I was going through some old keepsakes and came across a journal I had kept on a trip to the Outer Banks in 1990. What follows is a synopsis, trying to keep it short enough to be readable, but include as many highlights as I can.
We left Cleveland on Friday, August 3, met up with the Berg's, and traveled through Ohio and Pennsylvania, stopping for a picnic lunch before heading south through Maryland and a small slice of West Virginia. There was one misadventure when we tried to get gas before going through the Hampton Tunnel. We had a hard time finding an open gas station - we even tried to pump gas at one before realizing it was closed - until a kindly cab driver directed us to an open station. We spent the first night at a Red Roof Inn in Cheasapeakc, but as we pulled into the parking area, the fire alarms went off, so we had to wait and watch while police and fire units checked everything out and let us in.
When we got to the Outer Banks on Saturday, it was too early to check in, so we visited the Wright Brothers Memorial. There are markers showing the landing spots and distances of their first four flights and I found it interesting to see how close together the first three markers are, but then the fourth one went quite a distance. There's also a state park called Jockey's Ridge, home of the tallest sand dunes on the east coast, which are over 100 feet high. Due to shifting winds, they constantly change shape, but stay in relatively the same place from year to year.
The community we stayed in, Whalehead Beach, is almost as far north as you can go making it a great place to stay if you're looking to be out of the hustle, bustle, and congestion of Kitty Hawk and Kill Devil Hills. Although the house wasn't ready on time, when we finally were able to move in, we found it much to our liking. The living area is on the top floor making for a great view. The ocean is somewhat obstructed by the row of houses in front of us, but at least we can see it. There's no grass, just brush growing out of the sand. The floor underneath contains the four bedrooms. Andrew and Liz shared the small bedroom with the twin beds, and the other four girls stayed in the room with 2 sets of bunk beds.
I noticed right off that you can feel the house sway when you're sitting down. This is considered a safety feature that gives the house a better chance of surviving a hurricane. A little disconcerting though.
Though already late, we went down to the beach for an hour. This being my first time ever at an ocean beach, the salt taste is what I remember most. Liz tried going in the water, but got hit with a wave and decided to stay in the ankle deep area. Leah just stayed on the beach after seeing that. Sarah was hesitant, but did all right. The Berg's were used to it, so all plunged right in.
On Sunday, we rented some beach equipment, including boogie boards, and spent the day at the beach. The boards allowed the little ones to catch waves and ride them in farther than the adults. I did catch two good waves and found I liked it. That night we picked up a lot of shells and saw a million sand crabs scurrying around. The full moon makes a great reflection on the water.
It rained on Monday, so we drove into town to hit the stores. We also noticed that gas prices were up again for the third time in four days, as gas companies were taking advantage of the Iraq-Kuwait situation. (It was $1.14 when we left for the trip, and $1.33 when we got back. Horrors!)
That afternoon, we stopped at a restaurant for what we planned to be our one big meal out this week, but after we were seated and were getting our drinks, we realized it was just a sandwich place, so we got up and walked out. This seemed to embarass Erin greatly.
Monday night, we went to Roanoke Island to see an outdoor drama called the Lost Colony. It was very well done, and I noted that Andy Griffith had gotten his start playing the part of Sir Walter Raleigh in this play. Elizabeth was able to answer some questions we asked about it on the drive back.
On Tuesday, we watched one of the wild mustangs as he made his way into the neighborhood, stopping to rest in the yard of the house next door. We went over to take pictures, and a lady drove up with some medicine for the horse. She explained that he was sickly and had been beaten and run out of the herd after his mother was killed by a car last year. Whenever the herd comes across him, he is forced to vacate the area. Sure enough, a while later when the seven other horses came through the area, a skirmish broke out between the sick horse and one of the other stallions until he agreed to leave.
