Diary Late 2000

by Orlando C. Fernando

Diary 1998 | Diary 1999 | Diary Early 2000 | Diary Late 2000 | Diary 2001

August 13

Another Skate at the Lake. Party sunny skies this year as my Rochester In-Line Skate Club did our annual August skate at Niagara-on-the-Lake, about 7 miles north of Niagara Falls in Canada. The hydroelectric plant is near the Lewiston Bridge crossing. Also along the Niagara River is a neat whirlpool rapids area where you can take a cable car tour, or if you choose, do the jetski tour in the river itself! I must do it next time I'm in town. I took a fall backwards this year on the main path. A sore right buttocks and wrist were really the only bad injuries. I still do not know what my wheels slipped on - an ant for all I know. :/ The town itself is pretty quaint, with no single national chain such as McDonald's nor Starbucks in sight! Just plenty of boutique stores, restaurants, and ice cream shops. We were in town during the Shaw festival where you can have a peach-anything at your desire. (The peach juice drink was great!) On the way back to the border, we were sure to do our annual buy of fresh in-season juicy peaches at one of the fruit markets. Beats those rocks called supermarket peaches by far! Grab a basket of 12 for about $CAN 5 ($US 3.30).

July 30

A Break at the Cape. The weather at Cape Cod, Massachusetts at the time, unlike Rochester, was cooler and quite pleasant that weekend. Good weather in time for the Saturday wedding I attended. I got a chance to sightsee earlier in Provincetown, at the very north tip of the Cape. There were lots of bike trails and a couple of beach sidewalks to bike or skate at (though biking, due to some occasional sand, was the preferred enjoyment). Dunes surrounded the main highway route 6, making tall climbable hills resembling the likes of deserts. Provincetown was the first American town the Pilgrims had landed on before proceeding to settle in Plymouth on the mainland. The Pilgrim Monument (top first picture on the right) commemorates that event. Inside you can climb up 151 stairs to get some spectacular views of the end of the Cape. Cape Cod itself has become quite expensive to live in, so much that even nearby Bostoners tend to just visit the Cape or possibly rent out a summer cottage. Right now, it's the peak of the tourist season, which is why I was barely fortunate to get a Bed & Breakfast at the Centre Street Inn at Yardmouth Park for $105/night. The central location of it on the Cape made it perfect to attend the wedding and reception. [DIGITAL ALBUM PAGE WITH MORE CAPE COD PHOTOS]

July 20
Playing with Lasers. Our Xerox.com team went out to someplace I never would imagine would be for team building - a laser tag arena! About 6 of us have never done it before, myself included. I hardly knew the visiting developers from the West Coast. After the games, we were all very friendly towards each other. I promised one Palo Alto visitor, someone I traded kills with quite often, that we'd have a serious rematch the next time he was in town. :)

Let me explain for the masses - you are wearing a Buck Rogers-like laser suit with targets (lights) on your chest, back, and shoulders. You also carry a big light laser gun with a barrel the diameter of a lunch thermos bottle. The gun itself as targets on the side and in the front. The goal is to run around like mad in a dark arena with disco music and light fog trying to shoot other players for points. If you are shot, your suit rumbles and plays a sad tone and you are a "ghost" for a few seconds. When your equipment lights up again, you are free to kill again. Each game is 20 minutes. The first game was a free for all. Second game put us on three teams. The final game was back to a free for all, but your "ghost" time is only a second - so you have to get away before someone tries to shoot you again! Everyone at the end were sweaty and laughing having a great time. My manager, Big Unit, scored several hits on me even though he was carrying one of his children! His wife codename Xena also scored multiple hits. Even her eldest son Snowaben got a shot on me. Come to think of it, our secretary Missy killed me that first game. You know, let's just say that I was an easy target the first two games!

By the last game, I figured out some strategies in order to rise to 5th place. The arena has two floors. Early in the game, most people were on the ground level, so I went up to the second floor picking off people as they were wondering around trying to be stealthy. Several walls have holes and several sections of the second floor had gratings to see people below. You MUST avoid being surrounded by three people or you will rack up your deaths. Also, keep your back to the wall to avoid rear shots. Oh, and do all this while keeping your sanity! I recommend Laser Tag to anyone - it's very cardiovascular, safer than those pelting paint balls (sorry paintball fans!) and just too much fun! [MY FIRST GAME FREE-FOR-ALL FINAL SCORES] [MY SECOND GAME 3-TEAMS FINAL SCORES] [MY FINAL GAME FRENZY FINAL SCORES]
[LASER QUEST CORP. MAIN SITE]

Copyright 2001 by Orlando C. Fernando. (Superman picture is Copyright 2001 by Hanna Barbara Productions.)This page is for personal use only and not for reselling nor distribution to people outside his intended audience.