I'm a Guardian! :P

Your Keirsey Temperament Sorter Results indicates that your personality type is that of the

Guardians are the cornerstone of society, for they are the temperament given to serving and preserving our most important social institutions. Guardians have natural talent in managing goods and services--from supervision to maintenance and supply -- and they use all their skills to keep things running smoothly in their families, communities, schools, churches, hospitals, and businesses.

Guardians can have a lot of fun with their friends, but they are quite serious about their duties and responsibilities. Guardians take pride in being dependable and trustworthy; if there's a job to be done, they can be counted on to put their shoulder to the wheel. Guardians also believe in law and order, and sometimes worry that respect for authority, even a fundamental sense of right and wrong, is being lost. Perhaps this is why Guardians honor customs and traditions so strongly -- they are familiar patterns that help bring stability to our modern, fast-paced world.

Practical and down-to-earth, Guardians believe in following the rules and cooperating with others. They are not very comfortable winging it or blazing new trails; working steadily within the system is the Guardian way, for in the long run loyalty, discipline, and teamwork get the job done right. Guardians are meticulous about schedules and have a sharp eye for proper procedures. They are cautious about change, even though they know that change can be healthy for an institution. Better to go slowly, they say, and look before you leap.

Guardians make up as much as 40 to 45 percent of the population, and a good thing, because they usually end up doing all the indispensable but thankless jobs everyone else takes for granted.

Guardians at Work
As a Guardian, you enjoy working as a valued member of a team, whether you are leading it or following a credible leader. You like to work with people who carry their weight. You appreciate having clear-cut responsibilities and being recognized for your dedication and achievements. Your natural traits are those that employers have traditionally valued - and that successful companies still respect. You are responsible and loyal to an organization once you've signed on.

On the job, you seem to innately understand how to create smooth, working processes in your environment. You can excel at directing others to fulfill their duties. In your ideal workplace, you and your colleagues would know what is expected of you and be predictably rewarded for meeting these expectations.

(FINAL VERSION) Disney's Adventurers Club, in Garry's Mod

Things to do on my next two days off...

1) Exploit my friends and beg for money so I can go to Japan next year then remember not to thank anyone afterwards. A few months after that I can do it again for Disneyland Paris. My friends should be paying for my vacations anyways, that's all they are good for.

2) Keep calling Apple and nag them for discounts on their products because I'm a Disney podcast e-lebrity and then get comments about it written about me on my Apple account.

3) Sell someone else's broadcast/video of some random Disney show on a DVD... maybe one of those testing sessions of World of Color that's on YouTube. I'm sure the creator won't notice and I could make a killing.

4) Throw a hissy fit and leave some group that I'm a part of because I can't have my way... then tell everyone that they kicked me out.

5) Give a fellow Disney podcaster the wrong audio settings to sabotage their audio, fail to mention that I'm in town as well, and then run out to my car to be the first one on the block with a new recording of a brand new ride.

Some of you might be curious on where this is coming from.  Well, there is a podcaster that does Window to the Magic.  It's a fairly popular (if not boring) podcast in the Disney community done by a guy named Paul Barrie.  Paul is not someone that I would call very trustworthy or very respectable, but his fans seem to love him.

Currently, he's been asking for donations... for his vacations to Disney.  He's dropped from weekly shows to two shows a week and now he's saying that if his fans don't donate to him then he might stop making the shows entirely... which needless to say has caused a small panic among the Window Lickers (my little pet name for his fans).  He says it costs too much to produce and host his shows... when we all know it isn't.

While I do admire that he has come out and said that the donations will be used to offset the costs of his vacations to Disney; park tickets, hotel, airfare, and other associated travel costs... I feel that there is something not right about the whole thing.  I feel that he's exploiting his fans to help pay for his... VACATIONS.  Not for hosting or for bandwidth or for his equipment... but for his vacations to Disney.  That doesn't sit well with me.  Vacations are a luxury.

Bottom line is, that's what it is.  He's holding his hand out to his fans, that for some odd reason love him, to help pay for his vacations to Disneyland... not to mention a few years ago he did that so he and his son can go to Walt Disney World for the first time.  That doesn't sit well with me and reminds me how televangelists exploit the faithful or that asshole Kevin Trudeau exploits the stupid.  It reeks something awful and the sad thing is, his loyal fans are falling for it.  One Window Licker I saw is donating $5 a month to help pay for Paul to go on vacation.