We went to the beach for a few hours, even though it rained off and on - after all, that's what we were there for - but the water was very cold, so we mostly laid around. Sarah and Elizabeth have gotten to love the water by this time, but Leah will only go in if someone carries her, and even then will only stay a minute.
More rain on Wednesday meant more shopping, but we did get to play putt-putt during a break in the rain. There was a wheel game in one of the shops that two of us spun, each winning a $30 coupon to the Sportsmen's Restaurant. All we had to do was sit through a 90 minute sales pitch for time share the next day. We also had our dinner out at the Dune's Restaurant. The food was good, but this was also when I learned that restaurants had started automatically adding the tip to the check. At the point, in my view, it is no longer a tip; it's a service charge. We also went back to the sand dune, climbed the highest one and watched as the kids had a super time running, rolling, sliding and falling down that hill.
Although the sun was shining on Thursday, we decided to go to the sales pitch because, after all, $60 is $60. This was when I first learned about time share, and although $8000 was something we could not afford for one vacation week a year, I noted that I would like to do this someday. Although the pitch was long and the salesman rude and pushy, the free breakfast was worth it. The pancakes were as big as frisbees and were served on huge trays.
When we got back to the beach, the weather was perfect. Leah started dabbling in the shallow water a little bit. Elizabeth and Andrew were totally oblivious to the rest of the world. And we all got sunburned because we neglected to put on our sunscreen due to the cloudiness.
Friday was a perfect final day - the kind of day in which, even if it were the only good beach day of the week, would determine you to go back again. Skies were partly cloudy, temperature in the 80s. The water felt great. We swam, we ate sandwiches, we laid on the beach, we played paddle ball, and we did it all wearing our sunscreen. The hardest thing in the world was leaving that beach at 5:00. Shortly before we did however, Eric came screaming out of the water saying she had a crab in her bathing suit. Somewhere along the line he had managed to disembark, though, so there was no actual proof.
One more notable thing happened that day. We had packed as much into the cars that evening as we could to save time the next morning, and evidently while we were doing this, hundreds, perhaps thousands of sand fleas managed to get into the house, and they were covering the beds and were throughout the second floor. The outside doors were covered with others trying to get in. We shook out the blankets as best we could, turned out the lights and went back upstairs. When we came back down later, all but David and Kathy's bed seemed to be all right, so they slept elsewhere.
On Saturday, we split up to take separate routes back home, as I wanted to drive up Skyline drive in Virginia. We made several stops along the drive to look at spectacular views of the surrounding mountains and valleys. During the night at the motel, a scary thing happened as some guy was pounding on the window at 3:15 and then again at 5:20. The second time I managed to get to the window before he left and asked what he wanted. He looked surprised like he was expecting someone else and he left.
On Sunday we toured Skyline Caverns and rode the miniature train before we continued our trip home.
Sunday, February 24, 2013
Thursday, December 6, 2012
Post Election Thoughts
It’s been one month since the election, so I’ve had time to try to think things through and put them in a little perspective. My feeling about what the election means for our country hasn’t changed. I believe we’ve reached a tipping point where there are too many takers and not enough producers and givers. Politicians continue to pretend that we can tax the minority enough to support the majority, but as the supported class continues to grow, the productive class sees less and less reason to produce.
Now I know that just saying that marks me as one who hates the underclass and thinks that they’re all lazy. But nothing could be further from the truth. You don’t have to have a majority of dependent people to ruin a society. It’s a question of a culture that has slowly developed over the past half a century or so, and that has picked up tremendous speed in the last few years. Our country is in deep, deep economic turmoil, we are worse off now than we were four years ago, and yet we have handily reelected a man who has to bear the primary responsibility for it.
Bob Costas says that he is not against people having guns; he is worried about a gun culture, by which I assume he means a mentality whereby people think of guns as an integral part of society rather than as something that is occasionally needed to fix a temporary problem. That’s how I think of welfare. It’s great that our country is prosperous enough to help people fix a temporary unemployment problem, or who are simply incapable of working. But it seems that welfare has become a culture, or a state of permanent mind. It is not a temporary fix as it was intended. Entire generations of people grow up knowing no other way of life. Once that population gets large enough, it brings down the rest of society with it.
