In other news, which coach can be held accountable for this terrible Sugar Bowl tonight?! Brian Kelly is dreaming about leprechauns, Jeff Quinn already has another job so this loss means nothing…and Butch Jones was smart enought to NOT coach his first game at UC against Florida. I blame the NCAA and their recruiting regulations.

So we took your football coach…again. I’m sorry. You should be used to it by now, since we took Brian Kelly from you in 2006. Anyways, in case you haven’t been following the news, we lost our head coach and needed a new one urgently. UC is 12-0 this season and will be playing in the Sugar Bowl on New Year’s Day. You guys are 11-2 and are playing the GMAC Bowl. We’re in the Big East, you’re in the MAC. No disrespect to you guys, but UC is a higher caliber program, and we needed a coach. Those things aside, we do have something in common: at this point we’re both just stepping stone schools for the next level. I feel your pain.

I am sorry that we hired your coach before your bowl game, but if you think I feel bad for you, I don’t. Like you, this is also the second time that a coach has left our school since 2006. I don’t know about you, but both times our coaches lied and claimed they “loved it in Cincinnati” and “aren’t leaving.” Both times those claims proved to be false, and the coach left for what he thought was a better offer. Mark Dantonio was 6-6 this year at Michigan State, finishing a terrible 6th in the Big Ten. Brian Kelly is taking over a Notre Dame program that hasn’t seen a National Championship or Heisman Trophy winner since the mid 80’s. They too were 6-6 this season. Good luck BK. You had a great run here, but tarnished your character on exit.

So anyways, I’m sorry that we took your coach…but it’s just the way the system works. It sucks, but I don’t see it changing anytime soon. Like I said, we now have lost two great coaches to supposedly better programs with deeper pockets and better facilities. All we can do is move forward with the new guy…I suggest you do the same. Please don’t hate Cincinnati.

Respectfully Yours,

Jonathan Lepolt

Flight of Fear (or “FoF,” as we have nicknamed it) is an enclosed roller coaster. 100% of the ride is indoors and in the dark, which adds to the experience and excitement of this ride. The majority of the ride takes place basically inside a huge cube, so track is twisting and turning and placed in the most ridiculous locations that you could possibly imagine. Since the ride is mostly dark, people generally don’t get a chance to fully enjoy the beauty of the design and implementation of this ride. That is of course unless you get stuck inside!!! (or you pay a few bucks for the ‘behind the scenes tour,’ I’ll post the link when I find what I’m looking for)

We started the ride like normal, accelerating from 0-60mph in about 4 seconds, and then flipping upside down a couple times, twisting and turning through the steel track. About halfway through the ride the track goes level and applies some brakes before the grande finale. Usually the brakes slow the train down enough to let riders catch their breath before a few more twists, turns, and inversions. However, this time the brakes stopped us completely.

We sat their for a moment of two, feeling the track shakng back and forth beneath us. Another moment or two go by, and I wonder if something could be wrong…will the brakes let go?

And this is the point when I start to get really excited. Seriously, right now I’m hoping that the ride has broken down and that we’ll have get off the train and walk down those metal stairs that you see on nearly every ride. We wait another minute or so until a KI employee shows up on the platform. “Um, we’re having some technical difficulties right now, and we’re doing our best to resolve the situation. The mechanics are on their way over here right now.”

That was when I took out my trusty iPhone to start documenting the whole thing. I took some pictures, I took some video, I even called Kevin because I knew that he would completely appreciate our current situation. I tried to update Twitter, but there was some stupid problem with the API at the time. Stupid Twitter.

About 12-15 minutes later the brakes on the track released and we got to finish our ride. At the unloading platform there were ten or so KI employees and 2-3 mechanics, waiting to make sure everyone was alright. We were…but some people were more “agitated” than others. I was thrilled. I wanted to do it again.

For years I have always wanted to get stuck on a roller coaster and have to climb down to safety. It has never happened, and I can always hope that someday it will…but I sure got to take home a great story today!

There was a box shipped via UPS next day air on my porch Thursday evening. It would appear that Vinnie somehow pulled it off and got my camera back to me in time for the tennis tournament this weekend. Good news for me!

And, just for fun, here are some good lookin’ veggies!