It's sad when someone takes something that is magical and brings people together like Disney and then exploits it for their own greed.  It angers me as a long time Disney fan and it should anger you too.

Westfest 2010:

So my one real vacation planned for the year is coming up.  I'm taking a two weeks off to go back to SoCal for a week or so for the Disney Podcast Network's Westfest event at my old stomping grounds.  It'll be nice to come back home and visit with my friends and family again, I'll have a few days or so before Westfest to visit with family and then the weekend I'll be at Disneyland.

We'll also see if I can get tickets to this year's BlizzCon and I'll probably make it out for that weekend as well.  I guess I should put in for the time off just in case I do get a ticket.

Hrmn...

One thing that I miss about blogging on Blogger instead of LiveJournal is to make your blog private and people who want to join, sending you a request to follow.  There doesn't seem to be anyway to do that and I'd rather not have random people read my stuff, just the people I know personally.

Hrmn.

It's been a long time old friend...

So I haven't posted on this as much as I thought I would.  It's been a while since it's been so busy or I let World of Warcraft take over my free time again.

So my best friend Ryan (http://rjhendrix.blogspot.com/) recently decided that he was going to start a Blogger account and he started to post.  That got me to think, wow... he used to make fun of me for blogging and now look at him!  He's blogging and I'm not! Like WTF right?

Anyways, so I'm going to try very hard to be somewhat regular with this.  If anything, it's good stress relief and good therapy to reflect in all of the changes that I've made in my life.   I'm glad that Ryan has decided to do so and it's gotten me to realize that it's something that I need to do as well.

So here it is.  Last time on "Burnt Toast's Corner of the Web", we see our hero packing up very little of his crap in glamorous Orange County, California and moving out to Orlando, Florida.  He had just gotten a transfer to Walt Disney World to work at one of the numerous Resort hotels that they have.  He starts as a lowly part-timer and is determined to make the best of it, work as hard as he can, and be happy with his life.  He's also 33 years old as of March 19th!  Where has that time gone?

Fast forward to the present... I'm still at the same Resort hotel.  I'm now full-time, but in a totally different position, and I've been promoted to one of the low-level Operations positions.  Put in an interest in becoming a training facilitator for the numerous new hires that come to us from all around the country and the world with their initial on-the-job training as well as the general Resort orientation tour.  I live in a kick-ass townhouse (three-bedroom, three bath with full appliances and washer/dryer for $950 a month?  Wut wut?!) with a friend of his from his many trips out to Walt Disney World and one of his co-workers at the Resort I work at.  I still miss my friends (like Ryan, who's always been a good friend through thick and thin... even if sometimes I forget that and let my insecurities get in the way) and family dearly.  I have fallen in absolute love with Publix fried chicken and their "Marshmallow Delight".

All joking aside and all in all, I'm generally pretty happy.  The work is tough sometimes (especially the hours, thankfully I'm on a 4/10 schedule so I get three days off a week), but I am definitely making the best of it.  I've been trying really hard to keep a positive attitude but I'll admit that sometimes the old angry me explodes out and lets everyone know that it still is around... just buried and covered up as best as I can.  I got a new kick-ass gaming laptop, AS I CAN ACTUALLY MAKE A LIVING OUT HERE, but I'm taking a break from World of Warcraft so I'm keeping busy with all sorts of other stuff.  Recently I made that decision to take a break from WoW and try to go out more... and I have a new wonderful friend named Christina, who works with me, who has made a true effort to get me to go out and get a little sun.  I've been trying to go to the Parks a little bit more too, but it isn't the same when your partner-in-crime isn't around to enjoy them with you (yes Ryan, I AM trying to guilt trip you here) and the peak season is coming up on us again.

I've seen a lot of old friends and old co-workers while I've been here at Walt Disney World, certainly a lot more then when I worked at the DLR... though sometimes I haven't been able to meet up with a lot of them as much as I would because of my quirky work schedule.  I still get to go back home for things like Westfest or whatnot when I want... because I actually have a savings out here without worrying about hours or really busting my ass with a lot of overtime.