One of the founding fathers, I forget which one, said something to the effect that democracy only works until the people realize that they can vote anything they want for themselves. That’s where I’m afraid we are at.
The other thing that keeps intruding on my thoughts is the way in which Christianity is being bashed more and more every year. That’s also something that seems to have picked up speed in the past few years. When the Obama administration attempted to force religious employers to provide insurance for their employees that would guarantee them access to abortion, the employers naturally objected. The telling point is that the administration couldn’t even understand why they were objecting. That’s how ingrained anti-Christian thinking has become. The Chick-Fil-A fiasco was another telling incident the way some politicians and media people vehemently reacted to a business owner expressing his Christian viewpoint. They didn’t even care that there has never been any adverse action against any gay person; they just couldn’t tolerate the fact that someone could even have Christian thoughts on the subject.
There are many other examples of this sort of intolerance against Christians, and my point is not only that the number of instances of Christian bashing is increasing, but that they are becoming more and more extreme. As the secular mind becomes more and more entrenched in the world’s philosophy, it becomes more and more impossible for it to comprehend that there can even be another way of thinking. It seems like a prelude to persecution.
I truly believe that these two things, an entrenched culture of dependency and a virulent hatred of Christianity, are what is bringing our country down. Can this be reversed? Yes. Do I think it will be? No. Do I like it? Of course not. It scares the daylights out of me. But if the loss of our freedoms and the persecution of Christians are some of the things that need to happen before the Lord returns, then we will have to deal with it. And rejoice when the end comes.
Now I know that just saying that marks me as one who hates the underclass and thinks that they’re all lazy. But nothing could be further from the truth. You don’t have to have a majority of dependent people to ruin a society. It’s a question of a culture that has slowly developed over the past half a century or so, and that has picked up tremendous speed in the last few years. Our country is in deep, deep economic turmoil, we are worse off now than we were four years ago, and yet we have handily reelected a man who has to bear the primary responsibility for it.
Bob Costas says that he is not against people having guns; he is worried about a gun culture, by which I assume he means a mentality whereby people think of guns as an integral part of society rather than as something that is occasionally needed to fix a temporary problem. That’s how I think of welfare. It’s great that our country is prosperous enough to help people fix a temporary unemployment problem, or who are simply incapable of working. But it seems that welfare has become a culture, or a state of permanent mind. It is not a temporary fix as it was intended. Entire generations of people grow up knowing no other way of life. Once that population gets large enough, it brings down the rest of society with it.
One of the founding fathers, I forget which one, said something to the effect that democracy only works until the people realize that they can vote anything they want for themselves. That’s where I’m afraid we are at.
The other thing that keeps intruding on my thoughts is the way in which Christianity is being bashed more and more every year. That’s also something that seems to have picked up speed in the past few years. When the Obama administration attempted to force religious employers to provide insurance for their employees that would guarantee them access to abortion, the employers naturally objected. The telling point is that the administration couldn’t even understand why they were objecting. That’s how ingrained anti-Christian thinking has become. The Chick-Fil-A fiasco was another telling incident the way some politicians and media people vehemently reacted to a business owner expressing his Christian viewpoint. They didn’t even care that there has never been any adverse action against any gay person; they just couldn’t tolerate the fact that someone could even have Christian thoughts on the subject.
There are many other examples of this sort of intolerance against Christians, and my point is not only that the number of instances of Christian bashing is increasing, but that they are becoming more and more extreme. As the secular mind becomes more and more entrenched in the world’s philosophy, it becomes more and more impossible for it to comprehend that there can even be another way of thinking. It seems like a prelude to persecution.
