Mikey's Birthday at Kings Dominion

Mikey and I went to Kings Dominion for his birthday. We had not been there in about ten years. I think our first date was the last time we went. There were two new rollercoasters. The Dominator is a floorless coaster that is like Apocalypse at Six Flags (which is a standing coaster). It was okay, better than Apocalypse but nothing to write home about. The floor coming back up once the train stopped was the best part. It was like watching the test chambers change in Portal.



The Intimidator though, wow. 300 ft drop, 94 mph, and you just fly up the hill to your doom. It was incredible, one of my favorite rollercoasters. There was an older gentleman working the ride who was having the time of his life announcing everything. He was hilarious too. "Give me a thumbs up if you are excited to ride this ride!.. Well, most of you are excited. The rest of you are going anyway..." We missed him in the evening.

We rode it six times. There were no lines everywhere. The most we waited was about 15 minutes if they were operating one train. If your favorite ride was Dominator, you were in luck. Not only did they run two trains, each row had four seats.

There were several rides that were not open though. Flight of Fear, a childhood favorite, was open in the morning but they closed it to make it a haunted house. The Hurler, Crypt, The backwards side of Rebel Yell, Shockwave, and Windseeker did not run all day. That might be why there was not much of a crowd and I think the tickets were cheaper for that day. I did not mind because both of the new coasters were running all the time with no line.

We went through two haunted houses. One actor got me. Riding the Intimidator in the dark was scarier because there were no lights on the track besides the first hill. We came back earlier than closing because there was not much else to do. We were exhausted and needed a shower.

A Weekend of Surprises

My friend Sam had two extra tickets to Six Flags so we went yesterday. We had not been to an amusement park in over seven years. Our honeymoon was the last time. Mikey made us a half hour late, ran a stop sign, and nearly got us into a major accident. I was livid at him when we arrived. I told the parking attendants and Sam what he did. They had a good laugh and we were soon having the time of our lives on The Mind Eraser and ROAR. I have had pictures of those two rollercoasters as the wallpaper on the laptop and my desktop to motivate me to work hard. We got to ride everything we wanted although the line for Batwing was not really worth it. It is not one of my favorites. Unfortunately, a cold front came in and we were not able to go to the waterpark.

They had two new rollercoasters that I had never ridden. The Ragin' Cajun made me dizzy. At first, you do not spin around but by the middle of the ride, you are flying through spins. If I had eaten before that one, I think I would have gotten sick. Apocalypse is a standup twister. I do not think it was as good as Shockwave but better than Mantis. I rode it three times because I could. The third time it bumped me around more than usual. After one more go on the Mind Eraser I was ready to head back home. I felt hungover on the ride home but it was worth it. The entire time I was on a ride, I was going nuts because I felt ten years younger. I had no responsibilities, no stress, and no real rules.

We still plan to go to Kings Dominion next month for Fright Fest.



When we got home, Magdalene had a little surprise for us. It is an ootheca, an eggsac. I do not know if it is fertilized (I doubt it since we have had her at least a week) but it is still a cool thing to see. When she passes, I will take the ootheca outside where it will be safe and it can hatch in spring.

A Week in Review: Titan

We have an older neighbor who despite being a nice lady just loves to talk. I do my best to maintain eye contact and listen but it is hard knowing she will go off on a tangent and repeat information she has already said. She feeds stray cats on her porch and lets me know when there is a new lost cat so I can check them out, see if they are domestic, and if I can find them a home. A couple weeks ago, not even that, she knocked on my door and told me about a kitten wandering around her property. It was from the same house that had the black cat with no food or water. That cat's kidneys ended up failing despite this lady's best efforts. The house is supposedly one full of druggie squatters so we would have to be sneaky about taking away the cat.

I followed her up to her house but the kitten was nowhere in sight. However, it did not take long for this kitten to come over and check me out. She was quite trusting and loving to this stranger. I picked her up, carried her home, and put her in Zombie's kennel. Khaleesi was all too excited to greet our visitor, scaring her. She tried to get to the cage to send her love to the kitten. I had to put a blanket over the cage which seemed to calm the kitten down.

On the way home with her, I decided to call her Titan. My neighbor kept calling her a "he" and I did not check until later. But the name stuck so well that I could not change it. She was named after Attack on Titan. She seemed to be healthy. I just wanted to make sure she did not have any hidden sicknesses that my other animals could catch. Once she became comfortable with her surroundings, she was no happy being in her kennel, so I transferred her to the closet in the third bedroom. Sometimes we would let her out into that bedroom to run around but she had plenty of room and a small cat tree to play on in the closet.

After getting checked out at the rescue, she could get spayed that week and then she would be ready for an adoption event. That day could not come fast enough because she wanted to play with my five other cats. Roxy tried to play with her but she's 11. A kitten is a bit too rough for her. Khaleesi liked to play but it was hard for her to roll around with a tiny kitten. Titan also loved to go behind our desks where important wires hang like tasty vines. She never chewed on wires or cords but I did not want to take that chance.

The spay went great and I took her to Petsmart that weekend to show off. People took interest in her on the first day! We had a surprise adoption, so there was an open cage for Titan to stay. Most cats are terrified when they first go in their cage and stay away from the door. Titan wanted out to play with everyone and tried to stick her nose out to sniff anything that came by. People were still eyeing her as she sat in her cage. It was the first time I came home with an empty carrier.  It took about a week and a half from capture to being done fostering, the fastest foster I have ever done. Poor Khaleesi was heartbroken when her friend did not come back.

Of course I checked on her the next day and she was all over the place with the other kittens. She would even be gentle with the older cats. I think she was more happy at the rescue than here which is unheard of. Most cats act out in that environment. Titan was too busy to say hi to foster mama. Whoever adopts her is going to have a sweet and loyal pet.

Pokémon Symphonic Evolutions

Mikey and I went to see the Pokémon Symphonic Evolutions concert in Philadelphia on Friday. It started out in DC and I believe it had such a huge turnout that they needed to plan another venue. I have played maybe an hour of Fire Red and seen 1 movie which I was dragged to. Here is Mikey's impression of the concert since this was his day:

"To this day I remember the first episode of the Pokémon anime, where it starts with a mockup of Pokémon Red's Game Boy opening, digital chiptune music and all, that transitions to full color animation and an orchestral rendition of the main theme. Since that day I've always wondered what it would be like to have a full orchestra perform music from the games, even as the games got better quality synthesized instruments throughout the generations. Symphonic Evolution is like the culmination of all those desires over the years; it was truly a night to remember."

One of the last songs they did was Gotta Catch'em All which is the only song I really know. I had to sing it when I was a freshman in high school and I absolutely hated it. Hearing the song now makes me cry.

In exactly one week, it will have been 10 years since I lost my best friend. She was the biggest Pokémon fan. You could give her a number between 1 and 151 and she would tell you which Pokémon that was. I wish she could have been there with us.

Next week in her honor, I will be writing a Pokémon fan fiction, or at least I will try my best with the limited knowledge I have. If my readers have any advice on what I should put in it, feel free to comment.