A post in two parts!
Disney Test Marketers
Okay - so this is cool. We have been asked to be test marketers during our next trip to Walt Disney World! Disney's latest and greatest concept is to link tickets, keys, FastPass+, charging ability and who-knows-what-else in these stylish RF tag Magic Band wrist bands. RF technology is merely a chip (imbedded in the wrist band) that can send/read a signal to whatever you are doing. For example, instead of digging through your bag at the end of a long day in a Disney park you can simply wave your wrist over the reader on the door and >click< the door is open.
We are a Disney family and belong to the Disney Vacation Club - and being members brings us a lot of joy and great memories. But, c'mon, getting to try out something new? For Disney? Before the rest of the general public? Cool.
We received an invitation/letter in the mail and after a few short clicks on the web page the bands showed up on our doorstep a couple of days later in this really neat iPhone-ish box. Each band came in colors we picked and had our names printed on them.
Out upcoming trip will be short but we will try to make the maximum use out of the bands using FastPass+ which will allow us to get in line on the big attractions without having to stand in line. My hope is that we are given an opportunity to provide feedback on their innovation afterwards. I would love for my input to be part of what improves something I enjoy so deeply for another Disney guest.
Look - I also know that the company will be able to "track" us on the property, where we go, how long we go there, what we spend there, etc. and then cross reference that against our demographics and then prompt us with ads, deals, and merchandizing. So? If it makes my experience better as a result I am all for it.
Skin Cancer
In September I went to the doctor with a minor sinus infection. While Dr. Devente was looking in my ears he noticed a reddish, dry patch of skin near my right ear. This patch had been there for over a year or more and, although I was aware of it, never thought to bring it up to my doctor. "We need a biopsy," turned into, "I'm referring you to a skin doctor to have that cut out of your face."
Some time ago, long before there was sunscreen, our parents sent us outside to play all day. Sometimes as vain teenagers we applied suntan oil to our bodies. Protect ourselves from the sun? Who does that?! And somewhere twenty or thirty years ago I spent too much time in the sun and decades later it became skin cancer.
Not CANCER cancer. Skin cancer. Basal cell carcinoma, the most common type of skin cancer. Skin cancer is not the type of cancer to metastasize and spread to organs but it is the type you don't want in your body either.
So last week I spent three hours in the Cary Skin Center with a face full of Novocaine. The Mohs procedure "surgery" was special in that the doctor was able to cut out sections of the cancer and then analyze them right there in the office to determine when all of the cancer was removed. Instead of having to guess or approximate how deep to go, the doctor only cut out what was necessary. The whole process took three hours and I was able to sit and watch my iPad (knocking out two episodes of Ken Burns' Civil War) between slices.
On a final note. I try to be ever present of my surroundings - its just a thing I do. While waiting in the waiting room I became very aware that I was the youngest patient in the office by at least twenty-five years. Maybe thirty. And I think I may end up back there from time to time when/if they find more skin cancer.
Holy smokes, if were cutting off pieces of me now what will be left of me at 76?
Disney Test Marketers
Okay - so this is cool. We have been asked to be test marketers during our next trip to Walt Disney World! Disney's latest and greatest concept is to link tickets, keys, FastPass+, charging ability and who-knows-what-else in these stylish RF tag Magic Band wrist bands. RF technology is merely a chip (imbedded in the wrist band) that can send/read a signal to whatever you are doing. For example, instead of digging through your bag at the end of a long day in a Disney park you can simply wave your wrist over the reader on the door and >click< the door is open.
We are a Disney family and belong to the Disney Vacation Club - and being members brings us a lot of joy and great memories. But, c'mon, getting to try out something new? For Disney? Before the rest of the general public? Cool.
We received an invitation/letter in the mail and after a few short clicks on the web page the bands showed up on our doorstep a couple of days later in this really neat iPhone-ish box. Each band came in colors we picked and had our names printed on them.
Out upcoming trip will be short but we will try to make the maximum use out of the bands using FastPass+ which will allow us to get in line on the big attractions without having to stand in line. My hope is that we are given an opportunity to provide feedback on their innovation afterwards. I would love for my input to be part of what improves something I enjoy so deeply for another Disney guest.
Look - I also know that the company will be able to "track" us on the property, where we go, how long we go there, what we spend there, etc. and then cross reference that against our demographics and then prompt us with ads, deals, and merchandizing. So? If it makes my experience better as a result I am all for it.
Skin Cancer
In September I went to the doctor with a minor sinus infection. While Dr. Devente was looking in my ears he noticed a reddish, dry patch of skin near my right ear. This patch had been there for over a year or more and, although I was aware of it, never thought to bring it up to my doctor. "We need a biopsy," turned into, "I'm referring you to a skin doctor to have that cut out of your face."Some time ago, long before there was sunscreen, our parents sent us outside to play all day. Sometimes as vain teenagers we applied suntan oil to our bodies. Protect ourselves from the sun? Who does that?! And somewhere twenty or thirty years ago I spent too much time in the sun and decades later it became skin cancer.
Not CANCER cancer. Skin cancer. Basal cell carcinoma, the most common type of skin cancer. Skin cancer is not the type of cancer to metastasize and spread to organs but it is the type you don't want in your body either.
So last week I spent three hours in the Cary Skin Center with a face full of Novocaine. The Mohs procedure "surgery" was special in that the doctor was able to cut out sections of the cancer and then analyze them right there in the office to determine when all of the cancer was removed. Instead of having to guess or approximate how deep to go, the doctor only cut out what was necessary. The whole process took three hours and I was able to sit and watch my iPad (knocking out two episodes of Ken Burns' Civil War) between slices.
On a final note. I try to be ever present of my surroundings - its just a thing I do. While waiting in the waiting room I became very aware that I was the youngest patient in the office by at least twenty-five years. Maybe thirty. And I think I may end up back there from time to time when/if they find more skin cancer.
Holy smokes, if were cutting off pieces of me now what will be left of me at 76?