I truly believe that these two things, an entrenched culture of dependency and a virulent hatred of Christianity, are what is bringing our country down. Can this be reversed? Yes. Do I think it will be? No. Do I like it? Of course not. It scares the daylights out of me. But if the loss of our freedoms and the persecution of Christians are some of the things that need to happen before the Lord returns, then we will have to deal with it. And rejoice when the end comes.
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
He's Alive
There's a song called He's Alive. The version I have is by Mark Murphy and is probably about 20 years old. Recently I heard a version by some other artist on the radio. When it first started playing, I thought, That's interesting, it starts out at a faster tempo than the Mark Murphy version, which starts out rather slow and almost recited rather than sung. But then as the song went on, I realized that the whole thing was in the same tempo; there's no build up, no anticipation; it's just several verses of a song. It just doesn't work.
The first 2:45 of the Murphy version is almost mournful as Peter doubts and speculates as to whether Jesus is really alive as Mary claims, especially in light of his recent denials of Jesus. Then the build up runs about 45 seconds: "Then suddenly the air was filled with a strange and sweet perfume/ A light that shone from everywhere drove shadows from the room/ Jesus stood before me with His arms held open wide/ And I fell down on my knees and just clung to Him and cried./ He raised me to my feet and as I looked into His eyes/ Love was shining out from Him like the sunlight from the skies/ Guilt and my confusion disappeared in sweet release/ Every fear I ever had just melted into peace."
And then the orchestra breaks into the crescendo and a powerful voice sings: He's Alive, He's Alive, He's Alive and I'm forgiven/ Heaven's gates are open wide; lines that are repeated twice more, seemingly more powerful each time. I find it impossible to listen to, or even think about it without feeling a great tearful swelling inside.
It's a song that's meant to be experienced, not just heard.
The first 2:45 of the Murphy version is almost mournful as Peter doubts and speculates as to whether Jesus is really alive as Mary claims, especially in light of his recent denials of Jesus. Then the build up runs about 45 seconds: "Then suddenly the air was filled with a strange and sweet perfume/ A light that shone from everywhere drove shadows from the room/ Jesus stood before me with His arms held open wide/ And I fell down on my knees and just clung to Him and cried./ He raised me to my feet and as I looked into His eyes/ Love was shining out from Him like the sunlight from the skies/ Guilt and my confusion disappeared in sweet release/ Every fear I ever had just melted into peace."
And then the orchestra breaks into the crescendo and a powerful voice sings: He's Alive, He's Alive, He's Alive and I'm forgiven/ Heaven's gates are open wide; lines that are repeated twice more, seemingly more powerful each time. I find it impossible to listen to, or even think about it without feeling a great tearful swelling inside.
It's a song that's meant to be experienced, not just heard.
Friday, August 5, 2011
Coming Home
Because vacation was so good, we decided to take our time coming home. After we checked out of the resort, we went to the Lost Canyon and rode the horse drawn cart through the narrow canyon. The trip actually ends right about where the resort skyway goes over the canyon near the ziplines.
Then we drove over and visited with Liz for a few minutes and toured her house. I know it's Eric's house too, but writing "their house" didn't sound grammatically correct. We drove a while longer and decided to lunch at Culver's. It's actually pretty good, sort of an upscale McDonald's.
By this time I was concerned about Chicago traffic on a Friday afternoon, but we had no problem the route we took (thanks, Leah.) The problem began when we exited I-80 to go to US 30 to get to Warsaw where our motel was located. We exited I-80 earlier than we needed to so that we could avoid the construction heading into Indiana. Big mistake. Traffic on US 30 going into Indiana is horrific. And the traffic lights all seemed designed to create the longest traffic jams.
