Disneyland - Hungry Bear Moments

Along the Rivers of America in what used to be Bear Country sits the wooded and shady porch of the Hungry Bear restaurant.

It is one of the last, quaint reminders of old Bear Country. Indeed, it is one of the few remaining "out of the way" spots in all of Disneyland.

Downstairs you can sit around a table and watch the ducks float by---or feed them if you'd like. Even on hot days, this area stays pretty cool.

From this vantage point you can get a clear view of the Mark Twain steaming along, while waving at the guests on her lower decks. Her massive sternwheel plows through the water, which sparkles and froths behind her. Her steam engine puffs and chugs loudly as she churns ahead toward the bend.

To your left, you can peer into the woods of an America of long ago. In the farthest corner of the porch, the illusion that you are somewhere along an American river, near the forest, is all too convincing. Above you, a steam engine of the Disneyland Railroad rolls into view, clicking along on its way through the wilderness.

Across the way, Tom Sawyer's Island beckons, with children and adults clambering over its rock formations. There's the remains of old Fort Wilderness.

To your right, Davy Crockett's Explorer Canoes still load up guests for a true, people-powered attraction. You watch as a splashy, out-of-synch bunch of paddlers glide by---with their exasperated guide and oarsman in the stern.

The area music softly plays bluegrass in the background.

It's a good spot. Relax and enjoy it.

There'll be plenty of time for Fast Passes and Fantasmic later.

Disneyland - Christmas Parade, Fireworks, Snow

Friday and Saturday saw the return of Disneyland's "A Christmas Fantasy" Parade (daily 3:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.), fireworks (daily at 9:25 p.m.) and snow. The crowd was not too bad Friday, grew quite bigger on Saturday, and will simply increase as we plow forward into the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays.

Snow lovers: stick between the buildings on Main Street for your best viewing and participation. The snow drops daily at 7:30 p.m. and once again after the fireworks show.

Pedestrian traffic alert: the Hub.

With Fantasmic erupting nightly at 9:00 p.m. and 10:30 p.m., a 6:30 p.m. Christmas parade, 7:30 p.m. "snow" and 9:25 p.m. fireworks show ("Believe in Holiday Magic"), the Hub area in front of Sleeping Beauty's Castle becomes...

...shall we say...

...busy. Guests are directed through a one-way traffic flow system that goes counterclockwise around the outside of the Hub (the brick walkways). Fireworks viewing is in the middle of the street, in front of the castle and down Main Street. Arrive early for a spot or enjoy marching around the Hub with 15,000 of your closest and dearest new friends.

Oh.

Small World's open, too. It is decked out for the holidays and has new boats. Most of it has remained true to its original self---at least what we can see so far. Enjoy!

There's more to follow on the whole me skippering a Jungle boat thing.

Heck, I may take one of them out for a spin tonight!

Love and joy come to you!

And don't forget the wassail. Make mine a double.

Disneyland - Plaza Pavilion, Christmas Decorations, Wild Fire

Old news, but the Plaza Pavilion is done with its rehab enough so that they took down the construction wall and guests can sit on the front porch again. The kitchen construction in the back continues and nears completion. Great to see the "gingerbread" woodwork and the luxurious new coat of thick paint. Bravo!

Christmas officially arrived at Disneyland recently as well, with the big tree now up in Town Square and decorations everywhere else. The official parades and fireworks are scheduled to kick off on November 21, 2008, as I recall.

The Christmas music on Main Street is cool and does help set the scene, though I must admit it was a surreal scene during last weekend's fires in nearby Corona/Yorba Linda/Anaheim Hills/Brea. A huge plume of black smoke and ash covered Disneyland last Saturday, literally blocking out the sun for most of the day. As I stood on Main Street I listened to Christmas music while baking in a hot Santa Ana (Santana) Wind and watching ashes rain down. There's a Southern California holiday scene for you.

Over on the Jungle Cruise, as our boat came round the bend into the Elephant Pool, I felt like we were in Apocalypse Now. The sky was orange-grey, ash was falling like we'd been napalmed and dense smoke surrounded us. I half expected to stumble upon Marlon Brando sitting in the tent with the gorillas and the overturned Jeep.

What made it most interesting, 101 fans, was that I was skippering the boat.

Not kidding.

More on that later.

