So I combined a couple of activities into one trip out of the city today, because I’m a “green” kind of Masked Blogger.

First, I drove up to my old stomping grounds in Lake Mary to meet Denise, my friend and former colleague at the big government agency office up there, for lunch at Gator’s. The food and service are good, but the one reason I like to eat at Gator’s is their appetizer known as Tailgate Chips, which is like food of the gods. Here’s how their menu describes this unbelievably delicious dish (which is best served hot, by the way):

TAILGATE CHIPS
Popular oh yeah! Home made potato chips drizzled with Gator’s famous bleu cheese dressing then topped with cheddar cheese, diced tomatoes, chopped bacon and green onions. They are sooo… good you won’t believe it till you try them! Served cold or hot upon request

We had an enjoyable lunch, catching up on things and generally making fun of all the people we used to work with, lol. Except, poor thing, she still does.

After lunch I drove up to Seminole Towne Center Mall to meet Blog Princess, Mikey and Heather at a kid’s play place called Silly Monkey. I took lots of photos, of course, but I’m including this one on my blog page because of what the guy on the right is doing.

Yes, he’s sticking his tongue out when I’m taking the picture. I didn’t notice that when I was shooting because I was focusing on Mikey and Heather, but when I was reviewing all the photos I took I saw this and I’m thinking, “Wha?????”

Looking back, I’m trying to remember if he could have been looking at his kid above me in the climbing equipment and sticking his tongue out at him/her, or if he was just being a dick and trying to ruin my shot. Regardless, he looks like a moron and I had to post this one for all 3 of my readers to see. You can see all the photos on Flickr by clicking the link above or the photo itself.

Anyway, we had a good time, but I think Mikey was overwhelmed by all the kids in Silly Monkey and wanted to get home to watch a video he had been looking forward to, so we only got to spend about 90 minutes together. Heather is getting bigger all the time (well, so is Mikey, lol) and she melted her old granddad’s heart by running up to me and throwing her arms around my legs and hugging me.

So that was my day, fun with a friend, fun with the grandkids and fun with a guy sticking his tongue out. My day is complete.

So, I arrived home Friday evening and got to sleep in my own Blog Bed for one night, then we were off on a road trip to St. Augustine Saturday afternoon. Blog Princess has a pretty good rundown of all the festivities and several photos, so there’s no need for me to repeat her post.

I will say it was fun to surprise her just before the wedding started. We had arrived a few minutes before she and Jason did and my brother-in-law had pulled me into a room off the main foyer of the church to discuss the videotaping, so when BP walked in and did not see me standing with BG, her hopes that I might show up unexpectedly began to dim. When I finished going over things with Paul, I walked out into the foyer, which was quite large, and saw BG and other family members gathered in a group on the far side and BP was standing so that she could not see me approaching until BG said to her, “Look over there” when I was about halfway to them. BP turned, saw me, let out a scream and ran over to hug her old man.

Then it was time for the ceremony to begin and I was able to stay busy helping with the 2 cameramen and taking my own still photos like this one.

There was a great reception afterward at a country club that my niece had worked at and we finally wrapped things up there around 11pm. I got to dance with BG and BP and got a little teary-eyed watching Rhyan and her dad dance, remembering when BP and I did the father-daughter dance at her wedding a few years ago and how happy and proud I was (and am) of her.

They also did something I had not seen at a wedding reception before, but thought it was a great idea; the DJ played a couple of slow songs and you could give the bride a dollar to take a couple of turns around the dance floor with her, until someone else cut in with their dollar and etc. I walked up and pushed my way through all the twenty-something guys holding their measly dollar bills, stating loudly, “Excuse my gentlemen, but I’ve got $10 for a dance with the lady.” I parted the crowd like Moses at the Red Sea and my niece was laughing as they got out of my way. We danced a little and I told her how happy I was for her and she told me she was so happy that I got to be there after all.

Of course later, BP wanted to know where HER $10 was for the dance she gave me!

We got a good night’s sleep in the hotel room we shared with BP and Jason, although Jason snored throughout the night and then tried to blame it on BG. The next morning those of us who had driven in from Orlando met for a late breakfast and then each went our separate ways to return to O-town.

Rhyan and Townsend, in the words of the old Irish Blessing:

May you always have walls for the winds,
a roof for the rain, tea beside the fire,
laughter to cheer you, those you love near you,
and all your heart might desire.

