Camping in Ocala

Long Awaited Story to be put on here, yeah i'm way behind on blogging on here as you can see it's been since last fall...

Weeks back a few friends and myself went camping in Ocala, Florida. My friend Scott from Ohio had the great idea of "roughing it" in the same woods that they shot the Blair Witch Project. Yeah, awesome idea! We started out that Friday with class that morning into the afternoon so we couldn't even get on the road for the hour long drive until late. I heard one time the worst thing you could do when camping is trying to set up camp after dark, well that's what we did. Got to camp around eight or so and had no tent. Yep Scott had told us someone was bringing one and of course that person bailed at the last second. So with a fire going, little to no food, and no tent, this was going to be a long night. Oh, did i mention the low was 24 that night?! Another friend of mine had brought us some hotdogs and we where ready to eat when we had heard noises throughout the evening and low and behold, i kid you not, raccoons came out of the woods and carried the hotdogs away into the darkness and up a tree.

So after we had calmed down we had a few other friends call us who wanted to come but they where lost. Being in the middle of the nowhere we had no service, so we had to drive twenty minutes out the woods for that service. Scott drives out of the woods and driving down the road around 60mph trying to find them a deer came out of nowhere and shatters his entire windshield. Completely traumatized we head back for the camp site to get my car to try to continue to find them. Once back I'm exhausted at this point so i ask Casey to drive my Jeep. Once in my car Casey puts it in reverse, "Casey, you know it's in reverse right?" "Yeah man!" So i think it through and then say, "Casey we're in the woods dude, are there any trees around?" And about that time my jeep experienced a thud if you will. So we get out and see that Casey has backed my jeep into a water spick-et and in a jet like fashion water is shooting very quickly into the people's campsite right next to us towards their tent. Not knowing what to do, we got in the car and left to find the others. Back at 3am to finally pile into the back of my jeep with it being in the 20's outside and i promise you it was just as cold in my car as it was outside. Needless to say a two night trip turned into getting up the next morning and driving home.

No One other Than Me,

Ben McLeod

A Weekend To Forget

     This past weekend started off like my past few weekends, volleyball with the guys. Except the difference was the lack of luck on my side this past weekend. After a few sets of volleyball we went inside to grab some drinks to cool off and come back out and play a few more sets before going out that night. Well we left our change of clothes on a bench next to the court and when we returned my wallet was gone. Yep, my wallet with my drivers license, credit card, debit card, 40 50 bucks in cash, $25 gift card to P.f. Chang's, $25 gift card to Cheesecake factory, and a few other items that i will never see again. So needless to say i was pretty upset, i spent the night canceling cards and wanting to hit someone other than going out that night and chilling with everyone.

     Unfortunately that's the beginning. Saturday afternoon i went to Universal and Islands of Adventure with the Reynolds's and Wend land's as they where on vacation. I'm getting all excited for having a day of no worries and no stress, once off the very first ride I rode i realized I didn't have a phone anymore. Apparently, my phone had fallen out of my pocket sometime during the Hulk. Do you have any idea how naked you feel with out and of your numbers or any type of communication?! Very naked in my case. Not a fun moment or weekend but I had everything canceled before any charges where made so thats a plus and I will be getting another phone Friday but the weekend wasn't a lucky one for Ben McLeod!  

No One other Than Me!

Ben McLeod

I got a Mullet, wanna pull it?

     Ok so I'm not the normal coffee shop scene kinda guy. Even when I was in Albany I went to Starbucks just for coffee, not to hang. So anyways a few days ago I went to a local coffee shop here in Orlando with a few friends that happen to be open mic night. The interesting thing about the open mic is that it was hip-hop open mic. Yes this means people got up on stage and free-styled and rapped their newly written music.

     Anyways the real story here is two white guys who write their own music and they reminded me of the two guys from Wayne's World if you few who read this have seen the movie. One with a mullet and the other with a mustache. The funniest part was when they got up there for their last song which their lyrics included, now get this, "Hey, I got a mullet, wanna pull it, He's gotta' stash, wanna smash?" So at this point I'm about in the floor cause these guys are completely serious and two of the whitest guys i've seen in my life but rapping. 

