Ok, this is going to sound really strange but I feel that I have changed in a lot of ways towards what I listen to and watch on TV. I have gotten in to the habit now on the way to and from work of listening to NPR on WMFE. Be it Morning Edition or All Things Considered, feel myself listening to it more and more. Even when I am home, I have started to stream WMFE over iTunes and listen to shows like A Prairie Home Companion. It really does intrigue me how my driving habits have changed from listening to my iPod to listening to the world.
What I listen to in the car isn’t the only thing that I have noticed a change. When I am channel cruising at home, I find myself landing on PBS more and watching shows like Antique Roadshow and more recently, I have discovered BBC World News on BBC America. Where I would once come home to watching shows like The Simpsons or Family Guy, I now feel that being informed is what is more important. It has made me realize how much we miss when we watch the sitcoms and soaps. Don’t get me wrong, I still enjoy my Desperate Housewives but I have realized that I don’t have to watch those shows. There is so much else going on in the real world that is just as fascinating.
I guess some of these changes in routine come from getting older but I think some come from a desire to be informed and having meaningful conversations with my friends. I’ve even gotten in the habit of waking up and watching the news again while I get ready for the day, something I haven’t done since high school when I would go to work when Dad did. There is so much going on in the world that it amazes me more people don’t take the time to learn. I think my appreciation for knowledge and culture comes from my amazing family but also my great experience at a liberal arts college. So I ask, am I just getting boring?
I’ve come to the conclusion that we live in a pretty strange world. The past two days have been a real eye opener for me and how I look at life. Taking a step back a few more weeks, a friend of mine was recently admitted to the hospital with a severe case of pneumonia and has been there ever since. While he is slowly getting better, he still remains on a respirator and they don’t know how long it will be till he is fully awake again so they can take him off the respirator.
Fast-forward to this past Thursday, I had picked up a shift at Magic Kingdom with my old area, Main Street, and was doing a quick re-certification on my steam trains so I can keep picking up shifts. Shortly after leaving the train to go help with other things, I am paged out to Frontierland along with a manager for a guest who had passed out while in the que line for the train. Upon arrival, CPR and AED were in progress and once back stage, the guest was pronounced DOA. For anyone that has never first hand witnessed a sheet being pulled over someone’s head, it is pretty moving but death doesn’t end there.
Last night while picking up Adam from work, I was made aware that a fellow Cast Member from Steam Trains who had been in the hospital for a week had past away. Marie Belasthon had been working with Main Street and Trains since 1992. She could always been seen opening Frontierland Train Station every weekday. She was also a single mother of 3 with the youngest still in high school.
So as I am sitting taking in all that is going on, this week alone I have personally witnessed one death, had a co-worker pass away and still have another friend in the ICU fighting for his life. What a strange world we live in.
It’s been about 10 years since Apple Computer dared us to Think Different. I think that those that are Mac users such as my myself tend to really Think Different. I was reading my usual morning reads in Google Reader and I noticed that the team at The Unofficial Apple Weblog had stumbled across this interesting video on YouTube. Apparently, some Apple fan boys had taken the original Think Different commercial and removed the video portion and replaced it with moving text. I think that with the text only, it is just as moving. Anyone else have any thoughts? Feel free to comment.
Well folks, it has been a long day. Between helping Frontierland Attractions with moving Big Thunder Trains to fighting fires in the Indian Village. I have had a non-stop day! Bigest excitement for the day was putting out a fire on the train tracks. Now for those of you that don’t know, the fireworks bunker/launch site is just next to the tracks so fires are a normal thing in the evenings and at no time was anyone in danger. Issue is, this one was at 11 am. Looked like it was smoldering all night. I got a call from one of the trains and was hiking out to go check it out. Once on the scene I had to remember which tee-pea the fire extinguisher was located and then attempted to put out the fire.
This is where the humor comes in. My first attempt saw the hardly ever used extinguishers hose being shot off (this is due to where it is stored. The heat and the elements had rotted the base of the hose) and me getting the water all over me. My managers Craig and Chrissi are now laughing at this point and Craig takes over once the hose is reattached while I try and try off and get all the chemicals off me and gets nice and close to get the thing out while trying to keep the hose still on the fire extinguisher. We got the fire out just as Reedy Creek Fire Dept shows up and they proceed to pull out the more manly hose to finish the job I started.
Between the fire and other issues in the day, I didn’t get a break till close to 4 (I came in at 7). So no break time for Firefighter Tom despite being successful in putting out the fire the first try! Despite all the business stuff though, today was a fun day. Not too often I get to say I am a firefighter in my role.
So here I am sitting at work at 4:45 am. I left the Magic Kingdom at 11 last night which surprisingly was not too busy for a holiday. Coming in though reminded me of my long nights in the Emporium three years ago as I saw those Cast still stocking and working from the late night last night. Hope everyone had a great Easter. Things are going well for me with work and I am just plugging away with about 60+ hours this week and last. Here’s to coffee and energy drinks!
Welcome to Webby Aquatics! This site will give you a look in to the life of Tom Webster. For more information, please visit About Webby or on the following sites:
Ok, this is going to sound really strange but I feel that I have changed in a lot of ways towards what I listen to and watch on TV. I have gotten in to the habit now on the way to and from work of listening to NPR on WMFE. Be it Morning Edition or All Things Considered, feel myself listening to it more and more. Even when I am home, I have started to stream WMFE over iTunes and listen to shows like A Prairie Home Companion. It really does intrigue me how my driving habits have changed from listening to my iPod to listening to the world.
What I listen to in the car isn’t the only thing that I have noticed a change. When I am channel cruising at home, I find myself landing on PBS more and watching shows like Antique Roadshow and more recently, I have discovered BBC World News on BBC America. Where I would once come home to watching shows like The Simpsons or Family Guy, I now feel that being informed is what is more important. It has made me realize how much we miss when we watch the sitcoms and soaps. Don’t get me wrong, I still enjoy my Desperate Housewives but I have realized that I don’t have to watch those shows. There is so much else going on in the real world that is just as fascinating.
Welcome to Webby Aquatics! This site will give you a look in to the life of Tom Webster. For more information, please visit 