Ok, by “tomorrow’s post” in my last entry I actually meant “9 days later” and maybe, since I can’t stick to a stated schedule, I should not be throwing stones at the airlines…but no one PAYS me to be on time here, while airlines are paid lots of money to depart and arrive on schedule.

In returning from Atlanta last week I had originally been booked on a flight that was scheduled to depart at 3:29pm and would have had me arriving just in time for Blog Girl to pick me up from the airport on her way home from work. But throughout the week, Atlanta kept having thunderstorms beginning in the afternoon around 2:45 and lasting from 2 to 4 hours. After hearing on the news Tuesday and Wednesday that lots of flights out of Atlanta had been delayed because of the weather (and knowing the weather forecast was the same for Friday), I decided to arrive at the airport early to drop off my rental car and see if I could get the people that book flights for my group to get me on a flight that was scheduled to leave earlier. I should point out that there was no way for me to change airlines as I have to fly on the one with which they are under contract. And this isn’t a gripe about any particular airline anyway, but about the industry itself.

When I called the booking agency they were able to move me up to a flight that was leaving at 2:15pm and gave me my confirmation number as they were talking to the airline. After going through that crazy security mess I told you about in the last post, I eventually found myself boarding the plane at 1:45pm. I happened to have a window seat right over the baggage loading door and watched my checked luggage going into the hold first, so I knew up front I’d be waiting a while for it to be unloaded and placed on the baggage carousel in Orlando, since it would be in the last batch off the plane. I also observed that rain began to lightly fall at 2:10pm.

They were still loading baggage at 2:20pm and then that stopped but the loading ramp remained in place. At 2:30pm the pilot finally came on the PA system to announce that, yes we were late leaving the gate, but that they were waiting for baggage from a connecting flight to arrive and be loaded, I was a little conflicted about this; I thought it was nice that they didn’t just leave the baggage for some other flight to bring later, causing the passengers who owned it to wait possibly hours for its eventual arrival, but on the other hand I wanted to get the flight underway. I watched them load the baggage at 2:35pm and we finally backed away from the gate at 2:45pm, as the rain began to fall in slightly heavier amounts.

The pilot guided the plane to what looked like a nearby runway, then kept on rolling past it. Then another and then another and then another until finally, after seemingly crossing the entire airport ground runway system, at 3:05pm we became stationary and the pilot announced that we were 15th (!) in line for take-off. In the meantime, planes stacked up behind us as well, indicating that there were a lot of airlines that were running behind schedule. The rain was steady, but nothing of the magnitude that had been experienced earlier in the week, and I only saw 2 flashes of lightning in the distance and never heard any thunder, so weather would seem to have played a small role, if any, in these delays.

Finally, at 3:59pm, 30 minutes after my original flight was scheduled to depart and almost an hour and 45 minutes after my 2:15 flight was to have left, we went wheels up. It was funny because at 3:57 Blog Girl called me on my cell and, trying to talk quietly and quickly because you’re not supposed to use your cell during take-offs and landings and we were rolling down the runway as we spoke, I said, “I’m on the runway” and she said, “Oh, Ok, I’m on my way” thinking I had arrived in Orlando, and I had to laugh and say, “No, I’m on the runway in Atlanta! I gotta go.”

I ended up arriving at the same time my original later flight was scheduled to arrive.

There’s something very wrong with a system that has you leaving almost 2 hours after your scheduled departure time when it’s not a mechanical, personnel or security issue. Believe me, I have no complaint when delays are caused by those problems because I want that plane to be mechanically sound when it’s 35,000 feet in the air; I don’t want the pilot or co-pilot to be too tired or impaired to effectively fly that plane, and I don’t want some moron with mental, emotional or religious issues trying to make a statement out of my flight. But when it seems like the whole system is falling apart and dozens of flights are late and causing a domino effect down the line, someone needs to rework the system.

I know I’m REALLY going to hate flying this summer.

Next post: happier subject matter, my niece’s wedding.

I finished up my training early (talk about shooting yourself in the foot, right?) but it actually worked out well because not only did it mean I would get to see Blog Girl sooner than anticipated, but it also allowed me to fly home Friday and be able to attend my niece Rhyan’s wedding on Saturday evening in At. Augustine (and to surprise Blog Princess, who did not know I was coming home in time to be there, lol).