Love,

Mike

Disneyland - Tomorrowland - Um, Now What?

I have not posted much about Tomorrowland.

There's not much to say these days.

We could talk about Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters.

But what would we do when those fourteen seconds were up?

Perhaps our time would be better suited mourning the passing of Circle Vision.

This lovely attraction provided a fabulous 360-degree motion picture tour of the United States (and, later, China). It was air conditioned. It took a good number of guests out of the Park.

Or the loss of America Sings or the Carousel of Progress to Innoventions? Ack. Pphhhphth.

I've heard that the Peoplemover may be making a come back, but I'm not making any promises.
That would be a step.
Putting the Rocket Jets back where they belong would be good, too.
Updating the Star Tours attraction after 21+ years would be a nice touch. (I think we've attacked the Death Star enough already!).
A little more white paint on the buildings and perennials in the flower beds would go quite a ways.
Oh, I don't know, it'd be nice to ride the Skyway again.
At least we have (or are trying to have) a new Monorail. Hope they finish getting the bugs out. Funny, the other ones worked fine for over 50 years! Leave it to the 2008 model to be a clunker.
Mission to Mars? Okay, I'll give 'em that one. Why not stick Mission Space in its place? Beats a dirty, smelly old Pizza Planet any day.
Bring.
Back.
Tomorrowland Terrace.
Give us some primary colors on the Autopia.

My now familiar rant is now over for today.

Pax vobiscum, my friends.

Disneyland - Mint Juleps, French Market And Jazz - New Orleans Square

If you have never experienced a mint julep drink from the little service counter at the back side of the French Market in New Orleans Square---I feel for you.

The drink is cool and green, and comes with a cherry or two.
I could try to describe the flavor to you.
But I would fail to do it justice.

For whatever reason, from my very first mint julep, I have loved them.

I seek them out on almost every trip to the Park.
I love the little counter where they are served.
I love the canopy that spreads out like a fan over the French Market dining area.
I love the little song stage there where Dixieland Jazz bands play.
I love this corner of New Orleans Square.

I miss deeply those warm summer evenings in the days before Fantasmic,
when the West Side would slow down,
when the candles on the tables would glow,
when the Mark Twain would round the bend,
resplendent with lighted decks,
and a when a jazz ensemble would play to the guests seated around their small stage.
Simple.
Sweet.
Immersive.
Disneyland.
You folks who "get it" know what I mean.

As for everyone else: sorry there's no "wayback machine" for us to jump into for a spin. Nevertheless, you can still get a mint julep.

At least that's a start.

And jazz bands still appear on that little stage.Take a moment the next time you're in New Orleans Square and there's a jazz band playing,
sit down at the French Market.

Sip a julep and take a listen.

I'll wager that you'll find it's good for the soul.

Disneyland - A Splash Of Photos of 1980s Cast Members

For you whippersnappers of today's generation, this post will be a bit boring, I suppose. Just a few pictures of Disneyland cast members from 20 or more years ago---with the Park in the background.

Oh well.

That never stopped me before!

To the right you will see (in absolutely no particular order), some classic mid-1980s pictures.

We shall begin with a photo taken behind Main Street (with the old Administration and Wardrobe Building seen in the background). We find Sleeping Beauty wide awake with her Prince on a rather unconventional carriage. [Thanks to Trish Gunzel for originally posting this photo of herself and Erik Gradias]. I offer this photograph because, though I never knew either of them personally, I saw them in the Christmas parade almost daily (when I worked Main Street) AND because I love the fact that old "Backstage" Main Street is shown in the photo. The dark squares located just above the parked cars and along the face of the beige Admin building are the windows where I would go to drop off my costume and pick up a fresh, clean one before my next shift. Ah, Wardrobe. Nothing like a crisp, clean set of custodial whites or the hideous orange of a Tiki Room polyester Hawaiian shirt!

Similarly, I offer the next photograph (with thanks to Bruce Nelson who posted it originally)---not because I ever personally met or knew "Paula"---("Miss Bear Country 1986"), but because I sat at the table on which she is posing many, many times during my breaks when I worked in Custodial in New Orleans/Bear Country. I think those same vending machines are STILL there! Some things at Disneyland never change. Besides, the photo also brings back fond memories of the Country Bear Jamboree and the costumes worn by the cast members who worked there in the 1980s.

