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Church and politics don't mix

Katie — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 15:26:13 GMT

So, we had some major shake up at church on Sunday. Our pastor resigned without anyone knowing about it. All we found out is someone accused him of something and he resigned the church and the ministry.

Come to find out last night was a meeting for the whole church. While not technically a member, I am married to one and both of my children are members. I have been getting mail from them for months as a member. Even the letter about the meeting was addressed to both Bill and I. They consider me a member, but I am not.

So, why would they always say in our church "All are welcome" when they really aren't? I haven't gone to church in years and I felt really at home there. I loved the pastor. He baptized both of my children. (It was in fact his last baptism he would ever perform.)

So last night, I get to the meeting, and I don't have a card. Because I am not technically a member I was NOT allowed in because they think anyone who isn't a member will call the press/media and blab about whatever happened. Which I didn't even know until the in-laws called us last night to talk about.

We went home, Bill was very pissed off at the church. Due to the politics of it all. You know, a church should be about worship and helping people. Not sitting them out in the cold when something really bad happens that shakes up the entire congregation.

Can't there be a church out there with just that mission? Without the politics, where all are welcomed regardless of whatever happens?

Apparently, last night a few people were turned away from the meeting. That had been going there for years. It's just really sad at how this world comes to.

So, for now, Bill and I are looking for a new church to worship at where the drama is less then zero.

Oh well, thanks for reading.

More changes, more gripes by me...

Steven — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 20:55:16 GMT

We will be doing some maintenance over the weekend (11/14-11/16), so at times, there may be some momentary downtime. We need to do some maintenance to vBulletin, as well as some other parts of the site.

Also, some people may have noticed this thread...

http://www.thrillnetwork.com/boards/...s-stories.html

Here is how I saw the posts... the staff made their comments, and the members who posted came off as ignorant and lazy. Naturally, I had enough.

We, as a staff, have put in thousands of hours to this site. On top of that, there are thousands of hours put into the design and construction of the site. Unlike some others, we don't have the luxury of having it be our full time job, and being able to make income off of memberships and stuff. Our advertising revenue pays for our server co-location and bandwidth, and what's leftover takes care of other costs, such as software licensing and operating costs. In the end, we as staff see zero.

Then, when I find out cases like this, where people who are so deeply forum-centric post stuff like that, I can't help but get angry. One of your fellow members actually went off and started criticizing the blogs for not being used. Well, I never expected full use. Furthermore, the blogs were part of a bigger upgrade that we purchased when we renewed our forum software license and did the major upgrade to 3.7.x (which offers the enhanced profiles and social networking features).

Did I expect this site to become the next MySpace or Facebook? Hell no! In fact, we've been trying to work on getting it so we can integrate some of our features with MySpace and Facebook (yeah, some others have already offered features like coaster counts and such, but we can do better).

Trust me though... I don't get like this anytime there is an issue. To think of ThrillNetwork as just the forums is really not good for you as a member. One of my pet peeves is a duplication of efforts and discussion... because it hurts everyone all around. That is why we have things the way they're set up.

However, we're in the midst of testing some new things that will make it easier for everyone to submit news, participate in news discussion, and so forth. Unfortunately, it takes time, and until then, we ask that you take time and use more of the site, and not be so reliant on the forums for everything.

New Pictures of the kids

Katie — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 15:50:00 GMT

http://www.thrillnetwork.com/boards/...ella-matt.html

Take a peek of the cute ones.

Engineers Without Borders - UT

amnesiac — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 22:54:29 GMT

I am writing to ask for your support for an Engineers Without Borders � University of Toledo (EWB-UT) project in an arid and remote village in the Central American country of Honduras. The clean water needs of this impoverished community were first recognized by Peace Corps volunteer, Jenny Mayo, and brought to the attention of EWB-UT. This is a great opportunity for your family, company, or yourself to establish a relationship with Engineers Without Borders at the University of Toledo and to contribute to alleviating poverty worldwide.