My favorite memory of Rhyan is the very first time I met her at MY wedding to her aunt 10 years ago when she was 8 years old. We were married on Easter Sunday in the afternoon so Rhyan (as well as her younger sister) was dressed up in a beautiful white Easter dress,  with gloves, matching purse and even a stylish hat. I was coming down the hall of my future in-law’s home when she stepped out from the entry foyer, stood in front of me with her gloved hand outstretched, and said, “Hi, I’m Rhyan. Are you my new uncle?”. She was so polite and mature for her young years that she melted my hard old heart and I smiled (trying not to use my normal smile, which is quite scary), took her hand, and told her I was and it was a pleasure to meet her.

It’s hard for me to believe she’s getting married now. Time flies when you’re having fun. She’ll be married, or close to it, by the time this is posted (to keep Blog Princess from knowing I’m home), but hopefully I’ll have a couple of pictures to post next time around.

Anyway, Atlanta airport security is a nightmare, as far as the screening process goes. When you first step in line you see they are using the queue system developed and perfected by Disney to good effect. The lines look like an undulating snake made of people, as they loop back and forth through the cordoned off walkways. That is good, that is very organized. At some point you reach a TSA agent sitting in a chair who wants to see your boarding pass and ID. That is good too, because you want to be sure the people coming through have been properly ticketed and identified.

Then, all of the sudden, all the excellent organization ends. As you pass the agent who is checking the boarding passes, you discover that everyone is being fed from the various checkpoints into a mob that is expected to now find their way to the NEXT lines that will lead to the x-ray machines that take your shoes. People were simply pushing their way into whatever position they thought would give them the best chance of getting into a line so they could keep proceeding through the unbelievably disorganized mess that TSA at Atlanta airport tries to pass off as security. It was by far the worst security check I have been through, even worse than the ones we went through on our way to France and back. Even as crowded as it was (and it is much more busy now during this time of year) the process should not have taken the hour that it did.

Don’t get me wrong; I’m all for security and in this day and age it is an inconvenience we must deal with to avoid the possibility of something worse than an inconvenience. But man, this isn’t rocket science and having a disorganized mob in the middle of your process isn’t going to work to your advantage or ease the emotions and frustrations of those who have to put up with your disorganization.

/End rant

…until tomorrow’s post about airline scheduling…or lack thereof.

Here’s a site you should visit, read and leave comments on the posts. Just don’t tell the writer that The Masked Blogger sent you.

As our friend Jann pointed out, I could always go see the Atlanta Braves play during Spring Training at Disney. And she’s right, but it just wouldn’t be the same as seeing a Major League Baseball game on the team’s home field.

So Sunday morning around 11am I drove the short distance to the train station and took a 20 minute ride into downtown Atlanta, then got on a shuttle bus that took me (and about 50 other fans) over to Turner Field.

After picking up my ticket at the “Will Call” window, I stepped inside to see what you see below. This is the area just outside the field behind centerfield and is on the upper level. You can see part of the stands on each side and on the opposite side of the screen you see with the baseball on it is the world’s largest HD screen. Beneath the baseball you see a smaller screen and that all sits atop the Braves Clubhouse Store where I almost choked when I asked a clerk how much a Braves baseball cap was and he said “$32, sir”. Gulp! Thanks anyway.

This s hot gives you a good idea of where I was sitting. If it hadn’t been for people traipsing up and down in front of me, this would have been a great seat, but even with that it was a good view and not too expensive.

Panning to the right you see right field to the right and remember that big sign 2 pictures back? Well there’s the side that is over centerfield and is the world’s largest HD screen. That adorable looking fellow on the screen is Braves Manager, Bobby Cox. The players you see right in the middle are about to be introduced by the announcer.

Atlanta’s Yunel Escobar is up to bat. I don’t remember now if he singled or was walked, but either way he ended up on first base.

Here’s Escobar stealing second. Man, that guy runs like the Flash!

Just a composite shot of a batter singling to first base.

Hey! What’s the big idea of putting up the Bat Symbol on the screen instead of the Superman “S”?

Oh, I see, because the Bat Girls are out.

I had a fun time going to my first Major League baseball game. The weather was good, overcast and cloudy for most of the game, which kept the temperature down and the sun didn’t really start to come out until the middle of the 8th inning. The Braves were up 5 to 1 at the top of the ninth inning, so I headed back out to the shuttle bus, rode the train back to the station and drove back to the hotel.

If you’re planning on trying to get a look at The Masked Blogger during the game tomorrow (you know, in case I do something SO outrageous they put the camera on me), I’ll be sitting in Section 117 with a shirt the color of baby-poop yellow and perhaps a Braves baseball cap on, if I buy one before the game.

