You’re not the only one.  The web is buzzing with everyone who’s excited that it would be available on Nov 10th.  One problem: no one can get it.  Anyone’s who has reported on trying has said they get the same error as me:

“Either the specified keyword is not valid or the application is no longer available for purchase…..”

It’s not on the Verizon Wireless site either with the other apps.

I literally just got off the phone with Verizon; apparently — and this is what they think is wrong: no one ever set up which phones are compatible. Disney says Verizon was supposed to handle it, since it’s Verizon’s phones.  But a VW manager said they’re waiting for Disney to give the list.

The best they could tell me is to wait and keep trying; hopefully it’ll be fine in the next few days.

I do want to thank Verizon Wireless for outbiding the competition so their customers get first crack at this app; it’s unusual.  Usually, we’re left to drool while AT&T people get everything, so thank you!  Thank you!

And thanks to Disney for setting this up; it’s going to be a great tool!

Now: let’s get it working.  Let’s have good customer service and get this handled, serving your customers and guests the way they should be.  After all, the instructions we were given should have been tested to make sure they work for everyone.

And thank you again. 

PS: The mobile website doesn’t look any different either.  Are we sure they launched the new one?

[URL=http://www.millan.net][IMG]http://www.millan.net/minimations/smileys/yes.gif[/IMG][/URL]

It’s Fall!, originally uploaded by eblackwell.

Our leaf blower had to be repaired, so we got behind in leaf collection. Obviously! The interesting thing: these are just from our FRONT yard! I told you we had a lot of trees!

You know the leaf collection guy cursed us vehemently when he had to pick these up!

This is incredible!  This guy is building an Adventurers Club, the Disney Pleasure Island night spot that was closed, breaking so many hearts including mine.  His attention to detail is just wonderful!  It brings back all the great memories, and makes me sad again that it’s gone.

It’s not finished yet, but you can see that he’s got something fantastic!

Kungaloosh!

I made this trip’s graphic!  It has some of the events and meets that I’m looking forward to!

The All Ears Harambe meet with Hidden Mickey hunt is on the Epcot Christmas tree with the elephant and mickey ornaments.  Their Illuminations meet is in the snowglobe, as well as the Beauty and the Beast meet, the Holiday Wishes meet and Christmas party night!  The Twitter bird is their Twitter Scavenger Hunt, plus Mike Scopa’s Dole Whip Meet on a present.

I have the Holidays around the world tag with Kwanzaa and Hanukkah represented in America to go with Christmas.  And of course the toy soldiers for the Christmas parade and Osbourne lights to go with the other events.  And I have a Pluto in coonskin cap for Fort Wilderness and I’m holding a Mickey nutcracker that’s like the little Mickey snowman: because I just like it.

I am getting so excited!  I got more decorations for our site in Fort Wilderness and our golf cart!  I can’t wait to be there, just to share in this special time of year with John and enjoy the fun of Fort Wilderness with the pups.  Plus, we have all these great things planned and I’m going to see so many friends!

A lot of us belong to more than one group; as one reader told Deb Wills, “There is a lot of cross-pollinating!”  So we take advantage of a magical time for everyone to get together who share this same passion and have made friends in all these different groups.  As one person said, “These vacations aren’t merely “just another trip”, but terrificly fun adventures where memories are made”.   It’s all designed for us to spend time together at a favorite place at a magical time.

So many people and organizations are coming that I made two schedules to keep track of it for anyone who would like to make scheduling easier.  The schedules includes all the groups having meets; they also include RADP and Pixelmania meets.   More are getting added all the time, so I’m updating these frequently!

This one is the daily schedule with the meets color coded and side by side so it’s easy to see how they compare:

This one shows a monthly calendar with a list of the meets in case you prefer that.

If you or a group has an event that I’m missing a meet, please let me know!

Last thing:

One of these events is mine!  It’s why my sig graphic above has those pixie dust 3D glasses:

I’m going to share stories about Walt Disney and his plans for Disney World, a get together to see the Magic Kingdom with Walt’s vision. Through it, we’ll see his plans for the resort that led to the three other parks and more places where Walt’s dreams came true. I’m just sharing a love for Walt through the way he did it: storytelling, with his stories and those that knew him best.