(don’t let the small red one fool you…)

On July 16, 2009, I received an email from Nikon, Inc., alerting me about a “service advisory” (aka, recall, see here) regarding my camera. Nikon requested that D5000 owners with particular serial numbers send their cameras in to get checked for a problem with the power switch not actually turning the camera on. I had not experienced any of these problems, so I was a bit hesitant to send my camera in for service basically due to the sheer annoyance of me having to be without a camera for an extended period of time (insert ominous music here). I finally decided that I [probably] wouldn’t need my camera for a decently long period of time (two weeks…Nikon shouldn’t need more time than that, right?), so I packed the thing up in a box, slapped my prepaid UPS label on it, and sent the D5000 to Connecticut. I should note that the only thing Nikon ever stated when referencing to the amount of time that it would take to get the camera fixed was: “Nikon will return serviced cameras to customers promptly, employing (whenever possible) transportation that limits transit time to two days.”

This is where you laugh and say “I know what’s going to happen next. Lepolt is going to need/want his camera before it’s fixed!” You and Murphy would be correct…almost as soon as I sent the camera in, I wanted to use it.

A little background: Seapine Software has purchased tickets to the Western & Southern Financial Group Masters Open for the past few years, and has graciously offered tickets to employees. I have graciously accepted said tickets, and have been able to see the likes of Roger Federer (Pics from 2007) smacking that little yellow ball around on a court in Mason, OH. I figured this year would be no different, so I put in my request for tickets. Again, Murphy’s interference: I wasn’t able to get tickets at the end of the tournament like I expected, but more toward the middle.

At this point I knew I was in trouble. My camera was in transit to Connecticut, I was in Cincinnati, and the tennis tournament was in a little over a week.

What do I do? I NEED my camera by Saturday! Let’s call Nikon. I’m sure by calling their 1-800 number I’ll be able to speak with someone that can tell me the whereabouts of my camera and when I can expect it to return. Right? RIGHT?!

<insert laughter>

This is where the fun begins…I called Nikon on Sunday evening and talked to Cynthia. I asked her where my camera was. She told me “it was out of her hands.” I asked how I was supposed to find my camera, and how I could get it back by Saturday. She had no idea. She did tell me that she would email the service facility, and she would email me their response by Tuesday.

It’s Tuesday. I’ve heard nothing from Cynthia. I’ll call back. This time I talked to a guy and had to explain the whole situation to him again. He told me right away that “it was out of his hands,” and “we (customer service) are not handling that.” I asked him if he knew where my camera was and he said, “it’s in Connecticut!” I calmly asked if he knew for certain that my camera was in Connecticut, or if someone else’s camera was in Connecticut. “Well, that’s where all the D5000 cameras are going.” I asked again where MY camera was. “Well, we don’t have access to that information.” I called BS and said there had to be someone there that knew what was going on. He put me on hold for five minutes…then hung up. Intentional? Probably. At least that’s the way I’ll spin it.

So I called back. This time I got to talk to Vinnie. I told Vinnie my sob story (for the third time) and mentioned how the previous support representative had just hung up on me, and how the first support representative had failed to follow through on her commitment. Vinnie really felt my pain. “It’s not funny,” he said. “I understand your inconvenience.” At this point I could pretty much recite Nikon’s whole script of how to deal with a frustrated/angry/jackass customer and knew that no one at 1-800-645-6678 would be able to do a damn thing for me. I told Vinnie that this whole situation was unacceptable, and that I was really starting to get angry due to lack of communication between Nikon and its customers, and Nikon between customer service and the repair facility. We spoke for about 25 minutes while I tried to get a loaner camera from Nikon and he read from the script which was full of “I’m sorry’s” and “I understand’s.” Probably to get me to shut up, he finally told me he was pretty sure (although he wouldn’t guarantee anything) that I would have my camera back in time. He was going to email yet ANOTHER department to see if I could get a loaner camera by Saturday. Again, he was “pretty sure” that I could get a loaner camera (but wouldn’t guarantee anything).

I’m not buying it for a second. No chance. Zero. I’m not getting my camera back or a loaner by Saturday. They’ll have to kick the thing out the door first thing Wednesday morning to have any chance of me getting it.

One interesting tidbit that I did manage to extract from Vinnie was that it could take five business days once they received the camera to generate a service order number, and they could work with me from there. Hmmmm. Five business days. This information would certainly have been useful BEFORE I sent the camera in! Stupid Nikon!!!