Thought I’d throw out a few pictures of my crib here in Hotlanta.

Ok, ok, pictures of my hotel and room in Atlanta.

Here is a shot of the front of the hotel from the street. Somebody stuck a big, black arrow on the front pointing to my room.

Left side of the front room from the entrance door.

Right side of the front room from the entrance door with the bathroom farther back on the left and the little kitchen on the right.

Front room from the inside hall and another big, black arrow hanging from the ceiling.

Left side of the bedroom from the bedroom door.

Right side of the bedroom from the bedroom door with yet another big black arrow stuck on the drapes.

So that’s the tour of my little place on the road. The two TV’s are nice but I really haven’t watched much since being here; mostly local and CNN news, a couple of Larry King Live shows and one HBO movie “Final Destination 2″. I’ve also watched the “Special Features” disc of the new extended version release of the first Fantastic Four movie on my laptop. The rest of my time has been spent reading, writing and sleeping, at least when I’m here in the room. What an exciting life! LOL

After the CNN Behind the Scenes tour I grabbed some lunch (which turned out to be the worst sweet and sour chicken (?) I have ever eaten) from a Chinese place in the food court, bought some souvenirs from shops in the atrium and then hustled out to catch the train to my next stop, the High Museum of Art.

The High (as Atlantans call it) had two specific exhibits I wanted to see; Louvre Atlanta: Kings as Collectors, comprised of more than 30 works assembled during the reigns of Kings Louis XIV and Louis XVI of France and Annie Leibovitz: A Photographer’s Life, 1990 - 2005, an exhibit of 175 photographs Leibovitz created on assignment as a professional photographer, as well as personal photographs of her family and close friends.

Ironically (but not surprisingly), there is no photography allowed in the museum.

I arrived in time to take the one hour guided tour at 1pm so I could get an overview of where everything was in the museum and then spent another hour and a half just strolling through and enjoying the exhibits I came to see and other art on display. I was a little disappointed that they only had one Monet painting on exhibit, “Autumn on the Seine”, but since I was fortunate enough to have been at his home and garden just 2 months ago I shouldn’t grouse too much. The Louvre exhibit was beautiful and reminded me of my several visits to the Musée du Louvre in May.

The Annie Leibovitz exhibit was spectacular and easily the most crowded part of the museum’s exhibits. The exhibit was composed of both fully processed works and, perhaps even more interesting, proof shots. Ms. Leibovitz is truly an artist with a camera, carefully posing her subjects with their individual personalities in mind in what she is striving to capture. This famous photo of John Lennon and Yoko Ono attempts to show the nature of this famous couple’s love and relationship. Tragically, this photo was taken the morning of December 8, 1980; at approximately 11pm that night Lennon was shot and killed outside his home.

After Atlanta, the exhibit moves to the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. from October 13, 2007 through January 13, 2008 and then on to the Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco from February 9 through May 11, 2008. If you’re in either of those places during those times, I highly recommend this exhibit.

Leaving the High I got back on the train and made my way to Underground Atlanta. I wish now I hadn’t wasted my time.

Underground Atlanta used to be the street level for this section of town, back in the days when the train ran through it. In the 1900’s with new-fangled automobiles and an ever-increasing pedestrian population causing the streets to be dangerously crowded, the city decided to build viaducts, not to rise above bodies of water but to rise above the crowded railway street.

These days, Underground Atlanta is (this is my opinion) a horrible mutation that resembles a shopping mall with heavy flea market influences. There are shops on each side of the street and the street itself is filled with cheap kiosks that appear to have reproduced as prodigiously as rabbits. But I’m probably the one out of sync on this because the place was incredibly crowded and it was only 4 o’clock in the afternoon. I kept a hand on my wallet because pickpocketing would be so very easy in this atmosphere. I’m told by residents and friends that it is a very enjoyable place at night when the clubs open up and music acts are performing, but I’m not sure I’d enjoy it with even more people crammed in the area. Plus, the place smelled bad. I don’t even know how to describe the odor that was constant during my walk through, but it wasn’t pleasant by any means.

Here I am (somewhere, just not sure where) on the street level above Underground Atlanta where you will find several of those white archways letting you know that beneath your feet is the world famous Underground Atlanta. Like I said, I wish I hadn’t wasted my time.