In May 2008, a team of four students and a professional traveled to the village of Los Sanchez to assess the community. Women and their daughters currently have to walk more than a mile to a polluted river for drinking water. The river is also used for bathing and cleaning as well as the source of water for domestic animals. The existing water of Los Sanchez is not acceptable even for Honduran standards. In the following months after our trip, EWB-UT has finalized a design and budget for accessing a clean alternative source from a nearby mountain spring. The future will include potable water that will be used for everything from drinking to irrigating crops thus empowering the whole community of Los Sanchez.

Read more about the Clean Water Project in Los Sanchez. (*Projects)

Engineers Without Borders is a non-profit international humanitarian organization dedicated to improving the quality of life for developing communities worldwide. The mission of EWB is the implementation of sustainable engineering projects while involving and training internationally responsible professional engineers and engineering students. Since the inception of EWB in 2000, it has grown to over 200 chapters in just the United States working on over 170 projects in 41 different countries. The chapter at the University of Toledo is passionately dedicated to the design and construction of a clean water supply system to Los Sanchez, and respectfully requests you and your company to consider a monetary and/or in-kind contribution.

Your donation of $25 or more will help us reach goal!

DONATE NOW!

The National Academy of Engineering identifies the access to clean water as one of the world's Grand Engineering Challenges of the Twenty-First Century. As members of EWB and life-long students of engineering, we have accepted this challenge and consider it our responsibility as future engineers. Most builders spend their time designing for the wealthiest 10 percent of the population consisting of the majority of global consumers while inevitably overlooking some of the most difficult problems afflicting solely the poor. For underdeveloped communities, everything from waste water management to the generation of energy to heat kitchen ovens requires a unique and creative solution rarely used in the developed world.

If you are interested in giving an in-kind donation rather than monetary for this project, please phone (614) 264-6291, or e-mail Mark Skopin at mskopin@eng.utoledo.edu. We especially hope to provide the children of Los Sanchez with your donated clothes. Thank you for taking time to read this email, and if you have any questions please feel free to contact us.

DONATE TODAY! (https://utssl.utoledo.edu/utfoundation/gift_engewb.asp)

Thank you very much,

Nick Weisenberger

Engineers Without Borders � University of Toledo

Six Flags AstroWorld: A Look Back - Part One

James R — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 20:04:42 GMT

Six Flags AstroWorld: A Look Back - Part One

Hey all! Just thought I'd drop a notice for you guys to check the new Special Feature on the front page!

It's a two-part series on Six Flags AstroWorld, regarding the park's history, rides, visitors and employees, and other things as well. Go check it out, comment, and leave your thoughts!

Go! Now!

A Bus Load of Nuns

amnesiac — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 15:16:52 GMT

I saw this video on YouTube the other day about the situation at Six Flags over Georgia (from over the summer) where a kid was killed when he jumped two fences and entered a low zone of the Batman: The Ride inverted coaster. The dude in the video is exactly right and makes some really good points, my favorite being the "bus load of nuns" comment toward the end. A reporter finally says something intelligent and coaster dork-ish that makes me smile: the chick says "B&M roar."

YouTube - 17 Year Old at Six Flags Georgia

Lazyness

Racer — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 21:06:51 GMT

Some people would say that I am lazy, that may be true, but I think that I am simply inactive. The way I see it, lazyness actually makes people smarter. My reasoning for this is that people who are lazy(or inactive) try to find shortcuts to make things easier.
If this was not the case, we would not have computers or cars.

Valleyscare Review

Woodie4-07 — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 00:02:09 GMT

Valleyscare's opening day. First thing I noticed once we started walking around was the cornstalks all around the park. I loved that addition. A couple other things I noticed:
-Hellside actually looked amazing!
-Carnage's new entrance looked really cool
-Chateau's building was COVERED in camo netting
-Bloodshed's Facade looked really awesome!
-The Flume is gone Also there are advertisements advertising a new wavepool so woohoo, we're getting a wavepool!

Onto the reviews!

