Elephant Parts #4

December 12, 2022

You don't have to be there AT Christmas to enjoy it at WDW!

Well, I made a promise after the downer that was the last post that I would write something a little lighter (as well as with some "Holiday Flair")...I hope this lives up to those promises.

As usual, "Elephant Parts" is my way of cheating in a post - there are several smaller stories here rather than one big one. Enjoy!

"Holiday Time" (?) At Walt Disney World

As I have already made it ridiculously obvious, I love Walt Disney World! Those that enjoy the holidays and WDW might be interested to know that you don't have to go during the actual holidays to see the park all decked out. The Disney elves transform the parks overnight right after Halloween, and the decorations stay up until after the first weekend in January (I know this from having run in many WDW Marathon Weekend Events during that 1st weekend of the new year and the decorations still being up).

This is great news because (what used to be) the "slow season" at WDW is from November 1 - 15, and December 1 - 15. I scheduled many a holiday trip for the express purpose of enjoying the holiday atmosphere at the parks without the holiday crush of huge crowds. One more thing - no matter what you might be thinking - NEVER go to WDW between Christmas & New Year's Day...it is a zoo!

Made these sweatshirts, when you still could, for everyone on one of our family reunions

I already showed you the tree at Magic Kingdom...now I'll show you the castle all lit up for the holidays (with my lovely brother Edward, his wife Catherine, and my nieces Caitlin & Zoë...oh, I'm there mucking up the photo too).

Although this holiday "attraction" is now gone, I'm still going to share it - prior to Disney's Hollywood Studios adding Star Wars Galaxy's Edge, there was actually a mock downtown area that got decked out with millions of lights. Here is a past memory of that...

One More Holiday Memory...

...this one is from my childhood. In my early childhood, when my parents wanted to get away for the weekend, my Great Grandparents would babysit for myself and Edward. Around the holidays this was great fun because my Great Grandma would hand us department store catalogs and told us to circle what we wanted for Christmas (being the greedy little bugger I was, I circled just about everything that wasn't Barbi or a model train [sorry Sheldon Cooper - I don't like trains] ).

While we were doing this, the apartment was filled with so many wonderful smells - my Great Grandma was baking hundreds of cookies to send to all of the families she, and my Great Grandfather, had known from his postings during his career in the US military...(She eventually taught me how to bake...and to cook!)...

She'd box them all up and send dozens of boxes out each year. There was a little depression in mid-December when some of the boxes would come back as undeliverable because the recipient was no longer with us to receive them, but overall it is a cherished holiday memory of mine.

A "Toy Day" Holiday Tidbit

If you (or your kid, or grandkid, etc.) have Animal Crossing New Horizons for the Nintendo Switch, they should be able to visit my island via this Dream Address - DA-8907-3565-4252. It is "Toy Day" on my island in the dream, so the island is all decorated (I seem to recall that I left a bunch of presents out to be opened too)...

(someone please write to me and tell me if they've removed my Dream Island...I can't visit there myself, and I haven't updated it in a long time)

Beautiful, isn't it??? Is that smoke from the house we set on fire years ago???...(can't be)...

"Inspiration, Debauchery, and Destruction At Pajaro Dunes" - An EA Story

While I didn't get to see all of the cool stuff happen that made Electronic Arts what it was in the early days, I was still fortunate enough to have come along at a time before they had all gone away. One of those traditions was a 3-day off-site meeting at Pajaro Dunes (located along the beautiful coast of Monterey Bay).

The three days were supposed to be dedicated toward strategic planning, brainstorming, and team building. What I got to experience was heavy on the team building, and slightly lighter on the brainstorming (with very little strategic planning that hadn't been talked about before).

Being a noob, I was just thrilled to be there in a semi-non-work environment with all of these hyper intelligent, hyper talented people to discuss what the Company was going to try and do next. For me, a lot of what transpired during those days, was truly inspiring! Some of what was talked about was even acted upon after we returned...(at least the parts that could be remembered)...

I got to play a small role in the "destruction" portion of the festivities as, after my boss' boss Bill Kaiser and (then head of EA Sales & Distribution) Larry Probst discovered that I was a reasonably good tennis player, and with the intent to teach their braggart of a head sales rep David Klein a lesson, decided to set him up to play me with the intention that I decimate him.

For the day leading up to the "match", David talked a lot of smack toward me...I didn't bite. In the first place, I'd never seen him hit a ball...he might have been good (in spite of Bill & Larry assuring me that he wasn't). On top of that, trash talking has never appealed to me.

The afternoon of the match arrived and, within two points, I knew that Bill & Larry were right - I had the ability to mess David up real good. What followed ended up being cringe-worthy even for the pair that had set David up to be slaughtered - the "match" was called two games into the 2nd set with my opponent never winning a single game. There is video of this, but I cannot download it and put it here (although I'd love to). The MVP of the event was Jon Medek who did the right thing by taking his shirt off and lying down next to the court to work on his tan while we played.

