Family time

Not all of my travel is for work. The best trips that I make  are the trips that I get to take with my family. Take today for example. My better half and I had the chance to take care of our Grandson Evan today and tomorrow. Since we all have Disneyland passports, we decided that it would be fun to go to Disneyland for the day. But then I suggested that we turn it into a mini vacation, and we decided to get a hotel near Disneyland and stay the night.

Getting frequent traveler points for traveling is definitely one of the benefits of my job. My wife and I have had many weekend adventures that have cost us little or nothing. And this was a real adventure, since Evan thought that “sleeping at Disneyland” sounded like such a cool idea.

The park is all decorated for Halloween.

The nice thing about Disneyland at Halloween is that they don’t go all out to scare you like the other amusement parks do. It is all done in good fun, and nothing is really scary. We went on the Haunted Mansion, which is changed for the Halloween season into “Tim Burton’s Nightmare Before Christmas.” Evan got a little spooked at the beginning because it is a little dark, but after we got off the ride he agreed that “that was pretty cool, Papa.”

We also went on Roger Rabbit’s Car Toon Spin. I don’t’ handle spinning rides to well, so Evan rode with his Grandma so they could spin, and I rode in the car behind not spinning but taking pictures.

Of all the times that Evan has been to Disneyland, he had never been on this ride. His Grandma and I let him direct the day, and he always seems to find something fun to do.

All in all a fun day so far. After we get done taking a rest at the hotel it’s back to California Adventure to see the water show “World of Color”.

Getting ready and stressing out

As everyone around my house knows, I am getting ready for the first trip for my new employer. Starting a new job is never easy, meeting all the new people on the first day, trying to remember names and faces, just not wanting to screw up. Throw into the mix that your first day is going to be 18 hours on an airplane to South Africa with two of your new colleagues, and the stress factor somehow seems to multiply!

I really did not start the whole stress thing until Monday. Then I realized, hey, I just quit my old job and I’m going to South Africa in 5 days. And I don’t have a clue what I should take, or what was expected of me. After a few calls to the office I was a little more reassured, and then I went into what my better half calls “travel mode”. Travel mode is when I start to let the preparations for my upcoming trip creep into my thoughts more and more. I try not to let it interfere with my day to day home life, but it does. There are still a lot of “honey do’s” left, and trying to get those done as well as to prepare for my trip sometimes transfers a little of my stress over to my better half.

What suitcase should I take? (bought a new one.) Should I take all my gadgets, or leave some home? (leaving most of them home.) Should I pack for warm weather, or cold weather? (This one is easy, since I will be working in food plants, it will always be pack for cold, even if the weather is going to be hot.)

All of these questions will get easier to answer with each trip, as I get used to the new job. I am going to try and write about my experiences with my new work, and I hope you will go along with me as I start this new adventure.