I realize that this whole situation is a little bit my fault…but when it really comes down to it, I feel like Nikon should have done a better job of everything! They obviously know how long it will take to repair a single camera, how many cameras they have sold, and how many cameras they could expect to receive at their repair facility. They could have provided me with a rough estimate of how long I should expect to be without my camera! All they told me was they would try to ship it back within two days wherever possible. That’s worthless to me. Unbelievable. I can send something in the mail and tell you that it will take 2-3 days to get there! The useful information is how long it will take them to fix once they have it…information they neglected to share. Oh well.

So, I guess we’ll just wait and see. Hopefully I have something to use come Saturday…Federer is in town.

Jalapeño Peppers

You may notice that there are more plants in pots instead of the ground…well, we weren’t having a whole lot of luck with the actual garden, so Abi salvaged what she could and threw some into pots, which are doing fantastic. I keep telling people that Abi and I are pot farmers…but Abi always corrects me and says we’re “container gardeners.” I’ll let you decide.

Also, we have a friend in one of our pots:

Enjoy some new photos:
http://picasaweb.google.com/lepolt

A couple months ago Abi and I went out to buy some various garden items like seeds and an indoor planter to get things going. This past weekend we moved everything from inside to out, and also planted additional seeds and plants to finish things off. In a few weeks/months time, we will [hopefully] have:

• Tomatoes (2 types)
• Onions
• Bell Peppers (2 types)
• Bella Hot Peppers
• Jalepeno Peppers
• Cayenne Peppers
• Blackberries
• Raspberries
• Strawberries
• Watermelon

Planting this stuff was not cheap…which leads me to explain the title of this post: Will we recoup the cost of planting all this stuff in fruits/vegetables produced by the garden? As an experiment, we are going to weigh everything as it is picked and calculate a dollar amount of that “harvest” based on the current rate at a local grocery store. We’ll keep a running total throughout the summer, and hopefully come out ahead at the end!

Our initial cost was approximately $80. Stay tuned for updates!

Diamondback promised to provided guests with a ride unlike any other at the park, and we wouldn’t be disappointed.

At about 9am the gates opened and those at the beginning of the line began to run toward the ride entrance in the back of the park. People were packed in like sardines, so by the time Abi and I made it through the gate, we already standing in line. For those familiar with KI, the line had already slithered back to the entrance of Nickelodeon Universe. I guessed that it would take about two hours to make it through the line, which turned out to be about 30 minutes over. Nothing eventful happened until we got closer to the actual queues for the ride where we could pay more attention to the amazing structure of the coaster, and the magnificent splashdown at the end of the ride. The queues were obviously completely filled, but the line moved pretty quickly which is always a good thing. We made it from the start of the line to the loading platform in a mere 45 minutes. I would have expected it to take at least 1-1.5 hours, and I’m wondering if KI really thought that one completely through for crowd control. However, I now know that even on a busy day it’s not as bad as it looks!

The loading platform didn’t offer up anything special, pretty standard stuff there. Abi and I chose to sit in the very last seat of the train, which meant with the new style car that we were on the outside of a four-seat car, and pushed back a little. It’s a pretty unique design, which I liked, but I’m not sure I actually was able to see much more than usual once the ride started. Diamondback used a standard chain-lift system, but was missing the click-click-click of your old school roller coaster rollback protection system. I haven’t done any investigation on the newer safety mechanisms, but it was a smooth, quiet ride up to the top. From that point forward the details of the ride are a bit sketchy; probably due to the mix of excitement, adrenaline, and just trying to enjoy the ride, but Diamondback has quickly become one of my favorite rides at Kings Island.

Diamondback is a reasonably long ride, running about three minutes from the time you leave the station until the time you return. Longer rides always make me feel like I get my money’s worth, so the ride gets a good mark in that category. There are plenty of big, smooth hills with lots of air time, which is always something I enjoy. The fantastic first drop carries riders right over the heads of guests walking down the sidewalk, and also just past riders on the Kings Island Railroad. The bright red and yellow track can be seen from almost anywhere in the park, attracting attention from coaster riders and non-riders alike. Diamondback features an incredible splashdown effect at the end of the ride which really is a neat touch for people watching the ride. The splash looks cool, and also helps to slow the train down as it nears the station. Trying to describe it won’t do it justice, so look for a video on YouTube if you’re interested. The ride moves about 1600 riders per hour, above average for most coasters, which really makes the time fly in that queue line.

Overall the ride gets a good rating from me, trying to eliminate as much of my Cedar Point bias as possible… Nice work, Kings Island and Cedar Fair, keep them coming.