A What Clocked Me?

     Last Thursday afternoon I was headed back to Albany for a surprise visit to Reed's football game and see Rachel when to my own surprise I was pulled over on I-75. As soon as I saw those all too familiar blue lights in my rear view mirror I was needless to say frustrated. (To give you a little perspective of my luck: My dad has been pulled over more times than I can remember and always gets a "Be more careful next time, have a great day Mr. McLeod" from the officer while I have received a ticket EVERY SINGLE TIME I have been pulled over!) 

     "License, registration, and your paper work on your car," came from the officer. Since when did they start asking for your cars papers? Do they look your car up on accidentreport.com now? I mean really? But I digress. :) So let me also point out that there was no dialogue at all from the officer, not a do you know how fast you where going? or how are you today? or maybe even a good to see you? I dunno, maybe I just expect too much from someone that I have paid their yearly salary with passing through three tolls a day (yes I know I really haven't their whole salary but I'm trying to make a point - stay with me). 

      So anyways it was in the part of 75 where the trees split the two sides apart and the cops hide in those stinking trees. The officer told me that the chopper clocked me at 82mph in a 70. A what clocked me? A helicopter, yes a helicopter clocked me, me and three other cars "drafting" with me. There is a new system where the helicopter goes up and down 75 starting a stopwatch once a cars tires hit a line and stop it one they hit the next line and so the distance in a certain amount of time is divided and whatever to figure out your speed, then it's sent to the nearest policeman's GPS system where they stay on the radio with the chopper giving the speeding deviant's exact position and find the "rule breaker" and pound a good ole' fine and a slap on the hand. So there where three of us moving with traffic together and three cop cars came out of the woods like wild banshies and got all of us. Welcome to the Sunshine State!

Social Deviant 

Ben McLeod

 

Wal Mart

Most of my stories are of things that happen to me and not something i've done but since this is the most recent i will unfortunately admit to my stupidity. :)

A few nights ago i went to WalMart around nine or ten craving some ice cream. But i quickly realized all the other things i needed of course. So I'm pushing my buggy back to my jeep when i can't find my car. I have to admit it's not the first time i've not been able to find my car but never the less i couldn't find it. The Orlando WalMart is not set up at all like the Albany one, each row it separated by large medians with sidewalks in the middle. So by the time i was half way down the row I realized that I was on the wrong row, so instead of walking all the way back and picked up my very full buggy and proceeded to pull it on the curb. By the time I had gotten the buggy on the sidewalk  I had to push it back down the curb, and began to push it towards my car. Well as soon as i got up to it low and behold it wasn't mine. So I looked back up to look around to find my car and you know what? I had just passed it...on the row I was JUST ON! So I had to pick the cart back up and go back over the curb.....

The Clueless One 

What rhymes with Fenera Pread?!

Hot and fresh off the press, this one is BRAND NEW so enjoy :)

       A friend of mine and myself where working on a video late one night a few weeks back and we asked a man passing by for a second opinion on our video. He seemed impressed and handed us his business card with the intent of calling us and getting us "fresh film students" on a few short films soon with the incentive of maybe a little cash for our work on them. "Sure, we'd love to," I said! And with a smile and a handshake he was gone.