The rest of the day and most of the travel day Saturday was routine, until we got to the Days Inn in Sandusky. Without a doubt one of the worst motels I have ever been in. There was a terrible stench in the room, and since nothing in the room, like linens, curtains or rug smelled up close, we could only conclude that there must be mold or something growing in the walls. It was made worse by the fact that the air conditioner hadn't been turned on. We couldn't really complain because the couple at the check in desk spoke such broken English, it was difficult to communicate with them. We turned on the air full blast, emptied a can of Glade and went out to dinner. By the time we got back I could tolerate it, although Kim said this morning that it was the worst night's sleep she had on the whole trip. She's always been wary of Days Inn, and now I am cured as well.
The only reason we stayed there instead of driving straight home was so we could visit Kelley's Island on Sunday. That turned out to be fun. We took the Jet Express Ferry across from Sandusky, rented a golf cart and toured the island. There's not as much to do there is at Put-In-Bay, but the more relaxed atmosphere is definitely to my liking.
So now we're home, feverishly planning our next trip. Branson, maybe?
Then we drove over and visited with Liz for a few minutes and toured her house. I know it's Eric's house too, but writing "their house" didn't sound grammatically correct. We drove a while longer and decided to lunch at Culver's. It's actually pretty good, sort of an upscale McDonald's.
By this time I was concerned about Chicago traffic on a Friday afternoon, but we had no problem the route we took (thanks, Leah.) The problem began when we exited I-80 to go to US 30 to get to Warsaw where our motel was located. We exited I-80 earlier than we needed to so that we could avoid the construction heading into Indiana. Big mistake. Traffic on US 30 going into Indiana is horrific. And the traffic lights all seemed designed to create the longest traffic jams.
The rest of the day and most of the travel day Saturday was routine, until we got to the Days Inn in Sandusky. Without a doubt one of the worst motels I have ever been in. There was a terrible stench in the room, and since nothing in the room, like linens, curtains or rug smelled up close, we could only conclude that there must be mold or something growing in the walls. It was made worse by the fact that the air conditioner hadn't been turned on. We couldn't really complain because the couple at the check in desk spoke such broken English, it was difficult to communicate with them. We turned on the air full blast, emptied a can of Glade and went out to dinner. By the time we got back I could tolerate it, although Kim said this morning that it was the worst night's sleep she had on the whole trip. She's always been wary of Days Inn, and now I am cured as well.
The only reason we stayed there instead of driving straight home was so we could visit Kelley's Island on Sunday. That turned out to be fun. We took the Jet Express Ferry across from Sandusky, rented a golf cart and toured the island. There's not as much to do there is at Put-In-Bay, but the more relaxed atmosphere is definitely to my liking.
So now we're home, feverishly planning our next trip. Branson, maybe?
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Post Visit
There's not a lot to say about our recent stay at the resort in Wisconsin, because the people I care about the most were all there, so they all know what a great time it was. My only regret was not having more energy to be able to keep up with them. But I guess when you're the old patriarch, allowances have to be made.
After the girls and their husbands were gone, we discovered that there is even more to the Wilderness than we thought. The part we had walked and thought we were at the end really wasn't even half of it. That place is just humungous. So we did more walking, but never did cover the whole place.
We did more old people stuff, like walking around the mall, driving down to a state park, and riding a horse drawn wagon. We wanted to hike on one of the trails at the park, without realizing how difficult it was going to be. It was marked "moderate" on the map and was only a few miles long, but the change in elevation turned out to be at least several hundred feet, and much of it was spent climbing up rocks. It was exhausting. I'm really glad we didn't try one of the "difficult" trails.
Checking out was difficult, but that's life. Vacations end, and one always has to get back to reality. But it was really great to see everyone.
After the girls and their husbands were gone, we discovered that there is even more to the Wilderness than we thought. The part we had walked and thought we were at the end really wasn't even half of it. That place is just humungous. So we did more walking, but never did cover the whole place.
We did more old people stuff, like walking around the mall, driving down to a state park, and riding a horse drawn wagon. We wanted to hike on one of the trails at the park, without realizing how difficult it was going to be. It was marked "moderate" on the map and was only a few miles long, but the change in elevation turned out to be at least several hundred feet, and much of it was spent climbing up rocks. It was exhausting. I'm really glad we didn't try one of the "difficult" trails.
