22 replies to this topic

[Jogumpie]

July 1st, 2010

Summer is about to start

Hello to all members of SSCoasters. With this post I'd like to start my Summer Journal. Every once in a while - which could be every day during some weeks - I will give you an update of what has been happening in my life.

Today I had one of my last exams. The course was called "Materials Engineering II" and covered subjects like phase diagrams. Yes, a very chemical course, which is not my main interest. I believe I succeeded to score enough points to be done with it.
Tomorrow I will have to finish another course called Vibrations & Waves. The first part covered vibrations and was a very mechanical course. I absolutely loved it and scored a 9/10 (which turned out to be the highest mark given in the course). Waves, on the other hand, covers waves... no really, electromagnetic waves. Not very interesting to be honest, but well, I have to score a minimal 2/10 to finish the course.

What I have planned for the rest of the summer? Just have a look into my next journal update. Thanks for reading and have fun this summer!

-Gump

[BGTKing]

Materials was a very boring course here as well. Took it about a year and a half ago. Don't get why I needed to memorize crystal structures. Not like I remember anything now.

[Jogumpie]

July 2nd, 2010

Goodmornin' Vietnam!

Goodmorning to you all! It's just past 5 in the morning as I woke up early to get ready for a big day. Today I have my last exam, which means I will be going back to my parents for the whole summer instead of just the weekends.

Yesterday's exam turned out to be not that hard. I needed just 41/100 points to clear it, as I had gathered 69/100 for the other half of the course. It is one of two courses I still need to claim my propedeuse.

Today's exam, as I said before, should not prove to be that hard. I need at least a 2/10, so no biggie. We can even bring notes and lecture sheets, how awesome is that? I'm sure I will get to the university early to print some pages there.

Why did I wake up so early, you think? Well, that is because I still have to pack my stuff and clean up some more. Leaving dirty dishes behind for a few months seems a bad idea, so I'll have to get rid of those. Will also need some extra time in the shower as I was too lazy to shave for a whole week now, since Grasspop. The weird thing is that I woke up automatically this morning, at 4:50, 10 minutes before the alarm would go off. Now I am browsing through SSC to completely wake up and then I will collect stuff like books and clothes.

Right after the exam, which is officially from 8:45 to 12:30, I will collect my bag from my room, lock the room and start my journey towards my parents. Actually I'd like to catch the 12:04 train, so I am home at around 15:50. I want to be there that early so I can quickly get on my bike and be at the Efteling at 16:00, since *drum roll* the new GCI twins have opened! Yes, today I will be riding those and I really cannot wait!

-Gump

[Jogumpie]

July 3rd, 2010

The heat kicks in

They are great, absolutely great! What? Joris en de Draak! Perhaps George and the Dragon is an easier name for the non-Dutch here. The GCI racers are a great addition to the park, or actually a replacement for Pegasus. The small wooden roller coaster from 1991 had become so rough, the Efteling decided to get rid of it and replace it with a GCI woodie. Originally these plans were to be executed later on. Pegasus, however, decided to accelerate its replacement plans. Ground works, like pouring concrete and setting up footers, was done during the winter. Winters in Holland are not like in some parts of the USA, but this one happened to be very intense, causing a delay in the construction.

Finally, in June, test runs were done and members of the Dutch fan base picked up their camera's and drove to the edge of the park to hope and catch a glimpse of these test runs. Not long after that, the official test runs began, for which you could win spots in the trains. One of my brothers was so lucky to win two spots and he was gonna go with me. I decided to give away my spot to another brother, though.

After the two exams of yesterday and the day before that, I was able to get down to the park and ride both GCI's yesterday afternoon. With 95* F / 35* C on the thermometer and with Holland playing against Brazil at the same time, there were few people in the park. When I got to the GCI's, I only had to wait about three trains. I managed to do 8 rides, 4 on each coaster. And like a GCI is supposed to be, George and the Dragon are two very wild coasters. Lots of air time, lateral G's and a very high fun factor because of the racing. I have not yet decided which of the two is better. I'm sure, though, that backseat is the wildest, followed by the front and then by the center of the trains. Better go soon again.

When the park closed, I went back home and had a poor dinner. Well, who has a huge appetite when it's so hot? A quick shower to cool down and then I went to my girlfriend. At midnight I got back into my own bed and fell asleep right away... what a tiring day!