So all and all, everything is generally pretty good. I know I keep saying that... but it's weird to actually say that and actually mean it.  Other then being around my friends and family, I was unhappy in SoCal for so long.  I didn't know what it was like to actually be happy with work and my life... it kinda sucks that the trade off to have that happiness is that I have to be away from my friends and my family.  Sometimes I question if it is really worth it... and I think so far it is.

 I miss my buddy though. :(

Angryface!

Happy trails...

So it's been a little over a week since I packed up all my shit, got on a plane, and moved out to Orlando. Florida is certainly different then Southern California, that's for sure!

I don't start Walt Disney World's version of Traditions until this upcoming Saturday, so I've had time to kinda explore my temporary surroundings here. I'm currently staying in a house owned by two friends of mine from the Disney podcast community and it's been great... they've been so wonderful during this stressful time that it's actually so different then what I'm used to! I like go to the local Wal-Mart (which is open 24 hours!) and I feel like everyone is staring at me... like they haven't seen a skinny Asian guy in a hawaiian tee-shirt and cargo shorts before.

I haven't spent much time in the Parks either, mainly because I'd mostly be going by myself. I figure that when my friends come to down I'll spend more time in the Parks then.

Other then that, it's been going pretty good. I'm so thankful that I have really good friends here in Florida as well as in Southern California! I couldn't have done this without you all.

Things that I'll miss...

So there's a bunch of things that I'll miss when I head off to Orlando. Nevermind the things like family and friends (I'll miss you guys sooo much!) but like locations and stuff... like Disneyland. So here's a list of stuff that I'll miss...

First off... In 'n Out. Omg. I know that some folks out there thinks that it's overrated and such, but man is it good. I'll miss that a lot. I'll know how my friends feel when they come down for the Disney Podcast Network's Westfest gathering every year and the first thing that they want is In 'n Out. I know that'll be the first place I'll want to hit when I come down for Westfest 2010.

Disneyland is a place where I spent literally years at. I worked at Disneyland for 12 out of the last 15 years... I spent a lot of time working and playing there. I'll miss our attractions, our shows... I'll miss a lot of stuff that's being built and will debut soon. I'll miss the World of Color opening and the rest of the DCA makeover. I'll miss the friends I've made throughout the years working at the Happiest Place on Earth... from co-workers to Disney podcast fans to folks I met on the various Disney message boards.

There's a bunch more stuff, but I got to go. I'll just edit this when I think of more stuff. :D

I'm really gonna miss the DLR. With all the hours I've worked and all the time I've spent playing at Disneyland and Disney's California Adventure... you could say it would add up to a good year's worth of time of my life, if not more. 12 out of the last 15 years I spent working for the Mouse at Walt's original Magic Kingdom... I really am gonna miss it here. Last night I went to Disneyland with a few friends and watched Magical!... and frankly, I lost it towards the end. I think it's just now setting in that I'm not going to be able to come here whenever I want, even though I will have Walt Disney World's four Parks and such to enjoy, it's probably not going to be the same.

My life is filled with great, and not-so-great, memories of my time working when it was just Disneyland to the present day Disneyland Resort. I saw a lot of changes, lots of additions including being part of the grand opening team for Disney's California Adventure, and a lot of closures. I saw the Main Street Electrical Parade glow away, only to come back the year or so after Disney's California Adventure opened. I remember spending every weekend that I could at Disneyland to watch the Lion King Celebration, in my opinion the best parade Disneyland has ever done (and makes me sad to replay it back in my mind when people proclaim Parade of Dreams to be a "good" parade, they have no idea what a good parade was back in the day). I'll remember all the Cast Premieres, starting with the Indiana Jones Adventure: Temple of the Forbidden Eye, I got to attend. I'll remember the special media/press events and things like the Mighty Ducks FanFaire or the very first Mickey's Halloween Treat that I got to work.

Yah, I'm gonna miss this place.

Well, I'm the newest Walt Disney World Cast Member now. I start on the 28th... so not much time to pack up my stuff after BlizzCon and drive out there.