"House 8" kinda looked like this prior to us getting there...didn't it???

The "debauchery" I can't really speak to much - I don't drink at all, and was a little too shy during these still early times of my days at EA to be seen attempting to party with them (with a Diet Coke in my hand). I did hear all kinds of rumors...from it being like "the last days of Caligula"...to stories of a mad man doing their Joe Walsh impersonation to some of the furnishings with a chainsaw...there were others, but they were just too outlandish to be believed.

Anyway, we all had some good meetings, shared & laughed a lot, kept several OTC pain-killer companies in business, and I got to play a small part in a prank...(plus there were no arrests)...good times!

Please note - the mic in my hand is actually a train whistle with a cover on it

From Running With "Ducklings" To Running As "The King"

There are so many stories from my early days raising funds and running with TEAM In Training...I'm going to try and connect a few here.

It might be hard to believe now, especially where I ended up pace-wise, but I finished only 10 seconds behind my Bride during the first San Diego Rock & Roll Marathon we ran together. One of the Coaches even told me she was just ahead...I didn't believe her - my Bride had left me in a puff of smoke miles earlier but, when she turned around after crossing the line, I was there to be greeted by her - I was now a marathoner too.

Sadly, this would be the fastest time I ever would post - I tore my meniscus playing softball, had surgery and, upon returning to running, discovered that my pace had been reduced from "Reasonable For A Hobbyist" to "Glacial". Oh well, we do the best we can with what we have left.

From "Participant" To "Mentor"

After completing two TEAM events as a participant, I was asked if I might like to be a Mentor. I told them I'd be honored to try. Mentors help a group of runners with their fundraising & training goal / concerns while supplying increased help to the entire TEAM during Saturday Training Sessions. One of the things I was asked to do changed not only this particular training season, but how I would approach running from this point forward.

One of the Coaches this particular season had come across Jeff Galloway's Run / Walk / Run method for endurance events and thought it would be a good experiment to try with the TEAM (with the overall goal being keeping more runners around, active & happy, raising money for the cause). I volunteered to be the overseer of the Run / Walk / Run group of people who had "Glacial" running tendencies (as myself).

Jeff Galloway (right) was an Olympic marathoner (and my coach for several years)

After a couple of weeks of yelling to people to "walk" or "run", with limited success, I went online and found a novelty plastic train whistle. I decided to give one a try to signal those doing the Run / Walk / Run with me...it worked beautifully, and our group grew to 22 runners. We'd be nicknamed "The Ducklings" by someone else (since I, supposedly, was the mama duck quacking [or in this case whistling] for their ducklings to follow them).

Prior to that year's San Diego Rock & Roll Marathon, at the TEAM In Training Inspiration Dinner, I handed out families of rubber ducks to all of my Ducklings (along with their own train whistle). We'd run so many miles together, I wanted them to have something a little more to remember our season together by.

On event day, 22 of us started together...20 of us finished together (with the other 2 having a "good day" and speeding off ahead of the rest of us). We had a great time out there with all the Rock & Roll music, talking, joking, and (of course) Run / Walk / Running (when whistled to do so).

So let's fast-forward a couple of seasons where I have now turned myself into "The King" - the Rock & Roll Marathon series have always had Elvis as their unofficial / official mascot. Many runners dress as Elvis when they participate in the series. I had seen many of them (passing me for the most part), but I had never seen one in purple TEAM In Training colors so, prior to participating in the Seattle Rock & Roll Marathon, I hired a seamstress recommended to me to make me a TEAM Elvis Jumpsuit (she'd made hundreds of other jumpsuits for other runners). It is pictured above prior to us getting on busses to be taken to the start of the event (I finished...got to see a Bald Eagle up real close...was told many times by other runners pointing at different houses that the particular one they were pointing at belonged to Bill Gates...and got many smiles as I ran past folks in my TEAM purple jumpsuit).

Time to flash forward one more time to where I had the honor of being a Coach of a TEAM In Training team. San Diego Rock & Roll was the event, and now I've found a new train whistle to signal people with - a great big wooden one that I can disguise as a mic with a foam cover. Perfect to carry around as Coach Elvis on the course that event day. The other change that was made came from my Bride as she sewed sequins to my Fuel Belt to make me look a little more "authentic".

On event day, I placed myself at key locations to cheer on all of the participants in purple (but, of course, with a special emphasis toward those who were from our Chapter). I sang (poorly), danced (worse), and ran along with others for a brief time to inquire how their day was going. It was great fun, and I got lots of smiles in return for my efforts.

So we started with a train whistle, and we ended with a train whistle...perfect (?) synergy!

Thank ya...Thank ya very much!

As usual, thank you all for taking the time to read this...I hope you enjoyed (at least one of) the stories!

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