Anyway, this Sunday I’m looking forward to my first Major League baseball game when I go to see the Atlanta braves play the Pittsburgh Pirates at 1:05pm. I already have my ticket and, if you want to watch for me, I’m in the field seats that are just beyond first base, 18 rows up. Of course I won’t have my mask on, so you won’t recognize me anyway. Still and video cameras are allowed so I’m hoping to get some good photos and a little bit of video, besides enjoying the game.

And finally, before I go I’ve been meaning to mention that not only is former WFTV reporter Ross Cavitt here at the Atlanta ABC local affiliate, but so is Jodie Fleischer.

Things have been going well here in Atlanta, except for the fact that my little old head is about to explode from all the policies, practices and procedures that are being crammed into it. I have the distinct feeling that I’m being quietly tested on different fronts to gauge not only my knowledge but my judgment (that’s it, I know I’m done for now) and my demeanor. But, no one has said “Get out” yet, so I guess I’m doing something right.

Earlier last week I decided I would go out this past Saturday and see a little of what Atlanta has to offer. I’m fortunate in that the rail system (MARTA) has a station about 10 minutes from my hotel and the train has stops very close to the places I was planning on visiting. I wish O-town had a mass transit rail system to move people. I rode all the way into Atlanta (about 30 miles if I had been driving) for $1.85 in comfort and no traffic in just 20 minutes.

Anyway, my first stop was CNN Headquarters to take the “Behind the Scenes” tour of the world’s first Cable News Network. Behind that ticket kiosk in the photo below is a security setup that rivals those at the airports in terms of thoroughness. Obviously, when you think about it. the headquarters of this news organization would be an attractive target to some moron(s).

Standing in the atrium and looking up you see the world’s longest free-standing escalator, leading into the huge world globe on the 8th floor. That is the escalator people take to start the tour and it’s a spectacular view from the top. Unfortunately, once you pass through security there are no photos or video allowed. This photo and the one below it were taken from the floor of the food court in the atrium.

The first stop is the CNN theater where you get to see the same screens that are in the control room and listen to the director and producer (and the on-air talent during commercials) talking about which shots will be cued up when, what stories are coming up and counting down when they come back from commercials. We happened to be watching and listening just as the news broke that John Mark Karr had been arrested on domestic violence charges and so during the commercial break we heard the director order up file footage and explain to co-anchor Betty Nguyen what the intro would be while the other co-anchor, T.J. Holmes, moved to another location in the studio for a different story. We saw the file footage come up on one of the multitude of monitors, heard the director confirm that the footage was what he ordered and then listened as the producer counted down and watched Betty Nguyen get herself set for the camera shot and ready to deliver the intro the director was giving her verbally and via the teleprompter. If you enjoy knowing what goes on behind a live broadcast, it is one of the best parts of the tour.

From there we went to a small studio set up to demonstrate the “blue screen” or sometimes “green screen” effect used in broadcasting the weather, where the weatherperson stands in front of what looks to viewers like a map but is really just a blue (or green) screen with the map inserted in the camera only. They also had a news anchor desk set up just like the “live” one and for $20 you could sit at the desk and have your picture taken as if you were delivering the news. No thanks, been there, done that.

By the way, these three photos are from the CNN website “Virtual Tour”. You didn’t think I had been sneaky and taken these pictures, did you?

Then it was on to the floor above the main news floor that you see behind the CNN anchors during the broadcast; the one where all the people are moving around in the background. Those are the live news checkers, writers, directors and producers who put together the pieces you see presented as news. We stood above them in a glass-enclosed hall looking down and watching them do their thing. For this part of the tour a big, burly, armed security gaurd joined us, I imagine to make sure no one tried to shatter the glass or something. All I know is I had my black duffel bag with both my cameras and some other stuff in it and he was watching me all the time, lol. Maybe he didn’t think his colleagues downstairs had done a proper job of checking me and my bag.

After that we dropped by the Headline News studio, which is of course MUCH smaller because they are just re-airing packages that have already run on the main CNN broadcast. Most of them are cut down in time and then made part of a 15 minute or so combination package and run continuously for several hours before being updated with “newer” news. We also got to peek in on the CNN International studio and the separate CNN Spanish broadcast. We finally ended up in another small theater watching a little “puff piece” by various CNN personalities like Wolf Blitzer, Anderson Cooper, Christiana Amanpour and Robin Meade explaining why the love the news business.

Then, just like the Disney, Universal and Sea World rides, we ended up at…the CNN Gift Shop. I laughed out loud when the tour guide brought us in, but quickly stopped and told her “thank you” for the excellent tour. I REALLY enjoyed it.