Mr. Cleaver's Bloodshed: I loved this maze. Very gory and disgusting. I loved all the props, and the actors were spot on in their performances. The drop doors really got me all through-out the house. Only complaint I have is that it's far too easy to get lost/wander through an emergency exit. In fact, the second time we went through the maze, the people ahead of us (who we were following), leading us out the back of the house. We had to go back through the Cedar Gate. Other then that, I thought the actors were great, and the layout was as well!
Atmosfear -:- 9
Layout -:- 5
Intensity -:- 8
Actors -:- 9
Overall -:- 8

Chateau Du Damne: Back for the 3rd year, I wasn't expecting much other then a changed exterior. Boy was I wrong. . . This maze yesterday to me was the best maze of the day. First thing I noticed was that the house had a lot more creepy looking lights. A couple layout changes, and more props made this really cool! But my favorite part HAD to be the ending! The garden/gate area was so intense I was literally scared for my life the first time we went through. If you experienced it differently, let me explain. First time we went through, after the hallway of hair, we were screamed at on the left, someone on the right (werewolf) had a bone and hurled it against the gate which was extremely loud, there were 2 people on the right above the gate reaching down at us screaming insanely loud, and a monster was chasing after us. It was the most intense experience I've ever had in Chateau let alone the haunt. Also I wanna give a shoutout to the greeter (HHScreamster) for doing a tremendous job at the door again, and the girl on the right in the first room. (Inside joke)
Atmosfear -:- 10
Layout -:- 8
Intensity -:- 9
Actors -:- 10
Overall -:- 9.5

Mangler Asylum: This maze also returning for its 3rd year was alright. Right off the bat, I have to say that the greeter for the Asylum was very rude and snobby. That's one of the things I didn't like about the maze. In fact because of her, we avoided it and hit up Chateau about 20 times.
Layout is basically the same, actors are the same for the most part, and yeah they did a nice job on keeping up the intensity of the Asylum last year. Not much else to say about this one.
Atmosfear -:- 8
Layout -:- 10
Intensity -:- 8
Actors -:- 7
Overall -:- 8

CarnEvil: CarnEvil was sorta a hit & miss for me last night. It seemed the first time we went through, the actors were just getting close to us and not trying to scare us, but the second time, we got scared crapless a couple of times. I liked the moving heads in the dark room, and the ending was actually pretty cool too! Loved the soundtrack, but still can't remember what exactly it is.
Oh well. I hope this maze gets better through-out October! Also, the clown in the little booth at the entrance has a new little *twist* on it. Watch out!
Atmosfear -:- 10
Layout -:- 7
Intensity -:- 4
Actors -:- 5
Overall -:- 6

Carnage at Crimson Isle: Carnage to me was a bit of a let down. I loved the new entrance (lots better then 06/07), but there was a lot of things that were not so good to me. First off, the first room. We were in the second group that got in for the night. It was so foggy/flooded with lights, nobody could see anywhere. It was very scary, but not in the haunt sense, more like the people could get lost/hurt sense. Onto the next room we went where it was insanely foggy still. I swear it took us about 7 minutes to get through the first two rooms. Everyone was running into each other and overall it was just not fun or scary. After that, we went down the hall and into the next section. The alligator's were cool, and the guy laying on the boxes made me jump, but then we went back into the tents. This time it was strobes. Again, couldn't really see, got very congested, and people had to be led out. Final scene, only cool part was the canon (same from 06/07). Overall it was a bit of a let down, and I won't be sad if it does get removed next year like the rumor has it.
Atmosfear -:- 7
Layout -:- 4
Intensity -:- 2
Actors -:- 3
Overall -:- 4

Hellside Farm: Well, just walking up the Wild Thing path and seeing the gigantic rows of corn covering walkways convinced me that this would be amazing. I was right. This maze was very cool. I had a nice couple talks with the greeter lady. She was nice. She said that it would be 100% better this year, and she was so right. There were creepy scarecrows, maniacs, farmhands, and even a slider! This was very fun, and it's just really a great experience walking through it. Word of advice though, if you'd like to maximize your experience, wait a LONG time before you enter. It's 20x better if you are the person getting scared and not the people in front of you (don't you hate that?!). Overall, 100% better than 07. Woohoo Valleyfair!
Atmosfear -:- 10
Layout -:- 8
Intensity -:- 9
Actors -:- 9
Overall -:- 9.5