Our next photograph shows a fellow Jungle skipper (Ed Pace) and his friend (Patrice Millard) [my thanks to Ed Pace for originally posting and sharing this photo!] in 1980s attire at the helm of a Jungle boat parked at the dock. You can see the costume we skippers wore back then. Love the leopard hat band! You can also see the gloriously colorful canopies and cushions that adorned our boats. Ed's costume is identical to the one I wore almost every day during my Jungle shifts.

I knew Curt Visca, the sweeper shown in our next photograph, at around the time this picture was taken. I love how the picture shows the old entrance to Pirates, along with the hostess' attraction costume from back then. [My sincere thanks to the fantastic Sandi Miller---who took tons of photos over the years!---for originally posting and sharing this picture]. I also like the old trash can and the Swiss Family Treehouse, which you can just make out in the background. This was photo was taken long before the "bridge" that now crosses over the queue to the Pirates main entrance.

We will close out today's "Memory Lane" post with a shot taken at the old Coke Terrace or Tomorrowland Terrace. I actually knew Tammy Irwin---pictured here with two of her co-workers, as she also worked with a friend of mine from school at the Terrace. Dig the cool, red Coke costumes! Better still---that register sure doesn't look "digital." Tomorrowland Terrace had not yet met Buzz Lightyear---or his horrific color scheme---and still had some groovy, Mary Blair-esque tiles in its decor! By the way, according to the menu board in the background, you could buy a Moon Burger for $2.15 or a Space Burger for $1.95. Nowadays, you won't see "$4.50" as your register total unless you're buying a churro or something.

Children of the '80's, UNITE!
You have nothing to lose but your big hair, headbands and Reeboks!***

***---with apologies to Karl Marx and Vladimir Lenin.

Disneyland - What Will You Celebrate?

I heard from a Cast Member that Disney has been putting on some informational seminars about next year's "What Will You Celebrate?" promotion. There has been quite a bit of interest in the offer to let you get into the Park for free on your birthday. Picking up where the "year of a million dreams" left off, next year will seek to turn Disneyland into a giant party. Guests will be invited to celebrate just about anything and everything.

The event comes at a time when it looks like the 2009 economy will be a gaping, smoking crater. Getting ANYTHING for free next year will sure sound good to a LOT of people, I'm sure.

You have probably heard about the promotion where Disney will pay for three days at WDW if you cover the first four. How's that for a promotion? Earlier this year, they offered to pay for our meal plan if we booked a Disney World trip. Have they gone insane? Disney, giving away money?

Something tells me we're in for a bumpy economic ride. Disney's offering steep discounts means we have all crossed over into the economic equivalent of The Twilight Zone. There's the signpost up ahead...

Disneyland - Adventure/Frontier Offices

Dateline: Adventureland/Frontierland

Nestled above the Riverbelle Terrace, at the intersection of Frontierland, Adventureland and New Orleans Square, are the manager's offices for Adventure/Frontier and New Orleans/"Critter" Country. A small conference room sits behind the second story porch pictured above---or at least it used to in the 1980s. Given that things "back stage" don't change much at the Park, I'll bet you the conference room remains.

After ducking behind a large door near the Bengal Barbeque, Adventure/Frontier cast members would make their way to a narrow staircase and up to a break area/porch. A door at the far end of this small porch led to the offices.

On rainy, cold days, a dash upstairs into the cozy office for a styrofoam cup of mediocre coffee was a small slice of heaven.

The Area Managers who worked there had their hands full with the wacky crews at Jungle and Thunder Mountain (and probably still do). It was cool to be upstairs and look out the curtained windows at the crowd along the Rivers of America.

I envied those managers.
They had radios.
They got to wear civilian clothes.
They always had an earpiece.
They looked like CIA and Secret Service all wrapped up in one.
They got called in for all the exciting stuff: an injury in the area, an attraction shutdown, a VIP in the Park, etc.
They were Disney cool.
When one of them stepped onto your Jungle boat, you prayed that the S.O.P. ("Standard Operating Procedure") version of your spiel would pour easily from your mouth---without accidentally letting out a non-approved joke.

Well, that is today's "remember when" cast member snippet.

Today's post has been brought to you by "Jungle Is 101," where dreams really do come true, if only occasionally and with some additives and preservatives.