People from 3 different groups are coming along, and since Walt loved showing off the unique magic of his park at night, and especially the holiday lights, we’re going to take advantage of the time of year by ending with the Cinderella Castle Ice Lights ceremony for anyone who wants to watch them with me at the end of the “tour”.

If the weather is bad, we’re getting a treat from somewhere like the bakery, plunking down in a dry place, and going on with the stories!

If you’re in the area and would like to join us as I shoot my mouth off with Walt stories, please let me know!

In four weeks, we’ll be there! 

PS: to our friend Steve, guess where we’re having dinner in four weeks?  Expect a phone call!

Happy Halloween!

I just had my first Trick or Treaters! 

I won “Funniest costume” yesterday at work for my George Costanza bit.  I was glad people enjoyed it so much; at one point, I thought “this is going to bomb”, but instead, people got the joke.

Of course, it’s something very special today: it’s our wedding anniversary!

Happy Anniversary, John!    At this time, all those years ago, we were almost at the end of our reception, and you invited half the party back to our house for more fun.   Gaila made coffee for everyone and prepared all the food from the caterers in case people were hungry.  Trick or treaters came to the door and we forgot to have candy for them.  People hung out for awhile, including Mom who watched the video with us, and then we were alone at last…. and asleep by 9:30. 

It’s been a heck of a week.  We had to get a new water heater, a new water tank for our well system, I had a fender bender, and got a bad cold that I’m still getting over.  So we can’t do the gifts and bigger plans I thought of, but we’re still going to celebrate. 

And everyone remember the most important thing this day teaches us.  It’s

Have a great Halloween!

This year for Halloween…, originally uploaded by eblackwell.

I’m George Costanza, sleeping under the desk.

I did well under Weight Watchers, but the session ended and everyone at work just fell apart without it.  Then my scale broke and I just half-heartedly kept up with things.

Enough of that.  I have a new scale and I need to get motivated again.  Not easy because I’ve felt really tired every day for the past few weeks.  Part of that was Morgan being sick and Casey not sleeping through the night without having to go out a few times.  Hopefully that will be better, at least the Morgan part.

I was going to start this weekend; we had an Olive Garden gift card and I promised myself that I ‘d have soup and salad.  I had one hitch; Deptford Olive Garden is where I had that last lunch with my mom.  I never went back.  I told myself not to be such a wuss and get over it, but I chickened out a bit and we went to another one.  That backfired because, let’s face it, one Olive Garden looks like another and it brought a bunch of feelings with it.  So I’m a wuss. And I’m a wuss who said screw it, I’m having a drink and chocolate cake.

But here I am, trying to get psyched up.  I have a long way to go for my goal and I don’t think I’ll get there by my vacation, but I can get quite a lot of it if I get focused.

The Road Company is auditioning for Rent.  At some point, John in joking with the director about how much he’d love to do the show and he was auditioning for this character, got Lauri to say, “If you audition for Angel, you have the part”!

I know for a fact that if you know my beloved husband, you would pay at least $30 a ticket to see him!  In fact, if you’re from out of state, I could get a block of hotel rooms, and you’d get one gladly to see that performance.

Just to see the one and only John “Johnny Black” Blackwell do this scene alone would be worth the money:

What’s that?  Buy you tickets for an entire weekend? You got it!

I love these!

For all the episodes, see them here.

Who do you think is more difficult? 

Morgan has been sick this week; she got into Casey and Elphie’s dry food which affected her throat of course.  She’s been getting congested and now her energy is down.  You can’t just look at her and see she’s not feeling well.  She gets attacks, where — to keep it from being gross — it gets bad.  (Little Elphie hovers nearby each time, giving me anxious looks as I try to help her big sister.) So I made a vet appointment for her to go today.

But then John woke up and had gout.  He couldn’t walk because of the pain.  So I took the afternoon off to get his medicine and take care of both of them.

Bad news, besides two sickies in the house, is the vet had no afternoon appointments.  Morgan has to wait for tomorrow which sucks.  I hate she has to feel bad another day.

Back to the final Jeopardy question:

Which of my patients is whining and a pain to deal with: Morgan or John?

We’ll go to a commercial while you make your decision.

Time’s up!

Answer: here’s a hint.

I had to get away from John before I smothered him; Morgan is quietly laying next to me.