Blood Creek Cemetery: Blood Creek is now the only Scare Zone (which leads me to believe we'll be receiving another for 09 but I'm not gonna think about that ha). . . and I'm glad it's awesome! The atmosphere of the whole zone was crazy! Everyone seemed to be injured/dead and everyone had their game on! Props to the "Brains Brains Brains" dude. He is honestly my favorite monster of the night. Everyone in the cemetery contributed to scaring people, and despite one guy texting at around 11 (Hey I'd be tired too. . . ) no one was slacking! At one point, I saw two girls literally Screaming for their lives on a bench, surrounded by around 7 monsters all just screaming at them. Funniest part of the night! Overall Blood Creek really improved from the first/second year, and I hope it keeps getting better!
Atmosfear -:- 9.5
Layout -:- 7
Intensity -:- 6
Actors -:- 9 (Brains dude rules!)
Overall -:- 8.5

Overall the haunt like every year, improved! I loved all the new props, haunts, features, and monsters! Thanks to everyone for putting in an amazing effort on opening night, and good luck with the rest of the year!

Onto the pics:
*Picture*
Caption

Woohoo! Finally the day has come! Valleyscare 2008!

Mr. Spider who always makes his appearance

*Snarls*

Yay the rumors were true! New wavepool for 09!

Also returning to the park. . . the fountain skeletons!

A couple cool new props

Ay buddy how you doin?

They were setting these up when we got there

CarnEvil's queue

The Asylum

Woohoo Chateau is covered in camo!

We saw Frogwarts. It was alright. Don't go if you hate kids shows.

Woot woot! Chateau Rules!

This was being honked/turned on at night. Nice effect

Future site of a wavepool

Overview 1

Overview 2

Hellside Farm. New & Improved!

GODZILLA!

Woohoo! Mr. Cleaver's Bloodshed

New Entrance

Park Atmosphere

Aw hey Conner!

The Entrance.

Didn't visit that this year.

Boogie Monsters

Blood Creek

The other entrance

Fairly busy

BCC

Most of Blood Creek

Skeleton

The New Show

Blood Creek Overview

These guys were cool!

I'm guessing that was the Power Tower island back in the day.

On PT Island

WHAT?! WE HAD FLYING SCOOTERS?!?!?!

RIP Wild Rails

Awww. . .

Never rode it.

The Graveyard.

Hellside Farm's Exit

New one

I like this pic

The Construction Site

The Sign

The Asylum

CarnEvil

The Crow Lady!

The Tent Maze

The Exit

The Entrance/Exit are sorta similar.

Blood Creek!

Through the Fog

Haha the football looking skeleton.

The Pond

Flying Trapeze

Rat Lady!

General Atmosphere

The Fire Lounge Voodoo Thingy

The random but awesome fireworks that went off at around 8

I just can't get enough of that sign!

Hellside.

Monsters!

Thanks for reading everyone!

The Future of Transportation in America

amnesiac — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 02:01:16 GMT

Ford builds a car that gets 65mpg but won't sell it in the U.S. for "marketing" reasons. Ford will sell the car in Europe where gas prices may now be the equivalent of fifteen United States dollars per gallon. That's almost five times more than the average here in America, even though the U.S. uses much more barrels of oil per day. Europe uses much less fuel in cars because they have an amazing public transportation system and many people don't even own a car. Buses, subways, trams, trolleys, and high speed railroads are all in use in Europe, and have been around many years.