Disneyland - Opera House - Where's Mr. Lincoln - The Parking Lot Cone

Enough time has passed.

Bring back Mr. Lincoln.

A truly classic attraction has been mothballed for far too long now at Disneyland.

Ostensibly removed "temporarily" so that its theater could be used for a showing of a film involving Disneyland's 50th anniversary (ahem, three years ago!), Great Moments With Mr. Lincoln has yet to return.

Abe never goes out of style. Indeed, whatever your politics, Mr. Lincoln has been called back into service by our president-elect, Barack Obama, and we can expect to see several more references to him as we press toward the inauguration, I'm sure.

Too many of our young students are unaware of the person who is quite possibly our greatest President ever.

The Lincoln attraction provided a historical context and a three-dimensional view of a President who would otherwise sit voiceless on pennies and five dollar bills. Walt Disney loved Lincoln and the Lincoln exhibit had Walt written all over it. The detail, the patriotism, the elegance---it was a pure and simple tribute to a great man.

For now, Lincoln has left the building. Sure, you can still catch him in Florida at the Hall of Presidents, but that leaves the entire West (Left) Coast without an opportunity to experience this attraction. Young and old alike would be well served to have Abe back in action at the Opera House at Disneyland.

This, of course, reminds me of another story.
The story of the cone.
And poor Honest Abe.
In the mid-1980s (aren't all my stories from then?) a certain sweeper was famous for pranks and shenanigans. No, it was not me. I was way too "S.O.P." (Standard Operating Procedure) for that.
Anyhow, this sweeper friend of ours was the kind of guy who would, after hours, somehow make his way into the Submarine lagoon and come out with a fish or other memento (seriously).
He was the one who led the "choir practice" at America Sings.
If you got hit with a water balloon backstage on a hot day...this is the guy you would first suspect.
He was always up to something, but was good at covering his tracks. To my knowledge, he was never caught.
He found himself a nice orange parking lot cone one day while he was working a sweeping assignment on Main Street.
The joy of custodial is that, with our sweeper whites, we were pretty much able to go most anywhere in the Park and not appear out of place. Try doing that in a Pirates costume (the striped socks and floppy hat were dead giveaways). This included the "back areas" of attractions.
Sweepers would buddy up with attraction operators, or, better yet, with attractions maintenance personnel. They would learn where to get in and how to safely access "backstage" areas.
Our friend with the parking lot cone had such prized knowledge---and an intent to use it.
He stole away back stage at Great Moments With Mr. Lincoln between shows.
He placed the bright orange cone on the head of the Lincoln audioanimatronic figure as it was seated in its chair.
He then left the premises.
The young female ride operator followed guests into the theater for the next performance.
She gave her welcome and safety spiel into the microphone as the stage remained curtained.
After reminding guests of the ever-present prohibition against flash photography, she welcomed them to enjoy "Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln" and hit the show's start button.
The music queued up.
As did the narrator.
After all the intros, the fanfare blared and the curtain raised elegantly and majestically,
revealing Mr. Lincoln's feet and legs as he was seated in his chair.
It raised further to reveal his torso and neat black suit.
Finally, it raised above his head.
The audience (and the ride operator) were presented with our 16th President, seated in his beautiful antique chair, wearing a coat and tails.
And an orange parking lot cone.
Probably not the "Great Moment" everyone was expecting,
but yet another great moment in the history of sweeper pranks.
The show was stopped, I hear, and the cone removed.
I think the young ride operator is still laughing.

If you were part of the audience, I'm willing to bet that you've never forgotten that show either.

---Mike

Disneyland - Grand Californian - Pepperoni Tony

It was summer.
2007, I believe, but the year matters little.

The place was the Hearthstone Lounge of Disney's Grand Californian Hotel & Spa.

Seated at a table near the back of the lounge (a little bit further back than where the photographer was standing who took the stock photo above), my wife and I relaxed together.

Being summer and sitting, as I was, in this grand lounge, it was axiomatic that a tall, cool Mojito sat sweating on a cocktail napkin on the small table in front of me.

My wife sat across from me, gently balancing an equally chilled Cosmopolitan in her left hand.

The clinking of glasses, the hum of conversation, the clatter of ice in the bartender's Boston shaker, and a baseball game on TV all blended together to make white noise that formed the auditory background of our setting.