-Gump

[TheSUCKCrew]

That sounds really awesome!
I want to ride it soooooo much!
Still 7 days to go till 10 juli...
Man, this is really fun!
Is the track smooth, or is it a really rough ride?
Can't wait...

[maarten12]

man, that sounds fun. When we will go to there it will be busy probably . walibi world should come with a new rollercoaster...

[RCT2123]

Goodmornin' Vietnam!

You have seen that movie?...

-RCT2123

[Jogumpie]

^A long time ago.

No long story this time. Yesterday I went to Eclipse with the lady, this morning I ran a bit with a friend of mine (it's new to me), I am currently working on Looping Star and tomorrow I'll be in Phantasialand and then watching Netherlands - Uruguay.

[Jogumpie]

July 7th, 2010

On to the final

Yesterday morning started with a long trip towards Phantasialand. Took about 2.5 hours to get there, as I had to pick up three friends along the way. They were quite amazed I didn't use any navigation system, but hey, I went so many times to Phantasialand, I can even dream the way there.

The German highways are all different. The one towards Phantasialand, the 61, has a lot of speed restrictions, but on the parts without, the average speed on the left lane was 100 mph. I even peaked on 118 mph, gotta love the Autobahn.

After a while we arrived in the park and we all entered without even paying for tickets, two of my friends work at the Efteling and had free entrance and could bring one friend each, so. We did many of the rides and of course Black Mamba was the best again. Front seat had a queue of about an hour. Many rides in the park later, we sat down at their Chinese restaurant, realised we hadn't had much time left, quickly ate, paid and left.

Around 6.15 PM we left the parking and at 8.30 PM the match between Uruguay and the Netherlands would start. So whenever I could, I sped up to 100 mph and above. When we crossed the border, we had the general 75 mph restriction again, so I let cruise control drive us back to our homes. I dropped off my friends at 8.10 and 8.30 PM and myself I only missed the first 13 minutes of the game. So, in time for the first goal!

Later in the evening I died a horrible death, or at least my legs did. Monday I started running with a friend, Tuesday contained lots of queues and four hours of driving doesn't help you recover your legs. And this morning, Wednesday, I had another run with the same friend and afterwards my order from the USA came in: two Tenacious D t-shirts for $10. I still had to give Max a birthday present, so I decided to get a shirt myself, too.

Now, I think, it is time to get back to building again.

-Gump

[Maxlaam]

And I have the shirt, absolutely loving it!

In exchange (because I knew I still had to collect my present) I bought the family some Oliebollen!)

[TheSUCKCrew]

Oliebollen!! Yum Yum!

[BGTKing]

Saw a guy at the gym that looked similar to Gump today.

[TheSUCKCrew]

^If you didn''t notice yet: Gump isn't the red-hat girl on the photo... LOL

[Maverix]

^If you didn''t notice yet: Gump isn't the red-hat girl on the photo... LOL

Do you know how stupid you just sounded? and who you just asked?

[Jogumpie]

July 8th, 2010

Working on Looping Star

Today I worked several hours on Looping Star. I managed to finish half of the turnaround after the loop, but I had to stop working on that part. In fact, I realized the lift would be 45+ degrees and 45 degrees was the maximum slope I would allow. Since the turnaround goes over the station, I need to know the lift's dimension. Therefore I got back to the start of the ride and worked backwards from the first drop up to the crest of the lift.

Tomorrow I'll continue with the lift itself (the straight part of it). And... Max will come and help me and we'll be sure to take some pictures.

-Gump

[RCT2123]

I got a boner!

-RCT2123

[Jogumpie]

July 14th, 2010

Another hot day

Today I got up relatively early, compared to the past days. The temperature's acceptable in the veranda, but it won't take long till I have to move out of the sun. Yesterday was even worse and I couldn't get myself working on Looping Star. Maybe I'll be able to do some work today, actually I should.

This morning I posted the pictures I took of Looping Star a few days ago. I worked on both the crest of the lift and the turnaround right after the loop. If I can, I will work on the lift today, which will have a slope of 45 degrees.

Right now, I am solving a crossword puzzle. What fun.

-Gump

[BGTKing]

People still pissed there about the World Cup?

[Jogumpie]

Some are, but the majority is fine with silver and celebrated that Oranje (Orange, the team's nickname) returned to the Netherlands. More than half a million people (consider that we have 16.5 million citizens) came to the celebration. Here's a few pictures:

[BGTKing]

In the words of Ricky Bobby, if you aren't first, you're last.