it was due to a lack of food the previous day (part of a slice of pizza) and the fact that I basically chugged 2 glasses of milk right before it. I almost threw up on the way back to the Marta. We took the Marta to the Coca Cola factory, which I had not been to since it was in Las Vegas back in the good old days. As Funda so perfectly put it, "I hope you guys don't take your kids here before they are teenagers because that was basically brainwashing." There was a lot of super-liminal messaging and I even learned how my taste and stuff work which was odd because the movie was SUPPOSED to be about how Coke's secret ingredient is that everyone likes it. After that, Mr. Noyes and Funda went to a nearby sports bar (Stats(check it out if you're there and a sporting event is happening) for to watch their precious Turkey team play Germany. While they did that, the four of us (the three of us plus Lucy) went to CNN tower to learn how news is made. I learned that even though the many pundits on CNN often say stupid things as though they were without a script, the are always on a script, so either CNN people need to stop trying to ad-lib or the writers need to be fired.

After CNN tower, which was pretty interesting, we headed to Stats to watch the rest of the Turkey game. Unfortunately, they lost, so we headed back to the hotel disappointed. That night, the three of us hung out with Drew and crew. We played some billiards and at one point, we discovered that on the tv in the billiards room, there was no lodgenet, so we could watch people's pay per view movies and someone was watching porn, enough said.

Thursday:
We had to get up early (8:00) for the Washington State meeting. It went well in that it did not take too long and we got out at a reasonable time, then went to the aquarium while Mr. Noyes and Funda went to CNN tower. The aquarium was pretty cool, despite my lack of interest in fish. There were big fish and small fish. Some fish looked funny. Also, I saw an otter that was, get this, SWIMMING IN SQUARES. I named him that because he was the cutest otter I have ever seen. The penguins were cool as well. Later on, we saw some other otters who were apparently sisters. They were laying down and it looked like they were wrestling and Orion said to me "heh 69." I laughed at it, but then I looked back and noticed the two in that position and they were both thrusting. It was extremely awkward.

After that, we had to go to the opening ceremony, which we were late to due to being at dinner longer than expected and giving them Mr. Davis' phone number and asking for updates. We searched a bit in the dark for our section, then gave up and waited until they cheered for an officer before going in to find them. The ceremony was boring and the speaker was terrible. I had to laugh when she said "Young people are 26% of the population, but you know what I like to say? 26% population, 100% future." I think I should check her math on that.

Friday:
I woke up to the sweet realization that IT WAS MAH BURFDHEY. Orion and I got a late start because we had no big commitments during the day, so we went to Hooter's. It was actually a pretty good restaurant, but I don't feel a strong need to go there again soon. After that, we met back up with Mr. Noyes and headed out to see Paul and Lucy go into their tests and then we waited for them to come out and watched a random guy high fiving people as they left the tests. It was rather funny to watch. After Paul and Lucy came out, we had some free time until later in the afternoon when we had to go to a meeting for the campaigns for the state. It was pretty boring, but after that, we got to go to Steak and Ale, which I had been eyeing since we got to Atlanta. It was very good steak, but I did not try the ale. Mr. Noyes even surprised me when he revealed that he had ordered a cake beforehand and had it brought to the table. It was good cane and good surprise and a good photo op as well. After that, we decided to hang around the hotel for the rest of the night. Mr. Noyes gave me a lecture about insurance to prepare me for my open event test the next day and Lucy and Paul sat in for educational advancement.

Saturday:
On Saturday, Orion and I actually did our business things. We got going a little late for our "Business Ethics" workshop and made Lucy ditch us, which if you are reading Lucy, sorry about that. The Business Ethics workshop was pretty much a carbon copy of the manners class I once took on my birthday many years ago with Nick K. I basically knew everything he taught except for a few interesting points, such as I had never seen a fish fork before and I didn't remember that you enter a table from the left and exit from the right. Showing my gentlemanness, I did not take a seat since there were girls that still had not found chairs.

After that, we all got some lunch, then Orion, Paul, and I took our open events tests while Lucy went back to the hotel to plan shopping for later. To get into open events, they just open the doors and regulate the number of people let in. It's a mob, so people push and shove, so I didn't get in for a while. I met a nice/cute girl from Colorado named Kellsey (2 l's like hell because she is bad ass???) I thought the insurance test went rather well, but only the 1st place person in each open event got an award, unlike the top ten from all the main events. I want to see my score though to see if the studying helped. I at least feel I understand insurance more now.

After all of that, everyone went shopping. Lucy bought some clothes for the closing ceremony which was supposedly dressy-uppy. Girls were bringing their prom or homecoming dresses for it. Orion got some metrosexual shirts and Paul got some metrosexual shorts. I had to wait in line to get in a store, which was a very new experience. Mr. Noyes and I mostly just chilled because we both did not want to buy anything. We ate dinner at this place called Grape. DO NOT EVER EAT THERE. The food was ridiculously expensive. I had a small sandwich for $15, plus 2 6 ounce coke cans for $2.50 a piece ( I know usually a glass of coke at a restaurant costs $1.50 and has free refills) and then there was $5 tax for a party of 6 or more so it was my most expensive meal at a ridiculous for that amount $25. After that, we left for the hotel again. Lucy came to hang out in our room until curfew and we watched Blind Date and Cheaters.

Sunday:
Sunday was easy because we got to hang around most of the day. We went for a late lunch at the Flying Biscuit at around 1:00 and left at 1:30 for Stats for the Euro Cup Final. It was a very win game and congratulations to Spain on their accomplishment. After that, we hurried back to the hotel to do a quick change before leaving for the closing ceremony. At the ceremony, Paul won 3rd in nationals (and he is a freshman, mind you) for Cyber Security. It was mega epic of him. After that, Lucy taught me about how prom dresses are selected to bide some time and I found it to be a very enlightening experience that was much more interesting than listening to the awards. We left the ceremony early to get a head start on the traffic, then we just packed up and went to sleep.

Monday:
We all woke up early to get going on time. We got hugs from the crew of Drew. At the airport, we showed up late and our tickets were not guaranteed, but luckily there were 6 people on the flight willing to give up their seats to us (for compensation from the airline) and we all made it back on time. Mom drove Lucy home where I got another free hug (4 total hugs in one weekend! pwnage!) then we took Paul home, then Orion came over to finish up some stuff with the new computer. Oh also I managed to go 24 hours without eating solid food. Go me!

Today:
Well today I went to do some registration at SCC, but didn't get very far without my COMPASS test taken, which I am doing tomorrow. Today I spent most of the day setting up my new computer, then playing Guild Wars while writing thank you cards. I don't know how long I have been staring at this screen, but my neck hurts from holding it up funny all day and my eyes are going crossed, so I think it is time to wrap up this post and go to bed. It is 11:59 right now, so I will post the pictues tomorrow. Peace out for now.