Soon, too, the sound of the piano being played in the main lobby soothingly seeped into the lounge.

I took a cool sip of my Mojito, enjoying its limey sweetness along with the fresh smell of the whole mint leaves that were mulled in my glass.

My wife and I were not really conversing, yet our presence together in that moment was fully felt---complete.

Wordless.

There was an elegance around it and around us.

Nearby, neatly dressed couples in khakis, Hawaiian shirts, bermuda shorts, silk blouses, Tommy Bahama slacks or similar "casual but nice" attire were seated in scattered small groups around the lounge.

Then.

In he walked.

As he strode into the room, a silence fell over the lounge.

To this day, I swear the piano in the lobby stopped playing.

He was tall, but not like Gary Cooper or Cary Grant.

More like Fred Gwynne (of Herman Munster fame).

He was somewhat gangly of arm and leg.

His belly pudged with middle-aged neglect and excess.

A small puddle formed beneath him as he stood mid-bar.

He was wet.

He had no towel.

His only covering was a saggy bathing suit (the kind your father wore---you know, with the bunched up elastic, the busy floral pattern, and the white drawstrings dangling in the front).

The man's skin was prevalent and pale.

Long, scrawny legs and nobby knees were covered in damp, dark hair. They were also dazzlingly white.

His creamish shoulders hunched forward a bit and led up to a thin neck, topped by an ovalish head of black, tousled hair. The hair, too, was wet. Droplets of water ran from the ends of the hair around his long face.

He held a room key in his long fingers and stood at the bar to order a drink and charge it to his room.

His large, white and bare feet (with thin toes and way too many knuckles) squished on their pads as he stood on the tile in front of the bar and casually ordered his drink.

He had a pallorous chest that sank in at the top and showed a lot of sternum.

He turned toward the lounge as he waited for his drink, providing a full frontal view.

The pale chest was adorned with two brownish areolas about the size of half-dollars.

These were the only pigmented areas present on his entire damp body.

Think "Waking Ned Devine," only quite a bit younger.

He was...

Oblivious.

I held my Mojito like Liberty's torch, my elbow resting on the table top and my mouth slightly agape.

A chilly droplet of condensation splashed down against my thigh.

My eyes would not close.

They surveyed the man at the bar as they would an unexpected life form at the outskirts of Area 51.

If the man had been stark naked, he would not have appeared any more out of place.

As if drawn by a force stronger than gravity, my eyes---my wife's---and those of our fellow lounge mates, became fixed upon the white man's flat, brown nipples/areolas.

He then took his drink, signed for his tab and strode back out of the lounge.

My head turned to my wife, with my eyes following not far behind.

"What the hell was that?" I said. "Didn't that guy realize there's a bar at the pool? Oh, and thanks for showing us the pepperonis! Way to go, 'Pepperoni Tony.'"

She looked back at me and burst out laughing.

There were twitters around the room after "Tony" departed, and soon the white noise resumed. Even the piano started playing again.

To this day, "Pepperoni Tony" is famous around our house.

He stands for every pale guy who should never go out in public in a bathing suit, much less into a bar full of patrons.

We met him at a Disney venue we know and love.

We would end up joking about him often.

He never even knew it.

Important tip: be careful what you wear folks and where you choose to wear it!

Love,

Mike

Disneyland - The Hub - Parade Guest Control - If You Give A Moose A Muffin

Dateline: Main Street, U.S.A. - The Hub

During parades and the evening fireworks show, a small army of Disneyland cast members is called into action in order to keep the crowd moving (and safe).

In today's Park, the area around Main Street is changed into a pedestrian traffic flow system by means of ropes, poles and cast members.

If you are a guest visiting the Park in the time before an evening parade or the fireworks show (presently scheduled on Friday - Sunday, at approximately 9:25 p.m.), you will encounter this system.

You will be made a part of it.

Trust me.

You see, for safety purposes alone, an unobstructed pathway leading from the West Side of the Park to the East Side (and Central First Aid) is mandatory. At the "Hub" (the circular park at the top of Main Street directly in front of Sleeping Beauty's Castle---for those new to Disneyland), a pedestrian crossing is set up about an hour to an hour and a half before the evening festivities scheduled start time.