       I received a phone call early yesterday from this man who will remain nameless :) asking for me him and the friend to meet tonight at a very good bread place that rhymes with Fanera Pread. :) 

Walked in ordered and grabbed a pager and went to sit down. The nameless man began to shoot the breeze and talk about not so much his film experience but of others he knew. Now to really understand he's not antisocial but one of those people who always looks nervous. (this is important. ha) He preceded to explain about a business proposition and my friend even joked about it's not a porn job is it?! We all laughed, even nameless. Then I took it another step and said watch out he might slip us a pamphlet and sell us something, all laughing again but this time nameless was a little more awkward with his laugh. And 30 seconds later i would learn why, he pulled out a pamphlet. Yes, I am telling the truth. I cut my eyes to my friend with a "what in the world is he doing" look. Nameless opened up all four sides to the pamphlet and began to describe what seemed to me to be a pyramid type "organization" i get 30 people and then those 30 people get 30 people and those first thirty, when they get 30 are guaranteed x amount of dollars a year. So nameless had led us to believe we where going to work on a short film quickly turned sour. After trying to stop him for 20 minutes he finally stopped and asked so does any of this interest you?! I replied with what seemed to be very polite at the time, I'm going to be very honest with you, No it doesn't....thirty second of silence later he asks, "so, anything other than business you guys wanna talk about?" My friend answers with not that i can think of...."Well i won't take any more of your guys time" he said. And with an ending just like it had started, a smile and a handshake and a well we'll talk to you soon....

Who else would this happen to?

No one other than me!

Ben McLeod

"Lit A Fuse"

7.29.08

             A few weeks before I started school down here in Orlando I was finishing up a mission trip in Baltimore Maryland. I got back into Albany on Saturday the 26th of July and ended staying home a few more days before heading back to Orlando. Once I packed my last few things and hooked up my brand new GPS i was on my way for a four to five hour drive, which i was dreading. Anyone who owns a GPS or that has any knowledge at all, knows that GPS' systems are powered with rechargeable batteries but left plugged into cigarette lighters for a chance that it might run out of battery. (common sense right?) 

          Well about an hour or so outside of Albany my beautiful new GPS started yelling at me. "LOW BATTERY" flashed across the screen as an automated voice read along. "What?!" I said out-loud as if the pre-recorded woman was going to respond. I took the GPS off and made sure it was plugged in and made sure it was pushed all the way in the actual cigarette lighter itself. Not being able to figure it out i unplugged it and tried my phone charger and again nothing. I called my dad and asked what he thought and something that I should have figured out myself but guess I'm just not that smart that maybe the fuse was blown. 

          Before the GPS died it quickly looked for some type of auto store or outlet that may have fusses. I saw a few places but the nearest was some local used auto-parts, so i figured they would have a walk in part of the store where they sold small plugs and hoses and hoping for some fuses. I turned off the main highway once i saw the sign, paved road quickly turned into a bumpy dirt road. I had no idea what i had gotten myself into but i was desperate. I figured if they didn't have any they could tell me who did. I took a turn around a corner and the first thing i saw was 4 or 5 goats. Goats?! Where am I?! I thought to myself.

           As I drove over the cow or i guess in this case goat stopper thing, you know where on ranches they have those metal poles over the whole to if any animal attempts to get out their hoof will get stuck to where they can't go anywhere. (best way i can describe it w/o the actual real name of it, don't make fun) I pull up to a junk yard of at least 100 cars, vans, and trucks or more, A single wide trailer with a wooden deck on the front of it and a man who looks like Uncle Remus after twenty years of aging, twice as long of a beard, and 100 pounds heavier. 

          "Umm, Excuse me sir..." i yelled at Uncle Remus as he was shooing goats away from my truck.

          "Yes sir, how can i help you?" he replied

          "Yeah, i think i've blown a fuse do you know of anywhere i can get some anywhere near here?"

with no hesitation he replied, "Yeah your looking at it. (pointing to the hundred or so cars) there aren't any engines in these cars but the fuses still are!"

          With a pair of needle nose pliers I climbed in and out of anywhere from 10 to 30 year old cars. Ending up crawling out of a Cadillac i found a 15, exactly what i needed....Walked back up to the trailer and the goats to ask the man how much and he just replied, "You fetched them yourself,  they're yours!" Thanking him several times i plugged in the fuse, got back in my truck, and turned the GPS back on and headed for Orlando, FL. 

Who else would this happen to? 

No one other than me!

Ben Mcleod