Why doesn�t this type of public transportation exist in America? The biggest cost in constructing a high speed railway system in America is the infrastructure. The civil engineering. Buying all of the land for the tracks to run on. Most people will be surprised to hear that this crucial step has already been completed. So where is all this land the railway tracks will go? Easy. Four-lane divided highways are the perfect solution. Take half of that divided highway and convert it to two tracks for bullet trains going opposite directions. Take the other half of the highway and paint a double yellow line down the center of it for whatever remaining cars there are and for service vehicles to use. Now Americans can pay their yearly travel pass of $2500 to $3000 and travel anywhere in America. At first $2500 to $3000 is a pretty steep upfront fee. But think about it and how much money would actually be saved by doing it this way: no car insurance, no gas, no car repairs. You could take several trips from coast to coast if you wanted. The possibilities are endless.

What keeps this from happening right now? Money. Not the cost to build the system, but the money that people have invested in the oil and automobile industries. The rich will do anything to stay that way and keep other people from becoming rich. The businessmen who have tons of money invested into oil pay lawmakers to keep these railroads and such from happening because it would make them bankrupt.

However, the day will come when a change will be forced upon America. Extremely high gas prices ($15/gallon) or lack of oil/gas altogether, whichever comes first, will force American's to quite driving and invest in public transportation methods. This will happen in our lifetimes.

Valleyscare Haunt Preview!

Woodie4-07 — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 00:09:57 GMT

Hey everyone, since the main site is getting prepared for launch on V2, I decided I'd post the Haunt Preview here! Enjoy!

Valleyscare Haunt Preview

Welcome to the 2008 Haunt Preview page! This page is made for anyone who has any questions, or is looking forward to knowing about the 2008 Halloween Haunt at Valleyscare. Feel free to preview this year�s haunt, and as always, we�ll follow up after the Haunt is over with a Haunt review. Thanks for viewing, and this year�s Halloween Haunt at Valleyscare starts Saturday, September 28th 2008.

*Remember, these are opinionated previews, and all the reviews and/or previews, and thoughts on this page are signified as non-official reviews and/or previews for the 2008 Valleyscare Halloween Haunt.*

Haunted Houses

CarnEvil
CarnEvil last year was way better than in 2006 in most people�s eyes. The layout of the maze was changed up a bit from the first year it debuted, and the talent was great! Most of the set design was the same, and that was the same case for most of the props as well. This year, we don�t quite know what to expect. It has been made clear that the layout is being kept the same, and that nothing extremely major is going to take place inside it this year. Last year there was a TON of fog, and that made the mazes overall atmosphere really great, so let�s hope they keep that the same for this year. Will the clowns be on their game this year? Or with no new updates this year, could the clowns be out next year in place for a new maze. We�ll have to wait and see!

Mangler Asylum
The Mangler Asylum was also one of the originals at Valleyscare 06, and last year was well. . . Amazing. The maze changed a lot since 06, a lot of work went into it, and boy did it pay off. The layout didn�t change much (at least in the first half of the maze), lots of new little things here and there changed to make the atmosphere of it creepy as heck, and the best part, the talent. That was the key aspect of this maze. I went opening Saturday as I normally do, and even though it was the screamsters 2nd or 3rd night scaring live, they did a heck of a job. Everyone was on their game! This year, Mangler Asylum has a tough reputation to live up to. It basically knocked everyone out of the park last year, but will it do the same this year? I have no doubt in my mind that this will be another great year for Dr. Mangler & his crew, but with a new haunt in town, will the Mangler Asylum be the best maze of 08?

Chateau Du Damne
Chateau had a great year just like it did in 06. The layout changed through-out the whole maze for the better, and again with the atmosphere . . . incredible. The darkness of the maze made it extra eerie. The talent was really on in this maze as well as the other ones across the park. This year, we�ve heard through the scrim that the ending is going to be switched up a bit, but other then that nothing that major will be done to the maze. I personally believe that this haunt will be one of the better haunts this year, but that�s just a hunch. We�ll have to find out for ourselves what this maze will bring to the table.