Checking out was difficult, but that's life. Vacations end, and one always has to get back to reality. But it was really great to see everyone.
Sunday, July 31, 2011
A Better Way
I guess it's been a long time, and there's so many things I could write about that have happened in the past 10 months. There's been so much going on, but I guess that's it. Many of the things happening are things that impact my job, or rather the thought of losing it, and so my thoughts are often occupied with things I don't really want to write about.
This week, however, I've had a thoroughly wonderful vacation trip, and so I wanted to describe it. However, on the way up to Wisconsin, and now on the way back, the thing that is currently pressed on my mind goes back to my job. As a turnpike toll collector in Ohio, I constantly live with the threat that the turnpike will be leased or sold. If this happens, there are a number of scenarios that could play out, none of which could be interpreted as good to the employees there.
I think of myself as a Republican and I voted for John Kasich. In general, I support his efforts to find ways to bring Ohio's budget back under control, and to plug any shortfalls. However, there are right ways and wrong ways to do things, and to simply give away one of the state's most valuable assets for the paltry sum of 2.5 billion dollars net is about as shortsighted as one can get.
Notice, I'm not even making the argument here, as some have, that the turnpike is NOT a state asset. Others have argued that case persuavely. I'll just concede the point and move on. There is a much better way to deal with the turnpike that would put it in state hands, and make a whole lot more money. It's called High Speed Tolls.
I discovered this while driving around Chicago last week, and I think it's a most marvelous thing. I had seen a High Speed Toll plaza in Pennsylvania near the Ohio border the last time I drove through there, and while I thought it was kind of cool, I didn't think much more than that. But the Illinois Tollway has taken that concept to a whole new level. With High Speed Tolls, drivers with transponders simply drive through the plaza area, and their transponders are automatically read without them having to even slow down from highway speed. People without transponders have to pull off down a ramp to pay in cash and then reenter the roadway. I don't know exactly how many of these on-road plazas there are, but there's a lot of them.
I believe the Ohio Turnpike could be retrofitted to accomodate high speed tolling, placing plazas along the roadway every 20-40 miles. Some of the current toll plazas could be eliminated completely, and others would be reduced to partial plazas. Now that the turnpike EZ Pass system has been in place for nearly two years, people are aware of it, and have gotten used to it, and even many more would apply for a transponder if this change were made, thus streamlining the system even more.
What about the loss of jobs that would result? Not to worry, because this system should also be instituted on other interstates in Ohio, particularly I71 and I75. About 15-20 years ago, the federal government was advocating that states build more toll roads. Some states did. Ohio did not. I never thought that it was practical to convert existing interstates into toll roads. But with high speed tolling, most of the obstacles disappear.
If the governor would institute such a plan, instead of settling for the shortsighted plan he has, Ohio would be much better off.
This week, however, I've had a thoroughly wonderful vacation trip, and so I wanted to describe it. However, on the way up to Wisconsin, and now on the way back, the thing that is currently pressed on my mind goes back to my job. As a turnpike toll collector in Ohio, I constantly live with the threat that the turnpike will be leased or sold. If this happens, there are a number of scenarios that could play out, none of which could be interpreted as good to the employees there.
I think of myself as a Republican and I voted for John Kasich. In general, I support his efforts to find ways to bring Ohio's budget back under control, and to plug any shortfalls. However, there are right ways and wrong ways to do things, and to simply give away one of the state's most valuable assets for the paltry sum of 2.5 billion dollars net is about as shortsighted as one can get.
Notice, I'm not even making the argument here, as some have, that the turnpike is NOT a state asset. Others have argued that case persuavely. I'll just concede the point and move on. There is a much better way to deal with the turnpike that would put it in state hands, and make a whole lot more money. It's called High Speed Tolls.
