another sad announcement

This isnt a very good way to write to all of you but I felt that this was important enough to tell you about. Pope John Paul II has died today at approximatly 9:00 PM Vatican time, he was 84 yrs old.

Construction and Expansion Update

“Water is cascading down the glass walls that frame the center countain in The Garden at the resort. Behind those walls, work is progressing on two new retail shops. The one on the right as you face The Garden will feature jewelry and is slated to open around mid-April. The one on the left will be a gift shop. Walls in both shops have been painted and carpet has been laid in the jewelry shop. The former front desk area of the Hotel at Turning Stone has been enclosed with a temporary wall down to the junction of the Smokin' an Showroom corridors. Front desk operations for the Hotel and The Tower were merged two weeks ago, and the former Hotel front desk area is being converted into a new location for the Diamond Mine and Diamond Card registration desk on the gaming floor will be removed, making room for more Instant Multi-Game machines. Crews are busy on the top two floors of The Tower, finishing the seven VIP suited and Club two.one, the new paid-membership restaurant. Some of the suites feature balconies overlooking the resort and surrounding countryside, and all have marble-encased bathrooms with designer fixtures, seperate showers and tubs, and backlit vanity mirrors. Some also will be outfitted with hot tubs. In Club two.one, most of what remains to be done is finishing work. Three enormous blue glass chandeliers have been hung over the bar in the lounge, and the private booths in the lounge have been outfited with glass-beaded wall coverings that glitter in the light. Elsewhere, the restaurant features a private dining room for 10 with a private balcony, as well as a private lounge with a fireplace. Both the VIP suites and Club two.one are expected to open around May 1. Work also is continuing on the new warehouse on Route 31 south of Route 365, behind the SavOn Diesel station. The 21,600-square-foot warehouse will be equipped for dry and cold storage, allowing the Purchasing Department to take advantage of bulk discounts for a variety of supplies from vendors.”

AIM has new terms of service

According to an article in Slashdot, AIM has changed their Terms of Service so that AOL can use whatever is said in a conversation is not private. A sample paragraph reads as such: "...by posting Content on an AIM Product, you grant AOL, its parent, affiliates, subsidiaries, assigns, agents and licensees the irrevocable, perpetual, worldwide right to reproduce, display, perform, distribute, adapt and promote this Content in any medium. You waive any right to privacy." You can get to the article by clicking the title of this post. Just thought that you might want to know this.

Construction and Expansion Update

“The front desk operations for the Hotel and Tower at Turning Stone were mreged last week, with all check-in services now located in the Tower lobby off The Garden. Bell and valet parking services are available at botht heold hotel lobby entrance and The Garden. The elevators next to Opalss Too in The Garden provide additional access to the origional hotel, as well as to the new VIP players' lounge that overlooks The Garden. The front desk area for the origional hotel was closed in last week and will be the new home for the Diamond Mine and Diamond Card registration desk. The bell station will be moved next to the main elevators across from the Emerald so it is readily accessible for guests. The front desk merger required alterations to the service area behind the Tower front desk to accommodate the increase in baggage. A service hallway and closet were converted to double the size of the baggage storage room. Work on the third-floor fitness center in the Tower has been progressing. The 65-foot lap pool and the hot tub are filled with water; both are 'infinity pool' designs, so the water comes over the outer edge, spilling into grates, and gives the suface the appearance of a sheet of glass. The equipment room is complete, and the redesigned locker rooms are under construction. The fitness center also will feature a lounge area between the equipment room and the pool room, as well as limited retail displays. The Spa at Turning Stone also has been getting a facelift. The ceiling in the pool room and the stone work around the hot tub are being replaced, and both are being painted. The work is expected to be completed by mid-week. When the fitness center opens in the next few weeks, the spa will undergo more renovations. Crews will build a seperate entrance to the pool room inside the main entrance to the spa. When the exercise equipment is moced to the fitness center, new treatment rooms will be added to the spa, increasing the total number of treatment rooms from four to nine. One of the new rooms will be equipped with a shower so the spa can offer body treatments and rubs. Three of the rooms will be dual-purpose, allowing staff to offer either massage or facials in those rooms.”