The main pedestrian crossing runs from the Frontierland entrance, across the street, across the top half of the walkway located in the center of the Hub (i.e., right in front of the Partners statue of Walt and Mickey), across the street on the Tomorrowland side of the Hub and to the entrance of Tomorrowland.

Before and during the fireworks, cast members assigned to parade duty will put up the ropes and poles that delineate this pathway across the Hub. They will also move the green benches and make them into parade seating or use them to form the outer edge of the walkway.

If you are seated anywhere along the top half of the central planter in the Hub (where the Partners statue is located), you WILL be asked to move to another location.

No one is permitted to sit in this area prior to the fireworks show.

Is this because Disney wants to ruin your family's day at the Park?

Is it because your personal rights are of no consequence within a Disney theme park?

Is it because Disney cast members just KNEW you had traveled all the way from _________ (fill in state, city, county or country location of choice here), had actually paid to get into the park (you're kidding!), and had found the "perfect" seat, but (said cast members) simply could not resist the overwhelming urge to harass you and your family AND ask you to move?

Yes.

Of course.

Each of these reasons seems more than plausible.

But, nevertheless they do not quite trump the REAL reason for the imposition: having an unobstructed means of egress through a crowd of 10,000 to 25,000 people bunched along Main Street.

You see, dear Guest, if you and your family are permitted to sit in this pathway,
you become an embolism,
a thrombosis,
in a traffic artery.

Like plaque in a vein, you constrict the vital flow of humanity through this narrow passage.

And, if your group of four or five is permitted to sit there, the next group that comes along is going to want to sit there with you.

And so on.

It's like the children's book If You Give A Moose A Muffin.We'll call our version: If You Give A Guest The Seat They Demand At The Hub.

It goes like this:

If you give a Guest a spot to sit in a pedestrian walkway,
they'll ask if their 20 friends can sit with them.

And if you let their 20 friends sit there,
they'll want to sit there with their kids' strollers.

If they sit there with their kids' strollers,
their kids will probably want to get out of them.

If the kids get out of them,
they'll probably want to wander and play in the middle of the nearby walkway.

And if they wander and play in the walkway,
they'll probably get trampled by the pedestrians bulling through there.

If the kids get trampled,
they'll probably need medical assistance.

And if they need medical assistance,
someone will have to call 911.

If someone calls 911,
a paramedic crew will be dispatched.

And, if they are dispatched,
they are going to want to get to the injured person(s).

If they want to get to the injured person(s),
they are going to want to bring a wheelchair or a stretcher across the crowd at Main Street.

If all the people on Main Street are permitted to sit wherever the heck they please,
there'll probably be no room on Main Street for anyone to move.

If no one can move,
the paramedics can't move.

If the paramedics can't move,
they can't get to the trampled children to help them.

If they can't help the trampled children,
the children might not survive.

If they don't survive,
their families will be upset.

If they are upset,
they will stand up from their seats along the walkway to be near their children.

When they do,
they will completely block the walkway so that absolutely no one can move.

If no one can move,
no one will be able to see the fireworks show.

If no one can see the show,
they will get mad and storm out of Disneyland.

If they all storm out,
many other people will get trampled on Main Street.

And the paramedics won't be able to get to them either.

The end.

[With apologies to Laura Numeroff].


Besides, even if you were somehow permitted to sit in the walkway, you really wouldn't enjoy it.

Of course, you might be the type who enjoys sitting down while an endless flow of people and cast members walk, crowd and/or stand directly in front of you, obstructing your view.

If so, I'm guessing you are in a very small (and definitely misguided) minority.

If not, here's a helpful hint from Heloise for those who want to plop at the top of the Hub for fireworks:

Don't.

Sit.

There.

Look around.
You know, Main Street, by it's very name, is a STREET!
From the Hub, through the Plaza, down the middle and all the way around Town Square, you and your family will find an almost infinite variety of seating possibilities.

Try them.

And try them well BEFORE the parade or fireworks are scheduled to start.

No, you are NOT going to walk onto Main Street at 9:24 p.m. and plop down in front of that nice family who scoped out a fabulous viewing location AN HOUR AGO!

Sure, an amazing number of you will rudely try.

Good luck with that.

Oh, and as for you, the family who scoped out the great seats and have waited patiently for an hour to see the fireworks (or parade)...

Well...

you have my permission to do what you must to get those "late arrivers" to move elsewhere.

Love,

Mike