I discovered this while driving around Chicago last week, and I think it's a most marvelous thing. I had seen a High Speed Toll plaza in Pennsylvania near the Ohio border the last time I drove through there, and while I thought it was kind of cool, I didn't think much more than that. But the Illinois Tollway has taken that concept to a whole new level. With High Speed Tolls, drivers with transponders simply drive through the plaza area, and their transponders are automatically read without them having to even slow down from highway speed. People without transponders have to pull off down a ramp to pay in cash and then reenter the roadway. I don't know exactly how many of these on-road plazas there are, but there's a lot of them.
I believe the Ohio Turnpike could be retrofitted to accomodate high speed tolling, placing plazas along the roadway every 20-40 miles. Some of the current toll plazas could be eliminated completely, and others would be reduced to partial plazas. Now that the turnpike EZ Pass system has been in place for nearly two years, people are aware of it, and have gotten used to it, and even many more would apply for a transponder if this change were made, thus streamlining the system even more.
What about the loss of jobs that would result? Not to worry, because this system should also be instituted on other interstates in Ohio, particularly I71 and I75. About 15-20 years ago, the federal government was advocating that states build more toll roads. Some states did. Ohio did not. I never thought that it was practical to convert existing interstates into toll roads. But with high speed tolling, most of the obstacles disappear.
If the governor would institute such a plan, instead of settling for the shortsighted plan he has, Ohio would be much better off.
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Frustrations
Frustrations come in many forms. When they involve playing a game, they can normally be set aside as unimportant or irrelevant. Nevertheless....
There were only a handful of video games that ever interested me, and my favorite was Super Mario Brothers 3. When I owned it about 15 years ago, I got to be pretty good at it. I never got bored with it even after beating it became somewhat routine. A few months ago, I discovered that it had been re-released for the Wii. I tried playing against my daughter when visiting her once and discovered that I couldn't complete even a single level in world 1. So naturally, I had to download it onto my own Wii to practice.
While working at it over the past few months, I'm slowly getting better, but it frustrates me that it's taking so long. Granted, I'm not spending hours and hours doing it, but I can't be getting THAT old, that my reflexes have become so slow.
The two things that give me the most trouble are the note boxes and the sliding duck. For the most part, the note boxes are not vital to the game and I can do them well enough to at least get by. But the sliding duck is crucial at certain levels, and my inability to make it work more than once in every 15-20 tries (it's probably actually worse than that) is getting me down.
The second fortress in world 6 is one of those crucial places that I've been working on lately. There's a spot in there that if you can't make it through, then even if you do continue on and make it to Boom-Boom's hall, it will be as small Mario, and since he's one of the more trickier ones in the game, he's tough to beat when you're small.
There were only a handful of video games that ever interested me, and my favorite was Super Mario Brothers 3. When I owned it about 15 years ago, I got to be pretty good at it. I never got bored with it even after beating it became somewhat routine. A few months ago, I discovered that it had been re-released for the Wii. I tried playing against my daughter when visiting her once and discovered that I couldn't complete even a single level in world 1. So naturally, I had to download it onto my own Wii to practice.
While working at it over the past few months, I'm slowly getting better, but it frustrates me that it's taking so long. Granted, I'm not spending hours and hours doing it, but I can't be getting THAT old, that my reflexes have become so slow.
The two things that give me the most trouble are the note boxes and the sliding duck. For the most part, the note boxes are not vital to the game and I can do them well enough to at least get by. But the sliding duck is crucial at certain levels, and my inability to make it work more than once in every 15-20 tries (it's probably actually worse than that) is getting me down.
The second fortress in world 6 is one of those crucial places that I've been working on lately. There's a spot in there that if you can't make it through, then even if you do continue on and make it to Boom-Boom's hall, it will be as small Mario, and since he's one of the more trickier ones in the game, he's tough to beat when you're small.
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