Construction and Expansion Update

“Opals Too has opened in The Garden, offering Starbucks coffee and many favorites from the main Opals. Tables and chairs line that end of The Garden, and the two-story windows and skylights combine with the palm trees and plants to give guests the feeling of sitting at an outdoor cafe. The glass display cases at Opals Too burst with cookies, muffins, croissants and donuts, as well as tempting desserts like tiramisu, citrus mreringue tarts, cannoli, cheesecake and mini bundt cakes. Opals Too is open from 7 a.m. To 10:30 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, 7 a.m. To midnight Friday, and 7 a.m. To 1 a.m. Saturday. The walls of the new retail shops in the first floor rotunda of The Garden were painted last week, and light fixtures have been installed in each. Tucked beneath curved glass walls that frame the center fountain, the new shops will feature jewelry and seasonal gifts. The stores are slated to open in the next several weeks. Demolition of the old employee cafeteria began last week and will continue this week. Crews cut an opening in the outside wall near the coolers to facilitate removal of debris, and a plywood barrier has been erected in front of the entrance to restrict access and reduce the amount of dust coming into the corridors. Ceiling tiles have been taken down and crews last week were removing the drywall. Over the next few months, the cafeteria will be expanded and redesigned to promote more convenient service for employees.”

Here is a better one that you can actually see her in her true color with her mouth open and tongue half out, which she really seems interested in doing most of the day 

I would like to introduce everyone to my daughter Shariann Marie. 

Shariann Marie Rowlands

If you didnt get the hint from the title of this post our little girl has finally arrived into the world. all healthy and happy and adorable as hell. she was born on Thursday the 17th of Feb at 12:15 PM and she weighed in at 8 lbs. 6 oz. and was 21 inches long. Redish hair and blue eyes. Both mom and baby are doing great, both sleeping when i left them for the day (maybe, i might go back, i feel bad enough leaving htem there just to come home and take a shower). as soon as i have pictures i will be putting them up so i can be the proud pappa and show off my baby girl. talk to you later joe

The News of News

Well, the time has finally arrived. Katie is going to the hospital this evening at 7 and twelve hours later she is going to be induced. At 700 AM tomorrow morning Dr. Cooley will start inducing Katie so that the little one, Shariann Marie can finally make her way into this world. As you can probably deduce, I will be a little preoccuppied with them both and won't be here for a few days. As soon as I get pictures of the little one I will have them up here for all of you to look at and see what I have been talking about for the last 9 months. Ok now i am really getting excited, but i need to take a nap, short one so that i will be able to sleep tonight. anyways, wish us luck and hopefully tommorrow night we will have a new addition to our family. Good luck to you all and Talk to you later Joe

Construction and Expansion Update

“The new Esentials 3, the largest and fanciest of the Essentials shops at Turning Stone, opened last Saturday in time for the Brooks & Dunn concert at the Event Center. The new store offers more resort logo items, as well as the usual magazines, snacks, bottles drinks and sundries of Essentials and Essentials too. Essentials 3 is open 24 hours and has a staff of 15. it features gold-toned wallpaper and carpeting matching that in the Event Center's main corridor, as well as wooden shelvingsimilar to that in the pro shop at Shenendoah Clubhouse. The main entrance, is always open; another entrance, facing the Event Center coridor, can be opened when there are activities in the arena. Work continues elsewhere around the resort. The temporary wall off the elevator foyer, which seperated the far end of The Garden from the Smokin' corridor, has been removed. When work is completed on the elevator foyer, the new Opals in The Garden will open. Also last week, crews were erecting the walls for the temporary entrance to the new Golf Dome, next to the resort's cogeneration plant at the corner of Patrick and Snyder roads. The Golf Dome is slated to open in the next several weeks. Work has begun on the new warehouse for the resort's Purchasing Department on Route 31 behind the SavOn Diesel. Crews began erecting the skeleton for the warehouse earlier this month. The new warehouse is a modular design to allow for expansion as needed; it will provide much needed dry and refrigerated storage space, allowing the resort to lower its per-unit costs on dozens of items.