Mr. Cleaver's Bloodshed
Well here we have a brand new maze on the table for 2008. This table�s getting quite crowded so this will really have to have its game on. The budget for this maze is jaw dropping enough! (150k) What to expect from Mr. Cleaver? Well first of all, a lot of gore. That�s the main focus of the maze, so that�s what we�ll get. From a reliable source, the building is a lot bigger then it looks (Building attached to Cool & Creamy). The games in front of the building area being removed/rearranged to accommodate Bloodshed. It�s nice to see that they�re trying to make it bigger then the building appears.
Update: 09/16/08 We've heard from people who have seen the inside of the building, and from what it sounds like, this will be the most gore & blood filled maze at Valleyscare by far (Just think of the Asylum times about 5 or 6 ) More to come!

Outdoor Walk-through's

Carnage at Crimson Isle
Carnage at Crimson Isle saw loads of improvement last year. The layout changed a ton in this maze. Although the beginning of the maze didn�t change much (Path leading up to IMAX), the rest of the maze got a major facelift. A lot of new props were put in, and the two tents that were used were chalk full of fog, strobes, and fish string (which feels really creepy/gross when you walk through it!). Now the question is, will Carnage be different in its 3rd year at the haunt? The answer of course is yes. This year, the path leading up to IMAX is being removed, and instead the maze is expected to start where the first tent was which raises the question, are the haunt masters this year going to make the haunt have more of a maze like feel this year? Or will it be just a tent like last year. We�ll have to find out opening night.

Hellside Farm
That�s right. . . Hellside is going to be an Outdoor Walkthrough this year. Latest has it that because of the size of the area, it�s going to be enclosed this year (with walls unlike last year just with path barriers). The entrance/exit location is still yet to be determined, but it will be a one way maze. This year, the budget is being extended for this walkthrough, and it will be much improved from last year. From what it sounds like, there will be walls on either side making it even more like Carnage, and that�s how it will be through-out the whole maze. I imagine that if there was construction that just may happen to be apparent during the haunt on the flume side, which would be even more of a reason to have the maze be enclosed with walls. What�s to expect out of the old farm this year? We don�t quite know, but there is one thing that is going to happen, and it�s coming in large amounts. Change.

Scare Zones:

Blood Creek Cemetery
Blood Creek is all by its lonesome this year as far as scare zones. Last year, Blood Creek pretty much stayed the same as 06. Still lots of fog, lots of actors, lots of tombstones, and a slider! It was actually cool to see a slider in Blood Creek, and from what I saw, it got a lot of scares. This year, expect the overall atmosphere of Blood Creek to be a bit different. Standing atop the Valleyfair Pizza building (Towards the covered bride) will be a brand new feature to Valleyscare. They are known as �Hecklers�. People who nag or intimidate the guests as they enter the zone. They actually use this tactic at a lot of other top name haunts across the U.S. such as Busch Gardens Howl O Scream, and Halloween Horror Nights as well. Will Blood Creek be a lot different from last year? Well no, but there will be things here and there that will contribute to its creepiness. Expect great things!

Overall for the haunt, lots of new changes are taking place. That�s normal for every year of the haunt, but it seems that a couple major ones are taking place. From Hellside�s genre change, to the new �Hecklers� in Blood Creek, there will be lots of new things that will be contributing towards this years overall Haunt factor. As far as the rest of the park, these known Hecklers are said to be placed around the park to try to get people to visit the haunted attractions. Another thing that we�ll have to keep our eye on when it�s announced is entertainment. It has yet to be announced, but I have a certain feeling that we�ll be seeing a new show this year. Will the Ampnitheater be in use this fall? Or will we still have a 2 show lineup? We�ll find out sooner then later! Thanks for viewing the 2008 Haunt Preview!

~Woodie4-07

Extreme Makeover: Home Edition Toledo Episode

amnesiac — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 01:00:55 GMT

This past Saturday was a long day. I woke up at 6:45 to do Clean Your Streams at 7:30. Clean YOur Streams is where a bunch of organizations get together and clean up the Ottawa River that runs through campus. The entire time we were outside it poured down rain and we got soaked. It was for a good cause though plus we got a free lunch, breakfast, and t-shirts and Sarah won a $25 gift card for gas!

Saturday night from midnight to 6am I got to help out with the Extreme Makeover: Home Edition house! It was a lot of fun. I helped move furniture inside and set things up. It'll be cool when they finally air the show and can say "You see that plant on that end table? Yea, I put that there." And if you don't like the way the great room is set up you can blame it on me as it was my suggestion. We saw all three designers on set the day before (Paul DiMeo, Rib, and Didi), but when I was inside Didi was the only one there and actually doing stuff.

The show on TV is kind of deceiving. They make it look like Ty and the designers are really important, but from what I saw they don't really do anything. Ty was only around for maybe 4 days, basically to get the shots they needed of him at the beginning and end and the rest of the time he was gone. Like I said, Didi was the only designer I saw actually doing something. All the contractors and volunteers do the majority of the work. Amazing accomplishment to get it all together in a few days. I am proud and happy I got to be part of it.

And no I am not going to be on TV, there were no camera crews out when I was working at house, but I'm pretty sure Sarah and I were on the Toledo news.

Pictures here:
Nick Weisenberger's Photos - Extreme Makeover: Home Edition Toledo | Facebook

Friends

Racer — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 00:32:26 GMT

Many people think that friends are just people you hang out with at the mall, amusement park, etc., but when life has given you a wide variety of friends, you have to choose which ones to confide in. After many lost friends over the years of elementary school and middle school(jr. high in some places), you learn to deal with broken friendships and cherish the ones you have had for a very long time and try to keep newer ones going.
The best friend a person could have is one who supports you in what you do, gives advice when needed, can be trusted, and understands your passion for rollercoasters, even though they might not share that passion.
In today's time, some people may try to deceive you or betray you. These are not your friends. After dealing with these situations, I have learned to choose friends carefully and that there are only few that I can trust. So if you have gained my trust, you are truly a friend and you will know when that has happened.
True friendships will never die; even if you are separated.

When reason gives way to panic

Marcus — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 07:24:45 GMT

Working at several amusements over many years has introduced me to some very interesting people and left me with some very unusual experiences. However there is no story I like to tell more than the one that made me appreciate being alive.

Last year, I began working at Cedar Point for my 4th season in early March. My friend, whom I had worked with over the past seasons, was nice enough to let stay in his employee housing apartment. The apartment was on the corner of the building, on the second floor, right next to the last street that intersects Cedar Point Dr. before you hit the causeway. We each had our own bunkbed which laid parallel to each other and perpendicular to the wall with the window that looked out over the street.

I did not sleep well the first few nights I spent in the apartment. The noise made by each passing car would awake me until eventually I developed a tolerance for it.

One night I had fallen into a deep sleep and sudden awoke to the sound of an approaching siren.

"Ughhh...Ambulance." I whispered.

I rotated from on my back, to my side, and envied my roommate on the other bed who was still sound asleep.

I began to close my eyes, trying to fall asleep, though the oncoming siren got louder and louder. Now we all have an certain expectation of how loud a car siren is supposed to be. Even though the window to our bedroom was slightly cracked, this siren was much louder than any siren I have ever heard to the point I reopened my eyes and thought,

"Something is wrong."

I tried to calm myself by assessing the situation with some reason.

"Ok, maybe it's just a firetruck with a really, really, really loud siren."

But my anxiety and paranoia felt differently and it wasn't helping the once pitch black room was now illuminated with bright red strobing lights covering the walls. At some point, the sirens became so loud, and walls so bright red, that I full out felt I was in the middle of something much worse.

Paranoia-"IT'S THE BOMB ALERT! I HAVE TO GET OUT OF HERE!"
Reason-"No, it can't be. It's just a firetruck. Sandusky doesn't even have a Bomb Alert."
Paranoia-"OR MAYBE THEY INSTALLED ONE THIS YEAR AND NOW TERRORISTS ARE ATTACKING CEDAR POINT!"
Reason-"No way, if that were true, your roommate who has lived here for 5 years would know about it and would..not...be...slee.

At that exact moment I noticed my roommates eyes were wide open looking back at me. I watched him jump out of his bed with a combination of fear and panic across his face.

"OMFG I'M ABOUT TO DIE! RUN FOR IT!!!"

My friend ran for the door and I jumped out of my bed right behind him. I started covering my face waiting for the huge blast that was about blow up the whole building. I actually considered diving head first into the bedroom closet, but felt my roommate must know where we could seek shelter, so I followed him to the doorway. Then he stopped. He looked at the window and looked at me with an expressionless face which then turned into a smile. Through all my concern, I had forgotten that my friend would ever so often sleepwalk. My shock turned into relief as I immediately defended my stupidity.

"I only ran, because you ran."

Suprisingly our third roommate, on the top of my bunkbed, did not run with us and remained sitting in complete bewilderment. We all went back to bed, and awoke the next morning in question if the event actually happened. I mean, it was just a firetruck.

Further notes on the changes...

Steven — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 02:53:14 GMT

We have made the forum changes. We still have to add the other new features. However, from this point forward, all "Official xxx thread" megathreads are no longer allowed. This includes "xxx general discussion" threads (they fit the same idea that we really need to split up).

Exceptions are in the Rumors and Construction forums. As far as the new "Sports Bar" forum, we'll keep an eye on it, and find ways of keeping some organization.

The reason is this. We simply want to get you to start new discussions on particular topics. A thread is linear in discussion. A forum is non-linear. It's easier to start new discussions in new threads, than to start new discussions in a megathread about Cedar Point or the current NFL season.

We have never been hard-nosed about the forum layout. However, if we find we need a subforum or a new forum for something, we'll create it.

As I noted in my last blog, the Sports forum came from an idea by one of your fellow creators. We kept note of the idea, and we found the need for it, we acted upon it.

We realize that this may not sit well with all members. However, we felt that the threads were beginning to hurt participation. Seasoned members (especially those who have been here since we started the forums in 2001), you might see repeat threads started by newbies. Please don't harass them about it. Help them with whatever questions they have, and help them find a way to keep the discussion fresh.

More changes coming...

Steven — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 05:16:42 GMT

I'm sitting here, listening to Metallica's "The Day That Never Comes" (from their new Death Magnetic album) and drinking Yuengling...

On Saturday, you're going to notice a few merged forums, one disappearing forum, and one new forum. Along with that, you'll notice a few other changes. Here are those changes...

"Roller Coasters" and "Other Rides and Thrills" will be merged into "Roller Coasters, Thrill Rides, and Other Thrills"
"Trip Reports" and "Travel Tips" forums will be merged into "Trip Reports and Travel Tips". Furthermore, you are encouraged to submit your trip report for a TN Feature on the front page. If it's good enough to go on the front page, it may earn you a little money.
"Show Off Your Site" (SOYS) will be removed altogether. If you wish to promote your site, you can do so through your signature, submitting your site through our links page, and using your profile and blog.
A new forum "Sports Bar" will be created. Since we have a lot of sports fans, that will be the new center of discussion. This was actually suggested by one of your fellow members a couple of years back, and we have not forgotten this suggestion, but we do see the need for it now.
A new feature, similar to Myspace/Facebook's status, will be added.
Along with these changes, "Official..." threads will be banned. They have had the effect of stifling discussion on specific topics. If we have so much discussion on Cedar Fair, Six Flags, Universal, or other parks, we may start a sub-forum for each. The only real exceptions will be in Rumors and Construction.

Also, we will be going down momentarily for some forum software updates to fix bugs and possible security issues. This is routine maintenance, and your access to the forum may be restricted for a few minutes. We do this as updates to vBulletin are released.

Lastly, we will be making some staff changes. You will see the new staff, along with changes in our existing staff, in the coming weeks as we get them acclimated to their duties.

The intent of these changes is to stir some things up in here. We want to split up the discussion going on a bit more and throw some fire into the site. Along with that, this is just part of periodic maintenance that we do to keep the site going.